2013 National Sports Collectors Convention Chicago

Ok, where should I start? It was my first "Big Show" and boy was it worth it. If you've ever been to Las Vegas for a couple of days, you'll know what I'm talking about. You can't see everything but you do see a little of everything. Sports Cards old and new, memorabilia, autographs, and more, and more, and then some more. I really enjoyed just walking around checking out all the different types of wares on display, the different types of set ups, and how passionate just about every dealer was about their collections. Chicago is a great city, a great host, and a wonderful place to visit, regardless if it's for the NSCC. I got to meet a lot of people that I only know from online breaks, web casts, and chat rooms. It was kinda funny introducing myself as my screen name, Hi, I'm Streak27!" The only drawback is the amount of money being asked for the autograph guests. I really enjoy meeting athletes, and getting some ink, but the experience is made more personal when I don't have to spend $150. Other than that, I can say that I will make every effort to attend the NCSS in the future because I do love me some sports cards and everything and everyone involved with it.

Macha-Dough



Had to hop into a 5 Case Break of 2013 Bowman Inception Baseball by Boomo and was lucky enough to draw Manny Machado, er, I mean Macha-dough. Snagged these two gems, a base rookie auto and a Auto Jumbo Relic Red Parallel #'d /10, sweet. Not a bad day at the breaks.

Running into a Wall!

Last night I got into a razz for a spot in 2010/11 National Treasures Basketball with Danscardz on Vaughnlive.tv. I won a spot through the razz and through the random got the Washington  Wizards. Knowing both sides of the potential for this team, Wall or nothing, I offered up my team for $140. Offers came in and stopped at $100 but I just assumed keep my spot. I offered again and said no to $100 and that I would take more offers. $105, $110, $115, $115.01, that's where it stalled. I decided to take the first to offer $120, and Pinballz took it! Now I almost tripled up, and he is a John Wall fan, so it worked out for both of us. That was until the break. First box AJ pulled a 3 color Rookie Colossal 3-Color Patch of Wall, very nice. Second box, Ka-Boom, a John Wall Rookie Patch Auto /99, with a book value  of $2K! Ouch! He also got a Wes Unseld auto to boot. Oh well, we both made out, and I'm happy that Pinballz got his card.

Yu know it!

Well after a long wait, Yu can say we got some redemption! We finally got our 2012 Bowman Chrome Yu Darvish Rookie Purple Refractor Autograph 01/10, and boy was it worth the wait. This thing is a beauty, on card, clean, centered, and ready for the right buyer. Not sure what the future holds for this card but this Friday, Beckett will get a look at this one, and maybe Yu will finally see some perfection.

The Bux Stops Here!

 



On Friday night at the Ballpark, Mark and I decided to treat ourselves to a couple of jumbo boxes of 2013 Bowman Baseball. 12 Packs of the future of baseball with 3 Autos and plenty of prospects and parallels. My box had some bonus action in it, yielding a Jesse Winker AFLCA Perfect Game On Card Auto /225, a Matt Olson Chrome Rookie On Card Auto, a Jayson Aquino Chrome Blue Refractor On Card Auto /150, and the gem, a Byron Buxton Chrome Rookie Auto. Whenever you get an auto of the guy on the box, it can't be a bad thing. All these cards and more are available in our store, check them out, and thanks for stopping by.

Predicting the Future

On Saturday, we spent the entire day at the ballpark, and thankfully the weather let us get through it dry. After a week of torrential rains dumping almost 6 inches on the city, it turned out to be a beautiful day and a "golden" day. While we sweated it out at the park, my wife and friends checked out some other cards, Tarot Cards, for a reading. Now I'm not a big fan of fortune telling, palm reading, or horoscopes but my wife tends to like that sort of thing. He gave her some helpful hints on her future and something's were on point, with others being hopefully totally way off, including a possible house fire or something of that sort. I did a little of my own predicting, and boy was I right on the money. We had five packs of 2012 Panini Prizm baseball left in the box at the end of the day. I asked Mark if he wanted to pop them, he declined. I told him that there was a gold card left in that box, he still declined. I even went as far as telling him, that it was in the third pack, that I didn't even need all five packs.  Guess what showed up in pack three? Yep, a gold card. More specifically a Nelson Cruz Texas Rangers 05/10 Gold Card. Just Sick. For my next trick, I will be turning that card into cash!

Supreme Pulls, My first RGIII Auto

 



Today at the Key West Card Show, I decided to bust a box of 2012 Topps Supreme Football. After watching Tom, a collector from Indianapolis bust a box and pull a Jarius Wright Rookie Autograph Printing Plate 1/1, I was hoping for my own big hit, and boy did I get it. The box doesn't have a lot of cards, or hits for that matter, 2 base cards, 1 parallel, and 1 hit. My base cards were decent, Michael Turner and Dwayne Allen RC, buth numbered to 462. My parallel was an Arian Foster numbered to 75, and then the hit. A sweet Robert Griffin III Rookie Autograph 61/85, man is that cool, and it's my first RGIII auto. Thanks for everyone who cae out to the show, and thanks to Tom for stopping in while on vacation and jump starting the day. If you are interested in any of these cards, they are all available for purchase. Just email us with your offer.



Twice in one week!

Andrew Luck Part Two! Less than a week later, at the Key West Card Show, aka The Worlds Smallest Card Show, another Andrew Luck Rookie Autograph. I brought a few boxes of 2012 Panini Contenders Football to the show in hopes that someone would take them off my hands. The night before I busted two boxes of this lackluster product filled with the lesser known rookies as well as some of the bigger names. Touting two on card autos per box, after two boxes, I hadn't seen one, although the Devier Posey redemption might be, but that's a wait and see game. So around noon, with no biters on the at cost price tag, and even after unofficially guaranteeing that a Luck or RGIII was in there I decided to prove myself wrong and bust into the first box.  Two packs in, yep, Andrew Luck Rookie Autograph, on card, and beautiful.  KC, sorry buddy, you didn't believe me, but neither did I. Damn that thing is sweet. Thanks to Gato and JC for buying the other box because I was all out of garauntees.  Now for next weeks predictions, just kidding, i'm taking a break from breaking, for now.

Super Bowl Box Breaks

Sorry it's been so long, but what happened to January.  Spent the month prepping for Jon Crane's 15th Annual Super Bowl Party. Well, we did a couple of box breaks at the party, one before, one after, and both were awesome.  The pre-game break featured all kinds of football product, Prizm, Limited, Black, Momentum, Bowman Sterling, and SP Authentic. Right off the bat, we pulled a Russell Wilson auto from Prizm, sweet, for me at least. We also pulled a nice Nick Foles Patch Auto from Sterling, and fittingly, a Bernard Pierce Patch Gold Auto from Black, another nice hit.  So then we took a break and watched a great Super Bowl, halftime, and power outage and all.  So after the party, we hung out, played cards and then decided to bust a box of Limited and a box of Black.  So earlier you see what we pulled from 7 boxes, let me tell you about these two beasts.  From the Limited box, we start with a Ronnie Lott Jets Jersey, that's a little weird.  The the hits started, and although it's was an Isaiah Pead, the Phenom Rookie Jersey Auto, was actually pretty nasty, because it was a piece of the Ram logo.  And then...TRich, boom, a Trent Richardson Rookie Phenoms Silver Spotlight Redemption /49, awesome, finally JC gets his man.  So we are all geeked, lets bust this Black.  I honestly don't remember any other card than Card #1, in the middle of the pack. Paging Andrew Luck, Rookie Prime Patch Gold Autograph /349, total nastiness.  So that's what I've been up to.  What's next, the Card Show, wait until you see who showed up.

Frankly my dear.....

We recently visited Marty's Sports Card Exchange Superstore in Chattanooga, Tennessee for some pack popping action. After going through and opening some new product Danette asked me to buy her a pack of 2013 Press Pass Platinum Cuts, you get one encapsulated cut signature card per pack. She picked the top pack and busted it open, and Holy Cow, a Clark Gable cut signatiure 1/1. Gone with the Wind, wow, that's a monster hit! Congrats baby!

Sorry for the delay...

We have had a heck of a week preparing for the apocalypse. Had a great night breaking last night with Mojobreak. 2012 Absolute Football Case Break and I had the Baltimore Ravens. Bernard Pierce Rookie Jersey Auto /49, Bernard Pierce War Room Rookie Prime Signatures Jersey /25, and a Ray Rice Tools of the Trade Jersey Auto Prime Black /5. Then I had a nice little gem from 2012 Bowman Sterling Baseball, Billy Hamilton Auto, not bad additions to the collection! Will post pics when the mail day arrives!

When you're hot, you're hot!



As you see in the previous post, Purple Rain, we had a big hit, so why stop there?  Towards the end of the show, one of the dealers was carrying around a box of 2012 Panini Prizm Basketball offering it up for $80.  Knowing that it sells for around $100 I hopped on that deal.  A few of the youngsters hanging around the show urged me to pop the box right there, so I did.  Within the first couple of packs, lightning struck again in the form of a Blake Griffin Refractor Autograph numbered to 25, sweet. I continued popping packs when one of the kids said "Look at him, he's not even excited about pulliing that Griffin!" I was excited, but after what I had already pulled, this was just okay, at least I was going to get my money back. And as I'm writing this, an offer just came in for this card and tomorrow, it will be on it's way to it's new owners.  I'm sure they will be excited when the receive it in the next few days.

Purple Rain!

This is actually the second Purple Refractor Autograph we've pulled in the last two months. The first was Yu Darvish. Halfway through a box of 2012 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects Baseball we made it rain! A Bryce Harper Rookie Autograph Purple Refractor, on card, and not a redemption! Sweet!

2011/12 Exquisite Basketball Box Break Part 2



Yep, we did another box break of this product with Mojobreak.com and guess what? #2 pick again, arrrggghh! Oh well, it could have been worse.  The box was popping right from the get go.  First card out of the box was a booklet card, Alonzo Mourning/Tim Hardaway Dual Logo Patch Autograph Card 46/50 with Georgetown and UTEP patches.  It also has a Miami Heat basketball connection being in South Florida.  The rest of the box started to come out with a base card, Danny Manning and then a Jerry West Championship Bling autograph.  Next up, BOOM, a Lebron James Personal Touch Autograph, Favorite Car, autographed and with Bentley written on the bottom, numbered to 20, sweet.  The next card, a Corey Joseph autograph rookie, nice, and then the final hit, a DeMarcus Cousins Dimensions Shadowbox autograph rookie, sweet. Not a bad box, but with the #2 pick, I had a decision to make.   I went with my gut, and some local love, and picked the Mourning/Hardaway Booklet Dual Patch Autographs /50. So that's my little taste of Exquisite for the year. With a price hovering around $850, I doubt I will be doing any more of this product. 

2011/12 Exquisite Basketball Box Break



Well I had the opportunity to get a piece of an exclusive, or should I say Exquisite box break on Mojobreak.com the other night.  Six spots, with the sixth getting a base card and a box of 2012/13 Prestige Basketball as a consolation.  I had to jump on it.  With a product stuffed full of Jordan Autos and limited edition patches, duals, triples, and quads, as well as this years rookies, the only worry is what pick would I get.  Well, as fate would have it, I got pick #2.  Not bad, but it's not #1.  As they broke the box, the Hakeen Olajuwon base card #'d to 99 was on it's way to #6 already.  Next up, a Gail Goodrich Championship Bling On Card Auto #'d 99, nice. Card #3, BOOM, Michael Jordan/Magic Johnson Dual Auto On Card #'d 20, okay, so I'm hoping this one slips to #2, probably not.  Card #4 It's a Booklet, Bill Walton/Gail Goodrich UCLA Logo Patch Black Dual Auto On Card 33/50, sweet, but not and MJ/MJ dual auto!  Card #5 Nolan Smith Rookie Auto On Card #'d 199, nice, a Duke-y. Card #6  Endorsements Shadowbox Auto Mark A. Jackson inscribed "God Bless U" On Card Auto, very nice.  Okay, so i know that MJ/MJ is not coming my way, so i picked the nest best value in my opinion, the Booklet, Bill Walton/Gail Goodrich UCLA Logo Patch Black Dual Auto On Card 33/50.  Stay tuned, because I did another one of these, a few days later, wait till you see what happened there.

2012 Topps Update Jumbo Box Break

 



Good lord there's a lot of cards in this box.  Almost 500 base cards and inserts galore. Ten of the fattest packs known to mankind, okay, I'm going a bit overboard.  After all is said and done, you should end up with a complete 330 card base set and a "few" duplicates.  Now to the hits.  You get a ton of Gold parallels, or one of the other colored parallels, one Golden Giveaway card, the occasional "App" card for Topps Pennant, the Gold Moments Parallel cards are one per pack as well, and to finish it out, you get a Golden Moments card or parallel.  Oh, I almost forgot about the mini cards, because they almost always slip out and onto the floor.  And then there's an occasional hit.  My first pack was thick and heavy, so I tore into it and saw a thick beast in the middle.  As I slid it into view, I saw "The Hawk" Andre Dawson and a ring for his 1977 Rookie of the Year Award, sweet, and heavy!  If you haven't seen these cards they are nice. A couple of packs later the Oakland A's Tom Milone autograph showed up, nice!  Second to the last pack, a Robinson Cano All Star Workout Jersey card, yes! Overall not a bad box.  My one knock about this product came when I started sorting the cards.  WTF! Topps decided that uniformity of the cards numbers wasn't neccesary, and they are all different sizes and were confusing as heck.  It wasn't because a name was too long, or it was a vertical or horizontal layout, someone just randomly sized these things just to mess with my eyes.  Hope you enjoyed the break and check us out at the Key West Card Show, October 20, 2012, Lexington Hotel, 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

 

 

Return To Ravnica 2 Pack Break

I decided to bust a couple of packs of Return To Ravnica to take a peek at the new stuff. I have some booster boxes and some Fat Packs and Intro Packs avaiable. We will be giving a Fat Pack away at the October 20th Key West Card Show. Here is a breakdown of the two packs:

#	Name	Color	Cost	Converted Cost	Type	Power	Toughness	Rarity
144	Auger Spree	BR	1BR	3	Instant			C
4	Avenging Arrow	W	2W	3	Instant			C
119	Chorus of Might	G	3G	4	Instant			C
228	Codex Shredder	A	1		Artifact			U
65	Deviant Glee	B	B	1	Enchantment – Aura			C
163	Goblin Electromancer	UR	UR	2	Creature - Goblin Wizard	2	2	C
69	Grim Roustabout	B	1B	2	Creature – Skeleton Warrior	1	1	C
174	Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord	BG	BBGG	4	Legendary Creature - Zombie Elf	2	2	M
13	Knightly Valor	W	4W	5	Enchantment - Aura			C
47	Psychic Spiral	U	4U	5	Instant			U
246	Selesnya Guildgate				Land – Gate			C
105	Splatter Thug	R	2RR	4	Creature – Human Warrior	2	2	C
262	Swamp				Basic Land – Swamp			L
202	Teleportal	UR	UR	2	Sorcery			U
80	Terrus Wurm	B	6B	7	Creature – Zombie Wurm	5	5	C
205	Trestle Troll	BG	1BG	3	Creature - Troll	1	4	C
86	Ash Zealot	R	RR	2	Creature – Human Warrior	2	2	R
115	Axebane Guardian	G	2G	3	Creature – Human Druid	0	3	C
91	Cobblebrute	R	3R	4	Creature – Elemental	5	2	C
66	Drainpipe Vermin	B	B	1	Creature – Rat	1	1	C
156	Dramatic Rescue	WU	WU	2	Instant			C
164	Golgari Charm	BR	BG	2	Instant			U
128	Horncaller's Chant	G	7G	8	Sorcery			C
40	Hover Barrier	U	2U	3	Creature – Illusion Wall	0	6	U
12	Keening Apparition	W	1W	2	Creature - Spirit	2	2	C
?	Knight	?	?	?	Creature	?	?	?
70	Mind Rot	B	2B	3	Sorcery			C
191	Rites of Reaping	BG	4BG	6	Sorcery			U
75	Sewer Shambler	B	2B	3	Creature – Zombie	2	1	C
260	Swamp				Basic Land – Swamp			L
26	Swift Justice	W	W	1	Instant			C
112	Viashino Racketeer	R	2RR	4	Creature – Viashino Rogue	2	1	C
	Pack 1
	Pack 2

Andre the Giant!

Wow, what a game! The Dolphins/Cardinals played an overtime thriller that brought out the best on both offenses.  The rookie QB breaking Dan Marino's passing mark in a game, Brian Hartline catching just about everything, and Andre Roberts giving Larry Fitz a little frindly competition.  I'm sure Andre has the benefit of Larry Fitz lining up next to him or on the oppsoite side and drawing the double team, but he still had some nice grabs, including the game tying out route.  Looks like it was Dre Day!

2012 Triple Threads Baseball Box Break and More!

 

I just had to pop on a box of 2012 Topps Triple Threads Baseball. After watching a couple of breaks and see some of the hot cards being pulled, I reached out to Marty's Sportscard Exchange Superstore and got me a box along with a couple of boxes of 2012 Leaf History of Baseball Cut Signature Edition and a box of 2012 Leaf Valiant Football.  I busted the football box first and scored a few cool rookie autographs, all on card.  Chandler Jones, Brian Quick, Kendall Wright #'d 99, and Jarius Wright #'d 99.  The Leaf Baseball was next, hitting a couple of cuts that I had to Google but with interesting results.  I pulled a Bill Rigney "Best Wishes" inscribed cut, and an Earl "Sparky" Adams cut signature.  Rigney was an All Star in 1948 and a manager later on in his career.  "Sparky" played on the winning team in the 1931 World Series with the Cardinals. Now to the big dog.  I busted the Triple Threads two pack box and ripped into the first pack.  Not bad, Rickey Henderson, Roberto Clemente, and Tom Seaver.  Now to the hit, BOOM, James Shields "Big Game James" Triple Relic Autograph 6/9, sweet but we're not done.  Next up, BOOM, a Justin Verlander Unity Relic Jersey 9/9, sweet.  The last two cards are the parallels, a Cliff Lee /99, and Joe Mauer /625.  Okay, on to pack 2. Ripped into that and there's Prince Fielder, Don Mattingly, and Cal Ripken Jr, now for the hit, or should I say No Hitter, King Felix Hernandez "19-5 217 2.49 IN 2009" Triple Relic 17/18, nice, but what's next? How about your 1st win, Henderson Alvarez Unity Autograph Relic 2 Color Patch 10/10. Yeah! So not a bad day at the table. Hope you enjoyed the break, check out the store for some great deals on these cards and more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Hot Red Zone



At a recent card show, I traded away one of my crown jewels for cash and cards.  Some would dispute what I got in trade as being a good or bad deal, either way, I got a Red Hot card. The trade was a Michael Jordan Autograph card, for cash and cards, and one of the cards I got in the trade was a 2011 Topps Cam Newton Red Zone Red Ink Rookie Autograph 046/100.  This thing is sweet, red ink, rookie auto, serial numbered, and it does help that Cam Newton just tore it up this week.  Sweet, running, passing, this guy can do it all.  No sophmore slump for this guy.