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.

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!

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.

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!

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. 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bronco Break Mojo



Today I received my booty from Mojobreak.com from a recent 2012 Topps Finest Football Case Break.  It was done random style and I got the Denver Broncos. Well I hit big on the case with several base and rookies, as well as several refractors, and then the big dogs, two Peyton Manning Refractors, one Red #'d to 50, and one Gold #'d to 25.  I also hit on a Ronnie Hillman Rookie Patch Auto #'d to 50, featuring a three color patch.  If you've never tried a box break, Mojobreak.com does it right.  Check them out, great deals, free shipping, and they do it live on BlogTV.com.

Happy Birthday Box Break

I know it's a week late but it's still a birthday present.  I decided to splurge on a few different new releases getting 4 different boxes of cards.  2012 Donruss Elite Football, 2012 Topps Inception Football, 2012 Topps Finest Baseball, and 2011/12 Ultimate Collection Hockey.  I will post some pics shortly but here's a breakdown, box by box. Enjoy.

Note:  All of these cards are available for sale or trade.

2012 Topps Finest Baseball Box Break

Box 1:

Pack 1:

Jon Lester 44, Hanley Ramirez 55, Albert Pujols Refractor 1, Mike Napoli 98, David Price 21

Pack 2:

Chipper Jones 58, Kirk Nieuwenhuis RC 29, Mark Teixeira Refractor 31, Ryan Zimmerman 32, Dellin Betances RC 71

Pack 3:

Wade Miley RC 76, Yu Darvish RC 35, Curtis Granderson Gold Refractor 19/50 85, Robinson Cano Finest Moments Die Cut Refractor FM-RC, Leonys Martin RC 93

Pack 4:

Josh Beckett 94, Jacoby Ellsbury 24, Austin Romine RC Refractor 81, Giancarlo Stanton 9, Robinson Cano 15

Pack 5:

Tyler Pastornicky RC 52, Jered Weaver 28, Drew Pomeranz Autographed Jersey Relic AJR-DP 19/50, Matt Moore RC 67, Paul Kornerko 57

Pack 6:

Liam Hendriks RC 77, David Wright 38, Jose Bautista Game Changers GC-JB, Brett Pill RC 91, Curtis Granderson 85

Box 2:

Pack 1:

Ian Kinsler 79, Albert Pujols 1, Joey Votto Refractor 80, Ichiro Suzuki 11, Jose Reyes 90

Pack 2:

Joey Votto 80, Eric Hosmer 63, Bryce Harper RC Refractor 73, Miguel Cabrera 70, Josh Hamilton 13

Pack 3:

Adrian Beltre 45, Roy Halladay 100, Tim Lincecum Face of the Franchise Die Cut FF-TL, Jarrod Parker RC 43, Brad Peacock RC 51

Pack 4:

Trevor Bauer RC 22, Josh Beckett Green Refractor 94 144/199, Nelson Cruz Finest Moments Refractor Die Cut FM-NC, Ian Kennedy23, Evan Longoria 26

Pack 5:

Cole Hamels 75, Dustin Pedroia 49, Joe Mauer Refractor 83, Mark Trumbo 59, Adrian Gonzalez 89

Pack 6:

Eric Surkamp RC 87, Jesus Montero RC 72, Matt Moore Autographed Rookie On Card AR-MM 68/99, C.C. Sabathia 48, Alex Liddi RC 99

Base and Rookie Cards 46 total, no duplicates

1 Albert Pujols 9 Giancarlo Stanton 11 Ichiro 13 Josh Hamilton 15 Robinson Cano 21 David Price 23 Ian Kennedy 24 Jacoby Ellsbury 26 Evan Longoria 28 Jered Weaver 29 Kirk Nieuwenhuis RC 32 Ryan Zimmerman 35 Yu Darvish RC 38 David Wright 43 Jarrod Parker RC 44 Jon Lester 45 Adrian Beltre 48 C.C. Sabathia 49 Dustin Pedroia 51 Brad Peacock RC 52 Tyler Pastornicky RC 55 Hanley Ramirez 57 Paul Konerko

58 Chipper Jones 59 Mark Trumbo 63 Eric Hosmer 67 Matt Moore RC 70 Miguel Cabrera 71 Dellin Betances RC 72 Jesus Montero RC 75 Cole Hamels 76 Wade Miley RC 77 Liam Hendricks RC 79 Ian Kinsler 80 Joey Votto 85 Curtis Granderson 87 Eric Surkamp RC 89 Adrian Gonzalez 90 Jose Reyes 91 Brett Pill RC 92 Trevor Bauer RC 93 Leonys Martin RC 94 Josh Beckett 98 Mike Napoli 99 Alex Liddi RC 100 Roy Halladay

2012 Topps Inception Football

Tony Gonzalez, Joe Flacco, Ladainian Tomlinson 087/252, Mark Sanchez 06/75 (Jersey Number), Joe Adams Rookie Autograph Patch, Isaiah Pead Rookie Autograph, Mohamed Sanu Rookie Patch (2 Color) 47/50

2012 Donruss Elite Football

Base cards 86 total, no duplicates

1 Larry Fitzgerald 2 Beanie Wells 3 Kevin Kolb 4 Michael Turner 6 Roddy White 7 Matt Ryan 8 Ray Lewis 9 Ray Rice 11 Joe Flacco 12 Ryan Fitzpatrick 13 Fred Jackson 14 Steve Johnson 15 Cam Newton 16 DeAngelo Williams 18 Brian Urlacher 19 Jay Cutler 20 Devin Hester 22 Andy Dalton 23 Greg Little 24 A.J. Green 25 Colt McCoy 27 DeMarcus Ware 28 Tony Romo 29 DeMarco Murray 30 Jason Witten 32 Tim Tebow 33 Willis McGahee 34 Ndamukong Suh 36 Calvin Johnson Jr. 37 Charles Woodson 38 Clay Matthews 39 Aaron Rodgers 40 Greg Jennings 41 Andre Johnson 42 Arian Foster 43 Matt Schaub 44 Reggie Wayne 45 Peyton Manning 46 Maurice Jones-Drew 47 Blaine Gabbert 48 Jamaal Charles 49 Eric Berry 50 Dwayne Bowe

51 Matt Cassel 52 Reggie Bush 53 Brandon Marshall 54 Jared Allen 55 Adrian Peterson 56 Christian Ponder 57 Tom Brady 58 BenJarvus Green-Ellis 60 Wes Welker 61 Drew Brees 62 Darren Sproles 64 Marques Colston 65 Eli Manning 66 Brandon Jacobs 67 Victor Cruz 69 Mark Sanchez 70 Plaxico Burress 71 Darren McFadden 72 Richard Seymour 73 Carson Palmer 75 LeSean McCoy 76 DeSean Jackson 77 Ben Roethlisberger 79 Troy Polamalu 80 Heath Miller 81 Philip Rivers 82 Ryan Mathews 83 Antonio Gates 84 Vincent Jackson 85 Patrick Willis 86 Alex Smith 87 Frank Gore 89 Tarvaris Jackson 90 Marshawn Lynch 91 Steven Jackson 92 James Laurinaitis 94 LeGarrette Blount 95 Josh Freeman 96 Matt Hasselbeck 97 Chris Johnson 98 Nate Washington 99 Brian Orakpo 100 Roy Helu Jr.

 Rookies

110 Michael Brockers 126/999

126 Dont'a Hightower 375/999

128 Stephen Hill 092/799

200 Case Keenum 622/999

Rookie Autograph

Rishard Matthews 315/599

Rookie Inscriptions Autograph

Dwayne Allen

Rookie Aspirations Die Cut Autograph

Case Keenum 12/49

Rookie Status Die Cut

T.J. Graham 4/6

Rookie Elite Series

A.J. Jenkins 395/999

Elite Series

Larry Fitzgerald 686/999

Hard Hats

Justin Blackmon 370/399

Craftsmen

Tony Romo 611/999

Prime Numbers

Jordy Nelson 075/999

Hit List

D’Qwell Jackson 605/999

New Breed Jersey

Michael Floyd 098/299

2011/12 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Hockey

Cam Neely 005/399

David McIntyre Ultimate Rookies 140/399

Sean Couturier Ultimate Rookies Autograph (On Card) 47/99

Johnny Bower Ultimate Jerseys Dual Jersey 067/100