Topps Million Card Giveaway - the Card Buzz collection #8

1973 Topps Bill North #234

From the Million Card Giveway, I think I traded a 1972 Topps Ivan Murrell for this card - while the Murrell was a 'high number' card, North's 1973 Topps card was his rookie card, so it made it easier for me to accept the offer.

As for the player, it looks like North was a 1970's version of Juan Pierre - a fast top of the lineup type hitter with no ability to hit for any power. To North's credit, he did have the ability to collect his fair share of walks during his 11 year career.

Topps Million Card Giveaway - the Card Buzz collection #7

1979 Topps Brian Downing #77

Brian Downing was an Angels mainstay throughout the 1980s and while I want to say this card means a little more, than the other cards I had delivered from the Topps Million Card Giveway - I think I've leafed through my share of Downing cards, particularly from the junk wax era [1986-1992], so I had this card delivered just because I want to say I had an Angel card delivered.

I think I ended up trading a 1978 Topps Don Baylor #48 for the Downing - another former Angels star who was otherwise a common / minor star at best when it came to baseball cards.

Topps Million Card Giveaway - the Card Buzz collection #6

1961 Topps Ted Lepcio #234

Topps Million Card Giveaway - the Card Buzz collection #5

1969 Topps Nate Colbert #408

I already have a 1971 Topps card of Colbert in my A-Z archive of cards - but I had his 1969 Topps card delivered from the Topps Million Card Giveaway because it has a nice image of the player pictured smiling.

I didn't know much about Colbert beforehand, but it looks like he had his best years with the San Diego Padres through the 1970s - he wasn't a star or anything but there was a six year period where Colbert was likely the Padres' best player and he also hit five home runs in one game.

It might not be visible through the scan - but it looks like someone or something 'scrunched' the left hand side of the card by border, causing a crease. It maybe some sort of therapy going through these cards and trying to discuss the little imperfections as I see them.

Topps Million Card Giveaway - the Card Buzz collection #4

1969 Topps Max Alvis #145

Topps Million Card Giveaway - the Card Buzz collection #3

1972 Topps Cubs Rookie Stars #61 - featuring Burt Hooton

Topps Million Card Giveaway - the Card Buzz collection #2

1969 Topps Larry Shepard #384

From the time I started collecting [just about 20 years ago], I've never liked manager cards - if a baseball card doesn't picture a player, then it means there is one less collectible card out there for an actual player.

I think the only reason I had this card shipped was because it was 42 years old - I just love the three OK looking corners and the rounded top left corner sticking out like a sore thumb.

As for the subject of the card, it was ironic that Shepard passed on at the age of 92 earlier this month - his Baseball Reference Bullpen page gives a more in-depth look at his playing, managerial and coaching careers in professional baseball. It looks like his four pennants during his 18 years as a manager were captured as a minor league skipper.

Topps Million Card Giveaway - the Card Buzz collection #1

1969 Topps Joe Horlen #328

Like everyone seems to have been blogging about lately, the Topps Million cards have finally been making its way to collector's hands - I got my shipment of eight cards in on Monday and my first reaction was I paid about $7 to have these cards shipped to me?

Assuming everything costs much more these days, I may understand the fact it only cost exactly $1.73 to ship these cards to me - the cards were sleeved and put into top loaders; an invoice was enclosed listing the cards I had delivered.

However, flipping through the eight cards I received, I was a bit underwhelmed since these cards ended up being the ones your mom threw away, left in someone's attic, otherwise discarded, et al - there were layering, creases, rounded corners, stains and probably other defects.

I suppose all the imperfections makes the cards more 'authentic,' but kind of wonder if Topps could have taken an extra step in making sure the cards met a certain condition - instead of random, junky condition fillers to fulfill the requests from the Million Card Giveaway.

Collectors may not have liked it but I think a Topps Million Card Giveaway 'buyback' stamp of sorts would have been nice addition to the cards requested to be shipped - like how the various Topps Heritage vintage buyback cards are stamped to signify their status as such.

Thank you for your order - Topps Million

This rather sparse post features another listing of cards I claimed from the Topps Million Card Giveaway - I got my e-mail and it looks like I should finally be getting my eight 'off-condition,' 'somewhat vintage but not really valuable' cards in-hand.

2010 Topps I blaster recap

2010 Topps I blaster box [$19.99 each at Target] - I don't usually pay attention to Topps blaster boxes once they've been out on the retail shelves and see them as decaying stock.

However, I picked up a blaster box when I spotted one or two last weekend among the two Targets I usually go to - I've read in a forum thread that these blasters with the two Target exclusive Topps retro variation packs might not really be easy to find since they've been out on shelves since February of 2010. Whoever is going snatch all these up has already done so, long ago.

I was really hoping to pull a Topps retro variation Buster Posey RC - though it seems like pulling any particular card out of only two Topps retro packs is really a tough deal.

Topps also made it a little more frustrating when two out of the eight cards in each pack - are the typical inserts you'd pull out of the regular packs .

Historical Commemorative Patch Card
#MCP-23 Frank Robinson - I still don't like the plain, cardboard background and the small unreadable writing on the patches of many of these cards; sadly this probably my best pull.

Pack one
#149 Jose Guillen
#270 Michael Brantley
#300 Chase Utley
#302 Beantown Backhand
#HOTG 9 Lou Gehrig - History of the Game
#TMC-10 Topps Million - I dreaded picking up a 2010 Topps blaster knowing The Million Card Giveaway was already over and now I'm just waiting for the cards I claimed to be shipped to me.
#TTT 23 C.C. Sabathia - ToppsTown
#11 Ty Wigginton

Pack nine - Throwback pack #1
#35 Rick Porcello
#128 Garrett Mock
#277 Jarrod Washburn
#237 Brew Crew Knockout
#306 Milton Bradley
#LL-4 Lou Gehrig / Mark Teixeira - Legendary Lineage
#TTT-12 Miguel Tejada - ToppsTown
#218 Fernando Martinez

Pack 10 - Throwback pack #2
#81 Ryan Theriot
#176 Yovani Gallardo
#267 Cito Gaston
#196 Ian Desmond
#268 Juan Pierre
#TR-14 Kevin Youkilis - Turkey Red
#TTT5 Evan Longoria - ToppsTown
#165 Brandon Phillips

2010 Topps Million Card Giveaway delivery confirmed...

Another picture of the list of cards - I'll now know I'll have delivered to me through the Topps Million Card Giveaway, a day or so before the promotion ends.

I figure that at the very least I'll be able to say I was one of the collectors who took part in having cards delivered from this promotion - instead of just blowing it off and choosing not be part of the collective.

I think the best part of the promotion was being able to trade the virtual cards before having the option to have them delivered - I didn't have anything special and I didn't get any substantial offers, but I was always checking every day to see if someone had offered me a really valuable old-timey Topps card for my drecks.

Maybe I should have kept my 1950s cards, though I'll still have one 1961 Topps common to show for my Million Card endeavors - from the original 'list' of cards I thought about having delivered, I think I already had a 1969 Topps Larry Dierker [found in a dollar scrap bin and eventually autographed TTM] and I was able to trade that for a 1972 Topps Burt Hooton multiplayer rookie card.

2010 Topps Million Card Giveaway delivery?

I only had 14 card in my Topps Million account and I'm thinking about taking delivery of the eight listed above - cards I'm leaving behind include a 1980 Topps Ken Brett, 1985 Topps Orlando Mercado, 1985 Topps Bob Forsch, 1986 Topps Gary Carter, 2002 Topps Rico Brogna and a 2005 Topps Sean Casey.

2010 Topps Million Card Giveaway trades - 1958 Don Cardwell and 1961 Ted Lepcio

I may have been the last person on Topps Million to find I actually had trade offers for cards I have in my collection - I ended up trading the 1956 Topps Glen Gorbous I had for a 1958 Topps Don Cardwell and a 1961 Ted Lepcio.

I don't know the logic I used in accepting the trade offer - while Gorbous was the oldest card I have at Topps Million, all three cards involved in the virutal trade were not worth much at all, so why not trade a single 1950s era card for two cards [one card still from the 50s and one card from the 60s].

The Topps Million Card Giveaway promotion ends in about a month or so - I wish I had a Stephen Strasburg or Mickey Mantle Topps card I could attempt to get in-hand, but oh well.

If I did want to get the cards I have in my collection in-hand however - what is the difference getting the cards from eBay instead of Topps?

If I actually wanted my Cardwell and/or Lepcio in-hand, I might as well snatch them up on eBay - it isn't like I'm going to be getting better condition cards through the Topps Million promotion.

2010 Topps Million Card Giveaway Results - 1986 Topps Gary Carter and 2002 Topps Rico Brogna

I pulled two Million Card Giveaway code cards from my last Topps blaster box break from the previous post and was going to hold off since the cards are fun to redeem if you are looking for a couple of minutes of boredom to kill - I did get the itch to put the codes into the system sooner than I thought, even though it looks like it was spitting out crap cards [well at least crap cards from the last 20-25 years instead of cards from the last 35 years or so].

My first card was a 1986 Topps Gary Carter - he is the only Hall of Famer I have in my collection at Million Card Web site, though the card is still an 1986 Topps card and I picked up a few 1986 Topps star cards [Ryne Sandberg, George Brett, Mike Schmidt] a show for a dime each several months ago.

My second card was a 2002 Topps Rico Brogna - I thought I was actually looking for a Brogna card, though it is a 2001 Fleer Tradition card that may not actually exist, so scratch that notion.

2010 Topps Million Card Giveaway Results

I busted two jumbo packs of 2010 Topps Update and pulled an off-center Stephen Strasburg rookie card, which seem to be an otherwise common pull - among the other cards were a couple Million Card Giveaway code cards [one from each pack].

I don't know much about Glen Gorbous but his 1956 Topps card is the oldest out of the six I redeemed this year - he apparently was a journeyman outfielder [deceased] from Canada who holds the record for the most longest throw of a baseball.

Don Baylor was a decent player who won the American League MVP in 1979 with the then California Angels - he has also gotten a little bit of experience in the Major Leagues as a hitting coach and manager. Baylor was named by Kirk Gibson to be the hitting coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011.

Another 2010 Topps II Jumbo Pack recap

2010 Topps Topps II Value Pack [$4.99 x1 at Target] - I was disappointed I pulled a Million Card Giveaway code card and end up with a 2005 Topps Sean Casey...what a crock.

Top compartment

#509 Todd Helton

#464 Francisco Liriano
#391 Manny Parra

#397 Colorado Rockies - featuring Troy Tulowitzki
#577 Jason Jaramillo
#375 Mike Leake

#636 Celeb "Rays" tion Time - featuring Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton
#467 Fausto Carmona
#572 Clay Buchholz
#377 Felix Hernandez
#564 Houston Astros
Jason Bay Topps Attax
#614 Kelly Johnson
#660 Brandon McCarthy
#585 Dioner Navarro
#631 Marc Rzepczynski
#519 Alexi Casilla

#621 Aaron Cook

Bottom compartment - first part of the jumbo I actually busted through.

#607 Ubaldo Jimenez - after pulling four Colorado Rockies cards, it figures I don't show the card picturing the ace of the team's staff.
#344 Brett Myers
#394 Luis Castillo
#547 Brett Gardner
#649 Casey McGehee

#471 Drew Butera
#452 Allen Craig
#510 Arizona Diamondbacks to Back Jacks checklist - featuring Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds
#640 Matt Diaz

#CMT-75 Rod Carew
#HWS 7 Mel Ott
#PP-82 Yogi Berra

#TR-78 Dan Haren
#346 Taylor Teagarden
#420 Shin-Soo Choo
#448 Joakim Soria
#529 Carlos Lee

Target binge - leads to a couple of Topps Million Card Giveaway redemptions

I picked up a 2010 Topps 'Honus Wagner' cereal box [$9.99 each at Target], a 2010 Topps jumbo pack [$4.99 each at Target] and a 2010 Upper Deck Fat Pack [$4.99 each at Target] - I thought I'd impusively pick up one of the Topps cereal boxes, since it is a half the price of a blaster and I've never busted one of these before.

I will concede, I was also looking for a Topps Million Card Giveaway redemption code card - even though the contest seems like an exercise in futility for a baseball card collector looking for what I may consider a historically valuable Topps card.

Much to my wallet's detriment however, the Topps' Million Card Giveaway promotion will probably make me - pick up one more pack, one more jumbo pack or perhaps cereal box of 2010 Topps baseball cards that I may have otherwise ignored [since the cards are plentiful and found everywhere].

Out of the cereal box - I pulled the following in addition to the typical base cards / inserts.
Legends Chrome Refractor pack
#GC-6 Tom Seaver
#TMC-3 Bob Gibson - Million Card Giveaway redemption / redeemed online for a 1971 Topps Oscar Gamble

From the jumbo pack - I pulled a Topps Million Card Giveaway redemption code card.
#TMC-4 Ichiro - Million Card Giveaway redemption / redeemed online for a 1972 Topps Ivan Murrell.

My Topps Million Card Giveaway redemption - a 1985 Topps Bob Forsch

I finally was able to redeem my lone Topps Million Card Giveaway redemption card and landed this beaut - I think the redeemed redemption card is worth more [TMC-3, picturing a 1963 Topps Bob Gibson], than the 'original' Topps card of Forsch.

I think it is going to be a tough decision, whether or not I'll actually want the card in hand - hah!