2011 Topps Lineage Value Pack recap

2011 Topps Lineage value pack [$4.99 each at a Target] - all I can say is busting a lone value pack isn't as much fun as ripping through a blaster of Lineage.

Top section
#90 Tris Speaker
#97 Aaron Hill
#103 Joey Votto
#163 Jered Weaver - Diamond Anniversary shiny parallel
#181 Frank Thomas
#197 Andre Dawson
#23 Carlos Zambrano

Bottom section
#4 Buster Posey
#60 Reggie Jackson
#69 Jayson Werth
#78 Dan Uggla
#108 Hank Aaron
#164 Brandon Beachy
#177 Phil Hughes
#2 of 4 Checklist

2011 Bowman Platinum Value Pack recap

2011 Bowman Platinum value pack [$8.99 each at a Target] - I was looking for a cardboard fix, so I tried another 2011 Bowman Platinum value pack.

Pack one - the cards are facing from the back.
#66 Dustin Pedroia
#58 Clayton Kershaw
#BPP 71 Johermyn Chavez - x-fractor
Filler card
#2 of 2 Checklist

Pack two
#55 Michael Pineda

#45 Torii Hunter
#BPP 55 David Cooper
Filler card
#64 Hunter Pence

Pack three
#53 David Ortiz

#65 Albert Pujols
#BPP 96 Christian Colon - x-fractor
Filler card
#17 Ryan Braun
#2 of 2 Checklist

Purple refractor pack
#BPP 18 Zack Cox
#BPP 28 Shaeffer Hall

#BPP 91 Kaleb Cowart

2011 Bowman Platinum Value Pack recap #2

Value pack two

Pack one
#59 Justin Morneau
#73 Ryan Zimmerman
#BPP 17 Kolbin Vitek - x-fractor
Filler card
#49 Joe Mauer
Retail checklist 2 of 2

Pack two
#86 Chipper Jones
#27 Jake McGee
#BPP 18 Zack Cox
Filler card
#53 David Ortiz

Pack three
#42 Ubaldo Jimenez
#72 Tim Lincecum
#BPP 95 Matt Lipka - x-fractor
Filler card
#33 Madison Bumgarner
Retail checklist 2 of 2

Purple refractor pack - more dusty white substance on the cards.
#BPP 81 Cesar Puello
#BPP 11 Kyle Seager
#BPP 75 Sean Coyle

2011 Bowman Platinum Value Pack recap #1

2011 Bowman Platinum Value Pack [$8.98 x2 purchased at Walmart] - four cards in a pack/three packs and a bonus pack of three Platinum Purple refractors in a 'rack.'

I like Bowman Platinum because it is a MLB licensed trading card product with prospect cards - like what I said last year, it gives me some options besides the typical Bowman / Bowman Chrome / Bowman Draft offerings from Topps.

Compared to last year's Bowman Platinum - the 2011 version seems so much nicer looking in hand.

Bowman Platinum might not ever be confused for a super premium product like Bowman Sterling, but the Bowman Platinum cards stand out on their own - with a shiny and have a refractor finish, this year's cards almost reminds me of 2002 Topps Gold Label cards, except the design is a little cleaner.

Value pack one - I'll have the recap from my second 'rack' in another post.

Pack one - the cards are facing from the back.
#64 Hunter Pence
#75 Josh Hamilton
#BPP 81 Cesar Puello
Filler card
#95 Kyle Drabek

Pack two
#47 Cory Luebke
#91 Troy Tulowitzki - green foil?
#BPP 32 Dustin Ackley
Filler card

#56 Jered Weaver

Pack three
#37 Josh Johnson

#9 Derek Jeter - red foil?
#BPP 41 Delino Deshields [Jr.]
Filler card
#30 Felix Hernandez

Purple refractor pack - these cards had a dusty white substance all over them; maybe Topps wanted these to help out autograph collectors and degloss these cards.

#BPP 78 Brad Holt

#BPP 23 Josh Zeid
#BPP 86 Tim Beckham

2011 Topps Series II retail jumbo pack recap 2 of 2

Top section
#391 Phil Coke
#581 Fernando Rodney
#338 Jason Hammel
#481 Randy Wells
#519 Corey Hart
#547 Albert Pujols - checklist 5 of 5
#543 Texas Rangers team card
#471 Tim Collins
#638 Ryan Madson
#534 Bud Norris
#TDG-15 Troy Tulowitzki - Topps Diamond Giveaway; unlocked a 2005 Topps Kansas City Royals team card, so this code card was a dud.

#DS-5 Joey Votto - Diamond Stars insert; reminds me of Pacific Baseball inserts from the mid 1990s.
#520 Jorge Posada
#435 Elvis Andrus
#462 Daric Barton
#371 Taylor Teagarden
#456 Ryan Doumit

Bottom section
#658 Mitch Maier
#636 Chris Tillman
#428 Brett Myers
#446 Brandon Beachy
#394 Austin Jackson
#503 Nathan Adcock
#418 Zach Britton
#631 Houston Astros team card
#360 Ivan Rodriguez
#367 Hiroki Kuruda - Platinum Diamond parallel
#DD-22 Troy Tulowitzki / Ubaldo Jimenez - Diamond Duos insert

#KC-55 Stan Musial - Kimball Champions insert

#60YOT-68 Harmon Killebrew - 60 Years of Topps insert
#T60-83 Hunter Pence - Topps 60 insert
#486 Francisco Rodriguez
#467 Wade Davis
#530 Felix Hernandez
#438 Ryan Theriot
#362 Doug Fister

2011 Topps Series II retail jumbo pack recap 1 of 2

Top section
#484 Geraldo Parra
#504 Jhonny Peralta
#640 Dan Uggla
#623 Leo Nunez
#526 Jason Donald
#617 Joel Zumaya
#512 Octavio Dotel
#491 Fernando Abad

#363 Aaron Rowand
#366 Joe Nathan
#516 Mike Leake
#TT2-42 Torii Hunter - ToppsTown insert
#557 Wes Helms
#448 Colby Rasmus
#399 Adam Moore
#599 Travis Ishikawa
#585 Dan Johnson

Bottom section
#337 Jordan Walden
#507 Huston Street
#423 Hideki Okajima
#473 Chad Billingsley
#544 Justin Masterson
#563 Josh Rodriguez
#639 Pedro Beato
#361 Florida Marlins team card
#405 Ian Kinsler
#659 Clint Barmes - Platinum Diamond parallel
#DD-9 Adrian Beltre / Elvis Andrus - Diamond Duos insert

#KC-95 Lou Gehrig - Kimball Champion insert
#60YOT-100 Wade Boggs - 60 Years of Topps insert
#T60-62 Mike Stanton - Topps 60 insert
#402 Jack Cust
#621 Omar Beltre
#450 Mark Teixeira
#650 Josh Hamilton
#570 Matt Cain

2011 Topps Heritage jumbo pack - recap

2011 Topps Heritage jumbo [$4.99 each at Target] - splurged on some retail mainly to beat the blues.

Top section
#368 J.P. Arencibia
#46 Cole Hamels
#303 Daric Barton
#24 Detroit Tigers team card
#129 Carlos Quentin

#456 Jeff Keppinger SP
#142 Coaching the Dodgers - Babe Ruth
#393 Hanley Ramirez
#96 Jered Weaver

Bottom section
#136 Babe Joins Yanks
#334 Tampa Bay Rays team card
#51 AL Batting Leaders
#88 Joe Girardi
#353 Neil Walker

#128 Joel Pineiro
#242 Manny Acta

2011 Topps Heritage blaster recap

2011 Topps Heritage blaster box [$19.99 at a Target] - my biggest complaint against Heritage is despite the massive appeal, most of the cards I'll pull, are base cards I'll be able to find out of someone's common boxes later.

This is probably the case for most average pack or blaster breaks, but maybe I assume busting Heritage is a little more special than busting the latest baseball card offering from Topps - at times the cheesy inserts I may or may not pull in Topps Heritage are often times boring and I'm not sure what to make of the Heritage line.

Pack one
#48 C.C. Sabathia
#324 Tommy Hunter
#276 Darwin Barney
#21 Carl Pavano
#264 Jeff Niemann
#BF-9 Frank Robinson - Baseball Flashbacks insert
#3 David Ortiz
#8 John Danks

Pack two
#71 Jonathan Sanchez
#344 Fernando Salas
#245 Jason Bartlett
#207 C.J. Wilson
#C44 Casey Coleman - Chrome parallel serial #'d 0670/1962

#194 Jordan Walden
#300 Carl Crawford
#230 Francisco Liriano
#143 Babe's Pitching Record
Checklist 3 of 6

Pack three
#288 Mike Stanton
#146 Placido Polanco
#105 Max Scherzer
#86 Alex Presley
#460 Justin Verlander

- SP
#108 Matt Kemp
#365 Howie Kendrick
#99 Brandon Snyder
#404 Mark Trumbo - between my blister pack break and this blaster box break, I'm happy I pulled the four base cards of the Angels rookies [Hank Conger, Walden, Andrew Romine and Trumbo] out of the 2011 Topps Heritage set.

Pack four
#11 Joe Nathan
#10 Andrew McCutchen
#396 Carlos Gonzalez
#79 Jordan Zimmerman
#334 Tampa Bay Rays
#C73 Sabathia Tosses a Curve - Black refractor parallel serial #'d 17/62
#145 Dallas Braden
#403 Jonathan Papelbon
#67 Zach Duke

Pack five
#291 Bobby Cramer - it must be nice for the former independent league pitcher to get a Major League rookie card after making his Major League debut in 2010.
#51 2010 American League Batting Leaders
#303 Daric Barton
#332 Alcides Escobar

#NAP-4 Roy Halladay - New Age Performer insert
#243 A.J. Burnett
#268 Ervin Santana
#371 Victor Martinez
#28 Vernon Wells

Pack six
#101 Jacoby Ellsbury
#354 Hunter Pence
#24 Detroit Tigers
#246 Andrew Bailey
#488 Koji Uehara
#187 Jon Lester
#167 Wilson Ramos - here is a story about Ramos' ascent to the Major Leagues.
#414 Jarrod Dyson
#304 Brett Myers

Pack seven
#227 Cliff Lee
#256 Ruben Tejada
#139 Babe Hits 60
#103 Brandon Phillips
#TN-5 Mickey Mantle / Prince Fielder - Then and Now insert
#75 Chris Tillman
#338 Brett Gardner
#134 Brett Cecil
#423 Fear the Beard - Brian Wilson and Buster Posey

Pack eight
#184 Kurt Suzuki
#386 Michael Cuddyer
#210 Evan Meek
#129 Carlos Quentin
#NF-5 U.S. Navy Seals Are Activated - News Flashbacks insert
#137 Babe and Mgr. Huggins
#383 Daniel Hudson
#13 Cliff Pennington
#265 Derrek Lee

2010 Bowman Platinum Value Pack recap

2010 Bowman Platinum Value Pack [$8.99 x1 purchased at Target] - four cards in a pack/three packs and a bonus pack of three Platinum Purple refractors in a 'rack.'

I like these cards because it gives me another product to chase some base/cheap refractor parallel cards of prospects / rookies - when Bowman/Bowman Chrome/Bowman Draft lines get a little boring as far as how the cards look in general.

Maybe the inclusion of USA players in this product is too much overkill - especially when Topps is angling to put amateur players in a baseball card product strictly for profit [and perhaps not as a fundraiser for USA Baseball].

Maybe 2010 draft picks / 2010 pro debut guys or even the addition of baseball's chosen one would been much better for this product - but I guess Topps has to milk its USA license to make trading cards.

Pack one
#23 Carlos Santana
#86 Mike Stanton
#PP 48 George Springer - USA
#18 Buster Posey

Pack two
#100 David Wright
#55 Wade Davis - Gold refractor parallel / serial #'d 132/549
#PP 3 Jeremy Hellickson
#81 Gordon Beckham

Pack three
#31 Brian Matusz
#94 Justin Morneau
#PP 40 Mikie Mahtook - USA
#6 Domonic Brown

Bonus refractor pack
#PP 43 Brett Mooneyham
#PP 10 Aroldis Chapman
#PP34 Jason Esposito

2008 Topps series one blaster break

2008 Topps Series 1 Target blaster with one three-card Target exclusive bonus pack [$4.99 each] - I was browsing through the blasters and briefly saw this for $4.99, marked down from $9.99.

2008 Topps was a 'meh' product - but who knows what I can pull from any unopened box of cards. I also like the feeling of busting any unopened box [even though it maybe no better than a 'fat pack'] for $5.

Bonus pack - T-205 style retro design, according to this Cardboard Junkie post.
#TCP 4 Luke Hochevar
#TCP 9 Joba Chamberlain - looks like someone pressed hard in the middle, leaving a crease.
#TCP 3 Matt Holliday

Pack one [10 cards per pack]
#107 Shawn Green - was this his last regular issue Topps card?
#209 Andy Phillips
#327 NL League Leaders strikeouts - Jake Peavy/Aaron Harang and John Smoltz

#198 Shannon Stewart - Green and Stewart were the two up-and-comers in the Toronto Blue Jays' outfield towards the late 1990s, just a couple of seasons before the arrival of Vernon Wells.
#167 Jason Hirsh
#185 Yunel Escobar

#OTG 21 Jake Peavy - Own the Game insert
David Wright Topps of the Class - blah, blah, blah
#86 Scott Podsednik

#93 Kenny Lofton - sometimes I think 1992 was just a few years ago, but reality says it was 17 years ago when a friend and I called a card shop to see what the value of a Lofton minor league card [out of a pack as opposed to a team set] was [apparently around $3 back then].

#72 Mike Piazza - this must have been my 'super veterans' pack; I don't realize how the years have flown by and how long someone like Green, Stewart, Lofton and Piazza had played professionally.

Pack two

#4 Rick Ankiel - - I'm not too impressed with the off-centered image and how Ankiel's face is sort of obscured.
#19 Robinson Tejeda#324 NL League Leaders saves - Jose Valverde/Chad Cordero/Trevor Hoffman
#127 Steve Pearce - was looking for a card of this guy in 2008 to get signed in-person.
#197 Melky Cabrera
#48 Zach Duke
#AR 46 Derek Jeter - 50th Anniversary all-star rookie team insert
#C08-BO Barack Obama - candidates insert; the 'first' card of the leader of the free world would have been a more interesting pull when he was still on the campaign trail.
#121 Mike Cameron
#308 Felipe Lopez

Pack three
#206 Geoff Jenkins

#112 Jacque Jones - despite struggling to do anything in 2008, he has been a 'decent' Major League player; he was a 1996 U.S. Olympian and like Jenkins, went to USC.
#326 NL League Leaders BA - Matt Holliday/Chipper Jones/Hanley Ramirez
#273 Rafael Soriano
#162 Andy LaRoche

#252 Dmitri Young - battled through lots of personal problems; he and his brother were the showcase of a baseball documentary shown on the MLB Network.

#MHR511 Mickey Mantle - home run card insert.
Topps All-Star rookie - promo/info card
#169 Adam Lind
#119 Jeremy Hermida - maybe some proof that careers of top prospects like Hermida are more up-and-down than meteoric.

#104 Kevin Youkilis - points to a teammate who likely hit a home run; a hot dog vendor in the background claps his hand to celebrate as well. Youkilis seems like the toughest hitter to face on the Boston Red Sox, because the count seems like it is 2-0 once he steps up to bat. He fouls off a ton of pitches, works the count and BAM, he hits an extra-base hit or a home run.

Pack four
#225 Hunter Pence
#77 Angel Guzman
#261 Josh Barfield
#106 Josh Bard
#149 Hochevar
#195 Todd Helton#YR 7 A-Roid - Year in Review insert
#41 Rich Aurilia
#92 Ross Detwiler
#29 Anibal Sanchez

Pack five
#251 Dan Johnson
#12 Jason Bartlett
#247 Edgar Gonzalez
#88 Jack Cust
#6 Felix Pie
#321 J.R. Towles
#FS 1 Kazuo Uzuki - if he actually existed, would he be on Japan's World Baseball Classic roster?
#115 Johan Santana
#250 Jonathan Papelbon
#210 Mark Teahen