2013 Topps Mega Box recaps

These were $14.98 each at Walmart - I lured myself into buying a couple of boxes, not knowing what could be in the Chrome packs and hoping for the best.

I guess it's nice to rip something - when I feel like I'd rather cut back much of the time.

Box one

Topps Chrome Update packs

Pack one
#MB-34 Brian Wilson
#MB-26 Jake Peavy
#MB-10 Chris Archer
#MB-3 Matt Harvey - All-Star subset

Pack two
#MB-15 Michael Cuddyer - Home Run Derby subset
#MB-29 David Wright - Home Run Derby subset
#MB-42 Wil Myers
#PH-16 Nolan Ryan - Postseason Heroes insert

Regular Topps Update - eight card packs

Pack one
#US 245 James Shields
#US 113 Samuel Deduno
#US 6 Joel Peralta
#MM 39 Kevin Gausman - Making their Mark insert
#PH-7 Reggie Jackson - Postseason Heroes insert
#US 228 Matt Moore
#US 202 Yoenis Cespedes - checklist
#US 130  Jesse Chavez

Pack two
#US 259 Nolan Arenado
#US 44 Jason Bay
#US 233 Anthony Rendon
#TM 2 Babe Ruth - 1971 Topps mini insert; it seems par for the course for me to pull Babe Ruth cards from Topps releases over the last several years, I kind of just file them away somewhere like he's just another guy.
#US 326 Jake Peavy
#US 86 Chad Gaudin
#US 196 Brayan Pena
#US 194 Xavier Paul

Pack three
#US 266 Jed Lowrie
#US 32 Adeiny Hechavarria
#US 161 Jim Henderson
#US 4 Matt Adams
#FF-6 Shelby Miller / Bob Gibson - Franchise Forerunners insert
#US-190 Steve Delabar
#US-238 Eric Young Jr.
#US-174 Jose Mijares

Pack four
#US 287 Brandon Morrow
#US 97 Alexi Amarista
#US 121 Jason Frasor
#US 198 Brian Bogusevic
#CH-124 Joey Votto - Chasing History insert
#US 214 Jean Segura - All-Star subset
#US 92 Jeanmar Gomez
#US 199 Juan Lagares

Pack five
#US 69 Martin Perez
#US 29 Scott Van Slyke
#US 246 Don Kelly
#US 134 Justin Verlander
#PH 16 Nolan Ryan - Postseason Heroes insert
#US 12 Brandon Phillips - All-Star subset
#US 89 Michael Pineda
#US 320 Chris Archer

Box two

Topps Chrome Update packs

Pack one
#MB-1 Robinson Cano - Home Run Derby subset
#MB-20 Gerrit Cole 
#MB-31 James Shields
#MB-50 Francisco Liriano - Gold refractor serial #'d 103/250

Pack two
#MB-43 Mariano Rivera - All-Star subset
#MB-54 Chris Davis - Home Run Derby subset
#MB-40 Oswaldo Arcia
#PH-5 Greg Maddux - Postseason Heroes insert

Regular Topps Update - eight card packs

Pack one
#US 39 Shin-Soo Choo
#US 84 Stephen Drew
#US 128 Bartolo Colon - All-Star subset
#US 20 Carlos Gomez - Gold parallel serial #'d 0452/2013
#TM 43 Frank Thomas - 1971 Topps mini insert
#US 296 Joe Nathan - All-Star subset
#US 291 Logan Schafer
#US 277 Sonny Gray

Pack two 
#US 29 Scott Van Slyke
#US 246 Don Kelly
#US 198 Brian Bogusevic
#US 53 Craig Kimbrel - Gold parallel serial #'d 0749/2013
#TM 9 Robinson Cano - 1971 Topps mini insert
#US 296 Joe Nathan
#US 199 Juan Lagares
#US 89 Michael Pineda

Pack three
#US 39 Shin-Soo Choo
#US 84 Stephen Drew
#US 134 Justin Verlander - All-Star subset
#US 310 Boone Logan - Emerald Foil parallel; 1:6
#FF 8 Nolan Ryan / Yu Darvish - Franchise Forerunners insert
#US 294 Chris Denorfia 
#US 320 Chris Archer
#US 291 Logan Schafer

Pack four
#US 195 Chris Johnson
#US 99 Derrick Robinson
#US 102 Christian Friedrich
#US 128 Bartolo Colon
#CH 104 Nomar Garciaparra - Chasing History insert
#US 41 Dan Haren
#US 277 Sonny Gray
#US 138 Danny Salazar

Pack five 
#US 156 Laynce Nix
#US 38 Denard Span
#US 284 Stephen Pryor
#US 197 Josh Collmenter
#MM 36 Carlos Martinez - Making Their Mark insert
#US 317 Oswaldo Arcia
#US 148 Ben Zobrist
#US 248 Jason Grilli 

2013 Topps Series II retail jumbo pack recap

The tip of the blue Sharpie I've used for autographing endeavors was getting fat and I lost the only ballpoint pen I've used to get baseballs signed - I was sort of in a rushed state so I tried to find if they had any of the pens I needed at a Walmart, but I couldn't immediately find the two types of pens I needed.

I ended up ended up with a retail jumbo pack for $4.98 of Topps Series II - it seems like card releases have been slow, so I wasn't really paying attention when Topps Series II came out on shelves.

Top section

#423 Miguel Gonzalez
#614 B.J. Upton

#630 Andy Dirks
#602 Anibal Sanchez
#610 Brandon Beachy
#621 Steve Cishek
#654 Brandon Barnes
#359 C.C. Sabathia
#551 Wellington Castillo

#418 Evan Gattis
#382 Jackie Bradley Jr.
#577 Matt Harvey
#609 Scott Baker
#409 Logan Morrison
#539 Phil Coke
#356 Greg Dobbs
#466 Jerome Williams

Bottom section
#559 Travis Snider
#547 Glen Perkins
#600 Mariano Rivera
#587 Matt Cain
#CH-87 Lance Lynn - Chasing History foil insert
#CH-80 Yu Darvish - Chasing History foil insert
#359 C.C. Sabathia - Walmart blue parallel

#387 Jean Segura - Walmart blue parallel
#475 Garrett Jones - Walmart blue parallel
#TM-64 David Price - 1972 Topps Mini insert
CH-75 Dustin Pedroia - Chasing History insert
#538 Phil Coke - Emerald Foil
#344 Kris Medlen - Gold parallel serial #'d 0200/2013
#WBC-8 Justin Morneau - World Baseball Classic insert
"2nd Chance" Vintage Card Giveaway info card
#393 Andres Torres
#463 Jason Hammel

#566 C.J. Wilson
#378 Joe Kelly
#554 R.A. Dickey

2012 Topps Heritage retail jumbo pack recaps

2012 Topps Heritage 16-card jumbo pack [$5.29 each x2 at Target] - I'm tempted to look for Heritage when it first comes out because it's popular with collectors as a [set-building baseball card product] and I don't want to miss out [even though I'm not likely to build the set].

In most years, Topps Heritage just doesn't do it for me and I'm not inclined to pick up anymore of it after securing a jumbo pack or two, maybe a blaster or two or three - maybe I'll try to look for the young players [maybe less than two years MLB experience] and 'recent rookies' within the set, guys who don't have have a run of multiple base Heritage cards [like veteran players] over the years.

First pack

Top section
#386 2012 Rookie Stars - featuring Jesus Montero, Andrew Brackman, Austin Romine and Dellin Betances.
#295 Cory Luebke
#409 Jair Jurrjens
#320 Zack Greinke
#346 Santiago Casilla
#15 Darwin Barney

#335 Bobby Abreu - I assume the cartoon on the back was sacrificed to put Abreu's entire MLB career stats.
#172 Yadier Molina
#218 Tigers Twirlers - featuring Jose Valverde and Justin Verlander.

Bottom section
#265 2012 Rookie Stars - featuring Adron Chambers, Steve Lombardozzi, Tim Federowicz and Brad Peacock.
#281 Jason Marquis
#51 Alex Gordon
#90 Joey Votto
#26 Scott Baker

#480 Carlos Gonzalez - SP
#23 Ned Yost

Second pack

Top section
#181 Brent Morel

#392 Tribe Thumpers - featuring the backside of Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana.
#215 B.J. Upton
#418 Johnny Damon - I assume the cartoon on the back was sacrificed to put Damon's entire MLB career stats.
#341 Ryan Madson

#BF-SK Sandy Koufax - Baseball Flashbacks insert
#270 Nate Schierholtz
#321 2012 Rookie Stars - featuring Nate Spears, Corey Brown, Drew Pomeranz and Adron Chambers.

#247 Jarrod Parker

Bottom section
#146 Mike Napoli
#319 Adam Jones
#232 Kevin Youkilis

#290 Albert Pujols
#399 Mike Minor

#43 James Shields - Stick-Ons insert
#13 Philadelphia Phillies Team card