2014 Topps Series I Trout jumbo pack recap

During a week long sojourn in Arizona, my buddy and I stopped at a Surprise Walmart - when I saw there were 2014 Topps Series I jumbo packs still hanging up at the trading card section, I dug around to see if there was one marked with an exclusive Mike Trout card inside.

I've never heard of a 2014 Topps Mike Trout card available in Topps I Walmart jumbo packs until I read the Angels in Order blog - I was vaguely aware of the particular Trout card, though I thought it was just another base card variation / short print.

I actually spotted one marked pack and started taking the packs off the hanger to grab the 'Trout' pack - I do wonder why the card was only available in Walmart packs and why Topps had to mark the pack the card was actually in?

Maybe it would have been better if the cards were randomly inserted into unmarked packs - so the allure of the hunt remains instead of a certain number of packs being poached while the rest remain unsold on the shelves.

Maybe Topps should have created a more unique bonus card - besides the image, the Trout photo variation card doesn't really feel like it's all that jazzy

I was also thinking that a special Trout card should be one per pack instead of this wild-goose chase - but that would make the cards more 'bargain box' fodder, than something to fish for.

Top section
#35 Trevor Cahill
#182 Carlos Ruiz
#57 Yadier Molina
#123 James Paxton
#301 Shane Victorino
#47 Chris Davis
#218 Matt Dominguez
#61 Nick Markakis
#224 Michael Saunders
#231 J.R. Murphy - Gold parallel serial #'d 1976/2014
#1 Mike Trout
#248 Travis d'Arnaud
#282 Rex Brothers
#8 Coco Crisp
#173 Brandon League
#134 Josh Donaldson
#211 Dioner Navarro
#268 Don Kelly

Bottom section
#252 Kevin Pillar
#288 Julio Teheran
#292 Aaron Hill
#143 2013 National League Runs Batted in Leaders - feat. Paul Goldschmidt, Freddie Freeman and Jay Bruce
#259 David Ortiz
#321 Mariano Rivera - Green parallel
#UC-45 Ryne Sandberg - Upper Class insert
#FN-18 Wil Myers - The Future is Now insert
#RCT-3 Joe Morgan - Topps All Rookie Cup team insert
#1 Mike Trout - Gatorade bath SP
#289 Matt Thornton - Walmart blue parallel
#102 Matt Lindstrom - Walmart blue parallel
#238 Alberto Callaspo
#151 Bruce Chen
#236 Joel Peralta
#256 Abraham Almonte
#75 Brandon Barnes
#209 Carlos Quentin

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

2013 Topps Heritage retail jumbo pack recap

Maybe the card stock is a little thinner and the cards don't have the same texture and feel as Heritage cards from other years - the cards seem a little cleaner in-hand and the images are a little sharper than in previous years [where Topps would doctor the images for a 'faux' retro look].

Top section

#267 Marco Estrada
#159 Desmond Jennings
#233 Jeremy Hellickson
#389 Frank Francisco
#175 Alfonso Soriano
#80 Jay Bruce

#BF-SS Shea Stadium - Baseball Flashbacks insert
#106 Mike Leake
#364 Russell Martin

#26 Angel Pagan - not quite a star but after bouncing around early in his MLB career, he helped the San Francisco Giants win the 2012 World Series and has established himself as a borderline All-Star talent.

Bottom Section

#14 Josh Wall / Paco Rodriguez - 2013 Rookie Stars
#420 Bronson Arroyo
#344 Andrew Bailey
#133 Chris Perez
#53 Tyler Pastornicky
#333 Mike Minor
#124 Ryan Cook
#401 Alex Presley

#423 Matt Cain / Buster Posey - Tops in NL subset
#223 James Loney

2012 Topps Allen and Ginter's jumbo pack recap

2012 Topps Allen and Ginter's Jumbo Pack [$5.19 each at a Target] - I could probably pick up a hand collated set on Ebay, but I haven't gone into the site in a while since I don't use Paypal.

I might have to use primitive and more expensive ways of gathering 2012 Allen and Ginter's base cards for my in-person autograph endeavors - which is through loose pack purchases and maybe digging around quarter boxes.

Top section
#52 Cameron Maybin
#196 Lou Gehrig
#20 Miguel Montero
#160 Shane Victorino
#240 Steve Lombardozzi - mini
#WIN 37 Jason Heyward - What's in a Name? insert

Bottom section
#249 Phil Hughes
#239 Liam Hendriks
#241 Andrew Bailey
#304 Kyle Farnsworth - SP
#GS-13 Gray Whale - Giants of the Deep mini
#WT-B7 Chrysler Building - World's Tallest Buildings insert

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

2012 Topps Series I blaster recap

I picked a blaster of 2012 Topps Series I from Target though I keep saying to myself - 'even though I've 'sworn off' eBay during the last several months, I can probably pick up different assortments of 2012 Topps cards [complete sets, complete insert sets, team sets, lots, etc] for about the same price as this lone blaster.'

Commemorative Patch pack
#HS-DM Don Mattingly

Pack one
#141 Brandon Belt
#195 Ben Zobrist
#GM-26 Paul O'Neill - Golden Moments insert
#GF-20 Mike Moustakas - Gold Futures insert
#175 Jared Hughes
#80 David Price
#255 Scott Rolen
#243 Justin De Fratus

Pack two
#174 Yadier Molina
#18 Jose Altuve
#GG-13 Willie Mays - Golden Greats insert
#98 Domonic Brown
#213 Alex Avila
#244 Sergio Santos
#109 Mariano Rivera - All-Time Saves Leader
#156 2011 NL Wins Leaders - featuring Ian Kennedy / Clayton Kershaw and Roy Halladay

Pack three
#7 Mickey Mantle
#84 Brian Matusz
#111 Kevin Slowey
#TM-37 C.C. Sabathia -1987 Topps mini insert
#GGC-5 Matt Kemp - Golden Giveaway code card / unlocked a Roy Halladay virtual coin
#42 Drew Pomeranz
#199 Adam Dunn
#113 Craig Kimbrell - checklist

Pack four
#38 Felipe Paulino
#25 Neil Walker
#296 Brayan Pena - Golden Moments parallel
#TT-15 Bob Gibson / Roy Halladay - Timeless Talents insert
#221 Luke Gregerson
#12 Wilson Ramos
#269 Jason Vargas
#128 Lucas Duda

Pack five
#236 Jose Tabata
#CW-5 Jay Bruce - Classic Walkoffs insert
#GM-10 Prince Fielder - Golden Moments insert
#205 Justin Masterson
#56 Geovany Soto
#143 George Kottaras
#231 Dexter Fowler
#170 Jacoby Ellsbury

Pack six
#256 Mat Latos
#145 Billy Butler
#116 A.J. Pierzynski
#GG-5 Lou Gehrig - Golden Greats insert
#GS-9 Willie McCovey - Gold Standard insert
#24 Ike Davis
#104 Brett Anderson
#53 St. Louis Cardinals - 2011 World Series Game #7 featuring Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman

Pack seven
#200 Miguel Cabrera
#246 Bud Norris
#TM-23 Dustin Pedroia - 1987 Topps mini insert
#GF-10 Craig Kimbrel - Gold Futures insert
#222 Chris Coghlan
#110 Mark Teixeira
#48 Wade Davis
#91 Active AL Home Run Leaders - featuring A-Rod, Jim Thome and Jason Giambi

Pack eight
#85 Jason Heyward
#144 Marlon Byrd
#31 Brent Morel - Golden Moments parallel
#50 Adrian Gonzalez
#318 Erik Bedard
#68 Jason Hammel
#29 Active NL Wins Leaders - featuring Livan Hernandez, Roy Oswalt and Randy Wolf
#90 Adron Chambers

Pack nine
#163 Justin Turner
#307 Vance Worley
#203 Jeff Niemann
#GM-3 Derek Jeter - Golden Moments insert
#192 Active NL Home Run Leaders - featuring Chipper Jones, Albert Pujols and Andruw Jones
#282 Ryan Raburn
#105 Paul Konerko
#292 Ben Revere

Pack 10
#140 Troy Tulowitzki
#GG-55 Hank Aaron - Golden Greats insert
#GGC-6 Albert Pujols - Golden Giveaway code card / unlocked a Stan Musial virtual coin
#108 Albert Pujols
#237 Russell Martin
#40 Tom Milone
#23 Cory Luebke
#208 Mike Leake

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