2015 Topps Stadium Club blaster recap I

I was going to pick up a blaster box of TSC and a 2015 Topps Series II blaster, but somehow I lost my Topps Series II $5 off coupon, so I went with two TSC blasters - in the battle of cards that just came out in the last week or two, I think I prefer these cards over Topps Archives since TSC seems a little more high brow [whatever that means for a baseball card product].

Unlike Topps Archives, there is one card design used for the entire 300 card set with no pesky short prints - while Archives uses three rehashed Topps designs with a short printed subset that may only serve to frustrate collectors.

The photos are sharp, though it's almost disappointing to see typical baseball images [hitting / pitching / fielding] used - since the 'unique' images really pop.

Maybe a minor complaint is the player names on front of the cards are occasionally hard to read - when the foil stamping goes over a dark part of the full bleed image used

Pack one
#135 Mike Trout
#98 Jim Rice
#159 Torii Hunter

#18 Zack Wheeler

#192 Kolten Wong

Pack two
#146 Mike Mussina
#154 J.D. Martinez
#51 Miguel Cabrera
#155 Nick Swisher

#295 Michael Taylor

Pack three 
#256 David Robertson
#178 Steve Pearce
#199 Ryan Howard
#135 Mike Trout - Gold parallel
#180 Adam LaRoche

Pack four

#277 Oswaldo Arcia

#190 Stan Musial
#134 Mitch Moreland
#133 Kenley Jansen
#76 Bo Jackson

Pack five
#293 Trevor May
#283 Aaron Sanchez

#266 Derek Jeter

#SCA-JC Jarred Cosart - certified autograph
#3 David Cone

Pack six
#224 Kendall Graveman
#197 Dalton Pompey
#238 Roberto Alomar
#223 Lorenzo Cain
#198 Cole Hamels

Pack seven
#300 Kris Bryant
#176 Matt Barnes
#99 Chase Utley
#30 Dilson Herrera - Gold parallel
#37 Carlos Ruiz

Pack eight
#68 Brooks Robinson
#93 Andy Van Slyke
#30 Dilson Herrera

#CS-16 Anthony Rendon - Contact Sheet insert
#227 Jon Singleton

Featured autograph - Clay Bellinger

I got Bellinger to sign a card for me after the California / Carolina League All-Star game - his son Cody is a Los Angeles Dodgers minor leaguer and was on the winning Cal League All-Star team.

The elder Bellinger played in all of two games for the Angels back in 2002 - the first thought that came to my head when the Angels signed him was the team wasn't trying hard enough.

There was no way the Angels were going to the World Series just because they sign some New York Yankees castoff - as is, while Bellinger struck out in his only at-bat as a Halo, the Angels had a roster of talent that got to the World Series and won it all.

2015 Topps Archives pack

I grabbed only one pack at my LCS because it was a little bit more [@$4.50 each] than I would like to pay for a midlevel baseball pack - with the issue of the card stock thinness, it would be nice if Topps printed these cards on the drab, gray card stock used up through 1992.

Besides Topps Heritage, I can't recall if Topps ever has printed a retro style product on old school card stock - for Topps Archives, a thicker card stock would add weight to the cards and also give it a more authentic feel.

#241 Mike Napoli
#48 Victor Martinez
#90 ASI Maikel Franco - 1990 All-Star Rookies insert
#208 Cory Spangenberg
#58 Bruce Sutter
#149 Hunter Pence
#123 Anibal Sanchez
#206 Alex Gordon

2015 Topps Series II hobby jumbo pack

Over the last couple of years I've tried to bust at least one jumbo hobby pack of a Topps / Bowman product - it's comforting to open basic Topps because it is a fairly cheap rip while there are still some 'wrinkles' thrown in from time to time, particularly in the hobby configurations.

Admittedly, once the cards are all over the place, I'm not as interested - besides the lone jumbo pack, I also busted a couple of loose $2 hobby packs and will likely pick up a retail blaster at a Target before my $5 coupon expires.

#594 Jose Pirela
#553 Grady Sizemore
#634 Roenis Elias
#376 Chris Sale
#378 Daniel Duffy

#542 Yasmany Tomas

#475 Juan Perez - it's probably going to be uncorrected, but Topps put the wrong header [pitching instead of hitting] on the stat/line.
#599 Michael Brantley
#537 Carlos Martinez
#677 Ryan Goins
#561 Ken Giles
#464 Brett Cecil
#468 C.C. Sabathia
#701 Milwaukee Brewers team card - feat. Carlos Gomez and Jonathan Lucroy

#669 Tampa Bay Rays team card - feat. James Loney, Ben Zobrist [obscured], some rando [could be Matt Joyce], obscured player, Kevin Keirmaier [?] and Evan Longoria.

#361 Matt Holliday
#471 Pat Neshek

#610 David Freese

#453 Elian Herrera

#674 Desmond Jennings
#660 Roberto Osuna
#427 Raisel Iglesias
#558 Patrick Corbin
#564 Jose Quintana
#529 Ryan Flaherty

#SU-11 Madison Bumgarner - Stepping Up insert
#H-39 Bobby Doerr - Highlight of the Year insert

#HDR-8 Gary Carter - Heart of the Order insert
#CPP-09 Nolan Ryan - Commemorative Patch Pin insert serial #'d 105/199
#399 Yosmil Pinto
#469 James Shields
#680 Nick Hundley
#517 Yusmeiro Petit
#673 Brett Oberholtzer
#591 Josh Collmenter
#392 Brandon Guyer
#589 Jeff Locke
#574 Mitch Moreland
#566 Chris Davis
#430 Jarred Cosart
#369 Aaron Loup
#463 Justin Verlander
#584 Danny Farquhar
#681 Zoilo Almonte
#394 Marco Scutaro

Featured autograph - Mark Grace

I've never counted how many I've gotten signed in-person / through the mail but I'm still plugging away at the 2001 Fleer Tradition set - even if it means randomly getting a card signed here and there, like this Grace I got when the Arizona Diamondbacks played the Angels.

At first I thought 2001 Fleer Tradition cards looked a little dumpy because of the drab card stock [used to mimic vintage Topps sets, just like the other retro product called Topps Heritage] - I picked up a set [mainly for the Albert Pujols, Ichiro and Mark Teixeira rookie year cards that was included as a part of a 50-card subset available only in factory sets] and started trying to get the other basic cards inked up since I had to use them for something.

Featured autograph - Thomas Eshelman

After being drafted in the second round by Houston Astros, who knows if Eshelman will turn out to be a good pro - but ever since he stepped on the mound for Cal State Fullerton three years ago, the guy has pitched like an ace and will look to lead the Titans at the College World Series.

This past season, I made it out to one CSUF baseball game and finally got Eshelman's autograph [though I had one more card I forgot at home] - I also didn't get teammate Justin Garza [drafted in the eighth round by the Cleveland Indians] on his cards I had because I'm not sure if he'd sign on a day he was scheduled to pitch and I didn't stick around after that game.

It turned out to be the same day Garza made his last start - before he had to leave the game early and was done for the year with a torn ulnar collateral ligament.

2015 Panini USA Stars and Stripes breaks

Pack one
#80 Noah Campbell
#74 Max Wotell
#67 Luis Ortiz
#11 Robert Refsnyder - Fireworks insert, serial #'d 01/99
#90 Taylor Ward - Longevity parallel
#75 Michael Conforto
#68 Luke Weaver
#60 Kristofer Armstrong

Pack two
#7 Andrew Moore
#4 Albert Almora
#3 Addison Russell
#41 Henry Owens - Crusade insert
#93 Trea Turner - Longevity parallel
USA Baseball Shop info card
#43 Hunter Greene
#35 Doug Nikhazy
#28 Dansby Swanson

Featured autograph - Dillon Tate

Tate was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers.

2015 Topps Pro Debut breaks

I picked up six packs to have some loose cards to mix in with an incoming hand collated set - there is a subtle difference with the surface of the Pro Debut cards and regular MLB Topps cards; the players' images on the Pro Debut cards have a glossy coating while the backgrounds and borders are left matte.

Pack one
#24 Forrest Wall
#107 Justin Nicolino
#144 Blake Anderson
#60 Garrett Fulenchek
#172 Jorge Alfaro
#64 Rosell Herrera
#12 Peter O'Brien
#26 Christian Arroyo

Pack two
#94 Cole Tucker
#11 Kyle Zimmer
#36 Aaron Blair
#173 Luke Jackson
#153 Francellis Montas
#15 Tim Berry
#161 Derek Fisher
#67 Jesse Winker

Pack three
#190 Jameson Taillon
#89 Joe Gatto
#181 Nick Burdi
#76 Julio Morban
#PN-KC Keury De La Cruz - Promo Night Uniforms insert
#92 Joey Gallo
#66 Michael Chavis
#44 Max Pentecost

Pack four
#152 Billy McKinney
#185 Rafael Devers
#166 Aaron Nola
#DD-2 Nick Gordon - Distinguished Debuts insert
#131 Phil Ervin
#197 Hunter Harvey
#125 Carlos Correa
#84 Mark Appel

Pack five
#143 Henry Owens
#14 Francisco Lindor
#188 Patrick Wisdom
#104 Nick Wells
#145 Ozhaino Albies
#38 Reese McGuire
#70 Raimel Tapia
#194 Chance Sisco

Pack six
#93 Mike Freeman
#175 Nick Gordon
#200 Tyler Kolek
#48 Renato Nunez
#9 Justin O'Conner
#155 Jhoan Urena
#3 Josh Hader
#154 Rob Kaminsky

Featured autograph - Frank Viola

I got at least several cards signed by the 1988 American League Cy Young Award Winner when I was in Las Vegas at the end of April - Viola is the pitching coach for the New York Mets' AAA affiliate.

One of the cards I got signed was a 1989 Sportflics card - because of the lenticular surface, I used to think it was harder for someone to sign them and/or sign them in a way where the autograph won't smear into the card.

However, for anyone who still have these random cards in hand and can get them signed either in-person or through the mail - the cards can actually be inked up and can hold an autograph in a presentable way, just like other trading cards from the last 25-30 years.

2015 Bowman jumbo pack recap

#141 Nick Tropeano
#98 Travis D'Arnaud
#112 Yu Darvish
#12 Adam Eaton
#40 Oswaldo Arcia
#83 Lorenzo Cain
#73 Adrian Gonzalez
#150 Javier Baez
#90 Nick Castellanos
#BCP 121 Gilbert Lara - Chrome
#BCP 100 Kris Bryant - Chrome
#BCP 73 Kyle Zimmer - Chrome
#BCP 88 Reese McGuire - Chrome
#BP 20 Adrian Sampson
#BP 77 T.J. Chism
#BP 52 Jon Gray
#BP 8 A.J. Cole
#BP 113 Gary Sanchez
#BP 119 Scott Schebler
#BP 140 Eric Haase
#BP 56 Hunter Dozier - Silver parallel serial #'d 307/499
#BTP 79 Tyrone Taylor - Bowman Scouts' Top 100
#BP 31 Jimmy Reed
#BP 90 Nate Smith
#BP 66 Gareth Morgan
#BCP 128 Victor Alacantara - Chrome
#BCP 111 Andre Wheeler - Chrome
#111 Adam Wainwright
#95 Bryce Harper
#118 Yan Gomes
#55 Justin Turner
#37 Josh Reddick

A look back - Topps Magazine

I was digging around my LCS and found some old Topps Magazines - I was tempted to pick at least a couple up since I remember picking up the first issue as a kid and liked the idea of an all-color magazine devoted to sports cards; there was a period of time where the only places I really got my collecting magazines was through supermarkets and I had to go into an actual card shop for a Beckett Baseball Card Montly magazine.

As a beginning collector with relatively little to spend, it was intimidating making my way inside a card shop every month a new Beckett would pop up, so the only magazine I was reading on a regular basis was Baseball Cards Magazine - I suppose Topps Magazine provided another alternative, which probably made spending time browsing the magazine rack at the supermarket that much easier while tagging along on shopping trips.

Like Baseball Cards Magazine, there were cards inserted into the magazine though I probably thought the cards were not 'real' because the card stock was a little different, even from the Baseball Card Magazine inserts - and it was impossible to remove the cards from the magazine [without the cards looking like garbage].

The cards in the Topps magazine were perforated, but the best I could do was try and tear the panels apart like they were monkey bread - the cards always were torn up.

This article in the particular magazine pictured was written by a then 15-year old named Tyler Kepner [who is a New York Times sportswriter now] - it's all the myriad of ways to go about finding ways to collect common cards that have the same theme, known to me as 'collecting topics cards' or better known to card bloggers as 'mini-collections.'

It was fun scanning through the story and realize this was probably something I read at some point - to serve as inspiration to collect in unique, if unconventional ways.

Salvaging a few Topps cards

1972 Topps Juan Marichal #568

At my LCS there are a few 'newer' shoe storage boxes on display featuring old school / vintage 'beaters' for a buck each - I go through them because the cards were probably part of someone's collection and maybe I can pick up some cards representing cardboard relics of the past.

1962 Topps Tony Kubek #311
1967 Topps Jim Palmer #152
1973 Topps Steve Carlton #300

The cards are kind of a cheap thrill to have in my hand since they were printed more than 40 years ago - even if the cards are merely worth what I paid for them.

Kris Bryant

The most heralded prospect coming into the season, Bryant has played 14 games and had 50 at-bats in the Major Leagues so far, so noting the small sample size - it's interesting that he hasn't hit a Major League home run and despite his gaudy on-base percentage, his numbers so far have been fairly quiet.

On the other hand, I'll be waiting for the headlines when he really starts figuring things out - maybe because many top prospects are hyped up, it's almost surprising when they don't start off their MLB careers like Albert Pujols.

2014 Panini EEE Jeff Hoffman auto serial #'d 098/399

I got this card in the mail from Panini after about six weeks or so after I put the redemption code on their Web site - it's not a bad looking card with an on-card autograph, though it's not the most exciting thing to look at.

I actually have one more pending EEE autograph redemption left on Panini's Web site, though that was from a 2013 EEE blaster break and my redemption has been in the system since early in 2014 - at this point, I don't know if I'll ever get that card.

My wallet card - Joe at Rubio's

2015 Bowman value pack recap

Though the cards just don't pop, this year's Bowman cards do look a little different with the way the borders are used - the images sort of bleed out of the cards, as opposed to the images being framed by a solid black or white border.

Yellow parallel pack
#BP 56 Hunter Dozier
#BP 122 Hunter Renfroe
#BP 53 Corey Littrell

Pack one
#119 Andrelton Simmons
#107 David Price
#BCP 28 Austin Voth - Chrome
#BCP 1 Tyler Kolek - Chrome
#BP 69 Drew Ward
#BP 40 Ryan Merritt

#RRI-MA Moises Alou - Rookie Recollections insert
#BP 84 Nick Petree
#64 Edwin Encarnacion
#11 Ian Desmond

Pack two
#123 Rymer Liriano
#22 Christian Yelich
#BCP 5 Dixon Machado - Chrome
#BP 34 Rafael Devers
#BP 132 Jake Bauers

#BCP 150 Carlos Rodon - Chrome green refractor serial #'d 16/99
#BP 86 Frank Schwindel
#BCP 42 Rafael Bautista - Chrome
#68 Andre Ethier
#85 Kurt Suzuki

Pack three
#140 Trevor May
#74 Corey Dickerson
#BCP 40 Ryan Merritt - Chrome
#BP 10 Logan Moon
#BP 39 Jorge Lopez
#BP 98 Jhoan Urena - Silver Ice parallel
#BP 115 Taylor Williams
#BCP 128 Victor Alcantara - Chrome
#46 Ben Revere
#72 Kole Calhoun

Featured autograph - Josh Hamilton

The 25 guys on the Angels 2015 roster grinding it out are the ones who want to be there and the one who didn't is now a Texas Ranger - it's kind of just sad how Hamilton's Angels career imploded but I'm kind of just over it.

Hamilton has shown no contrition for his relapse and I'm glad as hell the Angels took a stand and got rid of the guy - even though the national media have killed the Angels and owner Arte Moreno for apparent lack of tact in handling this delicate flower.

Maybe if Hamilton was putting up numbers the Angels would have taken more care help the guy out, but I think the fact that he struggled was just one part of the equation - I get people like Hamilton's story, people are still going to bat for him and his supposed disease as if he was one of them, but does anyone really know what is going on with him at any given moment?

Just to play around sometimes, I still want to imagine being Hamilton, the guy with the bravado, the guy with ability to swing for the fences willy-nilly and actually do so - maybe he makes a comeback, maybe he gives the finger to the Angels and this idea of being accountable at points in one's life, but he is someone else's problem now.

Ran into an old Angels player

I was at Angel Stadium taking in an afternoon game and afterwards took a couple of pictures of this former Angels player signing and interacting with fans - his people told the fans to back off and to make some sort of organized line.

I got a ball signed under the MLB logo [I was going to take a side panel, but this guy named Frank who had his own ball, asked the former Angels player to sign there under the logo] - when this retired player said, "no sweet, no sweet," meaning he wasn't willing to sign the middle part of the baseball that is typically where single signed baseballs are inked up.

Featured autograph - Carlos Rodon

While established Major League Baseball stars are a proven commodity, there is always hype for the next great players to come up - in the less than a week, there has been three 'stud' prospects called up in Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and then Rodon.

The No. 3 overall pick in last year's amateur draft, it took Rodon only 34.1 random innings in the minors before getting to the Major Leagues - it doesn't mean he won't be back down in the minors at some point, but maybe it just shows how top amateur talents [particularly college players] are expected to contribute sooner than never.

2015 Topps Museum pack break

If I was running a MLB team, I'd probably make it more like the Oakland A's than the Los Angeles Dodgers or the New York Yankees - however I have an interest in cards and while I may prefer dumpster diving at the place where I get my fix, at times I do something completely foreign and impulsive like picking up a pack of cards for $50.

I realize others bust boxes and cases of this stuff but I'm not one of those collectors - even if it's only one pack, I just wanted to experience what it was like to make it like a high roller until I actually busted the pack.

#56 Phil Niekro
#32 James Shields
#68 Lou Gehrig
#SSD-KV Kennys Vargas - Signature Swatches dual relic autograph serial #'d 130/299; blue ink on clear holograph sticker; though not visible in the scan, there is a loose sliver of tape / plastic on the swatch.
#41 Masahiro Tanaka - green parallel serial #'d 040/199

2015 Topps Gypsy Queen box topper pack

Gypsy Queen is out and I grabbed a box topper of minis even though I like the regular sized trading cards - without picking up a full hobby box, I thought I might pull something mildly interesting.

#29 Chris Sale

#161 Lorenzo Cain
#91 Javier Baez
#90 Carlos Santana

#152 Rod Carew

#163 Willie McCovey
#97 Anthony Rizzo

#157 Rusney Castillo

#122 Ken Griffey Jr.
#187 Xander Bogaerts

Featured autographs - Greg Holland and Salvador Perez

I pulled a 2014 Topps Chrome Greg Holland from this break and I mused how it might be a project to get the card signed by both players pictured - while I'm bummed the Angels were swept over the weekend by the visiting Kansas City Royals, I did get Holland's autograph for the first time and also added a scribble of the other player.

Featured autograph - Matt Cain

After working on bounce back year after an elbow injury cut his season short in 2014 - he has suffered a setback that probably doesn't sound too good for a guy looking to get his career going again, but I guess you can only throw a ball for a living for so long, regardless of how much success or how injury free one has been in their careers.

It probably helps to have Madison Bumgarner emerge as your outright, no doubt about it ace - but it's kind of amazing the San Francisco Giants won the World Series last year despite Cain being injured and Tim Lincecum being up-and-down.

They were the Giants' one-two pitching duo for a long time, but both Cain and Lincecum have a lot to prove - looking to find the success that defined their careers as Giants.