Tuesday, March 29, 2011

TTM Mailbag: Orlando Hudson



My latest TTM autograph return comes from Orlando Hudson at San Diego Padres spring training in only 9 days. I received two cards back with a signature in blue Sharpie. The cards are a 2007 Upper Deck and 2010 Allen & Ginter. Hudson has been signing a lot during this spring training. This is a great looking return. Thanks to Mr. Hudson!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Contest at It's Like Having My Own Card Shop

As the title suggests, there is a new contest created at It's Like Having My Own Card Shop. Just click on this link to enter. The prize is an Ian Kinsler jersey card. All you have to do is guess the correct random number and click on an ad. Good Luck.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

2011 Topps Box: Packs 13 & 14

I have made it to packs 13 and 14 of my 2011 Topps box. Pack 13 was rather unimpressive. The best card was a Kimball Champions of Shin Soo Choo. Why is he on an insert card? I got an Al Kaline card which is cool. The ToppsTown card was Joe Mauer. Overall, this pack was certainly not full of All-Stars. It was mostly full of roster fillers.

Pack 14 was much better. Inserts included a Ty Cobb Repro, Keith Hernandez Topps 60, and ToppsTown card of Ubaldo Jimenez. Hernandez is a broadcaster for the Mets these days after a great playing career so I’m keeping that card. That alone would beat pack 13. But wait, there’s more. The Ike Davis card is pretty cool, but the ARod card is the big grab in this pack. I’ll get to the end of this box eventually. I promise.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

TTM Mailbag: Jon Rauch

My latest spring training TTM autograph return comes from Jon Rauch of the Blue Jays. He sent my 2007 Topps card back in 16 days with a beautiful signature in blue Sharpie. 2007 Topps cards can be tricky to get signed but this one came out fine. This is one less Blue Jay to get during the regular season which means I have saved money by not having to send cards to Canada. Also, I don’t quite understand how to send international mail. Anyway, this is a great looking return. I hope to get a few more back in the next couple of weeks.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

TTM Mailbag: Nyjer Morgan

My latest TTM autograph return comes from Nyjer Morgan. This card came back from Nationals Spring Training in only 9 days. The card is a 2010 Allen & Ginter signed in blue Sharpie. I already owned a certified autograph of Morgan, but I wanted a TTM autograph also. Overall, the card is beautiful with no smudges or dinged edges. As an added bonus, the stamp on the return envelope was not canceled by the post office.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

2011 Topps Box: Packs 11 and 12

Pack 11 of my 2011 Topps Box Break contained a nifty Gold card of Jose Guillen and my first Stephen Strasburg card. Inserts included a Topps 60 card of Ian Kinsler and ToppsTown card of Nick Markakis. The Duke and Cuddyer cards may also be good TTM autograph prospects, but that will be for a later day. That’s a pretty decent pack. Pack 12 was almost as good. I got a Roger Maris card and a Trevor Hoffman Diamond card. Also, I got a Mariano Rivera card. The photo is pretty cool with Jorge Posada coming out to the mound. The ToppsTown card was Josh Johnson.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

2011 Topps Box: Packs 9 & 10

Pack 9 of my 2011 Topps Box produced a vintage reproduction of Jimmie Foxx, a Topps 60 card of Adam Dunn, and a ToppsTown card of Brett Anderson. I got some decent base cards too, including a Pujols League Leaders card and a card of new Yankee Russell Martin. Also, I may try to get that Maholm card signed TTM at some point.

Pack 10 contained one really good card. That would be the Jeter Kimball Champions card. I’m keeping that one. The ToppsTown card was Andrew McCutchen. I think Pack 10 had the best card but Pack 9 was the better pack.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

2011 Topps Box: Packs 7 & 8

Here are packs 7 & 8 of my 2011 Topps Box. Pack 7 featured a nifty Duke Snider card but not much else. The Diamond Duos cards shows Greg Maddux and Jeremy Hellickson. Greg Maddux is a Hall of Famer once he is eligible, but I don’t know who this other guy is. The ToppsTown card was Ryan Zimmerman.

Pack 8 contained a Juan Marichal card. Also included was a Diamond version of the White Sox team card. These are really cool cards. The rest of the pack was pretty ordinary. The ToppsTown card was Adam Jones.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

2011 Topps Box: Packs 5 & 6

Packs 5 & 6 of my 2011 Topps Box yielded some decent cards. Pack 5 brought a pair of unknown Padres, a Gold card of Xavier Nady, a Topps 60 card of Hanley Ramirez, and the mandatory ToppsTown card, this one featuring Mike Stanton. This was a decent pack but Pack 6 was better.




Pack 6 contained a Diamond Giveaway card (not pictured), an ARod card, a David Price card, a Kimball Champions of Andrew McCutchen, and ToppsTown of Andre Ethier. Also, the Soriano and Lannan cards may be future TTM Auto attempts. I still can’t get over the quality of this year’s photography. It’s really bright and vivid.



Monday, March 7, 2011

2011 Topps Box: Packs 3 & 4

Continuing on with my Topps Hobby Box, I present to you packs number 3 & 4. Pack 3 contained the following:



Reid Brignac


Vladimir Guerrero


Chris Carpenter


Roy Halladay


Cincinnati Reds


Emilio Bonifacio – Diamond


Jose Contreras


Marlon Byrd


Starlin Castro – ToppsTown


Diamond Giveaway Card (Not Pictured)




As for Pack 4:



Hong-Chih Kuo


Brandon Morrow


Chicago White Sox


James McDonald


Atlanta Braves


Mike Stanton – Gold


Jay Bruce


Yunel Escobar


Alex Rodriguez Topps 60


Hanley Ramirez ToppsTown (Not Pictured)


Pack 4 was definitely the stronger pack with a gold card and ARod card. Also, Pack 4 had a couple of potential TTM Auto attempts with Morrow and McDonald. However, I just sent a request to Morrow. I also just sent a request to Vladimir Guerrero as well. I love Topps Gold cards. I am also taking a liking to these Diamond cards. The card surface is much smoother than I expected. I still don't think that I will enter the codes for the Diamond Giveaway, but maybe I'll change my mind.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

eBay Mailbag: Relic Cards

I'll take a break from my Topps Box to share a lot that I found on eBay. This purchase was a lot of 9 game-used relic cards. I received cards of Mike Lowell, Jeff Kent, Carlos Delgado, Kelly Johnson, Brian Giles, Lew Ford, Noochie Varner, Shaun Chase, and Dylan Davis. I don’t know who those last three people, but that’s OK. I will probably trade or sell some of these cards. However, I only paid $6.75 shipped for this lot so I think I got a decent deal. Any time I can get relic cards for under a buck each I will jump on it. I still like game-used relic cards even if they feature no name players.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

2011 Topps Box: Pack 2


OK, so here is Pack Number 2 of my 2011 Topps Hobby Box. The base cards included Aaron Cook, Victor Martinez, Jered Weaver, Jayson Werth, and Peter Bourjos. (Who is Peter Bourjos?) Anyway, I also received a Diamond Duos card featuring Ty Cobb and class act Miguel Cabrera and a nifty looking ToppsTown card of Ryan Braun. I really don’t have too many Braun cards so this is a nice card. But wait, didn’t Topps short me a few cards? No. And here’s why.

That’s right. I got my one hit per box in the second pack. It’s a jersey card of Matt Garza. I could have done worse. I could have done better. Overall, it’s a pretty nice looking card. Now I’m faced with 34 packs of disappointment. Oh well.

Friday, March 4, 2011

2011 Topps: Pack 1

I’m starting to bust open my box of 2011 Topps. So far, I just opened one pack just to dip my toe into the water. I will document the contents of each pack. So who was my first card of 2011? The answer is…


JIM THOME


Ok, so maybe that’s not the most exciting card, but you have to start somewhere. The first pack contained the following:


#253 Jim Thome


#151 Fausto Carmona


#205 Ty Wigginton

#313 Chris Coghlan

#159 Chris Perez


#11 Wins League Leaders


#109 Average League Leaders


#60YOT-3 Monte Irvin


#TT39 Adrian Gonzalez


#KC9 Chase Utley



The Good: The photography is excellent. The photos are bright and detailed action shots. I like the Kimball Champions card design, but I wish the cards were normal size. Also, I think the ToppsTown cards are improved. They look more like insert cards rather than fillers. I don’t know much about the codes. Are they worth while?


The Bad: I don’t like cards that feature multiple players from different teams like the League Leaders cards. I also don’t care for the 60 Years of Topps cards. It’s basically a reprint set. Call me when you have an original 1954 Topps card.


So those are my impressions after going through 1/36 of the box. I can’t really make any conclusions yet, but I’m happy so far.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

I'm Finally Trying 2011 Topps

After a few weeks of surfing eBay and reading blog posts about 2011 Topps, I have finally taken the plunge. The proof is pictured below.

I paid $65 for one hobby box from an eBay seller. I haven't started opening the packs yet. But I will document each and every pack on this blog. I will also participate in that wrapper redemption thingy I've heard so much about. I'm pretty excited. It looks like I will have a busy weekend.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

TTM Mailbag: James Loney

My most recent TTM autograph return comes from James Loney. I sent this request out during 2010 Spring Training. I received my 2008 Topps Opening Day card back in 352 days. That’s a long wait, but it was worth it. The card looks great. The signature is in blue Sharpie. This return was a bit of a surprise. I certainly did not expect to see this card again after such a long wait.