2011 Topps Black Diamond Cards!!!!

I received my Black Diamond cards back from Topps. They were shipped pretty quickly. I did not get any autographs in my pack but I think I pulled some decent cards. I received cards of Ryan Howard, Miguel Cabrera, Josh Hamilton, Roy Halladay, and Brian McCann. It’s not a bad pack of cards when Brian McCann is the weak link. These cards look and feel a lot like the Diamond Anniversary cards except that the design is different. The cards re pretty neat. I am satisfied with this little bonus. After all, it’s the least Topps could do after I spent 70 bucks on a hobby box, right?

Card Show Swag

OK, so here’s how my day went at the White Plains card show. I typically search all tables going right to left. I noticed that there were a lot more basketball and football cards than usual. There were also a bunch of vintage cards. Not really my thing. The free autograph was Stan Bahnsen. I didn’t have anything to get signed so I skipped that. The first card I considered buying was a 1985 Topps RC of Kirby Puckett. The centering was a bit off so I skipped it. My first purchase was a lot of 6 cards. I received game-used jersey cards of Eric Chavez, Carl Crawford, Bartolo Colon, Paul LoDuca, and Hank Blalock as well as an autograph of former Met Ambiorix Burgos. All of this cost me $5 total.

I didn’t really come across anything worthwhile for a long time. I offered a guy $4 for a 2007 Bowman’s Best Melky Cabrera auto but he declined. I finally bought 5 more cards from another vendor for $2 each. My favorite amongst these is the 2005 Bowman Chrome RC of Melky Cabrera. It is graded PSA 9. I know what everybody thinks of grading companies, but I like this card. This vendor also had 2005 Bowman Chrome RCs of Edinson Volquez graded PSA 9. Fear not, I also bought some non-graded cards from this vendor. I picked up a 2007 SPx auto of Rich Harden for $2. That’s a bargain. Imagine what a similar card would go for in Harden’s prime. I also bought a 2008 Stadium Club auto of Carlos Villanueva, 2010 Topps auto of Reid Brignac, and a Topps Co-Signers auto of Matt Albers and Chris Iannetta. All of that for $2 each. I’m not sure why Albers and Iannetta are on the same card but whatever.

My final purchase was the most interesting. I was searching a box of 2011 Topps commons to pick up some cards that I did not get in my hobby box. That’s when the vendor offered to sell me the entire box for $15. Please understand that there were about 700 cards in this box. Needless to say, I bought the box and spent the past two days going through it. This wasn’t the best show that I have been to but I had a great time as always. I also had a great time going through all this stuff.

White Plains Card Show

I spent the better part of the day attending a card show in White Plains, NY. I'll scan all of my loot and show it off over the next few days. I had a pretty decent haul. However, the show itself was a bit disappointing. It seemed like there were fewer vendors and fewer customers than normal. I guess this is a sign of a slumping industry or a slumping economy. The number of players signing autographs was also disappointing. Stan Bahnsen was the free autograph. I didn't get him because I didn't have anything to get signed. Also, he was way before my time. Fergie Jenkins was signing for $25 a pop which was decent. Jim Kaat was also signing for $25. I did not get either player. I should have gotten Kaat but whatever. Hopefully, the August show will have a few more players. Overall, I actually had a wonderful time. There is no better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than to attend a card show.

eBay Mailbag

My latest eBay purchase brings me a lot of game-used jersey cards and certified autographs. I paid $6.25 shipped for 8 cards. Many of these cards are no name players. But I liked the Giambi and Pena cards. The game-used cards include Giambi, Pena, and Gookie Dawkins. The autographs include Dave Crouthers, Ramon Soler, Brooks Kieschnick, Tyler Pelland, and Mendy Lopez. The only player on that list that I’ve heard of is Kieschnick. He was a pitcher/outfielder. He was a novelty but quickly faded. Lopez played in the big leagues with several teams between 1998-2004. Pelland, Soler, and Crouthers never made the bigs.

2011 Topps Box Packs 35 and 36

This is my last post for my Topps Box. Until I get my Black Diamond cards that it. Pack 35 contained Twins closer Matt Capps, Free Agent Kevin Millwood, Angels Team Card, Hot Shot Catcher Buster Posey, Lucas May (Who?), Jason Bay, and Todd Helton. Inserts were Todd Helton again but a Diamond card, Jim Edmonds 60 Years of Topps, and ToppsTown CC Sabathia. That’s a respectable pack.

Pack the last contained current Brewer Zack Greinke, excitable fellow Heath Bell, the injured Josh Hamilton (who is on my fantasy team), Brett Sinkbeil, Neil Walker, the retired Trevor Hoffman, and Evan Meek whoever that is. The inserts included a Diamond Duos Thomas/Ramirez, 60 Years of Topps Yastrzemski with an original back, and ToppsTown Youkilis. So that’s the end of the line. It’s sad in a way. I don’t think I got any doubles of the base cards. I’m not sure if I will collect the set. I’ve never done that before. We shall see.

2011 Topps Box: Packs 33 and 34

Pack 33 of my 2011 Topps Box was one of my better ones. The inserts included a Gold Mike Aviles card, Adam Wainwright Topps 60, and a Toppstown Joey Votto. The base cards were just as good. There were two Yankee cards: Kerry Wood and Mickey Mantle. Also included were Clay Buchholz, Coco Crisp, Jason Jaramillo, Gaby Sanchez, and Justin Upton.

Pack 34 was also decent. The inserts included a Jason Bay Diamond card, Joe Mauer 60 Years of Topps, and Toppstown Mat Latos. Some of you may be too young to remember but that Mauer card is from all the way back in 2009. I think I would prefer the actual 2009 Mauer card. Topps should insert older cards into packs rather than reprints. Anyway, the base cards were Kevin Slowey, Yuniesky Betancourt, Trevor Hoffman, Colorado Rockies, Jimmy Rollins, Ian Kennedy, and Chris Volstad. I would like to get the Slowey and Kennedy cards signed at some point. Overall, that’s a pretty good pair of packs.

2011 Topps Box Packs 31 and 32

Pack 31 yielded some decent cards. I got a Kimball Champions Pablo Sandoval, Diamond Giveaway card, and ToppsTown Billy Butler. The base cards were so-so. They included Cliff Lee, Jack Wilson, Lars Anderson, Batting Average Leaders, Brendan Ryan, Tyler Clippard, and Nate McClouth. Other than the Cliff Lee card, there’s not much there.

Pack 32 brought some crummy inserts: Topps 60 Nick Markakis, History of Topps, and ToppsTown Dan Haren. The base cards were a little better: Erick Aybar, Adrian Beltre, Felix Pie, Buster Posey, Arizona Diamondbacks, Roy Oswalt, and Ubaldo Jimenez. Between both packs, I received some decent pitchers and a few good inserts.

eBay Mailbag: Xavier Nady

I will take a break from my box break to show off my latest eBay purchase. I was unsure if this card was a Black card or a Walmart card due to a subpar picture. It turns out that it is a Walmart card. That’s OK because I only paid 17 cents shipped for this card. It is a 2011 Topps Walmart card #137 of Xavier Nady. I’m not a Nady collector so I’ll just add the card to the general collection and move on. Oddly enough, I pulled a Nady Gold Card from my Topps Box.

2011 Topps Box: Packs 29 and 30

Pack 29 of my 2011 Topps Box wasn’t that great. The inserts were a Hornsby/Holliday Diamond Duos, Cy Young Vintage Repro, and a ToppsTown card of Ichiro. The base cards were Aaron Hill, Ted Lilly, Julio Borbon, Ben Revere (Who?), Brennan Boesch, Jamie Moyer, and Aramis Ramirez. Surprisingly, I have yet to get a double of a base card.

Pack 30 contained a Kimball Champions card of Jose Bautista, Johnny Cueto 60 Years of Topps, and Miguel Cabrera ToppsTown card. I don’t think of Johnny Cueto when I think of great baseball cards of the past 60 years but I digress. The base cards included Matt Joyce, Gio Gonalez, Derek Jeter (Score!), Jeremy Jeffress (Who?), Red Sox Team Card, Chipper Jones, and James Loney. I think that Pack 30 was the better only by virtue of the Bautista and Jeter cards.

2011 Topps Box Packs 27 and 28

Pack 27 of my 2011 Topps Box yielded a Justin Upton Diamond card, a Diamond Giveaway card, and a ToppsTown Manny Ramirez. I heard that Manny retired in disgrace. I hope that works out for him. The base cards were: Yadier Molina, Garrett Jones, Kurt Suzuki, Neftali Feliz, Shin Soo Choo, Freddy Sanchez, and Darren Ford. I have honestly never heard of Darren Ford.

Pack 28 was even more lackluster. The base cards included A.J. Pierzynski, Yorvit Torrealba, John Buck, Scott Cousins, Jake McGee, Ryan Kalish, and Jair Jurrjens. The inserts brought a Kershaw/Latos Diamond Duos, Mickey Mantle reprint, and Evan Longoria ToppsTown card. Somebody needs to explain why Latos and Kershaw are on the same card.