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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 
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. 
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 
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.
