Topps Holiday Blaster Box

My son and I had to run to Walmart on Christmas eve morning for a few baking supplies.  Glad I do not wait until the last minute to shop because the crowd was horrible.  We were lucky to only need 3 things, and of course hopped into the card aisle before leaving.  There was plenty of baseball product to be found with multiple blasters of everything recent.  My son wanted a Topps Holiday blaster.  He remembered having fun last year opening one.  Price was $21.98 plus tax.  A little higher than last year, but not as bad of an increase as some other products.  After a short wait in the checkout light, we headed home.  He could not wait to open them, so we did it on the ride back.

First thing that we found was the die cut ornament.  Nicely done Topps.

My son pulled both Cardinals, while I pulled the Altuve.  Always nice to hit your favorite player in the box.

The Metallic parallels are harder to spot this year.  You really have to feel the card to tell the difference.  Out of our 10 packs, we hit the stated odds of 1:2 packs.  

Short prints come in 3 different varieties: normal, rare, and super rare.  We hit a normal one which is 1:7 packs.  

Relics are 1:11 packs.  I guess we slightly beat the odds, although every box break I have seen has a relic or autograph in it.  I like the design this year.  Overall it was a fun break for the price.  

Merry Christmas

 

It is a little before 6:00 in my house and everyone is still sleeping.  That will change before too long, as both of my kids will be anxious to see what is under the tree.  Even at 17 and 13, it is still fun to watch their reactions on Christmas morning.

Hope everyone has a safe and joyous holiday.  Best of luck if you receive any cards.  I will leave you with the only Christmas card in my collection.

Last Update and Some Inserts

The holiday season is almost here.  Just 2 more days until the man in red appears.  Today is my last full day of work this year.  I have a few things to wrap up before we shut down at 4 today.  I am looking forward to some down time in the next few days.  I have quite a few cards to enter into my spreadsheets and file away.  My hope is a good couple of hours will take care of everything.  The filing never stops though thanks to the incoming trades like a recent one with TCDB member Burefreak.  7 new Cardinals arrived in a pwe on Monday.

It feels good to finish up my 2021 Topps Update team set.  It was hard to resist not buying any at the local Walmart, but I managed.  The Topps Archives Bazooka insert is a great looking card.  Although he is a switch hitter, for some reason most of Carlson's cards show him batting lefthanded.

The other base card was from 2021 Absolute Retail.  Still need a couple more to finish this rather bland looking set.  

I usually prefer blue or red parallels, but for some reason I have always liked the green bordered GQ cards.  Just like Topps Gold, I have a long way to go before completing any of these team sets.

2 more great looking inserts finished up the package.  The  Molina 2020 Stadium Club Chrome Xfractor is a great shot of him tracking a foul ball.  The Goldschmidt 2019 die cut reminds me of the Flair Hot Gloves inserts from the 1990s.  It does not have a leather feel, but is textured.  Panini did a nice job of hiding the logos on this one.

    

  

Phillies for Cardinals

You all know by now that I am a team collector.  There are tons of us out there.  There are plenty of player and set collectors around also, but I would guess team collectors out number them by a good margin.  At least in the groups that I trade with.  I always keep them in  mind when I go to card shows.  Bargain boxes are a great place to find trade bait.  Being close to St. Louis, I do not find too many Cardinals in those boxes.  Even when you add the price of postage, I still come out ahead trading for Cardinals with other team collectors.  

My latest trade with TCDB member herkojerko consisted of 6 Phillies going his way and 6 Cardinals coming my way.  4 of the Phillies came from a card show for a total of $2.  The other 2 were from my 2021 Heritage Minors box break.  We both mailed in pwe, so shipping was less than $1.

I will start with a couple of oddball cards from the 1987 SSPC HOF set. The flags at the bottom are the years they were inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Very colorful set.  These two completed my 11 card team set.

Shiny Cardinals can be found in most dollar boxes at my card shows.  Sometimes they are higher.   The Goldschmidt if from 2019 Optic, the Edman is a 2020 Chrome refractor.

Musial cards are usually $1 or higher for inserts and parallels like this 2020 Stadium Club red.  Love the shot of his follow through.

Depending on what prospect list you look at,  Gorman is either #1 or #2 in the Cardinals system.  Assuming the 2022 season does not get cancelled because of the strike or virus, he should debut sometime next summer.  This 2019 Bowman Draft blue parallel would most likely be $5 at one of the shows I attend.  

  
  

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #4

Back with the 2 for Tuesday post highlighting a couple of small pwe trades from TCDB members. Both of these contained 4 Cardinals for my personal collection.  My son got shutout of Altuves this time.  First up is a trade with member GWSeier_Tigers.

Not a lot of eye candy in this post with 3 base cards and a rather boring Mosaic insert.  I came closing to finishing the 2019 Prizm team set with the 2 top cards.  Just need to find the Goldschmidt.  I have bragged a few times about how great the 2021 Mosaic parallels look.  Saying that, the Introductions insert leaves a lot to be desired.  

The second trade was with member Themissionguy.  TCDB recently added a cool feature that tracks how many cards you have sent and received, and also how many times you have traded with a given member.  This is my 6th time trading this member this year.  He always seems to have a few nice Cardinals I need.

I have slowly been adding 2021 Topps Update inserts to the collection.  The 1992 design always reminds me of Ray Lankford's rookie cup card.  This is my third different Goldschmidt refractor from 2021 Topps Chrome.  I am not crazy enough to chase after the rainbow just yet.    

 

Second Show in 2 Weeks

My son and I hit up another card show on Saturday.  This one was a lot closer than the last one .  We drove about 45 minutes to hit up a new show in Effingham, IL.  I needed to hit up Menards for a remodeling project over  Christmas break, so of course we made time to hit the show.  This is the first show of my knowledge held at the Events Center.  There used to be a show in the local mall, but that was at least 15 years ago.  The show was advertised as 50 tables.  I was not expecting to find very much at the show in regards to value boxes.  It seems everyone is after graded cards and wax right now.  We ended up spending $9 in the hour we were there.    

The first dealer we hit up had boxes of team packs for $4 or $5.  He allowed us to go through them and pick out what we needed.

The dealer was impressed that my son had a list of Altuve cards in his collection that he used to make sure he needed the cards he pulled.  TCDB has a nice feature where you can print out parts of your collection.  It comes in very hand at shows.

I pulled these 4 cards from his boxes.  The 3 Pirates are for good friend Ron B.  The dealer cut us a nice deal of $2 for all 9 cards.  

Next dealer had an assortment of Cardinals cards and stadium give aways.  Some of his prices were a little high.  The same Ted Simmons bobblehead I bought at the St. Louis show for $20 was $35.  I did manage to find 4 cards in his quarter boxes.

The 3 1979 Hostess cards are not in the best shape, but I still love them.  I took a chance on needing the McGwire 1998 Pinnacle Plus insert.  My wifi worked in the room, but I was too lazy to check it.  Turns out I needed it.  

Our next purchase was from a set of brothers that I am guessing were in their late teens or early twenties.  They had a nice set up of boxes separated by sports.  Each box had quarter, 50 cents, and $1 cards.  We spent $5 on the following cards.

The Altuve Chronicle was 50 cents, while the Mosaic was $1.  It was fun going through the boxes and seeing all the different Mosaic parallels.  Wish we could have found more Altuves are some Cardinals.

All these Topps parallels were in the quarter section.  I try to stick to players or teams that I know I can trade easily.  4 of these are already involved in trades.

These were also quarter cards.  All of them are spoken for.  

The last dealer had a small box of $1 cards.  My son managed to find an Altuve card he needed.

This 2021 Bowman Neon Green card was pretty easy to spot.  I was not even aware these existed.  Most of the time when I think of Bowman color, it is the Chrome variations for prospects.  

29 cards for $9 was our total for the day.  My son came out ahead of me this time with regards to cards for our collections.  Not sure if this show will be held monthly, quarterly, or even if it will happen again.  It is in a good location with plenty of room to grow.  We would most likely go again.    

 

Museum Quality

I am sure a lot of collectors are like me and miss the Pinnacle Museum inserts from the mid 1990s.  I believe it was the first time the dufex technology was used on cards.  It is getting harder to find these inserts now that they are over 25 years old.  Trading Bases member Brian A was attempting the 1994 and 1995 sets, but decided to pursue other things.  We worked out a trade for a few Cardinals that I needed.

1994 was the first year for Museum Collection parallels.  The estimated print run was 6,500 copies.  Not very scarce by today's standards.  The Pena card is my favorite of this group.  You do not find too many cards that picture second basemen after a throw to first.  

1995 Museum Collection is more colorful than 1995.  The dufex finish comes from the team logo instead of the brand logo at the top like 1994.  Brian Jordan is the best of this bunch.  Great shot of the moment just before contact.  The Jackson card is a close second with a nice stadium shot and the Arch in the background.  

Heavy on the 2021

Today I get away from the pwe trade recaps to highlight a larger package from TCDB user Tjernst2.  He had quite a few 2021 Cardinals for me along with a couple of other random cards.  

My 2021 Archives base set is not complete minus the short print variations.  It is hard for me to pick a favorite design this year.  It is a toss up between 1983 and 1991 Topps.  I will say I am not a big fan of the Arenado 2091 card.  The background just does not work well with a random pattern on top and bottom with a background strip in the middle.

I also completed the 2021 Panini Prizm and Absolute Retail sets.  Topps Fire should not be a problem with only 2 more cards to track down.  Mosaic will be more challenging with 6 more cards left.  Maybe they will start showing up at card shows.

  
Mosaic did a great job with the inserts this year.  I have been fighting the urge to buy into a break in order to pull some of these.  Sooner or later the was price will drop, or the cards will be more available at shows.  

I like the idea of the Archives Poster cards, but I question putting Dontrelle Willis on this Black Aces card.  I guess you could consider him the Marlins ace for a handful of years.  The 2019 Martinez is a Holo Orange parallel.  My scanner makes it look gold.

I am pretty sure my son will not get to 500 Altuves by the end of the year.  These 2 put him at 464.  We might hit 1 more show this month, but would need to have a lot of luck finding ones he needs.  Maybe Santa will help out his total.

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #3

 My third installment of 2 for Tuesday features 2 more small pwe trades from TCDB members.  First up are 3 2021 Panini Prizm inserts from member brodiecomics.

This years Prizm base cards are pretty bland, but most of the inserts are very colorful.  Hard to beat the patriotic theme of red, white, and blue on the Oviedo card.  

The second trade came from member  Americana.

My 2021 Bowman Platinum team set is now complete thanks to these 2 cards.  I still have a prospect card to hunt down and some ice parallels to find.

I am down to just 1 more 2021 Update card for my team set.  I was in Walmart a couple of days ago and was amazed to see how stocked the card section was.  There must have been at least 20 blasters of Update to go along with a lot of fat packs.  There was also plenty of Mosaic and Chronicles to go around.  Maybe this shortage is finally coming to an end, or these products just don't have the star appeal.  

Cards From Ron B

I received a wonderful Cardinals package from Trading Bases member Ron B on Friday.  You may recall numerous trade recaps with Ron this past year.  I have lost count how many packages we have sent to each other.  Most of the time they arrive without any warning.  I did know of a few cards in this package, but quite a few were a nice surprise. 

I knew Ron was sending the last cards I needed for my 2021 A&G team set.  Always nice to finish one off.

I also knew he was send me some minis, but not black bordered ones or A&G backs like the Carlson and Arenado.  

Ron found these 2 2000 Paramount  Ruby parallels in a dime box at a show and gambled that I needed them.  He was correct.  I have a copy of the Lankford in my player collection, so this one goes in the team box.  

I completed my 2021 Topps Gold Star set a few months ago, but only have a few from 2020.  Ron added the Bader to that set along with a nice 2006 Greats of the Game Pewter Lou Brock.  

The last of the cards I knew about were all pitchers. The 2007 Opening Day Gold Carpenter is nice, but the highlight is the Jack Flaherty numbered to 99.  Gibson is a 2021 Prizm insert, Kim a 2020 Panini Chronicles Certified card.

If you know me, you know minis are not my favorite type of cards.  I do have quite a few of the recent Topps Mini cards in my collection, but none of the numbered variety like this great Ozzie numbered to 25, or the Fuentes numbered to 62. 

My favorite cards of the package were these 2 1974 Kelloggs cards.  Are they gem mint?  No, but other than a slight curl and a few cracks they are wonderful.  

EBAY Win and Topps Package

Going to make this a quick Friday post.  I had to non trade packages arrive earlier this week.  The first was a small EBAY lot.

This Carlson lot was about $4.50 delivered.  I have a ton of the Topps base card, but needed the other 3.  The big draw for me was the factory set variation card.

The second package came from Topps.  Before this year, I had only entered 1 Home Run Challenge code.  It was Juan  Soto from last year that I missed by 1 day.  This year I entered 3 different Paul Goldschmidt cards.  1 was in August, 2 in September.  I picked right on September 1 and 24.

I was winner #6 and 130 out of 214.  I would love to trade one for another Goldschmidt or Arenado winner from this year.     

St. Louis Card Show Recap

My son and I made the 2.25 hour drive to St. Louis on Sunday to attend another card show.  We had great luck finding bargains at our last show in November .  I try to make the December show at the Orlando Gardens hall every year.  In the past there has been over 100 tables and lots of holiday specials to be found.  This year was not quite as good.  Still lots of dealers, but not quite the bargains I found in the past or at the November show.  I would still give the show a solid B.  We spent most of our time at 1 dealer's tables going through 3 monster boxes.  In the end we bought from him and 1 other guy.  

All the monster box cards were 5 for $1.  We pulled 50 cards in about an hour.  For the most part they were separated by sport and somewhat by set.  I wish my phone had better signal in the building so I could have checked my lists.  I thought for sure I needed the McGwire Finest insert, but I already had it.  I did need the other 3 refractors.

There was a large stack of 2018 High Tek cards.  It was a little confusing trying not to pull 2 of the same pattern, but I did well.  Some of these are diffractors.  It will take some time to figure out what patterns and which diffractors I ended up with.

There were not very many Altuve cards to be found.  My son did find these 2, but after getting home discovered he had this Tek card.  To the trade list it will go.

Everything else we pulled will go to my trade list.  I told my son to look for anything shiny, colored, or numbered.  He is catching on quick as he pulled a ton of refractors.

2018 Bowman's Best refractors

2019 Topps Finest refractors

Topps Chrome pink refractors

Topps Chrome prism refractors

Topps Chrome regular and sepia refractors

Miscellaneous colored and refractors

2020 Topps gold.  The dealer did not have many golds in the box, but most of them were Dodgers for some reason.  He had 3 or 4 copies of some of them.

After leaving the monster boxes, we went to a dealer with stadium give away bobbleheads.  I ended up buying 2 for $35.  

I do not go after every bobblehead, just the ones I think look cool.  I like how this Ted Simmons shows him in catcher's gear, but also with a bat.  

I already have 3 other Molina bobbleheads, but I could not pass this one up for $15 when they usually sell for $30 or more.

After leaving the bobbleheads, we circled back to the monster box dealer.  He also had a box with Cardinals autographs and game used marked 2 for $5.  Most were of former players, but I did find a couple of nice ones of a current player.

I love getting red patch cards.  This 2020 Topps Tier one card is very thick.  The Update jersey card is not much thicker than a base card.  These are my third and fourth Goldy relic cards.  That wrapped up our 1.5 hours at the show.  Not a bad way to spend $50.