My Get from a 2012 Triple Threads Baseball Group Case Break

I participated in a group case break of 2012 Triple Threads Baseball last week at Rip Kings.  There were 9 boxes in the case.  I had a $5 credit from Rip Kings toward a break and saw that a few good teams (well, "good" in terms of box breaking) were available at a reasonable price, so I purchased the Kansas City Royals team slot.  The Royals are like a fifth team I root for, and they have some decent players and hits in the product.  I was hoping to score a George Brett autograph.  I did not get one, but I think I still did quite well for myself:

Hey, still managed to get some sort of George Brett card!  What do they call this, a sepia parallel?  Brown?  Not an especially aesthetically-pleasing color combination here.  Looks like a big dust storm is about to engulf the Hall of Famer, Brett.

Country Breakfast!  Sweet.  Billy Butler auto-relic, #'d 2/9.  The blue ink on the sticker is a bit imperfect for some reason.  Maybe the pen Butler used was drying up.

Cool beans.

Sign Up for Cardboard Conundrum's February Hockey Group Break!

Do you enjoy hockey?  Maybe even just a tiny bit?  Matt Pederson over at Cardboard Conundrum is hosting an affordable group break featuring some awesome hobby boxes.  You can check out the group break sign up and information page here.  Matt is a stand-up dude with a great blog, so let's party hard with him and break some hockey product!

Dimwit's February Group Break Haul

I partook in Sam's (The Daily Dimwit) February group break recently.  He busted a box each of 2005 Topps Updates and Highlights Chrome, 2011 Panini Limited Baseball, and 2013 Topps Series 1 Jumbo.  I naturally secured the Dodgers as my main team and received the Seattle Mariners as my randomized second team.  I was particularly excited for the 2005 U&H Chrome box because of the Matt Kemp rookie cards present in that set.  Ultimately, I did not get anything from the 2011 Panini Limited box, but I did receive a nice haul from the other two hobby boxes:

Ol' Thomas Oldham there on the left looks like Sergeant Brody (Damian Lewis) from Homeland.  Though Oldham is out of professional baseball as a player, he apparently runs a baseball school in Nebraska - Tom Oldham Baseball.  I imagine Oldham's daily life to be much less stressful than that of the fictional Sgt. Brody.  Also, Pokey Reese.

Dodgers!  The Russell Martin rookie card is nice.  I do enjoy pack-fresh older issue Chrome cards.  Jealous, Zakwin?  Jose Valentin's (far right) son Jesmuel was the Dodgers' first round pick in the 2012 MLB Draft, 51st overall.  I posted a card of Jesmuel Valentin a few weeks ago.

Yay!  I got the Matt Kemp rookie card.  It's your standard Chrome base rookie of Kemp, but pack fresh!  I am also happy that I got the Mariners as my second team, because of what I got above.  Rumors abound that "King" Felix Hernandez signed some insane, mammoth blockbuster of a contract today.  This is my first rookie/prospect card of King Felix.

A pile of Seattle Mariners cards from the 2013 Topps Jumbo box.  The Mariners only have 9 cards in their team set for this release.  I tend to root for the underdog Mariners if they are not playing one of my favorite teams.  But hey Seattle, at least the Seahawks are really good!

Mini-King.

A pile of Dodgers cards.  Some of you might be aware of my general ambivalence toward Topps and its products.  Heck, I've even moved beyond ambivalence into unbridled animosity and pure hatred for that company at times, depending on what new way they decide to screw me over.  I do not trust Topps after several debacles with their shoddy customer service and community support, as well as having to experience their absolutely atrocious 2011 UFC Finest set - the very pinnacle of their failures in quality control.  That being said, I do like the photography and design of 2013 Topps Baseball.

Emerald thing of Dee Gordon.  So, are you Team Hanley or Team Dee for Dodger shortstop?  I am Team Put-Hanley-at-Third.

Lastly, an insert card of Jackie Robinson.  Happy belated burfday, Jackie!

Thanks for the group break, Sam!

Cardboard Conundrum group break haul

I recently participated in a hockey group break over at Cardboard Conundrum.  We busted one box each of 2010-11 Panini Luxury Suite, 2011-12 In The Game Enforcers, and 2011-12 Panini Rookie Anthology.  I picked the Los Angeles Kings and got the Carolina Hurricanes as my randomized second team.  I actually did pretty poorly on the group break, as I only received two base cards - one of Jeff Carter and one of Jeff Skinner, both from Rookie Anthology.  However, Matt was kind enough to throw in a hit for me!

2012-13 UD Artifacts, Autofacts autograph of the captain, Dustin Brown!  Very nice.

It is my first signature card of Brown, and it is a very nice one at that.  Thanks Matt!

Card Giveaway and Part 3 of Dan's Other World Crazy Group Break Haul

Well, that was an unreasonably long pause between group break posts!  I have been in San Diego the past two weeks.  Here's a selection of various cards I received in Dan's The Other World group break (mostly Dodgers):

That Finest Orel Hershiser card is super cool.

Since this is the last post about Dan's group break, I will do a card giveaway!  There are five of them in total, but I will give them away in two sets.  It is easy to enter this game of chance.  I will think of a number from 1 to 100... now!  I have now written that number on a dummy card with my new surf colored Sharpie marker (yes, I am proud of it) and taken a photo of it next to the date and time - 12:40 AM on December 6, 2012 to be exact.  Simply guess the secret number that I wrote down in a comment on this post and also mention your first choice of the two sets that you would prefer to receive if you win the giveaway.  (It would also be nice, were you to follow me on Google - left side of my blog.)  Here are the cards you can win:

Set #1.  Three prospect autos from 2007 Tristar Prospects Plus!  From top left, clockwise: Eddie Kunz (heh), James Simmons, and James Adkins.  I have no idea who these dudes are, but maybe you do!

Set #2.  Two game-used jersey cards from 2008 UD Goudey.  Russell Martin and Josh Beckett.  Dan was awesome enough to throw in these two extra hits, but unfortunately I am trying to minimize my collection of relics.

So there you have it!  Have fun guessing the number between 1 and 100.  Naturally, closest number gets first pick of the card sets and next closest gets the set that is left.  I will leave entries open for a few days to a week at most.

Dan's Other World Crazy Group Break Haul: Part 2

Here is part two of my haul from Dan's The Other World big group break.  I forgot to mention in the last post that Dan has nice bumper stickers for his blog:

Thanks for the sticker, Dan!

Here are all my cards from the 2011 Leaf Valiant boxes, and my favorite one from 2007 Tristar Prospects Plus:

Sean Doolittle prospect autograph from 2007 Tristar Prospects Plus.  If you did not know, Doolittle is a converted relief pitcher for this year's surprising (to most people, at least) Oakland A's.  Very cool.  I was looking for a Sean Doolittle auto, and it was a pleasant surprise to get one in the group break.

You might have to click on this photo to enlarge it for a better look.  Very nice prospect/rookie signatures from 2011 Leaf Valiant.  From left to right: Francisco Lindor (shortstop, Indians #1 prospect), Travis Harrison (Twins), J.J. Hoover (Reds rookie, pitched well in the bigs this year), and Marcus Knecht (Blue Jays).

I really have to remember to take photos of new cards before I store them away.  One more post about Dan's group break to go!

Dan's Other World Crazy Group Break Haul: Part 1

Last month (October) saw the conclusion of the most lengthy group break that I have ever participated in.  Dan over at The Other World hosted the massive group break, in which we busted open one box of 2011 Leaf Ink, two boxes of 2011 Leaf Valiant, two boxes of 2010 Panini Century Collection, one box of 2009 Upper Deck Signature Stars, and two boxes of 2007 Tristar Prospects Plus.  The idea for the break started in April, but because it was a complicated draft-style break, it took a while to finish.  I did, however, have fun and enjoyed the rather epic group break.  I am also satisfied with the cards I received from it.

I'll post the cards I got in separate parts to keep things more organized.  Here is what I ended up with from the two 2010 Panini Century Collection boxes:

James Cagney, Hollywood Materials Souvenir Stamps stamp-wool thing, #'d 021/250.  This is the third time I've pulled this card; it is currently listed on Ebay.  I think the material is part of a scarf or a sweater.  I did not want this card, as I've owned one at two previous times, but it fell to me in the draft.

That's a nice hue of blue.  Bette Davis, stamp-relic, #'d 020/250.  I have never actually seen any of Davis' films, but it is still nice to have a relic card of an American screen and stage legend.  What I have seen are her hand prints at Grauman's Chinese though.  Does that count?

Deion Sanders jersey swatch, #'d 16/25.  Seems pretty rare for a standard base jersey card variation.  I think the swatch is from a Reds uniform?  There are no multi-sport pro dudes anymore, which is disappointing.  I was always delighted to pull Deion Sanders or Bo Jackson cards in my youth.  Michael Jordan too, naturally.  Pinstripe!

Steve Cauthen, Sports Souvenir Stamps stamp-auto, #'d 26/66.  I have a shifting fascination with horse racing, horses, and jockeys.  There has never been a catalyst for me to become full on obsessed with horse racing though.  However, I could easily see myself following and also betting on it.  On the one hand, I really enjoyed the time I went with my girlfriend to watch the races at Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley.  On the other hand, my main interest in horses is that I want to eat one.  So there's that.

Lou Brock, Souvenir Stamps on-card autograph with relic, #'d 04/10.  Hall of Famer, two-time World Champion, broke Ty Cobb's stolen base record, 3,000 hit club, 2nd all-time in bases stolen, annoyed Koufax, never booed, and probably a super cool dude.  Unfortunate that he played for the Cubs and Cardinals and not his boyhood favorites, the Dodgers.

I might run a contest to give away some of the cards I received after I finish posting the rest of my group break haul.  Thanks to Dan at The Other World for running the break!

Two favorites from recent group breaks

These cards are from two different Daily Dimwit group breaks.  The volume of photos I've been taking of new additions to my collection has decreased, mostly because my camera (a Samsung Galaxy S3) is not the most effective thing to use for these purposes and the lighting in my room is unfavorable.  But, on to the cards!

2005 Topps Pristine, Jimmy Key game worn uniform relic.  This is from Sam's September group break.  Not #'d.

This one is awesome.  2008 Upper Deck SPX, Jim Thome Winning Materials patch, #'d 52/99.  It is definitely one of the best-looking patch swatches I own.  From July break.

Yup.

An Otherwordly Group Break

Yo dudes!  Dan over at The Other World has a pretty sweet group break idea that could net people some awesome cards.  You can check out his post here.

As it stands right now, the proposal would be 2 boxes each of 2010 Panini Century Collection (one of my personal favorite sets), 2011 Leaf Valiant, and 2011 Leaf Ink (which I opened here).  I do enjoy mid- to high-end products, and these are some of the better ones at that.  As well, for $60 to $65 a slot (Dan's working on logistics, so the price could lower), I think people would get much value and fun from this break.

Anyway, I just wanted to help spread the word because I think it would be a hoot!

No go on the group break

Not enough interest!  It's all good though.  I guess I don't know many football collectors.

First group break? (Gauging interest)

Fellow bloggers!

I can get my mitts on up to 6 boxes (or if enough people are interested, a sealed 6 box case) of 2011 Topps Precision Football for about $100 each.  That is about $29+ less than Blowout Cards' pricing.  Each master box of Precision contains four one-pack mini-boxes with one autograph or auto-relic and three base cards in each.  So, that is a guaranteed 4 autographs or auto-relics and 12 base cards per master box.  You can see the checklist here.

The format should be quite simple: one randomized slot for the contents of one mini-box at $28 to cover the cost of product, shipping w/ tracking, and supplies.  It would be $25 at cost for additional slots after the first.

I could do it as a live break.  I've never run my own group break, but I have traded with many of you before, so I hope that some of you know I'm good on my word.

It is a semi-risky product, so if anyone is interested please let me know in this post's comments.  Should there be enough interest generated I'll then make another, actual group break post.

Party Hard.