Diamond Giveaway Continued and a new Hanley

Continued from the last post…

The fourth dig resulted in the Reds ring, fifth came up with a Brooklyn Dodgers ring and a bonus card and dig, and the sixth a Chicago White Stockings.  The bonus card is a David Eckstein, with the bonus dig a Lou Gehrig ring.  This was slow but fun, and has definitely stocked my desire to get more 2011 boxes.

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Finally, say hello to the newest Hanley, a 2008 SP Legendary Cuts dual on card auto of Hanley Ramirez and Luis Aparicio, numbered to 75.  I hope Hanley will match the Hall of Fame career of Aparicio.

2011 Topps Diamond Giveaway

I’ve got six of these bad boys from the recent 2011 Topps retail bust-o-rama.  Here’s what I got:

1. Wood panel goodness – 1987 Jim Beattie

2. Mis-cut wood panel goodness – 1987 Ken Dayley

3. Multicolor dream chote – 1990 Steve Jeltz

4. We’re moving the wrong direction in time! – 1992 Andres Galarraga.  Can you believe this tub o’ fun once led the league in doubles?

5. Beer me, broberg! – 1974 Pete “Sven” Broberg

6. Former ROY alert – 1973 Earl Williams

 

OK, so now I have six digs.  What the crap is this?

• You’ve just unlocked your personal virtual “Diamond” field.
• Buried in every plot on the field is a prize.
• Pick a spot to “dig up” to see what you’ve won!

You can instantly win vintage packs, a 60th Anniversary set of cards, a 60th Diamond Anniversary Topps Ring or a diamond engagement ring!

And there’s more! Dig for virtual diamond rings. The more you collect, the more stuff you get! Collect, trade and redeem them for awesome prizes like a $10 e-gift card to shoptopps.com and more! (From the Topps Diamond Giveaway website).

Let’s dig.

1. First dig…half way between second and third base.  A virtual Minnesota Twins diamond ring. Virtual Kirby Puckett does a little dance.  Note: long pause between dig and prize reveal.  Those virtual jewelers are slow.

2. Next dig, to the right of the pitching mound.  I’ve now waited for five minutes.  The e-Zurich guys must be dead like Frankie Four Fingers.  Just reset and reclicked the same spot, and, like a crazy person who does the same thing and expects different results, I’ve just boiled a rabbit.

New plan, digging near a spot between first and second base.  Hmm, I think I may need to try this digging thing later. It is now 12:45am.

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Tried number 2 again around 1:20…and presto, a Virtual Seattle Mariners Diamond Ring.

Dare we tempt the fates with try number 3?

3. Can you believe it only took a few minutes this time to uncover a Virtual Philadelphia Phillies Diamond Ring?

I’m too tired to do the rest…to be continued.

HamRamMobtown Web Video #1 – 2009 PressPass Legends and 2011 Topps Series 1 Retail

What…it’s a video.  This was a pain in arse, so check it out.  Or don’t, since it isn’t very good.

2011 Topps Baseball 5 pack break

A new year, a new month, a new post!  After dropping out for a bit, I’m back with a new Mac, no scanner, and some cards.  Let the blogging begin! All pictures, unless taken from the web, is going to be Photobooth, because I’m lazy.

First, life has been great – a job that I love, a wonderful wife who understands the mysterious pull of this hobby of collecting pictures of men (sorry for forgetting who made this joke originally…was it Carlin?), and other things that drags one away from blogging for an audience of zero.

Second, the Hanley collection has grown to 326 unique cards, 30 autos, 58 jersey cards, 17 patch cards, and 4 plates.  I added some amazing new cards but I can finally consider myself on the path to being a real player collector with the acquisition of the 2003 Bowman Chrome rookie auto card.  That means my top 3 Hanley Ramirez cards to get has been reconfigured to a 2003 Topps Tribute rookie auto, any year Allen & Ginter red ink auto card, and a 2003 Bowman’s Best red ink auto card.  Still, it’s great to finally pick up the Bowman Chrome auto.

Now, onto the task at hand: five packs of 2011 Topps purchased from the fine folks at Target.  No pictures except the two minis held in my hand…don’t want to over-do the Photobooth on the first time out.

• Rookies: 65 Chris Sale, 193 Cory Luebke, 223 Gregory Infante, 254 Lars Anderson
• 7 Mickey Mantle base card
• 44 Rogers Hornsby SP base card
• 2 Target Red Diamond Continuity (odds 1:4) – RDT6 Jason Heyward, RDT13 Ichiro
• 1 Diamond Giveaway card TDG-2 Jackie Robinson
• 2 Kimball Champions (1:4) KC7 Mickey Mantle, KC41 Pablo Sandoval
• 1 60 Years of Topps (1:3) 60YOT11 Gaylord Perry
• 1 Diamond Duos (1:4) DD-HJ Rickey Henderson/Desmond Jennings
• 1 Topps 60 (1:4) T60-37 Strasburg
• 1 Platinum Diamond Anniversary (1:4) 287 Scott Cousins

Impressions: It’s a clean, nice design, though it could be boring for some collectors.  I’m a fan of the Kimball minis, but that’s too be expected from someone who loves A&G.  The Kimball’s might be better than Ginter.  The Diamond Duos insert is a step back from the last iteration of the duo card from 2010, Legendary Lineage.  The Topps 60 really didn’t make a positive or negative impression on me.  Overall, a solid job on the base cards but I’m kinda disappointed by all of the additions that have driven hobby box prices through the roof.  If this were a more affordable break, I’d do my customary 4 boxes of flagship…this year, I think I might have to skip the insanity.

2010 T-206 case break or…

…Why group breaks with expansion teams are a bad bet.

So, got my carefully packed box of cards from A Cardboard Problem‘s 2010 Topps 206 group break. Of course, I paid for the Marlins and I got exactly two cards that I wanted out of a 200 count box full of base cards: the Hanley base card and the only mini, a Dan Uggla Cycle cards.

There’s a reason why I’ll only be a part of I Am Joe Collector or others that follow his example: staggered pricing.  It makes no sense for an expansion team collector to pay the same amount as a historic team collector.  When your team hasn’t been around for more than 20 years and therefore doesn’t have the same amount of representatives in a set like T206, there is no reason why you should pay the same amount as someone who wants Dodgers or Yankees cards. Even if I had pulled some more Marlins cards, having all teams cost the same amount isn’t worth the risk.

Signed,

Bitter Marlins Collector

Two Walmart Topps Value Boxes

Now with 40% more value!

The hiatus is still on, since I’ll be starting a new job next week after Labor Day. Here’s a call from the silence: a rare opening of retail.

How could I avoid the 40% value that the packaging calls out? So, I opened two $15 boxes with hopes of getting a Tommy John’d phenom. Here are the highlights:

• Two non-Strasburg chrome inserts: Cal Ripken Jr and Babe Ruth.
• From the two A&G hobby packs: Cliff Lee and Papelbon minis, a regular Tyler Colvin RC
• From the Topps Series 2 packs: Jeremy Hermida and A.J. Burnett Bronze/Copper (/399), a Heyward RC, a 86 Mike Schmidt original back.
• From the Million Card Giveaway (6 cards): 2008 Brandon McCarthy, 2002 Scott Rolen, 1993 Chris Hammond, 1993 Bien Figuoroa, 1982 Tim Raines, 1968 Alex Johnson

The National: Days 2-4 Recap

This post is coming almost two weeks after the convention, but let’s see what I remember:

Day 2

• The Topps Forum: have to say that the session was informative and the Topps representatives on hand did a good job. Sure, there were weak questions from the audience, and some questionable answers from the panel, but overall the session had a lot of interesting answers for some burning hobby questions.  The crowd was further placated with the ample handing out of free stuff. I was lucky to get a retail box of 2008 chrome football; pulled a DeAngelo Williams Red Refractor #’d 5/5, which was nice. One question that I wish was asked: any traction on moving to exclusively using hard signed auto cards…
• Redeemed more Panini product redemptions, with the most notable pulls a 1/10 Magic Johnson, which was traded to Beardy, and a #’d /25 Kobe card.
• Had a bummer interaction with a seller – the guy was personable and friendly on Wednesday, so I thought I’d take a picture and ask him some questions for a blog post; a nice little blog post. The guy was suspicious from the get go, asking me for press credentials and balking at the photo. It was within his rights, as he voiced concern that I might be posting negative things about him.  Still, I was a bit disappointed.

Days 3-5

• Yes, I attended all five days, and believe me, I suffered for my zeal. I came down with a severe head cold/allergy thing, my legs/feet were aching (thanks to a sedentary office lifestyle, I wasn’t used to so much walking), and my bank account wasn’t too happy.
• Went with a different friend for each of the three days. Each found something cool to buy: the first, a bronze Louisville Slugger plague, the second a tobacco card of Eureka, California, and the third, a pleathora of Boston Red Sox game used cards. 
• I ended up with a haul of cards but no Hanleys. I bought a nice Bob Gibson auto, a few movie memorabilia cards (a new PC), a cool Chris Volstad auto, a nice patch/auto Ray Rice card, a few Korea player cards, a silk tobacco card of Korea, and too many boxes of stuff.  I think I busted 1 box of Panini Classics football, 1 box of Score football (b0th shared with Beardy), 1 box of Panini Crown Royal basketball, 1 box of Panini basketball (don’t remember what it is, had 10 packs), 2 boxes of baseball Piece of History, and other stuff that I’m not remember. The wife was definitely not happy.
• Got two in-person autos on baseballs – Jim Gentile, an O’s great, and HOF basketball player Calvin Murphy. Both guys were generous with their time, Jim Gentile regaling me with stories from his time playing in the Japanese league while Calvin Murphy joking about signing a baseball. My buddy got a book signed by Dirk Hayhurst, who is a great guy period. He spent about five minute joking with us, drawing a charicature, and taking an amazing photo with my buddy. I’ll post it sometime.
• Got to chat with Brian Kong, a sketch card and comic book artist. His work has been in Allen & Ginter. Really nice guy, and his wife was really great as well. He’ll be at the Baltimore Comic Convention, which apparently is a huge artist gathering. I hope RogumPogum, formerly Wax Wombat, will be there.
• Saw Bill Simmons of ESPN with a camera crew. It was nice to see that he drew a minimal crowd. He was with a douchy look producer…seriously, did you need that much hair product coming to a sports card convention?!!
• Several controversial moments. Apparently there was a raid. There was a fight near the UD booth where a woman threw water in the face of a man who she accused of using the N word, and there was a nasty scene on Sunday due to the Topps Strasburg promotion. Apparently, VIP/SuperVIPS who were in line for the redemption were pissed when Topps let kids jump to the front of the line. Curse words and bad feelings flew all around, ruining a nice gesture by Topps.

Overall, the show was amazing. I got to see so much that it boggles the mind. However, I’m glad it probably won’t be back in Baltimore in the near future as I don’t need the temptation.

Pictures from Day One of the National

Here are some pics promised from my synopsis of day one at the National (found here).

The banner awaiting those who seek to register.

The quiet before the VIP party storm (1pm)

People lined up for the start of the Strasburg redemption aka the opening of the doors to the show floor (~3:30pm)

(sorry for the blurriness) (to the tune of “I Got a Golden Ticket” from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) We got a reddish ticket! We got a reddish ticket that gets us a ‘burg.

It’s a Strasburg.

Cool booth of Japanese baseball memorabilia.

Beardy doin’ work.

1954 Topps Million Card Giveaway Mojo

This just happened. Using a code card from a pack ripped for the Strasburg redemption, I just got this -

A 1954 Topps card! Apparently, Walt Dropo was a rookie of the year in 1950.  Officially the oldest card I have in my collection.

The National: Day One Recap

It’s past 1 am as I start this post and I’m still jazzed up from the events at the opening day of the National Sports Collectors Convention.  Here are some highlights (and low lights) from the day’s events.

• Met up with the incomparable Beardy, who made for an awesome compadre for navigating the seemingly endless tables at the National.  Fun guy who is extremely knowledgeable about cards (and makes me question my qualifications for writing a blog about cards).  It was great watching him make some awesome purchases; I wish I had his ability to pull the trigger on a great deal without buyer’s remorse.
• Food and drinks at Pratt Street Ale House (a National sponsor) were alright given the proximity to the Inner Harbor and the Convention.  Don’t think I won’t be using the free pint ticket that was included in the VIP package.
• Met/walked past/saw/mumbled in the vicinity of several illustrious members of the card community.  Got to say hello and ask an awkward question about grad school to Stale Gum, walked past the gals from A Cardboard Problem, saw some Beckett guys, and caught saying something less than nice about Tracy Hackler from Beckett (mostly trying to establish how cool and anti-authority I am to Beardy, while secretly wanting to admit that he’s my favorite Beckett video participant).
• Got some cool redemptions, especially the Panini wrapper redemption. Open five packs of specific Panini product and get a random foil wrapped pack with two cards. Got a parallel Derrick Rose card /50.
• The VIP party before the opening on the National was a little bit of a joke which we left because of a lack of seating as well as a lack of desire for crappy looking pizza. Then again, I guess it wouldn’t be price-effective to serve nice canapes or feature carving stations at a card show.
• Some of the things that I saw at the National are burned into my skull: a guy whose booth was littered with GU patch, autos, and valuable card, some completely naked, being flung around willy-nilly. It may have been the booth I spent the most amount of time. I didn’t buy anything but just loved flipping through his amazing selection of cards, some worthy of being in a display case, while at the same time shocked at the shoddy treatment by the owner of his wares… I got to see a real life copy of the T206 Honus Wagner, as well as amazing Ruth and other antiquities at the PSA booth…  There was a booth with only Japanese baseball cards, a truly unique and amazing collection… There were some douchy awful owners who should learn customer service, or at least a bit of friendliness… There were some amazing sellers who I promise I will visit again (I’ll get their names/locations tomorrow).
• As a Hanley collector, I’m shocked at the lack of Hanley cards for sale at all of the booths. I’m more shocked by the lack of Markakis cards.  Beardy was striking out just as many times as I was with Hanley cards. Shocking given the locale.
• Finally, last but definitely not least, the Topps booth.  As the doors opened, people made a beeline to get in on the Topps redemption for the Heritage Steven Strasburg /999.  It was a chaotic experience at first, full of line-cutting accusations, mass confusion at the protocol for redemption, mass groaning at the length of time for waiting to begin the redemption process (~1 1/2 hours or so).  After about 45 minutes of waiting, the people in line were given red tickets indicating who the lucky 100 were (100 today, 200 Thursday and Friday, and the rest Sat/Sun, I think), which alleviated the anxiety of standing in line for a great amount of time and being informed that you’re number 101, no soup for you. I wasn’t going to do it, I swear, but we were there, Beardy seemed game, and the two guys in line closest to us were great company, even if they were Steelers fans (one a chemist working on coating who happened to be one of the most polite individuals I’ve had the pleasure of conversing, the other a special needs teacher in the Baltimore City school system who was so calm in the middle of the chaos of the redemption line).  Anyway, long story short, I got one. Photo to come. So after receiving it and shoving it my pocket, thinking it was no big deal, I started hearing people quote that it could fetch over $200. Seriously?!! I really don’t know how the card could be valuable…it’s a freakin’ giveaway! Not that I’m complaining…

So, Day one ended with a horrid inconvenience. I parked at parking lot and, upon returning, found the lot closed and chained. I assumed that the signs on the fences saying that the lot closed 1 hour after the ball game meant that the location would be open until 10 or 11pm (my assumption confirmed by the operators that I spoke with at the lot’s answering service). Well, after waiting almost 2 hours, I found out that I had been a dummy, the lot closed at 7:30 and that arriving at 8pm meant that I was the jerk. Luckily, the owner made a trip out and let me get my car out. Thank you to all the people for your great customer service. I definitely plan on calling tomorrow and thanking them for helping fix my stupid mistake.

Day two promises at least one exciting adventure: the Topps Customer Forum at 5pm. That should be fun bleary-eyed. God, I’m not looking forward to my alarm going off at 5am for work…