$6 Box of 1993 Stadium Club Series 3

My local dealer had someone bring in "old" (in terms of my kids) shrink-wrapped boxes of cards, including two boxes of 1993 Topps Stadium Club Series 3.

24 packs per box, 14 "Super Premium" Picture Cards per pack. Real wax, but no gum. For only $6, how could I go wrong? I couldn't, as it turns out.

Pack 1:

Official 1993 Stadium Club Membership Form - for only $29.95 per year, you get the opportunity to buy more cards exclusively! Oh, yeah, they send you some special cards, too.
#665 Greg Maddux
#682 Kevin Stocker
#664 Doug Dascenzo
#686 Tim Wallach
#657 Kevin Seitzer - "Kevin puts up outstanding numbers on artificial turf." Good thing he played in the 90's and not today or the 50's.
#678 Otis Nixon
#725 Jon Shave
#644 Tony Fernandez
#722 Kevin Young
#640 Dave Martinez - "Dave is a fine leadoff hitter." How's that for a ringing endorsement!
#626 Steve Avery - "Steve is nearly unhittable through the first six innings." Too bad he couldn't make it through the 7th.
#637 Tom Henke
#746 Frank Thomas Members Choice

Pack 2

Official 1993 Stadium Club InfoCard

#611 Chili Davis - For some odd reason, here in Upstate New York, we have a town named Chili but pronounce it "Chy-lie"!!!

#719 J.T. Snow - I didn't know he was drafted by the Yankees.

#639 Jimmy Key

#683 Jim Converse - The inventor of Converse Shoes. This is his Rookie Card.

#646 Joe Magrane

#624 Bud Black - "Bud looks forward to Independence Day." Huh? Does that mean he is better in the month of July?

#734 John Johnstone

#742 Damon Buford

#632 Bobby Kelly - Is this Roberto?

#659 Norm Charlton

#688 Robby Thompson

#628 Gregg Jefferies

#723 Charlie Liebrandt

#680 Mark Carreon - An unfortunate name for a journeyman player.

#732 Mike Draper - Also starred in Mad Men.

Pack 3

Stadium Club Master Photo Winner Brien Taylor

#673 Kirk Gibson - "Kirk is ready for the first pitch" 0-0 count stats: .370 avg!

#728 Todd Worrell

#718 David Nied

#662 Dan Wilson

#602 Jeff Reardon - "Jeff has always been tough when it matters most."

#668 Harold Reynolds - "Harold is a productive #9 hitter." Ahem, not a ringing endorsement.

#714 Brian Williams

#684 Barry Bonds - Back when he was reasonbly proportioned.

#630 Javy Lopez

#733 Henry Mercedes

#643 Alan Mills

#694 Kevin Mitchell

#676 Ricky Gutierrez - "Ricky sees the ball much better during the day." And he's got a great personality!

Pack 4

Stadium Club InfoCard

#661 Fernando Valanzuela - The Original Vuvuzela, 20 years earlier.

#663 Mark Gardner - "Mark likes pitching on natural grass." Not harder drugs.

#674 Steve Reed

#742 Damon Buford

#734 John Johnstone

#637 Tom Henke

#670 Al Leiter

#615 Jim Abbott - Absolutely an inspiration.

#609 Dave Winfield - One of the all-time great multi-sport athletes, along with Thorpe.

#656 Mike Harkey - "Mike has haunted Houston over the past three years." He's not dead yet!

#635 Jeff Russell

#614 Phil Plantier

#613 Mark Williamson

#748 Roger Clemens Members Choice

More to come in future posts....

Mucked Up on Break!

Blowout Cards pulled a fast one on me and upped the price of the Ultimate by a whopping $120 today! I'm mad as hell! Now we've got to figure out what to do.

Do you think Blowout would honor the old price? Is there anyway to pull up the page from last week and order it at the old price? Maybe Blowout will generously change their minds, but I doubt it. Does anyone have a connection there? I'll try to find a copy of the old page.

If anyone has any suggestions for a different break, let me know. Sorry, people.

Almost there...

I just need a commitment from five more people. I'm still waiting for two from Rochester (you know who you are), but it is first come first serve.

As far as the break itself, here is how I would like to run it. I will randomize the order of all the participants. As I open each pack, the hits will go in order to the participants. Each participant will get two hits as we'll go through the list twice. Any base cards I will try to split evenly to everyone who wants them, so that if two people want a Phils base card (I'm talking to you, Phungo and Arfmax!) or Indians (me and Motherscratcher) or Yankess (everyone!), I will give a base either randomly or to the person who get the "lesser" hit. So if you get the Mike Schmidt autographed patch, don't expect to get that Jimmy Rollins base card!

If that sounds fair, we can start payments so that I can order it this week. Send your payments of $29 via Paypal to dkrill@rochester.rr.com. I can make special arrangements with individuals, but if you have the ability, PLEASE use Paypal. It makes buying the case easier.

Thanks, and here's to the Break.

Ultimate Collection checklist

Here are some of the autographs that you can get in this set. These are not all of them, though. If you want to take a look at the full checklist, click here. There are some awesome autos in here, and great patches and swatches, as evidenced by our last break. Click on the link in the sidebar to take a view of the hits from the last break.

Ultimate Rookie Signatures

Adam Lind

Ryan Braun

Travis Buck

Billy Butler

Alexi Casilla

Daisuke Matsuzaka

John Danks

Delmon Young

Alex Gordon

Josh Hamilton

Fred Lewis

Glen Perkins

Phil Hughes

Andy LaRoche

Tim Lincecum

Hideki Okajima

Micah Owings

Hunter Pence

Kei Igawa

Kevin Kouzmanoff

Felix Pie

Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Ryan Sweeney

Troy Tulowitzki

Brandon Wood

Ultimate Star Materials Auto Patch

Albert Pujols Craig Biggio Carlton Fisk Cal Ripken/ Jr. C.C. Sabathia Carl Yastrzemski Derek Jeter Don Mattingly David Ortiz Frank Thomas Grady Sizemore Tony Gwynn Roy Halladay Trevor Hoffman Hanley Ramirez Ivan Rodriguez Josh Beckett Joe Mauer Jose Reyes John Smoltz Jim Thome Justin Morneau

Ken Griffey Jr.

Manny Ramirez

Mike Schmidt

Mark Teixeira

Nolan Ryan

Ozzie Smith

Jake Peavy

Paul Konerko

Paul Molitor

Roger Clemens

Mariano Rivera

Randy Johnson

Rod Carew

Robin Yount

Tom Glavine

Wade Boggs

Ultimate Legendary Signatures

Al Kaline

Bob Feller

Bob Gibson

Bill Mazeroski

Brooks Robinson

Carlton Fisk

Carl Yastrzemski

Don Mattingly

Ernie Banks

Frank Robinson

Harmon Killebrew

Johnny Bench

Joe Morgan

Jim Palmer

Luis Aparicio

Juan Marichal Mike Schmidt Nolan Ryan Ozzie Smith Paul Molitor Rod Carew Reggie Jackson Ryne Sandberg Steve Carlton Sandy Koufax Stan Musial Tony Gwynn Tom Seaver Wade Boggs Willie McCovey Ultimate Champions Signatures Al Kaline Albert Pujols Anthony Reyes Bob Feller Bob Gibson Chris Carpenter Chipper Jones Cal Ripken/ Jr. David Eckstein Derek Jeter David Ortiz David Wells Francisco Rodriguez Greg Maddux Johnny Bench Jim Edmonds Joe Morgan Randy Johnson Jorge Posada John Smoltz Miguel Cabrera Nolan Ryan Reggie Jackson Sandy Koufax Stan Musial Tom Glavine Tom Seaver Dontrelle Willis Willie Stargell Yogi Berra The Ultimate Six Signatures Sandy Koufax Cal Ripken/ Jr.

Derek Jeter

Ken Griffey Jr.

Kei Igawa

Daisuke Matsuzaka

The Ultimate Iron Man Signatures

Cal Ripken/ Jr.

Final Push for Case Break!

We need 10 more slots filled in order to get this thing filled. The general consensus so far is that people would like to do the 2007 Ultimate again. I'm up for that, but this time it will be a progressive-hits distribution, so that everyone gets two hits. I will randomly generate an order when all the slots are filled, and then the hits will be distributed as they come out of the boxes. If anyone wants base cards, I can send those along, too. I will try to distribute them since there probably are several Indians, Yankees and Orioles fans.

Talk it up to your blog-mates! Let's get this filled soon!

Email me (look for my address in the side-bar -->) or leave a comment.

Case Break Proposal Update

A few notes on getting an upcoming case-break organized:

• Please don't transfer any money yet. I want to get a full dance card before I order anything.
• I am not married to Fleer Greats of the Game. I am willing to discuss other case breaks or box breaks as well.
• I didn't realize Thorzul had just done a break of FGotG. Sorry.
• Please leave a comment here if you are interested in doing a break. Once we get most everyone in, we'll work out the financing.
• I will be on vacation the last week of October, so nothing will get done that week and I will be unavailable.

Looking at Blowout Cards, there are other products available, including the one I did last year, which was a pretty big success: 2007 Ultimate. I will list the available products that will come in under $30 per slot, including shipping.

1. 2007 Upper Deck Ultimate - 4 boxes, 4 packs/box, 4 cards/pack, including 2 memorabilia and one auto - 48 "hits" - $659 + $40 shipping for 24 slots - $29/slot
2. 2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot - 20 tins, 1 pack/tin, 6 cards/pack, including 1 #'d Sweet Spot signature and 1 rookie helmet signature per tin, 2 Sweet Swatch relics per tin, plus 1 dual Sweet Spot signature and 1 Sweet Swatch patch per case - 82 total "hits" - $779 + $60 shipping for 40 slots - $21/slot *** RISK: redemptions which are expired***
3. 2006 Fleer Greats of the Game - 12 boxes/case, 15 packs/box, 5 cards/pack, including 2 autographs and 2 relics per box - 48 total "hits" - $619 + $36 shipping for 24 slots - $27.50/slot
4. 2008 Upper Deck Heroes - 10 boxes/case, 24 packs/box, 8 cards/pack - 3 relics, 1 auto per box, plus 2 patch cards, 2 autogamers and 1 YSL relic card per case - 45 total "hits" - $536 - either 20 or 30 slots - $28.50 or $20/slot

Please leave a comment if you are interested. I've already heard back from Troll, Night Owl and GCRL. Thanks.

Case Break Proposal

I would love to do another box break. I found on Blowout Cards and DAcardworld a case of 2006 Fleer Greats of the Game with 12 boxes per case and 2 autos + 2 relics per box. That's 48 per case, a good amount of some old-time greats. Here is a link to the product information on Blowout Cards. The checklist is a PDF link at the bottom. Check out those Auto Mermorabilia cards! What a great checklist!

It won't be teams for the inserts, but could be for the base cards, depending on what everyone wants. The reason for doing it as a break where the inserts are handed out to everyone in a random order is that the the Greats of the Game are from only seven teams: Yankees, Cubs, Cardinals, Tigers, Red Sox, Dodgers and Reds. There are other inserts, such as the Nicknames and Decade Greats, but it would be unfair for anyone who chose one of those teams.

It's only $619 on Blowout Cards. So for 32 people at $21 per person, that would be $672, which would cover the case and most of the shipping to each person, which averages $1.50 to $2.00 per person from here.

Post a comment if you are interested in joining this case break. The last one went really well, and I think this would be a great product for all us vintage-heads. Let's try to get this together by this weekend so that we can do this sooner rather than later.

2009 Goudey Box Break - First Impressions

I was surprised yesterday when I went to my local shop and found the 2009 Goudey on the shelf, staring me in the eye, daring me to buy it.

"C'mon, Dan, you know you want me! I'm irresistable!"

"I just bought some cards at the card show on Sunday, and I need to spend some money on some sleeves. How can I afford to buy you?!!?"

"It doesn't matter. Look at me! I'm new! I'm fresh! I'm unopened! Take me home."

"Willpower . . . draining . . . feel . . . weak . . . can't . . . resist!"

"Resistance is futile, silly human."

Yeah, I bought a box. $75, plus tax. After seeing the prices around for this online, I really appreciate my local store all that much more.

So, I opened all the packs while I was sitting there. I had some time to kill, waiting to pick the kids up. My hands were shaking - would this be the day I pull the Derek Jeter autograph? Or a Grady Sizemore? (Who knows if Grady is even on the UD payroll. I can hope, can't I?)

I start ripping the waxy wrappers, which are much better than those hermetically sealed things that so many cards come in these days, and much easier to open, and perusing the base and inserts. Hmmm, looks a lot like last year's Goudey. Standard size, though. Same color schemes. No Derek Jeter Says or Ken Griffey Says, though. Good. It was intrusive, and didn't contribute to the card, really.

The pictures are kinda funny, though. Look at this Teixeira. It breaks Mario's Baseball Card Commandment #2: Thou Shall Not Make Baseball Cards From Press Conferences.

 

OK, what is this junk? Upper Deck 20th Anniversary Retrospective of the Pope?!?!! Geez, I wish they would stop putting this stuff in all their products, taking away a card from the set I'm trying to collect. They did that with the "Yankee Stadium Legacy" last year, and it annoyed me then, too.

(I love the fact that my scanner, which auto-splits images and justifies them, thought the slanted stripes on the back of the card indicated the correct orientation!)

Great! The first of hopefully two hits. Trevor Hoffman jersey. Hmmm. Well . . . boring. No pinstripe, really small jersey. The only saving grace on this card is Trevor's face. Looks like he just ate a lemon.

Why couldn't they put him in a Brewers uniform, just like they did for C.C. in New York?!? Oh, wait, they didn't, did they?

Hey, I like this 4-in-1 cards. They are interesting, and at least they coordinate the players on the card by team or by position. Nice work on these.

Sports Royalty. Again. (Yawwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnn)

Heads Up. Again. (Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnn)

Multi-colored-back minis. (Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)

Down to my last pack. No buyback or autograph yet. And look at that! They fill half the box with some styrofoam! What the . . . ! Talk about a waste of . . . hey! What's that? Goudey Graph!

It looks like a Yankee!

It looks like a Jeter!

It looks like . . . like . . . Francisco Cervelli. Damn.

Well, let's see what the overall totals are:

• 1 box, 18 packs, 8 cards per pack, 145 cards total, 13 RC
  
• 106 Base
• 1 SP (!)
  
• 4 Sport Royalty SP (Carlton, Wang, Upton, Peterson)
  
• 1 Goudey Graph (Cervelli)
  
• 1 Goudey Memorabilia (Hoffman)
• 4 Heads Up SP (Berra, Berkman, Beckett, Soriano)
• 12 4-in-1: 9 red, 2 blue, 1 green
  
• 7 Mini: 3 green-back, 2 blue-back, 1 black back (#/21), 1 Heads Up SP (Beckett)
• 9 20th Anniversary Retrospective
  

My Opinion If you could not tell already, this is a tired design that needs to be re-tired for a few years, just as Hand Collated suggests. I love the old-style cards, with the real cardboard and thicker appearance, but this one has run its course. A few more suggestions:

• Get rid of the extraneous stuff, like 20th Anniv. Retro. and YSL
• Keep the nice set size, 200 base and only 20 regular SPs
• Mix up the other SPs, such as replace the Heads Up with the 4-in-1, and switch around in every release
• PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop putting wasted autos in these packs; no one wants a Francisco Cervelli except for the ultra-minor-leaguer-obscure collector
  

Overall I would give this release a 6 out of 10. Nice effort, good quality, but boring and stale.