2022 Topps Heritage Blaster Box - One Pack a Day "Break"

 I'm currently on vacation in Florida. Hanging out with some family and have a ticket to Game Four of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers. Other than the fact that I forgot how much fun it is to do anything in humidity, it's a nice relaxing break from my, well, not so stressful regular life.

While on some errands we stopped at a Wal-Greens and they happened to have some cards behind the counter. So, on a whim, I picked up a blaster of 2022 Topps Heritage. I have no plans of collecting this set. I wasn't even going to go out of my way to get the Orioles out of the set (already grabbed one of the Ryan Mountcastle relic cards from a dollar box). So consider all of these cards available for sale (unless of course I pull something that I really, really want). 

Let's see how we did with Pack Number 1

#363 Yandy Diaz

How appropriate. I'm in the Tampa area and the first card pulled is a Ray.  

#59 Matt Chapman

In the grand tradition of Heritage as an early season release, Chapman is pictured as an Oakland A. He was traded to the Blue Jays on March 16th, so there is an outside chance he is pictured in his Toronto uniform in the extended series release.

#111 Tucker Banhart

Barnhart joined the Tigers in a November 2021 trade and is scuffling along with a .226/.258/.252 slash line.

#233 Josh Harrison

Harrison had a brief stay in Oakland as he was part of a deadline deal between the Nationals and A's. He finished out the season there before signing with the Chicago White Sox in the off-season. 

#6 Liam Hendricks

Speaking of the Southsiders, Liam Hendricks is next up. Unlike some of the previous players in this pack, Hendricks is off to a strong start in 2022 with a league-leading 16 saves. 

#47 Yasmini Grandal

White Sox hot pack! We're back on the struggle bus. Grandal is slashing .163/.274/.213, but he does have 2 home runs!

#334 Bryan De La Cruz RC - Chrome Refractor #92/673

Hey now, a retail hit! According to the back of the wrapper these refractors come 1:176 per pack in the blasters. It ain't sexy, but I'll take it. Love me some shiny cards. In his second year with the Marlins, De La Cruz is playing part time, but has put up 8 stolen bases in 37 games. After working his way up through the Astros organization De La Cruz was traded to the Marlins in 2021 and had a pretty decent rookie campaign.

#374 Kyle Seager

We follow that card up with our first retired player card. Seager announced his retirement in December of 2021 after an 11-season career with the Seattle Mariners. In nine of those seasons he posted 20+ homeuns and finished with 242 in his career. A nice solid career.

#89 Whit Merrifield

I'm pretty sure Merrifield is the active leader in trade rumors per season in the league. It seems every summer the Royals infielder is involved in speculation that has him getting moved to a contender. As of now he hasn't moved and continues to be a steady performer in the middle of the field for Kansas City. Not sure if you know this, but he's led the American League in stolen bases three times in his career and is currently ranked 14th among active players with 166. 

That's pack number one. We'll be back tomorrow with the next one. If you see anything you like, hit me up in the comments. 

2019-20 Upper Deck Allure Hockey. I think I like it...

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a box of Upper Deck Allure. It's one of two new releases from Upper Deck that have hit the shelves in the last couple of months.  I'm not going to lie....I had a really good box.

This is a quick video I made showing off the entire break. Was happy when I pulled a Jack Hughes Jersey card in the first pack. Was even happier when I saw the 1/1 midway through the break.

My full thoughts are over at Raw Charge. Let me know what you all think about this product.

Signs of spring - A look at 2018 Series 1 Topps.

Normally, the first sign that it's almost time for spring training is the annual picking of the free agency carcass by Orioles General Manager Dan Duquette. In a normal year, most of the big names are gone leaving the Os GM to sign the likes of Ubaldo Jimenez or Yovani Gallardo. This year is a bit different as it seems no one is signing any free agents so there are no bones to pick over.  That means it's time to move on to sign number two that baseball is almost here - the release of Topps Series 1.

Looking through a few hundred cards of summer baseball action makes the foot of snow on the ground here in Chicago a little easier to bear. Buying a box of cards a few weeks before moving, probably isn't the smartest thing to do, but in the over all scheme of things, a hobby box worth of cards isn't adding that much to the grand scheme of things. So I wandered over to Elite Sportscards and picked up a box.

Let's get down to the cards....

The first card of the season was....

For the second year in a row, it's a Philadelphia Phillies position player. That doesn't bode well for the Phillies who finished 66-96 after I pulled Freddy Galvis  as my first card last year.  I will say that I like the Herrera card a lot. The layout is perfect for a horizontal card fits nicely with the placement of the logo and the nameplate.

I don't have any problem with the design itself. It's another full-bleed photo, which is nice. The logo may be a bit big, but not obnoxiously so. It's nice to be able to read the name and there is no unnecessary hard-to-read glittery typeface.

The back of the card...

I know people care more about the photos on the front than the stats on the back. I just wish that there would be more stats. My old man rant is they've gotten away from the full career stats on the back. I grew up with the ability to see an entire career on the back of a player's baseball card. It was impressive to see the numbers of someone who had been in the league for 10-15 years. I suppose it's nice to see what a player's Twitter handle is, but honestly, I'd rather have the stats, both new and old

The photography continues to be top notch. Honestly, the photos used for the base set rival what used to be used for Stadium Club. There are a lot of action shots, a good mix of horizontal and vertical cards. There is the usual mix of team cards, future stars, and checklists. The checklists feature odd pairings of players such as:

My least favorite card....

There are several reasons why I'm not a huge fan of this card. One, as a resident of Chicago, I've heard the "Bryce Harper is signing with the Cubs as soon as he's a free agent" story 1,001 times since since they've been in the majors. Yes, they are both from Las Vegas and are friends.   (Thank you to Scott for pointing out I'm an idiot. It's Kris Bryant that is from Vegas, not Rizzo. Still, that makes the card even dumber. Put Harper and Bryant on the card.) That's great.

The "Rizzarper" portmanteau makes my brain hurt. It just doesn't look right. Doesn't "Harpizzo" sound so much better? Hopefully Topps trademarked that term, because if Harper does join the Cubs, it's going to be plastered across a million bootleg t-shirts.

My favorite card...

A nice close-up of Travis D'Arnaud reaching fruitlessly for a foul ball in the stands. The impromptu nature of the card, the fact that it's one of the few day cards and the fan pictured under his glove recoiling from the action really appeal to me.

As usual, due to the early release of the set, there are some cards picturing players in their old uniforms. Which leads to:

Card that makes me sad....

I'm glad that Longo got one more card in a Rays uniform. It would have been a shame to see him airbrushed into a San Francisco Giants uniform. The trade really signified the end of an era for the Tampa Bay franchise. He was the last member of the 2008 team that marked the beginning of the Rays being a relevant team. He will be missed.

Card that makes me happy:

How can you not be happy seeing the best player in the game with a bid ol' smile on his face. This is not his base card. For the first time in a few years I managed to pull a short-print out of a hobby box. Apparently, one of the themes for the short-prints is showing the players in batting practice jerseys or sweatshirts.  As for the use of alternate photos in the set...I'm kind of over it. I liked it when the alternate cards were retired veterans, heck one of my cards of the year was a vintage alternative. Now, much like outdoor hockey games, there just seems to be too many of them.  Dial it down a notch, Topps.

Card that signals a new trend:

Last year, for the first time in two decades, Topps didn't leave out card #7 in honor of Mickey Mantle. Gary Sanchez got the honor of being the first non-Mantle player to feature on the #7 card since the Yankee legend passed away in 1995.

This year the card belongs to Clint Frazier, another young Yankee prospect. I liked Topps either leaving the card out of the set or printing a Mantle-memorial card. It was an interesting quirk that made sense, even if it did occasionally leave a blank slot in a card binder. However, it evolves into another quirk if Topps continues to use that spot for a younger Yankee player.  Could Justus Sheffield or Justus Sheffield take that place of honor in the future? It would be a nice way to continue to honor the history of the Yankees without going over the top.

Other hits and inserts from the box:

The relic or autograph promised by the front of the box is a simple white jersey of Michael Conforto. That's alright I guess. No need to get super-excited or super-depressed about it.

I knew I was going to like this insert as soon as it was announced. After all the 1983 set was one of my favorites, so seeing current players and veterans mixed in was great. Will I try and complete it? I don't know. We'll see how the year goes.

The parallels. A couple of golds (numbered to 2018) and a few foils.  Another insert that I can take or leave. I really don't see the appeal of the foil versions, they just seem a bit pointless.

The "advertisement disguised as an insert" card. Topps is promoting their daily, print-on-demand Topps Now product by showing their top selling cards from last year. I will do what I usually do and purchase any Orioles-related cards that come along.

The insert that looks really familiar. Superstar Sensations.  When I pulled the first one of these inserts I instantly associated them with last year's Five Tool inserts. Again, I'm neither over or underwhelmed by them.

Honestly I haven't even taken the time to look up what these two inserts are.  I'll get around to it at some point.

When I saw the sell-sheet for 2018 Topps and they mentioned this promotion I knew it was going to piss me off. Not because of anything Topps has done. In fact, I love it. The premise is simple: Get a card of a player and then pick the day he will hit a home run and then win a prize.  It's fantastic and I love everything about it except for one thing - I know that I will pick the wrong day.

Aaron Judge will most likely hit between 35-45 home runs this year.  He will not hit one on the day I pick him to.  I will put way too much research into figuring out a good day to pick and it will be pointless. If anything happens, he will most likely suffer a season-ending injury on the day I pick instead of hitting a home run. So, Yankees' fans, I apologize upfront for ending his season. Good thing you have 75 other players in your line-up that can hit 40 home runs.

Overall, I'm happy with the 2018 Topps Baseball set. I'm a few cards short of completion and will buy a couple of packs or hanger packs along the way before trying to trade my way to a complete set.

What do you all think about this year's release?

A Quick Box Break - 2015 Stadium Club

Not sure if you kids have heard, but the National is in town! No not the band you dirty little hipsters, but The National Sports Collectors Convention has made its return to Chicago. I missed the National the last time it was in Chicago because I was floating over killer whales in Vancouver, but I do plan on showing up for a couple of hours this year.

Not sure what I'm going to go after or what my budget will be (nothing like having a plan!) but I'm leaning towards more baseball than hockey and maybe even some memorabilia as well. After all, we're finally moving to a one-bedroom apartment and might actually be able to find a spot to display some stuff.

As a bit of a warmup I bought something that I'm pretty sure I haven't purchased since I lived in Florida (about 5 years) and is probably the least efficient way to build a set. That's right I forked over $19.99 for a blaster box. A box of what – 2015 Stadium Club!

I've liked what I've seen so far – Topps seems to be bringing it back to the mid/high-level set with great photographs. In all likelihood I'll pick up a box of this at the National, but let's see what my two Andrew Jackson's got me.

Pack One -

First Card of the Year - Luis Aparicio  – Lots of former players in the set this year including some that you normally don't see in other releases. He also gets the nod for best looking card in the pack. It was kind of a blah pack to start off with.

Other cards – Jorge Soler (RC!),Garrett Richards, Brett Gardner, Anthony Rizzo

Pack Two -

Best Looking Card – Sonny Gray. Nice use of the horizontal framing. That was one thing I loved about the original run of Stadium Club – full bleed horizontal cards.

Other cards – Jay Bruce, Buster Posey, Wily Peralta, Dusty Baker

Pack Three -

Best Looking Card – C.J. Wilson. Another horizontal card, Wilson rocks the gas mask and swim goggles look as he exchanges a high-five with a random fan.

Other cards – Andrelton Simmons, Phil Hughes, Alex Cobb, Andrew McCutchen

Pack Four -

Best Looking Card – Yasiel Puig. Nice use of the dusky sky in the background as Puig walks back out to the field between innings. Love that we know the exact time that the photo was taken. Does it count as a night card?

First Orioles Card – Manny Machado. Most relaxed photo of the set I think. Also love the blades of the grass under the ball. Sharp.

Other cards – Masahiro Tanaka, Henderson Alvarez, Stephen Strasburg (Gold Parallel)

Pack Five -

Best Looking Card – Elvis Andrus. Action shot! Result of this play – Andrus either sprains his thumb or dislocates his shoulder. Still a good-looking shot.

Other cards – Anthony Rendon, Nelson Cruz, Corey Kluber, Hisashi Iwakuma

Pack Six - 

Best Looking Card – Albert Pujols. Another Angels celebration card. They sure celebrated a lot for not winning the World Series.

Other cards – Jjonny Peralta, Josh Harrison, Pablo Sandoval, Brock Holt

Pack Seven -

Best Looking Card – Tim Hudson. Great photo of the long-time veteran kissing the championship trophy. It's not quite like kissing the Stanley Cup, but still a great photo.

First Insert – Starling Marte Luminous Triumvirate. A 1:32 hit. I done beat the odds! And it's shiny!

Other cards – David Price, Josh Donaldson, Sean Doolittle

Pack Eight (The Bonus Pack!)

Best Looking Card – Dale Murphy. Favorite card of the box, honestly. I love the composition of the photo and the old-school Braves uniform.

Bonus Best Looking Card – Ivan Rodriguez. Proportion is everything in the photo. The glove looks huge, the body looks small and his head makes him look like a living bobblehead. Yet, for some reason it all comes together.

Other cards – John Olerud, Starling Marte, Chris Sale (Gold Parallel)

So did I get my money's worth? I think so. Forty cards in the box, two parallels and one insert. It's a nice start to completing the 300-card base set and I prefer packs that have more base and less inserts (number one complaint about the flagship product.

That's all for now, maybe a post-National wrap up post in a couple of days.

Ravens Lose a Close One So I'll Rip Some Hockey Cards

I just realized that it has been almost three months since I’ve posted anything about hockey/baseball cards.  For a blog that receives the bulk of its web traffic from the Sports Card Blogroll that is damn near unacceptable. So consider the schneid officially off and enjoy a “retro” hockey break.

Last week I managed to get four out of five days off from the hotel.  Not only that, but The Duchess was also out of town for most of that break.  So what does a middle age guy with days off and a quasi-bachelor weekend do in Chicago with his time?  Well, this guy works on his hockey card collection.  Yup, multiple hours of updating photos on Zistle and organizing trades.  Woo-hoo.

One of the drawbacks of organizing the chaos and getting cards sorted and put away is the desire to buy new cards to sort and catalog. Unfortunately, the new Upper Deck (double rookie class!) isn’t coming out for a few more weeks.  And while I do have an income these days, the fiscal wallet squeezing from my unemployed days still looms over my purchasing habits.

However, the urge to buy was too great to be satiated by a value pack from Target, especially once I received the weekly specials email from Dave and Adams.  So, I went online card shopping.  After perusing the bargain isle I decided on a box that offered at least four hits for under 50 bucks. Not a bad value.  So here we go with The Hopeful Chase Box Break Review of:

2011-12 Panini Rookie Anthology

Ten packs, five cards per pack with 2 autographs and 2 relic cards “guaranteed” along with a BONUS back that contained an auto or relic.  So umm….why not just advertise five hits?

Anyway, I left the bonus pack till last and got to ripping. 

Base cards:

I must say they are pretty clean looking cards.  The simple white background with angled borders focuses attention on the player photo.  I like that the borders coincide with the team colors. It makes for a well put together card that feels and looks a little like SP Authentic.  With only 100 base cards, putting together a full set hopefully won’t be too difficult.

Non fancy inserts

Each pack featured an insert of some sort.  Anthology gets its name by incorporating inserts from other Panini sets. At least I’m pretty sure that is where the name comes from. Sprinkled among the base set were inserts from Crown Royale, Pinnacle, Certified, Contenders and Luxury Suite.

Rookies:

All of my rookies were inserts – with four of them being Pinnacle Dufex inserts. Excuse me, I mean Nufex inserts:

Out of the four I guess Louis Leblanc is the best of the lot.  At least he’s not playing in Germany or Finland. I’m not a fan of the Nufex cards, just a little too busy and hard to make out details.  Some folks love ‘em, though.  Go figure.

Calder Candidate

Serial numbered out of 999.  That’s nice.  Mike Murphy is a number one goalie…..in Charlotte. With Cam Ward still stopping pucks and Justin Peters as his heir apparent it would probably behoove Murphy to find a new organization (I hear Edmonton could use a goalie).

Rookie Royalty:

I’m a sucker for die cut cards, especially ones that look like a crown.  The player could have been better, as Kytner is currently playing in the Czech League after appearing in one NHL game in his career.

The Hits

Leaf Certified Freshman Signature Brett Bulmer.  I’m watching the Lightning play the Wild as I type this up.  Bulmer is not playing.  At least not for the MINNESOTA Wild. He’s apparently he’s toiling for the Iowa Wild these days (2 goals in 2 games – maybe he’ll get a call up).

Draft Year Combos Devin Setoguchi and Marc-Edouard Vlasic

I’ve been eyeing the Vinny Lecavalier/ David Legwand version of this card for a few years now. I like the concept and the execution.  Two white swatches are kind of meh, but overall a nice card.  I think I know someonewho might enjoy this card.

Rookie Rivalry Tomas Kubalik/Ryan Ellis

Another nice dual relic card.  I’m not a big fan of the layout, if they went horizontal with this look I think it would be a little more aesthetically pleasing.

Rookie Treasures

Another card with multiple pieces of sweater on it rounds out my 4 guaranteed hits.  Panini slapped a sticker autograph on the bottom which makes up for them yet another two white swatches.  Is it me or does Da Costa look like he just saw a ghost?

THE BONUS HIT!

I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t expecting much out of the bonus pack.  I’m usually not that lucky.  I was thinking that it would be a nice card of some guy that I had kind of heard of, but was playing in the KHL these days.  Instead I got this…..

Three colors!

Autographed!

Numbered to 99!

Someone I’ve heard of!

A name that is really hard to spell!

Look it’s hard to have a “perfect” hockey card.  However, the only reason I would knock points off of this card is that it is a sticker autograph. If this was hand-signed I might have to put this in the Perfect Card Hall of Fame.

Even with the slight blemish, this card really made my day.  Not sure what I’m going to do with it yet.

Overall this was a fun break.  I think Dave and Adam http://www.dacardworld.com/sports-cards/2011-12-panini-rookie-anthology-hockey-hobby-boxstill has boxes for about $47 online. Even with 2011-12 not being the strongest of rookie classes it’s still a fun box to rip.  I’ll probably be getting another one and seeing if I can put the base set together….or get enough dupes to send some out for TTM autographs.

Anyone else rip this one back in the day?

At Long Last We Have Completion

Hey, whoa! Where did the time go?  Has it really been that long since I posted?  I’m really getting too old to let two weeks slip by almost unnoticed.  I guess I should wrap up this whole “drag out a box break” series and move on to more interesting topics like the Lightning playoff chances (excuse me while I go cry in a corner now).  Three more packs to go, let’s go get them!

Or, because I am lazy let’s not.

I’ll boil it down to one card. 

Hey there leader of Birdland!  Good ol’ Buck Showalter looking all managerial and serious. Which is exactly how managers not named Joe Maddon should look.  The O’s are lingering around .500 this season. Luckily in the AL East that still has them in contention.

There wasn’t much else lurking in the last three packs of the box.  I did get a Venezuelan variation of a pitching leaders card.  If you haven’t seen them, well they’re just like the normal cards except with a black border around the back of the card.

My thoughts on the 2013 Topps Heritage product – a definitive “meeehhh”.

Of all the Topps products on the market, Heritage really is the simplest to get a grip on.  Take a vintage design and airbrush a bunch of current players on the front and ship it out.  I like that they mimic  the inserts and foibles of the original years to keep a bit of continuity, that makes for a nice touch.  The problem is, if you’re not a fan of the base card design it’s really hard to talk yourself into investing the time and money to put a complete set together (thanks short prints!)

I will be trading away, or at least attempting to trade away, most of the cards that I pulled from this box. I’m off to a decent start having set aside the Braves for Captain Canuck and the Pirates for Staff Sergeant Real DFG.  About a week ago I pulled off a 2013-for-2012-Heritage swap on Zistle that cleaned out  about another 20 cards.

So if you are looking to put this set together or need some team needs, check out my trade list on Zistle on get in touch with me. In the meantime I think I might be looking for some Gypsy Queen cards.  I’m really digging the Dealing Aces insert set, might put that one together. After all I already got the best one out of the way.

The Next To Last Heritage Post - We're almost there!

Here we go.  The first of two posts where I knock out the rest of the Heritage box that bought seemingly 3 months ago.  I’m not done opening packs and I’ve already managed to trade about 20 cards through Zistle.  I’m sure once I’m done and can focus I can get most of this set traded away.  Then I can start thinking about buying a box of Gypsy Queen.  For some reason I’m more intrigued by that set this year then I have been in the past.

Pack I

Carlos Ruiz – “Chooch” to Phillies fans.  Not a bad nickname.  Definitely better than A-Rod or S-Rod or anything like that. I’m pretty sure that “photo” was taken at the Phillies spring training stadium in Clearwater. For my money it’s the best place to watch a game in the Tampa area.

Luis Ayala – Part of a very strong bullpen for the Orioles last year that led to a 29-9 record in one-run games last season.  Critics and sabreologists scoffed at the record and decried it as “UNSUSTAINABLE!” I guess they might be right, the O’s are 0-1 in one-run games this season.

Howie Kendrick- Kendrick is a doubles machine – 195 in only 7 seasons.  Maybe the O’s can pick him up to replace their oft-injured doubles hitter Brian Roberts.

Jacoby Ellsbury – Speaking of oft-injured

Wellington Castro – I’m not going to lie, Wellington is a strong, strong first name.

Heath Bell – No Flat Breezy for Mr. Bell.  That’s an old-school grab the hat and bend it as hard as you can in the middle brim.

Jake Peavy – Anytime you can invest $29 million in a pitcher whose arm may fall off his body at anytime you gotta do it!

AL Bombers – Is Cano that short or Rodriguez that tall.  They look like Marty and Vinny celebrating a goal.

James McDonald – This is his third full year as a starter in the National League. If he was surrounded by better talent I’d say he was on the verge of a breakout season.

Best Card – Ayala – Go O’s!

Worst Card – The Yankees.

Pack II

Pat Neshek – He’s probably the best TTM signer in the league and after a couple of years dealing with arm injuries it looks like he found a place in Oakland. Good for him

Garrett Jones – I wonder how often his name will pop up in trade rumors this season.

Chris Perez – They couldn’t have memorialized Perez getting sick on the field? Who knows, maybe there is a super short print variation of that awesome moment!

Tyler Pastornicky – Chalk up another name I have no idea of who it is. Into the pile for Captain Canuck it goes!

Jeremy Hellickson – With James Shields off to Kansas City it is time for Hellickson to step up his game a bit. He won’t be the ace, but needs to be a strong number two.

Jay Bruce – He seems to be the pure slugger compared to Joey Votto’s more cerebral approach.

David Ortiz Memorable Moments – Whatever.  I really don’t care.  Just retire already.

James Loney – Tampa Bay might have another reclamation project on their hands. 

Mike Leake – He’s 28-22 in his career while giving up over 4 runs a game.  Should be in line for a $75 million contract.

Best Card – Pat Neshek

Worst Card – Ortiz

Pack III

A.J. Pierzynski – A royal portrait for a royal asshole

Brendan Ryan – Shortstop or crazed meth addict biker?

Tommy Milone – Proof that you don’t have to be a flamethrower to be successful.  I have a theory that the next undervalued market are pitchers who throw strikes but don’t light up the radar gun.  Even the new age scouts seem to be enamored with hard throwers.

Daniel Nava – After 7 at bats this year Nava is hitting .429 – could be the next superstar!

Pitching Leaders AL – Good for them.

Darwin Barney – The Cubs are quietly putting together a decent infield with Barney, Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro and eventually Javier Baez.  Who knows, maybe Theo Epstein will put a winner on the field eventually.

Koufax and Kershaw – Another awesome card in this set. At some point I will own a Koufax card (you know one from when he actually played). 

Royals/Rays Prospects – This would have been an all Royals prospects card if Andrew Friedman didn’t get Odorizzi included in the James Shields trade.  That’s why Friedman is one of the best in the business.

Daniel Hudson – He’s not happy about this card.

Best Card – Koufax and Kershaw

Worst Card - Hudson