Christmas break recap

I hope everyone had an excellent Christmas season filled with cards--of both the sports and gift variety.  For my part, my brother and sister-in-law picked me up two retail packs each of 2010 Topps Chrome football and baseball, the most notable result of which was a Jason Heyward RC.  Not bad at all.

The last week or so also brought a few interesting additions to my collection:

Yet another Wolverine eBay pickup:
I'd made a couple offers on these but hadn't been successful until a week or two ago; now I'm the proud owner of another key Chad Henne hit:

Mmm mmmm, I DO love those RPM cards!  $20 + shipping nabbed me another Michigan 2008 Absolute Memorabilia RPM card, to go along with my Manningham and Jake Long.  It's also my eighth Henne hit and only my second autograph of the beleaguered Dolphins starting QB (somebody please get this guy WRs that don't trip and allow interceptions!).

Group break booty (finally):
Many of you were probably waiting on your cards from Georgia Mindset's 2010 Bowman Chrome group break a while back.  I know I was.  Anyway, they showed up out of the blue just before I left for home last week, and included was this gem:

Fields was the guy I hoped to get from the break when I picked the Tigers.  He initially committed to play for Michigan, but signed with the team that employs his dad as a coach, which was understandable since he was a decently high pick despite his demands.  Hopefully he blossoms into Detroit's next young star.

Dial dayf for Murder:
Last week dayf found some sweet cards that were way cheaper than they deserved to be and decided to share the spoils with his loyal readers, for free no less, which allowed me to pick up this bad boy:

That's a well-worn 1972 Topps Killer, a much loved card of a much under appreciated former slugger.  Thanks, dayf, and I promise I'll get you back with something good eventually!

More to come:
I made a couple more Blowoutcards forums purchases over the holidays as well, and I should be getting those in the next week or so, at which point you'll see them here as usual.

I've got more hits than Pete Rose (and without the stupid haircut)

Call me Motown, baby, cuz check out all these hits:

As previously promised, here's a quick look at all the stuff I picked up recently:

Mike Hart Lettermen patch:  I snagged this on eBay more than a week ago, it's just that the guy took forever to ship it, or shipped it through Siberia or something.  Anyway, that puts me up to three Michigan Lettermen Patches from 2008.  I'm putting out an APB for Jake Long's.  On a related note, I found one on eBay listed with an "Or Best Offer."  He was asking $40 for it and it books at $20, so my offer, including shipping, was $10.  I'm sure you're all shocked that he instantly rejected it.  On a related note to THAT related note, I got this Hart for $10 shipped also through a best offer (I think he originally wanted $15 or more), so not bad.

Braylon Edwards (plus a bunch of scrubs) quad jersey:  this came from one of the BlowoutCards forums lots you'll see described below, but because it was double-sided it gets its own scan.  This was sort of a throw-in for me because a Manningham I picked out was no longer available.  Also not pictured, but included in one of the deals, was a 2007 Leon Hall SPx auto/RC, which I already had, and subsequently gave away.

I picked up two great Michigan lots from BlowoutCards' forums (man what a great place to pick up stuff--no joke), one for about $50 and another around $25 I believe.  I feel I got pretty good value considering the sheer volume of cards I picked up, all of which are more valuable to me anyway.
The combined results begin here with a good mix of players:  Jake Long (my favorite card of the bunch--I really like those RPM autos), Tai Streets, Leon Hall, Bennie Joppru (my first I believe), John Navarre and Alan Branch, most of which appear in a Michigan uniform, which is even sweeter.

Another two Adrian Arrington autographs, one of which is in a Michigan uni, two Chris Perry relics (I think I ended up with four or five overall), another Braylon, and a Steve Hutchinson, which is really cool since O-linemen don't get anything special very often, and he's one of the best the game has ever seen, hands down.

Another pretty good group:  two David Harris autographs, rookie autos of LaMarr Woodley and Jake Long, a B.J. Askew (I don't believe I had anything of him either) and a nice blue Manningham jersey (jeez I have a lot of him).

Oh look, another Bennie Joppru, and he's in a Michigan uni!  Also in this group:  two more Chris Perrys (man I wish he hadn't been an NFL bust, but he'll be remembered well here in Ann Arbor), a cool dual-relic Braylon and a meh jersey of him as well, and my second Drew Henson autograph.

Another Jason Avant jersey (I'm starting to get a decent collection of him), a Shawn Crable autograph (I'm getting the impression he'll never pan out in the NFL), a dual Manningham-Henne jersey, and probably my favorite card in the whole lot:  a Bowman Sterling Chad Henne-Mike Hart dual auto.  Sweet!

These took me a while to scan and optimize, as you probably guessed, and I did scan them individually as well, but those won't end up in the PC album for a little bit since those will take longer.  HOWEVA, if you haven't seen enough scans today, enjoy these the following.

Detroit Tigers hits!

The reason I'm posting these now is that I picked up a couple this week, also from BlowoutCards, and I thought that it was time to put them up as well.  They'll also have their own album link up on the top right pretty soon as soon as I get a chance to get them scanned and uploaded individually as well.  For now, please enjoy them in all their group scan glory:

Vertical cards!  In order:  a Topps Chrome Verlander auto/RC I snagged for a nice deal on eBay not long ago; a Boesch Chrome auto/RC/thumbprint from Beardy, a Sizemore from the same set from Georgia Mindset's group break, a pair of aces from a Daily Dimwit trade package, and a Triple Threads White Whale (not a printing plate) Verlander I just got from a BlowoutCards purchase.

Horizontal cards!  The Porcello came with the Verlander White Whale previously mentioned and is just a ridiculously awesome jsy/auto/RC;  I've had this Trammell bat forever; I can't remember when I picked up this Gibby, but it's one of a couple relics I have of him (including a Dodgers bat); a Gibby autograph I picked up way back; a Porcello jersey from Reds and More; a Jack Morris autograph I've had for quite a while; and finally, a Hank Greenberg manu-patch also from Daily Dimwit (holy crap was that a nice trade package for me!).  I'll probably work on adding to this at some point, though Wolverines remain my main focus.  But I feel like I should keep piling up the Verlanders as he keeps piling up wins.

What's that thing called when you're not spending your money on cards, but trying to get money from other people for YOUR cards?

Oh yeah, selling!  As a bit of news, I sold my 2010 Topps Chrome Brennan Boesch Blue Refractor auto/RC from GA's group break, and for a pretty penny at that.  Two items I listed didn't sell, however, so I relisted them.  If you're interested in either:

-Jimmy Clausen 2010 Topps Bowman Chrome auto #1/25:  I had something like 12 watchers but nobody thought to bid.  I'm dying for someone to take this Emu auto off my hands.  Some of you may remember that this was Topps making up for shorting me a pack in a value pack, which was pretty awesome, even if it was Jimmy "I'm a talentless, stupid-looking jerkass" Clausen.

-Ryan Howard 2010 Topps Peak Performance auto/bat:  I pulled this from my 2010 Topps Series 2 box, much to my surprise at the time.  I was very excited until I saw the peeling damage to the clear plastic cover at the bottom of the card.  By the time I contacted Topps I'd thrown out the box and packs they wanted from me (I had no idea they'd be that difficult about it) so I just gave up.  It's still a pretty sweet card, and it didn't sell when I listed it at $50, but as of this writing it's got a $40 bit, which I'm pretty happy about.

Before y'all accuse me of being a greedy capitalist, I'd like to assure you all that all proceeds go to the "Too Many Grandersons?  If anything I don't have enough--let's go buy more shit!" fund, because, let's be honest, anybody that's older than 12 and still buys cards probably isn't the most fiscally responsible person.

Until next time, whenever that is, enjoy this plethora of pictures, and thanks as always for reading.

More contest reminders and GO BLUE!

Georgia Mindset group break reminder:
You know the drill:  2010 Bowman Chrome case break, get in...

Georgia Mindset contest reminder:


Do that too.

Another great free Topps Chrome box contest:

Make sure to direct your internets to Cardboard Connection's own 2010 Topps Chrome free box contest (and please mention I sent ya if you think of it--if you win and say I referred you I get loot, which means I'll give you something in return).  All you need to do is subscribe through one or two different methods to win, so go for it!

Bye week's over, GO BLUE!

Free stuff contest that isn't mine

So I've mentioned about 100 times so far that Georgia Mindset is doing a 2010 Bowman Chrome group break (which, get in, man).

Well, now he's trying to bribe everyone over to his fine establishment, which I heartily endorse (both his blog and the bribery).  Mr. Manglona is offering a free box of 2010 Topps Chrome to a random person who 1)  Follows his excellent blog, 2)  Posts a link to the contest on their own and 3)  Lets him know they did so in the comments on this post.

Appropriate (and in some cases yoinked) images to make this post look less boring:

Yoink

Call Mr. Bribe, that's my name, that name again is Mr. Bribe!  (Does this make Georgia Mindset the Bribe King?)

So make sure you take part in both of these awesome events, again, over at

Georgia Mindset's House of Chicken and Waffles

TODAY!
TODAY!
TODAY!
until
SUNDAY!
SUNDAY!
SUNDAY!

Cards all week: day 4

My group break reminder:
Looks like this'll go down, I'm just going to work on pricing in the next few days and then I'll officially solicit team buyers for my upcoming break, details here.

Georgia Mindset group break reminder:
Get in, get in, get in!

My Cal Ripken-like streak of receiving cards continues:
I've been dying to get this card since I snagged it from eBay the other day:

This baby is a 2008 SP Rookie Lettermen patch/autograph of Chad Henne.  I'd seen a number of auctions of these representing some former Michigan players, but never had enough luck to snap one up.  Then this one came up and I didn't let it go.  I'd have to say it's probably my new favorite Michigan card in my PC and I'm extremely excited to have such a nice patch/autograph (on a Michigan jersey patch, not a Miami one, no less!).  Woohoo!

ANNNNND THEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNN:
This afternoon I received my much-anticipated Georgia Mindset Topps Chrome/Triple Threads group break loot (marking my fourth straight day of finding cards in my mailbox this week).  Reminder:  I had the Orioles and Tigers.
Almost all the Orioles are heading Beardy's way in a trade package, and the biggest "hit" was a Brian Roberts Refractor, so I won't bother with scans of those.
However, the Tigers treated me very, VERY well.  It looks like I ended up with the equivalent of one team set (or thereabouts; I got nine different Tigers and I don't think we missed anybody), 8/9 of a second (missing Sizemore, and likely headed to I Don't Know...Third Base!) and some more besides, including a total of FOUR Boesch RCs.  The spoils:

(Likely) team set

Verlander T-206

Sizemore RC auto

Boesch Blue Refractor RC auto

I'd have to say based on all that that I cleaned up.  Thanks again to AJ for running a sweet-ass break.  If you haven't done a group break or you're on the fence, I highly recommend it, especially if we're talking about a product you wouldn't want to overpay for because you don't really want to collect the set (or it's financially irresponsible, such as Topps Chrome) but just want to get a team set and some hits.  Try it!

Group break idea (for real this time...maybe)

The other day I put up a long-winded post about doing a possible group break of a jumbo case of 2010 Topps Update baseball.  I eventually took it down when I looked over a large number of breaks on the interwebs and realized that for the price, you pretty much get a bunch of crap.  Don't get me wrong--I'll probably get ahold of the base set at least at some point, but roughly $80 for a box when the base set seems to be going for $20 pretty consistently and the hits don't seem to have any value (woo manufactured bat barrels) just doesn't do it for me.

With that out of the way, another idea I've been kicking around for a bit is this three-box combo over at DACardWorld:  boxes of 2007, 2008 and 2009 Sage Autographed Football.  For about $240, you get three boxes each with 12 hits (hopefully more autographs than jerseys).  A quick look at some of the stuff in each set:

2007 autos and jerseys checklist
2008 autos and jerseys checklist
2009 full checklist

To give you an idea of some of the names that are available:  Calvin Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Jamaal Charles, Joe Flacco, Chad Henne, DeSean Jackson, Darren McFadden, Jonathan Stewart, Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin, Rey Maualuga, Knowshon Moreno, Matthew Stafford, etc., etc.

SO, my thought is we could get a group break out of this.  I know I wouldn't be happy if I didn't get 100% of the Michigan cards, so I'd want people to pick teams based on colleges, not the pros.  However, I'd do my best to make things fair by implementing some sort of tiered system so someone that took Ohio State or USC would have to pay more than the one that took Purdue (if at all).  Some teams, like OSU and Florida, fall into the quantity category while others, like Georgia would be deemed "quality" (not many players represented, but you've got Stafford and Moreno).  I'm confident I could make something work that was fair for everyone.

My initial thought is to try to get something like 5-15 total people in this break, and what's nice is with so many teams represented (something like 75 by my count, I believe) there's a lot of flexibility in what teams can be had (other than Michigan, natch); by that I mean that we could work out some combinations of teams that only have a few autographs each to make those teams more attractive.  Hell, we can even go with parts of or entire conferences if we wanted.  Anyway, the more people I could get to participate (keeping in mind having to ship cards to everyone), the cheaper this would be.  I'm hoping to keep the price under $20/person while making sure everyone gets at least something decent, if not a hit (don't forget--36 hits!).

Along those lines I'd implement a couple rules I picked up from Georgia Mindset's last break:
-When a card features more than one player, each person that has a team represented gets one entry per team on the card, which then goes into a randomizer, which determines the winner
-If there are hits for teams that haven't been selected and one or more participants don't get a hit pulled for them, I'd set up a draft that would assure everyone could pick from what was pulled
-Related to that, depending on how many people participate, I could try to make sure that everyone gets as close to an even number of hits or inserts as possible (again, possibly with the draft system)

With all that in mind, please let me know of your interest in the comments below and maybe we can get a fun group break going.  I can promise to ship cards in a timely fashion, I can guarantee I'm not shady thanks to eBay and SCF feedback scores (plus I've traded with many of you), and I can do my best to provide live streaming and YouTube video for everyone.  So what do y'all think?  Lots of hits?  Boxes?  FOOTBAW?

Update 10/25:
Interest so far:
-Paul:  Louisville
-Jeremy:  Oklahoma, Big12, Packers draftees
-Spankee:  Virginia Tech, maybe West Virginia
-Georgia Mindset:  Georgia

Gimme a break, and other news

GROUP BREAK

BOXES!  GET YER BOXES!  (Once again yoinked for advertising purposes)

AJ's group break over at Georgia Mindset is tonight!  10 pm EST, http://www.ustream.tv/channel/gamindset-group-break.  Somehow I doubt he'd mind if you put in a last-minute request for one or more teams as long as it's before he gets started.  Even if you don't want to buy in, get some vicarious thrills by peeping the promised UStream...um...stream (if that doesn't work his backup is Youtube vids, still good too).

Yours truly got dibs on the Tigers (AJax RC/Auto and Cabrera 1/1 patch plz) and Orioles (much to Beardy's chagrin, but sometimes a guy needs to get his Ripken on) but there's still some pretty good teams left.  Anyway, don't miss it!

Michigan-Michigan State, 3:30 EST Saturday

Heading says it all.  A beatdown of little brother for my big brother's birthday would be awesome.  Here's hoping for the Denardening and not the Retardening.  A fun video for the meantime:


Since I likely won't be posting tomorrow, here's this stuff a day early:

Other blogs?  Other blogs.

• After seeing all those stupid ads with people getting paid with gum, Night Owl getting paid with cards sounds pretty sweet
• If Refractors were horses, then...um...ok, that's not how the expression goes, but Mojo got his bad self 31 Refractors from 32 2010 Topps Chrome packs
• '"O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog appreciates another Cal card, so again I appreciate his blog
• Sharpe is still busting A&G blaster packs.  Personally, I didn't get into the A&G thing (not this year or any other year) and based on his results I'm not disappointed
• Waxaholic is today's winner of one internet for posting a picture of baseball's dumbass commish picking his nose.  Baseball does need replay and he needs to get his head out of his ass and realize it (Selig, not Waxaholic)
• I Don't Know...3rd Base is trading cards for comments, something I know about all too well, so go get you some