Group break results and post-mortem

Well, things definitely went smoother today with the break occurring during the day instead of on a Sunday night.  Anyway, what everyone's been waiting for, the results:

First group

Second group

All of them

Having some fun

There are plenty of interesting things you can spell with these, just use your imagination.

Blow-by-blow, since those are hard to read and impossible to scan well (Player, team, letter, #'d out of or not at all):
(Cards bolded in red worth $50+)

Box 1:

Mike Stanton FLA N 20

Kyle Skipworth FLA H 20
Danny Espinosa WAS S 20
Joshua Fields SEA L 5
Dan Hudson CHW U 5

Box 2:
Rashun Dixon OAK I 5
Robbie Weinhardt DET N 20
D.J. Mitchell NYY T 20
Aaron Hicks MIN H
Brian Matusz BAL Z

Box 3:
Tim Beckham TAM E
Pedro Alvarez PIT Z
Jason Castro HOU O
Justin Smoak TEX O 20
Kirk Nieuwenhuis NYM U 20

Box 4:
Cutter Dykstra MIL R 20
Brian Matusz BAL U
Ryan Lavarnway BOS A 20
David Cooper TOR P

Cutter Dykstra MIL S 5

Box 5:
Dexter Carter CHW A 20
Yonder Alonso CIN N

Buster Posey SFG S

Dexter Carter CHW E 20
Kyle Skipworth FLA W

Box 6:
Garrison Lassiter NYY R 20

Pedro Alvarez PIT V 5

Matt Wieters BAL S 5

Jeremy Beckham TAM B 20
Jason Castro HOU T

Box 7:
Josh Lindblom LAD N 5
Brett Wallace STL A
Michael Inoa OAK O
Curtis Petersen FLA R 20
James Darnell SDP N 20

Box 8:
David Cooper TOR P 20
Justin Smoak TEX A
Tanner Scheppers PIT E 20
Kyle Weiland BOS E 20
Tim Beckham TAM C

Box 9:
Ryan Westmoreland BOS L 20
Eric Hosmer KC E 5
Ryan Westmoreland BOS N 20

Aaron Hicks MIN C 5

Aaron Crow WAS R

Box 10:
Allan Dykstra SDP D 20
Juan Carlos Sulbaran CIN B 20
Matt Thompson TEX S 20

Gordon Beckham CHW C 20

Buster Posey SFG P 5

The verdict:  God DAMN are these worth the $100 I paid.  I feel sorry for anyone who considered joining the break and didn't--the four of us had a ton of great stuff to choose from.  I'm not listing everyone's haul because there's still some trading to be done, but boy am I happy.  Total Beckett value for all the cards:  $1440.  Each participant (other than me) got six cards totaling $150+ in BV for their $33 slot fee (shipped!).  And did you see that Posey #d of 5?  I mean jeez, we got waaaaaaay more numbered cards than I thought we would.  I didn't get my Zach Putnam and we didn't get any 1/1s (including BA Benny's Ike Davis) but obviously I'm extremely pleased with how we did, and very well might get another case, even if it's just for me.  That's pending selling stuff on Blowout/the Bay, but whatever, I've got some nice stuff to put in the PC or get my money back.  GET THIS CASE!

A huge thanks again to Mike, Eric and Derek for participating and making this another success!

2008 Razor Letterman group break live @ 3 pm EST

(Sorry for the plethora of ads, that's free internet streaming for you)

The plan (starting at 3):

• Break 7 boxes for the group
• Break the remaining 3 for me
• All entrants draft cards from the group of 7 boxes
• Everyone can arrange trades (including for cards from my final 3 boxes)

Sound good?  Even if you're not a group break member, come on in and watch/comment.

Watch live streaming video from toomanygrandersons at livestream.com

Final Razor Letterman group break reminder

Last call.  You don't have to go home but you can't stay here.  Six slots remain, or if things remain where we're at, Eric, Derek and Mike and I will be divvying up seven boxes tomorrow, live at 3 pm EST.  Link to details up above where you're reading.

That is all.

Never go full r---- --join my group break now!

So this is here.  Which is good news.  Oddly enough this is actually the second case I've ever had my hands on--I got a rack case of '88 Donruss about 10 or 15 years ago (sooooooo many Ron Gant RCs).  What's even funnier is that the boxes are packed in a case, packed in a box, packed in another Razor box, which was packed in a BlowoutCards shipping box.  If that doesn't bring to mind



then I don't know what does.

On a non-tangential group break-related note, I'm officially moving the break back to Saturday at 3:00 EST in order to at least double my guaranteed viewership (which would be impressive if it didn't mean going from one to two).  That means that the new signup/payment deadline is now Friday evening at 11:59 pm.
Please keep in mind that all are welcome to watch, however.  I'll embed a Livestream player in a post so anybody who wants to can watch as we rip through up to 50 one-card packs, engage in some furious drafting and trading, and then, I don't know, tell ghost stories or something.  Anyway, it should be a good time.
HOWEVER, up to six total slots are still available at the low-ish price of $33 delivered (which, as stated ad nauseum, includes five cards of your drafting choice).  Most of the generally pertinent info can be found here.

A big thanks to Mike of BA Benny's yada yada yada fame for trying to scrounge up additional marks rubes participants in what's sure to be a fun break regardless.

Razor Letterman case shipped!

The group break Razor Letterman case has shipped from Blowout and is due to arrive on Wednesday, putting us well on track for Friday evening's break.  If you can't make it (Saturday, 3 pm EST) please let me know ASAP and suggest an alternate time, or get me a list of players from the set you'd prefer so I can draft for you (one way or another this break is happening this weekend).  Also, there's still time to get in (the deadline is Friday at 11:59 pm).

'08 Razor Letterman break is officially a go

The case has been ordered and hopefully will get to me by this Friday (I don't have shipping info yet but I'm hoping it ships out tomorrow).  With that in mind, here are the official rules:

• One case, 10 boxes of five, 50 total autograph patches
• 10 total break slots, including me, so 9 would be available.
• If I don't get at least five other participants, the break will include as many boxes as there are participants plus three, giving us enough variety that some great stuff should be pulled, but making things fair for everyone, including me.
• $33 shipped per slot; payment is due the day before the break (so in this case, Friday by 11:59 PM).  Please comment or email me for my Paypal address if you need it. 
• Each slot is guaranteed five autographs
• Distribution of the hits:  we'll bust all the packs, then draft everything one slot at a time, with draft slots randomized.  It will be a snake draft, which means the person who picks last in odd numbered rounds picks first in even numbers.  As last time, I'll randomize several times if necessary should I get the first pick
• As before, I'd then allow trading at any point before I package the cards for shipping
• I'll ship the cards as soon as I can once everything's settled, though I'd plan on the following Monday
• Scheduled break date/time:  I'm currently currently planning on the evening of Saturday, the 15th at 3:00 pm EST.  This will include a live video stream of the break, followed by the card selection draft, then any trading anyone would like to do (so please consider your availability accordingly).  Please make sure you can at least be around for the card selection, because if not I'll have to select your cards for you, manually or randomly.
• That time would hopefully allow UPS enough time to get here late should the case be scheduled to come that day.  Also, I'm hoping it's a time everyone would be able to attend.  Though I'd like everyone to be there to see the break video, it's more important that they be around for the drafting/trading of cards afterward (and I figure I should try to avoid Saturday/Sunday for now due to some exciting NFL games on tap).  There's some uncertainty on this date/time for now because the case hasn't shipped yet, but I'll provide constant updates so everyone knows what's up.  In the meantime, please let me know as soon as you can if there's a date/time combo that works better for you and I'll see what we can do. 
• Confirmed breakers so far:  Derek, BA Benny, Eric L

Bonus stuff:  For being part of this break I'm offering up to two bonuses:

• Just for being part of the break, you'll get a free entry (per slot you purchase) in my upcoming contest (details to come after this break, but as a hint, think unopened box)
• If you refer someone, make sure they let me know when they sign up and I'll give you a free hit (not from the break), ideally of your favorite player/team, but I'll do my best to get you something useful

As a reminder, some details about the set can be found in my first break post.

Sound good?  Let's round up some breakers and get to busting!

New group break requestioning

BlowoutCards has another weekend special on 2008 Razor Letterman cases at $300 even.  I would like to make this a go and get one ordered at that price this weekend.  If I don't get enough interest I'll just bust them myself and see what I want to keep/sell, but my question is, what is everyone's interest based on these parameters?:

• One case, 10 boxes of five, 50 total autograph patches
• 10 total break slots, including me, so 9 would be available.  I'm not willing to do the break without a minimum of five other participants so if I didn't meet that interest by the day before the scheduled break, I'd just bust them for myself and make whatever I didn't want to keep available for sale/trade (but likely mostly for sale, to try to make up money on the case)
• $35 shipped per slot (the cards come packaged in thick magnetic holders so packaging/shipping might add up on me; this is still comparable to the price of one box, although you'd have no idea what you were going to pull)
• Each slot is guaranteed five autographs
• My thought on the distribution of the hits:  teams don't seem like a good way to go, so I think we should bust all the packs, then draft everything one slot at a time, with draft slots randomized.  I'd go with a snake draft, which means the person who picks last in odd numbered rounds picks first in even numbers
• Assuming I'm able to order this weekend, this would tentatively be scheduled for next weekend,(Friday, Saturday or Sunday evening or Saturday or Sunday afternoon) with payment for slots due the day before the scheduled break,  That depends on shipping, but I think they'd make it by Friday
• As before, I'd then allow trading at any point before I package the cards for shipping.  Since this would likely be a shorter break than last time (albeit with a draft included), I think we could do the break, draft and post-break trade-a-thon all in one shot

So what does everyone think?  With the break set up this way, do I have at least five other interested group breakers?  Please leave a comment if you have any interest or questions about the above.  Please see my previous, initial post about this at this here link for some more details about the set.

Update:  I went ahead and ordered the case just to make sure to get it at that price.  Also, I have one person who's in, so how about the rest of you?

New group break idea

Now that I'm done complaining about Topps' Million Card Throwaway, let's get down to business.  Though I haven't been in a particular hurry to do a new group break, I've seen a few breaks of another product that has me intrigued enough to at least gauge group interest before I go off and purchase a couple boxes for myself.

That product is 2008 Razor Letterman.  Sports Card Radio did a nice write-up of it a while back, but as usual, the source of my interest was the BlowoutCards box break forums.  That link will take you to a search that includes a good sampling of breaks of different sizes, but the long and short of it is this:

• The set is comprised entirely of autographed manupatches of prospects
• Each box contains five packs of one card each (the aforementioned manupatch)
• Each case includes 10 boxes and costs $300
• All cards are signed and come in parallels of 20, 5 and 1
• The SCR link above includes the checklist, but some of the better player hits include:  Brett Wallace, Brian Matusz, Buster Posey, Carlos Santana, Eric Hosmer, Gordon Beckham, Jake Odorizzi, Matt Wieters, Pedro Alvarez and Yonder Alonso

In short, not bad for $300.  We're talking 50 autographed patches here (in magnetic plastic cases), so right now my thinking would be either a 5- or 10-slot break.  I'd also have to work out how to divvy up the cards since I'm not sure if the "team" idea would work or not (ie I'd have to go through the checklist and see which players go with which teams and see if that would be fair; Orioles, anyone?), and I'd mostly like to guarantee that each person would get the same number of autographs (either 5 or 10), because, what's the point of getting in on a break when you could buy your own box(es) and get a guaranteed number of hits?  As with my previous break, I'd allow trading before, during and after the break, up until the point that I actually ship.

I'm guessing by opening a case myself I could make back enough money selling the better hits to at least get close to breaking even, but this seems like a good opportunity for a group break, so I thought I'd again solicit interest from the blogosphere.  So leave me some comments letting me know if you might be interested in breaking a case of these, plus any demands/concerns you have.  With any luck, maybe we can make this my first group break of the new year in a couple weeks.

2010 Donruss EEE group break results and trade-o-rama

So that went decently well, my first time-breaking incompetence aside. Quick results by slot:

Derek
Atlanta, San Francisco, Toronto

Beardy
Baltimore, Cincinnati, LA Dodgers 

Darkship
Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota

Eric L
Kansas City, Cleveland, Philadelphia

 















BA Benny
NY Mets, NY Yankees, Tampa Bay

 


















Others (aka my slots and the unclaimed teams)

Inserts up for grabs (multiple slots or mine with lack of interest):

 
















Trade-o-rama:
Get in here if you're participating in trading!

2010 Donruss EEE group break streaming info

Starting live at 7pm EST tonight, Sunday the 5th.  Team draft in chat (please get a free signup with UStream so you can chat) followed by the break. I suggest updating your Flash Player for the best results.

Direct link (live starting around 7, but probably earlier so I can make sure things are working)

Embedded player:



And the chat (requires free signup):


Available slots listed below; deadline for entry is 6pm EST (with payment due before 7pm EST when we start). Team trading is allowed before, during and after the break. Please leave any break-related questions in a comment on this post or email me with the link to the right.

Last Donruss EEE group break reminder (I promise)

By now you're probably sick of these reminders, so I promise this is the last one!

My 2010 Donruss EEE baseball group break is scheduled for 7:00 pm EST on Sunday the 5th.  I'll be (hopefully) broadcasting the break on UStream for those who want to watch live.  I'll also see about recording video, but I'll at least promise to post scans of the hits and relevant stuff.

We'll be starting with the team draft shortly after 7 (when we're satisfied that everyone who wants to be there is there), then get to ripping.

There are currently 4 slots available ($38 per slot delivered, three teams per slot).  If you want in, leave a comment, name one team from the list below and I'll contact you with payment info.  You'll then be able to draft two other teams before the break starts.

Here's a good look at a case break (20 boxes, we're doing six, to give you an idea), which is at least helpful in letting you see some of the potential hits

As one last reminder, here are the teams that are still up for grabs (and some players that are among their bigger hits, players in red were 1st round draft picks this year):

Arizona Diamondbacks
Boston Red Sox (Anthony Ranuado*, Kolbrin Vitek)

Chicago White Sox (Chris Sale)

Cincinnati Reds (Yasmani Grandal)

Cleveland Indians (Drew Pomeranz)

Colorado Rockies

Florida Marlins
Houston Astros (Austin Wates)
Los Angeles Angels (Kaleb Cowart)
Los Angeles Dodgers (Dee Gordon, Zach Lee)
Milwaukee Brewers (Hunter Morris)
Minnesota Twins (Alex Wimmers)
New York Yankees (Cito Culver)
Oakland Athletics (Michael Choice)
Philadelphia Phillies (Jonathan Singleton)
Pittsburgh Pirates (Jameson Taillon)
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants (Gary Brown, Jarrett Parker)
Seattle Mariners
St. Louis Cardinals (Seth Blair, Zach Cox, Jordan Swaggerty)
Tampa Bay Rays (Derek Dietrich, Josh Sale)
Texas Rangers (Justin Grimm)
Toronto Blue Jays (Deck McGuire)
Washington Nationals

*Round 1A, a.k.a. compensation round

Gimme a break (I've got boxes)

So I've got some boxes sitting ready to be busted.  The live break (including team draft) will start Sunday evening,  7 pm EST (to allow for technical difficulties, latecomers and team selection).  How does that sound to those involved?
As for the remaining slots (4), if they're not filled by then, I'll just take whatever's leftover (though if any teams get shafted on their hits I'll see about randomizing some of them off to make things more fair).
Reminder:  free hits if you pay up by today (Friday); $2 off if someone you recommend gets in anytime before the start of the break (limit of three discounts).


Team slot update (now including potential hits to help you decide):

Arizona Diamondbacks

Atlanta Braves -- Derek (paid)

Baltimore Orioles -- Beardy (paid)

Boston Red Sox  (Anthony Ranuado, Kolbrin Vitek)

Chicago Cubs -- Darkship (paid)

Chicago White Sox  (Chris Sale)

Cincinnati Reds  (Yasmani Grandal)

Cleveland Indians  (Drew Pomeranz)

Colorado Rockies

Detroit Tigers -- Me (paid)

Florida Marlins

Houston Astros  (Austin Wates)

Kansas City Royals  -- Eric L (paid)

Los Angeles Angels  (Kaleb Cowart)

Los Angeles Dodgers  (Dee Gordon, Zach Lee)

Milwaukee Brewers  (Hunter Morris)

Minnesota Twins  (Alex Wimmers)

New York Mets -- BA Benny (unpaid)

New York Yankees  (Cito Culver)

Oakland Athletics  (Michael Choice)

Philadelphia Phillies  (Jonathan Singleton)

Pittsburgh Pirates  (Jameson Taillon)

San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants  (Gary Brown, Jarrett Parker)

Seattle Mariners

St. Louis Cardinals  (Seth Blair, Zach Cox, Jordan Swaggerty)

Tampa Bay Rays  (Derek Dietrich, Josh Sale)

Texas Rangers  (Justin Grimm)

Toronto Blue Jays  (Deck McGuire)

Washington Nationals Pamela Anderson -- Mojo (paid)

More details on the break for the uninitiated

2010 Donruss EEE baseball group break update

Quick update:

BlowoutCards quoted me a price of $360 for 6 boxes of 2010 Donruss EEE baseball, which I'm pretty happy with and have now ordered so we can get this thing going.

UPDATE, 6 pm Wednesday:  the boxes have already shipped (follow along live!) and are scheduled to arrive on Friday.  How crazy is that?  In any event, the sooner we get the last slots filled up (currently 6) the sooner we can start.  People should also let me know if possible if this weekend would work for them for a live viewing for the break as well as the team draft.  I'd like to have that scheduled soon so those that can't be around can send in a short ordered list of teams they prefer.  So get picking, get paying and get scheduling and this thing will be on!

Here's my thoughts on this break right now:

• 10 total slots (including myself), each of which gets three teams
• Slots will be $38 delivered for all the base, inserts and hits from any teams in your slot
• Each slot guarantees you one team of your choice, first come first served (keeping in mind I've got dibs on the Tigers).  I will then randomize everyone's name and there will be a snaking draft for the remaining teams.  If interest wanes in either round, the remaining teams would be randomized off
• I will allow trading of teams prior to the break.  Afterwards I will allow trading of teams and/or cards provided people communicate those to me coherently
• Hopefully everyone will get at least three hits, possibly even four, depending on team breakdown.  As stated, dual player cards will be randomized to one slot or the other unless one person owns both teams represented
• I'll want payment (via Paypal) from everyone before we get started, with the payment deadline for a slot being one hour before the scheduled break, at which point that slot will reopen briefly.  I'll take any unclaimed teams
• After the break I promise to get things shipped as quickly as possible.  It'll likely be nine packages to mail, but that shouldn't be a problem for me
• As promised I do want to do my best to do this live with video.  I don't have a shipping estimate yet but I'm guessing I'll get these early next week, so start letting me know when you'd be available to watch if you want to be involved.  I'm looking at sometime in the evening (I'm EST) next week right now.  If it's the weekend, most of Saturday is out.  But if we can come to a consensus on a couple times, that would be great, especially since I'd like as many of you to be around (including for the potential team draft) as possible
• Fair?

Since I'm giving this break the full go-ahead, feel free to claim your first team (only one per slot, please) now and I'll send Paypal payment info.  If you haven't dealt with me before (or have, but don't trust me money-wise yet), please let me know and I'll provide references (eBay, SCF, iTrader, etc.).

I'm trying to reach out to others but that gets us halfway there already.  If we can't completely fill up the break I'll just take whatever teams remain, though feel free to let people you think would be interested know about this break since it is, in fact, going down.  LET'S DO THIS!

Teams:

Arizona Diamondbacks

Atlanta Braves -- Derek (paid)

Baltimore Orioles -- Beardy (paid)

Boston Red Sox

Chicago Cubs -- Darkship (unpaid)

Chicago White Sox

Cincinnati Reds

Cleveland Indians

Colorado Rockies

Detroit Tigers -- Me (paid)

Florida Marlins

Houston Astros

Kansas City Royals

Los Angeles Angels

Los Angeles Dodgers

Milwaukee Brewers

Minnesota Twins

New York Mets -- BA Benny (unpaid)

New York Yankees

Oakland Athletics

Philadelphia Phillies

Pittsburgh Pirates

San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants

Seattle Mariners

St. Louis Cardinals

Tampa Bay Rays

Texas Rangers

Toronto Blue Jays

Washington Nationals Pamela Anderson -- Mojo (paid)

Happy Wolverine Tuesday, plus group break idea (for real!)

Sample hit.  Not bad, eh?

Group break idea (possibly for real, no guarantees)

(To start with, for those of you not as Wolverine-inclined)  I recently kicked around a few group break ideas in hopes of popping my group break-hosting cherry, but I never ended up with anything I really liked.  I think in many ways football is too difficult for me to do, what with Michigan alumni scattered over so many teams.
However, while scoping out Blowout and DACardWorld daily I remembered a set I hoped to get in on at one point because of the good number of hits and my general disinterest in the base set:  2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition baseball!  There's a good number of young stars, plus for my interests some good 2010 Detroit draft picks, and even a couple Michigan picks to boot.  Checklist (including teams) here for those interested.
So?  So I'm thinking something like 4-6 boxes.  Each gets you around 6 hits (all autographs of some type) plus more inserts, and four boxes per 20 box case are "hot boxes" with 10 hits.  That means 5 boxes could net us anywhere from 30-52 hits (more likely 30-34, of course).
With boxes going for approximately $63 on BO and $70 on DA, 5 would run me a bit over $300 shipped, plus I'd have to factor in shipping/materials for participants.  I'm thinking something in the neighborhood of $30-$35 per slot for a total of 10 slots (including me), each slot getting 3 teams, possibly determined via a draft or something (though to be up-front, I'm immediately calling the Tigers, my only real stipulation.  

UPDATE:  BA Benny suggests that each person gets to pick teams up front or pick two and then have the rest go into a draft.  I'm open to either of those if people prefer--I just want to make sure everyone gets a fair shot at teams they want without one or two people taking all the "best" teams themselves.  I think we can make this fair.

UPDATE 2:  Blowout is quoting me a price of $60/box, which is pretty nice, and means I could do 5 or 6 depending on everyone's preference.  I think 5 would be enough for a 10-person break, but if enough people are willing to put in enough (say $40/slot) that would be cool.  If we go with 5 boxes I think about $30/slot, give or take another $1 or $2 for shipping at most, would be fair.  The sooner I determine there's enough interest, the sooner I'll get these ordered!
Hopefully each person would get 3-4 hits, a few inserts and plenty of base.  Multiplayer cards and other unclaimed stuff would be randomed off as fairly as possible.  I'd also allow trading of teams/cards prior to shipping if there's interest in that.
With all of that in mind, do I have any interest in this?  I'd be looking for 9 other participants, and I'd take a stab at the whole live video break/recap deal to make it fun for everyone.  What do y'all think?  Please leave comments and if there's enough interest I'll get off my ass and make this happen.

Hail to the Blowout forums

By now you know the drill--I find a guy dumping a bunch of Michigan stuff on the BlowoutCards forums and everyone wins.  In this case, the guy happened to live pretty close to Ann Arbor, so despite only confirming the deal on Sunday, they're here today (Tuesday).

The latest haul, at a low, low cost of $55 to yours truly (guess where they're ending up?):

Adrian Arrington 2008 Press Pass SE Gridiron Graphs Gold auto:  this one didn't wow me design-wise, but it's a nice looking signature, features him in his Michigan uni, and was a nice throw-in

Chris Perry 2004 Bowman Chrome auto RC:  my Perry collection has grown by leaps and bounds despite his brief, disappointing NFL career.  Oh well, my gain

Leon Hall/Alan Branch/LaMarr Woodley 2007 Ultra Signature Class Triples auto:  did I mention this one's numbered 13/25?  At $60 this card alone is worth more than I paid and generally looks great.  Hall and Woodley have both gone on to star in the NFL while Branch...um...has survived being on the Cards this year without hanging himself, which is an accomplishment

Leon Hall/LaMarr Woodley 2007 SP Rookie Threads Multi-Marks dual auto:  these guys look familiar.  I seem to attract numbered Leon Hall and LaMarr Woodley multiplayer autographs like Michigan attracts star O-linemen

Jake Long 2008 Topps Rookie Premiere auto blue:  This is my first Topps RP auto of any kind, and at $40 represented a nice value considering my $55 total price.  As if I needed more Long autographs, right?  Can't help it, he's a guy from that awesome 2008 team that I love to collect

Jake Long 2008 Topps Rookie Premiere auto red:  Yes, the guy had both, and no I wasn't intending on grabbing both, let alone either.  Basically I said "a bunch of these don't have prices, are they available, specifically these?" and he gave me a ridiculous price, even crazier considering the one above is $40 and this red version is unpriced due to its rarity.  I don't do multiples of the same card as far as my Michigan hits go, but this one's different so it's a keeper

Mario Manningham 2008 Topps Rookie Premiere auto blue:  more Super Mario and more Topps RP autos!  This was sort of another "throw-in" for the guy, at least in the sense that he didn't have it posted up on his PhotoBucket but decided to mention it to me later.  Another $40 hit, and the value just kept on coming.  Mr. New Math will blossom into a star WR if he gets more chances to start, plus a QB who isn't an inaccurate little bitch

Marlin Jackson 2005 Topps Draft Class Marks auto:  man was this guy good when he played corner at Michigan.  He parlayed that into a nice draft selection, then quickly became as brittle as 2000s Ken Griffey Jr.  A sad NFL career, but I'll always remember his lockdown play at CB for the Wolverines.  By the way, just my second Marlin autograph

Marlin Jackson 2005 Topps Draft Senior Standouts jersey:  another Marlin hit, and this one presumably a piece of a Michigan jersey, which is a nice plus

Tim Biakabutuka 1999 Score Supplemental Inscriptions auto:  I'd seen some of these around but never had one of my own.  Somehow this is my fourth TB hit, to go with a helmet piece picked up from one of those Target "get a guaranteed random memorabilia card and some crappy packs" deals, plus two lower-quality Classic autos from another deal (which are still appreciated).  This is a very cool fairly transparent card and the highlight of my TB collection thus far

So all 10 of those cards for $55 delivered, which come to $250+ (due to the unknown Jake Long price, so probably closer to $300+) in value.  Or, you know, priceless, as far as they go towards adding to my burgeoning Wolverine collection.

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!

Them's the breaks and other stuff

Georgia Mindset is the baseball card Rain Main or something

<understatement>As mentioned occasionally on this blog</understatement>, AJ from Georgia Mindset did a group break of six boxes of 2010 Topps Chrome and two 2010 Topps Triple Threads(results aqui).  He put a lot of work into this break and things went great, so throw him a bone and check out his post and YouTube video (I'm stealing a bunch of other content from him, so I'm just linking to it here).

Anyway, I got in for the Tigers and Orioles, and to my somewhat surprise I did pretty well.  My biggest hits:

Scottie "Too Hottie" Sizemore base autograph:  after seeing him play this year I'm not so sure he's the future at second base (gimme Polanco back, plz), but this is a sweet card to have nonetheless

Brennan Boesch Blue Refractor autograph: 

Bart, your sister looks like Blossom! (and there's the requisite Simpsons reference, carry on)

as far as my break was concerned, this was the hit of the day.  I'd come pretty close to snagging a Boesch sig or two recently but held off for whatever reason, so this was a nice surprise

Other break stuff coming to me:
I don't recall seeing many, if any, Tigers and O's in the Triple Threads, but I probably got about 1-2 team sets each in Chrome (including the base rookies) and a Verlander Chicle or T206 or whatever, so some pretty nice results.

Again, big ups to AJ, whose breaks I will continue to participate in due to his sick pulls (oh what, you didn't see this bad boy from Triple Threads?).  Next up is 2010 Bowman Chrome, which I believe he'll also be tying to a couple more Triple Threads boxes.  Don't get left out in the cold this time--his prices are reasonable and his M.O. is more than fair--note that those who missed out on hits got put into a draft where they got to choose something nice, plus one lucky participant even got 24 wrappers to send back to Topps for their "No, YOU throw this crap out, Topps" promotion.  Georgia Mindset:  great box breaker, or GREATEST box breaker?

I knew I'd get to use my "Topps is dumb" tag again and again...

Dear Topps,
Thank you, thank you so much for letting people like "Jester" here make daily idiotic offers for the cards I actually value a little bit.  By all means, please don't create some sort of mechanism that allows me to tell this person, "Jester", that his offers suck donkey balls and that he can shove his junk wax Pete Rose card up his hidey hole?  In short,

FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU, Topps. FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU, Jester, whom I'm publicly shaming for your ridiculously bad offers since I can't do it on the MCG site.

Now that that's out of my system...ROUNDUP TIME (aka everything you probably already read if you use Google Reader or some equivalent):

• BA Benny opened up a pack of 2009 Topps Chrome and pulled (GASP) a Granderson!  (and some other crap, whatever).  Also featured:  2010 Topps Chrome (two Orioles FTW)
• Some guy named BA Benny, who was not at all previously mentioned just now, got a trade package from a guy whose blog's name seems to honor Curtis Granderson but hardly ever mentions him
• Dayf's in the land of 1000 Chippers (naaaaa nana na naaaaaaaa nana na naaaa nana naaaaa nana naaaaaa nana na LARRYYYYYY)
• Night Owl keeps on keeping on loving him some night cards (round 1, part 4.  FIGHT)
• Crinkly Wrappers is getting ambitious with the Chromes and the rainbows and the so many colors, children, mwa-hai
• Beardy got new stuff thanks to COMC, and as a somewhat Orioles fan, I approve of this message
• Thorzul is group-breaking 2:  Electric Boogaloo (seriously, though, I dunno how many that makes, but his breaks always seem to go well so check it out)
• "'O" No!!!  Another Orioles Blog busted a box of 2007 Masterpieces, including meh relics and a meehhhhhh autograph, but at least the base stuff looks great
• Emerald City Diamond Gems wishes Tony Gwynn well, as we all do, even those of us whose team had their way with his in 1984
• The Daily Dimwit is contestin' it, and the prizes are pretty cool (hint:  autographed rookies)
• The Great Sports Name Hall of Fame is also contestin' it, Bazooka-style, and round one began today
• I Don't Know....Third Base!  gave away one card for almost every team, so if you were involved, see how you did, and maybe send some baseball card love his way too

That's enough for now, so enjoy all that reading, get in on some breaks and contests, and pray that the Yankees get their asses handed to them by the Rays or Rangers (we're all gonna need it)

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