On cloud nine

On the Sunday after Michigan won its 9th game for the first time since 2007, what better way to celebrate than show off some Wolverine-centric mail stuff!

Not Wolverine-centric but still good:

Thanks to the always-reliable Sportlots, I picked up the very last base card I needed for my 6th 2011 Topps base set, plus all the remaining ToppsTown inserts and one of the Super Bowl Legends on my wantlist.  I just need cards from the Game Day and Super Bowl Legends inserts to complete a master set, which I'm then planning to flip.  Four base sets are still available for sale/trade, though, so if you're interested please hit me up.

Super Bowl Legends, FINALLY:

Topps, in their quest to be collectively named world's biggest douche: sports card division, FINALLY managed to get my redeemed cards to my mailbox, despite ignoring my choice of UPS instead of USPS, even though they charged me UPS rates (more than $8 for five cards!) and blatantly ignored my polite request to reimburse me the difference.  This is clearly a company that doesn't give a shit about their customers, but what else is new?

Anyway, the redeemed cards are pretty nice at least.  Here's the fronts and backs for Brees, Rice and Elway, all of which are now part of my Trade Bait:

And here are the two I really wanted, both Bradys available through the online promotion: (I hear there's also a hobby shop version that I might try to snag somehow)

A couple quick notes:  

• As usual, the scans don't do these justice, but that usually goes without saying.  They're very thick and holographic, which is often difficult for scanners to pick up, as I'm sure some of you are highly aware.  Very nice looking overall.
• They come with a thin, transparent protector on top, sort of Topps Finest-style, though it doesn't have any obnoxious removal notice on it, so for now I'm inclined to leave those on, especially on the ones available for trade.
• From the preview of the cards the site offered, I had thought these would be serial numbered, but apparently I was wrong.  That doesn't detract from them much, just an annoyance and another shitty aspect of their very poorly done site. Again, it's Topps, so what else is new?
• I ended up with these five after a couple two-for-one trades, so technically I unlocked more, but given I entered something like 65 codes, I definitely don't think I got my money's worth on these after buying the case.  In retrospect, if I would have known the codes would go for as much as they are now--which they weren't at the time I redeemed them, to be fair--I would have just sold them to recoup some of the cost of the case, then maybe bought or traded for the Bradys, the only ones I really wanted.  Well, that's how you learn.

If I'm able to find the third hobby shop-only Brady card, you know you'll all see it here.

Blowout mini blowout:  the four hundreding:

I got a nice deal on a small lot on Blowout the other day and those cards showed up very quickly, which was awesome.  For $17 delivered I snagged the following:

A Brandon Graham 2010 Playoff Contenders ROTY Contenders insert #d 22/50, plus a Drew Henson 2004 Elite Aspirations RC #d42/93.  These both look great, and while I don't usually pick up inserts on places like Blowout, these were only $0.50 each, so good deals.  I really like the die-cut Henson, especially because it has a great shot of the former QB from his Michigan days.  For $1 for the pair, I certainly couldn't go wrong.

Chad Henne 2008 Leaf Certified Materials Freshman Fabric jersey RC:  This great jumbo relic only contributed a buck or two to the overall price, which is fantastic considering it's a great RC of one of my favorite Michigan QBs.  The card's #d 180/599 on the back and becomes my 32nd Henne, putting him two behind leader Jake Long and one behind Braylon Edwards.  This'll go well with my jersey/ball/auto from the same set.

John Navarre 2004 Press Pass auto:  There's another guy on Blowout who's a big-time buyer of Navarre, but he tends to ignore lesser-brand cards like this, which set me back only $1.  Fine by me--I'm happy to have another of Navarre in a Michigan uni, and my tenth overall, half of which now share that trait, oddly enough.

Marlin Jackson 2005 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection auto RC:  This is the one that set me back the most--he originally had it listed for $15 but I got him to knock a good chunk off of that in the total price.  It may seem a little crazy to pay that much for a guy who's not playing at this point, but this is still a fantastic auto/RC of one of Michigan's best DBs in recent memory.  The card is thick as hell, numbered 128/150 and features a great looking autograph window which showcases a decent autograph.  When a guy like Dan Orlovsky is booking at $40 in this set, you know it has to be pretty high quality, so I'm fine with the ultimate price I paid.  This makes nine hits of Jackson in my PC.

Mike Hart 2008 SP Rookie Edition '95 auto:  This is one of my favorite recent sets since I found nice deals on boxes of these at Meijer.  I never did pull any Michigan autos, but now I have a Hart to go along with my Jake Long.  This Hart is one of the variations that uses a previous SP design--1995 in this case.  I believe this one was also only a dollar or two, plus it was on my singles wantlist, so hooray for knocking one off that list.  This is Hart #14 and I'd definitely like to have more of my favorite Michigan RB.

Tony Pape 2004 Press Pass auto:  We finish this package with a new member to my PC, the 56th overall.  Pape was a tackle (wearing the same number as Michigan legend Jake Long and current stud Taylor Lewan) drafted by the 'Fins in 2004, and he was definitely one of the better linemen a school known for producing them turned out, especially since he was included in the Wolverine Blog's O-Line of the Decade.  For a buck I was more than happy to add him to my collection.

All told, the count now stands at 384.  Should I be able to attend a show in a week, that number should grow, plus I know Dustin has some stuff heading my way soon, plus a very exciting addition to his own PC that I can't wait to see myself.

2011 Topps football value box

I hadn't busted anything in a while so while I was at Meijer today I grabbed one of those Topps football value boxes, the ones that come with a nice assortment of stuff.  For $20 you get:

• 11 packs of 12 cards of 2011 Topps football
• Two "exclusive rookie Refractors" (I think these are always the same two)
• One guaranteed Super Bowl Giveaway code card

Here's what I got:

• 103 different base cards, 13 doubles
• One spectacularly damaged card whose top each must've been smashed by the pack sealing portion of the process
• My two guaranteed rookie Refractors, (Newton and Gabbert) both of which are definitely available, so make me an offer
• Three total Super Bowl Giveaway cards, including my one guaranteed by the package (Tom Brady, the last one I needed for yet another complete set of those) which produced two useless virtual items and one card (see below)
• Two Super Bowl Legends inserts I needed (Biletnikoff and Dent) plus one other I didn't
• The last card I needed for my fourth base set (Alex Green)
• Six base cards I needed for set #5 (meaning I still need 60 69 142 171 229 357 385)
• Another Cam Newton RC (also available)
• One Gold parallel, a Dexter McCluster
• TWO Faces of the Franchise inserts of Peterson/Harvin (plus one other)
• More inserts I didn't need:  three Game Day, two ToppsTown
• Two Minis (Steve Smith (Giants) and Bilal Powell)

The aforementioned Super Bowl Giveaway card was this:

Ottis Anderson from Super Bowl XXV.  I'm actively trying to trade it but likely won't be able to, so if nothing else I'll get it shipped with my other six cards and make it available then. (probably to Mike, right?)
Update:  I flipped the Anderson for a Marques Colston from XLIV.  That might still go to Mike, but at least it's a player I can appreciate more.  Hooray for trading!

Overall I thought this was a great value.  I didn't need very many cards from it, but to be fair, I previously purchased a case.  The number of doubles was a tad high, but for what you get, $20 is a fair price, and I do recommend grabbing one of these whether you're building the set or not.

A very Brady season opener

Standing Pats:


Just in time to celebrate a very exciting day--Michigan's season opener against Western Michigan, here's a couple sweet cards I just picked up:

I got one in exchange for my John Elway (for which I gave up some of my items I no longer wanted and was therefore able to get in return for my Reggie Wayne).  Because I was subsequently more motivated to grab the other one, I swapped my Joe Montana that I got with one of the three codes Ted from Crinkly Wrappers gave me.  I felt like I was playing with house money with that one, plus I'll take a Wolverine over a Domer any day.


Those trades leave me with the Bradys, plus James Harrison, Jerry Rice, Jordy Nelson and Hines Ward.  I'll probably try to do a few more swaps, but at this point everything else is gravy because I got the two I wanted the most.


On a related note, I've been following one buyer who's purchased just a ridiculous amount of codes, and despite that he STILL hasn't earned the Namath auto or all of the die cuts, plus he's only nabbed one of the rarer gold die cuts.  Maybe Topps could only get Broadway Joe to sign a couple cards because he was too busy trying to make out with Suzy Kolber.


LET'S GO BLUE!:


I am, of course, thrilled that the season opener is finally here, and I'm looking forward to what will hopefully be a successful (whatever that might be) season for coach Hoke and my Wolverines.  If you thought my Michigan content skewed toward the heavy side, keep in mind the season wasn't even in full swing yet!

Topps Super Bowl Legends Giveaway summary

First, on a brief serious note:
I'd like to give a quick shout out to a post today by Jeff of My Sports Obsession.  His wife was diagnosed with MS and they'll be doing a fund-raising walk next month.  I got to meet Jeff's family a couple weeks ago, and they were great people, plus they're Michigan fans so they're actually OUTSTANDING people.  Jeff's asking for donations and I hope some of you will help out a fellow collector and blogger with something this important, so if you can, please head over to the site for donations!

Give it away, give it away, give it away, now:

After weeks of misinformation and stalling, Topps (wait, Topps was doing a shitty job of customer service and meeting deadlines?!) FINALLY got the Super Bowl Legends Giveaway up and running today.  I had 60 codes, and after realizing they weren't exactly selling like hotcakes, I decided to have some fun and redeem them.


First, here's a look at the prize process:

There are four types of items you unlock:  diecut cards, rings, coins and jerseys.  The cards can be shipped (eventually, this IS Topps we're talking about) but everything else is virtual.  To get to each of those prizes up top, you need to unlock a certain number of "unique" items of each type (not including cards).  As you can see, I had no problem getting to at least 10 of each type, so I got three free codes, three 10% off discounts for Schlocks.com and three free entries for an autographed Namath (the drawing will be at the end of January).  To get an automatic Namath auto you need all 45 of any one of those items.  Items can't be traded for different items (e.g. you can't trade rings for jerseys or even cards for anything but cards) and I'm sure some of these are rarer than others.


Here's a very brief summary of what I had immediately after I entered my codes:

• 5 cards: James Harrison (43), Howie Long (18), Jerry Rice (23), Jordy Nelson (45), Reggie Wayne (41)
• 23 rings: 17 unique, dupes of Colts, Packers, Ravens, Earl Campbell X2, Len Dawson
• 16 coins: 13 unique, dupes of Packers (31), Colts (5), Redskins (17)
• 19 jerseys: 14 unique, dupes of Cowboys (27), Raiders (15), 49ers (24), Packers (31), Chiefs (4)

So many doubles you'd think this was a physical box of Topps!  You can see how I'm doing working on the prizes in the screen shot above, and also here:

Right now, without more code cards (which I'm working on buying, but only at bargain basement prices--I'm not THAT obsessed) the Namath may be a pipe dream, but I'm still trading and seeing what I can do.  I'm also working on trades for the cards themselves, but here's what I started with:

I do have to say the cards look like they may be very nice (and maybe serial numbered?).  Frankly I'll be happy if I can end up with the Tom Bradys in the set and get those shipped, maybe along with the Rice if I can hold onto it.

My impression thus far is that this is another D+ Topps online giveaway effort--the codes proved to be almost worthless and they've barely improved the trading system.  Also, just because they know I love my "Topps is dumb" tag, here's what happens if you request to get a card shipped:

Well why AREN'T the cards "aviable," Topps?  Is "activiation" a new process you just invented or did you pull your entire customer service team from a pool of idiots who comment on YouTube videos and message boards?

Topps in one beautifully concise meme

It's not so much that I don't like having to wait until mid-October (right, we all know they'll meet THAT deadline) for my cards to ship--I just can't believe that after literally weeks of the site being overdue they didn't have someone with at least a third grade education proofread a site intended for the public.

Well, at least this didn't feel like the kick in the nuts that the baseball giveaway always offers.  Should any interesting developments with my progress on this ensue, I'll make sure to post something about it.  Until then, enjoy your usual overdue, overpriced, cookie-cutter shit from Topps! 


Edit, 9 pm:  Thanks to some wheeling and dealing, and especially to the generosity of Ted from Crinkly Wrappers, I now have the following:

• 24 unique rings
• 17 unique coins
• 19 unique jerseys

I managed to trade away all my doubles (including all three of my Earl Campbell rings accidentally, but no big deal) to end up with the numbers above.  On the third and final code Ted donated to me, I also hit this, my best so far:  

That's pretty cool, to be sure, so a big thanks again to Ted.  I now have six cards (all different) including the Montana to Rice combo.  Unless I can turn it and another card into both Bradys, this one's staying with me.