Group Break Results from The Other World

Site
The Other World

Boxes Busted
2002 Topps Total
2003 Topps Gallery
2005 Upper Deck Classics
2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes
2009 Topps T206

A little while back, Dan from The Other World held a group break and naturally I was involved.  I liked his break set up.  He divided every MLB franchise into a Column A and Column B much like a Chinese menu.  You were free to choose one team from either column and after 15 slots were sold you could get a team from the other.  Most people chose one of the bigger name teams from Column A, but I naturally chose the Rockies from the "lesser Column B" teams as my first.  After all was said and done, I was left with the choice of the Braves, Reds, or Tigers and I went with the Braves since I trade with many Bravo collectors.  Let's take a look at how I did.

ROCKIES

My Rockies performance in the box of Topps Total was disappointing to say the least.  I was really hoping to get a decent chunk out of the team set for this one, but I only got 4 base cards (all bench players).  The upside is I added both Mark Little and Benny Agbayani to my one of every Rockie collection.  The Mike Hampton celebrates his Silver Slugger for pitcher in 2001.  Hitting is the one thing Hampton did better than just about any pitcher and some batters.  He hit .291 with 7! home runs in 2001.  The Todd Helton is a team checklist insert not a subset.

The performance of the Rox in the Topps Gallery box was second worst, but only because there were no Rockies in the UD Classics set.  The Larry Walker above was the only Colorado card in the entire box.  This was very disappointing because I love the set.  I think it is much better than the later Upper Deck Masterpieces, primarily because all the players in this set were active.

Here is some of my cards from the better performing 2009 Topps 206 box.  The Ubaldo and Helton were my first bronze parallels from the 2009 set.  The Fowler is a regular back mini.  Looking at this set, I don't know whether to vent over Topps' doing designs to death or another pet peeve of mine horizontal cards in a vertical set.  Let's discuss the latter.  First off let me say, I love both horizontal and vertical cards and some pictures work much better one way or the other.  However when putting the set in a binder, they should go in the same direction.  Perhaps they should make Opening Day an all horizontal set and just let the entire set conform to an extent.

Now for the best box for my Rockies, 2008 Baseball Heroes.  I got the entire base set (5 cards), two numbered parallels and an auto jersey.  The Matt Holliday above is a beige parallel #'d to 299 and the Garrett Atkins is a navy blue parallel #'d to 199.  This set looks wonderful in a rainbow binder page.  I think I will be upping my search for the Rockies in the foreseeable future.

Here is my big hit of the break.  A Garrett Atkins sky blue autograph jersey #'d 02/35.  I don't know what it is about black jersey swatches, but I do love them so.  So much so that I won't even complain about a sticker autograph (not that bother me that much anyway).

 BRAVES (for trade unless noted)

This is the Braves team set from the 2005 UD Classics box.  I actually got two of each of these cards.  I do like the fact that all three Brave cities (Boston, Milwaukee, Atlanta) were represented.  Although the logo on the Niekro wasn't used until the 90s and looks weird with the 70s uniform.

Quick raise your hand if you knew Dave Martinez was still an active major leaguer in 2001.  I thought he was out of the league in 1993 or so.  Former Blake Street Bomber Vinny Castilla was another of the 16 or so Braves I got from this box.  The Chipper is a Total Production insert.  It looks pretty cool in person.

I also got a lot of Braves from the 206 box.  The Tim Hudson is just a scary picture with the face and the arm tattoo.  He looks like an angry zombie. 

I hit the mother load with the Topps Gallery box with the Braves.  I got three different rainbow parallels (the two above and Robert Fick?).  I also got the base Maddux and a Smoltz.  The Chipper Jones is already en route to Derek at Tomahawk Chopping for an earlier trade.

I got a lot of Braves base cards from Heroes, but the John Smoltz gold parallel was the only serial numbered card for Atlanta.  I don't get this particular parallel because the color is almost exactly the same as the base card.


A great mix of boxes and some really good trade bait always make for a great break.  I enjoyed this break and hope to be involved in a future break at The Other World.