Hobby Box Break - 2005 Topps Rookie Cup Edition (Coolest Card EVER Pulled)

Hey guys, I was searching eBay for decent ideas and prices on my next group break coming up in about a month when I happened upon a hobby box of 2005 Topps Rookie Cup for a semi-decent price.  I noted in my 2011 Mountains to Climb that I wanted to find a set from 1996-2005 to work on this year and I think this is it.  I have always like the scans I have seen of these cards, but in person the color really pops.  This is a beautiful set.


Since I am building the set, I won't bore you with a pack by pack breakdown and I'll just show you a small sampling.

The box promises two autos and 12 numbered parallels, but I got SO much more.

Base Set - 93/150
Doubles - 0
Autographs - 2
Numbered Parallels - 26!!! (more than one per pack)

BASE CARDS

As some of you know, I am a sucker for the colorful uniforms of the 1970s.  I really wish a few team would go back to them (especially the Astros).  I also chose to show the Chris Sabo from this set, because I had not seen many cards of him sans goggles.  He looks like he is as blind as Mr. Magoo (look it up, kids).  I forgot to scan the backs but they are solid gray (parallels are corresponding color) with the Rookie All Star year stats and full career stats.

 ROOKIE CARD REPRINTS

Each pack also contained a reprint of a former member of the Rookie All Star Team.  They also included years that did not include the cup.  This is just a small sampling of the 48 I got.  Most were from the 1990s, but I got several from the 60s and 70s.  What I like is that not only did they include Hall of Famers like Rod Carew and fan favorites like Ron Santo, they also included guys that didn't really make much of an impact like former Indians manager Pat Corrales.

 COLORED PARALLELS

BLUE #'D TO 50

This is the only blue parallel I pulled from the box, but I did get a player I liked.  The blues are my favorite colored parallel.  It really pops in person.  It does suck that the best looking parallel is also the rarest because otherwise I might try to put together a blue set also.  I still might, but if they were the 499 ones I definitely would.

GREEN #'D TO 199

The greens are the next rarest and I got this nice Hall of Famer along with a few others.  Actually this card was made before Dawson was a Hall of Famer, but it still works.

Others I received
#84 Reggie Sanders
#101 Jason Kendall
#137 Rocco Baldelli

YELLOW #'D TO 299

The yellow is probably the least appealing to the eye, but the backs look great in yellow.  This was Joe Torre before he sold his soul to the devil in the mid 90s.

Other yellows I received
#53 Brook Jacoby
#57 Vince Coleman
#76 Chuck Knoblauch
#122 Bengie Molina

ORANGE #'D TO 399

It is always nice to pick up a numbered Pujols, because a lot of people collect him and prices soar on eBay (which I am currently suffering through with Tulowitzki). 

Other Oranges I received
#6 Jonny Gomes
#37 Chet Lemon
#68 Gary Sheffield
#101 Jason Kendall
#102 Billy Wagner
#130 C.C. Sabathia

RED #'D TO 499

Here is the 1975 Topps All Star Rookie catcher who has been in the news recently for his unfortunate health problems.  I always liked Carter as a player when he wasn't a Met and I hope he can make a full recovery from his current issues.

Other Reds I received
#3 Joe Torre
#21 Al Oliver
#122 Bengie Molina
#127 Adam Dunn
#138 Scott Podsednik
#139 Brandon Webb

THE CHROME BOX TOPPER

I saw a single card box topper pack and honestly had no clue what could be in it, because there was no mention of it in any reading I had done on the set.  It turned out to be a chrome reprint of 1996 Topps Garret Anderson #'d 21/25.  Gawd, I love this set.

ORANGE AUTO #'D TO 299

This is the first of two autos and they are also color paralleled with each color having 100 less than the base card parallels (except blue which is still 50).  There are 10 cards #151-160 that are comprised of 2005 1st round picks.  The only disappointment with this box is I did NOT get the best player of the group of 10, Troy Tulowitzki.  Jacob Marceaux topped out in 2009 in AA with the Marlins and later White Sox.  He last pitched in 2010 in the independent leagues and had an ERA over 9.00, so this card won't pay my mortgage.  But it still looks cool (even with the sticker auto).

GREEN AUTO #'D TO 99

Brandon Snyder is arguably the 3rd best auto from the 151-160 subset after Tulo and Yunel Escobar, which should tell you the quality of the others.  Snyder has made the majors though, so he has done more than me.  The only other player to have made the majors out of the group is current Rangers reliever Ryan Tucker.  I do seem to pull quite a few low numbered Orioles autos though since before today my only 1/1 pull was an Orioles prospect autograph.  Yes I said BEFORE today.

ORIGINAL RELIC 1/1

This would be the coolest card I have ever pulled.  This is a gold parallel reprint an original relic of 1965 Topps rookie catcher Mike Brumley from the second incarnation of the Senators (which later became the Rangers) That is an actual metal cup embedded in the card.  I was opening the pack and saw something thick and I knew there were no jerseys in this set, so I was befuddled.  I literally screamed like a little girl when I saw this card.  Sure it could have been a bigger name, but that is part of the fun of a set like this.  It is hard to see but right above the cup there is a gold 1/1 along with the 1/1 hologram on the back.


What do you think?  Is this one of the coolest relics ever or have I drank the Kool Aid?  I will try my best to find another box of this set because I want them all.  I LOVE THIS SET!!!!!

Hobby box break x 3 - 2008 Tristar Prospects Plus

Well I'm back with another hobby box break, actually 3 of them from 2008 Tristar Prospects Plus.  You can check out how I did on the first box here.  Did I do better?  Yes I did and thank you for asking.

HOW'D I DO
Base Set Completion - COMPLETE
Base Set Dupes - a bunch, but no 2nd complete set...will sort and get back to you later
Christian Friedrich - several base, no hits or parallels... :o(
Regular Parallels /50 - 4
Regular Parallels /25 - 2
Regular Parallels /5 - 1
Regular Parallels 1/1 - 0
Die Cut Parallels /50 - 4
Die Cut Parallels /25 - 1
Die Cut Parallels /5 - 0
Die Cut Parallels 1/1 - 0
Die Cut Parallels - 1
Regular Jersey /199 - 1
Parallel Jersey /50 - 1
Parallel Jersey /25 - 1
Regular Autos - 9
Green Autos /50 - 2
Yellow Autos /25 - 0
Orange Autos /5 - 0
Purple Autos 1/1 - 1 (WOOHOO)

Okay enough raw stats, you came for the pics, here they are.

 

Green Parallels /50
14 Ethan Martin - 13/50 - Dodgers 1st round 15th overall

33 Corban Joseph - 01/50 - Yankees 4th round 140th overall

38 Zach Collier - 13/50 - Phillies 1st round 34th overall
65 Bryce Stowell - 11/50 - Indians 22nd round 681st overall

Yellow Parallels /25
95 Stephen Fife - 01/25 - Red Sox 3rd round 85th overall

120 Austin Jackson - 03/25 - Yankees 2005 8th round 259th overall

Orange Parallels /5
10 Justin Smoak - 2/5 - Rangers 1st round 11th overall (traded to Mariners for Cliff Lee)

Green Die Cut Parallels /50

43 Ray Kruml - 14/50 - Yankees 11th round 350th overall

81 Zeke Spruill - 15/50 - Braves 2nd round 70th overall
102 Hunter Cervenka - 46/50 - Red Sox 27th round 832nd overall
123 Yonder Alonso/Jemile Weeks - 15/50 - Reds/A's both 1st round #s 7 and 12 overall

Yellow Die Cut Parallels /25
145 Boise Hawks - 01/25 - Cubs Josh Harrison (6th), Ryan Keedy (16th), Jake Opitz (12th)

Regular Jerseys /199
P-CG Carlos Gutierrez - 109/199 - Twins 1st round 27th overall

Green Parallel Jerseys /50
P-SF Stephen Fife - 39/50 - Red Sox 3rd round 85th overall

Yellow Parallel Jerseys /25
P-LL Lance Lynn - 12/25 - Cardinals 1st round 39th overall

Regular Autos unnumbered
FH-JA Jay Austin - Astros 2nd round 56th overall (hope his bat aim is better than his sticker aim)

FH-MM Mike Montgomery - Royals 1st round 36th overall

FH-JK Jason Knapp - Phillies 2nd round 71st overall
FH-EQ Edwin Quirarte - Giants 5th round 147th overall

FH-RP Ryan Perry - Tigers 1st round 21st overall

FH-CS Cody Satterwhite - Tigers 2nd round 67th overall

FH-ID Ike Davis - Mets 1st round 18th overall
FH-TR Tyson Ross - Athletics 2nd round 58th overall
FH-JL Josh Linblom - Dodgers 2nd round 61st overall

Green Parallel Autos /50

FH-DS Daniel Schlereth - 15/50 - Diamondbacks 1st round 26th overall (traded to Tigers)

FH-AS Aaron Shafer - 38/50 - Cubs 2nd round 65th overall

Purple Parallel Autos 1/1

FH-XA Xavier Avery - 1/1 (well d'uh) - Orioles 2nd round 50th overall

That was my very first pack pulled 1/1 ever and he isn't a bad prospect either.  Amazing that the Red Sox 27th rounder, Indians 22nd rounder, and Yankees 11th rounder got in this set but the Rockies (among other teams) 3rd rounder didn't.  But I'm used to it.  Let other teams' collectors gather their 28th round picks, I'll save my money to buy the boxes to sell them said 28th rounder hehe.  Jokes aside, I love this set and even though I have my complete set (and a Friedrich jersey on the way) I still may buy more boxes because they have a great price and great potential.

New buys from Sandlot Cards

*QUICK NOTE* - I was not compensated for this post, these are my completely truthful feelings.

I was doing some random Googling a few weeks back and happened upon a new, to me, online card shop, Sandlot Cards.  It turns out that the shop is actually new for everyone.  It seems to be a smaller, but more user-friendly version of Sportslots.  It is still getting up and running, but has a nice inventory and the best possible feature for the team collector.  Every card has the team listed and you can search by team, how great is that?  Anyway I spotted a couple of cards I had to have on the site for a VERY reasonable price.  Let's show off the loot.

 This was one of the two that caught my eye.  A 2010 Topps Black Jhoulys Chacin #17/59.  A steal at $5, the cheapest on COMC was $15-ish.  Not the last we will see of Chacin here though.

 I also knocked out a few random cards in order to get a discounted purchase.  This 2011 Topps insert is sweet for two reasons.  First, they put both Rockies hitting stars on the same card.  Second, since they did that rather than pair them with others...I only have to get one of these awful inserts.

 I also picked up the last two cards I needed for my 1999 Topps Series 1 team set.  I actually had the Helton but I pulled it for my "I'm still putting it together" Rookie Cup collection.  The Castilla card is great, I might have to pull a Topps and Photoshop in Andres Galarraga, Larry Walker, and of course George Washington to have a Best 90s Rockies ever card.

 The 2007 Gold Todd Helton is my first 2007 that is not from U&H.  I think the 2007 set was very underrated, second best of the 2000s behind 2009.  The 2000 Topps Gold Label Class 1 of Helton was actually a very welcome surprise throw in for the purchase.

 I also had to add another Jamal Mashburn to my nearly 50% complete player collection.  This is a 2010-11 Panini Prestige card.  You know you are getting older when a player you remember well in college is now getting retired veteran cards. 

Saving the best for last.

The 2010 yellow printing plate of Jhoulys Chacin is my very first 1/1.  But not the last(stay tuned for my newest when it arrives).  I had never actually touched a printing plate until this one arrived.  I am not actively seeking or collecting plates, but when I spot a Rockies 1/1 for $10 I am not turning it down.

I got a few other cards as well for less than $20 shipped.  I am definitely glad I found this upstart shop while I had basically the pick of the litter.  The man that runs it, Erik, also has a blog in which he describes the ups and downs of starting an online card shop as well as getting his son into the hobby.  Check it out here, and you will probably find as many good buys as I did.