A Blaster of 2013 Topps Archives

I caved. 

I know I swore off buying packs, but there's just so much cool stuff to be had in this set.  I've seen a lot of blasters that produced relics and autographs since Archives came out, and this blaster did not disappoint.  I have the Griffey from the original Gallery of Heroes insert, so I know how awesome they look.  I'm curious about the day-glow orange and the triumverate cards, too.  The basketball and football designed inserts, the return of the '90 Topps design, the fan favorite SP's - all that sold me.

Here's what I got:





Let's start with an insert.  Of all the guys on this checklist, I wanted the Will Clark the most, and here it is!  Maybe I'll get the autographed version next time.....

A cool George Brett throwback with a great picture.  It seems like 90% of Lincecum cards have the same image: hair flopping about in a windup.  Or is that Topps recycling one picture?

My only fan favorite SP.  I'm more aware of Sid than familiar with him.  I did a little reading before this post and apparently he was a native Hawaiian with a unique pitching style.    It seems he's more popular in Hawaii and around Shea stadium.  This card should not have ended up in New Orleans.

I like the A's color scheme here.  It's very different.  The Mathews, Reggie, and Ozzie cards all came out great.  Look how ready Ozzie is - he could spring in any direction at any moment.

Molly and the Kid, both respected Hall of Famers.  Paul Molitor always looked like a hockey guy to me.  Not necessarily a player, but one of those "hockey guys," you know.  Just a dude who's way into hockey.

I've started getting excited when I pull Rangers cards as a friend of mine who doesn't collect cards but loves the Rangers has asked me to put together a Rangers team set.  I'm thinking this may be the stepping stone to making a full-fledged collector out of him.  I'm going to help as much as I can because no one else I know collects cards.  No one.  Or if they do they keep it a secret.

A sticker card of all the popular modern-day sluggers.  I don't collect any of these dudes, but I kind of want to keep this card just because it's an awesome lineup.  Naaah, it's up for trade.

Is Mike Trout ever not smiling?  Life is hell, Mike.  Hasn't anyone told you?  Someone burn his popcorn or something.

They did a great job recreating the 1990 set here.  It's fun seeing modern names on this 23-year-old design.  I'm still a sucker for reprints from the overproduction era.

This is my hit.  It's a great-looking card, too.  I've already got plans for this one, but most of the cards in this post are available for trade.  Hit me up if anything screams at you.

So no Griffeys.  :-(  Just an excuse to buy more packs.  Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Target Missed, Settling Ensues

I stopped by Target yesterday for a less easily-destructible dog toy (lessons were learned that involved a large quantity of white fluff), and while I was there I figured I'd check out the new Topps Archives.  Well guess what?  No Archives.  I can't tell if they were sold out or if it was never even on the shelf, but it looked like the latter.  This is not the first time that particular Target has disappointed me. 

Anyway, I settled on grabbing a few clearance packs and one of those guaranteed hit packages with three packs and a little white envelope containing an auto or relic.  I've never pulled an auto from one, only relics (the best I ever got was a Jim Thome); but they continue to put Griffey on the front of the package, so I continue buying them.  Here's what I ended up with this time:

A good-looking card, but the two extra squares on some relic cards have always bothered me.  It feels like something is missing.  Are they reminding us of the triple-relic card that we didn't pull?  I prefer ones that make the relic the center of attention with a cool visual effect.  This design just feels like a silver medal.

This is the best stuff from the three packs that came with the relic.  I have never gotten anything good (Griffey) out of a pack of Upper Deck Future Stars.  That Posey is the best Future Star I've ever pulled, and it's a Gypsy Queen card.  The pack of Opening Day was a bust except for that cool shot with the bat in the foreground and Slider (tm) creeping everybody out.  Your mascot sucks, Cleveland!

Everyone has been so down on Prizm I just had to check it out.  My verdict: this pack costs at least a dollar more than it should.  The cards themselves are really cool - not just shiny but mirror-like.  I like 'em.  Not 75 cents a card like, but like in general.  Plus I pulled a Deion Sanders.  How crazy is that?  I think I may end up keeping this card.

I also bought four packs from the clearance box:

Packs of 2007 Ultra have Griffey on the front, so I picked up a couple.  That Reyes looks like it was supposed to have a relic and they forgot to put it in?  I like it because it's clearly based on the '87 Fleer design.

I occasionally pick up a pack of football just to mix it up.  This one produced a Romo, who is never going to win a Super Bowl by the way, about to get his block knocked off.  I also pulled a Brady who everybody outside of Patriot Nation hates to love.  Spiller was a beast this past season and helped my fantasy team win the league - unfortunately it was my one free league and neither of my two money leagues.  That Keenan Allen throwback rookie is pretty cool.....

These were a buck, and they must be popular because I see them pop up on various blogs and at card shows.  I figured I'd see what the hubbub was all about.  Turns out they're pretty grotesque.  I assume I got some parallels there with the differently-colored borders.

So that's what I got from Target.  Not a single Griffey nor a pack of Archives to be found.  Oh, well.  We'll just have to wait and see what comes of the Nachos Grande group break....

P.S. About the dog toy: I ended up with a green rubber chicken for six dollars.  It honks....loudly.  We'll see how long this one lasts (or how long we can take it).

Brad's Blog Brings Blue, a Brave, and a Bevy of Beaucoup Baddassery to Boot

Brad from Brad's Blog recently posted a bunch of nice cards he has available for trade.  I looked over his list in search of possible Griffeys, and in doing so I spotted two cards I really liked.  Brad promised to send them on along with some spare Griffeys for good measure. 

Here are the two cards I claimed from his list:

The great Vida Blue, Louisiana native and three-time World Series champ.  One of the most dominant pitchers of his day, Mr. Blue has the rare feat of having started in the All-Star Game for both the National and American Leagues. 

Logoless it may be, but that is one baddass picture.

Speaking of great pitchers, Javy here caught one of the greatest staffs ever assembled.  The mid-90's Braves included guys like Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Steve Avery.  Mark Wohlers and Greg McMichael also come to mind.  Javy here caught for all of them, giving him a lot of screen time on TBS in the 90's.

His hitting was also amazingly solid for a catcher, a lifetime .287 with 260 HR and 864 RBI.  He is the single-season record holder for HR by a catcher at 43, two more than previous record holder Todd Hundley.  Spending the vast majority of his career in Atlanta, Javy landed a World Series ring in 1995. 

I have a pretty extensive Javy Lopez collection.  This card just barely edges out his '92 Bowman rookie as my new favorite card of his.....

Look - Griffeys!



Awesome....



That Topps Stars Supernovas is completely new to me, and what a picture.  It looks like he just put a ball into orbit, and he's about to do that audacious dropping-of-the-bat thing he does when he knows he's crushed one.  Also, while I can't recall whether I already have that UD Spectrum card, it deserves another look.  Reds uni with a White Sox logo - crazy to see on a Griffey card.

I'll be sending Brad as many decent Phillies and whatever Frank Thomas cards I can.  Do thou the same!

Card Show Booty!

I brought 60 bucks to the card show.  Then I spent 90.  Gotta feed the monkey....

I'm building quite the Don Mossi collection.

That Derrek Lee RC is a Super Refractor #/100.  Mr. Lee's career is long and distinguished, so for a quarter, this was a bargain.  That's a Javy Lopez rookie, and I recently pulled that Babe Ruth card in the form of a reprint, so getting the original for a dollar was a no-brainer.

I just can't pass up a Dave Justice pun nor that Will Clark mini for a quarter.  I learned from Curb Your Enthusiasm that Joe Pepitone is Larry David's favorite player.  Anna K belongs in my "Hot Chicks" collection....and my heart.

These are all cards I've spotted on other blogs that caught my eye.  I only had seven, so to fill that eighth spot, that's a drawing of a fish birthday party (it is up for trade, lucky reader).

Now, it's Griffey time!

 

Oh, man.  That was good, huh?  Here's my favorite scores of the day:

1995 Leaf Slideshow #8B.  I already have 8A, so this was a welcome find.  And that Pinnacle Zenith card is an "Injured All-Star" Tribute card.  It looks better IRL.

This vendor would not negotiate.  He wanted hi Beckett for everything.  After explaining to him what COMC and eBay are, I finally got him to sell me this one and a handful of other not-terribly-valuable Griffeys for still more than I wanted to pay.  Worth it, though.  Love this card.

And here's the piece de resistance.  One guy had dozens of Griffey memorabilia cards, and I went through every one.  This was the best.  A batting glove with a little wear on it.  How sweet is that?

I think I came home with as many cards for other bloggers as I did for me.  I'll have to start assembling another round of trade packages soon.

Good luck with your respective Mondays!