The 2010 topps jumbos finally released on friday and I must say, they are packed with more goodies than the hobby cases. One would automatically rush to pick up jumbos in the future and write off hobby cases in general, but let’s not do that just yet! After cracking two hobby and two jumbo cases, I have noticed that there aren’t as many insert cards in the jumbo cases as there are in the hobby cases. I was able to put together 3 complete turkey red sets and 90 percent of a fourth set just out of the two hobby cases. I couldn’t get one complete set from 2 jumbos. Similar things can be said for the ‘Peak Performance’ and the ‘Cards Your Mom Threw Out’ sets. In general if you want those insert sets completed, its best to pick up some hobby boxes.
Clearly as far as hits goes, autos and Hat Logos are far easier to get in jumbo cases. With that being said you can probably expect the prices of hat logos to start going down a bit this week once all of the jumbo cases are busted opened.
Below I’ve shared the hits in the two jumbo cases. All of them are up on ebay now.
To wrap up the Topps Series jumbos, they are even better if you like the hits! Might be a letdown if your a set builder but with everything in life, there is a give and take.
My overall grade on the jumbos: A-, together with the hobby cases they make series one an overall A+. Topps really came out of the gate flying with this product! Let’s hope they continue this throughout 2010!
Enjoy the scans below! If you are reading this on the Blowout Cards board, click on the site link to see the scans!
Play Ball America!
Cesar
Autograph Updates From Topps!
February 5, 2010 by threeofakindcardsA few months there were some very unhappy collectors who had pulled redemption cards for Cat Osterman’s autograph as part of 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter. Topps had sent out replacements for her autograph as they were unable to fulfill the redemption.
But low and behold, Topps today announced that they finally got Ms Osterman to sign her cards and they will be shipping out those redemption cards even if you previously got a replacement from Topps. A great gesture by Topps in my opinion, but one question: What the heck took Cat Osterman so long!!???
BEFORE!
AFTER!
Also in other autograph news, Topps today announced that Giants prospect Buster Posey will have ON CARD autographs in the upcoming 2010 Topps Heritage product (set to release 2/25/10). He will also have on card letter patch autographs in the also upcoming 2010 Topps Finest product (set to release 3/24/10)! The announcement was not simply about the cards but instead that he already signed them! Guess what, no redemptions for these! Way to go again Topps!
Play Ball America!
Cesar
The Sports Card Blog Legend Is Back!
February 4, 2010 by threeofakindcardsNo I am not declaring myself a blog legend at all! I am referring to Mario of Wax Heaven! Some of you might have read hsi blog and as you know, he stopped writing a few months ago. That’s kind of around the time that I started my blog partly as an attempt to fill the void that Wax Heaven had left.
I am in no way proclaiming that I did, but I’d like to think that I gave the hobby world a different view on things and at the same time gave everyone alot more giveaways and contests!
Today I noticed that Mario made another entry, inspired by the whole Upper Deck litigation drama. I have personally steered clear of this topic because it makes me sick but if you want to read about the topic you can follow this link.
Many people might think I am crazy to mention another blogger’s name in my posts, let alone tell readers to go visit his blog! But when you think about it, really we aren’t competitors! We are all in this hobby together and Mario was one of the pioneers of the hobby blogosphere. When it comes to his blog or any other, sometimes I learn things from other blogs and sometimes they will learn things from mine. Its all about spreading the wealth of information thats out there!
Therefore I am personally welcoming back and encouraging everyone else to do the same! As always he can be found at www.waxheaven.com!
Welcome Back Mario and PLay Ball America!
Cesar
Tim Lincecum Was A Collector!
February 4, 2010 by threeofakindcardsIts always great to see the same people that we collect cards of, do some collecting of their own. I was a big fan a couple of years back of Phil Hughes of the Yankees being into the hobby so much that he would preview cards that he was signing on the Beckett Message boards. Recently I stumbled upon an article that talks about Tim Lincecum collecting cards. The article isn’t actually about him but its rather an ESPN writer, Jim Caple, going to a shop where Lincecum grew up and taking a look at today’s baseball cards. He opens a pack of 2010 Topps Series 1 in the article and of course, he pulls a Lincecum card!
The article itself is a great article, it talks about the thrill of opening walks, especially at a hobby shop! Seems as if many people still enjoy cards, I mean what’s not to enjoy about them right? The article even kind of gives credit for a couple being married 42 years simply because the husband gives his wife a pack of baseball cards every year for her birthday. Try showing your wife this every time she attacks you for having a card collection!
Kudos to DJ’s Sportscards in Renton, Washington for having this article done about them!
Enjoy!
Play Ball America,
Cesar
The Manufactured Logo – 2010 Topps Style
February 3, 2010 by threeofakindcardsWhen the 2009 Topps Unique product was released there was a frenzy over MLB logo man cards. Of course these were also autographed by the players and they were 1/1s. However now in 2010 Topps we are finding logo man cards pop up again. Topps today revealed that the 2010 logo man cards are part of a 100 card set that will be spread out over 17 products this year. Series 1 contained the first 10 subjects and there are only 50 of each card printed. The complete checklist, announcement from Topps and some samples of the cards are below. I also included a link of a Pujols card that was sold already for what I believe a very high price since the cards are manufactured and not authentic logos!! Ouch!!
Play Ball America!
Cesar
PUJOLS CARD “MANUFACTURED LOGO” SOLD ON EBAY!!
-
TOPPS PRESS RELEASE
TOPPS CELEBRATES EXCLUSIVITY WITH TWO SPECIAL MLB LOGO MAN PROGRAMS
Topps, the exclusive producer of Major League Baseball Trading cards, celebrates 2010 with two special MLB logo man programs. The program highlights the best of players of yesterday, today and tomorrow!
IN PRODUCT
In 2010 Topps Series 1, collectors have been discovering special manufactured MLB logo man patch cards sequentially numbered to 50 (image attached). These are the first cards of a unique 100-card set that can be collected throughout the year. The first 10 cards can be found in Series 1 and the remaining 90 will be seeded in Topps’ other 17 baseball products. Next up will be Topps Heritage, featuring cards 11-15.
IN STORE
Starting on Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season, collectors can walk into participating Topps Home Team Advantage hobby shops and pick up one of 50 different logo man cards (without patch) just by purchasing pack(s) of 2010 Topps Baseball.
The checklists for both programs are as follows:
IN PRODUCT/ PATCH CARDS
LM-1
Albert Pujols
LM-2
Hanley Ramirez
LM-3
Mike Schmidt
LM-4
Nick Markakis
LM-5
CC Sabathia
LM-6
Babe Ruth
LM-7
George Sisler
LM-8
Gordon Beckham
LM-9
Adrian Gonzalez
LM-10
Ozzie Smith
LM-11
Yogi Berra
LM-12
Tris Speaker
LM-13
Ryan Braun
LM-14
Juan Marichal
LM-15
Ryan Zimmerman
LM-16
Robinson Cano
LM-17
Ichiro
LM-18
Manny Ramirez
LM-19
Troy Tulowitzki
LM-20
Tommy Hanson
LM-21
Joe Mauer
LM-22
David Ortiz
LM-23
Tim Lincecum
LM-24
Andrew McCutchen
LM-25
Miguel Cabrera
LM-26
Jackie Robinson
LM-27
Lou Gehrig
LM-28
Stan Musial
LM-29
Whitey Ford
LM-30
Ty Cobb
LM-31
Dustin Pedroia
LM-32
Evan Longoria
LM-33
Clayton Kershaw
LM-34
Johan Santana
LM-35
Mark Teixeira
LM-36
Frank Robinson
LM-37
Johnny Bench
LM-38
Ryne Sandberg
LM-39
Reggie Jackson
LM-40
Nolan Ryan
LM-41
Steve Carlton
LM-42
Johnny Podres
LM-43
Jim Palmer
LM-44
Jimmie Foxx
LM-45
Robin Yount
LM-46
Justin Upton
LM-47
Alfonso Soriano
LM-48
Grady Sizemore
LM-49
Matt Kemp
LM-50
B.J. Upton
LM-51
Pablo Sandoval
LM-52
Roy Halladay
LM-53
Joey Votto
LM-54
Chipper Jones
LM-55
Alex Rodriguez
LM-56
Andre Dawson
LM-57
Tony Gwynn
LM-58
Mickey Mantle
LM-59
Johnny Mize
LM-60
Rogers Hornsby
LM-61
Walter Johnson
LM-62
Honus Wagner
LM-63
Bob Gibson
LM-64
Warren Spahn
LM-65
Dizzy Dean
LM-66
Roy Campanella
LM-67
Cal Ripken Jr.
LM-68
Carl Yastrzemski
LM-69
Mel Ott
LM-70
Roger Maris
LM-71
Lance Berkman
LM-72
Justin Verlander
LM-73
Aaron Hill
LM-74
Josh Beckett
LM-75
Adam Wainwright
LM-76
Jon Lester
LM-77
Derrek Lee
LM-78
Chase Utley
LM-79
Zack Greinke
LM-80
Chris Carpenter
LM-81
Tom Seaver
LM-82
Cy Young
LM-83
Christy Mathewson
LM-84
Thurman Munson
LM-85
Eddie Mathews
LM-86
Al Kaline
LM-87
Willie McCovey
LM-88
Willie Stargell
LM-89
Hank Greenberg
LM-90
Ernie Banks
LM-91
Felix Hernandez
LM-92
Prince Fielder
LM-93
David Wright
LM-94
Kevin Youkilis
LM-95
Justin Morneau
LM-96
Ryan Howard
LM-97
Todd Helton
LM-98
Rick Porcello
LM-99
Nolan Reimold
LM-100
Dan Haren
HTA In-Store Program
HTA-1 of 50
Albert Pujols
HTA-2 of 50
Hanley Ramirez
HTA-3 of 50
Mike Schmidt
HTA-4 of 50
CC Sabathia
HTA-5 of 50
Babe Ruth
HTA-6 of 50
George Sisler
HTA-7 of 50
Gordon Beckham
HTA-8 of 50
Tris Speaker
HTA-9 of 50
Ryan Braun
HTA-10 of 50
Jackie Robinson
HTA-11 of 50
Stan Musial
HTA-12 of 50
Ichiro
HTA-13 of 50
Manny Ramirez
HTA-14 of 50
Ty Cobb
HTA-15 of 50
Tommy Hanson
HTA-16 of 50
Joe Mauer
HTA-17 of 50
David Ortiz
HTA-18 of 50
Tim Lincecum
HTA-19 of 50
Andrew McCutchen
HTA-20 of 50
Reggie Jackson
HTA-21 of 50
Nolan Ryan
HTA-22 of 50
Evan Longoria
HTA-23 of 50
Johan Santana
HTA-24 of 50
Mark Teixeira
HTA-25 of 50
Pablo Sandoval
HTA-26 of 50
Jimmie Foxx
HTA-27 of 50
Roy Halladay
HTA-28 of 50
Lou Gehrig
HTA-29 of 50
Alex Rodriguez
HTA-30 of 50
Thurman Munson
HTA-31 of 50
Mel Ott
HTA-32 of 50
Mickey Mantle
HTA-33 of 50
Johnny Mize
HTA-34 of 50
Rogers Hornsby
HTA-35 of 50
Chase Utley
HTA-36 of 50
Walter Johnson
HTA-37 of 50
Zack Greinke
HTA-38 of 50
Honus Wagner
HTA-39 of 50
Roy Campanella
HTA-40 of 50
Prince Fielder
HTA-41 of 50
Cal Ripken Jr.
HTA-42 of 50
Carl Yastrzemski
HTA-43 of 50
David Wright
HTA-44 of 50
Tom Seaver
HTA-45 of 50
Cy Young
HTA-46 of 50
Christy Mathewson
HTA-47 of 50
Justin Morneau
HTA-48 of 50
Ryan Howard
HTA-49 of 50
Rick Porcello
HTA-50 of 50
Nolan Reimold
CLOSED – WOW Wednesday – Contest Time!
February 3, 2010 by threeofakindcardsWe have a winner…congrats to Alan was the first to correctly guess Michael Young..sorry Barry, he beat ya by 3 minutes! Thanks for playing everyone!
Cesar
-Some of the notables – Been to the all star game and shined with the glove! All star 2004-2009 and gold glove in 2008
-Had a blast playing in the World Baseball
Classic! – played in 2006!
-One of my all time favorite tunes growing up – “Meet The Mets, Meet the Mets..” Was actually a Met fan growing up!
- Cinco De Mayo is a notable day for me…reminds me of my heritage! Young’s Mother is of Mexican descent
- 2005, what a year! – Was batting champion in 2005!
- This past year Elvis ‘entered’ the building and I did a little shuffle of my own! This past year he moved positions to make room for Elvis Andrus!
- With all this information about me, do you believe I am a career 300 hitter? He is still a career .300 hitter at .302!
Its Wednesday, and as some of you might have come to expect that means its a WOW Wednesday (Win On Wednesdays) here at Extra Innings! I decided to start today’s contest a little later in the day to give the west coast readers a shot. I’ve been told that they are just waking up by the time some folks guess the answers!!
Today’s prize will be three insert/parrallel cards from 2010 Topps Series 1:
- 2010 Topps Gold Parrallel #d /2010 of CHASE UTLEY
-2010 Topps Gold Parrallel #d /2010 of ALBERT PUJOLS
-2010 Topps Peak Performance GU Jersey of Brian Mccann:
How to win? I will start by giving clues periodically. First person to figure out the active player I am describing wins the card. Later today and tomorrow if need be, I will add additional clues if no one has guessed the player. To guess, just post your guess in the comments section. If no one has correctly guessed the player by Friday (doubt that will happen!) then I will randomly select someone who has placed their guesses in the comments section as the winner.
IMPORTANT RULES FOR PARTICIPATION AND CONSIDERATION:
Please limit 3 total guesses to each person. If you post a guess you must make sure to leave your name and you email address so that I can contact you if you guess the correct player! If you happen to guess the answer but don’t leave your name or email I cannot declare you the winner and if someone guesses the right answer after you then I will declare them the winner.
Also in the interest of fairness the following readers are ineligible for this week’s contest as they have won a contest in the last 30 days..sorry guys!
1/7/2010- Rick L
1/13/2010-Brian J.
1/20/2010-Aaron S.
1/27/2010- Chris –(ordner5@comcast.net)
Good luck and Play Ball America!
Cesar
Clues To Our Mystery Player:
-Some of the notables – Been to the all star game and shined with the glove!
-Had a blast playing in the World Baseball
Classic!
-One of my all time favorite tunes growing up – “Meet The Mets, Meet the Mets..”
- Cinco De Mayo is a notable day for me…reminds me of my heritage!
- 2005, what a year!
- This past year Elvis ‘entered’ the building and I did a little shuffle of my own!
- With all this information about me, do you believe I am a career 300 hitter?
Keeping It Moving – 2010 Topps Series 2 Preview!
February 3, 2010 by threeofakindcardsNo sooner than we are getting done digesting 2010 Topps series one, Topps hits us with images and preview of Series 2! Topps released these images last week, however I was consumed with getting through series 1.
Most of the contents of Series 2 will be the same however there are some new twists:
- Hot Rookie Redemptions are back this year! There will be 10 of them.
- Topps will be adding a insert set called Topps 2020 Inserts. Not sure what this will be but it is new!
-Also while the Million Card Giveaway will be back for Series 2, this time they are reaching back in time even further and including old classic T206 cards as part of the redemption program! THAT my friends is an added treat!
Product is set to release on May 24, 2010. Get your boxes fast as topps will only be printing limited quantities of these cases! Enjoy the pics!
Play Ball America!
Cesar
The Wrap On 2010 Topps Ser 1 Hobby
February 2, 2010 by threeofakindcardsFor now it seems that many cases of 2010 Topps have been busted. I personally busted 2 cases and in looking back at what I opened, there were a lot of goodies in there! One thing however that strikes me very strange is the fact that jumbo cases of the product have not been released yet. To me there is a plus and negative to this. The plus for me and maybe for topps is that it prolongs the hype of the release another week. For me it helps me space out 4 case rips over 2 weeks! Lol. The negative in this is, will the product hold value by the tme jumbos are released later this week? That remains to be seen!
As far as the product goes, allow me to give a brief review on certain points.
BASE SET-
This year’s looks great in my opinion! Last year’s design was down right boring. I like the fact that topps is starting to get better quality pictures on the cards. Heck! They even have player head shots on the back of the cards! And oh yeah, the card numbers are much easier to read this year, a pet peeve of mine dragged over from last year’s sets!
JERSEYS/PATCHES- I really think that now more than ever, this aspect of a product will take center stage! We all know that in general those tiny little jersey swatches are getting old. Yeah they showed up again in this product but there are World Series relics in this product which is always a plus and they are #d to 100 or less. I got lucky and pulled a Mariano Rivera WS relic..still not his autograph!! Lol
Aside from those I was looking forward to the hat logos patches and much to my disappointment, topps screwed this up. It seems that these logos are not actualy taken from the caps of players. They have instead been manufactured by topps for this product. A big BOOOOOO for topps on this! I am hoping that at the very least, this gets them to start thinking about actually including real cap swatches. The idea is a good one, but gimme the real goods!!
AUTOGRAPHS-
The checklist is not the best and they are sticker autographs again. One plus for topps however, no redemptions for their autographs this year! I bet they had a bunch of stickers laying around from last year so they didn’t have to go out and seek autographs!
MILLION CARD GIVEAWAY-
This program intrigues me. Sales of these redemptipn cards are pretty strong. They are selling for over a dollar each easily and sometimes as much as $1.50 in some cases. Of course there is a chance that you will redeem a Mantle rookie or a Jeter rookie, but to me the letdown FAR outweighs the rewards. There are too many 80s cards out there and I can’t stand to take a chance on redeeming one, I’ve had enough of these in my day!!
INSERT SETS-
Really topps, enough of this toppstown crap! Its not that the set sucks, its that they insert far too many of them in the product. Ripping one case will yield you at least 15-20 of these sets!! Lol. I am a big fan of the “Turkey Red Series” so I am glad they continued this. “Tales of the Game” is an interesting set, defintely one for the kids to collect! “When They Young” is cute if you’re the type of guy who wants to see what your favorite ball player looked like when he was a kid…NEXT!
The Cards Your Mother Threw Out is probably the best name for a set in a while! These of course are replica cards of some famous Topps originals dating back to 1952. Note to Topps…next year, include the real cards as a special one of one set and not as a redmption!
“Peak Performance”…ehh…nothing big. But the “Linear Lineage” set is my favortite insert set of them all! I am a big fan of connecting yesterday with today. I always like “Then & Now” in the Heritage product and Linear Lineage has th esame concept. What’s even greater is that they managed to insert game used parrallels of this set. I was lucky enough to pull a Pujols/Musial game used parrallel from the Legendary Lineage set. These are nice cards indeed and are probably the nicest cards in the product outside of the 1/1 cards.
THE REST -
There are always gold parrallels, black parralles and printing plates. Those of course are back again and sprinkled through out. Don’t know why but I always get a kick out of pulling these. One of these days I will take my hand at trying to build a black set…not sure when, but one day!
The short prints are back and some of the players are repeat players from last year’s short prints. I am a fan of the Yankees pie face cards! Always great to throw in mystery cards. I know people don’t care for this concept but it does make pack ripping just that much more fun! Kudos to Topps for the pie face cards!
All in all, I enjoyed this year’s hobby version alot. I am always partial to Series one because it kicks off the year, but this year I give it to Topps, they stepped it up with a nicer design, pretty neat Million Card Giveaway promo, no redemption autos, and cool new idea with Hat logos. Looking forward to the jumbos and seeing if there is anything in there that the hobby product didn’t have…I hope so!! Enjoy pics of the hits in the 2 cases!
Play Ball America!
FINAL GRADE 2009 TOPPS SERIES 1 HOBBY: A-.
CARDS YOUR MOM THREW OUT ORIGINAL BACKS:
UPDATED -Time To Bust 2010 Topps Series 1!
January 29, 2010 by threeofakindcardsUPDATED:So the ripping lasted til about 2:00AM and then I ran out of steam. Especially since I have to get up at 6:00 am to get to the office! Out of 24 boxes I got through 16 boxes. The hits on the first 6 boxes are listed below. The Pujols/Musial bats that you see below were pulled in around the 8th or 9th box. In addition to the hits you see below here are some of the other hits that were pulled in the other 10 boxes:
-Mariano Rivera World Series Pants #d /100
- David Wright GU Jersey (personal collection)
-Jose Reyes GU Jersey (personal collection)
-Daniel Schlereth Silk card (thats the 2nd year in a row I’ve pulled his silk card??)
-Kevin Youkilis & David Ortiz Black Parrallel
- Jorge Posada Game Used jersey
-Willie Stargel, Reggie Jackson and Stan Musial, SPs
-Mickey Mantle Gold Parrallel
…and many more. Will post those pics as well as many more tonight and over the weekend!
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
I wrote earlier today how I was anxious to rip some boxes. Got home at around 7pm today to find my two hobby cases. I still don’t know why Topps decided to release the jumbo cases a week later!!?? Anyways, have two more cases of that coming next week. So for the last 2 hours I’ve been ripping and disecting the product. I’ve gone through 6 boxes so far (18 to go LOL). Below you will see the nicer items that I’ve gotten so far.
My initial response- I like the design of the base card! Its alot more vibrant and is not boring. A major thing I am a fan of is the card numbers on the back. Might sound silly, but when it comes to sorting, the 2009 Topps cards had the tiniest numbers and after a couple of hours of sorting I had the biggest headache from squinting. These numbers are much bigger and easier to read!
As far as insert sets…way too many! Peak Performance, History of the Game, Tales of the Game, When They Were Young, Cards Your Mom Threw Out, Turkey Red, Topps Town, – thats alot of insert sets!!
The Hat Logos are very cool! The peak performance game used jerseys have the same wow factor that the other years do. Hopefully the jumbo boxes will wow me more…or maybe the other 18 boxes I have to rip. WIll be a long night ahead for me today and tomorrow. Enjoy the scans!
Oh yeah….pulled this card too…Pujols and Musial Game used bats…#d /50!
A ‘Tweet’y Bird Told Me…
January 28, 2010 by threeofakindcards- Topps announces that there will be no redemptions in 2009 Topps Sterling, 2010 Topps Series 1 and 2010 Topps Opening Day!
- Johan Santana threw off of a mound for the first time on Tuesday and no injuries were reported. (a WOW for Mets fans..lol)
- The Minnesota Twins are reportedly still trying to land Jim Thome!
- Mark Loretta announces his retirment from baseball!
- Angels Sign deal with Joel Pineiro!
- Mets manager Jerry Manuel is tipping is hand and hinting that Angel Pagan might be the starting CFer for the Mets this year!
-Nick Swisher will appear on the show “How I Met Your Mother” on February 1st
- Curtis Granderson fights back tears during an emotional farewell to Detroit
