Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!! 3rd Annual Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web Winners!!

Well, well, well.  Boston finally cliches at home!  And we have the end to another contest here at Collector's Crack.

Out of the 30 entries only 2 guys correctly guessed the team to win it all.  Neither one correctly guessed the right opponent, but one did guess the right number of games.  Congrats to AdamE who writes the blog Thoughts and Sox, although he's been absent as of late.  But hopefull with this great win, both for his favorite team and my contest, he might have something to blog about. Adam expect an email from me soon, I just need to make sure your address is still the same. And congrats to Richard Nebe Jr, for also getting so close.

If you don't remember what you picked you can go here for the full list. and the prizes.


Here's what the complete correct prediction would have been.

Red Sox over Cardinals in 6, 6HRs

Here are the final round guesses.

Richard Nebe Jr - Boston over the Braves in 5 with 7 homers. PIMP

Cards from the Quarry - Cardinals over the Indians in 6 with 13 homers.

Bo - Cardinals over A's in 5 with 4 HRs

Superduperman99 - Cardinals over the A's in 6 with 9 home runs

Shane Patrick - Cardinals over A's in 6. 11 touh 'em alls

Andrew Carwile - Cardinals over Boston in 6. 6 homeruns

AdamE - Red Sox over Dodgers, 6 games, 14 HR.

Wilson -  Cardinals over Boston in 7, 10 HR PIMP

Congrats Adam, I'll have to see if I can dig up a few Sox for you too. Adam also has the distinction of being the only other blogger I've ever met in person.

Now onto the door prize winner.

 I always like having a second prize, so at least all those who entered still have a shot at winning something and also as an incentive to pimp the contest. If you didn't see my post about it up for grabs were three vintage 1969 Topps cards.

 Out of the 30 who entered I only had 4 people post a link to their pimp. If you pimped the contest you got an extra entry into the door prize drawing.  I took the list of entries, plus the extra pimp entries, 34 in all, over to Random.org and randomized the list 3 times. Below is the screen capture of the event.

Congrats to the Night Owl for taking home the vintage! And I'm glad he won too. Since only he was brave enough to take the Indians before the wild card games.  I'll have some Dodgers in the mix for you too.

And I want to thank everyone who entered.  I also managed to add 3 new followers in the mix too. And overall it was a great playoffs and World Series.  I'm sure a few Red Bird fans might disagree, but it was a great match-up and nobody got swept, as a matter of fact I have a few really good friends who are Sox fans and they were very nervous going into tonight's game.  I just hope the city of Boston can survive the party.

Adam and Greg I'll try and get your prizes out by Friday.  Thanks again.

2013 Topps Update Jumbo Box Break and Review

Another one of my day late and dollar short box breaks and reviews.  I finally picked up a jumbo box of 2013 Topps Update Baseball.  I won't bore you by rehashing the continuity inserts and base cards.

We have 330 cards in the set and in that set the super hot rookie Yasiel Puig has two cards, US250 and US330. The US330 is his rookie debut card but both cards have the rookie card logo on them. He also has 3 variations available for his US250 card. But I'll let the Dodgers bloggers tackle those cards. You can see photos here.

Topps continues with the Chasing History and Making Their Mark inserts. Those inserts also have auto and relic variations.

The first new insert for update is the Franchise Forerunners. These have auto and auto relic variations.

 The next inserts is the Postseason Heroes set. This is one I'm thinking about putting together.  I like the look of the cards and they feature some greats of the game. These also have auto and auto relic versions.

There are also the Rings, Coins and mini Silk cards which I got none of.

For some reason Topps did not continue it's mini insert from Series 1 and 2 into Update. Instead they opted to insert a new mini. The 1971 Topps Mini

I got 10 of these and true to form I'll be putting this insert set together as well.

As usual There were plenty of color parallel cards to chase of you favorite players.  I ended up getting 10 gold cards of nobody worth scanning and 10 emerald I did get a couple players of note.

No sapphire or black parallels, but I did wrangle one camo parallel.

I also managed to snag one photo variation. 

On to the hits!  I'm starting to feel like Topps is using false advertising on the boxes now, stating that you get one auto and two relics in every Jumbo box, when one of those "relics" is a manurelic. But I'm not the card police.  

First up we have a card I'd been following on ebay, but had not pulled the trigger on.

I love when I pull a card that I want for my team set or player collection.  And Jean is the lone Brewer in the set with a relic this year. These All-Star stitches have double and triple variations as well and auto relics and jumbo relic cards.

My auto was of Red's pitcher Tony Cingrani.  I have a feeling a certain Red's blogger out there might want to trade for this one, maybe?

And while I dislike that Topps advertises these cards as relics they are still really nice. I ended up with a Commemorative Pin card of Mike Trout.  These cards are thick and heavy and really look good in hand.

I also ended up with a complete set of base cards out of the box which is always a bonus.  Most of my hits are up on ebay right now helping me to recoup some cost and justifying the buying of the box to the wife. But I do have a few extra base if anyone has some set needs and I have a bunch of the other inserts still too.

Gold Mining - 54 Snider

By now I was hoping to have had my Topps Update box break posted, but since I've yet to buy the box. That hasn't happened yet.  Bosco's does triple trade night tickets from 10 to noon on Saturday so I'll probably grab it then. They're also having a warehouse sale going on this weekend, so I'll see what diamonds I can dig up there.

I feel pretty blessed to live in a place that has two great card shops.  Bosco's which is also a big comic book shop and Don's which is purely sport cards.  The best part is that each shop is different. Bosco's has a ton of wax on the shelves and assorted stuff spread around the card area. Don's is more of a vintage shop. Don does has the latest wax and sometimes some odd ball stuff when he buys collections, but Don's been collecting since he was a kid in the sixties and a lot of the older stuff in the shop is from his own collection.  That being said I also like Don's for its drop board in the shop.  Don puts up cards on the wall and every week the price gets lower and lower until it sells or reaches a dollar. I love going in to see what's cheap on the boards. I usually walk out with a hand full of cheap autos and relics, usually of has beens and never wheres, but occasionally I find a diamond. Sometimes that's a rough diamond.  Don had all taken down most of the cards to reduce prices, so I was flipping through the stacks I came across this guy.

1954 Topps Duke Snider.  It was originally marked at 30 bucks, but had slid down to a ten spot and I really couldn't pass it up.  Sure the corners are dog eared and soft and the back looks like it had been glued onto something and ripped off.  But the front color is still bright.

This is now the third vintage Snider card I own. I also have a '63 and '64.  Welcome to the family.

3rd Annual Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web World Series Finalist!! And then there were 7.

Wow I thought the Tigers might have forced a game 7. That was until the 7th inning last night.  Either way we now have our World Series teams set. We lost a lot of people in the last round and now have just 7 moving on. And of those 7 noone picked the Red Sox over the Cardinals, but we have two that picked the Cards over the Red Sox. So if the Cards pull it out that will be the first time I've had anyone, let alone two people pick the correct team and the correct opponent.  Pretty cool.  Here is the line up that we had going into the LCS games.
Greg Zakwin - Dodgers over Oakland in 6 games, 7 HRs

Play at the Plate- Dodgers over Oakland in 5 games with 8 homeruns. PIMP

Richard Nebe Jr - Boston over the Braves in 5 with 7 homers. PIMP

Cards from the Quarry - Cardinals over the Indians in 6 with 13 homers.

JediJeff - Tigers over the Dodgers in 5 - 12 dingers.

Bo - Cardinals over A's in 5 with 4 HRs

defgav - Dodgers over Tigers in 7 with 7 HRs.

Stealing Home - Dodgers over Red Sox 5 Games 11 HRs

Dion's IP Autos Only - Tigers over Braves in 6, 8 HRs

Superduperman99 - Cardinals over the A's in 6 with 9 home runs

Dhoff - Tigers over Braves in 7, a dozen dingers.

Chris - Dodgers over Tigers in 6, 11 HRs. 

Shane Patrick - Cardinals over A's in 6. 11 touh 'em alls

Spiegel83 - Dodgers over A's in 5 games with 3 total homers.

Andrew Carwile - Cardinals over Boston in 6. 6 homeruns

Chris Reed - Dodgers over Athletics in 6. 7 HR

Chunter - Dodgers over Boston in 6, 8 HR

AdamE - Red Sox over Dodgers 6 games, 14 HR.

Jafronius -Tigers over Dodgers in 6 games. 10 homers.

Wilson -  Cardinals over Boston in 7, 10 HR PIMP

Remember you were playing for that sweet box set of Pinnacle The Naturals and 1990 Topps Coins set. I'll also be throwing in some vinatge packs I have lying around. Vintage being over 20 years old! Ahem yeah that puts them in the junk wax era.  

I also found a nice door prize for all who entered. 

How's about some vintage!! Real vintage this time.  I've got 3 1969 Topps cards to give away.  Nobody special and condition is well loved, but still 69 Topps.  

Thanks everybody who played and pimped.  Next contest post will be the winner announcement.  

3rd Annual Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web, Update after the Divisional Playoff Series

Sorry about the delay, I meant to post something a couple days ago, but got a little busy.  Anyway, we lost about a third of our contestants at the end of the Divisional Series.

Greg Zakwin - Dodgers over Oakland in 6 games, 7 HRs

Play at the Plate- Dodgers over Oakland in 5 games with 8 homeruns. PIMP

Richard Nebe Jr - Boston over the Braves in 5 with 7 homers. PIMP

Cards from the Quarry - Cardinals over the Indians in 6 with 13 homers.

JediJeff - Tigers over the Dodgers in 5 - 12 dingers.

The Lost Collector - A's over the Braves, 6 HRs.

CaptKirk42 - A's over Pirates full 7 games 16 HRs

Reds Card Collector -Braves over the Tigers in 6 with 7 HRs 

Bo - Cardinals over A's in 5 with 4 HRs

defgav - Dodgers over Tigers in 7 with 7 HRs.

Stealing Home - Dodgers over Red Sox 5 Games 11 HRs

Dion's IP Autos Only - Tigers over Braves in 6, 8 HRs

Skroeker - Braves over Red Sox 6 Games, 9 HR

Superduperman99 - Cardinals over the A's in 6 with 9 home runs

Dhoff - Tigers over Braves in 7, a dozen dingers.

Brian Conrad - Pirates over Red Sox. in 6 Games. 9 homers

Chris - Dodgers over Tigers in 6, 11 HRs. 

Shane Patrick - Cardinals over A's in 6. 11 touh 'em alls

Night Owl - Indians over Pirates (believe it!) in 7 insane ones. 7 homers. 

Spiegel83 - Dodgers over A's in 5 games with 3 total homers.

Andrew Carwile - Cardinals over Boston in 6. 6 homeruns

Jeff S. - Pirates over Oakland in 7 games with 8HRs (70's retro World Series)

Fuji - Athletics over the Dodgers in 6, 14 home runs...

Need More Cardboard - Braves over Athletics in 5. 9 HR  PIMP

Pirates Treasure Room - Pirates over Rays in 6 games, 9HR

Chris Reed - Dodgers over Athletics in 6. 7 HR

Chunter - Dodgers over Boston in 6, 8 HR

AdamE - Red Sox over Dodgers 6 games, 14 HR.

Jafronius -Tigers over Dodgers in 6 games. 10 homers.

Wilson -  Cardinals over Boston in 7, 10 HR PIMP

As if you didn't know we have the Sox  vs the Tigers, and the Cards vs. the Dodgers in the League Championsips Series.  And I think I found a nice door prize you guys will like.  

More on that later, after the World Series is set.

cb out.

Comic Book Nerds rejoice!! ABC orders full season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Just saw this on Yahoo.  That ABC has ordered the full season (22 episodes) of the Agents of SHIELD.
You can read the article here, not incredibly verbose.

I was a little worried as the show is up against NCIS, but since ABC is owned by Disney and Disney owns Marvel I couldn't see them not keeping this show around even if it wasn't the highest rated Tuedays night show.  It's a great vehicle for the company to introduce new plot lines and characters for the upcoming movies and how cool was it to have Sam Jackson make a cameo last week?  This week we saw the origin of Graviton so I'm hoping that we are just starting to ramp up the story lines.  I mean how cool would it be in Tony Stark make an appearance or Thor?   Plus a TV show would allow for more character development and deeper plots.

2012 Allen and Ginter Rollercoaster cabinet cards - A blog post a year and a half in the making.

Am I a roller coaster fanatic? No not really. Do I enjoy oversized cards featuring oddball subjects? Yes I do!

So after one ebay purchase and two trades I am now the owner a full set of Allen and Ginter roller coaster cabinet cards.  One of those cards took a little while to get to me, but it's here and now I can complete this blog post I started writing back in March of 2012.

I also love this set only has 5 cards. Making it easy to finish.

First  up is Leap the Dips in Lakemont Park in Altoona, Pennsylvania.  It's the oldest operating roller coaster in the world opening in 1902. Leap the Dips operated until 1985 when it was shut down to disrepair and then after a fund raising event was restored and reopen in 1999.  Leap the Dips is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is listed as a National Landmark.

The Scenic Railway at Dreamland Park in Margate, UK has seen better days as an arsonist destroyed about 25% of the ride and all the trains in 2008.

Like the Scenic Railway above the Ruthschebanen has an on board brakeman to slow the coaster. At the Bakken Amusement park in Denmark, the Ruthschebanen is Europe's oldest Roller Coaster in operation.

The Wild One currently resides at Six Flags in Maryland, but was opened in 1917 as the Giant Coaster at Paragon Park in Nantasket Beach, Massachusetts.

Built in 1921 and still rolling at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin Pennsylvania the Jack Rabbit offers the double dip after the lift hill and the rear cars were designed to offer the most air time.  They are considered to be the most desirable seats by roller coaster enthusiasts.

There you go some roller coaster history for you.