New rant blog

Well i've been mulling over whether or not to start a new blog where I can post sportscard unrelated stuff, ie rants ect, and have finally done it. 

13 Tenets of Cynical Buddhism is up and running.  Check it out.  I'm planning on this to be my rant, reviews of non-sportscard stuff, and other random thoughts. 

I think this will be more of a cynicalbastard, et tu mr. destructo? kinda blog.  Check them out too there fun to read.  And perhaps I might even aspire to be as artsy as Hyperbole and a half.

Well I bought a few boxes of Score cuz i'm cheap and I'll probably post a break of that and I also bought a pack of Tribute cuz I got paid and worked a ton of overtime.  Maybe when I get some time tonight. 

Why is Topps so Bad at the Internet?

Remember a few months back when Topps launched it's blog?  It was nothing but contests and giveaways and a promise of news and updates ect.  Well it looks like the blog is going the way of their website.   NO WHERE!  The last update on the blog was over a month ago.

This is what kinda erks me about Topps.  Their website is pretty much useless for current information.  Seems like they only update it once every 3 months if that and there is still stuff up there from last year that isn't even relevant.  I realize that there are plenty of sites to get stuff like checklists and print runs from but come on.  Isn't that the point of having a company website to update news to the fans and consumers?  I will admit that Panini and Upper Deck both have problems with their websites too but at least I can find a checklist if I need one and they are all about posting previews of products.  And why is it that if I was to buy from the Topps company store that products are more expensive then in hobby shops?  I would think being about to buy direct from the company would at least be comparable.  I know I know, gotta be fair to the card shops.  Whatever.

What's your take on the Topps websites or for that matter any of the card companies websites?  Useful? Pointless?

For me I get more up to date news from some of the great blogs out there, not mine, or course,  like Sooz and Marie over at A Cardboard Problem, Gelman over at Sports Cards Uncensored,  Ryan over at Trader's Crack, no affiliation,  the late Wax Heaven, which is why I started my blog, and countless others that I'm not even going to try and remember all of,  look at my blog list they're there. 

So keep up the good work my pretties.

Is Kenny Rogers Chinese?

So summer is here in Alaska.  It's pretty awesome.  I just got back from a month and a half working up in Fairbanks and got a few weeks in the big city to relax and hang out with the little lady. 

I love sports cards that's pretty evident with having a sports card blog but I also consider myself a fairly decent artist.  Living in Haines the last 4 years I was lucky enough to be able to enter some drawings at the Southeast Alaska State Fair and took best in class.  I was hoping that I could do the same up here for the big state fair at the end of August that is in Palmer about 50 miles north of Anchorage.  Now that my girly works for the state arts council I get all the inside scoops, which by the way are posted on the fairs website. So I think I might have to submit some stuff.

But that is not what this post is about.  No this post is about one of the performers that will be performing at the fair. I was looking thought the scheduled acts and who did I see was going to be up here but none other than the gambler himself.  Kenny Rogers!!! 

Have you seen Kenny lately???  No?  Take a gander.

Now my question to you is Kenny Rodgers Chinese??

No just an unfortunate victim of pride.

I actually saw an infomercial with him and Smokey Robinson hawking some music compelation  a while back and both looked like they were sticking their heads out of a car going 100mph.

Anyways on a happier note I'm off to kill some salmon and clams.

Bummed

I'm bummed.  I was hoping to get my hands on a box or two of the A & G, before I left for my field assignment.  Alas no.  I was stoked to hear that there isn't a lot of collectors up here in Fairbanks so I figured I could sneak into the comic book/card shop here and snag a couple of boxes before I left.  But looks like his distributor got his order in late so it would be next week, which I won't be here, till he gets his order.  Plus the owner was telling me that everybody is coming out of the woodwork asking him about it.  That means there won't be any here when I get back and probably none in the town of Anchorage when I get back down there.  Boo.  I guess I will have to mail order some if nothing else or say fuck it. 

StrasMania Continues unabated

As promised no more pictures of actual Strasburg cards just pictures of metaphors.

Anywho.  The big auctions are over, for now.  As most know the superfractor went for 25 grand, a nice profit to the original buyer.  I'd take a 9 grand profit in 2 weeks!

The red 1/1 auto went unsold as the auction was halted because of bad bids.  Really 999,999 dollars for a card a bad bid?

But let us not forget that these are just 2 cards in the product Bowman inserted lots of other autos.  There's the base auto card numbered to 500 and the blue numbered to 250 both of which have numberous auctions, actually auctions and not buy it now listings, going on.

Right now one blue auto is up to a little over 800 bucks.

And a couple of #d to 500 autos are over 550 for ungraded and over 700 for graded 9.5 BGS.

And lets not forget the new product on the block.  I haven't gotten any of this yet but i'm tempted to see how much boxes are up here in Fairbanks. 

Strasburgs minis are going for astronomical prices.

This one even gets free parcel post shipping is over 500 bucks, and this one has a starting bid price of 449 cheap!! That's sarcasm folks.

And remember there are auto redemtions cards look at this one, over 1600 bucks!!, at time of writing.

Man it would be great to pull a mini or auto redemtion now.  I just think of all the good cards I could buy with the money I would make on that one sale. 

going to have to hit the card shop tonight.

 

2010 Donruss (Panini) Elite Football Box Break

Howdy all,

Well I finally had a few days off.  I've been working 2 weeks straight and didn't actually expect to be have anytime off so it's a nice surprise and much needed.  I was at the local comic/card shop here in Fairbanks were I'm working out off for the next month or so and decided I was going to buy a box of cards.  I had been trying to hold off till Allen and Ginter came out but I'll be out of town working in the bush by then so I when I went into the shop I spotted the newly released 2010 Elite Football.  I was thinking of buying a Prestige box but decided to go this route.  I had great luck with this product back in 2005 pulling a Cadillac Wiliams gold die cut #'d to 24.

To be honest I'm not the biggest fan of Elite.  The cards from year to year don't change that much and it's pretty much just the player cut out onto foil board.  But on the pull side if you need something to catch a fish with these will do nicely. 

It's interesting to note that the checklist has the Donruss Elite logo on it put the sheet is labeled Panini Elite.  Looks like Panini is doing brand shift over.  I'm betting next year it's just called Elite or Panini Elite. Chekc it out.

So here is the box break down and then I'll get to my Hits ect.

The box boasts 4 hits either autos or memrobilia.  So in theory you could get 4 autos or just 4 patchs, but we got a 2 of each and all the video box breaks I watched on YouTube were the same.

20 packs, cards per pack, cards with a patch actually have 6.

There are actually 200 cards in this set the first 100 are vets and then 101 to 200 are all numbered to 999 rookies.  So for realities sake I'm calling the base set the first hundred.

Base cards: 85 (85% complete set)

Duplicates: 0  (nice)

Numbered Rookies 101 +: 4

Elite Series: 1

SuperBowll 44: 1

Prime Targets: 1

Zoning Commmission: 1

Stars: 1

Aspriations Blue Die cut: 1

Chain Reaction:1

Prime Targets Jersey: 2

Rookie Insert: 2

Turn of the Century Green Rookie Auto:1

Status Rookie Die Cut Auto #'d to 24: 1

So that's the breakdown here are the picks.

The base cards look like this.

I just pick Portis at random there.

Next we have the rookie inserts.  These are the cards that are hard signed if these were auto versions.

Jonathan Dwyer and Rolando McClain, both numbered to 999.  Which by the way is the reaccuring them in numbering inserts here. 

Chain Reaction

My lone Packer Insert Donald Driver number to triple 9.

Stars.

Nate Burleson, can you guess what it's number too?

Zoning Commission

Chad 85, #'d to 999.

Prime Targets non Patch

Old fumbles himself AP I wish this had aleast been a patch card, this one too numbered to 999.

Elite Series

Andre Johnson #'d 999

Super Bowl 44

4 numbered rookies.

Dez Bryant, Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski, and Jevan Snead.

Die Cut Aspirations Blue

Pierre Thomas #'d 65/77.

2 Prime Tragets Jersey Cards

Jamall Charles #'d to 299

DeAngelo Williams also #d to 299 Every one of these I've seen online has been white single color patchs.

Now onto the Rookie Autos

Everson Griffen Green Rookie Auto #d to 388.

And last but not least my big hit

Golden Tate Die Cut Blue Status Auto #d 02/24.  I was watching one of these on ebay and it's going for about 35 bucks so not too shabby.

Over all not too bad of a box you definately get alot of numbered inserts.  As a matter of fact I think there were only 2 or 3 packs in the whole box without one.  No Tebows for me though.

If you like shiny you will definatley like this stuff.  Until next time.

Yep it's official Clown Shoes for Strasburg!!!!

Well checked ebay this morning and now the Red 1/1 Auto Strasburg auction has been ended with no sale!!! Probably going to have to start this crazyness all over again.

Looks like the seller had started to preapprove sellers which is what he should have done in the first place, but who would have thought it would get this crazy, being bid up to close to a million then dropping back down to half a mil.   Still it was pretty obvious that no one was going to pay half a million dollars for a new card from a guy that will have tons of autos and cards out there in a few months.  I don't care if he is the second coming of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Joe Dimaggio rolled into one.

The other Strasburg is sitting at 23,599, with a little over a day left.