Come See The Hits From My 2014 Topps Gypsy Queen 2-Blaster Break!!

Come See The Hits From My 2014 Topps Gypsy Queen 2-Blaster Break!!

If you know me and you know my blog, than you know that Topps’ Gypsy Queen brand is my favorite release of the year.  I am a big fan of the card design and I think that the spectrum of inserts and subsets in GQ offers the best selection in the hobby today.

GQ was scheduled to hit the streets last week and I was unable to find any on the official launch day.  But, I did finally find some this weekend so I grabbed two retail blasters and set aside some time to relax and enjoy what has become my favorite modern release.

And I did pretty well.  I was a little surprised as to the small number of modern-day stars I pulled from the base 350-card set, and a little surprised as to how many legends I pulled from the same checklist too.  But, I think I did very well with the minis and the inserts – I LOVE THIS SET!!  And I plan on putting together a checklist of all of the cards I need from the base and subsets.

But first, let me show you the hits!!

My Marlins

Modern Stars

Legends

Blue-Frame

Short Prints

Dealing Aces

Glove Stories

Debut All-Stars

N174 Inserts

Mini’s – Solid mix of old and new

Mini Parallels – Supreme Mix!!!

And Cards for my Player Collections:

Reggie Jackson base

Giancarlo Stanton mini

*

I am very happy with these breaks and if there was ever a release that I was going to invest in a hobby box of, it would easily be Gypsy Queen.

Now, time to chase the rest of them!!  Thanks for reading.

PACK BREAK: 3 Packs Of 2014 Topps Opening Day

PACK BREAK: 3 Packs Of 2014 Topps Opening Day

Finally, after going to three different retail locations in the last 24 hours, I have been able to find the Topps 2014 Opening Day product.

Target had six packs left.  Yep, six.  So, I snagged them all.  I figured that for the effort I put in, I deserved all of them.

But, in actuality, I am only keeping three for myself and will be using the other three for an ‘Opening Day Contest’ prize that is set to launch on Thursday night.

So, three for me, and possibly three for you!

And now, let’s get on with in and let me show you the 21 cards that I pulled from the three packs.

Pack #1 – I got a nice Jake Marisnick rookie card, a Kevin Gausman Future Stars card, and a sweet mascot card.

Pack #2 – Not bad, a Tulo 3D card and a Blue-bordered card of Jordan Zimmerman

Pack #3 – Easily the most star-studded pack!  I pulled Puig, Kemp, Cano, Ryan Zimmerman, and the Giancarlo Stanton 3D card!!

Now a bad haul.  And with the price tag of just $0.99 per pack, I am digging it.

I have some work ahead of me to get the rest of the Marlins players in the set, but it is a challenge that I gladly accept.

And don’t forget, the remaining three packs can you be yours if you enter my ‘Opening Day Contest’.  Come back on Thursday to check it out!!!

Thanks for reading.

Finally, A 2014 Topps Series 1 ‘Retail Blaster Box Break’ – Come See!!

Finally, A 2014 Topps Series 1 ‘Retail Blaster Box Break’ – Come See!!

The 2014 collecting year is officially here and your boy at ’30-YOC’ is pumped!!

I bought a retail blaster of the new 2014 Topps release the other day but due to time constraints I was not able to get to a scanner (me and my nutty social life).

So, fast forward to tonight and my cards have been scanned and I am ready to show off the full lot of cards that I ripped open.

Just as an FYI, if you didn’t already know, each blaster contains 10 packs of cards, with 8 cards per pack.  There is also a ‘Bonus’ pack that contains a Manufactured Patch card.

And now with the formalities out of the way, let me show you what I pulled from this box o’ cards!!!

Shall we?

Lets!!!

Pack 1 – nice Kimbrel, Helton commemorative

Pack 2 – Joey Votto & AL ROY Wil Myers

Pack 3 – Sweet Griffey, blue border Miguel Cabrera, and a Pennington 2014 Power Players redemption card

Pack 4 – Mo!!

Pack 5 – lots of Red Sox and Matt Harvey

Pack 6 – Iwakuma, Tulo, and a Blue border Future Stars card of Gerrit Cole

Pack 7 – Henderson Alvarez (Marlins) and a nice Yasiel Puig ‘Future Is Now’ insert

Pack 8 – Mike Trout ‘Future Is Now’ insert saves this pack…

Pack 9 – Goldy, Blue Border Justin Ruggiano (Marlins), McCovey ‘All Rookie Cup Team’, and a beautiful Adrian Beltre Super Veterans card!

Pack 10 – Yasiel Puig base card, Joe Mauer 1989 Die Cut, and a Manny Machado ‘Future Is Now’ card

Bonus Card – David Ortiz Manufactured Patch Card!!

BOO-YAH!!!

Overall, I have to say that I love the product.  The lines are clean, the colors are bright, and the design has just enough flash to be a nice accent to the large images being featured.

It was nice to pull two Marlins cards from this box.  And you better believe that the Super Veterans card I pulled of Adrian Beltre is step one of my building the complete subset.

And while I did not pull any cards for my Stanton, Fernandez, Harper, McCutchen, or Pedroia player collections, I think I have amassed a sold amount of workable trade-bait to help me get some of those cards through alternate methods.

How do you think I did???

I Won A Box Of 2013 Topps Series 2 Baseball Cards!! Come Check Out ‘The Hits’!!!

Won A Box Of 2013 Topps Series 2 Baseball Cards!!  Come Check Out ‘The Hits’!!!

Yessir, the summer has been good to ’30-YOC’ thus far.

A little more than a week ago, I was notified by Topps that I had been one of five winners for a box of their newest release: 2013 Topps Series 2 Baseball.

To be eligible, all I had to do was re-Tweet a post they had on Twitter that promoted the release of the new product.

AND I WON!!!

And a week later, a box of baseball cards was waiting for me on my doorstep – AMAZING!!!

If you know me, and have read my box and pack breaks before, you know that I like to show off every card I pull.  Well, with 36 packs and 10 cards per pack, tha is a lot of work.  I can handle a retail blaster fine, but 36 multi-card scans is not for me.

So, instead of that approach, I will show off what the baseball card blogosphere simply calls ‘The Hits’.  Mine, will just be an extended version…

Are you ready??

Sweet, let’s go!!!

Notable young talent:

A little bit of Green:

A little bit of Gold:

Marlins (pulled 14 of 16 cards!!!):

World Baseball Classic:

Chasing History:

1972 Minis:

Making Their Mark:

Chase It Down:

Black bordered # to 62 copies:

Cut To The Chase Die-Cut:

The Elite:

Autograph:

And there you have it.  Ripping through 36 packs was a lot of fun, and these cards are sharp!!

If you see anything you like, or are building either team sets or the complete set, let me know as I can probably help your efforts in a trade of some kind.

And a special shoutout to the great people at Topps for making this a possibility!!  Thank You, Topps!!!

Finally, A 2-Box 2013 Topps Archives ‘Retail Blaster Box Break’ – Come Check It Out!!!

Finally, A 2-Box 2013 Topps Archives ‘Retail Blaster Box Break’ – Come Check It Out!!!

Man, it took me forever to find these.  And trust me when I tell you that I was really putting some energy into hunting them down…

I was informed via the web that the release date had been pushed back from last Wednesday, the 29th to Friday, the 31st.  Well, I looked for Topps Archives on the 31st, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd before I finally found them today – four days after they were supposed to be on the shelves.

As soon as I saw them at Wal-Mart, I scooped up two boxes and headed for the register.  I had already seen, and bought a few, of the cards at the card show I attended over the weekend, but there is nothing better than ripping through the boxes yourself – NOTHING!!

Let me first say that I love the packaging of Archives – from the vintage design and colors of the box to the look and style of the packs themselves – it all screams ‘FUN’.  I think that the only upgrade that could be made is if Topps went back to their original wax paper packaging but I don’t see that occurring anytime soon…

That’s enough chit-chat, right?!?!

You want to see the cards, right?!?!?!

OK, let’s do this!!!

Box 1, Pack A – what a start: Lincecum, Stras, Machado!!

Box 1, Pack B – I like the 4-in-1, but the image selection for Coleman is a bit odd…

Box 1, Pack C – Gwynn All-Star!!!

Box 1, Pack D – Another Gwynn, plus a Ripken and a Jeter ‘Tall Boy’

Box 1, Pack E  – Gio, Phillips, Bryce Harper and a Mickey Rivers SP!!!

Box 1, Pack F – Reggie and Palmer: 2 of my favorites!!!

Box 1, Pack G – Jeez, call this the All-Star pack!!

Box 1, Pack H – Rod Carew & Eddie Murray = NICE!!

That was fun!  Let’s do another one!!!

Box 2, Pack A – Ted Williams, Ken Griffey Jr, and a Kent Hrbek SP!!!

Box 2, Pack B – Wow, that Musial card is B-A-D!!!

Box 2, Pack C – Morgan!!!  And my first double – Ryne Sandberg All-Star…

Box 2, Pack D – Cannot complain about pulling Cabrera!  And I like the Ortiz card too.

Box 2, Pack E – Struck GOLD with Phillips and also nabbed a Shelby Miller rookie!  And a Prince as well!  And a Charlie Hough 87 Topps SP!!!

Box 2, Pack F – Profar rookie, Mike Trout, Gary Carter, and an Anthony Rizzo ‘Tall Boy’

Box 2, Pack G – Loving the legends – Jackie, Yogi, ‘Pops’ and another double – the Gwynn All-Star.

Box 2, Pack H – That Giants 4-in-1 is AWESOME!!!

Man, that was a lot of fun.

I always enjoy pulling cards out of packs that reminds me of how much fun it was when I was a lot younger. Seeing cards surface that feature Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken, and Paul Molitor takes me right back to when I was tearing through tons of Topps, Fleer, and Donruss cards in the late 1980’s!!

I think I did fairly well with my boxes.  Of course, I would have liked to have pulled an autograph or relic card, but I know that the odds are against me with the ‘Retail Blaster’ format.

I did not pull a single Marlins card (need to check the checklist to see how many there are) and I also did not nab the Dawson All-Star card.  I’ll seek those out, and more, through trades and on the web as more and more become available.

If anyone is building the set or team sets let me know as I may be able to help you.  And if you’re a player collector and see something you like, let me know as I am sure that we can work something out!!!

I’m going to look through the cards again now.  I’ll probably have some more posts about them in the coming days…

Thanks for reading!

BLASTER BREAKS!!! 2 Retail Blasters Of 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball Cards – Come Check Them Out!!!

BLASTER BREAKS!!!  2 Retail Blasters Of 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball Cards – Come Check Them Out!!!

Yes, I went to a card show on Friday.  And yes, I spent some cash at the show.  And yes, I will show you the entire haul all day long on Monday.

But, I could not resist picking up some more 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen cards.  So, while at Wal-Mart today doing the grocery shopping, I threw two retail blasters in the cart with our other items.

And as soon as we got home and put the groceries away, I tore into the GQ!!!

And now it is time to show off the cards.

So, here is everything that I pulled from Box #1:

Pack 1 – Kershaw is a hot card, and I like the King Felix no-hitter card too!

Pack 2 – Fisk is sweet, and the Profar is cool.  But this pack is about Bryce Harper!!!

Pack 3 – Another nice card of Felix Hernandez!

Pack 4 – JETER!!!

Pack 5 – Loving the Perez and Abbott cards.  And the Machado insert and Verlander minis are very nice too.

Pack 6 – Rickey Henderson insert and DAAARRYYYLL!!!  And a Cody Ross card for my son!

Pack 7 – Black-border mini LJ Hoes rookie card

Pack 8 – 3 Yankees!

And now, on to Box #2!!!!

Pack 1 – Another SWEET Bryce Harper insert!!

Pack 2 – Great card of Yadi!  Sweet mini McCutchen.  And ANDRE DAWSON!!!

Pack 3 – A Star-Filled pack!!  Reggie, Pettitte, Longoria, Strasburg, Shelby Miller rookie card, and a Matt Kemp mini – WOW!!!

Pack 4 – Nice Jeter insert, Sweet Machado rookie card, and a blue-framed Cole Hamels card

Pack 5 – Ehhhhh….

Pack 6 – JUSTIN VERLANDER RELIC CARD!!!!  AWESOME!!!!

Pack 7 – Great Brooks Robinson and Roy Halladay cards, and a mini Green Mike Olt rookie card numbered to 99!!

Pack 8 – Jackie Robinson and a Tulo mini

Whew…  That was a lot of scanning!!!

I am a big fan of this release and overall I am pretty happy with my pulls.  I would have like to nab a Fergie Jenkins or Jim Palmer card, plus a few Marlins, but I am hopeful that I can work a few trades to bring some of them into my collection in the coming week or two.

I hope you enjoyed viewing the results of my box break!  Hopefully we can do this again some time soon.

Have a great night!!!

PACK BREAK – 2 Rack Packs Of 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball Cards. Come See The Haul!!!

PACK BREAK – 2 Rack Packs Of 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball Cards.  Come See The Haul!!!

Last night I had to run out and grab a few things at Wal-Mart.  I had just been there over the weekend, but you know how that goes – sometimes you just forget some things…

Anyways, during the weekend, they did not have any of the new 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen baseball cards on the shelf.

But, since I knew that the product’s release was imminent, I tried again.  And this time I found the cards – Rack Packs!!!

For those of you that do now know, each rack pack contains 3 packs of cards, with each pack containing six cards.  There is also a bonus pack that holds three White frame exclusive cards.

And now, after that long introduction, let me show you my haul!!!

Rack Pack 1 – Base Cards

Rack Pack 1 – Inserts

Rack Pack 1 – Minis

Rack Pack 1 – White frame exclusives

Rack Pack 2 – Base

Rack Pack 2 – Inserts & Short Prints

Rack Pack 2 – Minis

Rack Pack 2 – White frame exclusives

Not a bad way to start my Gypsy Queen collecting!!!

Overall, I love this set.  It was great to pull cards of Andre Dawson, Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, John Smoltz, Ozzie Smith, Nolan Ryan, and others.  It was also really cool to pull a Dylan Bundy rookie card as well!! 

It is now time to start seeking out the retail blasters…

Thanks for reading.  Have a great day!

I Couldn’t Resist, I Scooped Up Another 2013 Topps Blaster Today. Come See The Haul!!!

I Couldn’t Resist, I Scooped Up Another 2013 Topps Blaster Today. Come See The Haul!!!

In case you missed it, I bought a 2013 Topps Series One blaster on Wednesday, the official release day of the set.  You can see every card I pulled from that retail blaster here.

Ever since that box break, I have been thirsting for more…  So, when my wife announced that she was headed to Wal-Mart to grab a few things earlier this afternoon, I stated that we should make it a family event and all go.

She knew that I was either not feeling well, or up to something.

She was right!!!

I bought another blaster of 2013 Topps!

And now, I want to show off each and every card that I pulled.

Have a look at these:

Pack 1 – The Spahn is nice, but for me it is all about that JETER!!!

Pack 2 – Blue Zim!!

Pack 3 – The Car-Go and Kipnis action shots are great.  And the Blue Darvish and Lincecum cards are pretty nice too.  And of course, the 1972 mini of Longo is sweet!!

Pack 4 – Remember when Cliff Lee ruled the baseball world??  I do like the 3-player NL Batting Leaders card.

Pack 5 – The Babe. The Buster.  And a Russel Martin ‘Foul’ Short Print!!!

Pack 6 – Ehhh…

Pack 7 – Gold-bordered Gallardo, and a Sweet 1972 mini of Lou Gehrig.  But the jewel of this pack is the Mike Olt rookie card!!!

Pack 8 – This is my second Brandon Philips card from the set.  And I like the ‘Chasing The Dream’ series, just not particularly the player…

Pack 9 – Another Jeter & another Buster = Sweet!  And a nice Didi Gregorius rookie card too!

Pack 10 – 2 Chris Coghlan cards; I sure hope he performs this year.  And a very awesome rookie card of Dylan Bundy!!!  YES!!

And my Bonus Manufactured Rookie Card Patch:

Ryne Sandberg!  Not a bad pull at all!!

As with the first blaster that I ripped through, many and most of these cards are available for trade.  I am working on building the Marlins team set so if you have any Marlins available and see something that you like, let me know.

Also, for all of you team collectors, player collectors, and set builders, please let me know if you found something in here that could help you out.   You scratch my back, and I will scratch yours!!!

Have a great night everyone.  Happy Collecting!!!

I Busted A Blaster Of 2013 Topps Today. Come Check Out Every Single Card From The Box!!!

I Busted A Blaster Of 2013 Topps Today.  Come Check Out Every Single Card From The Box!!!

I had been reading tons of blog posts and Tweets about people busting packs and boxes of 2013 Topps baseball cards for the last few days and I wanted to get in on the fun.

Since Monday, I have been stopping at the Wal-Mart that is conveniently located between my son’s school and my workplace.

Monday, nothing.

Tuesday, na-da.

Wednesday, hallelujah!!!

They had them in stock this morning, and I grabbed the first blaster that I laid eyes on!!

For those of you that are not aware, each blaster contains 10 packs with 8 cards per pack.  There is also a bonus pack that contains one Manufactured Rookie Card Patch.

And now, on to the box break!!!

Enjoy the show.

Pack 1 – The Brandon Phillips card is pretty sweet. Nice Todd Frazier too…

Pack 2 – The McCutchen mini is awesome.  I need to learn who AJ Ramos of the Marlins is.

Pack 3 – Seeing Gaby Sanchez in a Pirates uniform still feels weird…  Nice Skaggs rookie card!

Pack 4 – Loving the Lou Brock!  And it is nice to see a Marlins player on a League Leader card.

Pack 5 – Verlander!!  The Chasing The Dream cards are neat, I need to see the full checklist for that subset.

Pack 6 – A-Rod, Kershaw 1972 Topps mini, and a Blue-bordered Zambrano, not too bad…

Pack 7 – Kershaw base!!

Pack 8 – Great action pic of Longo.  And a pretty sweet Donnie Baseball too!!

Pack 9 – The Orioles Wild Card is nice.  And it is great seeing Heath Bell not wearing a Marlins uniform…  The 1972 Gwynn mini is a really nice looking card.

And the Matt Cain Die-Cut ‘Cut To The Chase’ card is fantastic!!

Pack 10 – The base card of Andrew McCutchen is nice, but for me this pack is all about REGGIE!!!

And my Manufactured Rookie Card Patch Bonus Pack…

Not a bad pull of ‘Mr. Cub’ Ernie Banks!!!

Busting this box was a lot of fun. And while I did not end up nabbing any of the rookie cards that I hoped to pull, I had a great time tearing through all ten of the packs.  Something tells me that I am not going to be happy with just one of these boxes…

The cards look fantastic – they are very vivid in color, have great action photography, and offer a nice glossy finish!!

If you see anything you want/need for your sets or team and player collections let me know.  Many of these are available for trade.

Congratulations to Topps!!  The 2013 collecting season is off to a great start!!!

I Picked Up 2 Boxes Of 2012 Topps Update. Come Check Out When I Pulled…

I Picked Up 2 Boxes Of 2012 Topps Update.  Come Check Out When I Pulled…

I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s reviews on this newly released product.  And while the checklist for this update set does not offer me an opportunity to haul in a lot of baseball legends like other Topps releases, there is a lot to get excited about.

So, while at the local Wal-Mart today, I scooped up two retail blaster boxes.  Each box has ten packs that contain eight cards.  Of the ten packs, two are Wal-Mart exclusive ‘Blue’ bordered cards.  There is also a bonus pack that contains a ‘Blockbuster Patch Card’.

Now, it is time to show off each and every card that was pulled.

In my best HHH voice, I say ‘Are You Ready???’.  I can’t hear you, ‘Are You RRRRRREADYYYY?????’.

Ok, Let’s Do This!!!

Box 1, Pack 1 – eh…

Box 1, Pack 2 – liking the Ichiro 87 Topps mini

Box 1, Pack 3 – Schmidty!!

Box 1, Pack 4 – GIANCARLO!!!!

Box 1, Pack 5 – nice Jeter!!

Box 1, Pack 6 – Can’t go wrong with Trout, Verlander, and Schimdt…

Box 1, Pack 7 – another Jeter – YES!!

Box 1, Pack 8 – And there it is, Bryce Harper!!!  Boo-Yah!!!

Box 1, Pack 9 – the Blue borders are nice…

Box 1, Pack 10 – Chipper & GIANCARLO!!!

Box 1, Pack 11 – Josh Beckett patch card, far from great, far from horrible.  Would rather have pulled a Babe Ruth…

Box 2, Pack 1 – eh.

Box 2, Pack 2 – Matt Moore & Tyler Moore, are they brothers??

Box 2, Pack 3- Andy Pettitte got in the set.  Nice David Freese card too!

Box 2, Pack 4 – another 87 Topps Albert Belle mini = GREAT….

Box 2, Pack 5 – Mr. Padre

Box 2, Pack 6 – Gold Kemp!  Thome & Griffey = 1200+ HR’s

Box 2, Pack 7 – Mr. Padre, Part 2.  Jamie Moyer’s final baseball card??

Box 2, Pack 8 – Kimbrell is the MAN!  I love that they brought bacl the ‘Future Stars’ for the 87 minis!!

Box 2, Pack 9 – Blue Gio.  Another 87 mini, this time of ‘PAP’

Box 2, Pack 10 – eh.

Box 2, Pack 11 – Prince Fielder patch.  A step up from Josh Beckett, but not Babe Ruth either…

And there you have it – quite a great assortment of cards.  Overall, I am very happy with the cards that I pulled.  I pulled a lot of all-stars and some good rookies too.

Some will stay in my collection.  Many will be traded with the great readers of this site.  And some may be sold to help other collectors fill their needs.

If anyone sees anything that they need, holler at me and I will do my best to work something out with you.

Thank you for reading.  Have a nice evening.