1990 Topps & 2012 Archives Shawon Dunston

Shawon Dunston was one of my favorite players growing up. He is the only number one overall draft pick in Cubs history and just turned the big 5-0 last week. For my money, there was no better double play combination than Dunston to Ryne Sandberg to Mark Grace when I was growing up. Has there been any three infielders on any team that have played together longer than that since? I assume before free agency and such there were. But since?

Anyway, Dunston played hard and threw hard although from what I remember, he often made Grace earn his paycheck over at first. I've been slowly scanning my Cubs collection into my computer and got to these Dunston cards. I've been sitting on the original 1990 Topps version for twenty years.

1990 Topps Shawon Dunston

1990 Topps Shawon Dunston back

I was so glad when Topps included him in last year's Archives set, even as a short print. I've said it before but the Cubs have a pretty deep roster of fan favorites that Topps doesn't have to keep going to the same well of Hall of Famers. Especially if they're just going to keep recycling the same half dozen photos anyway.

2012 Topps Archives Shawon Dunston SP

Dunston got stuck with purple borders in the original 1990 set. I'm not normally big on orange either but this is a pretty sharp card.

2012 Topps Archives Shawon Dunston SP back

The content on the back is more or less the same as the original from 1990. It was brightened so it looks more like a Topps Traded card from that late 80's-early 90's era. They also scrunched it up a little so they could add another Topps logo on the bottom left (denoting it as a reprint) and a Cooperstown Collection logo on the bottom right. There's also a bunch more legal copyright mumbo jumbo between the new logos.

And the main reason behind the post, is that I finally got around to picking up the certified autograph version of the 2012 Archives Fan Favorites card. The on card autograph as opposed to a sticker is a great bonus too!

2012 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Shawon Dunston Autograph

I don't think these ever really exceeded the $10 range other than maybe the first couple up on eBay or at a card shop/show in the Chicagoland area. I wasn't actively pursuing it but it has been on my list since it was released last year. I stumbled across a listing and managed to get this one for just over $5 with shipping so I'm very happy with this pickup.

2012 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Shawon Dunston back

The back is the same as the short print Archives version aside from the card number. I'm also keeping my eyes open for the certified autograph of Bill Buckner from the set if anybody has one.

Trade with My Cardboard Mistress

A few weeks ago, Adam (aka Spankee) over at My Cardboard Mistress posted about breaking a hobby box of 2010 Upper Deck. Coincidentally, I had picked up a few dozen packs as my free gift from Dave and Adam's Card World when I made large purchases for my group box breaks. I asked him to contact me when he was done sorting through his dupes and needs and a trade was born.

His package arrived over the weekend and mine is on its way to him right now. Adam took good care of my Want Lists from a couple of different 2012 sets. What I am about to show doesn't do the package justice but these are among my favorites.

A handful of Gypsy Queen (remember that set?) The reason I'm showing the Ryne Sandberg should be obvious but why Storen, Ackley and Beltre? The other 6-7 cards were all National League Central rivals. What are the odds of that? So they get the nod.

There were two cards from Archives so I figured I'd show them both even if one is on the Brewers. I'm down to my final 9 from the base set so if you think you can help, let me know!

Between Bowman and 1st Bowman Cards, there were easily 50+ in the package. That made a huuuuge dent in my Want List. Featured above is former Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly and former Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs pitcher (where Ryne Sandberg was his manager) Vance Worley. Kind of a big stretch to tie it in but hey, he's got a cool name too.

A couple of Carolina League veterans. Ian Gac is shown with the Braves although he did not play for the Lynchburg Hillcats. In fact, he was a member of the Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox affiliate), won the Carolina League MVP award in 2011 but was released? Matt Purke and Zach Walters have both played for my local team, the Potomac Nationals. 

And finally a couple of Cubs prospects. I don't know much about these guys yet but I wish them the best. Dillon Maples recently started playing for the AZL Cubs and has only pitched 2.2 innings in 2 appearances so far. Richard Jones is playing for the Daytona Cubs and has played in 59 games this season.

Thanks for the trade Adam! 

Mailday Sunday? - Trades

I was going to save this post for the normally scheduled Mailday Monday but I decided to bump it up a day. Why? I got a couple of sweet Father's Day gifts that I'm going to setup and show off tomorrow.

First up was a third package from Marcus over at All the Way to the Backstop. He has been very good about filling in some gaps in my Archives and Bowman sets. And he always throws in a few extra Cubs. Love it! Here's a couple of pictures to show it off:

Starlin Castro (for set)

My favorite bonus old school Cubs card

Willie Mays SP

Archives Needs

Bowman Needs

Next came a package from Robert over a $30 a Week Habit. Robert was one of the first, if not the first to follow my blog. I'm not sure how he found it but I'm glad he did. After the Archives group break, I had Blue Jays cards that nobody had claimed. I offered them up to Robert as the only Blue Jays collector I'd run across. It didn't really matter what I got in return so I threw out my standard line about set needs and/or unwanted Cubs cards. He responded with both! Thanks Robert!

Gypsy Queen Set Needs

More Gypsy Queen Set Needs

Even More Gypsy Queen Set Needs!

Starlin Castro Parallel

Matt Garza Mini Sepia Parallel #73/99

One last plug and a small rant...

Ok, I'm gonna shut down this break at midnight EST. As you can see below I have the three hobby boxes in my possession. As of this posting, half of the teams are still available so check it out and see if yours is one of them.

This will probably be my final group break for a while. Not because of lack of participation, I'm just not real interested in anything that's left. I haven't gotten into Allen & Ginter like most people so I'll probably just pick up the Cubs. I've always been a flagship set kind of collector which is how I ended up with so many holes in my Cubs collection. It was always nice building 25+ card team sets and while my wallet is happy I'm not a Yankees fan with their billions of base and insert cards, it is getting a little tiring seeing the same players for the Cubs. Here are the full base sets for Cubs in the 2012 Opening Day, Archives and Bowman sets:

Yep, three cards in each set and all three the same players. No offense to Castro, Garza and Soto, but c'mon! I know the Cubs are one of the worst teams in baseball record wise but Topps didn't necessarily know the full extent of that when making these sets. Sure Marlon Byrd got traded and I'm pretty sure nobody needs anymore Alfonso Soriano cards but what about Darwin Barney? Jeff Samardzija? Brian LaHair? Tony Campana? Ryan Dempster? Maybe I'm biased, but these guys are putting up decent numbers for as bad as the Cubs record is. These 200+ card sets should average about 6-7 players per team and the Cubs get half that? At least Series 2 has a bunch of these guys that should have been making appearances elsewhere.

This break from new releases will allow me to focus on some more ATCRCS cards. I'll probably also spend the rest of the summer working on my checklists as well as selling and trading excess cards to fund a trip to the National which is being held in Baltimore this year. I hope to knock out some big chunks of different brands and years while I'm there. 

Don't forget to pick up your team in my Topps Series 2 break. I'm sure your team will have more cards than the Cubs!

A little blog cleaning starts with a good...

SWEEP!

Most of the time, sweeping the worst team in baseball (Sorry Marcus!) isn't something to get all excited about. But when your team gets swept in 4 consecutive series to make for a 12 game losing streak, there probably isn't a whole lot to get excited about anyway. I wasn't able to watch yesterday's Cubs game (stupid CSN, more games on WGN please!) but I followed the game log online while doing a few other things. These days, I'll take any victory and the come from behind walk-off variety makes it that much sweeter. 

I've been fiddling with some other custom card designs and a great photo from yesterday's game inspired this newspaper-ish one:

   

I originally had it all black and white but it looked a little too blah so I kept Darwin Barney in color. The design was loosely based on this old Ernie Banks card although I'm not a big fan of the red lettering: 

(Ernie Banks 1961 Nu Card, photo courtesy of Wrigley Wax)

I would love to hear any feedback, suggestions and even critiques. 

On to the housecleaning...

I went through my list of those following my blog and if I wasn't following their blog(s) yet, I am now. If I missed you or know of one I should be following, let me know because I'm always looking for more. 

So after I mentioned the other day that I regretted selling someone a couple of teams from the Case Break at a cheaper price just to be rid of them and that it may have unintentionally given them an edge on winning anything randomized, that said someone felt besmirched. That was not my intent! I explained that I didn't realize the possible implications and was merely disappointed in myself for not seeing it. He explained his team had already been selected, he was merely looking for trade bait and that anything extra would have been just that, extra.

Well, we hugged it out (email wise) and decided to dissolve our transaction. I refunded the money, no hard feelings, no backroom deal shenanigans or collusion (as alluded to in a separate email by a third party). Maybe this only worked out because I didn't pull anything worth randomizing but I wanted to air everything out and put it to bed now. Learn something new every time I do a break.

That said, I now have a couple of teams available for trade bait of my own from the break. Willing to move these as team lots or pick and choose to help fill your sets:

Angels - Jered Weaver x7, Dan Haren x8, Albert Pujols x9, Ervin Santana x6, Jordan Walden x9, Torii Hunter x6, Mark Trumbo x8, Howie Kendrick x6

Indians - Grady Sizemore x7, Shin-Soo Choo x8, Justin Masterson x7, Ubaldo Jimenez x9, Carlos Santana x8, Asdrubal Cabrera x6, Lonnie Chisenhall x8, Casey Kotchman x8

Mets - Tom Seaver x6, Johan Santana x7, Darryl Strawberry x7, Ike Davis x7, RA Dickey x6, Lucas Duda x9, David Wright x9, Gary Carter x7

Rays - Matt Moore x6, Jeremy Hellickson x8, BJ Upton x6, Desmond Jennings x6, Evan Longoria x8, Ben Zobrist x8, David Price x8, James Shields x9

Rockies - Drew Pomeranz x6, Troy Tulowitski x6, Todd Helton x8, Marco Scutaro x7, Carlos Gonzalez x9

Twins - Joe Mauer x7, Justin Morneau x6

I could probably be persuaded to part with some of the Cubs and Nationals team sets as well.

Also, my Want List has been updated for Archives. I'm in the middle of some trades for GQ and Bowman so those lists are completely up to date just yet. Thanks for any help!

Archives by the Numbers - Part 2

Don't forget to vote in the poll to the right regarding the next break. Go ahead, I'll wait...


Ok, now that everything's packaged up I thought I'd throw one last Archives post out there. This one will break down the team distributions so everyone will kind of get a glimpse of what their package will entail. Obviously with a set like Archives, some fared better than others.


I think the columns are pretty self explanatory but here's a breakdown in case its not:
Team = Team (duh!)
Base = Total numbers of base cards
Different = Number of different base cards
Inserts = Total number of inserts
Different = Number of different insert cards
Total = Total number of base cards and inserts (cards in your package)
Total different = Number of different base cards and inserts

A few things I noticed.

• 8 cards X 24 packs X 10 boxes = 1920, so why 1918 total cards? The Gallardo jersey card was the equivalent of 3 base cards in the pack it came in.
• The Yankees had more base cards (146) than the lowest 8 teams combined (142).
• I pulled more Yankees insert cards (34) than total cards of 4 teams (Padres, Astros, Twins, White Sox) and tied the Orioles.
•  The Yankees also had more different insert cards (24) than 28 other teams had total different cards (Phillies had 25 total different cards). I should have sold that team for half the case amount! (Debunked later, see below)
• The Padres and the Pirates had more total inserts (4 and 19 respectively) than total base cards (0 and 17).
• Half of the teams had more different insert cards than different base cards.
• The Padres had 0 base cards.
• The White Sox had 0 inserts, although I believe there were potential autographs that I didn't pull.

I debated on posting the following information. It will probably disappoint some but others may feel like they got a got deal. Thems the breaks of a break, I guess. The chart below reflects each teams total distribution, regardless of whether the card was an insert or a base card. The column labeled "% Distrib." is the total number of cards pulled from that team divided by 1918 (total number of cards pulled). So as you can see, the Yankees represented 9.385% of the cards in the box. The third column is that percentage multiplied by what I paid for the case plus an average of $3.00 shipping and insurance. So, in theory, hindsight being 20/20, this columns represents the amount I should have charged per team, assuming every card had an equal value.

Keep in mind, this does not account for an increase in value for things like the Castro printing plate, Gallardo jersey card or any of the autographs. These are straight, every card has the same value figures. You'll see the Pirates towards the bottom of this list and if you remember, I pulled 3 autographs and a total of 19 inserts vs 17 base cards for them.

One of the things I love about numbers is that they are cold hard facts, yet can be manipulated to be what you'd like to see. In my case, I'd like everyone to feel they got their money's worth!

Today's ATCRCS Card of the Day on Facebook:

HOFer Ralph Kiner

Updates, New Box Break?

*Sorry for all the following words with no accompanying pictures! Not doing this post from my regular computer.*

So I wasn't at home nearly as much you may have believed this weekend. I did the break and scanned the cards pretty early Saturday morning. I wrote the posts, which if you look closely, they were templated so I just cut and paste, switched out names and photos and then scheduled them for hourly publishing. Meanwhile I was uploading the videos to Youtube. Not to say it wasn't a lot of work, it was. Just that it was a whole lot of work in a couple of hours. Why the rush?

I went on a Boy Scout campout this weekend, from Saturday afternoon to early Sunday evening. I did see most of the comments and questions this weekend from my phone but it's a pain to answer that way so I will try to respond to everyone sometime today. I also have to finish packaging up everybody's cards so they can be dropped off on my to work tomorrow.

I'll admit, I took a bit of financial hit with this break. It wasn't the smartest set to try to break as a case. Several teams were heavily favored in the checklist and even though I staggered the prices to try make it more balanced, the incomplete checklist didn't help. I did sell a couple of teams in the last couple of days at a discounted price to avoid a larger financial hit but looking back, I kind of regret that. I should have first offered to those already involved the break because it gave that person an unfair advantage for anything that would possibly be randomized. I learn something new each time I do a break. So if its a lot of work and a lot of upfront money I might not get back, why keep doing it?

It's fun! I love opening packs. It's been great getting to know more people through my blog and recently as I've opened packs for myself, I've found myself thinking I know who would like that card when I pull a good one. My two previous breaks were done almost exclusively through sportscollectors.net. Now that I've been blogging very consistently for several weeks, I'd like to open it up to this new community of friends. I'm not offering it up just yet, but I'd like to put out some feelers to see it there is enough interest in doing a 3 Hobby Box break of 2012 Topps Series 2. I believe this checklist is a lot more evenly distributed so I will set the prices regardless of team. 

Check out the poll on the right which closes Friday at noon, EST. Release date is Wednesday the 6th, with the break happening that upcoming weekend. Would operate much the same as this one, update posts, video links once they're done, etc. Just trying to find a fair way to distribute teams. Majority rules. 

Please answer the poll but if you have any comments or questions that don't involve laying claim to a team, feel free to leave them. Let me know!

2012 Topps Archives Case Break All Videos

The link below is to a playlist that plays all 10 videos in sequence. It's listed as 1 hour and 35 minutes. Please let me know if any of the videos don't work as they seem to work fine for me.

10 Video Playlist

Thanks!

Archives by the Numbers

Be warned. It's about to get a little nerdy in here. I'm no mathematician but I really enjoy numbers and statistics.  So when I had the chance to dissect a whole case of baseball cards and analyze the collation? For fun? I jumped at the chance! Nothing too deep, just a breakdown of everything. I mentioned earlier that this was my biggest purchase of cards so this was definitely a new experience for me.

If you've seen any of the videos from the break yet, you'll know I was thrown for a loop regarding the Padres. I had found what I thought was a comprehensive checklist of the set but when I opened the packs, things didn't match up. So I'm going to stay away from analyzing team collation.

Strictly going by numbers, the collation for inserts was perfect for every box. Not just the case on average, but each box itself. I pulled the exact number of each insert at the listed per pack ratio. Of the 10 boxes, 8 of them produced 170 base cards. Box #3 had 167 because it had the jersey card so apparently a relic is equivalent to 3 base cards. And box #10 had 169 base cards because of the printing plate I pulled. I'm happy that those bonus inserts came at the expense of base cards rather than an insert.

When I was collecting cards as a kid in the '80s and early '90s, "commons" were players that were essentially considered scrubs. It had nothing to do with how rare or over abundant the card was. It was a statement about the player, not necessarily the card. They were utility players. Journeymen. Cup of coffee type guys. I know it takes an incredible amount of talent to play minor league baseball, let alone making a Major League roster but that was the lingo. The players listed below are commons in the truest sense of the word, at least according to my case break. Each of these players appeared in every box I opened. Ten boxes, ten copies of each card.

At least one was a Cub!

6 Paul Goldschmidt

17 Mat Latos

28 Melky Cabrera

37 Jose Valverde

39 Jackie Robinson

55 Jesus Montero

78 Miguel Montero

87 Clay Buchholz

89 Lou Gehrig

106 Alex Gordon

130 Mike Stanton

139 Ivan Nova

154 Starlin Castro

157 Carlos Gonzalez

187 Nolan Ryan

199 Mark Reynolds

The least amount I pulled of any base card was 7 (80 different players) so the case yielded 7 complete base sets. Twenty players were represented 8 times and 84 players appeared 9 times to go along with the 16 perfect 10's listed above.

There are 40 high numbered short print cards card inserted at a 1:4 packs ratio. I pulled 60, one of each, duplicates of half. No triplicates and no SSP Bryce Harper, card #241. So the case produced 1 full set, cards 1-240.

The Cloth Insert card set has a 25 card checklist. I pulled 40 for the correct 1:6 packs ratio. I received at least one of each and duplicates of 15. No triplicates.

The 3D card set had a 15 card checklist. I pulled 30 for a 1:3 packs ratio. I pulled at least one of each, singles of 3, duplicates of 9, and triplicates of 3. The trips of Utley, Mantle and Kaline all apeared in the same boxes together. Votto, Cabrera and Cruz were together twice as was Pedroia, Hernandez, Upton and Ruth, Clemente and Mays. 

The checklist for the floating head stickers listed 25 players and I pulled 30. There were 14 singles, 8 with dupes and 3 I didn't get (Jeter, Hamilton & Verlander)

I pulled 20 of the Deckled Edge cards out of the checklist of 15. I got 8 singles, 6 with dupes but the Yastrzemski was the only one that evaded me.

The reprints checklist contains 50 cards and there were 60 in the box. I got dupes of 17 but missed out on 7.  

Of the 200 possible Gold base parallels, I pulled 20 different cards. Would need to buy at least 10 cases to complete the set through packs. I've seen a lot of hate on these but I'd be surprised if they don't draw some decent prices just because of the rarity. I'll just be looking for the 2 Cubs I didn't get.

So while this case had the numbers to produce a Master set of every non-relic and autograph, the collation was slightly off. If I had purchased a case for that intent, I would have been 12 cards shy, 13 if you count the SSP Harper.

I'll be out and about most of the day so I may not post video links right away. Check my channel through the other links as they'll be available once they are uploaded. 

2012 Topps Archives Case Break Videos - Boxes 1-3

These have been uploading ALL DAY. Very frustrating. Here are the videos for the first 3 boxes.

Box 1

Box 2

Box 3

I will let my computer keep uploading through the night and post links when they're done. Hopefully they'll finish over night. Tomorrow I will post a review/statistical analysis of the case. I'll let you know how many complete base sets I was able to complete. Did the case yield a complete set with SPs? Was I able to complete any/all of the insert sets? Answers to these questions and more in tomorrow's post, so come back then!

Thanks again to everybody who participated and followed throughout the day.

2012 Topps Archives Case Break Box 10 - Printing Plate

High Numbered Short Prints (1:4 packs):

Bill Buckner (Cubs), Bill Madlock (Pirates), Jim Abbott (Angels)

Lance Parrish (Tigers), Jose Oquendo (Cardinals), Von Hayes (Phillies)

Deckled Edge (1:12 packs)

Gold Parallel (1:12 packs)

Joe Mauer (Twins), Mike Napoli (Rangers)

Daniel Hudson (D-Backs), Chris Young (D-Backs)

1977 Topps Cloth (1:6 packs)

Johnny Bench (Reds), Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins)

Starlin Castro (Cubs), Willie Stargell (Pirates)

1968 Topps 3D (1:8 packs)

1967 Topps Stickers (1:8 packs)

Al Kaline (Tigers), Mickey Mantle (Yankees), Chase Utley (Phillies)

Mariano Rivera (Yankees), Mark Teixeira (Yankees), Ryan Braun (Brewers)

Reprints (1:4 packs)

Ralph Kiner (Pirates), Willie Mays (Giants), Gary Carter (Expos)

Ferguson Jenkins (Cubs), Joe Morgan (Astros), Jim Hunter (A's)

Autographs (2 per box)

Carney Lansford (A's), Ed Kranepool (Mets)

Now this may be anticlimactic for some of you but let me tell you. After opening 200+ packs, this made the whole thing worth it for me. Finally....the pièce de résistance...after the jump...

2012 Topps Archives Case Break Box 09

High Numbered Short Prints (1:4 packs):

Brett Butler (Dodgers), Cecil Fielder (Tigers), Roger McDowell (Mets)

Ed Kranepool (Mets), Chili Davis (Angels), Robin Ventura (Mets)

Deckled Edge (1:12 packs)

Gold Parallel (1:12 packs)

Harmon Killebrew (Twins), Evan Longoria (Rays)

Alex Gordon (Royals), Justin Verlander (Tigers)

1977 Topps Cloth (1:6 packs)

Curtis Granderson (Yankees), Catfish Hunter (Yankees)

Joe Morgan (Reds), Rod Carew (Twins)

1968 Topps 3D (1:8 packs)

1967 Topps Stickers (1:8 packs)

Al Kaline (Tigers), Mickey Mantle (Yankees), Chase Utley (Phillies)

Ichiro (Mariners), Tim Lincecum (Giants), Troy Tulowitski (Rockies)

Reprints (1:4 packs)

George Brett (Royals), Rod Carew (Twins), Ozzie Smith (Padres)

Carl Yastrzemski (Red Sox), Juan Marichal (Giants), Cal Ripken (Orioles)

Autographs (2 per box)

Brett Butler (Dodgers), Jack Clark (Cardinals)

2012 Topps Archives Case Break Box 08

High Numbered Short Prints (1:4 packs):

Mike Scott (Astros), Jay Buhner (Mariners), Shawon Dunston (Cubs)

Ed Kranepool (Mets), Chili Davis (Angels), Sid Bream (Braves)

Deckled Edge (1:12 packs)

Gold Parallel (1:12 packs)

Jose Batista (Blue Jays), Ichiro (Mariners)

Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox), Jayson Werth (Nationals)

1977 Topps Cloth (1:6 packs)

Curtis Granderson (Yankees), Josh Hamilton (Rangers)

Joe Morgan (Reds), Rod Carew (Twins)

1968 Topps 3D (1:8 packs)

1967 Topps Stickers (1:8 packs)

Roberto Clemente (Pirates), Willie Mays (Giants), Babe Ruth (Yankees)

Adrian Gonzalez (Red Sox), Jose Bautista (Blue Jays), Ian Kennedy (D-Backs)

Reprints (1:4 packs)

Monte Irvin (Giants), Yogi Berra (Yankees), Duke Snider (Dodgers)

Roberto Clemente (Pirates), George Anderson (Phillies), Eddie Murray (Orioles)

Autographs (2 per box)

Jimmy Key (Yankees), Andy Van Slyke (Pirates)