Topps Series 2 Sneak Peak

I received an email saying my boxes of Series 2 have shipped and will be delivered Thursday or Friday-ish. So I expect another fun-filled box-breaking weekend ahead. Final 12 hours to join in and pimp the break (from time this is posted, deadline is midnight EST tonight) to be eligible for the free team randomization. Thanks to those already participating and those pimpin' the break. Keep the sign-ups coming!

On to the sneak peak. While running an errand I stopped off at Wal-mart on my way home from work and saw two rows of Topps Series 2 blaster boxes staring back at me. I picked one up to read the box with no intention of buying any, just a looksy I swear. Well of course the box in front of the adjacent row started to fall so I quickly grabbed it before it fell. Taking it as a sign that this box wanted to go home with me (that's the story I sold myself, tough sell, I know) I went ahead and the bought the falling blaster.

It had 10 packs and since it was from Wal-mart, two of them had the exclusive blue bordered cards. I didn't scan in all the inserts because I plan on doing a whole bunch this weekend for the break but I did take the time to scan a couple of my favorite cards.

For my Tony Campana PC I pulled his base card:

And the blue bordered Wal-mart parallel:

I pulled a few other Cubs cards (Samardzija and Volstad) but I'll wait until I have a full team set to post more. Or leave it up to Paul over at Wrigley Wax. He's real good about that! I also pulled some Nats cards for my son (R. Zimmerman, Wang and Gio along with Strasburg and LaRoche blue parallels). So a pretty productive blaster.

As usual, I saved the bonus commemorative patch card pack for last and was very happy with what I pulled. I guess the shelf diving blaster really did want to go home with me. Two cards for the PC, a couple more Cubs and Nats and this:

I never really figured out what these Historical Stitches were supposed to be but hey, at least its a Cub and one of my top 10 favorites too. I'll take that!

3 Box Topps Series 2 Break Update

Well, I probably started this too close to the release date because I haven't had quite as much interest in this Topps Series 2 break as I had hoped. Since I've already ordered the boxes, here is what I'm going to do.

Every person who has a confirmed team by midnight EST Wednesday (36 hours from this post being published) will be entered into the randomizer and one lucky winner will be able to pick a 2nd team for free (2nd team subject to what is available at 12:00:01 Thursday morning). Should this incentive be extremely popular and all teams sellout, a backup prize of similar value will be granted at my discretion (more than likely a package of various inserts from the winning participant's selected team).

If you buy in AND plug the break on your blog (and send me the link), I'll give you 2 entries into the randomizer. Let's see if we can't get this sold out!

See the checklist potential here or here.

Here's the link to the original post to claim your team. Thanks!

And for a little visual interest here are a trio of current Nationals who were former Cubs: 

These cards have been featured on the blog before but here are the autographed counterparts, courtesy of Doug over at Chisoxcollector.com. He had them signed for me during his Spring Training exploits that you can check out on his website. In return, I got quite a few cards signed for him of the Winston-Salem Dash, the Single A+affiliate of the White Sox in the Carolina League. Thanks Doug!

Mailday Monday - Trades & eBay

I'm going to thank Sam over at The Daily Dimwit once again for a fantastic mail week. I didn't recieve anything from him directly this time but he did send quite a few new readers my way after our trade, who in turn scoured my Want List and filled my mailbox.

The first to make an offer was Jeff from over at 2 by 3 Heroes. We helped each other out with our Gypsy Queen set needs (he sent almost 3 dozen my way!). He also sent a 2010 Topps Tim Lincecum which completes that set for me. I cheated when I found a factory set on clearance but noticed the Lincecum was kind of dinged up when I transferred them from the box to the binder.

 

Jeff even topped the package off with a  couple of Cubs from the Heritage set that I needed, some Starlin Castro inserts and a few cool looking Cubs cards from years I was MIA from the hobby. Thanks Jeff!

  

Next up is Adam from over at ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession. I'm not sure how he found my blog, but I'm glad he did! He was interested in a bunch of the Archives inserts I had posted as trade bait and he sent over more than a blaster's worth of cards from 3 different sets I'm trying to kock out from this year. Some of you may know that my local minor league team is the Potomac Nationals so I go to quite a few Carolina League games each summer. As you'll see below, a bunch of the guys I've seen are rising through the ranks and getting Major League cards! Most of my favorite non-Cubs are these former Carolina Leaguers:

Current National Ryan Zimmerman and Royal Eric Hosmer from Gypsy Queen. I got to see both of them play in the Carolina League with Zim making a rehab start for Potomac and Hosmer making his way up with the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

 

      

After the case break last weekend, it's hard to imagine needing any Archives but from that set we have former Nationals Nyjer Morgan and current international sensation Yu Darvish. Two more Carolina League veterans Drew Pomeranz (Kinston Indians) and Brad Peacock (Potomac)

And finally from Bowman, we have current Cub Matt Garza, future Cub hopeful Paul Hoilman and former Nat Tom Milone. Milone also played for Potomac and he and Peacock were both part of the trade with the A's that brought Gio Gonzalez over to the Nats. Thanks Adam, great trade!

   

I've been trying to stay away from Ebay because while you can get a pretty good deal on cards, the shipping is usually an equalizer or worse, makes it more expensive than a shop or show. But one of my collecting goals for this year was to make my way through the 1991 Topps Desert Shield Cubs team set. I'm not rushing even though at least half the team is available on eBay at any given time. I'm hoping this is a slow and steady wins the race kind of goal because the thought of paying upwards of $150-200 for a team set is kind of scary. I picked up this Paul Assenmacher for a couple bucks and free shipping, which marks my 4th card in the set.

Also some of you may know that in my trade requests, I'm looking to fill in a bunch of huge holes in my Cubs collection with large and small lots of Cubs cards from previous years. Occasionally when I'm bored, I'll do a search for these kinds of lots on Ebay. And a few weeks ago a lot came up filled with relics, autographs and rookies. I put it in my Watch List along with a couple of other Cubs cards he had listed individually. I ended up winning the lot and with a pretty decent combined shipping rate, picked up a couple of the single cards too. Totaled up, the cards below (along with a couple of base card rookies) was just a shade over $20. Not too bad.

2008 Upper Deck Ballpark Collection Aramis Ramirez Jersey and Autograph.

2012 Topps Golden Moments Matt Garza Autograph

2011 Topps 60 Autographs of Starlin Castro, Marlon Byrd and Randy Wells

2011 Topps 60 Relics of Geovany Soto, Starlin Castro, Carlos Zambrano,Aramis Ramirez, Marlon Byrd, Carlos Marmol and Tyler Colvin. 

A 2010 Bowman Sterling Autograph of Hayden Simpson and a 2008 Topps Chrome Rookie Autograph of Randy Wells.

I also have two more trades that I'll be featuring tomorrow so all in all, a pretty successful week at the mail box. 

Sandberg Sunday - Another Canary

Don't forget to sign up for the Topps Series 2 Box Break!

Last year's Topps saw a 1/1 variation called Canary that was a yellow version of their Diamond Anniversary. I posted about the Ryne Sandberg edition in my first ever edition of Sandberg Sunday.

Well, right after Lineage came out last year, I picked up the Lineage Canary Ryne Sandberg as well. This one was less expensive than the original but still not what I would call cheap. The front has the same picture as the original Topps card although with a slightly different crop. The back has a write-up as opposed the career stats. The 1/1 designation is also on the back of this card as opposed the front of the other.

Box Break - 3 Hobby Boxes of 2012 Topps Series 2

I didn't have as many votes in the poll as I had hoped but I am going to run with the break anyway. I'll be breaking 3 hobby boxes of 2012 Topps Series 2. The majority said they wanted to be able to pick their own team so claim your team in the comments below. First come, first served. Paypal email is onceacub AT gmail DOT com

How much is each team?


Your first team is $9. Each additional team is $6.


When is the break?

The release date is Wednesday, June 6. I should have it in my possession within a day or two of that and hope to do the break that weekend.

What does my purchase include?

Your purchase includes all single player cards shown to be on your chosen team(s). Including but not limited to base cards, autographs, parallels, inserts and relics. Some breaks I have seen hold back duplicate base cards to save shipping but I will send everything. See below for multi-player cards. For traded players, the card goes to the team shown on the card, which is not necessarily the current team. Shipping with delivery confirmation is also included. Insurance may be included for teams that secure autographed or other premium cards.

How are multi-player cards handled?

Multiplayer cards are handled as follows:

The flow of the card for the purpose of distribution goes from the top left across to the top right, then lower left to lower right. The card will go to the team represented by the player on the upper left side of the card. If a duplicate card is pulled later, the next team represented in the above stated flow gets the dupe. If a triplicate card is pulled, the third team represented gets the 3^rd card (or 1^st team again if it’s a 2-player card). In the event a parallel card is pulled, the 1^st team represented gets the premium card and the 2^nd team will get the base version regardless of the order pulled from the pack.

How are cards with no affiliation handled?

If one is pulled, all teams will be put into a randomizer and the owner of the team selected after the 3rd randomization will win that prize. Participants with multiple teams will be entered for as many teams as they purchased.


Teams:
Angels - The Dutch Card Guy (Freebie winner)
Astros - The Dutch Card Guy (Paid)
Athletics - 
Blue Jays - Nathan (Paid)
Braves - 
Brewers - 
Cardinals - Superduperman99 (Paid)
Cubs - Once a Cub...(Paid)
Diamondbacks - 
Dodgers - Ducky1978 (Paid)
Giants - Ducky1978 (Paid)
Indians -
Mariners -
Marlins -
Mets - BA Benny (Paid)
Nationals - Once a Cub...(Paid)
Orioles - Superduperman99
Padres -
Phillies - daddyohoho (Paid)
Pirates -
Rangers - daddyohoho (Paid)
Rays -
Red Sox -
Reds -
Rockies -
Royals - Ducky1978 (Paid)
Tigers - The Dutch Card Guy (Paid)
Twins -
White Sox - Jeff W. (Paid)
Yankees - BA Benny (Paid)


Any questions, just ask!

Signature Saturday - Johan Santana

*2012 Topps Series 2 Box Break Information will be posted at 6PM EST.

Come back to claim your team!*

Very rarely will I stray from the Cubs here on the blog but I wanted to post a congratulations to Johan Santana and Mets fans everywhere as they get a giant monkey off their backs. My general rule of thumb is that I root for the Cubs first, a good game second, and any team playing against the NL Central third. So while the Cubs weren't involved, this game met the next two criteria.

Much has been said about players who have gone on to throw no-hitters after leaving the Mets or players who threw one before going there but Santana became the first active roster Mets player to throw one. In keeping with the Signature Saturday theme, I present a 2002 Fleer Tradition Update Card:

In the early 2000's I had re-entered the hobby for the first time as an adult. It was short-lived though as I had two young children at the time. The amount of time and money needed for the hobby was not in my favor although I did mail out quite a bit of cards to players to be autographed. One of my favorite sets for this was Fleer Tradition because they weren't glossy and therefore held the autograph better without much prep work.

According to my records, I mailed this card to Santana in care of the Twins during Spring Training of 2003 and it took just under 3 weeks to be returned with his signature. I can't claim to be clairvoyant to the type of pitcher he'd become though as I sent out at least half of this set.

When I re-entered the hobby a 2nd time in the last year or two, I traded away a bunch of my mail autographs for some Cubs cards and autographs. But for some reason, I hung on to this one. Guess it isn't easy to part with a 2-time Cy Young award winner, regardless of his team.

*2012 Topps Series 2 Box Break Information will be posted at 6PM EST. Come back to claim your team!*

ATCRCS: First Pitch Friday - Jon Lovitz

This week's First Pitch Friday card features comedian/actor/singer Jon Lovitz. I think there are a lot of strong feelings about him, many love him, many hate him. I don't know him personally so I'm guessing he is just really good at acting when it comes to playing so many of those annoying characters that you love to hate. He has thrown out the ceremonial first pitch for the Cubs on multiple occasions but this particular card showcases his August 30, 2009 effort.

Many times, a celebrity making the first pitch will have a customized jersey with their name on it. Not sure if Lovitz was a last minute pitcher or he's just an Ernie Banks fan but as you can see by the video below, Lovitz is wearing a #14 Banks jersey. Former Cub Sam Fuld plays the role of the catcher and Lovitz bounces the ball in the dirt to the backstop. Given a second chance, he gets it to Fuld in the air, but it most certainly would have hit a left-handed batter.

After taking an early lead, the Cubs fell to the Mets 4-1. Here is the box score for the game for anyone curious.