2011 Topps All-Star Set

It's been almost a month since my last post and we're still not completly settled into the new house, but I wanted to try and catch up on some posts. I was able to attend the Home Run Derby and All-Star game that was here in Phoenix recently. I also attended FanFest on Saturday and Tuesday. I had an amazing time and loved every second of it!

Topps had a booth at FanFest and had a promotion going where if you bought 3 pack of any of their 2011 products at one of the other participating vendors and brought them back to their booth to open then you got to pick a card from a special 7-card 2011 MLB All-Star set. Because of the promotion, the packs were overpriced. Three packs of 2011 Topps Series 2 for $12. I bought three packs on Saturday and got the Justin upton card. On Tuesday I decided to buy three more Series 2 packs and three packs of Opening Day (3/$5) and get Ichiro and Jeter. When I got to the booth I opened my first pack of Series 2 and pulled out a couple of damaged cards. I asked the guy at the booth if he could do anything about the damaged cards and he took them and looked at them for a little bit and then asked me, "What do you want?  Do you want the whole set?" I agreed and he gave me all 7 cards in the set. I guess every once in a while factory damaged cards are a good thing!

I know there was a lot of discussion about Jeter opting out of the All-Star game and I don't know exactly how I feel about it. I think that some of the frustration though came from the fact that there just was not a lot of star power at the game in the first place and so to have him opt out just added more fuel to the fire. Look at the seven card set below which feature some of the games biggest names. Ichiro - not at the All-Star game, Pujols - not at the All-Star game, Tim Lincecum - there, but did not pitch, Jeter - not at the All-Star game, Ryan Howard - not at the All-Star game, and then you have Justin Upton and Jose Bautista who were at the All-Star game, but let's be honest, they are stars, not super stars.

$3 well spent and $6 I would like back

I recently purchased 3 packs of 2008 Upper Deck Timeline at the Dollar Tree store for $3. I had not previously purchased any Timeline, as I am just getting back into the hobby this year. For 3 bucks I was pleasently surprized. I liked the simple design and I also got some good players.I recently purchased 2 packs of Topps Heritage High Numbers at Target for $2.99 each. I wasn't impressed and I would have rather gotten 6 more packs of Timelines from the dollar store for the same price.

Jake Peavy, Brandon Webb and John Smoltz - These 3 came out of the same pack.

Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols

Ryan Braun and BJ Upton

Chris Jakubauskas and Brad Mills - 2009 Rookie Stars

Aaron Poreda and Michael Saunders - 2009 Rookie Stars

Brooks Robinson and David Wright - Then and Now insert

2007 Topps Triple Threads

I picked up a couple of 2007 Topps Triple Threads cards today at the card shop. Not having collected for the past several years and not having seen much of the 2009 Topps Triple Threads cards, I actually thought that these were 2009 cards when I bought them. I picked them up for $25 each. I also bought a box of 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights, so when I told the wife how much I spent she was not very happy. So, these two cards are going to go on ebay shortly to see if I can recover what I paid for them (and maybe put a dent into the Updates box). I will post the results of my Updates & Highlights box soon.


Card #1
Front of the card features the pictures of Dye, Konerko and Pierzynski of the Chicago White Sox as well as Biggio, Berkman and Ensberg of the Houston Astros.


Fold it open and it features a gray jersey piece for Dye and bat pieces for Konerko and Pierzynski on the left and a red jersey piece for Biggio and pinstripe jersey pieces for Berkman and Ensberg on the right. The card commemorates the 2005 World Series and is serial numbered 1/9.


Card #2
The front features David Wright of the New York Mets and Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Open it up and Wright is featured on the left and Howard on the right. Black and white jersey pieces are used for Wright and Phillies pinstripes are used for Howard. It is serial numbered 9/27.

2008 Upper Deck Baseball Series 2 - Trade

I bought a box of 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Series 2 a few months ago. I'm not collecting the set, so I have about 300 cards that I am willing to trade. If you're trying to complete the set or if you need a specific player just let me know and we can work out a trade. Thanks!


Here is one card from the box; however, that I'll be keeping. I'm usually not a fan of studio shots, but I love this card.