2018 Topps Allen & Ginter Blaster Box #1

Picked up a blaster box while out shopping.  Nothing major in this blaster except for some rookies.

Rookies: Garrett Cooper, J.P. Crawford, Paul Blackburn, Willie Calhoun, Brian Anderson, and Zack Granite. 

And here are the odds for a retail blaster box.

2018 Topps Allen & Ginter Hobby Box Break #1

Each year Topps Allen & Ginter gets this unusual hype that you don't normally see for most card sets.  It's because of the unusual combination of non-sport autographs in the set, non-baseball autographs in the set, and weird non-sport insert cards. 

It's a strange set, and oddly satisfying.

Each year I try to buy myself one hobby box.  Here's the box for this year.

The hits were a Dexter Fowler and Charlie Blackmon relic, and a framed mini autograph of Madison Keys (tennis player).

I'm pretty happy with these hits.  Getting an autograph is good since not every box is guaranteed to have an autograph.

Here are the hobby pack odds.

And I got this strange mini which had a peculiar finish on it.  It turns out these are glow in the dark minis and are case hits.  They are SSP (super short print).  Some people speculate that these are 1/1s but they're not.  I've seen a few duplicates on eBay already.  Too bad I got a non-player.  This is the rarest card that I got in my hobby box but I'm thinking if I tried to sell it I would probably only get $10 for it.

I got a good number of rookies, including: Jack Flaherty, Rafael Devers, Scott Kingery, Garrett Cooper, Brandon Woodruff, Nick Williams, Ryan McMahon, Ryder Jones, and Amed Rosario.

But the most important rookie card in the box... a Shoei Ohtani rookie! 

2018 Score Football Hobby Box #2

Since my first box of 2018 Score Football was so good, I decided to buy a second one.  This one kind of sucked.  Here are the hits.  Also not pictured were 150 Panini points.  I got Panini points in my first box too.  So it seems like each box has three autographs and one Panini points card.

Leighton Vander Esch, a linebacker from Boise State, was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys with the 19th overall pick (1st Round).

Dallas Goedert, a tight end from South Dakota State, was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 49th overall pick (2nd Round). 

Quadree Henderson, a wide receiver from Pittsburgh, went undrafted but has signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers.  He seems to be a return specialist. 

Here are the notable color inserts: Brandin Cooks #/35, Zach Ertz #/10, and Demarco Murray #/50.

Here are the rookie color inserts: Chase Litton, Carlton David #/50, and Calvin Ridley.

Overall, this box was way worse than the first box.  Still though, there aren't many Panini Football products where you can get three autographs (and one Panini points card) for about $100. 

2018 Score Football Hobby Box #1

I decided to try a box of 2018 Score Football.  It's a very nice looking low-end product.  Here are the hits.  Also not picture were 150 Panini points.  You get four autographs per box on average.  I was the "lucky" one who got three autographs and points instead. 

Sam Hubbard, a defensive end from Ohio State, was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals with the 77th overall pick (3rd Round).

Kerryon Johnson, a runningback from Auburn, was drafted by the Detroit Lions with the 43rd overall pick (2nd Round).

Mark Andrews, a tight end from Oklahoma, was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens with the 86th overall pick (3rd Round). 

2017 Bowman Platinum Blaster Box #3

And... I finally opened this blaster box too.

Ice Parallels (blaster box exclusive): Gary Sanchez, Starling Marte, Michael Kopech, and T.J. Friedl.

Rookie Radar: David Dahl.

Purple Parallel: Bryce Harper.

 The inserts in this set are so nice.  I really love the Platinum Presence cards. 

Rookies: Yulieski Gurriel, Tyler Austin, Cody Bellinger, Tyler Glasnow, Robert Gsellman, and Jorge Alfaro.

2017 Topps Chrome Blaster Box #3

I had this blaster box sitting around the house for months.  I wish I had bought more of this product.  This has to be one of the best blaster boxes I've had for this product so far. 

Rookies:  Mitch Haniger, Kyle freeland, Antonio Senzatela, Luke Weaver, Yulieski Gurriel, and David Dahl.

Rookies: German Marquez, Jordan Montgomery, Amir Garrett, Jesse Winker, Matt Strahm, and Joe Jimenez.

 Freshman Flash: Orland Arcia.

Rookie Autograph: Reynaldo Lopez. (1:82 odds)

Negative: Craig Kimbrel.  (1:38 odds)

Sepia Parallels: Chris Owings, Ivan Nova, Joey Votto, and Matt Holliday.

Getting an autograph -- albeit a fairly worthless one -- was a nice surprise.  The negative card was a nice surprise as well.  It's a lot thicker than the regular base cards.  The big splash of color parallels and insert cards make this product fun to rip.  Tons of rookies in this blaster box, but still no Aaron Judge! 

2017 Topps Chrome Rack Pack #2

It's about time I finally opened this.  It was just sitting around the house for months.

Rookies: Jeff Hoffman, Gavin Checchini, Hunter Renfroe, Alex Reyes.  Pink Refractor: Alex Reyes.  Topps Chrome 30th Anniversary Rookie: Andrew Benintendi.

Lost Mail

It finally happened.  It seems as if the United States Postal Service lost a package that was supposed to be delivered to my house.

It was a 2016 Panini Optic Jared Goff bronze autograph.  I paid $84.99 plus $3.00 shipping for it.  Tracking information said it was delivered today, likely between 11 a.m. and noon, but it was not in my mailbox. 

I'm hoping that it was merely put into a neighbor's mailbox by accident and that they'll deliver it to my house. 

2005 Playoff Contenders Football Hobby Packs

My desire to hit an Aaron Rodgers autographed rookie card hit its peak a few months ago.  I bought thirteen 2005 Playoff Contenders Football hobby packs from Steel City Collectibles.  They were $13.95 each, for a total of $181.35.  

There are supposedly about five autographs per box.  So by buying thirteen packs, I was expecting to hit about two to three autographs.  I emailed Steel City Collectibles prior to my order asking why the hobby packs were loose packs and not in a sealed hobby box.  They said that the hobby box was damaged, but the hobby packs were fine.  Who knows if that's the truth or not, but Steel City is a reputable seller so I figured I could trust them.  

Well, here's the haul from those thirteen packs:

You will note that there are ZERO autographs.  

Yup, thirteen packs and $181.35 later, I have nothing to show for this break except a few worthless inserts.  I found it hard to believe that I didn't even hit one autograph.  Were these packs searched?  They didn't seem tampered with or resealed.  

I looked on YouTube for some other box breaks, and it does seem like boxes having less than the advertised autograph content is a common problem.  I saw a few breaks where there was one or zero autographs in an entire box.  So I guess that is what happened with the hobby box that these loose packs came from.

I knew that buying these hobby packs was going to be a risk.  I wasn't expecting a return on my money.  But I wasn't expecting it to be this much of a disaster.  And boy, was this a disaster.  It's painful to think what other cards I could have purchased with that $181.35 instead.  Ugh.

2017 Topps Chrome Blaster Box #2

I'm going to go broke buying Chrome Baseball.  The cards just feel so good in your hand.  Topps really does make very nice cards.

Rookies: Antonio Senzatela, Dansby Swanson, Kyle Freeland, Rob Zastryzny, Dan Vogelbach, Renato Nunez, Jorge Alfaro, Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo.

Sepia Parallels: Chris Sale, Kyle Seager, Jackie Bradley Jr., Zach Britton.

These inserts are really nice.  Future Stars: Corey Seager.  30th Anniversary: Kris Bryant.

30th Anniversary Rookie: David Dahl.  Rookies: Luke Weaver.  Prism Refractor Rookie: Dansby Swanson.  Freshman Flash Rookie: Alex Bregman.

2017 Topps Chrome Baseball Rack Pack #1

Every trip to Target means more baseball cards.  Helped myself to a 2017 Topps Chrome Baseball rack pack.

Of the 15 cards in the rack pack (four cards per three packs, plus one bonus pack of three pink parallels) I got 11 rookies.

Rookies: Mitch Hangier, Antonio Senzatela, Jordan Montgomery, Matt Strahm, Kyle Freeland, Amir Garrett, German Marquez.  Refractor Rookies: Jharel Cotton. Freshman Flash: Orlando Arcia.

Topps Chrome 30th Anniversary Rookie: Dansby Swanson.

Pink Refractors: Christian Yelich, Ian Desmond, Braden Shipley.

Great rack pack overall.  Still no Aaron Judge rookie card, which means I'll be buying more Chrome on my next visit to Target.

2017 Topps Allen & Ginter Rack Pack #2

Another day, another 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter rack pack.  But this time, the cards inside weren't just your average every-day cards.

Holy smokes.  Nevermind the Rediscover Topps silver buyback of Dusty Baker.  I hit a Corey Seager autographed relic book card!  This is crazy.  I don't think I've ever hit anything this good out of retail, ever!  The odds of hitting this card is 1:1,629!  My jaw is on the floor!

I swear, retail screws you over like 99% of the time, but then every once in a blue moon it sucks you back in with insanity like this.  I still can't believe I hit this card.

2017 Topps Allen & Ginter Rack Pack #1

The Aaron Judge hype is dying down a little bit.  Since the all star break he has not been hitting so well.  In fact, he broke Adam Dunn's record for most consecutive strikeouts in a game for non-pitchers.  Nevertheless, I can't stop chasing his rookie cards.

I picked up a rack pack and got a relic card Jackie Bradley Jr.  Pretty cool to get a hit from retail.  I think I would have rather hit an Aaron Judge rookie card instead.  I also got a Jake Thompson rookie card (not pictured).

2017 Bowman Platinum Baseball Rack Packs #6 and #7

I stopped by a Walmart while traveling looking for more 2017 Bowman Platinum Baseball.  I was not expecting to find anything, at all, but I did.  I was stunned to see this product still on the shelves since it's been so hot.  The Walmart I stopped at wasn't even in a remote location either.

Rookie Radar: Alex Bregman, David Dahl.  Bowman Rookie Card: Jake Thompson, Olrando Arcia.  Top Prospects: Franklin Barreto, Kolby Allard.

2017 Topps Allen & Ginter Blaster Box #2

Picked up another blaster box of 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter baseball.  It was a pretty bad box, except for one lone card... an Aaron Judge rookie card.

It's my first Aaron Judge Allen & Ginter rookie card.  Other rookies were Joe Musgrove, Josh Bell, and Mitch Haniger.

I'm glad I got the Aaron Judge rookie card, but paying $20 for it stings a little bit.

2017 Bowman Platinum Blaster Box #2

In my first blaster box of 2017 Bowman Platinum I got a crap ton of rookies.  Not so lucky in this box.  Although I got less, I did get a nice Aaron Judge and Yoan Moncada rookie though.

Bowman's Next Generation: Kyle Lewis.  Platinum Presence: Yoan Moncada.  Top Prospect Purple: Ian Happ.  Rookie Radar: Hunter Renfroe.  Bowman Rookie Card: Gavin Cecchini, Braden Shipley, Aaron Judge, and Yoan Moncada.

Blaster box exclusive ice parallels: Andrew Miller, Yoan Moncada, Brent Honeywell, and Amed Rosario.

2017 Bowman Platinum Blaster Box #1

I picked up a pair of blaster boxes at a Walmart.  Here's the first of the two blaster boxes.  I can't get over how good these cards look!

Rookie Radar: Luke Weaver, Aaron Judge.  Bowman Rookie Card: Matt Strahm, Ryon Healy, Carson Fulmer, Dansby Swanson, Robert Gswellman, Tyler Austin, and Jorge Alfaro.

Some nice MLB inserts here.

The blaster boxes come with an exclusive pack of ice parallels.  I got two pros and two prospects: A.J. Pollock, Xander Bogaerts, Andy Ibanez, and Franklin Barreto.

Here are the blaster box odds.  Rookie Radar Autograph Gold Foils are 1:81,807!  Wow.  That might be the entire retail print run right there.  Which means there is only one Rookie Radar Autograph Gold Foil in all of the blaster box retail run.

2017 Bowman Platinum Baseball Rack Packs #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5

Whoa!  Found five rack packs of 2017 Bowman Platinum Baseball.  This is a retail only product which makes it a little more interesting and special.  These cards look great!  I really should collect more baseball.

Bowman's Next Generation: Jahmai Jones, Josh Staumont, Christian Arroyo.  Bowman Rookie Cards: Hunter Renfroe x2, Alex Reyes, Reynaldo Lopez, David Dahl, Gavin Cecchini, and Braden Shipley.

Bowman Rookie Cards: Aaron Judge, Jorge Alfaro, Cody Bellinger, Robert Gsellman, Tyler Austin, Raimel Tapia.

Rookie Radar: Alex Bregman, and Orlando Arcia.  Top Prospects: Oscar De La Cruz, Lewis Brinson, Juan Soto, Dylan Cease, Rafael Devers green parallel #/99, Dawel Lugo, and Amed Rosario purple parallel #/250.

These cards look great!  I really hope I can find more of this stuff, but I think it's probably all bought up by now.

Here are the hanger pack odds.  Look at those Rookie Radar Autograph Gold Foil odds of 1:48,709.  Talk about long odds.

2017 Topps Allen & Ginter Blaster Box #1

I'm still regrettably late to jump on this Aaron Judge hype train.  I rarely buy retail, but I've been buying pretty much all 2017 retail baseball that I come across when out shopping.  I keep hoping for an Aaron Judge, but no luck still.

At least all the weird stuff in 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter is fun to look at.  I like looking at the unusual mini inserts.  Getting high number minis is cool.  A&G back minis are cool.  Black border minis are cool too.

The rookies in this blaster were Braden Shipley, Jose De Leon, Alex Reyes, and a Orlando Arcia mini A&G back.

Here are the blaster box odds.  Rip cards are in retail.  Rip cards are usually only in hobby boxes.  Crazy!