Card Show Baseball Card Finds

Grabbed some random baseball cards and packs at the card show and here they are.  I don't have near enough Greg Maddux cards and was able to help out my personal collection a bit with some of his cards.

Some more Maddux cards and the Ronald Acuna card I chased so much earlier in the year.  

The 1983 Topps baseball are a favorite of mine and I grabbed a pack while at the show.  I thought I had a nice pull with three hall of famers.  It is always fun to open these as there are so many memories from when I was a younger collector and opening these packs all the time. 

BREAKDOWN:

15 – Total Cards

1 – Piece of Gum 

Grabbed a pack of the 2010 Topps Attax baseball card game and a 2010 Topps Opening Day Attax bonus pack.  I didn't realize they were the same product at the time.  These aren't bad looking cards really though the ratings take quite a bit of space but that's just a part of these kinds of cards.  

BREAKDOWN:

2010 Topps Attax Baseball Card Game

6 – Total Cards

1 – Foil Card

1 – Code Card

2010 Topps Opening Day Bonus Pack Attax Cards

4 – Total Cards

Card Show Basketball Card Finds

I didn't pick up a ton of basketball cards but wanted to show off what I did pick up including a pack of the 1996 Topps Women's National Team cards.  Couldn't really find anything on this set but there were eight cards in the pack.  I like the base cards and profile cards which made up the majority of my pull.  To my amazement I at least knew of the majority of the players.  I'm by no means a women's basketball/WNBA guy per se but I like to at least be in the know. I know they don't match up to the men's game but I do enjoy watching the ladies mostly around tourney time.  I enjoyed this pack even if it isn't something I don't pick up very often.

BREAKDOWN:

8 – Total Cards

5 – Profiles

1 – Game Schedule

A couple of my all-time favorite players here.  Both are nice cards and look at that 'fro on Reggie!

Card Show Football Finds

Wanted to take a quick look at the random football cards I grabbed at the card show last month.  I really liked this Thurman Thomas 2012 Panini Prime Signatures card so I picked it up.  The base cards are all numbered to 499.  The card is a thicker stock which normally I shy away from but I really do like the design and photo of this personal collection guy.

 Grabbed a pack of 2010 Score Football which I've never seen before.  I pulled a Falcon, rookie Rob Gronkowski and Phillip Rivers which will all go into my personal collection so this was a nice pack.  I like the design though the white borders could have been a bit smaller in spots.

 Another pack I picked up was the 2010 Panini Adrenalyn XL.  These are part of a trading card game which was new to me.  Not something I'd pick up again but for a buck the pack was worth a shot and the design isn't too egregious considering it is designed for a game. 

BREAKDOWN:

2010 – Score Football

7 – Total Cards

1 – Rookie

1 – Art

2010 Adrenalyn XL

6 – Total Cards

2 – Rookie

1988 Donruss Baseball Hobby Box

This box of 1988 Donruss baseball was another I picked up at the card show this month.  I had already picked out the Upper Deck box and while I wasn't initially sure what other cheap box I should grab this was a great selection.  I actually picked it because Dale Murphy was the face of this set on the box and promotional materials.  Having just gotten Murph's autograph a few minutes earlier this was a natural choice.  This is a solid design for me and I like the colors.  This was a fun box to open.  Plenty of cards, stars and young future stars at the start of their careers.   The Bo Jackson card is my favorite with a nice shot of him early in the act batting. 

The early Donruss Diamond Kings are big favorites of mine with the Perez-Steele art.

Three of my favorite cards from this set.

Three future greats as well as key members of the Atlanta Braves' 1995 World Series team.

Some of my all-time favorite players.  

Cards of some of the stars of the time and some of my faves.

MVP cards were included in this set, including the aforementioned Dale Murphy.  Glad they were able to find Roberto Alomar's mug shut for his Rated Rookie card.  Just saying.  The puzzle for this year was St. Louis great Stan Musial.  I did pull a complete puzzle (63 puzzle pieces).

BREAKDOWN:

540 – Total Cards

36 – Stan Musial Puzzle Cards

22 – Diamond Kings (1 – Checklist)

17 – Rated Rookie

13 – MVP

5 – Checklist

1 – Stan Musial Card

1 – Ripken Baseball Family

1990 Upper Deck Baseball Low Series Hobby Box

I picked up this box of 1990 Upper Deck baseball at the card show this month.  At $5 it is a no brainer.  Junk wax?  This set definitely won't make you any money but still this was part of those first sets from Upper Deck that blew us all away at the time.  This was Ken Griffey Jr.'s second Upper Deck card and he was the buzz of the card collecting community.  The box had a total of 540 cards so I more than got my money's worth.  It is fun opening all those packs and reliving the memories.  The photos on the back are always a nice bonus.  Sometimes you do have to wonder why a nice action photo on the back wasn't used in place of a head shot that was actually used there.  My scanner didn't always like the white borders but it didn't take away from how nice these cards look.    

A staple of Upper Deck for a time was the team checklists which contained art of one of the team's stars.  I love these cards across all the Upper Deck brands.  I didn't pull a complete set of these but I was close.

Three of my favorite cards from my pull.  The Gary Carter is a simple photo but I really like this card.  

These are some of my all-time favorite players.  That doesn't always mean they are the best photos - I'm sure Bob Walk would like a do over on this one.  Look at that hair Dave Stieb is sporting.  Nice. The Dennis Eckersley card really stands out with a great action photo.

Some of the league's stars are represented here.  The Kirby photo is a great shot of him smiling.  I thought it was funny that the photo they chose of Mark McGwire was of him running not that it isn't a good photo.  Barry Bonds looks all not happy which is about what you'd expect. 

BREAKDOWN:

540 – Total Cards

36 – 3-D Team Logo Hologram Sticker

22 – Star Rookie

17 – Team Checklist

8 – Checklist

4 – Special Accomplishments

2015 Panini Gridiron Kings Hobby Box

I've wanted to bust a box of the 2015 Gridiron Kings football since I first saw them.  I love this design.  I thought I had put something up on the blog before but it doesn't look like it.  The color, design and "photo art" really appeal to me.  So at the card show last weekend I couldn't pass up this hobby box which had a guaranteed autograph and relic in each box.  My auto was this Paul Hornung All-Time Stat Kings autograph.  I was super excited to pull this great looking card.  While I am by no means a Hornung expert I know he is an all-time great by every measure and not one I see cards for.  

 Again I was a big fan going in and was excited seeing all great looking cards I pulled.  The design really isn't over the top but a cool artsy look.  

  Plenty of star power in these boxes.  I was very happy with my pull.

The inserts were nice keeping with a similar color/photo theme being just enough different to make them a nice change of pace from the base cards.  

Each pack came with framed cards.  Those I pulled were either brown, blue or red.  Not sure if others like these framed cards but they don't do anything for me.  The design is OK I guess but it seems unneeded.  I'm sure others appreciate them more and I'm good with that.

This was my relic.  Nice looking card.  Bottom line is this box was a lot of fun.  Plenty of great cards and stars.  I'm a happy collector.    

BREAKDOWN:

96 – 12 Packs X 8 Cards Per

11 – RC (7 – Brown, 3 – Red, 1 – Blue)

10 - Retired Legends

9 – Base Red Frame

5 – Limited Lithos (3 – Brown, 1 – Red, 1 – Blue)

4 – All-Time Stat Kings (3 – Brown, 1 – Red)

2- Base Blue Frame

1 – AKA

1 – Aficionado

1 – Expressionists

1 – New Aesthetic

1 – All-Time Stat Kings Signature #/49

1 – Art Nouveau Jersey

2018 Topps Fire Baseball

The 2018 Topps Fire is similar to last years and again didn't wow me like it's football counterpart has in years past.  I think the design behind the players is off putting and doesn't do the photos any justice. I definitely won't be picking more of these up but I'm sure some folks will find these appealing.  This Ichiro was the highlight of my pack.  It is nice seeing more of his cardboard after such an amazing career.  

  This wasn't the greatest pull but a Hall of Famers and a Hall of Famer in waiting is never shabby.  Again this set just doesn't do it for me.  Maybe the player photograhs just get lost in all that crazy color.

I did like pulling a Jose Altuve but these Blue Chip Parallels are just "eh" for me.  

BREAKDOWN:

12 – Total Cards

2 – Retired Greats

1 – Fired Up Blue Chip Parallel

1 – Power Producers Blue Chip Parallel

1 – Base Blue Chip Parallel

1 – Unkown Shiny Card