Another Transatlantic triple break (part 45379)

It's time for a new presentation of my favorite game show : Transatlantic Triple Break with Matt and Brian !

The participants this time were a box of 2004 Bowman and one of 2000 Finest. I didn't own any Blue Jays from those sets, so it was a great choice for me.

I had no idea inserts existed also in a refractor version. Pretty cool. I'll never get used to Boggs in that uniform...

More inserts, and a couple base cards. I've always liked Finest, even if it's a little over the top sometimes.

Speaking of which, that box topper is also mine ! Supersized Pedro is always scarier.

And finally, some much needed Blue Jays for my collection. I'm reading David Well's biography right now...and it's quite something !

Onto Bowman, with its combination of chrome, base and parallels. Here are the Blue Jays

The people at Bowman wanted to make sure I got as many variations of Youkilis as possible. Base, chrome, gold and refractor.

Now, for the trade portion of the package !

I don't know if that auto was IP or TTM, but it's definitely legit. And I love the choice of the card also.

Brian sent me some great cards once again, but this one is my favorite : 1969 Aparicio !

A great variety of PC players !

I love that Moon card. It's acetate, which allows you to have a great view of my table underneath it.

And finally, some modern Blue Jays (and a very cool Ultra insert feat Jose Cruz jr), including my first taste of 2016 Bowman's Best. I should have a closer look at that set, actually, I like what they did with the base cards.

Thanks again Brian, can't wait to see what you pick next !

Box Break : 95 SC (here comes the Ring leader)

Like many of you, Stadium Club is one of my favorite sets to collect. I don't think there's been a single mistake in any of the SC sets across the years, including their debut set (remember that big Kodak logo ? Nobody remembers Kodak anymore...). Which shows that the people at Topps know exactly what great uncropped photography should look like...

Anyway, I got a box of 1995 SC a few months ago packed with everything I love about Stadium Club !

Nice clear acetate of one of my favorite players from that era. Pretty cool insert.

Another great looking insert (I showed the Joe Carter the other day). Griffey would've been a better pull though !

Ooooooh, coooool, 3 units ! I must find a phone in the US and try this out. Those are actually very tough pulls, so I was lucky to get it. 20 years too late, sure....I wonder if this counts as a Blue Jays card ?


And of course, SC as I said is all about original and crisp photography. Here's proof !

There may be a future HOF in that bunch

And probably not in this one...

Another fun 90s box to break !

Yay, Box breaks ! (yay)

I have several box breaks to show, even though most are pretty much uneventful. But if card blogging was only about showing off cards with monetary value or super rare inserts, I'd been out of the game for a long time now. It's funny because in my line of work (I work in a comic book store) I deal with collectors all the time. People who only want specific limited editions or first editions only. They are willing to pay a lot of money to have that one book of which only 300 copies were made, all signed. Being a collector myself, I should be able to understand them. Truth is, I don't really. But hey, to each their vices, and at least their money goes to me.

Anyway, for Christmas I got a bunch of stuff, including cards.

At the very bottom of that pile, there's a box of 2002 series 1 Upper Deck. I plan on getting a box of every series of flagship Upper Deck from 90 (I don't really know if 89 can be found, and I already have the Griffey rookie) to 2010. I can only rely on websites that offer combined shipping, otherwise I'll end up paying $70 for a box of cards, so that limits my range, but I'll get there some day !

There were no guaranteed hits in that box, so I'm glad I got one, even if there's Roger Clemens on it (I've always had a soft spot for Posada, too bad he lost his on the HOF ballot). I seem to remember those came 1:240

UD has always been great at designing inserts, except for a short period when they overdid it with foil everywhere. Nothing too exciting there, but solid designs nevertheless. And here's a nice list of PED users

Here's a design I really like ! Looks like it was a Braves hot box.

Woohooo, new Griffeys ! I already had some from that subset, generously sent to me by Junior master Junior Junkie, but not those. UD grabbed every opportunity possible to include Griffey in their products. It must be a nightmare to be a Griffey supercollector.

Bret Boone...ah well.

As is the case with Stadium Club, flagship UD is all about photography. Nothing really fancy this time, but still nice to browse. The backs are somewhat lackluster so I won't show them, but I like the overall look of the cards. Simple efficient design

Some household names and players I like.

You can hardly ever go wrong with horizontal shots !

Those weren't on the Christmas pile, but I bought a bunch of packs for our transatlantic triple break (more on that another day), and treated myself to a few extras, including 12 fat packs of 2016 A&G. I really like what they did with this year's design. Besides that, it's business as usual, with some minis :

Happy to get some Blue Jays, of course, including a black bordered.

I didn't notice at first that that Mendoza (had no idea who she was before seeing that card) was hand-numbered. I still don't know who I could possibly send this to, but it's still a fun card to have.

Even though the fat packs were completely random and chances of not getting any hits are high, I did get one. But then again, it's as if I hadn't really gotten one. Nice orange, though. But c'mon, who cares about Greenberg's tie ?


So there you go. Always fun to bust open packs. Can't wait for the next ones, but I need to save up a little bit first, each shipment costing me a couple hundred dollars each time. Maybe I can reach out to my clients and launch a kickstarter. They'll understand...

I fought the 90s and the 90s won

As anybody who's been paying even remotely attention knows, I'm a 90s guy. I enjoy the newer aspects of the hobby (ie not having only a 1:20 000 chance of getting an autograph), but I'm all for the nostalgia of days past and for the craziness of card manufacturers (a time where there were more than 1 licensed, that is). So it's quite naturally that I looked at my Blue Jays checklist and decided to grab some 90s inserts that were missing in my collection. As always in that case, I turned to COMC who offer unbeatable flat shipping rates to international destinations (that would be my case). Let's hope Trump doesn't ban overseas shipping altogether just because he doesn't like our cheese.

Aaaah, first day issues. I wonder if today all cards are first day issues ? I also really liked those Bowman previews. I had the Albert Belle and the PIazza (great cards) and was missing the lone Blue Jay.

No more than 6500 Gold stars produced, says the back. Impressive.

 There were definitely some great players to collect in 93-96 when you were a Blue Jays fan ! Some good looking Pinnacle inserts there. The Cooperstown one actually looks like something Upper Deck could've designed

Didn't get much better than SP in those days, and Holoview in particular. Always nice to see Delgado as a catcher.

I really liked Leaf back in the days, especially their inserts. They seemed to be the most inventive of all (well, Pacific being in a league of their own, of course)

And of course, I had to grab some Joe Carters...I already have many of his, but I still managed to find some cool ones I was missing.

 A hologram !

 Those Stadium Club inserts are awesome. If you look closely, you'll see that those are the Members only versions. I took them because they're pretty much priced the same as the normal ones.

This one I got on ebay. Those signature series are a little confusing and frustrating, as you have few players who sign a lot of cards. I still like that 95 SC a lot, and Green was a favorite of mine, so I'll try to chase a few. Especially since he's not really a big name and some of those cards are very low numbered

All the minor leagues that are fit to print : another trade post

After the package sent by Matt, it's about time I showed the one sent a couple of months ago by my other good friend and partner in triple break crime : Brian, from Highly subjective.

For this break, Brian chose some Topps Debut. I got the boxe's main hit (the patch card), a cool low numbered Mookie Betts (01/25) and a couple of guys I've actually heard of. Because I have to admit I don't follow baseball close enough to know everything (or anything, for the matter) about the minors, nor to know exactly who made it or not. But hey, cards have always been a way for me to learn more about players !

As always, the box break was completed with trade fodder :

A numbered JR Smith. His bloopers sometimes make more noise than his plays (let's just say he's not always the smartest apple in the batch), but he's still a very talented player. And there's nothing not to love about those 3 football cards (Museum !)

Since Brian knows I can't find packs of cards where I live, he'll sometimes include a few unopened ones. Always awesome to rip packs ! I see those Babe Ruth for cheap online all the time, maybe I'll grab a box one day, they're pretty fun.

PC players, including a nice shiny Rolen and my first 2016 Stadium Club. I really hope to find some boxes within my price range (around $50) someday in the near future.

 100% certified 90s cards ! Alomar, even in an Orioles uniform is still Alomar !

More 90s greatness. I love those SP cards. I seem to remember those inserts were pretty tough to come by, and packs very expensive to begin with (maybe not as expensive as 93 Finest, but still)

A couple of pitchers. One is shiny refractory, the other had an amazing career.

 Some nice Heritage inserts and your usual white modern patch (I need to check if Arencibia is still around)

And finally, just like that, a Brett Cecil Yellow printing plate ! Always amazing to get one in a trade. Brian actually pulled it from a pack, so yay, lucky me.

Thanks a lot Brian, and I still need to show off the cards I received yesterday...the cards just keep coming, it's Christmas everyday. Woohooo

They call me Papoy Shady, I'm back, I'm back (a trade post)

Woohoo, the other day, my brother showed me an app that allows me to use my phone as a scanner. It's not perfect, but it'll do for now, and at least I can show some long overdue cards (and get back to blogging).

My great friend Matt sent me the winnings from our Triple Box break, and this time he chose a box of 2016 Archives. I haven't been paying attention much to this year's late releases and haven't been trading much, which means that was my first glimpse at the product. I'm very late to the party, but I agree with most of you : Topps did a good job on this year's Archives, especially with the 91 Topps design.

A low numbered red parallel is always nice, and there are always Yankees collectors out there I can send that Blomberg card to. I asked Matt to send me the Ron Shelton one, not because of Bull Durham, but more because White men can't jump is one of my all time favorite movies (yeah, I'm such an intellectual). And yes, absolutely, it is one ugly card.

Now, for the trade portion of the package, and we all know how Matt always surprises us with awesome cards that are right on the money as for as our respective collections are concerned :

My very first Warren Moon relic ! I love that card, football jerseys make for interesting cards.

Not every day that Matt sends me some basketball card ! Impossible not to be a fan of Bernard King's, and Immaculate is always a nice looking set.

PC Autos ! A nice on card auto from Scott Rolen (I don't dare look at the number of Rolen autos out there) and my very first Hernandez auto, on a cool UD set \o/

More Pc, this time with great designs and great looking cards (aaaah, those Padres colors)

And finally, your traditional A&G mini framed auto, one of the best ideas they've ever had

Thanks again Matt, and sorry for being away for so long, but this time I'm definitely back, as long as I have cards to show !

Bonne année !

I've been away much too long, so what better a day to make a come back than the 1st of January ?

That being said, I don't have any cards to show, as my scanner hasn't been working now for 3 months (and 3 months is a long time without being able to scan cards), and I don't like taking pics of cards with my phone. In the past 3 months, I've received some great trade packages from Brian, Matt, Kenny (yup, I've been zippy zapped !), some triple break stuff , some awesome 90s inserts from COMC and some supertraders packages  (thanks guys !). Sorry I haven't given proper props. I also got a bunch of packs and boxes for Xmas (nothing too exciting though, but it was fun as always).

I'm still very much collecting, even though I don't spend nearly as much now on cards as I used to. Shipping has gotten out of hand and I've pretty much opened most of the 90s products I've wanted to get my hands on. It's still mostly about nostalgia for me ! There have also been major changes in my life lately (I'm not living by myself anymore, basically, and looking for a new place to live, with a bigger room for my cards), so that hasn't helped my card-sorting.

But all in all, things are good. The baseball season was great and I'm hoping the results will still follow next year for the Blue Jays. Topps flagship will be out in exactly a month, so we'll see if I dish out for a box (but the design doesn't inspire me that much).

This year is an election year in France, so we'll see if we go full right wing like you guys in the US did...scary times.

Anyway, I've got a Lego Wall-e to build and some cards to sort ! Happy new year to all my blogging friends and I hope to trade way more this year !