The 1986 Topps Have Arrived - Probably More Excited Than I Should Be!

The mailman dropped off the box of 1986 Topps Rack Packs for me this morning, and I popped open the case pretty much right away.  I always liked finding the packs with a visible star when I was a kid, so these ones stood out to me as pretty cool packs:

This one features Eddie Murray and Dale Murphy on the front, as well 

as a Gary Carter (one of my childhood favorites) on the back.

Scanning skills failed a little here.  This pack features Trammell and Whitaker

right next to each other, which I thought was cool.  The other pack has Jim Rice and 

Harold Reynolds RC on the front, but the back features three pretty darn good pitchers -

Goose Gossage, Dennis Eckersley, and Bret Saberhagen.

There are a bunch of packs to open - so I will get started.  Hopefully I get a Cecil or two and I'll throw up some scans of fun stuff I find.  Will probably try and get this set put together with what I have here, but if anyone out there is trying to complete the 1986 Topps set, shoot me a message and I will see if I can help.  Stay tuned!

Gypsy Queen = Mojorific!

Took the kiddo in to Target earlier today to check out the Tron toys - he loves the show - couldn't resist the siren call of the card aisle and grabbed two value packs of the Gypsy Queen.  The value packs are the ones with three sealed packs and the bonus pack that includes the green framed parallels.

Anyway, I did really well on the six packs, pulling three relic hits from the packs as well as three of the Framed Paper Parallels numbered /999.  Two of the hits were jerseys - one of Hanley Ramirez and the second was a framed relic of Chase Utley.  The best hit was this bad boy:

Numbered 09/10 - very cool card.  I posted it up on eBay, hopefully I get a decent offer for it.  Haven't added anything to my Andrew McCutchen PC in a few weeks, so the money would be spent to that purpose.  Anyway, hoping the '86 Topps shows up in the next day or two - stay tuned!

The Day of the Gypsys has Arrived!

Finally got my hands on some 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen - been looking for it for a while and the best I could come up with is two blasters and a value pack...and there goes most of my pack money until next payday.

At any rate, here goes!

The value pack has the three extra green frame parallels and since Victor Martinez is staring out at me from the clear cellophane pack, let's begin there!

Bonus Pack Green Frame Parallels - Victor Martinez, Mat Latos, and Tony Gwynn (nice!)

Packs 1-3 from the Value Pack Yield:
Star Base: Chapman, D. Wright (card has a funny marking on the top left),Tom Seaver, Yaz
SP Cards: Brett Anderson (328)
Minis: Dave Winfield, Chipper Jones, Chipper Jones
Sticky Fingers: Brandon Phillips
Home Run Heroes: Troy Glaus
The Great Ones: Jim Palmer

First Impressions - I really like this set, and I can see why the majority of folks are getting into the craze...drink the Kool Aid!  I was a little bummed that the second Chipper Mini was a base version, I assumed getting a second one meant at least a red back.  Could be worse!

On to the Blaster Packs, each featuring 8 packs.  Come on everybody and do the Mojo Dance for me!
Blaster #1
Star Base: Al Kaline, Ty Cobb, Josh Hamilton
SP Cards: Chase Utley (326), Hank Aaron (318)

Minis: Josh Johnson, Jeremy Jeffress RC, Dexter Fowler, Jacoby Ellsbury, Al Kaline, Bob Gibson (Great Picture on this card!)
Mini Red Backs: Ian Kinsler, John Lackey
Sticky Fingers: Jose Reyes, Brandon Phillips
Wall Climbers: Mike Stanton, Franklin Gutierrez
Home Run Heroes: Babe Ruth, Johnny Bench
The Great Ones:  Thurman Munson, Frank Robinson
Future Stars: Ike Davis, Phil Hughes
Paper Framed /999: Matt Cain

Even without a hit, that was a fun break!  I really like the set design and the inserts are very cool as well, this may be one where I end up going for the set and the inserts as well.  Just what I need!

On to Blaster #2:

Star Base: Ty Cobb, Josh Hamilton, Aroldis Chapman, Reggie Jackson
SP Cards: Hisanori Takahashi (311), Justin Upton (317)
Minis: Derek Jeter, Gordon Beckham, Bernie Williams, Fausto Carmona, Cole Hamels, Andre Ethier
Mini Red Backs: Wandy Rodriguez
Black Minis: Alexei Ramirez
Sticky Fingers: Derek Jeter, David Wright
Wall Climbers: Nick Swisher, Michael Brantley
Home Run Heroes: Jimmie Foxx, Alex Rodriguez
The Great Ones:  Jim Palmer
Future Stars: Phil Hughes, Stephen Strasburg, Aroldis Chapman
Framed Mini Relic: Matt Holliday
Little Mojo in that second blaster - maybe the gods were happy with me because I didn't do a Mojo dance for them this time.  Well, I think it was worth the wait, I really like this product.  Hopefully the price on the Hobby boxes comes down a bit.

The Rak Pack Box of '86 Topps is next on the docket, it has shipped so I would expect it early next week as it is only traveling a short distance from Montana.  Stay tuned!

Next Break! 1986 Topps Rak Packs!

Found a seller over on FeeBay selling sealed boxes of 1986 Topps Rak Packs at what seems like a reasonable price, so I purchased a box.  Should be here early next week and I will post the break at that time.

The 1986 Topps set was my introduction into baseball cards, so this is kind of a nostalgia break.  Back in...well...1986, my parents were stationed with The Salvation Army in Eugene, Oregon.  I was about to turn seven years old that summer, and was doing the typical end of summer "I am bored" routine that kids tend to do.  One day, someone brought in a box of 1986 Topps cards to the Thrift Store and the manager called my dad, because he knew that I was in to baseball.  My dad bought them and brought them home that evening.  We had a ton of fun going through the rows of cards, sorting them by team and looking for players we recognized.  It took a couple of days to get it all sorted, and we made dividers with team names on them to seperate the cards.  That was the start of my baseball card hobby - and I have many fond memories of my dad and I headed to shows and card shops around the area.

Here is one card in particular that I remember owning quite a few of:

Good old Cecil!  I had around eight or nine of these when he broke out after coming back from Japan and they were worth a decent amount.  Made some good trade bait!

Anyway, should be a fun break when they arrive!  If I manage to find some Topps Gypsy around here, I will try and pick it up in the meantime - I have yet to see even loose packs in the area.  So, stay tuned for a trip down memory lane when they arrive!

Future Box Breaks?

I'm trying to decide what to open up next - here are some ideas that I came across:


Top Choice - Need to find a good deal:
2011 Topps Gypsy Queen


Other Ideas
Some type of Chrome product (2008-2010 Topps, Any Year Bowman)
Topps Hobby/HTA Boxes
Topps Triple Threads
2004 Fleer Greats of the Game (or similar product)


Cheap Ideas
Mid 80's Topps
Upper Deck from 1990 onwards


Anyone have suggestions?

The First Ever Hits and Misses Contest Winner Is...

So, I took everyone's name and put it in a list over on random.org - hit the randomize three times, and the result is that our winner is:

Greg Doane

Congratulations - Contact me with your information and I'll get the pack sent out to you!

Contest Update!

Sorry for the delay blog followers - I have been swamped the last week with family stuff and finishing some coursework at school.  I will get the names of my blog followers into the randomizer and pick a winner tomorrow!  Thanks to those who are following along!