Thursday, March 31, 2011

Its Opening Day, a great day to open some Topps 2011 Opening Day Baseball Cards. An All About Cards Box Break with some 2011 Topps Heritage Cards too.


Last week we told you something new was about to hit the streets.  Here it is.  A while back we debuted the SPEED-break™ and now its time for our first STREET-break.

We are not talking about an old school type of breakdance, no spinning on your head here.  A STREET-break is a box break done with you, the collectors, on the streets of your city.  We might do them in your town center, your mall, your local card shop or even your local sports team’s stadium.   We will be looking for collectors who want to rip some packs with us, share same sports talk and walk away with some great cards, hopefully some big hits.

We will announce where we are and how to find us either through the blog, our Facebook page or a tweet on Twitter so make sure you are following us so you don’t miss out on the announcements.   If you find us first, you’ll help us rip open some cards and get to keep them.  It might be a pack, it might be a whole box.  Maybe some high end stuff and or great set building cards.  Future breaks can take place anytime and anywhere.

This first one was unannounced, done here locally in Calabasas, California.   Caleb helped us break our first box and as with all our early adopters, he was rewarded with a few surprise cards too.  He did a great job and certainly has a wealth of baseball knowledge.  I hope all our future co-breakers do as good a job as Caleb.

So here it is.  Our first STREET-break.  It’s Opening Day so it makes sense that we would break some 2011 Topps Opening Day Baseball and a little 2011 Topps Heritage.



Complete list of 2011 Topps Heritage Baseball Error and Variation cards. Mirrored Alex Rodriguez Card Mystery Solved, VERY Short Print Confirmed, Check Your Cards Very Carefully.


Recently we wrote about a mysterious mirrored Alex Rodriguez card that showed up briefly on eBay (the auction was ended early) that was different than the card we pulled.  

We now how confirmation from Topps.  The card is indeed a real card, mimicking the uncorrected Clete Boyer error card from 1962.   But there is more.

Topps has release a full accounting of all the variation cards in the Heritage set.  There are 6 errors that were mimicked from the original set.  2 errors (1 of them A-Rod) can be found on the front of the card and the other 4 can be found on the card’s back.  They are very short printed.

Originally we speculated on which were the error cards.  Here were out thoughts of which cards to look at closer.

Clayton Kershaw #5 – The 1962 card of Sandy Koufax says “Struck ou 18” on the back. Similarities – (Kershaw & Koufax Dodger Lefty Starting Pitchers)

Padres Team Card #22 or Checklist #2 – The 1962 Checklist jumps from 32 on the front to 121 on the back

Joba Chamberlain #159 - Yankees Pitcher Hal Reniff ‘s 1962 green tint Pitching and first portiat cards were incorrectly numbered as 139, later corrected his portrait card to 159. Similarities  - (Chamberlain & Reniff Yankee Pitchers)

Bengie Molina #279 – Hobie Landrith’s 1962 card has the wrong birthday listed
Similarities (Molina & Landrith Giants catchers the prior year to release of card)

Ryan Zimmerman #392 – The Sporting News Ken Boyer has his batting average listed as .392 Similarities (Zimmerman & Boyer 3rd basemen with the highest batting average in the NL)

David Wright #478 – Don Zimmer had been traded to the Cincinnati Reds which is correct on the card, but his picture shows him still in his former team’s uniform, the New York Mets. Similarities – (Wright & Zimmer Mets 3rd Basemen)

Alex Rodriguez #490 – Clete Boyer’s card is a mirrored image but the Yankee Logo is not mirrored.  Similarities  - (A-Rod & Boyer Yankee 3rd Basemen)

So it turns out we got five of the six.   Here is the actual list.

Alex Rodriguez (Photo Reversed w/ bat in left hand)
David Wright (Cincinnati Reds on the front)
Joba Chamberlain (Card # 139 on the back)
Bengie Molina (Wrong birthday on the back)
Ryan Zimmerman (Wrong batting average on the back)
Vlad Guerrero (Listed as Pitcher on card back)

Here is a listing of all the other variations

Base Cards 426-500 are short printed and can be found 1:3 packs.

Replicating the original 1962 Topps , there are short printed GREEN TINT variations.  Subjects include cards 110-158 and 160-196. 

There is also a BLUE TINT variation (found at Wal-Mart) and a RED TINT variation (found at Target) featuring the same subjects.  These are also short printed.

Collectors can also find GREEN REFRACTOR parallels (100 subjects) that are only found in Green Refractor Hot Boxes.  These Hot Boxes are 1 per hobby case.

At retail outlets, collectors can find a special 100-card BLACK BORDERED parallel.  They are exclusive to the $8.99 3-pack blister.

And exclusive to hobby boxes, there is a special 10-card JACKIE ROBINSON STORY variation that has the look and feel of the Babe Ruth Story insert.  In addition, there is a relic version of each card numbered to 42.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Look out mojo, here we come. 2010 - 11 Panini Absolute Memorabilia Basketball NBA Trading Cards. Another All About Cards Box Break.

There are some people in this world that seem to have a disproportionate amount of luck, like Joan Ginther for example.  Most people who play the lottery are lucky if they match one number.  Joan has hit the jackpot in the Texas State Lottery four times for a total take of $21 Million dollars.  The odds of pulling off this feat are 18 septillion to 1.  Not sure of what 18 septillion looks like?  Take a look.

18,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Some people find her story amazing and inspiring, others just hate her.

We all have a particular brand of card we go to time and time again.  When some card releases can be hit or miss, this is the box that always seems to bring us luck.  Absolute Memorabilia is that box for me.  For some unexplainable reason I always seem to do well.  From the last Absolute Memorabilia, 2010 football, in one pack I received an Antonio Gates Spectrum numbered to 50 and a Dez Bryant Prime Rookie Premiere Materials numbered to 50.

So a pre-warning here, my luck continues, please don't hate me for it.

Direct link to the video

Monday, March 28, 2011

2010-11 Panini Timeless Treasures Basketball. Another All About Cards Box Break.

Here is our box break of 10-11 Panini Timeless Treasures Basketball.   Don't blink, its a quick break, but a good one.

Direct link to the Video

Cardboard Treasures to air on MLB Network Tuesday night.

MLB Network is airing "Cardboard Treasures, " a show on Baseball Cards and collecting Tuesday Night. Check your local listings for the time in your area.

Here is a small preview.