A Steal of a Retail Deal (Part 1)

I told myself I was going to stop buying stuff just to review on the blog. Well, that kind of went out the window with this purchase. Over the Easter weekend, Target had a whale of a deal on cards. Blaster were on sale for $16.99 each and hanger boxes were on sale for $8.49 each. Also, on the Cartwheel app there was a $10 off a $50 purchase coupon and there was a free pack coupon on each blaster of Heritage. To go along with this, my mom got me a $75 Target gift card as an Easter gift.

Naturally, I had to take advantage of this rare sale. I had come in search of some Gypsy Queen but they were well stocked with Heritage. I settled for eight packs of Gypsy Queen (four of which came out to be free thanks to the $10 off coupon and the free pack coupon on the blaster), one Heritage blaster, and two Heritage hanger boxes. Grand total for all this? About $48.

I'll focus on the Heritage cards here and share the Gypsy Queen cards in a follow-up post. I can't remember which cards came out of the blaster or the hangers so I've just sort of mixed and matched here.

First off, before I get to the cards, I wanted to take a moment and comment on the Heritage pack design itself. Since I'd yet to open any actual packs of Heritage this year, this was my first glimpse at what the pack itself looks like. I have to say, I kind of dig it.

I'm going to try and show cards of players I don't think I showed on my initial round of Heritage. I can't guarantee though there won't be repeats. 

Yay! Rookie Cup cards! It may just be me but I kind of think the Rookie Cups fit better on Heritage than on flagship.

Nice to see that the Mariners finally signed Ichiro. 

When Strasburg was a rookie, I had club seat tickets for a Reds game to see him against Johnny Cueto. That was quite the game.

Between the hangers and the blaster, I got four short prints (including two Lonnie Chisenhall cards). I'd forgotten completely about Brandon Phillips' stint with the Angels last year. 

The lone Reds card I got that wasn't already a duplicate and it's one of the baseball flashbacks insert. 

And here are the Target exclusive inserts. I think that Rhys Hoskins might be a duplicate but I'll have to go through my Phillies cards to make sure.

While these weren't the best boxes and I didn't get any variations, it was still a fun rip. I think I'm good on Heritage now probably until High Numbers comes out this fall. If I want any more singles or inserts, I'll probably dig for them at card shows or the like.

Three Duds of 2016 Topps Heritage Packs

I'm taking a break today from getting caught up on the Super Trader packages to show off three 2016 Heritage packs that were complete duds (at least in my opinion). I picked these up during my trip to the card shop last month, the same trip in which I got some awesome stuff from four packs of Donruss. These packs, however, were quite the opposite.

First up, some cards from the NL Central. Phillips was the only Reds card I got in this batch. I wish I could find something good to say about these cards but I can't.

Three Diamondbacks cards. I like the Goldschmidt simply because he doesn't have any versions of the horrid unforms that the D'Backs are wearing this season. It's just the basic red and white, which is perfect.

These posed shots coupled with the bad design this year do not make these very exciting cards. I liked last year's Heritage a lot and the few years before that as well, but these just strike me as bland. Nothing against 1967 Topps, which these cards were based off of, but it's just not that great of a design.

A few more to wrap this up. The Astros card is probably the best of this little batch.

Sorry if I sounded like a grumpy old man in the post (which normally I'm not ... and I'm not even old!), it's just that I'm not impressed with Heritage at all this year. At least I can say I sampled it now I can move on to other stuff I like such as Gypsy Queen, Donruss, Diamond Kings, and perhaps some Bowman. 

Now get off my lawn.

Four Packs of 2016 Topps Series 1

As I mentioned in my latest Card Shop Chronicles post, I picked up a nice variety of packs during my recent trip to the card shop. I'll detail each group in a separate post so here are the highlights of four packs of 2016 Topps Series 1.

When these were first released, I couldn't wait to get my hands on them. My happiness over the first new product of the year soon faded as the reviews came in and most everyone didn't like the design. I went into these packs with low expectations, really expecting not to like the design. A funny thing happened, I kind of like it. I'll give Topps their props for thinking outside of the box and experimenting with a new design. 

I picked out the best cards from all the packs combined just to show them off. I think that the Goldschmidt is my favorite of this trio.

I like the style of the Reds cards this year, as the black nameplate compliments the red logo very well.  Guerrero and Calhoun are the only two "Future Stars" cards I got from the packs.

I'm not a big fan of Giancarlo Stanton, not sure why but there's just something about him I don't like. Team cards are always cool no matter what team they are. Oh yeah, there's Clayton Kershaw too.

Time for the inserts! I really like the Pressed Into Service cards and the Back to Back cards are pretty cool too. I'm not exactly sold on the Perspectives inserts yet but maybe they'll grow on me.  I like the concept of the Wrigley Field inserts but I think they're a year too late on that.

There's my thoughts on 2016 Topps. For two bucks a pack, you can't really go wrong, unless you get a pack full of nobodies. Will I buy this retail? Not really but if I'm in the card shop and I feel the need to rip some packs for cheap, I'll definitely reach for a few of these.

Fun Stuff From the Reds Caravan

Every January, the Reds do a big caravan with three different buses hitting different sections of "Reds Country" as they call it. One of the regular stops is the auditorium on the Hamilton campus of Miami University, which is about 25 minutes from my house. I won't be able to make it this year since it's the same day as my son's birthday, but I have made it out in the past so I thought I would share a few cool things that I came back with the few times I went.

The first year I went was 2011, the year after the Reds surprised everyone and won the Central Division. I believe it was also the first year they added Miami University as a stop on the tour. A friend of mine, his dad, and I all met at his house since he lived close to the campus at the time and rode over.

It turns out that its just a giant Q&A session and then a line for autographs. I'm not going to complain as the autographs were free and everyone who was there signed, even the mascots. While I didn't bring anything to get signed as it was during my collecting hiatus, they had giant posters there for the taking. The flyer above is signed by Brandon Phillips, the late Ryan Freel, Devin Mesoraco, announcer Marty Brennaman, then assistant-VP Bob Miller, and mascot Gapper.

I missed the 2012 event but made it back in 2013, just three days before my son was born. It was the same set up as the previous time, but had a whole new line-up. The Q&A session was brief, probably due to the large number of people in attendance and the fact they had to get everyone through the autograph line. The two big names on the 2013 tour were Homer Bailey (who looked like he'd have rather been anywhere else in the world) and Corky Miller, the cult favorite of Reds fans.

Again, I grabbed a posted for everyone to sign. This time it was signed by Bailey, Miller, GM Walt Jocketty, CEO Phil Castellini, minor league outfield Ryan LaMarre, and Mr. Redlegs. I went with the same friend that I went to the 2011 caravan with and this time, he brought some baseballs to have signed. I had Corky Miller sign the one below and Homer Bailey sign another, which has currently gone missing.

Hopefully next January I can get out the caravan again and maybe this time get some cards and another poster signed.

The Reds Binder: Page 2

I was doing some organizing the other day and while trying to maximize space, I realized a few things had to go ... unfortunately the very unfinished Reds frankenset was one of them.

Fear not, though, fair readers! Instead of a Reds frankenset, now you will get a glimpse into my completely stuffed full Reds binder! My only rule for this was no more than one card of any player or any specific product on one page. Other than that, it's anything goes!

The one completed page I had of the frankenset I left in tact and put that as the first page of the binder. I've already shown it here.

Here's page 2:

First, the fronts

And the backs:

Lots of fun stuff here, two minor league cards (Sean Casey and Joey Votto), a Hal Morris card from the 1994 Kahn's team issue, and one of my favorite cards, the Jay Bruce Classic Walk-Offs insert card from 2012 Topps. That card captures one of the most amazing moments in Reds history perfectly, the walk-off home run that won them the 2010 NL Central title, and always brings a huge smile to my face whenever I see it.

On a completely unrelated note, I've got a pretty cool research article that I've been writing and working on here and there since the spring based on a strange autograph book I found at the card shop a few years ago. I'm hoping to have it finished before the end of the year but I have a bit more work to do before I take it to the final draft. More to come on that down the line.