Aloha, everybody,
Everyone was showing off their brand new Topps 2018 cards and I just couldn't resist. I bolted out the door and went right over to my local Target.
Topps hadn't been up 48 hours, and just as Dimebox Nick reported, the early bird pack searchers had already struck. Several hanger boxes were ripped open and jumbo packs showed signs of being "massaged". Ugh!
I grabbed a blaster box and headed home. We'll start off the highlights of the box with the Dodgers I pulled...
With his ROY award, young Cody will be stuffed into a lot of packs, and I'm glad I pulled one in my first foray.
Here's an awkward pull. While I liked finding this Alex Verdugo RC, Zippy Zappy already had one waiting for me, so it was raining Verdugos.
A great shot of Justin Turner. I presume he's watching one of his dingers fly outta the park. Cody watches as well from the on-deck circle.
Here's a nice shiny shiny League Leader. Boy, I wish that Turner card was one of these...
Four Dodgers isn't bad for my ten packs. It could have been five if the Dodgers hadn't traded away my favorite prospect in the quest for the Tipping Boy, Yu Darvish. The Rangers made out well with this trade...
Each blaster comes with one of these Weekend MLB patches. I got Wil Meyers.
Gavin from Breakdown cards jumped on this one, so at least if I didn't get a Dodger, it was a card for one of my friends. That'll work.
Next up are the inserts. As you all know, everything here is trade bait, so just give a shout if you are chasing any of these subsets or players.
A.J., the Lost Collector set aside a couple of Bellingers for me from his 2018 pulls. Do you want either of these Yankees? (There's another Judge in the upcoming subsets)
Anybody for any of these?
There you have it. Not a great blaster, but not really a disappointment either. One last note, the collation was excellent. I caught only one double, CC Sabathia, in an unflattering photo showing quite the tummy. lol
Now all I need to complete the weekend is for the Cheatin' Pats to go down in flames.
Aloha!
Aloha, everybody,
My friend and long-tiime trading partner, Gavin, from the fantastic blog Baseball Card Breakdown, and I had a potential trade percolating. It was just waiting for the right final pieces to fall into place.
That happened when I won a bronze replica of Roberto Alomar's RC. It's a cool enough piece, but it fit better into Gavin's collection than mine, so a trade was born.
Let's check out what Gav sent over to me. Leading off are a cool couple of customs from Gavin's workshop:
Of course, blame my lousy scanning skills for the cut off card. Than ignore that, and revel in the goodness that is two of the game's young superstars together on one card. Bonus: reading left to right, Bellinger is first! :)
Next up is Belli going solo in old school Upper Deck style:
Well-chosen photos of Cody adorn both sides of the card. I love seeing hard-luck story, Andrew Toles there in the dugout. Injury ruined Tolesy's 2017 season before it could begin, but I'm looking forward to him returning in 2018.
Great customs! Here come the cards the original trade was built around. Vintage is the watchword here.
My first RC from the famed Dodgers infield of the 70's. Welcome, Mr. Lopes. It seems I have a new project. Now I have to rope in 1970 Bill Russell, 1971 Steve Garvey and the Penguin's RC from '72 Topps.
At least I can be satisfied for now with this 1971 Lou Brock...
...and a foldable 1971 Richie Allen with a vintage Dodger Stadium backdrop...
Sweet stuff from down south Gavin. THANKS for the trade, buddy! BTW, I noticed you put up some trade bait from the Legends of New York set. I'm down for those. If nobody has claimed them yet, set them aside for lil' ol' me, and let's get our next trade piles started!
I have an honorable mention: Recently, mi hermano Wes, sent a surprise package out to me. Trouble is, I sorted those cards into my general card population before I scanned them. Thought I scanned 'em, but I didn't.
Unfortunately, it's going to take some detective (and de-sorting) work before I can figure out what all cards came from where. So I just want to send a shout out to Wes and say THANKS!, but it may take a while before that post can go up. My bad - and I feel appropriately bad.
Life goes on. Aloha!
