2010 Topps baseball series 1

The second 5 packs of 2010 Topps that left untouched for many months. A quick check last night and I realised that I was short one Red Sox. #131 Dustin Richardson Rookie card, so I pulled that from the first four packs, so Red Sox series 1 are now definitely done and dusted.
Onto five more Topps Series 1:

Pack 5:

#9 Tim Lincecum Giants

#36 Tobi Stoner Mets

#71 Mike Hampton Astros

#116 Carlos Gomez Brewers

#195 James Shields Bay Rays

#199 Seattle Mariners

#219 Kevin Hart Pirates

#254 Edwin Jackson Tigers

#283 Adam Kennedy Athletics

#312 Tyler Flowers White Sox

#TTT15 Miguel Cabrera Tigers

#HOTG15 Jackie Robinson

Pack 6:

#30 Victor Martinez Red Sox

#40 Josh Johnson Marlins

#88 Jerry Hairston Jr. Yankees

#143 Omar Vizquel Rangers

#165 Brandon Phillips Reds

#167 San Diego Padres

#218 Fernando Martinez Mets

#245 Lance Berkman Astros

#291 Austin Kearns Nationals

#299 Gary Sheffield Mets

#TTT24 Ryan Braun Brewers

#CMT-30 Eddie Murray Orioles

Pack 7:

#15 Bobby Abreu Angels

#23 Shane Victorino Phillies

#98 Cesar Ramos Padres

#101 Scott Baker Twins

#123 Jeff Samardzija Cubs

#244 Barry Zito Giants

#265 Angels

#297 Ben Zorbrist Bay Rays

#306 Milton Bradley Cubs

#317 Ryan Doumit Pirates

#TTT10 Tim Lincecum Giants

#TMC-4 Million Card Giveaway (are ther any cards left?)

Pack 8:

#73 League Leaders

#90 Ian Kinsler Rangers

#94 Ivan Rodriguez Rangers

#104 New York Mets

#137 Oakland Athletics

#161 Denard Span Twins

#183 Jonathan Papelbon Red Sox
#191 Mat Latos Padres

#206 League Leaders

#214 Matt Kemp Dodgers

#238 Ian Stewart Rockies

#TTT12 Miguel Tejada Astros

Pack 9:

#10 Clayton Kershaw Dodgers

#46 Chad Tracy D-backs

#120 Jorge Posada Yankees

#146 Yunel Escobar Braves

#148 Cody Ross Marlins

#151 Mat Gamel Brewers

#212 Magglio Ordonez Tigers

#253 Bengie Molina Giants

#273 Pat Neshek Twins

#322 Travis Buck Athletics

#TTT11 Brian McCann Braves

#TMC-6 Million Card Giveaway?

I might do a little investigation into this but while looking at the cards yesterday I noticed, on the Kevin Youkilis card in particular, that people in the crowd are pictured very clearly. Maybe I hadn't noticed before or whether the photography is better now or clearer, but the spectators (or lack of them in some cases) are clearly distinguishable. How cool would it be to be pictured on a Topps card. Okay then just me on that. Here for example is the Chad Tracy card.
Is there someone, who upon seeing this card going, 'Hey that's me!' or 'There's my teacher, Mr Hinkel' or 'There's that bastard who stole my bike'. The spectators on the Youkilis card look a little a bit gormless, you might say unprepared. So what do you do ? Smile every time a player comes close just in case it's on a Topps card?

2010 Topps Baseball Series 1

I was gifted 9 packs of these a while ago and they sat unopened, which is a bit of a travesty to discover them so late in the year. The first four packs contained:

Pack 1:

#44 Howie Kendrick Angels

#61 Skip Schumaker Cardinals

#96 Jon Garland Dodgers

#119 Wilkin Ramirez Tigers

#140 Matt Holliday Cardinals

#147 Huston Street Rockies

#209 Alexei Ramirez White Sox

#231 Luke Scott Orioles

#282 Washington Nationals

#304 Adam LaRouche Braves gold border 1963/2010

#324 Alex Rios White Sox

#TTT25 Manny Ramirez Dodgers

Packs 2:

#54 John Lackey Angels

#75 Adrian Gonzalez Padres

#82 Jason Marquis Rockies

#103 Daniel Murphy Mets

#149 Jose Guillen Royals

#150 Joe Mauer Twins

#270 Michael Brantley Indians

#284 Ross Ohlendorf Pirates

#301 Jack Cust Athletics

#TTT18 Vladimir Guerrero Angels

#TR13 Yovani Gallardo Brewers

Pack 3:

#28 Jonathan Sanchez Giants

#89 J.A.Harp Phillies

#99 Garrett Jones Pirates

#142 Tim Hudosn Braves

#162 Wade Davis Bay Rays

#170 Jason Bay Red Sox

#213 Ricky Nolasco Marlins

#243 Asdrubal Cabrera Indians

#250 Mark Teixeira Yankees

#307 Henry Rodriguez Athletics

#TTT4 Adrian Gonzalez Padres

#250 Stan Musial Cardinals

Pack 4:

#22 Anthony Swarzak Twins

#26 Zach Duke Pirates

#93 Joe Nathan Twins

#131 Dustin Richardson Red Sox

#175 Josh Hamilton Rangers

#186 Andrew Bailey Athletics

#192 Andruw Jones Rangers

#194 Neil Walker Pirates

#266 Humberto Quintero Astros

#295 Kevin Youkilis Red Sox

#TTT21 Adam Dunn Nationals

#TOG10 Jimmy Piersall backwards HR

There are no Red Sox I need from Series 1. However these 4 packs concealed 3 Red Sox, so in the 'search for Sox' that is pretty fair.

All for trade if there are any collectors needing those last few that have escaped them.

2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces

Big B sent along this pack of Masterpieces. With only 4 cards per pack you would think this would a difficult set to collect, however if you are a regular of 'Check Out My Cards', finishing the base set it not too difficult. Collecting all the colour variations that is a different story.

There are no Red Sox that I need from the base set.

The pack:

#7 Evan Longoria Bay Rays

#12 Wade Boggs Red Sox

#52 Ken Griffey Jr. Reds

#56 Jose Reyes Mets

Not a bad pack really. All that was missing was a short print. Pity they didn't try again with Masterpieces.

1960's Red Sox wants list 1965 - 1969

The Red Sox cards I needs from:

1965 Topps
#29 Felix Mantilla

#55 Tony Conigliaro
#74 Rico Petrocelli, Jerry Stephenson RS
#88 Jack Lamabe
#111 Lee Thomas
#145 Luis Taint RC
#147 Dennis Bennett
#178 Dalton Jones
#199 Bob Heffner
#222 Bob Tillman
#272 Chuck Schilling
#295 Dick Radatz 
#315 Frank Malzone
#356 Bill Spanswick
#385 Carl Yastrzemski
#403 Boston Red Sox Team 
#434 Dave Morehead
#452 Gary Geiger
#494 Jay Ritchie
#509 Bobby Guindon, Gerry Vezendy RS
#525 Eddie Bressoud 
#543 Ed Connolly
#573 Jim Lonborg, Mike Ryan, Bill Schlesinger 

1966 Topps 

#37 Billy Herman
#53 Bob Duliba
#70 Carl Yastrzemski
#93 Jim Lonborg
#114 Jim Gosger
#135 Dave Morehead
#203 Jose Santiago
#227 Russ Nixon
#259 Boston Red Sox Team
 #277 George Thomas
#298 Rico Petrocelli
#317 Dalton Jones
#329 Pete Charton
#343 Joe Christopher 
#356 Ken Sanders, Owen Johnson RC
#380 Tony Conigliaro 
#396 Jerry Stephenson
#419 Mike Ryan
#456 Darrell Brandon RC
#475 Dick Radatz
#491 Dennis Bennett
#512 Dick Stigman
#523 Bob Sadowski
#542 George Smith
#558 Red Sox Rookies
#575 Earl Wilson

1967 Topps 

#36 Bob Tillman
#75 George Scott
#99 Lee Stange
#161 Dick Williams
#184 George Thomas
#223 Mike Ryan
#261 John Wyatt
#280 Tony Conigliaro
#314 Mike Andrews, Reggie Smith RC
#342 Hank Fischer  
#355 Carl Yastrzemski
#371 Jim Lonborg
#473 Jose Santiago
#547 Russ Gibson, Billy Rohr RC
#572 Don Demeter
#594 Dan Osinski
#596 Galen Cisco
#604 Boston Red Sox Team Checklist

1968 Topps 
#4 American League 1967 RBI Leaders (Carl Yastrzemski)
#43 Gary Bell 
#61 Reggie Smith (All-Star Rookie)
#87 Dick Williams
#106 Dalton Jones
#123 Jose Santiago 
#140 Tony Conigliaro
#152 World Series Game #2
#155 Boston Red Sox Team
#156 World Series Game 6 
#167 Elston Howard
#189 Bill Landis
#233 George Scott
#250 Carl Yastrzemski
#346 Jerry Adair 
#369 The Sporting News All Star Selection (Carl Yastrzemski)
#387 Joe Foy 
 #430 Rico Petrocelli 
#449 Gene Oliver
#481 John Wyatt
#502 Mike Andrews
#519 Jerry Stephenson
#537 Norm Siebern
#555 Jose Tartabull 
#565 Larry Dierker
#566 Ken Harrelson
#581 Garry Roggenburk
#593 Lee Stange

1969 Topps 
#539 Mike Epstein, Ted Williams
#574 George Scott
#628 Bill Conigliaro, Syd O'Brien, Fred Wenz RC
#660 Reggie Smith

1960's Red Sox vacancy list 1960 - 1964

Red Sox cards needed from;

1960 Topps 5/35

94, 111, 117, 148, 153, 184, 203, 220, 232, 249, 267, 280, 296, 310, 317, 336, 363, 382, 403, 426, 439, 452, 456, 474, 487, 520, 533, 537, 544, 557

1961 Topps 5/30
16, 33, 53, 69, 81, 113, 128, 193, 210, 221, 268, 287, 301, 340, 373, 419, 434, 445, 454, 476, 499, 519, 540, 548, 562

1962 Topps 5/28
3, 35, 81, 117, 153, 201, 225, 244, 276, 301, 334, 336, 345, 403, 425, 444, 457, 467, 504, 523, 559, 567, 580

1963 Topps 
#2 Batting Leaders,
#52 Chuck Schilling,
#76 Earl Wilson,
#96 Lou Clinton,
#115 Carl Yastrzemski,
#136 Ike Delock,
#168 Russ Nixon,
 #188 Eddie Bressoud,
#202 Boston Red Sox Team,
#216 Gene Conley,
#232 Frank Malzone,
#251 Jack Lamabe,
#285 Dick Stuart,
#299 1963 Rookie Stars (Dave Morehead),
#307 Chet Nichols,
#328 Dick Williams,
#343 Johnny Pesky,
#363 Dick Radatz ,
#408 Billy Gardner ,
#432 Roman Mejias,
#447 Felix Mantilla,
#480 Bill Monbouquette,
#513 Gary Geiger,
#553 1963 Rookie Stars (Jim Gosger)
#574 Hal Kolstad,

1964 Topps 
#60 Frank Malzone, 
#79 Bob Heffner , 
#93 Gary Geiger, 
#153 Dick Williams, 
#170 Dick Radatz, 
#182 Sox Sockers 
#186 Roman Mejias,
 #210 Carl Yastrzemski, 
#248 Johnny Pesky, 
#267 Wilbur Wood, 
#287 Red Sox Rookie Stars, 
#329 Russ Nixon, 
#376 Dave Morehead, 
#410 Dick Stuart,
 #428 Rookie Stars(Archie Skeen, Pete Smith), 
#459 Rookie Stars(Pete Charton, Dalton Jones), 
#481 Chuck Schilling, 
#503 Earl Wilson, 
#526 Lou Clinton,
#572 Dave Gray, 
#579 Boston Red Sox Team

2010 Allen and Ginter

My favourite set in 2010 was a close call between Allen and Ginter and Obak. I haven't attempted to collect a complete set of A+G set before so that pushes slightly ahead of Obak.

There are 350 cards in the 2010 Allen and Ginter base set, which includes 260 baseball veterans, 30 rookies, 35 champions from other sports and 25 historical figures/places.
There is also a 350 card mini parallel set. Other parallel sets including Wood (1of 1), Silk (#to 10), Bazooka back (#to 25), No Number back (#to 50), Black Border Minis and Allen & Ginter back minis.

I will attempt to collect the entire 350 base set, no mini's or parallels, however I will try to collect the 'Monsters of the Mesozoic'.

I need 0 cards to complete the base set.




Monsters still needed:
completed

2010 Topps Opening Day baseball

More of the opening day nonsense.
There are still a few of the Red Sox base cards to collect:

#17 Victor Martinez
#93 Josh Beckett
#120 Kevin Youkilis
#138 David Ortiz
#157 Daisuke Matsuzaka
#183 Jon Lester

and the inserts include:
Topps Attax #ODTA11 Josh Beckett
Topps Town Stars #TTS5 David Ortiz
Mascots #M4 Wally the Green Monster

Lets see how we do in the search for sox.

Pack 1:

#26 John Lackey Red Sox

#29 Manny Ramirez Dodgers

#46 Jon Garland Dodgers

#70 Jeff Niemann Bay Rays

#94 Kelly Shoppach Bay Rays

#111 Jair Jurrjens Angels

#TTS22 Albert Pujols Cardinals

Pack 2:

#36 Brandon Inge Tigers

#71 Vernon Wells Blue Jays 1001/2010
#121 ben Zobrist Bay Rays

#126 Jason Kubel Twins

#191 Scott Rolen Reds

#197 Travis Snider Blue Jays

Topps Attax Nick Markakis Orioles

Pack 3:

#104 Lance Berkman Astros

#117 Lyle Overbay Blue Jays

#141 Nick Markakis Orioles

#172 Jacoby Ellsbury Red Sox

#205 Dan Uggla Marlins

#214 Josh Thole Mets

#TTS21 Ryan Howard Phillies

Pack 4:

#16 Aubrey Huff Tigers

#38 Adrian Gonzalez Padres

#92 Alexei Ramirez White Sox

#159 Johan Santana Mets

#170 Russell Martin Dodgers

#181 Ubaldo Jimenez Rockies

#M10 Billy the Marlin

2 Sox from 4 packs and Jacoby Ellsbury counts as triple (even quadruple ) in my book. It feels pretty good to pull your favourite player from a pack, even if you already have it. And not a Yankee to be seen...

Still a little uncomfortable about the mascot cards.

Or am I missing something?

Are they are integral part of the baseball experience?