2014 Topps Series 1 baseball

Here is another quick few packs of 2014 of series 1 in search of Red Sox.
The Red Sox base checklist is:
#11 Mike Carp
#22 Mike Napoli WS
#48 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
#53 Clay Buchholz
#131 Junichi Tazawa
#133 Xander Bogaerts RC
#136 Will Middlebrooks FS
#146 Jonny Gomes WS
#166A Dustin Pedroia
#166B Dustin Pedroia SP/In dugout
#194 Joel Hanrahan
#206 Jon Lester WS
#258 Jon Lester
#259 David Ortiz WS
#274 Jonny Gomes
#289 Matt Thornton
#301 Shane Victorino
#307 Jake Peavy
#475A David Ortiz SP/Goggles on face
#475B David Ortiz SP/Goggles on head

Each pack conatins 10 cards.

Pack 1:

#6 Josh Beckett Dodgers
#14 Yoenis Cespedes Athletics
#15 Paul Goldschmidt D-backs
#17 Todd Helton Rockies
#32 Reymond Fuentes Padres
#99 Melky Cabrera Blue Jays
#116 Hiroki Kuroda Yankees
#156 Kendrys Morales Mariners
#174 Bobby Parnell Mets
#UC-49 Al Kaline Tigers

Pack 2:
#60 Jon Niese Mets
#74 John Mayberry Phillies
#83 Jonathan Schoop Orioles
#117 AL ERA leaders
#149 Miguel Cabrera Tigers checklist

#208 Dayan Viciedo White Sox
#261 Michael Brantley Indians
#324 Elvis Andrus Rangers
#328 James Loney Bay Rays
#RCT-6 Jim Rice Red Sox

Pack 3:

#18 Jurickson Profar Rangers

#49 Enny Romero Bay Rays

#75 Brandon Barnes Astros

#141 Chris Tillman Orioles

#194 Joel Hanrahan Red Sox

#221 Brian Dozier Twins red hot foil

#236 Joel Peralta Bay Rays

#256 Abraham Almonte Mariners

#297 Max Scherzer Tigers

#330 Evan Longoria Bay Rays

Pack 4:

#100 Bryce Harper Nationals

#114 Francisco Liriano Pirates

#128 Erasmo Ramirez Mariners

#169 Nick Franklin Mariners

#275 Nolan Arenado Rockies

#290 Chad Bettis Rockies

#303 Andres Torres Giants

#304 Juan Lagares Mets

#307 Jake Paevy Red Sox

#UC-48 Hank Aaron Braves

A nice smattering of Red Sox.

2013 Topps Series 2 Jumbo packs

Opening anotehr 2013 Topps Jumbo pack in search of Red Sox.

The pack contains 36 cards, which will include 3 blue bordered cards and most definitely some inserts.

The Pack:
#333 Santiago Casilla Giants
#346 Aaron Hicks Twins
#347 Brett Anderson Athletics
#360 Khristopher Davis Brewers
##372 Jeff Locke Pirates
#374 Miguel Cabrera Tigers
#378 Joe Kelly Cardinals
#386 Brandon Phillips Reds
#395 Alexei Ramirez White Sox
#402 Tom Wilhelmsen Mariners
#412 Everth Cabrera Padres
#419 Matt More Bay Rays
#425 Josh Donaldson Athletics
#436 Elvis Andrus Rangers
#438 Yasmani Grandal Padres
#444 Jordan Walden Braves
#457 Nate Schierholtz Cubs blue border
#494 Alberto Callaspo Angels
#495 Joaquin Benoit Tigers
#511 Rob Brantly Marlins
#532 Todd Helton Rockies
#533 J.J.Hardy Orioles
#535 Philip Humber Astros
#550 Matt Joyce Bay Rays
#574 Corey Hart Brewers
#616 Grant Balfour Athletics blue border
#634 Drew Smyly Tigers
#645 Luis Cruz Dodgers blue border
#647 Adam Dunn White Sox
#CH-54 Anthony Rizzo Cubs
#CH-81 Cliff Lee Phillies
#CH-99 David Wright Mets
#CTC-1 Mike Trout Angels
#MM-24 Manny Machado Orioles
#WBC-15 Ryan Braun  USA
#TM-89 Will Middlebrooks Red Sox

Left it very late but thank fully there was a Red Sox in the pack.
At least a Brave this time too Big B and it was Yankee free pack.

2013 Topps Series 2 baseball Jumbo pack

With the imminent arrival of 2014 Topps Series 2, these packs(there are a few) may seem a tad delayed. However I am still after the majority of the Red Sox from the flagship Topps, series1 and update included. The inclusion of 3 blue bordered parallels signify that these jumbo packs, containing 36 cards, were purchased in Wal-Mart. A Walmart somewhere in New York state.
My boss, soon to be ex-boss, was on a break in New York last year and returned with 9 jumbo packs, with an apology saying 'this is all she could find!'
I wasn't disappointed. Her departure from my school may mean these generous gifting are a thing of the past.
Four of the jumbos remain unopened, but not for long. I thought about selling them on eBay but I just enjoy opening packs far too much.

The Topps Series 2 was a 330 card continuation of the series 1 set.
The base cards are available in a number of parallel versions; Emerald Foil, Blue (Wal-Mart), Purple (Toys R' Us), Red (Target), Emerald Blue, Gold, Desert Camo Foil, Black, Pink, Silver Slate, and Platinum.
There are also the short printed base variations.
The inserts include; 1972 minis, Silk collection, Chasing History, Cut to the Chase, Making their Mark, Chase it down, World Baseball Classic stars, the Elite and Elite Gold. Most of the inserts come in an autograph/relic version.

Jumbo pack 1:

#354 Casey Janssen Blue Jays

#366 Ervin Santana Royals

#367 Carlos Ruiz Phillies

#382 Jackie Bradley Jr Red Sox

#389 Phil Hughes Yankees

#397 Mike Aviles Indians

#427 Chris Nelson Rockies

#431 Blake Beavan Mariners

#433 Andrew Werner Athletics

#453 Troy Tulowitzki Rockies

#469 Adam Warren Yankees

#493 Johnny Giavotella Royals

#506 Andy Pettitte Yankees

#527 Carlos Beltran Cardinals

#536 Mike Trout Angels blue border

#536 Mike Trout Angels

#538 Brett Wallace Astros

#548 John Lackey Red Sox

#553 Josh Rutledge Rockies

#563 Nate Eovaldi Marlins

#572 Lorenzo Cain Royals

#583 Alejandro de Aza White Sox

#587 Matt Cain Giants

#600 Mariano Rivera Yankees

#617 Fernanado Rodney Bay Rays

#647 Adam Dunn White Sox blue border

#634 Drew Smyly Tigers blue border

#644 Ryan Lavarnway Red Sox

 #CD-8 Chase Headley Padres

#CH-52 Gary Sheffield Dodgers

#CH-74 Stan Musial Cardinals

#CH-75 Dustin Pedroia Red Sox

#CTC-34 Ernie Banks Cubs

#MM-25 Stephen Strasburg Nationals

#TM-71 Reggie Jackson Yankees 

Ignore the fact that I pulled more Yankees from this pack, this was still a great Red Sox jumbo!

2013 Topps Update hanger box?

As I move closer to moving all the items back into my (almost) completed kitchen, some baseball product is surfacing. If you follow this blog, you will no doubt be aware of building work taking place at my house. This unfortunate experience has rendered me completely on a deserted island, without baseball cards. However, every building project has a silver lining- I placed various cards, boxes and packs in boxes, so while unpacking random products are appearing.

Today this surfaced, a box, actually I'm not sure what to call this. It isn't a jumbo pack, nor is it a box containing packs, just 72 cards from the update series. This particular box also contains 5 blue-bordered parallel cards, which could mean that the box was purchased in Wal-mart.

The Update series, like most of Topps recent product, is jammed full of inserts and parallel cards. 

The base set consists of 330 cards, which are available in a number of parallels, Red, Emerald Foil, Gold, Desert Camo Foil, Black, Pink, Sapphire Foil, and Platinum. There is also a Boston Strong Parallel Set.

The cynical amongst you will also be aware of the number of base variations in the set, including the mind boggling Prince Fielder variation featuring Prince George! Good Luck finding one of those. Cardboard Connection has a complete list of variations.

The inserts include; 1971 minis, Chasing History, Making their Mark, Postseason Heroes, Franchise Forerunners, and League Leader pins.

The pack/box:

#7 Yoenis Cespedes A's

#16 Alex Gordon Royals

#21 Junior Lake Cubs

#24 Ryan Raburn Indians

#32 Adeiny Hechavarria Marlins

#34 A.J.Pollock D-backs

#44 Jason Bay Mariners

#47 Matt Garza Rangers

#55 Pete Kozma Cardinals

#56 Kyuji Fujikawa Cubs

#59 Hishashi Iwakuma Mariners

#60 Chris Tillman Orioles

#68 Nick Franklin Mariners

#77 Kelvin Herrera Royals

#85 Pedro Strop Cubs

#98 Salvador Perez Royals

#101 Jonathan Villar Astros

#104 Matt Carpenter Cardinals

#106 Clayton Kershaw Dodgers

#113 Samueal Deduno Twins

#114 Dustin Pedroia Red Sox

#119 Felix Hernandez Mariners

#123 Tom Gorzelanny Brewers

#131 Josh Phegley White Sox

#137 Yoervis Medina Mariners

#145 Michael Cuddyer Rockies

#151 Shawn Kelley Yankees

#154 Kyle Gibson Twins

#155 J.B.Shuck Angels

#157 Marco Scutaro Giants

#159 Donald Lutz Reds

#161 Jim Henderson Brewers

#172 Blake Parker Cubs

#175 Carlos Martinez Cardinals

#184 Dioner Navarro Cubs

#191 Ricky Nolasco Dodgers

#206 Reid Brignac Rockies

#208 Juan Uribe Dodgers

#209 Anthony Swarzak Twins

#213 Matt Adams Cardinals

#227 Carlos Gonzalez Rockies

#243 Marwin Conzalez Astros

#245 James Shields Royals

#255 Alex Wood Braves

#259 Nolan Arenado Rockies

#262 Jayson Nix Yankees

#266 Jed Lowrie A's

#273 Jeff Keppinger White Sox

#280 John Lannan Phillies

#281 Jonathan Pettibone Phillies

#288 Maicer Izturis Blue Jays

#295 Sean Burnett Angels

#297 Chris Narveson Brewers

#298 Luis Avilan Braves

#304 Patrick Corbin D-backs

#308 J.P.Howell Dodgers

#311 Craig Stammen Nationals

#313 Mariano Rivera Yankees

#316 David Wright Mets

#321 Grant Green Angels

#330 Yasiel Puig Dodgers

Parallel

#53 Craig Kimbrel Braves emerald

#116 Mike Kickman Giants blue

#174 Jose Mijares Giants blue

#177 David Ortiz Red Sox checklist blue

#249 Madison Bumgarner Giants blue

#276 Torii Hunter Tigers blue

#328 Eric Sogard A's gold 0384/2013

Inserts

#CH-114 Tom Seaver Mets

#MM-38 Yasiel Puig Dodgers

#PH-10 Bob Gibson Cardinals

#TM-15 Clayton Kershaw Dodgers 

Two Red Sox! Two cards of the 'man of the moment' Yasiel Puig. Some parallels and a 'few' inserts. The minis are my favourite particularly if they are of 70's designs like the 1971Clayton Kershaw.

2013 Panini Cooperstown Blaster

Not sure why I purchased this blaster of 2013 Cooperstown, just saw it on e-bay and thought 'Why not!' Initially opening the box, I was impressed with the bright red packs, but a little underwhelmed by the actual card design. At first glance the sepia-toned pictures were good but didn't excite. However since putting the packs to one side and then getting them out again to write this post, I am more impressed, not just by the depth of players included and the inserts but also the actual card design.
If you're a enthusiast of the backs of cards, then Cooperstown may interest you. Each back features a box score and a short description of the participation of the player depicted.
The addition of the Colgan's Chips is brilliant. At 1 per pack and a 165 card checklist, it is very tempting to go after the entire set. I love this sort of insert in baseball product.

The base set consists of 100 cards, which come in a number of parallels; Green, Blue, Red, Gold, Black Crystal Shard and Matrix. Plus a further 10 colour short printed base cards.
There are inserts; Colgan's Chips, Lumberjacks, Lumberjacks Die Cut, Historic Tickets, Induction, Museum Pieces, Numbers Game and International Play.
There is an interesting looking box topper insert called Pennants, which comes in blue and red.
I purchased a blaster box, which includes 5 packs each containing 6 cards. As a bonus each blaster has three crystal shard parallels. You may notice the box above is a little beaten and battered, the cards were safe except for one pack, which suffered some corner damage.

Pack 1:

#18 Miller Huggins New York

 #39 Dizzy Dean St.Louis

#75 Al Kaline Detroit

#96 Mike Schmidt Philadelphia

#4 1922 World Series historic ticket insert

Satchel Paige  St.Louis chip

 Pack 2:

#14 Honus Wagner Pittsburgh

#27 Paul Waner Pittsburgh

#43 Bobby Doer Boston

#51 Bob Feller Cleveland

#71 Frank Robinson Cincinnati

Jim Bunning  Detroit chip 

Pack 3:

#1 Lou Gehrig New York

#25 Lefty Grove Philadelphia

#56 Stan Musial St.Louis

#82 Rod Carew Minnesota

 #12 Hank Aaron Museum Pieces 

Al Lopez Cleveland chip

 Pack 4:

#9 Johnny Evers Boston

#28 Buck Leonard Homestead Grays

#67 Hoyt Wilhelm Baltimore

#85 Joe Morgan Cincinnati

#20 Catfish Hunter Induction insert

Rickey Henderson chip

Pack 5:

#13 Dan Brouthers Detroit

#41 Carl Hubbell New York

#70 Jim Bunning Philadelphia

#84 Bob Gibson St.Louis

#98 Dave Winfield Toronto

Monte Irvin New York chip

Bonus Crystal Shard pack

#41 Carl Hubbell New York green shard

#84 Bob Gibson St.Louis green shard

#98 Dave Winfield Toronto green shard

I nice enough cross section of inserts, the historic ticket in particular was interesting and I am even more tempted to try and collect the set of Colgan's Chip.

2013 Topps Archives Mini Tall Boys Inserts

Here is another insert set that I completely forgot that I had started. The Mini Tall Boy insets in 2013 Topps Archives. 

When looking back at the cards that have caught my eye in recent years, Topps Archives has consistently included cards that fit my collecting habits. In 2012 Topps used the 1980 design in Archives, a set that has a special place in my heart for two reasons; it was the first set of baseball cards that I ever received and it was the first set I completed, with the added bonus that the 1980 design is one of my favourites. Topps has decided to use 1980 design again in 2014 Archives. Guess what I will be collecting in 2014.

The Mini Tall Boys 'subset' uses the oversized Topps Football set design from 1965, known as the 'Tall Boy', a name give because of their size. While regular modern cards measured 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", 'Tall Boys' were 2 1/2" X 4 11/16". 

As the name suggests the 2013 inserts are mini versions measuring a fraction of the 1965 originals.

I will be attempting to collect all 40 cards in the 'subset'.  

MT-AB Albert Pujols
MT-AK Al Kaline
MT-AR Anthony Rizzo
MT-BH Bryce Harper
MT-BP Buster Posey
MT-CK Clayton Kershaw
MT-CR Cal Ripken Jr.
MT-CS Chris Sale
MT-DBU Dylan Bundy
MT-DB Dante Bichette
MT-DC Dave Concepcion
MT-DE Dwight Evans
MT-DF David Freese
MT-DJ Derek Jeter
MT-DM Denny McLain
MT-DP Dave Parker
MT-DS Dave Stewart
MT-DW David Wright
MT-EB Ellis Burks
MT-ED Eric Davis
MT-FL Fred Lynn
MT-FM Fred McGriff
MT-FW Frank White
MT-GG Gio Gonzalez
MT-KG Kirk Gibson
MT-KM Kevin Mitchell
MT-MC Miguel Cabrera
MT-MG Mike Greenwell
MT-MS Mike Schmidt
MT-MT Mike Trout
MT-MW Matt Williams
MT-ON Otis Nixon
MT-RB Ryan Braun
MT-RC Robinson Cano
MT-RD Rob Dibble
MT-RCL Roberto Clemente
MT-SS Stephen Strasburg
MT-WC Will Clark
MT-WM Will Middlebrooks
MT-YC Yoenis Cespedes

2014 Topps Baseball Series One

These 6 packs of 2014 series one are my first packs in a long while, they were a birthday gift from my boss. She always remembers...

The 2014 series one base set consists of 330 cards. 

There are at least 7colour parallels (and variations) including an interesting 'clear', although limited to 10.

There are insert, after insert, after insert

Pack 1:

#100 Bryce Harper Nationals

#114 Francisco Liriano Pirates

#131 Junichi Tazawa Red Sox

#138 Wei-Yin Chen Orioles

#148 Chris Sale White Sox

#169 Nick Franklin Mariners

#204 Adrian Gonzalez Dodgers

#229 Justin Upton Braves

#304 Juan Lagares Mets

#567 Bob Oliver Royals 1970 reprint 

Pack 2:

#4 Cody Asche Phillies

#38 National League Home Run Leaders

#46 Kolten Wong Cardinals

#80 Jack Hannahan Reds

#104 Kurt Suzuki A's

#129 Yonder Alonso Padres

#130 Scooter Gennett Brewers

#135 Eric Sogard A's

#252 Kevin Pillar Blue Jays

#UC-41 Jacoby Ellsbury Red Sox 

Pack 3:

#96 Wily Peralta Brewers

#113 National League ERA leaders

#119 Brandon Crawford Giants

#120 Kevin Correia Twins

#206 World Series Game 5 Jon Lester

#325 Trevor Plouffe Twins

#326 Khris Davis Brewers

#BG-19 Nolan Ryan Mets 

Pack 4:

#28 Brayan Pena Tigers

#61 Nick Markakis Orioles

#108 J.D.Martinez Astros

#111 Mark Ellis Dodgers

#118 Ian Desmond Nationals

#145 Jason Castro Astros

#166 Dustin Pedroia Red Sox

#218 Matt Dominguez Astros

#287 Migual Montero D-backs

##FN-12 Zack Wheeler Mets

Pack 5:

#35 Trevor Cahill D-backs

#110 Wil Myers Bay Rays

#115 Brett Oberholtzer Astros

#140 Jonathan Broxton Reds

#253 Checklist

#283 Andrelton Simmons Braves

#262 Jeff Keppinger White Sox

#288 Julio Teheran Braves

#292 Aaron Hill D-backs

#FN-8 Jean Segura

Pack 6:

#53 Clay Buchholz Red Sox

#129 Erasmo Ramirez Mariners

#185 Howie Kendrick Angels

#248 Travis D'Arnaud Mets

#264 Huston Street Padres black border 38/63

#275 Nolan Arenado Rockies

#290 Chad Bettis Rockies

#303 Andres Torres Giants

#307 Jake Peavy Red Sox

#FN-29 Bryce Harper Nationals

That felt nice opening packs once again. Good mixture of Red Sox and some of the many inserts. The short printed black bordered Huston Street was a surprise. All available to good homes.
Just checking to see if there any variations....