2008 Upper Deck First Edition UPDATE baseball

Wow what a long convoluted name for a baseball set. There are still three cards that I still need to complete this set, although none will be in this pack as cards numbered 301-500 are available in update:

 #183 Tim Wakefield, 

#190 Manny Ramirez , 

#259 Clay Buchholz

There are 10 cards per pack, 1 of these should be a Starquest card (and possibly a Yankee Stadium legacy)

The pack:

#313 Melvin Mora Orioles

#322 Sean Casey Boston Red Sox

#334 Orlando Cabrera White Sox

#368 Miguel Tejada Astros

#424 Alex Rodriguez Yankees

#442 Zach Duke Pirates

#469 Brad Wilkerson Blue Jays

#478 Carl Crawford Bay Rays

#496 Odalis Perez Nationals

#SQ-43 Derrek Lee Cubs 

1990 Sportsflic Magic Motion baseball

The wrapper of this product offers a 'Special Glossy Set' in exchange for 3 wrappers and $5.00. The redemption set included 42 1990 YOUNG SUPERSTARS and 5 Magic Motion Trivia cards. The offer was only good while supply lasted. Did anyone purchase this set and how was it different from the Superstar card in packs?
I love this sort of technology on cards, actually I like any sort of deviation from the normal cardboard, be it plastic, wood, acetate or metal. 
Sportflic produced Magic Motion cards,  where the image magically flips as the cards are moved or tilted, from 1986 and this 1990 outing would be their last, ending a five year run. 
This pack contains 3 Superstar cards and 3 'Magic Motion' Trivia cards. 

The pack:
#11 Kirby Puckett Twins
#40 Bob Boone Royals
#162 Nelson Santovenia Expos
#1/153 Trivia
#137/152 Trivia  

Trivia: 
What MVP was the first little league graduate to be elected to the Hall of Fame/
a. Willie McGee
b. Don Mattingly
c. Carl Yastrzemski
d. Ryne Sandberg

2011 Topps Chrome baseball

Two packs of Topps Chrome from a while back. Thankfully not the flaw ridden 2010 product. They were a bit of a disaster. 
Lots of rookies autographs in this series, 2011 included Eric Hosmer.
I don't need any Red Sox base Chrome cards, so what are the odds that I will pull one more from a pack.
There are 4 cards per pack. Refractor odd are 1 in 3, Gold refractors 1 in 11,000 .

Pack 1:
#16 Jason Heyward Braves X-fractor
#105 Felix Hernandez Mariners
#148 Derrek Lee Orioles
#157 Angle Pagan Mets

'borrowed' image from COMC. My scanner didn't like this card at all!

Pack 2:

#57 John Jaso Bay Rays

#139 Clayton Richard Padres

#142 John Buck Marlins refractor

#149 Ian Desmond Nationals

checklist

Another 'borrowed' image. My scanner really does hate these chrome cards.

Despite there not being any Red Sox cards, pulling a refractor from each pack is pretty good odds. I had also forgotten how much I like shiny cards.

2012 Topps Opening day baseball

Yet another Opening Day pack from 'The Dollar Store'. I'm not 100% sure how this works. How does The Dollar Store actually get hold of packs? According to the person who purchased the packs they were in a large bin near the front of the store. Does Topps dump the packs? Or is it a third  party? Such as: returns from other stores, packs that failed to sell?
Opening day, Panini Triple Play are common, but there are the odd Upper Deck...

The Pack:
7 cards per pack

#19 Mat Latos Reds
#45 Mark Melancon Red Sox
#62 Ervin Santana Angels
#88 John Axford Brewers
#128 Lance Berkman Cardinals
#201 Jose Reyes Marlins
#SC-3 Dan Uggla Braves

Finally!

2011 Topps Opening Day baseball

A solitary 2011 Opening day pack. Another pack that came from 'The Dollar Store'. I am always checking 'Poundland' and 'The Pound Shop' here in the UK but as of yet there have been no baseball cards. Seems odd?
The pack:
#77 Koji Uehara Orioles
#86 Stephen Strasburg Nationals
#124 Clayton Kershaw Dodgers
#150 Matt Cain Giants blue border (0365/2011)
#187 Brandon Phillips Reds
#205 Carlos Quentin White Sox
#9/10 Buster Posey Giants Spot the Error

Can you spot the error?

Still no Red Sox!

2011 Topps baseball stickers

When Topps reintroduced baseball stickers in 2011, I was very excited. Too excited in fact, as I spent a partial arm and leg to get both the book and 6 packs of stickers from Canada no less. 
I liked the stickers so much I also started the 2012 book, which was a little easier to acquire but just as difficult to complete. I am still a few stickers short on both sets. 
Topps continues to make the sticker albums, 2015 has recently been released. 
These five packs came up for auction on ebayUK. I was the sole bidder. Lucky me.
There are 8 stickers per pack. I still need the following 34 stickers to complete the album:

9 43 44 46 59 70 71 73 81

109 133 138 146 147 149 162 168 173 178 180 191 200

224 227 243 245 248 251 258 259 264 277 294   

301 307.

Pack 1:

#49 Adam Dunn White Sox

#94 Maicer Izturis Angels

#141/304 Padres/Cubs

#231 James McDonald Pirates

#238 Albert Pujols Cardinals

#262 Casey Blake Dodgers

#270 Will Venable Padres

#283 Aubrey Huff Giants

Pack 2:

#37 Juan Rivera Bay Rays

#82 Delmon Young Twins

#100 Josh Willingham Athletics

#114 Jack Wilson Mariners

#150 Tim Hudson Brewers

#156 Omar Infante Marlins

#182 Ryan Zimmerman Nationals

#251 Dexter Fowler Rockies- needed

Pack 3:

#5 JJ Hardy Orioles

#87 Tsuyoshi Nishioka Twins

#124 Mitch Moreland Rangers

#176 Carlos Ruiz Phillies

#183 Ian Desmond Nationals

#191 Starlin Castro Cubs - needed

#214 Ryan Braun Brewers

#242 Chris Young D-backs

Pack 4:

#28 Johnny Damon Bay Rays

#42 Aaron Hill Bay Rays

#85 Danny Valencia Twins

#115 Jack Cust Mariners

#131 /306 Royals/Pirates

#192 Blake DeWitt Cubs

#198 Jay Bruce Reds

#282 Freddy Sanchez Giants

Pack 5:

#20 Curtis Granderson Yankees

#25 Mark Teixeira Yankees

#138 /301 Brewers/ Rangers- needed

#170 Shane Victorino Phillies

#227 Ronny Cedeno Pirates- needed

#228 Neil Walker Pirates

#248 Miguel Montero D-backs- needed

#249 Daniel Hudson D-backs

5 cards taken form the wants list, 3 from one pack! Leaving 29 to go.

For the second day NO Red Sox.

Panini Triple Play 2012 and 2013

 

I really liked this Panini product, however I think that I might be a part of the minority as after two years they dropped it. Collecting the whole base set was fairly easy if you purchased a box. The inserts, on the other hand, remain tricky to complete, in particular the 9 cards that make a larger picture.  Even COMC  has only a few, perhaps collectors do not consider these 'serious' cards.
The two packs were purchased for 'The Dollar Store' in Londonderry.

2012 pack
7 cards per pack
#23 Carlos Santana Cleveland
#64 Andrew McCutchen Pittsburgh
#81 Evan Longoria Tampa Bay
#96 (6 of 9) Justin Upton Arizona
#138 (3 of 9) A-Rod  New York
sticker #17 Chipper Jones Atlanta
Grand Slam Tattoo #5

My favourite card from the 2012 set

2013 pack
7 cards per pack
#6 Jason Heyward Atlanta
#13 Starlin Castro Chicago
#23 Chris Perez Cleveland
#54 Matt Harvey New York
#68 Chase Headley San Diego
#75 Carlos Beltran St.Louis
#11 sticker Derek Jeter New York

While I loved the images from 2012, I feel that the 2013 selection was not as good.
Not a single Red Sox from either pack.