2013 Topps Chrome baseball cards

Topps Chrome is always a popular choice with collectors, who like me like shiny.

The 220 card base set with the 25 base card variations, inclusion of die-cut cards, a rainbow of coloured parallels for player collectors and on-card autographs make these great packs to open.

I still need these (which is all of the Red Sox) from 2013 Topps Chrome: 

#29 Shane Victorino 
#46 Mike Napoli 
#79 David Ortiz 
#92 Dustin Pedroia 
#111 Jon Lester 
#112 Allen Webster RC 
#133 Will Middlebrooks 
#166 Jackie Bradley Jr. RC 
#204 Jacoby Ellsbury

I have seven packs to open, each pack contains 4 cards.

Pack1:
#34 Felix Hernandez Mariners
#191 Dexter Fowler Rockies
#199 Yu Darvish Rangers
#CC-JR Jose Reyes Blue Jays

Pack 2:
#51 Sergio Romo Giants
#56 Carl Crawford Dodgers
#80 Shelby Miller Cardinals
#146 Yadier Molina Cardinals

Pack 3:
#4 Jon Jay Cardinals
#137 Mat Latos Reds
#176 Wilin Rosario Rockies
#220 Ryan Zimmerman Nationals

Pack 4:
#33 Marcell Ozuna Marlins X-fractor
#78 Nolan Arenado Rockies
#87 Kyle Gibson Twins
#134 Kendrys Morales Mariners

Pack 5:
#72 Victor Martinez Tigers
#75 Robinson Cano Yankees
#82 Robbie Grossman Astros
#170 Carter Capps Mariners

Pack 6:
#43 Adam Wainwright Cardinals
#76 Cole Hamels Phillies
#220 Bryce Harper Nationals
#72C-MC Miguel Cabrera Tigers


Pack 7:
#52 Troy Tulowitzki Rockies
#64 Tim Lincecum Giants
#136 Albert Pujols Angels refractor
#180 Zack Wheeler Mets

Nuts no Red Sox again. 

2013 Panini Cooperstown Baseball trading cards

I few more packs from the retail box of Copperstown I purchased in an effort to collect the set of Colgan's Chips. Follow my progress here.

I have 18 packs to go in the box, which means 18 more Colgan's Chips.

Pack 1:

#5 Tyrus Cobb Detroit

#6 Fergie Jenkins Canada international play

#54 George Kell Detroit

#63 Warren Spahn Milwaukee

#96 Mike Schmidt Philadelphia

Disc 89 Herman Killebrew Minnesota

Pack 2:

#16 Historic Ticket October 7th, 1944

#38 Mickey Cochrane Detroit

#46 Charlie Gehringer Detroit

#95 Catfish Hunter Oakland 

#103 Carlton Fisk Chicago

Disc 50 Casey Stengel New York

Pack 3:

#30 George Sisler St.Louis

#37 Arky Vaughan Pittsburgh

#59 Phil Rizzuto New York green

#80 Johnny Bench Cincinnati

#87 Tom Seaver New York

Disc 66 Josh Gibson St.Louis

Pack 4:
#3 Phil Niekro Induction
#7 Walter Johnson Washington 
#49 Bob Lemon Cleveland
#58 Duke Snider Brooklyn
#100 Nolan Ryan Houston
Disc 62 Lefty Gomez New York

Pack 5:
#5 Roy Campanella's Shin Guards
#13 Dan Brouthers Detroit 
#28 Buck Leonard Homestead Grays
#55 Roy Campanella Baltimore Elite Giants
#71 Frank Robinson Cincinnati
Disc 23 Ed Walsh Chicago

Pack 6:
#5 Historic Ticket October 7th, 1922
#39 Dizzy Dean St.Louis
#47 Al Lopez Cleveland
#82 Rod Carew Minnesota
#94 Jim Palmer Baltimore blue 259/499
Disc 13 Rogers Hornsby St.Louis

Pack 7:
#2 Numbers Game Young/Johnson
#4 Christy Mathewson New York
#11 Cap Anson Chicago
#53 Lou Boudreau Cleveland
#62 Casey Stengel New York
Disc 154 Connie Mack Philadelphia

Pack 8:
#10 Frank Chance Chicago red 343/399 
#16 Edd Roush Cincinnati
#23 Hack Wilson Chicago
#65 Vin Scully Los Angeles
#73 Richie Ashburn Philadelphia
Disc 47 Luke Appling Chicago

Pack 9:
#15 Frank Frisch New York
#22 Zack Wheat Brooklyn
#72 Robin Roberts Philadelphia
#79 Bill Mazeroski Pittsburgh
#86 Phil Niekro Atlanta orange 264/325
Disc 30 Mel Ott New York

Just a little bit closer.

2014 Topps Series Two baseball cards

I only the David Ortiz short printed variations to complete the series two Red Sox set. Which are:
#475A David Ortiz SP/Goggles on face
#475B David Ortiz SP/Goggles on head.
I have three packs of 2014 Series 2 each containing 12 cards and as directed I will be looking for exclusive cards. (and Red Sox naturally)

Pack 1:

#380 Tyler Chatwood Rockies

#410 A.J.Griffin Athletics

#419 Lucas Harrell Astros

#499 checklist

#529 Jesus Montero Mariners

#578 Tyler Thornburg Brewers

#613  Mark Teixeira Yankees

#617 Greg Holland Royals

#634 Gaby Sanchez Pirates

#652 Edinson Volquez Pirates

#659 Ervin Santana Braves

#BM-21 Shelby Miller Cardinals

Pack 2:
#343 Nate Freiman Athletics
#364 checklist
#365 Dan Uggla Braves
#369 Erick Aybar Angels
#414 Michael Wacha Cardinals
#555 Adam Eaton White Sox
#559 Asdrubal Cabrera Indians
#623 Chad Billingsley Dodgers
#624 Alex Presley Twins
#626 Tommy Hanson Rangers
#642 Brandon Kintzler Brewers
#FN-32 Michael Wacha Cardinals

Pack 3:
#354 Donnie Murphy Cubs
#377 J.J.Hardy Orioles
#390 checklist
#396 Brain Roberts Yankees
#511 Travis Wood Cubs
#534 Ian Kinsler Tigers
#538 Jon Jay Cardinals red hot foil
#580 Todd Frazier Reds
#590 Brett Cecil Blue Jays
#599 Jason Motte Cardinals
#616 Zach McAllister Indians
#625 Albert Pujols Angels

OK. I understand that people like to see variety in their cards, but I am not sure about these 'Red Hot Foils' Does any collector seriously try to complete the set?
It was the closet thing to red in these packs as well!

2014 Topps Series One baseball packs

Six random packs of 2014 Topps, which for some reason have remained untouched on my desk, along with a box 2013 Panini Triple Play, a couple of packs of 2013 Topps Chrome, 2014 Topps Series Two, 2015 Topps Heritage ( I have opened some of these to be honest),  a blaster of 2014 Topps Opening Day and a blaster of 2013 Allen and Ginter. I'm not sure if it is lack of time or lack of enthusiasm. Not that long ago I would have torn into these so quickly. 

So onto Topps 2014. 

I still need the following cards from 2014 Topps:

#11 Mike Carp
#22 Mike Napoli WS
#48 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
#166B Dustin Pedroia SP/In dugout
#258 Jon Lester
#259 David Ortiz WS
#301 Shane Victorino
#475A David Ortiz SP/Goggles on face
#475B David Ortiz SP/Goggles on head
It is a poor state of affairs when you still need cards from Topps flagship even though some are the short printed variations...

I have 5 packs each containing 12 cards, with the tantalising possibility of exclusive Red -bordered parallel cards.

Pack 1:

#13 Juan Nicasio Rockies

#35 Trevor Cahill D-backs

#44 Matt Carpenter Cardinals

#57 Yadier Molina Cardinals

#65 Hisashi Iwakuma Mariners

#88 Oswaldo Arcia Twins

#182 Carlos Ruiz Phillies

#231 J.R.Murphy Yankees

#254 Brett Gardner Yankees

#292 Aaron Hill D-backs

#295 Matt Tuiasosopo Tigers

Pack 2:

#15 Paul Goldschmidt D-backs

#41 Adeiny Hechavarria Marlins

#116 Hiroki Kuroda Yankees

#201 Alex Rios Rangers red hot foil

#213 Justin Smoak Mariners

#223 Joaquin Benoit Tigers

#233 Rafael Soriano Nationals

#243 Ryan Cook Athletics

#255 Billy Butler Royals

#261 Michael Brantley Indians

#286 Josh Fields Astros

#296 Domonic Brown Phillies

#SV-8 Jimmy Rollins Phillies

 

Pack 3:

#29 AL Home Run leaders

#83 Jonathan Schoop Orioles

#94 Mitch Moreland Rangers

#129 Yonder Alonso Padres

#168 Alex Rodriguez Yankees

#222 Vernon Wells Yankees

#252 Kevin Pillar Blue Jays

#266 Zack Wheeler Mets

#288 Julio Teheran Braves

#309 Drew Stubbs Indians

#322 Emilio Bonifacio Royals

#FN-4 Jurickson Profar Rangers

Pack 4:

#17 Todd Helton Rockies

#19 Joey Votto Reds

#62 Joe Kelly Cardinals

#84 Todd Redmond Blue Jays

#91 Starling Marte Pirates

#158 Nate McLouth Orioles

#195 Nick Castellanos Tigers

#306 Garrett Richards Angels

#318 Luis Valbuena Cubs

#323 Jose Bautista Blue Jays

#50yd-6 Josh Hamilton Bay Rays

#PP-66 Jay Bruce Reds

Pack 5:

#36 Billy Hamilton Reds

#109 David Freese Cardinals red border

#126 David DeJesus Bay Rays

#139 Rafael Betancourt Rockies

#142 Zack Greinke Dodgers

#202 Jeremy Hellickson Bay Rays

#208 Dayan Viciedo White Sox

#237 NL Batting Leaders

#244 Danny Farquhar Mariners

#276 Alfonso Soriano Yankees

#234 Elvis Andrus Rangers

#UC-45 Ryne Sandberg Cubs

Tough break- not even close to a Red Sox. As a consolation, a very young Josh Hamilton!

2014 Topps Heritage trading cards

I remember writing a post sometime last year on 'my other blog' Pursuit of 80's about being back in the saddle. It was an exaggeration, I never really got back on track with the blogging for a number of reasons. After reading some of my older posts I realised they were not good enough, spelling mistakes, some grammatical errors and half-hearted content. In other words lazy work. Another reason was I wasn't trading very much, which had been the mainstay of the blog for a while. 

In a effort to rectify this I put out 'feelers' to some of my old trading buddies and received some favourable responses. 

Trade packs have been sent!

While waiting patiently for these to land on doorsteps, here are some packs of 2014 Heritage.

Pack 1:

#17 John Mayberry Phillies

#104 Texas Rookie Stars

#171 Gordon Beckham

#183 Robbie Grossman Houston

#238 Josh Beckett Dodgers

#290 Chris Tillman Orioles

#35 Cody Ross D-backs

#JB2 Johnny Bench Reds

#NAP-CD Chris Davis Orioles

Pack 2:

#67 Nick Franklin Mariners

#143 Pittsburgh Pirates Rookie Stars

#169 Brain Dozier Twins

#205 Starling Marte Pirates

#210 Erick Aybar Angels

#228 Mitch Moreland Rangers

#279 Evan Cattis Braves

#389 Marco Scutaro Giants

#428 Madison Bumgarner Giants

Pack 3:

#9 AL Pitching Leaders

#223 Miguel Gonzalez Orioles

#229 Colby Rasmus Blue Jays

#234 Johnny Gomes Red Sox

#274 Ron Washington Rangers

#339 Zack Cozart Reds

#393 Lorenzo Cain Royals

#404 Charlie Blackmon Rockies

#459 Ian Kinsler Tigers

Two short prints and a Red Sox. Just love Heritage.

Strange Silver Pack

I was gifted this pack as part of another lot of cards. I'm not sure what to make of it. It feels as if it contains more than one card, so that rules out the manufactured patch card. Box Toppers are usually in a specially marked pack. 
I am at a loss.
Only one thing to do- rip.

Ahh so the answer is simple. Purple border Topps Chrome from 2013.

1994 Leaf 'Slideshow' insert

Take your mind back a few years to the 'Junk Wax' era. While many invested in cards, hoping that one day their 1991 Upper Deck Michael Jordan or box of 1988 Donruss would fetch a pretty penny, Leaf were experimenting with this innovative 10-card set featuring a piece of acetate embedded into the card. The design is meant to resemble a photographic slide -- hence the name Slideshow or perhaps it is a play on the action of sliding.
Although for me slides bring back mixed memories of bed sheets hung on the wall and hours of endless slides of scenery, fish and trees, otherwise known as my parents holiday snaps.  My father was no Lord Lucan Litchfield. I quite like these.
The first five cards were randomly inserted into Series One packs and have a blue 'frame', while the five Series Two cards have a white frame.

Not a large checklist but these cards are fit into the 'Made from anything other than cardboard' folder.
Slideshow Checklist
1 Frank Thomas
2 Mike Piazza
3 Darren Daulton
4 Ryne Sandberg
5 Roberto Alomar
6 Barry Bonds
7 Juan Gonzalez
8 Tim Salmon
9 Ken Griffey, Jr.
10 David Justice