2) Big win for Everton over Chelsea yesterday in the FA Cup. Man oh man. If you can't get geeked watching an elimination game go to penalties, you don't have a pulse. It only strengthens my resolve to someday make it to Liverpool to watch an Everton game live.
3) Blake Griffin is the future of the league. I feel really bad for Greg Oden today.
4) Yesterday I went to Target and literally picked up 3 retail packs from the top of whatever box they were in. I don't pack search, and couldn't even tell you how to pack search. But I got a little surprise. I bought two pack of 2011 Topps Series 1 baseball, and 1 pack of 10/11 Threads basketball. Some interesting things from both sets.
First for 2011 Topps. I actually like it. I'm not at the point where I'm going to chase non-retro sets at this point. But it does get the blood flowing thinking about Spring Baseball. And in the first pack I opened, I got this:
Great, a retro-themed mini card right smack in the middle of Series 1 baseball. And of Stras no less. Maybe they figured that collectors like me who have a knack for retro stuff didn't go for flagship sets. They were right. And maybe they figured that adding a mini card retro set would appeal to said collector. They were right again. I'm not planning on building the set, but I like 2011 Topps Series 1 a bit more now. And it'll be enough that I'll probably snag a pack or two more of this as opposed to something else the next time I'm looking at retail packs.
And then, with my one pack of 10/11 Threads came two surprises. One good and one bad.
First the good:
Retail pack jersey card! There isn't much better than pulling the jersey card out of a retail pack. And it was literally the card on top of the stack. I'm not a huge fan of Barea or Dallas, but I know a guy in Texas that will probably see this card once I get enough Mavs cards together to send off. The card is numbered out of /399.
And then the bad:
I've got a little habit, a bad habit, of actually LOOKING at the cards when I buy them. Maybe card companies don't think we pay attention. I like to look at the whole card. I also look for Batum or other Blazers in other players' cards to see if I can identify what game the photo came from. After all, I've seen every Blazers game for the last couple of years now - there were some memorable ones in there. And then I saw the Chauncy Billups card and there is Aldridge (back when he was called "Lofty McSofty" in my house). And on the other side of Billups? Steve Blake. Yeah, how long has it been since Blake has been in Portland? It's been a while. Long enough that Panini has had a chance to get a newer photo of Billups that isn't two years old or older. Really? Steve Blake in a Portland uniform? Was there no budget for new photography or decent photo alteration? If this was from 09/10 I'd let it pass. But c'mon. People buy cards as a way to collect, sure, but also as a way to chronicle their love of sports. I know I do. Maybe we could've got a redemption for a Billups card with recent photography? Every break of Panini you see on youtube has at least one redemption for a relic or auto anyway. Why not just give redemptions for base cards with actual recent photography?
C'mon Panini. We need better than this. Why would anybody want to build a base set of Panini if they can expect photography that is two years old? I know I sure as hell wouldn't.
5) OK. So what makes this post the "VERY SPECIAL EDITION"? Well, I got a copy of a Bowman Batum that I had never seen before. It's an ugly variation, but it's rare. And it's mine.
This is the regular Bowman gold version numbered 34/50. The Chrome Gold is much better looking. But I've never seen a regular gold listed before, and I had to have this one anyway. The seller had it listed at $30 BIN or best offer. I offered quite a bit less expecting to begin the bargaining before agreeing on a price. But as it was, the seller accepted my first, minimal offer. So hooray me.
5 comments:
The attention that you pay towards the Blazers, cards, what type of packs are what, jersey colors, card photos, and variations of each is astounding. Nice job spotting an old photo by the defenders whose jerseys aren't even showing numbers/names. That's real dedication.
Damn... you sure know your hoops. I never would have caught that. Anyways... congratulations on winning a new Batum.
Dude, nice J.J. I've had surprisingly good luck pulling relics from retail this season. I think I'm up to 3 from the limited packs I've bought. And, speaking of your boy Batum, he still doesn't get the respect he deserves. Out of the 10 players on the Blazers Adrenalyn checklist this year, he isn't one of them. Go figure.
No love for Batum. From the hobby side it's ok. He's still reasonably priced. But once his rookie contract is up, everything is going to change.
I was lucky enough to pull a Dwyane Wade jersey from a retail jumbo pack of Donruss recently. It's too bad that I hate so many NBA players (like Wade, for example.)
It was just over a year ago that Blake was traded. I guess they're doing better than Topps, at least.
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