Boxbusters

Ok guys & gals – it is upon us.  Tonight I leave for Jamaica and Saturday is the Wedding.  I have never flown before and I am feeling pretty anxious about it.  I know it seems crazy these days but I have only been in an airplane once in my life and that was when I went skydiving in Vandalia, IL – (1-800-Sky-Dive – best money I ever spent!)  I have NEVER went through an airport or had to deal with carry-ons, checked bags, etc so needless to say I am pretty nervous.  Add on the fact that on Saturday I will no longer be a bachelor and well I’m certain SOME of you know how I am feeling right about now!

Just wanted to let you know there won’t be any new posts for about a week or so while I am gone but rest assured there is plenty here for you to do.  You can check out some old box breaks, or just read some of my first posts or you can always head over to The Boxbusters page and check out the latest 15 boxbreaks on YouTube.  When I return I am going to start posting some of my collection including some new Colby Rasmus cards and hope to have a box break and a giveaway before April.  See you soon!

Site Updates

If you thought Upper Deck was holding anything back inside its first baseball card offering for 2010, you better think again. The industry leader not only released a stellar, 600-card hardball collection earlier this month, but also sprinkled in super-rare, short-printed inserts that will surely create a stir with collectors.

“We are very excited to announce the unique short-prints as well as some of the more coveted autographed inserts that baseball collectors will be discovering as they crack packs of Upper Deck 2010 Series One Baseball,” said Gabriel Garcia, Upper Deck’s Baseball brand manager. “We’ve provided a lot of special chase cards for collectors to keep everybody on their toes.”

There are actually four “retail-exclusive” short-printed cards in this year’s flagship brand featuring some very newsworthy individuals. The card quartet includes Sarah Palin, featured on a card celebrating her “upcoming” 2012 Presidential election; Joe Jackson, the former Chicago legend who sported a .356 career batting average; Pete Rose, the all-time hits leader with his record 4,256 hits called out; and a special five-time world champions card (1998, ’98, ’99, ’00 and ’09) highlighting New York teammates Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte. The Palin and Rose cards can only be found in random packs purchased at Wal-Mart, while the Jackson and Yankees cards will only be available through random packs in Target stores.

The insert lineup includes 20^th Anniversary Heroes Art cards, which celebrate the hobby’s first-ever certified autographs introduced by Upper Deck in 1990 with its Reggie Jackson signatures. The 10-card lineup is headlined by the likes of Jeter, Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones, Evan Longoria and Cole Hamels and the autographed versions of each player are appropriately numbered to 90. With yet a further tribute to yesteryear, Upper Deck has included a highly sought-after “Baseball Heroes” cut-signature card (numbered to 56) of none other than the late Yankee Clipper, Joe DiMaggio! Can you believe it’s been 69 years since Joltin’ Joe set baseball’s all-time 56-game hitting streak? A special “Piece of History” 500 Home Run Club Bat card of Gary Sheffield, numbered to 350, is also included in the mix.

What’s more, “Celebrity Predictor” pairings showing some of Hollywood’s most celebrated couples in caricature form are included as short prints. The perforated tandems include couples like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt; Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer; Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise; and Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon. There are a total of 10 such duos, so keep your eyes peeled and join in the chase.

So what do you think? Another boring “gimmick” or is this something you like? I personally don’t like the whole “retail exclusive” thing such as “The Palin and Rose cards can only be found in random packs purchased at Wal-Mart, while the Rose and Yankees cards will only be available through random packs in Target stores.”  However, I do like the fact that you have the chance to pull some rare cards and I also like the fact the UD is at least trying. What do you think? Let me know in the comments section!

Site Updates

New page added:  The Boxbusters – This page displays the 15 most recent box break videos posted at YouTube.

Guest Bust: 2010 Topps Jumbo Hobby Box by Todd.

Guest authors still wanted! Drop me a line if you are interested.

Site Updates

To honor the New Orleans Saints franchise’s first ever Super Bowl victory on February 7, 2010, the Upper Deck Company is set to release an impressive Super Bowl XLIV collectible box set of football cards on March 9. The 50-card collection captures many of the thrills and chills racked up during the NFL’s latest battle for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The memorable contest between the AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts and the NFC Champion Saints ended with New Orleans pulling out an exciting 31-17 victory.

SB XLIV C-Card - Upper Deck

“Never before in their 44-year history had the Saints made it to the Super Bowl, much less won the Super Bowl,” said Brandon Miller, Upper Deck’s Football brand manager. “Their convincing victory over the favored Colts will go down as one of the greatest Super Bowl games ever played. We’re just proud that Upper Deck is able to put together something special to commemorate this first-time achievement for the City of New Orleans and its rabid football fans.”

In addition to sporting 40 regular player cards from the Saints’ winning roster this past season, the set includes five “Season Highlight” cards along with four “Post-Season Memorable Moments” cards that show the following unforgettable passages from Super Bowl XLIV: 1.) Pierre Thomas’s 16-yard touchdown scamper in the third quarter; 2.) the unpredictable onside kick recovered by the Saints to start the second half; 3.) Jeremy Shockey’s two-yard touchdown reception that put New Orleans in front 22-17; and Tracy Porter’s game-clinching 74-yard interception return that sealed the Colts’ fate with 3:12 left in the game.

Drew Brees MVP Card - Upper Deck

The 50^th card in the set is an impressive Super Bowl MVP keepsake of Saints QB Drew Brees, while an oversized (3.5” x 5”) commemorative card showing the Saints celebrating Porter’s touchdown return adds the finishing touch. The set will be available nationwide at hobby shops and retail outlets starting next month.

Tracy Porter Mem Moment - Upper Deck

For more information on Upper Deck and its products please visit www.upperdeck.com

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Hey all this is Todd and I’m going to be helping out Will here on Boxbusters with some different breaks and reviews. First of all thanks to Will for letting me stretch my legs here and take a shot at blogging. So without further ado…. With pitchers and catchers reporting in less than 24 hours and two feet of snow outside my door I can’t really say it feels like the MLB season is getting ready to kick off but let’s do a review of the 2010 Topps to try a get into the mood.

The base set is comprised of 330 cards with several short prints replacing regular base cards. This will be a review of one jumbo hobby box bought from my local shop I like to visit, The Rookie in West Des Moines, IA. I do like the design this year with a large area for the player photo, a team colored swoop on the left side with the teams name and then the players name in black outlined with silver in the bottom right corner. Simple design that is pleasing to the eye. The back has another profile picture of the player with the hat logo and plenty of room for full stats and usually a quick write up on the player.

2010 Topps

In my jumbo box I got a complete base set with a small handful of doubles. I didn’t get any of the short prints in my jumbo box but have bought a few loose packs since the and did get one. There are also the infamous Yankee cards that have the players receiving the “pie in the face.” These are very tough to pull and I’ve only seen them on E-Bay where they are selling quite well.

When it comes to insert and subsets Topps has NO rival. This year is no exception with 11 different subsets. Toppstown is back, When They Were Young, Cards Your Mother Threw Out, Tales of the Game, Legendary Lineage, Peak Performance, History of the Game, Turkey Red and Topps Million Card Giveaway, Topps Gold and Topps Black. You get in each jumbo pack one of each except the Topps Black. The coolest of these for me is the Million Card Givaway. Each card has a different code on the back that allows you to unlock a card on the website to collect, trade and even have sent to you. I have 16 of these unlocked in my collection right now and my favorite is my ‘89 George Brett, my favorite player and My oldest card is a ‘72 Hal McRae. Though I have heard of guys unlocking cards from the 50’s that are worth hundreds of dollars.

2010 Topps

The Cards Your Mother Threw Out does have two different back variations. The more common is the back that tells about the player. The other is a reprint of the original back. I got Ichiro out of my box and also have gotten an Alex Gordon original back as well. As a warning look out for these on any auction sites as the biggest difference is only the 2010 trademark on the bottom.

My hits were fairly nice. In a jumbo you get one autograph and two jersey cards and I got all three. My first hit was a Joey Votto Peak Performance bat card, which I prefer over a single colored jersey any day. My autograph was Shane Victorino Peak Performance and is the regular Topps sticker. The last hit is a manufactured hat logo of the Brooklyn Dodgers Johnny Podres numbered 92/99 and is a really nice card. It may be manufactured but I think they are nice cards and wouldn’t mind getting a few more of these. I also got one Topps Black of the San Diego Padres team leaders numbered 13/59.

2010 Topps "Hits"

All said If you are a set builder a jumbo box is the way to go as you should get a complete set and plenty of inserts as well. I actually may buy another box or two of these in the future. If anybody needs cards to finish out a set let me know and I’ll see what I can do to help. I’ll charge shipping only. I’ll be back later with some other breaks and thoughts. As a sneak preview I have a blaster boxes of racing and football to do and am waiting on a case of the new Star Wars Galaxy so you’ll possibly see some non-sports as well.

Boxbusts

Check out the new page – The Boxbusters.  It will display the most recent videos from YouTube that feature the keyword: “boxbreak.”  As of now, I have it set to display the 15 most recent videos posted. I have done some minor testing and it seems to be working rather well.  So, pass the word around – if you like to watch video busts – boxbusters.net has you covered.

Site Updates

Well as some of you have no doubt realized, I am waaay behind over here. This year has started off VERY BUSY for me and I am having a hard time keeping up. I am still here – and boxbusters.net is still alive. A few of you were patiently waiting for packages – those have been mailed out. I am very sorry for the delay – but as I told you in the notes – “Life stuff” has just been in the way lately. If your not aware, I am getting married next month in Jamaica, March 6th, to be exact. So needless to say, I am extremely busy getting things ready for that. Which, brings me to my next point – I could use a little help. I am looking for a few good authors, to write about cards, the industry, and sports of course. You don’t have to run a blog or site to participate – just have a love of cards and be able to translate that love in to words. It would help if you had access to a scanner or digital camera for images but is not necessary. If you or someone you know may be interested – drop me a line.

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