Tuesday, March 19, 2024

2022 Topps Heritage Minor Leagues Hobby Box Opening

This was a fun product to open, especially a couple seasons after the release. It gave the players, who were minor leaguers, the chance to establish themselves a bit. If I had opened this box in 2022, I’m not sure the Elly De La Cruz would have stood out to me yet. Even so, this is likely a product that I’ll have to sit on for a bit before really seeing what I got. What I do know? The Marcello Mayer cards and Elly SP are great pulls, and the rest is just the icing on the cake. I hope you enjoy the video.

How did the box go? I'm glad you asked!


Here's the Box. With Mayer right on the front there.


Great start to the box, as Mayer was one of the three bot topper cards!


Another Mayer, as a shortstop prospect.


Nice to be able to go back to not wanting Jeters again. I got another Jeter in the box too.


The best card in the box? Any time I can add a Casas to the collection, I'm happy.


Future Red Sox ace Brayan Bello.


And again, this time as a pitching prospect.


And another Casas, who is obviously a first base prospect.


And those weren't even all the Red Sox farmhands in the box. So, not bad. Really, the only thing missing is a Mayer base card. (Or, and I guess a Red Sox numbered or autographed card). No complaints.

If you want to see the rest of the box, including the two autos, go check out the opening on my YouTube video. And feel free to like/subscribe while you're there.

How did your box go?

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

2022 Topps Update Blaster Box Opening!

I like how Topps has taken the “Update” series and really found its niche. In addition to the new players on new trams concept, they’ve added in the “rookie debut” cards as well as all stars and combos. So, what was once a set made up of players you’ve never heard of and an occasional star that changed teams has become absolutely stuffed with stars and key rookies. In this case, I was able to get both. Bobby Witt Jr is definitely an up and coming star, while Corey Seager is just now coming off an MVP campaign. Great to be able to hit both in a single blaster.

How did this blaster go? I'm glad you asked.


As always, the box. Can't have you sneaking a peek at the good stuff via thumbnail.


And, the good stuff. Or, at least stiff. The yellow jerseys are growing on my, but they have a long way to go before I think they're not just bad.


Hopefully Devers will be delivering at the plate a lot this year. The Sox need him for their playoff push.


Right. Rich Hill was on the Red Sox.


As was Nick Pivetta, pitching quite well for the Sox.

So, not bad. I mean, you can't expect to get more Red Sox in a single box than that one. I guess no complaints.

If you want to see the rest of the box, go check out the opening on my YouTube video. And feel free to like/subscribe while you're there.

How did your box go?

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Check Out My Casas!

That's what COMC stands for, right? Because it's time for another COMC mailday. This one was very baseball heavy. Well, OK, it was almost entirely Triston Casas. See, it occurred to me that the Red Sox rising star wears number 36. How did I not have a massive collection of his cards? So, I decided it would be fun to collect the rainbow of his Topps rookie card. Or, maybe it's not a rainbow since I'm involving several brands. Basically, anything that looks like his base Topps RC. You'll understand when you see them.

Wanna see? I'm only going to show the Red Sox cards. There are other baseball, football, and basketball cards in the shipment. If you want to see everything, Check Out My YouTube video!

But, enough chatting, let's get to the cards!


We'll start it off with this Pedro 2008 Topps Moments and Milestones. I don't know if I really want to dedicate myself to these cards. But, always glad to add a Pedro...especially one with a big "36" on the front. 


Speaking of 36, let's roll with the Casas cards! Thankfully COMC adds a slip of paper saying what each card is. Otherwise, not sure I'd know this is his 2023 Topps Chrome refractor.


And here is his Topps Chrome pink refractor!


Switching to his regular Topps, but the Gold Star Parallel version.


And his Meijer Purple parallel.


Another set...his 1st edition. I don't even know what that is.


Followed by his Topps Holiday. Always love this set.


This is apparently his Topps Collector's Box Silver Pattern Foil. If you say so.


And this would be his slightly less interesting base rainbow foil.


Back to Topps Chrome for his Sepia refractor.


Best guess? That's his Topps gold foil.


This one might be his Topps Chrome Prism refractor.


While this one sure looks like his Topps Chrome Logofractor.


Which leaves this one as his Topps Chrome x-fractor!

And there you have it. Thirteen new Casas RCs to add to the rainbow. Wonder how many I can eventually end up with. I'm starting to just need the big boys at this point.

That may have to wait for the next shipment.

Which one is your favorite?

2022 Topps Stadium Club Blaster Opening!

Topps Stadium Club is known for its photography. Always has been. I’ll admit that, especially these days, it seems a bit weird to have a set dedicated to “the good pictures”. It was one thing when Topps was paying photographers and had limited choices. But if you can choose from every picture ever, why not always pick the best ones? I suppose the theory is that the base sets are “ID Cards” that just show the player as they are, while TSC goes for the artistic portrait versions? Whatever the reason, I’m a huge fan. I love making the picture the focus. I suppose that goes along with the player selection as well. The base set doesn’t have Hall of Famers like Chipper Jones or Dave Winfied, who we pulled in this blaster. It also has the hottest rookies like Julio Rodriguez…another pull. So, it’s a wonderful combination.

How did this blaster go? I'm glad you asked...


As always, here's the box. Why doesn't Pete Alonso get more hobby love? He plays in New York, and has more home runs the last five years than Aaron Judge. 


Look at this magnificent shot of Rafael Devers here. This is the sort of card Stadium Club is famous for.  I love how the foil information just hides itself and lets the photos take all the glory.

Believe it or not, that was the only Red Sox card in the blaster. At least it was a good one.

Of course, as I alluded to, the blaster had several non-Sox hits. If you want to see the rest of the box, go check out the opening on my YouTube video. And feel free to like/subscribe while you're there.

How did your box go?

Thursday, February 29, 2024

2024 Topps Fat Packs Opening

The first cards of 2024! Ok, well, the first cards of the 2024 baseball brand year. You get the idea. It's 2024 Topps! There’s nothing quite like opening the first back of a new base set. I really love the design of the 2024 Topps set. It has a more vintage feel, as opposed to going space age like several of the past releases. I know that "neon" may not scream "vintage" to prople, but I was getting tired of all the geometric shapes in gray steel. This has an older, simpler, feel to it. Even with the neon. It’s also nice that I haven’t read up on the checklist very much, so there were some fun surprises included. I had no idea there would be Grffey inserts, for instance.

How did the packs go? I'm glad you asked.


Here are the packs. If you're super observant, you'll see that they've already been opened. You'll just have to excuse my forgetfulness and trust that they are the right packs. 36 cards in each of these packs, which is obviously the perfect number.


The first Red Sox card of 2024! Kenley Jansen gets the honor this time. Jansen has been showing up on this blog a lot lately. I guess as last year's only all-star that's allowable.


A super shiny card of Enmanuel Valdez! No idea what parallel this is, but when a card is this shiny it's good to flip it over.


There we go, numbered to 199. Always nice to pull a card like this because I doubt I'd ever acquire it another way.

And there you have it. Out of the 72 cards, I pulled two Red Sox. Not bad, I suppose. I'm sure I'll be opening plenty more of this as the year goes along.

If you want to see the rest of the packs, go check out the opening on my YouTube video. And feel free to like/subscribe while you're there.

Open any of this yet?



What people are reading this week