Group Break Goodies

I'm part of a group of team collectors.  It started as a trading group years ago, but at this stage it's really more like a group of friends spread across the country who just happen to collect cards of men playing sports.   And every few months the group pools some money and does a group break.

Typically the breaks would be an entire case of one of the more recent low to mid end products, but with the snoozefest Topps has been putting out this year, we decided to mix it up with a multi-box break at a slightly lower price point.  At just $10/team, we were able to get

2013 Topps Mini
2014 Prizm
2014 Topps Chrome
2014 Topps Series 2 Jumbo
2014 Donruss Series 2

The break had some pretty cool hits, including a 1/1 plate from Mini and an Edgar Martinez gold auto /10 from Prizm.  Plus tons and tons of inserts from the Panini products.  Chrome was painful to watch, pretty much void of any color.

 Overall, the Pirates treated me pretty well.  I picked up a second team to help make the break happen, since we don't have collectors for all 30 teams.  I ended up with the Indians as my second team, and let's just say that stack was far less impressive.  I think I got an insert and a few red foil cards from Topps, but that $10 was pretty much a sunk cost.  If anybody needs some Indians cards from those products, let me know!

 The McPherson is a gold mini /62, and was probably the highlight of the break for me.  The gold cards seemed pretty plentiful - I think we hit 3, plus a 1/1 plate and pink mini /25 from the box.  It was on sale for something like $30, and was definitely worth the cost.  The mini sets have been a real pain for me over the last few years, and I'm still a long way from finishing any of the team sets.

 Topps Chrome was a big disappointment this year.  They must have really cranked up the presses, since most boxes seem to have at best 1 colored refractor.  I do like that they included a nice number of Bucs this year, but this Cole refractor was the best the box had to offer for me.  Luckily singles have been pretty cheap on ebay, with the obvious exception of Polanco cards.

 Prizm may be my favorite product of the year with its colored parallels and inserts.  It has become everything Topps isn't doing anymore.  And the box was kind enough to yield ye ole Pirates hit for me as well.  Sure, I was hoping the break would net me a Polanco auto, but I'll take Grilli as well.  After all, I may have used up all my luck on the last break.

I certainly can't complain.  A nice stack of base cards I didn't have, a few low end parallels, a numbered card, and an auto for $10?  That's probably right around what I would pay in singles.  Certainly not a bad deal, considering I had the chance of pulling some much, much better cards.

Less Binder, More Wall

I realize I have been posting a lot more memorabilia than cards in recent months.  For better or worse, my card pickups have been slowing down significantly.  There just aren't that many Bucco cards out there that a) I really, really want and b) are at a price I'm willing to pay.  

At current prices I won't touch most Cutch cards, and even secondary players like Marte or Alvarez go for more than I'm willing to spend.  

In the mean time, I've been able to pick up some awesome future wall decorations.  I'm sure the card bug will bite me soon (the National should be a good cure), but for less than a Cutch auto that would just go straight to a binder or box, I can pick up awesome pieces that I'll be able to see and enjoy day in and day out.

This bad boy came from my pickups at the Robert Morris show.  I don't know that I'm in love with the Fleer World Series cards on the sides, but otherwise this pieces is great.  If you look closely at the artwork you'll notice...not much worth capturing from the mid-late 90's.  Jason Kendall in the bottom right corner and Ricardo Rincon and Francisco Cordova commemorating their no-hitter.  Otherwise, lots of bumblebee uniforms.  

Pitchers and Catchers

The Pirates have a long and stories history, even if you set aside that two decade long void we just climbed out of.  And the club has been fortunate enough to host some of the greatest players the game has seen.  The all-time roster is particularly deep at shortstop and the outfield.  But across the diamond the Bucs have had their fair share of star power.

Well, sort of.  As pitchers and catchers make their way to complexes across Florida and Arizona it's a reminder of two of the voids in Pirate history.  For a team that has had some of the game's greatest hitters, the Pirates have had downright terrible luck with pitchers.

The club's pitching leaders is like a who's who of the deadball era.  But modern history?  Sure, the Pirates have had their fair share of Doug Drabeks and Vern Law standout seasons.  But sustained success?  Meh.

But Pirate pitchers aren't going to leave out their battery mates.  The Pirates have turned to defense first catchers, and as we saw with Russell Martin last year that isn't a bad decision.  But aside from that?  Jason Kendall looked on track to outshine the rest before a thumb injury turned him into a singles hitter. 

But the backstops haven't exactly set the world on fire either.  So as we head into spring training we can only hope the new crop of Pirate pitchers may finally yield that standout starter.  Or perhaps just as important, that star that the Pirates can afford.  Catcher?  Well, we'll get back to you on that one.

Trick or...Trick?

Nothing much going on here for Halloween, sadly.  Nightmare Before Christmas and some wedding cookies.  I guess I've managed to adapt to the married life pretty fast, eh?

While the insanely terrifying Dave Parker axe murderer mask never made it to cardboard form, the Bucs did have something on the treat side of things: the Candy Man, John Candelaria.

As a kid, I always enjoyed the oddball candy - sure, I never minded a good Twix or Milky Way, but it was the more unique stuff that usually caught my attention.

The same goes for cards, particularly once you move into the vintage category.  The Topps releases from the 50's through 70's were, more often than not, strong sets.  They're loaded with star power and that ever-tempting nostalgia factor.

But fun?

If it's fun I want, then that requires a little more creativity. 

Hostess.  Kellogg's.  Apparently if you could eat it, you could find a cool card with it.  And for today, that is about as fitting as you could hope for. 

Hope everyone has a great Halloween.  While you're all trying to shake that sugar coma tomorrow, I should hopefully finally be escaping this wedding-induced zombie like state.

Speaking of which, make sure that Dave Parker image above isn't the last thing you see before bed tonight...