Redemption Upgrade!

I got tired of waiting for a couple redemptions, so I requested replacements for 2 of them from Panini a couple weeks back. I requested that they be replaced with the same player if possible, and if not, since the two missing autos were basketball and football, that they replace them with either Raptors, Celtics or Bills.
So, how'd things work out?

Turns into:

A /49 sticker autograph of Darryl Dawkins turns into a /24 stickergraph. I'll say first that when I made this request, Dawkins was very much alive. I'm neutral on the numbering, but really like that the write-up on the back includes the words "Chocolate" and "Thunder". The only other change was that the original was a Nets card while this is for Philly. He's probably better known for his time in Philly than New Jersey, so that's also a plus.

And my second replacement...

Turns into:

Mind. Blown.

An unnumbered auto of a 3rd round draft pick becomes a /20 on-card relic auto of a Hall of Famer.

When it showed on Panini's website as this, I didn't believe it. I refused to believe this was actually my replacement until the card showed up earlier today. McHale would probably be in my top 5 most desired Celtics-graphs, alongside Robert Parish, which I already have, and the Larry Bird, Bill Russell and Paul Pierce that I don't have.

I'm amazed they didn't have a Moncrief sitting around Panini HQ somewhere, but I'm really glad they didn't.

Back to the Blowout goodies tomorrow!

2015 Adventures in Repacks: Part 33 - A Break for the Classic

A one-day break from the boxes to post the results of a $1 hanger from Ye Olde Dollarama.

Visible Card #1 - Derek Roy, 2012 Black Diamond - A card for my Rangers alumni collection.
1990 Bowman Don Sweeney
1992 Parkhurst Steve Konroyd
1990 Score Don Maloney

2006 ITG Luc Bourdon - Always a little depressing to come across cards of people that passed away at a young age.

1994 Donruss John Druce - Proof that too much foil can make a bad card - in this case, the player's name only being legible at an angle.
1991 Platinum Michael Pivonka
1991 Stad. Club Michel Goulet
1990 Topps Troy Malette
1993 Donruss Sandy McCarthy
1990 Pro Set Kevan Guy

2000 Pacific McDonald's Doug Weight - I don't recall seeing something from this set in repacks before.
1991 Score Randy Carlyle
1992 UD Shawn McEachern

2008 Champ's Mike Cammalleri - And something for a familiar trade partner.

Not so good, but at least my PC gained one card.

Stacks of Wax 2! Part 4.2! 2015 Topps Jumbo box break! The rest!

Time to dig into the rest of the cards in the case, with all the hits, inserts and parallels.

Gold parallels continue to appear in this set, numbered to the expected /2015. I got the expected 5 in this box. This Wheaton is already a great photo, and it looks even better with the shaded gold border.

The pink parallels are /499. And we have another Draft Day picture.

And the camo parallels are /399.

And finally, these are 60th anniversary parallels. They're appropriately numbered to 60.

Falling at a rate of 2 per jumbo pack were some more 60th anniversary themed cards. Very Archives-y.

But the backs don't quite fit the front. I considered chasing this insert set, and probably would have if the backs matched the front instead of just using the Topps 60th back. Although I will chase the ones for my PC, consisting of 2/14 baby Alshon Jeffrey and non-photoshopped Bill Sammy Watkins.

4000 yard club and 1000 yard club cards also return.

As well as yet another tiresome fantasy insert.

Buybacks also move over from flagship baseball. I did see a good number of early 80s cards show up in other breaks, so a pair of 70s card from the currently ignored OL position were nice.

Past & Present performers highlight what you'd expect from a subset with that name.

These fall at a rate of about 1 per case.

I don't think I'm going to get that set.

And the hits!

These fall at a rate of 1 in every 968 packs. I really don't care much for this style of manu-relics, so it will probably be on its way to my COMC account sooner rather than later.

I won't be keeping the actual relic in this box either. Funchess is a Michigan Wolverines alum, so this three colour patch will make its way to Dennis @ Too Many Manninghams at some point.

So I guess I should at least hold on to these two autographs. On the sliding scale of declining autograph quality, Maxx Williams is probably in the upper half of the bunch. The inclusion of the 'Y' in Tyler Lockett's first name probably puts him in that category as well.

And there you have the contents of my box.

So, 1 pack and 1 box left to go. But I might take a repack break tomorrow for old time's sake.

Stacks of Wax 2! Part 4.1! 2015 Topps Jumbo box break! The base!

Today, the base portion of the set. Tomorrow - inserts, parallels, and their ilk.

I will start with the bad news. That way I have something to look forward to when I get to the good news.

And the bad news is the only complaint about this box. Collation. Collation was ghastly. With a 500 card base set, I figured to get about 400 base cards with inserts, since Topps collation seems to be pretty good lately.

I barely broke 300, and ended up with about 85 dupes. That hurt. But, maybe I'll grab some retail and try to remedy that.

And now, on to the good portion of the base. Namely, the photo choices.

Here are some of the vertical base cards:

Great celebration shots. Great tackling shots. Great catches. But that Jamaal Charles, with him bursting through the curtain of rain is perfect.

But the horizontal ones aren't bad either:

The catch! A desperate attempt to stop Carlos Hyde, but the framing means my favourite in this bunch is the Keenan Allen.

We get some throwback uniforms.

And, probably my favourite of the choices, the use of draft day photos! It is nice to have some rookie cards that aren't from training camp, the Combine or The Rookie Premiere. It reminds me of some of the junk wax cards from Pro Set or Score. I've got one more of these, but that will have to be shown off tomorrow.

Looking deeper into the checklist, even kickers get some base cards.

Even a punter found his way in! Since I only have about 60 percent of the base set, there might even be more hiding in there!

Here's the backs of the cards. I'd like full stats, but what can you do? This from one of the many dupes, and it is the most recent card in my 2/14 collection. Sorry to 2015-16 MVP entry Marian Gaborik.

So, what card should I use to wrap this up? Although with Panini getting an exclusive, it might be a lot of people's final Topps base cards, I'm going to highlight someone for whom this truly is their final one.

Tomorrow: Inserts, Parallels, and Hits!

Stacks of Wax 2! Part 3! Crowned!

And now, the first box with packs that I dug into. 4 packs, each containing a hit. So, not a lot of extras in this one. With one box containing 500ish cards, I wanted the other wax portion not to be to filling. And here it is!

Pack 1:

And that is the very definition of a particular team being featured in a hot pack. Tom @ the Angels in Order is a Garoppolo super-collector, so that will be PWE'd in that direction at some point. And the hit is pretty interesting - I like Pro Bowl relics for the uniqueness factor, since you know which game the relic comes from.

Pack 2:

And here's the other relic. And another card bound for elsewhere with the Brady. The shinier of the two Rodgers is a gold holofoil parallel /25. Normally, at this point I'd link to the PACKERS! PACKERS WON THE SUPER BOWL! video, but that will come later.

Pack 3:

This is where I'll link to it:

Since there's a Packers hit in the pack. But, since I already have a Janis-graph courtesy of random group break late last year, that's likely bound for my COMC account. But, a new Bills base card will be staying here, as will a nice shiny /199 of last year Defensive ROY.

And my favourite card of the break comes out here with a Bills autograph. I've got one of his as well, but I can't have too many Bills-graphs. Manning and Luck are an appropriate combo for a Knights/Squires themed card. The Jimmy Graham /99 is the parallel in this.

So, definitely not a good book value base, but some keepers make it not so bad. And it was credit anyhow as opposed to cash.

Stacks of Wax 2! Part 2! Marquee!

Now, one of the two individual packs that was in the package. I added this just so I could break $250.00 in cost and then save $10.00 before shipping. Did I make a good choice with the pack in question? Let's see...

The first card out is a base card. The design is interesting as the front is shiny (and the stock is thick),

while the back is colourful, and pretty typical of something you might see on a Hoops or other lower end design.

Second card is something called a Swirl-O-Rama. It definitely is. I pulled 3 rookie inserts in this pack, and as of now, he is the only of the three no longer in the NBA, having returned to play in Russia.

And this is a black holofoil insert. Brian is still with the Hornets as of this posting, but the Charlotte version. Although this is a supposed holofoil, the black portion is not really shiny - although the ROOKIE on the bottom is.

Hey! Rookie #3 is an auto! Not a big name, but Shelvin Mack is kind of a cool name for an athlete.

And 4 more base cards to wrap this up. If I can't pull a Raptors card from it, a Celtics card is a nice way to end things.

And now, 1 pack and 3 boxes to go.

Stacks of Wax 2! Part 1! Get High with Heritage!

As I said in the box opener, I didn't really want to get this at full price. But, at half price, it is as good a time as any to wrap up the set.

For those of you that can't wait to see what auto I got, here you go:

Was it worth the wait?

On the plus side, at least this appears to be live now, since I did see some on ebay.

I could recap the contents of the box, but Mark @ This Way To The Clubhouse already did such a masterful job of it, there's no need for me to that. But I still want to post stuff, so here are my favourite card backs of the bunch!

Such as all the stats on the back of the LaTroy Hawkins.

Or a pronunciation guide on the back of the Rougned Odor.

But my favourites are the ones in this 4 way tie for first. Cuban League stats! Japanese League stats! AWESOME!

A bummer of an auto, but I really wasn't too concerned about that, since I was more interested in adding the final 100 to my binder.