What Topps Has Become

The latest shiny new thing in last week's round of @CrackinWax group breaks. #CrackinWaxMailDay 

The desperation of. I'm having a really hard time writing this post.

First off, I want to give my usual nod to Crackin' Wax, which did its usual solid job of providing group break services to the masses, such as me. They did an excellent job at what they do, and I'm grateful for it.

Along with a few other breaks, I bought into a 2020 Bowman 1st Edition break. This was the thing that crashed all kinds of websites. I'm still having a hard time understanding why.

The story goes that Topps had to delay the regular Bowman product, which is understandable. They apparently have two printing locations, one that is for the masses in a place that is more tightly regulated by current world health situations, and one that is not (because Florida.) The "on demand" (i.e. website only, exclusive cash grab $$$ money place) has been fully operational. So, someone at Topps central had the bright idea to bring back the old 1st Edition logo and put out a special Bowman thing to hold people over until the real thing came out.

None of this is something I have a problem with. And even if I don't like something, I'm not usually going to have a problem with it being put out into the world. After all, it's not like I have to buy it.

But this... Bowman 1st Edition, is incredibly disappointing and ridiculous. It's basically a Bowman "paper" prospects set issued on the same flimsy card stock as all of their regular stuff, and it caught on fire with some ridiculous triple digit prices paid for a few cards -- particularly a 17 year old Yankees signee who sits somewhere in the middle of the top 100 prospect rankings. Again, these look barely indistinguishable from any other plain Bowman Prospect cards issued in the past ten years, aside from the 1st Edition logo, I suppose.

I was able to complete the Cardinals team set from the break, along with a few extras, which is nice. The box break numbers were much larger than the 150 card base set, which means (on average) you should end up with quite a few Jasson (with two S's) Dominguez cards if you open enough of this stuff.

(Don't get me started on Project 2020.)

Let's shift gears to something more enjoyable. Yes, Topps "online" makes some stuff I actually like. It's kind of silly that Allen & Ginter X exists as, basically, Bizarro Ginter (or just "Black" Ginter... yikes), but the cards generally look awesome.

I snagged another Cardinals spot in a break and picked up another set of good looking minis (and base cards -- not pictured.)

I also ended up the randomly selected winner of this limited numbered autographed framed mini card of a guy who is named Burton Rocks. Let that sink in. Burton. Rocks.

I'm told that he is a sports agent and author, which... y'know... that is two things that I am not. If you're a fan of Mr. Rocks or are just casually (or obsessively) interested in this card, feel free to let me know. For now, it's going to slide in to a box next to a Marc "Double Dare" Summers Allen & Ginter relic card that I have.

Sports in Limbo

We still have cards to fill the space. 

Just around the time I was having to get used to staying at home a lot, I got a bubble mailer in the mail chock full of Trail Blazers and Cardinals cards from The Bucs Stop Here. It had been impossible to find basketball cards at reasonable prices even before the pandemic fully hit us, so it was great to get my hands on some new Blazers stuff.

Here's a trio of Blazers from this year's Optic set. Blasters of this shot up to $80 before it even hit the shelves, which makes absolutely no sense. Shenanigans! It's my first card of Hassan Whiteside in Blazers gear, as well as Pau Gasol -- who would never suit up officially for the team in any actual competition. Gasol gets this season's Festus Ezeli Award. I hope there isn't a new winner next season.

This is one of the many cool insets in the Donruss Optic set that I will never have an opportunity finding in a pack myself.

Throwing it back a few years, here's a pretty slick looking insert of Drazen Petrovic. Petro didn't enter the Hall based on his time in Portland, however, as the team quickly shipped him out due to concerns over lack of playing time. Playing behind Clyde the Glide will do that to you.

Someone commented recently about a bad Photoshop job in an earlier post on a Nolan Gorman card, which makes me wonder when we'll actually see Gorman on a card in a real Cardinals uniform. (This ain't it.) I wish they would make use of spring training photos more. Some of these prospects have several springs under them at this point.

Finally, we end with a Yadi X-Fractor with a very familiar photo. If I was ever going to chase a rainbow, this might be it. (I just can't deal with the super rare cards and the competitive eBay bidders.) Jon Jay's card from this same year would be another nice one, and probably more affordable.

Mini Group Break Results!

Some teams fared better than others. 

With some assistance from Erin, the packs from the break were opened last night and here are the results. Unfortunately, some teams were completely shut out, but I suppose that was bound to happen. As promised, I'll still send out some bonus cards from your team for those of you who didn't pull anything here (or just to fill the envelope if you did.) I can't completely blame Topps for the collation, though, as these packs were purchased loose without any knowledge of where they may have come from. Should I do something like this again in the near future? What do you guys think?

We did find one of the numbered insert cards, with the Dodgers having the biggest success here. This comes as no surprise to me, because I always pull lots of Dodgers cards.

The cards have a glossy stock similar to flagship, unlike the Big League design this was curbed from. Also, each pack contained a Mookie Betts card with an ad for last year's National Baseball Card Day, which confusingly uses the 2019 Topps Stickers design. I'm assuming Matt, who claimed the Red Sox, doesn't want all twenty copies of these, so if anyone PC's Betts or just wants one, let me know!

Arizona Diamondbacks - Greinke (x2)
Atlanta Braves - Donaldson (x2), Freeman, Swanson
Baltimore Orioles - Mancini (x2)

Boston Red Sox - Benintendi, Martinez (x2), Pedroia
Chicago Cubs - Bryant, Contreras, Schwarber
Chicago White Sox - Abreu, Kopech, Moncada (x2)
Cincinnati Reds - Puig (x2), Votto (x3)
Cleveland Indians - Kluber (x2), Lindor (x5), Ramirez
Colorado Rockies - Story (x5)
Detroit Tigers - none
Miami Marlins - none
Houston Astros - Altuve (x2), Bregman (x2), Correa, Springer
Kansas City Royals - O'Hearn (x2)
Los Angeles Angels - Ohtani (x3), Pujols (x2), Trout (x2)

Los Angeles Dodgers - Bellinger (x4), Buehler (x2), Kershaw TCG-23 insert (252/299)
Milwaukee Brewers - Cain
Minnesota Twins - Berrios (x3)
New York Mets - Conforto, Syndergaard

New York Yankees - Andujar (x3), Judge (x2), Tanaka
Oakland Athletics - Davis (x2)

Philadelphia Phillies - Harper, Hoskins (x4), McCutchen (x2)
Pittsburgh Pirates - none
St. Louis Cardinals - Carpenter (x2), Goldschmidt (x4)
San Diego Padres - Myers (x3)
San Francisco Giants - none
Seattle Mariners - Gordon, Kikuchi (x2)
Tampa Bay Rays - none
Texas Rangers - Gallo (x2)

Toronto Blue Jays - Gurriel Jr. (x2), Stroman
Washington Nationals - Soto (x3)

Should I do something like this again in the near future? What do you guys think?

It's Break Time! Sign Up Here

2019 Topps of the Class -- Mini Group Break 

It's been a couple of years since I've hosted a break here, but I managed to acquire 20 packs of this promotional set released by Topps last year, intended to be distributed to students as part of their rebooted "Topps of the Class" program. This is a 100 card set which uses the same design as 2019 Topps Big League, but instead features the Topps of the Class logo and different card numbers. There are also limited inserts (numbered to 299), although there were all loose packs so you have to assume they may have been subject to pack searching. Each pack contains 5 cards.

In typical Cards on Cards fashion, this break will not require a traditional form of payment. By signing up for the break, you are pledging to -- at some point in the future -- send me one card from my want list. It doesn't have to be today, or next month even. We all know how things are in the world right now. These packs won't be opened on video, but I'll do a post after the break is full to show off some of the highlights if you'd like, unless you want to be surprised.

All cards will ship in the popular PWE format. With my methods, I can send up to 6 cards in an envelope this way, so I will plan on including bonus cards whenever possible.

If the break doesn't fill within a couple of days, I will open this up for anyone who has signed up to choose a second team.

Teams must be claimed via comments in this post. You should be able to do this anonymously even if you don't have a Google account. As long as you can verify who you are with a follow up email or Twitter message, this should be fine. If I don't have a mailing address for you on file, please reach out to me via email or Twitter. If I can't get your address in a timely fashion, I may end up opening up the team you claimed.

Enjoy!

Arizona Diamondbacks - 
Atlanta Braves - Tim B
Baltimore Orioles - Ryan H
Boston Red Sox - Matt (Diamond Jesters)
Chicago Cubs - Nick
Chicago White Sox - defgav
Cincinnati Reds - Nachos Grande
Cleveland Indians - OhioTim
Colorado Rockies - Tracy's Box Breaks
Detroit Tigers - Dennis
Miami Marlins - 
Houston Astros - Bru
Kansas City Royals - Josh D
Los Angeles Angels - The Angels in Order
Los Angeles Dodgers - bbcardz
Milwaukee Brewers - Matt (Summer of '74)
Minnesota Twins - gcrl
New York Mets - Mike
New York Yankees - Bo
Oakland Athletics - Fuji
Philadelphia Phillies - Scott Crawford
Pittsburgh Pirates - Bob Walk the Plank
St. Louis Cardinals - Cards on Cards
San Diego Padres - Rod (Padrographs)
San Francisco Giants - Nick Vossbrink
Seattle Mariners - David G
Tampa Bay Rays - Jeremya1um
Texas Rangers - 
Toronto Blue Jays - Captain Canuck
Washington Nationals - defgav

A Missed Opportunity

A #CrackinWaxMailDay from @CrackinWax shows what a great set 2019 Bowman Heritage could have been. 

I'm not thoroughly against the idea of Topps or other card companies creating sets to sell exclusively online, but many of them are not my thing. My thing does happen to be Heritage cards, so when I heard that Topps had revived Bowman Heritage as an online exclusive I wasn't sure what to think. I entered into a couple of box breaks over at Crackin' Wax once again that featured this online exclusive and was blown away at how much I liked it.

If only this set had gotten a wider release. Since this isn't a widely available product, I can't afford to go after the whole set, but I can still enjoy the cards I got for my team collection. I was able to complete the basics, though, so I'm just looking for parallels at this point.

Much like previous Bowman offerings, the set is broken up into two categories - rookies/veterans and prospects. Both feature the same basic design, which is modeled after 1953 Bowman. It's great.

I'm always curious about the card stock that Topps uses for each set, and this one did not disappoint. This feels like cardboard! Why can't (most) modern products actually feel like... you know... cards? And those card backs look fantastic.

Topps even got the rookie backup catcher into the mix.

Of course, Topps being Topps, there are parallels of a Chrome and non-Chrome variety. I actually like the Chrome cards in this one, even if they veer away from the basic appeal that Heritage cards have to me. This is a classy Genesis Cabrera card.

My big pull, if you will, was another card of the Large Lad Luken Baker, on a blue Chrome refractor numbered to 99.

I also bought into a 2014 Bowman Draft break, hoping for some Flaherty magic as this set features his "1st Bowman" card, something people are starting to care more and more about these days. I didn't luck out in the magic department, but I did pick up this needed Chrome version.

Baseball Card Break Coming Soon to Cards on Cards

Stay tuned to this space -- it goes down Monday morning! 

I will be hosting a break that may interest a few of my readers/fellow team collectors. In typical Cards on Cards fashion, this won't cost you any cash money. Further instructions will be posted with the live break announcement/posting here on Monday at 9:00 AM PDT. This will be a newer product that could fit into the "oddball" category I suppose.

Down on the Farm: The 1997 Portland Rockies

A team that only existed briefly. 

After the Portland Beavers moved to Salt Lake City following the 1993 season, Portland had a professional baseball stadium but was devoid of professional baseball. Enter the Bend Rockies, who moved to town shortly thereafter, replacing AAA ball with short season A ball. I was living in for the majority of the brief time of the Portland Rockies (a stadium renovation and a return of the Beavers would happen in 2001) and only had the chance to attend one game if I recall correctly.

There's really no star power in this set, which was sent to me at some point last year by Rod of Padrographs. I wasn't able to find any players in this team set who actually made it to the majors. The following season's team counted future MLBers Aaron Cook and Chone Figgins among its ranks. I think I still have a game program from that season somewhere.

The biggest name of the set ends up being this guy. Colin Cowherd spent some years as a local TV news sports guy here before branching out locally into mostly insufferable talk radio. Eventually the big networks came calling, because the nation loves its insufferable sports talk.

Many of the pitchers in this set have this same close-up shot of their follow through.

Solid photo here. This seems like it was probably used for a newspaper photo.

This is a little blurry with the ump in the back, but I still like it.