Affordable Rays Hits

Catching up on a @flywheels group break from March. 

Cardboard Collections hosted an interesting Affordable Group Break this past spring, breaking a box of hit-packed 2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection and a box of 2002 Topps Gallery. These breaks are usually fun, contain not frequently seen products, and most importantly, are cheap! I snagged the Cardinals as usual and was assigned Tampa Bay as my random second team. I did a lot better with the Devil Rays, netting me a nice looking Tino Martinez jersey card. The actual memorabilia piece is oddly small, but it doesn't distract from the look of the card. I checked out our resident Tino collector's PC, but he already has it.

This Dan Wheeler auto from the 2001 Royal Rookies set was an added bonus. I remember Wheeler primarily from his days with the Astros at the height of the rivalry between them (think mid-'00s.)

There were a couple of Cardinals cards to add to my collection, including this painted looking Bud Smith card.

In contrast, Panini kinda-sorta tries to do what Topps did with Gallery in a previous decade, but their Diamond Kings sets end up being a totally different product in the end. Martinez's legs just sort of disappear into the background, giving these a dream-like look.