2008 U.D. Sweet Spot Target Tin

For Those Who Can’t Afford The Hobby Box
(and still don’t want their money’s worth)

I know that the last box I purchased was supposed to be my last for ‘08. Tough noogies, people. So I bought another box. We’ll all just have to learn to cope, right?

Ya see, this entire year I’ve been looking forward to buying a tin of Sweet Spot. I don’t have any of their base cards from years past, and I wanted to experience the thrill of popping open a tin and finding a signed bat or piece of leather or manufactured baseball sweet spot. I kinda ran out of funds by the time the product was released, so I was resigned to wait until 2009. Oh, but lo and behold. Target is selling retail tins? NO WAY! And you’re guaranteed 1 auto or GU?? NO WAY!! Of course, you seasoned veterans out there know that getting an AU or GU from a retail pack is usually less than exhilarating. This tin would prove to be no different.

MUSIC:
Tool – Undertow

PURCHASE TYPE:
Retail Tin, Target, $29.99

PACKAGE DESIGN:
I’m not sure what the hobby tins look like, but this thing is a monster considering there are only three packs in this thing. To be honest, I was quite surprised at its size when I finally stumbled across one today (the only one in stock, no less). The tin packaging certainly makes the product look like you’re going to get a valuable product. Oh, Upper Deck. You sneaky bastards.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
Three packs of eight cards, all in plain foil wrappers, sitting stacked in a black plastic mold, covered with another clear plastic topper. Again, another attempt by the ‘Deck to add the illusion of value. It almost worked, but then I remembered that I bought this box at Target.

THE PRODUCT:
Wow. And I mean that in the most negative way possible. What a terribly blah design. They’re sturdy cards with high gloss, gold foil stamping, baseball stitch styled embossing, and passable photography. The backside of the card is about as dull as it gets, though. All white with the reverse of the embossing pressed through an image of a baseball sweet spot. Perhaps If the embossing were lined up with the image a little better, I might think it was a cool idea. Instead, I say to you… FAIL!

HIGHLIGHTS:
One positive to these packs is that, unlike in most cases, I was not shorted any cards because of the inclusion of a GU or AU. Upper Deck was also kind enough to stuff an insert card into each pack along with the advertised eight cards per pack.

Pack 1
• Manny Ramirez
• Alex Rodriguez
• Troy Tulowitzki
• Derek Jeter
• Phil Hughes
• Carl Crawford
• Hunter Pence
• Matt Holliday
• Spud Chandler Yankee Stadium Legacy (YSL)

That was quite a Yankee-centric pack. Looks like this 100-base-card product is going to be light on commons. At $10 per pack, it ought to be.

Pack 2
• Andruw Jones
• Victor Martinez
• Dustin Pedroia
• Randy Johnson
• Paul Konerko
• Brian Roberts
• Hanley Ramirez
• Mariano Rivera
• Thurman Munson YSL

I love when they leave the hit for the final pack. No B.S. There’s nothing worse than pulling your hit on the first pack, especially when it’s a disappointing pull.

Pack 3
• Jason Bay
• Grady Sizemore
• Magglio Ordonez
• Alex Rios
• Jim Thome Sweet Swatch GU Jersey w/Stripe
• Hunter Pence
• Matt Holliday
• Aramis Ramirez
• Randy Johnson YSL

Seriously? Doubles? In a box of only three packs? For real? I know this product isn’t loaded with, like, a thousand base cards, but COME ON!

FINAL SCORE:
Great idea to fool us into thinking we’re getting something cool, but in the end, all we’re doing is buying a fancy shmancy tin. The embossing could have been cool if it was done with a little more care and, dare I say, expertise. With a small base card set, you’ll get plenty of stars, but DAMN YOU UPPER DECK for not seeding my packs with even just one Minnesota Twin! And, seriously guys. At just over $1 per card, I would expect the collation to be a bit more professional. I realize your set is small, but this was only three packs, people. Pay a-bloody-ttention! You’ve just earned yourself a 1990 Upper Deck Ben McDonald! You got me excited for something potentially valuable, but then you let me down. Much like ol’ McDonald, you’re full of nothing but potential. And that’s about it.

SEE YOU IN ‘09 FOR REAL THIS TIME!

2008 Topps Heritage High Number

Go Easy On Me

(it’s my first time)

Before the ‘09 season kicks off, I thought I’d give you a taste of what’s to come. Alright, let’s be real here. I just wanted to see if I sound like a massive tool. If so, mission accomplished.

I chose the Heritage Hi No because it’s low-end, and, let’s face it, pretty boring. Why waste my time reviewing something exciting, right? HOW DARE I?!

MUSIC:
Nirvana – Nevermind

PURCHASE TYPE:
"Bonus Box" Blaster, Target, $19.99

PACKAGE DESIGN:
You know what’s a really good idea? Making the box design of your new product look almost EXACTLY like the box design of another product you just put out a month ago! Oh, wait. No it’s not. Sorry, Topps. I think one of the reasons it took me so long to finally find one of these so-called Bonus Boxes is because I thought all I was seeing were boxes of Update. Come on, guys. You’re supposed to be pros. Would it kill you to not be so lazy?

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
At first, I was pretty excited for an extended edition of this year’s Heritage set. Now I’d like all of my money back. If Topps is trying to make my childhood collection look impressive, this is one way to do it. It’s not that the cards don’t look nice (with the exception of the designers going Photoshop crazy), it’s just that I got a box full of duds. Completely. Full. Of. DUDS. I can hear Topps now. Defending their product. Saying things like "yeah, but, we’ve added two Updates cards in each pack! Added value!" *grabs megaphone* *clears throat* Ahem. BULLSHIP! I’m not disputing the fact that there are two Updates cards in each pack. What you have thrown in there is complete and utterly useless pack filler. You’ve congested the actual product with leftovers of a product that failed in the market. We don’t want them. Please don’t mix them in with other products just to get rid of them. YOU’RE WELCOME.

THE PRODUCT:
Don’t get me wrong, I really like the Heritage idea. I’m just not sure, however, if it warrants an extended/update set. Of course, Topps wants to stay true with their gimmicks that seem to work on a lot of collectors. The short prints, the black backs, and the no-name rookies that people seem to sleep-drool over. I also realize that this is a low-end product, so my expectations shouldn’t be too high. Above the soles of my shoes would have been nice, though. Much like its 2008 predecessor, this set gave no real sense of value. Even if you were lucky enough to pull a hit, this set presents no mojo. Well, unless you’re really into the Oakland A’s. Let me tell you about my Oakland A’s mojo. In one pack… ONE PACK… I got nothing… NOTHING… but Oakland A’s cards. Faulty collation or coincidence? You decide!

Topps also seems to think it’s cute to include sticks of gum into each and every pack. Yeah, I know you’re mainly selling to kids and fat, balding "collectors," but if you’re going to get cute with the gum, at least do it right. I don’t want some soft, fresh, and decidedly much larger stick of gum sealed inside of its own wrapper. No. What I want is thirteen rock hard, glass sharp shards of pink material coated in white powder. I want to be able to shred my mouth open as I crunch into each broken little piece. I want the backside of the last card in each pack to be frosted in gum sugar. Topps. You’re killing my memories. Stop it.

HIGHLIGHTS:
Umm… pretty much nothing, really. I’m serious. I got a dud box. Obviously, blasters aren’t a good way to score anything huge, but this was the dud of all duds. I might as well have just opened eight packs full of David Wright Topps of the Class decoys.

• 4 Black Backs
• 1 RC Black Back
• 4 RCs
• 1 RC Short Print
• 1 Short Print
• 1 Flashbacks
• 1 Then & Now

FINAL SCORE:
Lazy package design, boring product, unprofessional use of Photoshop Actions, unrealistically fresh gum, value comparable to Opening Day sets. You’ve just earned yourself a 1991 Topps Steave Searcy! Just good enough to stick in the spokes of my bike. Fortunately for you, I never ride my bike.

Oh, and by the way, Topps. Bonus Box? Show me a blaster of this product with only seven packs and I’ll believe that this is a Bonus Box. Otherwise, just call it what it is. A box of eight packs.

SEE YOU IN ’09!

And So It Begins…

My very first post on my very first blog. I just wish I knew how to customize the look of this thing a little better to reflect the theme of the blog. Well, whatever. It still looks better than DEFAULT. Yipes.

SO… what’s the point of all this? Crackin wax? Do I like to break perfectly good albums? Do I enjoy whipping candles? Yeah… no. Invariably if you’re here, you should already know what the title infers. For those of you not quite sure what you’re doing here, let’s just get the gist of it out of the way.

My childhood was filled with many things. School, baseball, soccer, swimming lessons, late night barnyard treason (and this is the last time any of you will hear of that). One of the things I most enjoyed in the mid-80s through the early 90s was breaking open a fresh pack of baseball cards. If only I had known then that all of those cards from that era would be worth just barely more than month-old used kitty litter. It was the thrill of completing a set without cheating (i.e. buying a factory collated box). It was the fun in trading away your Jose Canseco rookie card for the Brian Harper card you needed to finish out your 87 Topps Twins team set.

Eventually, though, my childhood ended. So, too, did my card collecting hobby. My cards lay dormant for years in a crate tucked in the upper shelving of a closet. It took until the early part of 2007 for me to finally rediscover my poor neglected collection. It was upon finding such gems as my 85 Fleer Kirby Puckett and the 87 Topps Barry Bonds rookie card that I never knew I had that got me curious. Just where had the hobby gone since I last cracked a pack of wax in 1993?

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!

Here’s what I remember. Topps. Upper Deck. Fleer. Donruss. Bowman. Stadium Club. What do we have now? Topps. Upper Deck. Fleer. Donruss. Bowman. Allen & Ginter. Goudy. Ultimate. SP. Turkey Red. Heritage. ‘52. Exquisite. Sweet Spot. The list goes on and on and on and on… Of course, though, most of the new off-shoots are produced by either Topps or Upper Deck, but… COME ON! Give a collector a chance!

I will admit, though. The first time I pulled a card with a 1 inch by 1 inch game used jersey embedded within, I was awfully stoked. And the first time I pulled a certified auto? Could have fainted. Turns out, though, that those GUs are saturating the market about as badly as 1988 Topps baseball cards. While the AUs are cool to find, most of the ones you get are from players that leave you saying “who?”

Oh, and don’t even get me started on all of those parallels, mirrors, chasers, inserts, and… GAH!

Overwhelming? Uh… yeah. Understatement? What is “obvious,” Alex.

It’s a good thing, though, that I am a huge fan of baseball (Minnesota Twins in particular) and will likely be hunting down certain cards until I’m either bored of the hobby or dead. With that in mind, we come to the mission statement of this blog.

I will sample all of the 2009 baseball card products that I can reasonably afford. I will also rant, rave, and review those products right here. I will try to provide live breaks, and possibly even a video break now and then. I will actively hunt down cards that are of interest to me and trade away those that are not. I will also show off my custom designed cards from time to time.

Be you a card collector or not, I hope that you will join me for all of my card breaks and help me find out just what in the hell happened to my favorite childhood hobby.