The Panini Experiment, Day 1: Da Bulls or Doubles?

On yesterday's blog I wrote about how I got a box of 2012-2013 Panini Basketball. A 12 pack Rack box. And over the course of the next few days I'm going to be opening a pack a day to see what I get. Not the full 40 card pack, but the one half that is only two. I'm typing this in real time as well.

You're probably ask why I don't just go ahead and use a camera, like normal people. My camera sucks, everything is blurry, so there Mr. Smartypants.

On with the show!...

First up is...

Darius Johnson-Odom, rookie card #272. One of the few cards I didn't get in the first half. Nice.

Reggie Jackson, rookie card #229. See above for my comments.

Kim English, rookie card #286. See above.

Jan Vesely, rookie card #244. Still see above.

Brandon Knight rookie card #202. That wraps up my Pistons rookie cards, any more and they're doubles.

Harrison Barnes, rookie card #260. Did not get this yesterday.

Jeremy Lamb, rookie card #284. The wraps up my Thunder rookie cards for the set.

Next up is an insert and I need to stop writing while I scan it. lol

Alright, all scanned and uploaded...

Bob Cousy, Heroes of the Hall #16. Nice front and back shot for everyone. A good looking card.



Back to base cards...

Grant Hill, #66. Double.

Carl Landry, #26. Double.

Joe Johnson, #83. Double.

Darren Collison, #40. Double.

Kobe Bryant, #97. Double.

Dwyane Wade, #55. Double.

Tony Allen, #163. Double.

Mike Miller, #121. Double

Bill Laimbeer, #178. Double.

Paul George, #135. Double.

Steve Blake, #159. Double.

And last card for this pack...

Marvin Williams #117. Double.

So, brand new rookies in that pack, a cool looking Bob Cousy insert and 12 doubles. The doubles will be going up on my trade list over at the Trading Card Database if any is interested, however I won't be trading any of these cards until the packs are open, so I know what I got.

Thank you for reading and I'll be back tomorrow with another pack of 2012-13 Panini.

Cross Over! or: How I Show and Tell

A few weeks ago I did a trade at the Trading Card Database with Billy Kingsley, he has a lot of basketball cards and luckily I had some he wanted/needed and we were able to work out a trade. I got cards that I wanted for the whole TTM Autograph gimmick I've been doing. Mostly low end cards, nothing that would set the world on fire. But one of the cards I got from him was...

2012-13 Panini Dirk Nowitzki. From the scan it looks like a nice looking card. In person though, it's an amazing looking card and I instantly wanted more of them. lol

So I went looking around, blasters on Amazon were $13, $3 more than what they sold for when they first came out. I thought I was SOL, but I came across an eBay auction from the DA Card World guys and they had a box of 2012-13 Panini Rack Packs for $26. That's 12 rack packs with 40 cards per pack, or 24 packs with 20 cards per pack if you cut them in half. So, that's about 500 cards. I bought that instead of buying the two blasters off Amazon which would have been roughly the same price.

Yes, I know both are retail and not hobby, but beggars aren't choosers.

Went to the post office today to drop off a few trades hopefully I can talk about in later posts, and my box of 2012-13 Panini cards were there. I came home and promptly ripped through half the box. lol

As expected, tons of base cards that I don't have clearly, did get another Dirk, but that's cool no problem with that.

Done with the tell, now it's time for the show....

Firstly, Kyrie Irving rookie card. One of the two big rookies of the set, hopefully Anthony Davis is in the other half. I have my fingers crossed.

Jimmy Butler rookie card. Growing up in Illinois at the height of the Bulls run in the 90's you couldn't help but not be a Bulls fan. He did great this past year, maybe with a new coach who won't play him every second he'll show he is an elite player.

Damian Lillard rookie.

Bismack Biyombo rookie. I know nothing about him, except I know I like saying his name. Bismack Biyombo.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist rookie.

And finally a Kawhi Leonard rookie. But I also got rookies of Klay Thompson, Chandler Parsons, Andre Drummond, Royce White - who played a total of three whole games in the NBA and has the same amount of points that I do, which is zero by the way - I named him because I find his story interesting and somewhat sad really.

Also from the base I got star players as. LeBron, Kobe, Paul, Curry, Rose and yadda yadda. lol I need 86 cards to complete the set and half the box left to open. Hopefully I get 'em all.

Now onto the inserts. I only got seven out of the first half, two Spirit of the Game, which I won't show because they're kinda lame. lol But one I got was...

Joakim Noah, All-Panini. It's a great looking card and another Bull, which I guess they're my default team.

Moving on from the insert to parallels...

LaMarcus Aldridge Silver Knight. He was great with the Blazers, I can't wait to see what impact he has on the Spurs this next season.

George Mikan Silver Knight. I'm not a basketball historian, I know the names though of influential players, but I can't rattle off basketball history like I can baseball, but I know Mikan. Did any of that make sense? lol

From parallels to inserts again...

Derrick Williams, Game Jerseys Relic. I really like this low end relics for some reason. I know they're overproduced and everyone under the sun has one, it's just neat.

and, last to be mentioned here, but certainly not least....

Dirk Nowitzki, Game Jerseys Relic. See above, only up it a notch for an amazing player.

So, half of a 2012-13 Panini Rack Pack Box in the books. A butt ton of rookies and star players, 2 whatever Spirit of the Game inserts, 2 cool Silver Knight parallels, a nice looking Joakim Noah insert and 2 relics, one of which is a former NBA Finals MVP. All out of retail box as well, I just know the other half is going to be all doubles now. lol

For the next few days, I will open up one of my remaining packs and report the findings back here on this blog. Yes I will wear out my welcome, but I should have done the ages ago. You people haven't found out I'm a complete ass yet? lol

Oh and Billy Kingsley *shakes my fists* Thank you for bringing me down this road!

Dunzo or: How I'm All About That Base

First off, another TTM Auto came in today and it's a twofer...

Former A's and Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa. No doubles of a LaRussa in Cardinals uniform though and I didn't want to break up any sets, so I settled on a 1989 Pacific Legends, which I don't have a double of and a 1992 Topps.

Another card that came in the mail...

Adam Jones, 2015 Gypsy Queen Relic. I bought this off eBay for the sole purpose of scanning it and putting the pictures up on the Trading Card Database. Yep. It was only a $1 and I like these low-end relics. Justification Holmes!

Also in the mail was a trade from dsorek at the TCDB. We swapped 2015 Topps, he got inserts and I got base cards. Still a few to go on 2015 Topps, also in the trade was a 2012 Topps Stephen Strasburg. Still a haul of ways to go there too.

And last, but certainly not least in the mail was....

Javier Baez, Gypsy Queen #91 and Dalton Pompey, Gypsy Queen #107. And those two cards wrap up my 2015 Gypsy Queen set. When I say set, I don't mean the short prints, they may be add slowly over time. The variations can go take a hike as well. I have the complete base set done. 1-300. All there. Although I would like to have another Ozzie Smith, just so I can have one for the set and one for my Ozzie collection...

Oh, the perils of being a card collector...Sing it with me...'Cause I'm all about that base, about that base. Yes I went there!

Nothing Is Better Than a Quickie! (#3)

Summarizing a week ina quick post? You know it!

Ripped through all my 2015 Topps Series 1 box. I just wanted to finish the set. I'm very close, need 1 card from Series 2 and a good amount from Series 1 still. My "hit" from the box...

Giancarlo Stanton, Career High Relic. He's a monster of a home run hitter, but also a monster at striking out.

The next box of cards I plan on getting will be out of normal baseball for me and could, could used lightly, be interesting. Stay tuned.

A lot of trades came in this week, I can't break them all down in this quick in, but all of them were much appreciated and I thought every card I got was great.

And finally, TTM Autographs! Two came back this week and from former Cardinal players. The first one I got back....

Former Cardinal, most known for his time with the Giants, Will Clark on 2001 Topps. I actually didn't have a card of him in a Cardinal uniform, so I had to trade for one, thanks to cabz05 over at the Trading Card Database for hooking me up. This may be the coolest return yet, and yes I'm counting the Shaq auto in that.

And the last TTM Autographs I got were a quadruple!...

Andy Benes autographs, 4x on 1992 Score Impact Players of the '90's, 1996 Ultra, 1997 Circa and 1997 Topps Season's Best. They all look great.

Yes, I broke one of my rules on all five of these cards, I don't have doubles of them. Rules were meant to be broken kids...

Blasts from the Past or: How I Stumbled Upon Two Rookie Cards

First off, a trade from mrbenaka over at the Trading Card Database...

I gave up...

 

1991 Studio George Brett

1994 Donruss Chris Gwynn

and finally a 2013 Topps Gold Aaron Crow.

In return I received....

1987 Donruss Opening Day Ozzie Smith.

And 2015 Donruss All-Time Diamond Kings.

Also in the trade I got a 2009 Upper Deck Kerry Wood and a 1985 Donruss Lonnie Smith. Hopefully I can write more about them at a later date. Maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh.

A word about Donruss cards too. I really like the stock they've used in both 2014 and 2015 cards. Glossy front and back and heavy cards. Albeit I've only held two of them, the two of them have made me reconsider buying them in the future.

Now onto the bulk of the blog...While going through all of my cards I found two rookie cards I had that were just stowed away in boxes and not in the proper place, in top loaders. It was 2003 the last time I did a massive inventory of my collection, although they've been moved many times and most of them are in boxes I stored them in when I was a child.

Anyways onto the cards the first one....

1993 Score, #489 Derek Jeter Rookie Card.

Seeing this while thumbing through 1993 Score was a shocker, because in 2003 when I last did it, Jeter was a big deal, so why I buried this card back into the rest of the other cards is unknown.

I don't have a lot of the 1993 Score cards because I didn't like the design, I think it was the year Score started to go downhill. In 1994 they introduced the blue border which was a bitch to keep good looking cards, but they also had the Gold Rush cards which I was a fan of.

And yes. I'm in the camp that believes Jeter is highly overrated.

Another rookie card I found was....

2004 Topps, #324 Yadier Molina, First Year Rookie Card

Now this one made me much more giddy than the Jeter, mostly because I'm a Cardinals fan and a Molina fan.

2004 Topps doesn't make a big dent in my collection, only racking about 60 cards of the 32,000. But the Molina rookie is one and now probably one of my cherished cards, even though I've only known I've had it for a couple months now. Strange how collecting works. It's in absolute perfect condition as well, like it was just pulled from the pack. No signs of aging since it was right in the middle of the box where even just a hint of air would touch it. I'm sorry, it's like I'm in the movie Sideways and I'm drinking a fine wine. I'm not drinking any f*cking Merlot!

And finally as I've mentioned I've just surpassed my 32,000 baseball card collected (not counting cards I have for trade). And the card in question that got me over the hump...

2015 Ginter, Keys to the City: Gateway Arch. That's fitting. I got the card via trade from wjsenke at the TCDB.

So there we have it...And I've recently order my Series 1 box of 2015 Topps. As I'm typing this it's currently in Oompa Loompa, Florida. Strike that. Opa-Locka, Florida. Wherever that is. Hopefully it gets here by Saturday morning and I don't have to go outside and get some fresh air. I can stay inside all day, ripping open packs of cards. lol

Everybody Was Shaq-Fu Fightin'

Another good day to get the mail, so lets jump right in because I don't want make this extra long lol...

A trade from 49ants over at the Trading Card Database came in. I traded a 2013 Topps Gold Ryan Vogelsong and a 2012 Topps Gold Standard Willie McCovey and in return I got...

Ozzie Smith 1996 Topps Chrome, Master of the Game. Another Ozzie to check off. I also got two Kerry Wood card as well. Hopefully I can write about them at a later date. Maniacal laugh gimmick.

Also received a Pat Neshek 2014 Heritage High Number card I got off eBay. Hopefully I can write more at a later date.

Another pick-up off eBay was....

Cliff Floyd, 2015 Stadium Club Certified Auto. This was kind of a mistake. lol The bid was so low on, I thought someone would surely get it from me. But nope. I got this at the same time as the Neshek card, both cards were less than $4.50 and that's with shipping.

And the last thing to write about. Shaq...

Shaquille O'Neal, 1996-97 SkyBox Premium Intimidators TTM auto came in today. Yeah, it's awesome. I know there are tons of stories out there how he either uses a autopen, or has a ghost signer. I don't care either way. I had this card on trade at TCDB for awhile and nobody asked me about it, so I thought what the hell. It's my only Shaq card and it has an autograph on it now.

With so much good stuff coming in the past few days, I'm disappointed because I know its going to be ending very soon. My decent run is coming to a screeching halt. lol

Awesome Mail Day Is Awesome

Lot of stuff came in today, so lets dive right in...

Starting off with a Penn & Teller signed 8x10, this came today. It was free by requesting it from their website. It looks real, could be autopen. Don't really care though because they're great and I'm keeping it. lol

Next off is a trade from the Trading Card Database from CoachBarry, I sent:

 

2013 Topps 1972 Mini of Matt Kemp and 2015 Gypsy Queen Glove Story of Nori Aoki.

And in return I got:

Daniel Norris 2015 Gypsy Queen Rookie Card, which means I'm only two base cards away from completing that set. I hear the other two screaming at me from my eBay Watch List.

Ozzie Smith, 2014 Donruss and Pat Neshek 2014 Topps Update. Both of these were extras he threw in to the trade, which is really nice. I haven't thrown any extras into my trades and it makes me feel like an ass that I didn't.

The Ozzie card will be squirreled away with my other Ozzie Smith cards and the Neshek I have plans for. Maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh.

And then finally the big trade from this week comes from wjsenke over at the TCDB. Probably the biggest trade I've pulled off from the site Too big to break down individually. But here we go...

I parted ways with a bunch of Gypsy Queen Minis, basically all of them except for what Cardinal ones I have and I believe I still have a Lou Gehrig one I'm not really sure if I want to trade. lol I believe he got 24 Minis and a Yusimero Petit 2015 Topps Rainbow Foil card.

And in return I got, here come the pictures:

 

Bert Kreischer 2014 Ginter Relic, Chanel Iman 2013 Mini Framed Relic and 2015 Stadium Club Luminous Trumvrate. Those were the big three heavy hitters, I like low end Relics, not something with 00/25 where I feel like I shouldn't touch it and I have plans for the Kreischer Relic. Maniacal Laugh (see above).

Also included in the trade was a 1993 Upper Deck Omar Olivares card, I'm getting so close to completing that monster of a set. A 2009 Yadier Molina Upper Deck, 2011 Heritage Pujols, A few 2012 Topps to help sure up that set, another I'm close to finishing. A good sized stack of 2014 Heritage. Maybe half way done with that set.

I'll put a break here because of run on sentences. lol 

Also six 2015 Topps Heart of the Order cards. Ted Williams, Mike Piazza, Mike Trout, Hanley Ramirez and Matt Adams.

And then finally two 2015 Ginter cards:

Cardinal Kolten Wong and....

Keys to the City, Gateway Arch St. Louis.

He also added a couple bonus cards too. Scott Terry 1988 Donruss, Ozzie Smith MVP 1988 Donruss, which looks to be in better shape than the one I have so a big thank you to wjsenke for that! 1992 Pinnacle Brian Barber and then this....

1986 Topps Brian Harper. In a Cardinal uniform. I had no idea he had a Cardinal card, shows how much I know huh? But needless to say...I have plans for this card...Say it with me people! Maniacal laugh...Maniacal laugh....