Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Box Break: 2010/11 Panini Score Hockey

Bout damn time I uploaded this...





And now for my comparison between Victory and Score.



What's more that needs to be said? Better design, better checklist, better inserts, hits. Score skates circles around Victory. Victory is not a bad product, it's just Score is so much of a better product.

SCORE WINS!


Score isn't without flaws, though. 1 per pack glossy parallels serve no purpose and 20th Anniversary Parallels most certainly serve no purpose. But, you can pull a lot of good rookies, inserts, and even hits (no, 1 gold parallel per box doesn't count count as a hit) from a box of Score. Panini does make some dumb and pointless products (Epix), but they nailed this one pretty well.

2010/11 Score Hockey - Hench Approved

Sidenote-That Justin Mercier guy? He's a 6th round draft pick............. yup, that's a fail.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Where Did I Disappear To?

As you may have noticed, I've stopped posting since Adrian Gonzale became a part of the Red Sox. The question is, where did I go? Well, once I back after Thanksgiving, those things called finals started rolling around and I got swamped up in the mass amount of studying, paper writing, and test taking. Now, thankfully that's over, I've returned to Boston, and I need update and comment on some things.

1. Red Sox sign Carl Crawford and retool the bullpen
I can't say I was a massive supporter of the Crawford deal at the beginning of the offseason (I would've prefered Jayson Werth, but that's just me). But that doesn't mean that this is a bad signing for the Sox. This gives them a tremendous amount of speed, both in the field and on the base paths. Crawford has steadily turned himself into sort of a 5-tool player and I think he will continue to develop while he's in Boston. They also finally addressed the issues in the bullpen and signed Bobby Jenks, Dan Wheeler, and a bunch of other guys. Maybe they weren't the guys I originally thought of (my thoughts were Scott Downs or Matt Guerrier), but still these were good signings. If Papelbon implodes again, Jenks can close and Wheeler is excellent addition to Bard at the setup role. Combined, these two will hopefully do what most couldn't do last year, bridge the gap to Papelbon in the 9th.

2. YANKEE FAIL!
Cliff Lee was guaranteed to be a Yankee at the end of the season. Instead, he winds up in Philly. They can't get any of the big name free agents. And their big signings are Russell Martin and Mark Prior. 1 word: FAIL! I feel that sums it up.

3. Topps Fail
Bowman Platinum is keeping them on the streak of "we doesn't gives a shat about quality control". I plan on buying a blaster once I return to Ohio, but from what I've seen (and what most have seen), it looks like shat. Just another product they were banking on with Stras-JO! In addition, Topps has released images for next year's Gypsy Queen Baseball. Excuse me, but Gyspy Queen baseball? First, hell of a creepy name. Second, the previews have shown that there is nothing attractive about this set. Third, more retro? THERE IS NO NEED FOR MORE RETRO! Bring back good Stadium Club, Topps Total, anything but more barage of retro sets!

That's all I need to comment on. I busted a box of Score Hockey over 2 weeks ago and I really need to post that. And, I've been trying to refrain from buying wax, but a box of Updates for 30 bucks is really clawing at me.

Back to Christmas shopping...

In addition: I've started to sell my unwanted cards on eBay because I'd like some extra money for the shopping season. So far, I've sold only 3 items, and 2 of them haven't made me a lot of money: a Bob Gibson fake patch and a Pablo Sandoval Game Jersey. One of the items did bring me in a good deal of money: a Starlin Castro Autograph from Topps Chrome. I bought 1 pack for 3 bucks and sold the card for almost 15 bucks. Talk about good return on investment! I'll be listing some more cards on the Bay in the next couple of days, nothing special, just some junky hits. My profile is panam382, so check it out!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

A Nice Birthday Gift From the Sox

What do prospects and over $100 million get you?



That guy. Adrian Flippin Gonzalez. And, you know what? We didn't have to give up this guy to him.

Makes me all warm inside.