Henchmeister's Junk Blog

The Rematch to End All Rematches

2012-01-07T12:39:00.002-05:00

Remember this?

And this?

And this?

THEY'RE BACK!

VANCOUVER FAIL. GO BRUINS!

Hench's Take - Braun and PEDs

2012-01-02T11:21:00.003-05:00

With all the talk about Ryan Braun, his PED use, and how much of a cheater he is, I just have one comment to make.

I can't wait until someone in the Hall of Fame comes out and admits they took some sort of "performance enhancing substance". The outcry will be off the charts and hypocrites will be found left and right. Finally, the end will come to baseball players being burned at the stake by writers and fans for testing positive for drug X. This is stupid.

Collecting Goals for 2012

2011-12-31T11:52:00.004-05:00

I hate New Year's Resolutions. They end up being pie in the sky goals that never really happen, and then the next year, the people make the same resolution. And the vicious cycle continues. But, goals for the year, goals are a good thing. Goals are a bit different, in my mind, because they are more tangible than "resolutions". So, without a due, I present to you

HENCHMEISTER'S COLLECTING GOALS FOR 2012!

1. Fully organize my Player Collections with pictures/scans. I have already started this one with my Ryan Kalish PC, but now I need to start doing this for my Wakefield and Ellsbury PCs.
2. Add at least 20 more cards to my Ryan Kalish PC. The current number stands at 27. His stuff can be had pretty cheaply, so this shouldn't be too difficult. I've been pretty lucky this year in being able to pick up a lot of his stuff pretty cheaply (due to injury, I should add), but that might not continue if he gets the starting right field job in June, or whenever he comes back. Hopefully I can pick up his 2008 Chrome Auto before that.
3. Add at least 30 cards plus an Auto/GU card to my Tim Wakefield PC. The current number is 44. This has been sort of surprising to me, as I have made a fair amount of progress with this collection. For whatever reason though, I haven't picked up a "hit" of his. I think I can do better next year.
4. Add at least 50 cards plus an Auto/GU card to my Jacoby Ellsbury PC. The current number is 31. The Eclectic Ellsbury Collection started out very slow, but in the last month or so, it's finally picking up steam with a couple of big trades. His stuff is easily available, so I don't think it will be that difficult to hit 81 by the end of next year.
5. Scale down my collection. I'm gonna be honest, I have way too much stuff. I think in the next week or so, I need to host a giveaway so I can get rid of some stuff. I should also make a few trades to bring in stuff I actually want. And, I need money, so I've started to sell a lot of stuff. But, seriously, I need to get rid of my unwanted cards.
6. Stop impulse wax purchases. Unless it's for a set I need, I don't need it. I don't have a lot of money to spend in the first place, so I shouldn't spend it on cards I don't need or will have any use for.
7. Start an interesting set collection. I just want to start a set that's different from your typical base set. I've been think about doing the 2010 Upper Deck Portrait insert set, or the 2009 Heritage Clubhouse Collection relic set. Both should not be too expensive.
8. Chip away at my wantlists. SEND ME 2010 UPDATES!
9. Be a better blogger. I'm prone to laziness, as you can tell. But, it's not that difficult to put together a 100 word blog post. Of course, it may not be the most quality material, but it still should be good.

So, these are my goals. Hopefully I can stay focused this upcoming year and continue piecing together a solid collection. See you in 2012!

The Junk Blog Presents...

2011-12-25T13:28:00.003-05:00

A Very Bruin Christmas.

Merry Christmas to All!

HJB Masterpieces Card #15

2011-12-13T11:48:00.003-05:00

Card #15 - Matt Barnes

Finals are currently eating my soul right now, so no real time to make any new posts. So I give you a new HJB Masterpieces card: Matt Barnes. First round pick by the Red Sox. My current investment. UConn product. I should get back to studying...or procrastinating.

Want to See The Kalish Kollection?

2011-11-30T22:36:00.003-05:00

Here you go!

Yes, I've created a Photobucket album for my Kalish Kollection. I have photos (not scans, but I will get scans when I get home for summer) of all Kalish cards I currently own. I will update it when I receive something new. The Kollection is always a work in progress, but it's looking pretty solid so far. Go ahead and check it out!

I will add my Wakefield's and Ellsbury's at a later date.

I'm Violating My Own Moral Code of Baseball Cards

2011-11-27T12:08:00.003-05:00

I find collecting enjoyable. I don't look at it as dollar signs and monetary value, I look at it as fun. See what I can get to expand my collection, while spending as little money as possible and selling off what I don't want. I don't like to look at cards as investments or money making devices. I feel it takes the fun out of collecting.

However, I have violated this "policy" as of today. Today, I learned that I am the highest bidder of a Matt Barnes autograph, from the recently released BDP&P. I have wanted to avoid having baseball cards as investments. But, I am currently very cash strapped. I'm making a little money here and there, but there is no sustained income. So, I have decided to start a Matt Barnes Stash (as they call it on FCB). Barnes, out of UConn, was selected 19th overall by the Red Sox and looks to have a promising future. Plus, his base autos average under 10 bucks right now. Now, this won't be a big stash, I don't have the budget to acquire 15 base autos, 10 refractor autos, 8 blues, 5 golds, 3 oranges, 2 purples (yes, they have purple refractor autos now), a red, and the superfractor. It will be something like a handful (3 or 4) of base autos and maybe a refractor. Hopefully it's enough to profit and be able to keep one.

I know, I'm violating my own moral code of baseball cards. BUT I NEEDZ TEH MONEYZ! Now excuse me while I return to school.

7 Packs of 2008 Goudey

2011-11-23T20:32:00.002-05:00

A trip to the LCS yields these:

Chippin away at this set. Veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrryyyyyyyy slooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwly.

Killing a Group Break

2011-11-10T23:13:00.002-05:00

I'm back! Finally! With actual cards!

My recommendation: check out Mojo Break NOW!

HJB Masterpieces Card #14

2011-10-22T15:39:00.003-04:00

Card #14: Rob Gronkowski

GRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been sick on and off for the past 2 weeks. But hopefully I can post my most recent pickups in a video one of these days. And by recent I mean pretty much 2 months worth....

HJB Masterpieces Card #13

2011-10-10T20:41:00.004-04:00

Card #13: Carlton Fisk

I must think good thoughts after what happened. Well, the Rangers and Tigers did help my cause as well. But this helps too. Even though I wasn't alive then, I can still appreciate this.

HJB Masterpieces Card #12

2011-10-05T20:57:00.002-04:00

Card #12: Tim Thomas

YOU KNOW WHAT RETURNS TOMORROW?

HOCKEY!

GO BRUINS!

HJB Masterpieces Card #11

2011-10-03T22:41:00.002-04:00

Back from depression. Sort of.

Card 11: The Top Gear Cast

I just got into the show this year. It is fracking AWESOME! And I'm not even a car fan. I'm even watching it now, which inspired me to make this card. A triple auto of these guys would make my life. Hmmmmmmm...A&G? Maybe? Possibly?

Anger

2011-09-29T00:12:00.002-04:00

Full. Blown. Collapse. So. Painful.

I'm so mad, this is all I can type.

In other news, Go Bruins.

I'm done. I need sleep.

Carl Crawford is a waste of money.

HJB Masterpieces Card #10

2011-09-28T10:40:00.002-04:00

Card #10 - Lonnie Chisenhall

I've become so frustrated with the Red Sox, I've started putting players from teams outside of Boston in this set. Already. It comes down to Game 162 tonight in Baltimore. PLEASE JON LESTER, DON'T SUCK.

In the meantime, Chisenhall will hopefully become my mainstay at 3rd base on my keeper team. A mid-season acquisition for me, he's been solid on a team that has sucked kinda hard this year. Hopefully I can turn it around next year.

HJB Masterpieces Card #9

2011-09-23T22:03:00.003-04:00

Card Numbah 9: Sox Prospect Will Middlebrooks

The current everyday Red Sox are making me waaaaaaaaaay too angry right now. So, here's a card of a potential future Red Sox (he's not affecting the outcome of games, so he doesn't piss me off). Middlebrooks came on strong this year. He was a middle tier prospect last year, and now BOOM! Top 5 with ease. Of course, the Sox kinda have no one in the system presently, so it isn't hard. But, trust me, he's pretty good.

HJB Masterpieces Card #8

2011-09-23T08:35:00.002-04:00

Card 8: Ray Bourque

Guess who just started their preseason two nights ago?!?! Alright, I don't care either. If there is anything more useless than the preseason...I haven't found it yet. I'll get back to you on that. Oh, and wake me up when the real defense of the Cup commences.
Ray Bourque? Oh, maybe just one of the best Bruin defensemen ever. Behind some guy named Orr, me thinks.

HJB Masterpieces Card #7

2011-09-18T20:04:00.002-04:00

Card #7: Troy Brown

I told you I would update semi-daily. Football has started, so I decided to make a card of a great Patriot. He did everything. Return kicks, catch passes, play defensive back even. He will never be widely remembered around the league, but he will always be a great Patriot.

HJB Masterpieces Card #6

2011-09-11T20:14:00.005-04:00

Card #6: Rajon Rondo

In all honesty, I kinda dislike the NBA...a lot. If you told me you would give me 50 bucks if I could stay on the same channel and watch an entire NBA game on TV, I couldn't do it. It's so painful. SO PAINFUL!!! That being said, Rajon Rondo is my favorite Celtic (or Paul Pierce...I can't decide). The plays he can make are nuts. Can someone buy me season tickets to the Celtics or Cavs so I can become a basketball fan again? Thanks!

As all of you know, today is the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I was only in 4th grade at the time, but I was able to understand quite a bit about the situation. I remember the next day was non-stop talk about the attacks. All of it is a bit fuzzy, because it was never on the forefront of my mind. Today, 10 years later as a college sophomore, it has come more to the forefront. To all of those lost 10 years ago today, may you rest in peace. The 12 mile long run I did today (tendonitis and all) was in honor of all of you.

HJB Masterpieces Card #5

2011-09-10T16:27:00.003-04:00

Card #5: Danny Woodhead

Stolen from the Jets! Hellz yeah! This is the most recent guy to come out of nowhere and into the Patriots running back system. I really hope this guy has a another good season, and that he's not on of those one-year wonder types.

Is It Just Me...

2011-09-09T15:43:00.003-04:00

Or did Topps really overdo it with the parallels in Topps Chrome this year? Let's see we have:

Base
Refractor
X-Fractor
Purple
Blue
Orange
Black
Sepia
Gold
Red
Atomic
Super
Canary
(Along with '96 Chrome Inserts and more Heritage Chrome)

SERIOUSLY TOPPS, WHY THE FUCK DO WE NEED ELEVENTY-BAZILLION PARALLEL SETS?!?!?! THIS DOESN'T HELP ANYTHING!

HJB Masterpieces Card #4

2011-09-08T22:58:00.003-04:00

Card #4: Adrian Gonzalez

Theo has had his fair share of poor decisions as GM. But, he has sure as hell had his winners too. Take this guy for example. .341 average? 103 RBIs? I'd say Theo found a winner here.

HJB Masterpieces Card #3

2011-09-07T10:52:00.002-04:00

Card #3 in the set: Tom Brady.

I don't care if he sports long hair that makes lose his manliness, the dude can throw a hell of a lot of touchdowns. Oh, and he won 3 Superbowls. You know, no big deal.

HJB Masterpieces Card #2

2011-09-05T10:08:00.003-04:00

Card #2 in the HJB Masterpieces Series: Peedy

Three words to describe this:

THE LAZAH SHOW!

HJB Masterpieces Card #1

2011-09-04T16:53:00.005-04:00

Ok, so in my tired state of mind last night, I posted a preview of my new custom card set: HJB Masterpieces. So, here's a bit more of an explanation and whatnot.

-There is no limit to how big this set can get. I've already thought about how much awesomeness I can pack into the checklist that I've set the checklist size to as much as I want.

-I do like the design of UD Masterpieces (I've never busted any, but I like it). So, I've given the cards a rough pastel on canvas look. No borders though. I am inept at that type of Photoshop.

-The main focus will be Boston sports, but I will add others as necessary. Including non-sports stuff as well. No Yankees though. Yankees are forbidden. Always.

So, here's card #1 in the checklist that I showed last night: Brad Marchand

The Little Ball of Hate made my life during this past playoff run. From completely pissing off the Sedin twins, to scoring goals and making plays in key situations (see Game 7, Stanley Cup Finals), to rapping to Black & Yellow at the parade. You want proof?

I will update this (for the most part) daily. Stay tuned for more!

Custom Cahds?

2011-09-03T23:31:00.004-04:00

The latest and greatest custom card set is here. Well, sort of.

HJB Masterpieces

Simple design + Canvasy look + Boston sports (and others when necessary) = Awesomeness

More updates later.

My Return to Ohio

2011-08-27T20:22:00.003-04:00

Yay Ohio!

Oh, and here's an update of the recent trades/purchases I've made.

Here's to an end of the laziness!

Score?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

2011-08-02T11:29:00.003-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, it's back!

Well, not til late October. But, still!

SCORE

FRACKING

HOCKEY!!!!

It better be about as awesome as year. Get ready for massive amounts of Score breaks.

Info here

BLAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!! - I'm Lazy

2011-07-25T23:32:00.002-04:00

Seriously, why am I so lazy? I did this video like 2 weeks ago. Anyway, here's a recap of a recent 2008 Goudey box break.

Oh, and my wantlist is up for that set. And it is massive. So please help.

And, for good measure, here is a recent recap of some Kalish and Wakefield stuff I picked up.

I seriously need to take photo of that triple auto, that thing is redonkulously awesome!

And now, an end to this laziness. Finally.

How the Youth of America are Corrupting the Hobby

2011-07-05T18:21:00.003-04:00

Courtesy of the FCB Forums....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xPNL4by4kk&feature=player_embedded

Someone explain to me how this kid can afford a box of Bowman and I can't afford a box of Series 2 Topps. I call shenanigans.

My Wantlists are Up

2011-06-26T16:05:00.002-04:00

Good lord, I need a lot of this year's Topps set.

Anyway, my wantlists are up (to a degree, more to come later). The link can be found at the top of the page, next to my Kalish Kollection and Wakefield Collection. Hit me up if you want to trade.

Bruins Tribute and Retail Packs

2011-06-21T12:04:00.003-04:00

And, you know what, let's watch Game 7 with Dave Goucher and Bob Beers with the call.

Makes me feel good every time!

The Most Glorious Post About Cards Ever

2011-06-17T10:36:00.002-04:00

No seriously, it is. Stale Gum's one and only Chris Harris, as only he can do, has compared cards to drugs. Maybe the best piece of cardbloggery ever written. And, you should go read it RIGHT NOW!

No, seriously, you should.

Special Annoucement

2011-06-15T23:23:00.004-04:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled cardbloggery to bring you a special announcement...

YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES
YESYESYESYES!!!!!!!

Oh right, and do you need any further proof of Tim Thomas being God?

I rest my case.

A Trip to the LCS: Golds, Twinks, and Tim Wakefield

2011-06-11T00:00:00.011-04:00

Some local card shops leave something to be desired. Not mine. Kenmore Collectibles is, in my opinion, the best run card shop in the Boston Area. The owners really know how to connect to the collector: reasonable wax prices, lots of cheap singles, sales and discounts, and so on and so forth.

So today, with a little extra time on my hands, I decided to make a run on the LCS. Here's the stuff I picked up while there.

Note to all: I Collect Wakefield (with a C, the Kollecting is reserved for Kalish). Just decided yesterday to start collecting the Ol Knuckleballer, so here's a start to my collection. Now up to whopping 6 cards! Woo!

I think I might go after the entire 2010 A&G Mini Set. I just really like the design of these cards. Now, I only have 348 of 350 to go; I only have this and Vernon Wells. Fun...

A Sonny Gray chrome for $.50? Eh, what the hell! Might be able to make a buck or two down the line. I've heard that he is the shit, but time will tell.

Now, this was an interesting find. For 3 bucks, a gold refractor of a guy that is hot this season. Morton is 6-2 with an ERA under 2.5 for the Bucco's this year. Think I can crack 5 bucks on eBay with this thing? (Yeah I'm selling it, I need money!)

I also bought I rack pack of 2011 Topps Series 1 while there (I figure the hobby wax was probably too expensive to buy, but who cares). I pulled this from the rack:

Yes, this is a David Price waste of space sparkle variation. I don't understand two things: why Topps makes these and how they are popular. It's only a little photoshopped lens flare,

WHAT'S THE BIG FRACKIN DEAL?!?!?!

Returning to cardbloggery, this was gonna be it from card shop, but the owner threw in a bonus:

These here are hobby store exclusive inserts. The owner said he usually distributes them one at a time, but he gave me 10 of them: Aaron, Pujols, Longoria, Heyward, Posey, Braun, Cano, Mauer, Howard, and Hamilton. I think these are kinda interesting inserts, very simple. Nothing overly special, just simple. I think I might go after the full set of these, so if you have any, shoot me a message and we can work out a deal.

And, if you're ever in the Boston Area, make a run over to Kenmore Collectibles, located on Commonwealth Ave in Kenmore Square in Boston, only a 5 minute walk from Fenway Pahk!

Oh, and short Bruins update: Alex Burrows is a tool and Tim Thomas is still God.

That is all.

Here They Come

2011-06-09T10:26:00.002-04:00

First 8-1

Then 4-0

Yes folks, the series is even. Game 5 tomorrow!

Meanwhile, can someone please flatten Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler?

Oh, yeah, and Tim Thomas is still god.

Game 1: Oh God.......

2011-06-01T23:08:00.002-04:00

So promising....

Then a goal happened....

With 18 seconds to go....

Why?!

That being said, Tim Thomas is still god.

Day 3 from Nationals

2011-06-01T16:09:00.003-04:00

Ok, so this happened this past Saturday. Yeah, I'm lazy, go figure.

Day 3 saw the final day of competition at the 2011 Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. Good news with that: 1. No decathlon or heptathlon events to slow things down in the afternoon. 2. All events are final. 3. Competition ends at 5. We ended up leaving at about 7:30, but it felt like the day went a lot quicker.

3 members of OWU Track & Field competed on Day 3. Emily Amburgey competed in the high jump, clearing 1.62 meters, but finished in 17th overall. Kat Zimmerly finished 15th in the 5k. And, folks, OWU has an All-American! Ethan Freet ran a 52.15 in the 400 meter hurdles to finish 3rd overall, in the nation. Congrats to Ethan and the rest of our OWU competitors!

The Race of the Day is a bit of a toss up. Both of these races were really impressive because both of the winners carried out distance doubles and won: the 800 and the 5k. In the 800, Nick Guarino of SUNY Fredonia, who had already won the national title in the 1500, had a hell of a showdown with Ben Scheetz of Amherst in order to win the title. It came down to the last 100, and Guarino was able to hold off Scheetz to win. And, in the 5k, Mike Spain of North Central, who I've previously mentioned and won the 10k, was 5th with 250 meters to go, and absolutely flew in that last 250 to win. Oh, and 1-2 in the 5k was the same as 1-2 in the 10k (go figure).

Well, it was a hell of fun time to host Nationals. I've never been around so many redonkalous athletes in my life. I wish some day I can run at National meet, but for now, hosting will suffice.

And, again, congrats to All-American Ethan Freet!

Back to our regularly scheduled cardbloggery.

Day 2 from Nationals

2011-05-29T16:33:00.003-04:00

Smart me. Skipping out on work to watch trains on Day 2 of Nationals. Seriously, waiting for nothing to happen is boring as hell. Not much really happened anyway on Day 2 except for Field Events, the end of the decathlon and heptathlon, lotsa prelims, and the 3k steeple. Only one of OWU's finest competed on Day 2: Sarah Bechtel in the pole vault. She cleared 3.39 meters, but fell short of All-American honors. Those vaulters can go ridiculously damn high.

Since, I missed most of the races from the day, I give the race of the day to the Men's 3k Steeplechase. It was a very close race for the entirety, but with about 600 to go, Dickinson's Kent Pecora got accidentally pushed into the infield for 5 steps or so (note-you're only allowed 3 consecutive steps on the infield otherwise you are disqualified). Pecora then proceeded to act like he was shot out of a cannon, absolutely flying in the last 600 meters to win. Officials ruled it was incidental contact that caused this, and that Pecora would not be disqualified. My pick to win the race, Nick Kramer of Calvin College, finished 3rd.

More to come from Nationals!

Day 1 from Track Nationals

2011-05-27T16:41:00.002-04:00

Hosting Track Nationals = awesome. The amounts of free stuff you get are ridiculous. So far, I've racked up 2 t-shirts, a polo, a draw-string bag, a water bottle, and some other assorted crap. I also bought some other shit as well. Again, not every day you host nationals. Working Track Nationals, especially during the down time = frackin boring. I have never been as bored as I've been in my life. We essentially had to stay in the muddy hospitality tent with shitty views of the track waiting for our next assignment, which I could have to wait an hour for. Eventually, I got so bored that I went and ran errands, and it's a good thing cause the skies opened up and let forth a hell of a downpour while I was gone. And, I wasn't there. Winner = me.

Oh, yeah, there were races, throws, and jumps as well. 5 OWU athletes competed on Thursday. Cara DeAngelis ran in the 1500 preliminaries, and was unfortunately 2 spots from making the finals, finishing with a time of 4:37. The 4x400 team of Sean Patrick, Matt Martin, Ethan Freet, and Silas Jolliff finished 14th out of 16 with a time of 3:17, a disappointing end to the season after claiming All-America honors in Indoor (good news though, 3 out of 4 of them return next year). Freet also ran in the preliminaries of the 400 hurdles and finished in the 4th fastest time of 52.57 seconds, making it to the finals on Saturday.

The race of the day yesterday was, of all things, the men's 10k. I know, you're thinking "how the hell can 25 laps be interesting, especially laps 3-22?". Of course, being a distance runner helps. But, I seriously couldn't turn my head away from this race. From the outset, Eric Kleinsasser of Occidental took a large lead for the first 7 or 8 laps. Of course, common wisdom of 10k says that "he who takes a large lead early in the 10k will die hard". And, what do you know, he dies and the pack catches him! The pack remains pretty much intact until about 3200 meters to go (or so), when Mike Spain of North Central and Thomas Breitbach of Wisconsin-Eau Claire break away from the field. Now, usually the winner of the 10k is usually settled with 1200-2400 meters to go. Not today folks. The longest race on the track, 10,000 meters, 25 laps, is settled...

IN THE LAST 200 FRAKCIN METERS!

Yes, a sprint down the last 200. Mike Spain won with a time of 29:58 (which is not even his fastest). Being in the stands and watching, it was ridiculous.

Day 2 of Nationals coming tomorrow!

2011 NCAA DIII Outdoor Track and Field Nationals

2011-05-24T17:21:00.010-04:00

This Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Ohio Wesleyan, the school which I'm currently attending and getting an education from, is hosting the NCAA DIII Outdoor Track & Field National Meet! YAY FAST RUNNERS! Being a member of the OWU Track & Field Team, this is a big deal to me, and to the entire team. Not everyday that you compete for a school that is hosting a national meet, such as this.

The best sprinters, runners, throwers, jumpers, and vaulters from DIII Schools across the country will compete at OWU's Selby Stadium. But, screw them, we only care the OWU athletes competing in this meet. Turns out, we got 8 of them; 4 men, 4 women. So, here's a breakdown of each runner, what they have accomplished, and what event(s) they are racing/jumping/throwing in this weekend.

Starting with the men:

Ethan Freet, SO, London, OH

Freet, at the 2011 NCAC Conference Meet, dominated the sprinting events, winning the 55 Meter Dash, the 200m, the 400m, was a part of the winning 4x200, and winning 4x400 teams. For the entire season, Freet has been close to the top in every event he ran in. It's safe to say he's a boss.
Freet will be competing in the 400m hurdles and the 4x400.

Speaking of the 4x4, here is the rest of the 4x4 squad:

Matt Martin, SO, New Brighton, PA

Sean Patrick, SR, Delaware, OH

Silas Jolliff, SO, Cardington, OH

On the women's side:
Emily Amburgey, SO, Germantown, OH

Amburgey qualified for Nationals in indoors for the high jump. She also won All-NCAC Honors in indoors and outdoors for the high jump. She also has competed in the hurdles and long jump this season.
As you can probably guess, Amburgey will compete in the high jump.

Sarah Bechtel, FR, Bellefontaine, OH

Bechtel won the pole vault in both the NCAC Indoor and Outdoor Conference Meets. Her highest vault was at 3.55 meters. She also competed in the hurdles this year.
Bechtel will compete in, you guessed it, the pole vault.

Cara DeAngelis, FR, Norton, OH

DeAngelis has been very under the radar (kinda because one of her teammates steals the spotlight from her, but more on that later), but has become one of the strongest distance runners on the OWU Team. She won the 1500m at the NCAC Outdoor Conference Meet, and took 2 3rd place finishes in at indoor conference. She also hit NCAA Provisional Qualifying times in the 1500 and 5000m.
Cara will compete in the 1500m this weekend.

Kat Zimmerly, SR, Edinboro, PA

What hasn't she done? Kat was All-American in Cross Country this past year. She won the mile and 3k at the indoor conference meet, and won the 3k steeplechase at the outdoor conference meet. She has school records in everything it seems like, 3k steeple, 5k, and then decided to set the record in the 10k.
Kat will compete in the 5k.

Stay tuned for more information and updates from the meet!

Timothy James Thomas, Jr.

2011-05-23T22:56:00.003-04:00

He is the goalie-god. Nuff said. Game 6 Wednesday in Tampa!

The Great Ryan Kalish Chase: Episode 3

2011-05-19T11:06:00.002-04:00

We're back with another episode. Since my last Kalish update, his prices have tanked. Kinda helped by his partially torn labrum in his left shoulder, which happened on a diving catch. Not good to see him go down, but it's helping me with buying his autos cheaper!

I went through a Kalish buying skid, though. When you're short on money, you kinda don't want to spend money on any type of cards, even if they are of the guy you are crazy-collecting. During a double Ebay Bucks day, I decided to throw a dollar twenty-five at his Bowman DP&P Rookie Card, then threw my Ebay Bucks certificate and 2 cents at his Bowman Platinum rookie card. Note-Bowman Platinum is not all that it cracks up to be, in my opinion.

Then, as you know, prices tanked on everything his. So, I decided to make a run at an auto. I made a couple of runs at some assorted autos: 09 Bowman, 08 EEE, 11 Topps; nothing too serious though. But, the only one that I made a serious was his 08 Bowman Signs of the Future Auto. It's not the greatest design for an auto, but I'm happy, it's another Kalish Auto.

Final Price: $3.60

Even his low numbered shit fell hard. There was a 2010 Sterling Gold Refractor #'d/50 available for $.99 with no bids with about 9 hours to go. Of course, I decide to throw a bid at it. And, I looked to have the winning bid into the last minute. Then some jackass made a last minute snipe and won it for $1.83. SCREW YOU JACKASS!

More Kalish shenanigans to come, as there are more cards on the way!

I Kollect Kalish

2011-05-15T11:11:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to make it known to the world.

What's Wrong With the NBA?

2011-05-12T10:05:00.000-04:00

Haven't posted for a while, but there is something, not necessarily card related, that needs to be posted. *Disclaimer* - I am from Boston, but I do not mean this as being a sore loser for the Celtics losing.

Is there anything wrong with the NBA? Really, did I just say that? There can't be anything wrong with the league, it has everything going for it. Stacked teams a la the 80s Celtics and Lakers, endless amounts of superstars, their athleticism is off the charts, the Memphis Grizzlies of all teams knocking off the Spurs, showing that there are signs of parody in the league. Yup, they have everything going their way.

Yup, Arnold said it, the NBA is not all it's cracked up to be. The NBA is not about fundamental basketball anymore, it's all about flashy dunks, highlight-reel layups, and rainbow 3s. In other words, it's become a SportsCenter Top 10 Plays show.

Basketball is completely unwatchable. The game is boring. I even tried watching March Madness and got bored, and I usually love March Madness. The NBA has more talent than college, and it's even more boring than the college game.

Why is it? Basketball does not have a good rhythm to it like it used to. In the early 2000s, the game had a flow to it that today just seems to be lacking. In all honesty, though, I really can't explain it. I was much younger then, only 9 or 10, but I still enjoyed the game. It's turned into a street game on the court. Everyone is so talented and athletically gifted, but there is also a lack of fundamental basketball it seems. So while there are some great games, there are also plenty of games that are just plain sloppy. I personally don't want to watch sloppy basketball most of the time, I want to watch good games.

The NBA needs to be watched in person. The only basketball game I attended last year (2010) was a Celtics - Trail Blazers game in Boston. I thoroughly enjoyed that game. It was exciting, I got into the game quite a bit, and it was an extremely sloppy game! If you told me that I had won Celtics Season Tickets for life, I'd be very happy and probably become a fan again. But, when I go home and watch it on TV, the game is painful to watch because of the sloppiness. And, since Celtics tickets are now so expensive, and there are no teams in Central Ohio, I have to watch games on TV.

Super teams are a part of the NBA's culture, always have been, always will. But there is one team that has put an extremely bad taste in my mouth and has aided in my lack of enthusiasm for the NBA: the Miami Heat. Sure, I got a little excited when Boston put together their Big 3, but they at least did it the right way, no TV specials or bullshit. LeBron, D-Wade, and Bosh put themselves above the game and basically said we're better than everyone else and we're gonna beat everyone else. They're proving that they can beat everyone else now, but when the biggest superstar in the league goes on National TV to announce where he will play and then a giant party ensues on South Beach where they say they will win 10 championships and what-not, you gain a lot more haters than supporters (me being one of them).

Which leads me to LeBron, possibly half of what is wrong with the NBA. Memo to LeBron: grow up. Everyone one knows you are one of the greatest basketball players on the planet, but could you please stop acting you have been wronged by America and need to prove something to us. You put this upon yourself. You took an hour-long special on ESPN to announce to everyone, including the teams you interested in signing with, where you would play basketball this season. You helped create the unnecessary introduction of the 3 Amigos on stage in South Beach. You keep blowing up your Twitter feed with immature and unnecessary comments about redemption and karma (Twitter should be outlawed in 50 countries by now, but anyway). You sort of apologized to Cleveland fans by saying your sorry how "this" all happened. And, you also go down to one knee and look very emotional after beating the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semis.

Sure you are a great player, but leave the bullshit at the door. If you want to be better than Jordan, you have to act like a man. I know you're smart, just act like it. Man up, and say the way you went about the Decision was a stupid decision and that you are very sorry to the people you have pissed off. That so difficult? And, I pose this question, if the league's premier superstar is immature and arrogant as they come, what kind of image does this pose with the rest of the league?

There is one last thing wrong with the NBA: the national coverage. ESPN does a pretty job with covering baseball, and I love Matthew Barnaby and Barry Melrose covering hockey, but they are awful in their coverage of football and basketball. Plus, their image of turning into CNN for sports isn't helping them either. They get too swept up in talking about legacies and how great this one play was and what-not. I really don't care. Give me the basic stuff, no twitter feeds, no touch boards, no opinions from both sides, just the basics and maybe a little extra coverage from special events. Then cut to baseball highlights. And their national game coverage is just as horrendous, they seem to have no grasp about what they are explaining to their audience. Give me Gorman and Heinsohn any day over what they have.

So, what's wrong with the NBA? Well, I just gave it to you.

I'd be interested to hear reactions to this, feel free to leave a comment. But, please, do not say that I'm pissed off about the Celtics losing (because I'm not really a Celtics fan), or that I'm ranting against LeBron James (sure as hell looks like it, but I'm only pointing out that he's immature and doesn't know how to handle the spotlight).

Back to regularly scheduled cardbloggery.

On Location Pack Break - 2011 Topps Heritage from Liberty Collegiate Invitational

2011-04-09T10:47:00.004-04:00

I did this a week ago, but didn't get to post it til now. School really gets in the way some times.

SP, Inserts (not including the Yaz), and the Chrome are for trade.

The Great Ryan Kalish Chase: Episode 2

2011-03-27T00:41:00.005-04:00

I promised I would make my rounds on eBay looking for Kalish autos. And, I have. Now, I come to you with good news and bad news.

Bad News:
The 08 Bowman Chrome auto is slipping out of my grasp ever so slightly. I had one lined up for a steal at less than 10 bucks, $8.50 to be exact if I remember correctly. I had the high bid into the last minute, and I was about to celebrate my victory of this steal. Then, 2 or 3 last minute swipes came in, rendering me virtually helpless.

My high bid: $11.00
Final Amount: $15.00

Bastards.

I would check the completed listings on occasion just to see what the autos were going for. Some were selling for under 10 bucks. Why did I end up bidding on one that got swiped for 15 and I could've had one for a third of that? WHAT THE FUCK'S UP WITH THAT?!?!?!?!?!?!

Even base cards were at times absurd. Bidding on his Bowman Platinum base card with a $.99 starting bid,

Final bid: $3.32

Why would you ever want to pay over 3 bucks for a base rookie in a shitty product? AGAIN, WHAT THE FUCK'S UP WITH THAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

There is good news. I did happen to pick up a piece to add to the collection. No, it's not the 08 Chrome auto, but it's pretty decent, and it's a Kalish auto. Check this bad boy out:

Yes folks, that is a Ryan Kalish auto from Topps Pro Debut Series 1 (that overpriced Minor League stuff put out at the beginning of last year)! It's not the Chrome auto, but it's still a Kalish auto.

Final price: $8.59

Scoreboard me!

In the next episode of The Great Ryan Kalish Chase, we will continue to hunt for the 08 Chrome auto, and some other less expensive stuff in the jungles of eBay.

Junk Wax Break - 2010 National Chicle Retail

2011-03-22T20:49:00.004-04:00

Kinda wanted to see how bad this product is and why it failed. And, it was cheap...

Yeah I figured it out. Terrible Gimmicked Short Prints. Not Hench Approved.

The Great Ryan Kalish Chase: Episode 1

2011-03-09T20:58:00.005-05:00

Oh, it's on! The search for almost any card (within a reasonable price range) of this guy is on! I was looking for an auto of him, so I bought some boxes that might yield a Kalish auto.

First, a box of 2008 Tristar Projections, and not just any box of Tristar Projections...

No Kalish auto, but yes, 2 Kalish's out that 1 box!

IT'S RYAN FUCKING KALISH-JO!!!!!!!!!!

Next a box 2009 Bowman...a virtually impossible chance to pull a Kalish, but it was cheap. And, you know me, I love cheap wax!

So, no Kalish there. But wasn't expecting any in that box....sadly.

Good news: I gots me some more Kalish cards! Bad News: Still no autos...

On the next episode of The Great Ryan Kalish Chase, join us as we battle the jungles of eBay in search for the prized jem: the 2008 Bowman Chrome auto.

Blog Bat Around: Fixing Topps Baseball

2011-02-08T22:37:00.002-05:00

Found this on the Stale Gum Blog and decided I'd take a shot at this.
Michael Eisner has just fired the entire Topps Product Development staff and chose to hire you to take their place. Mr. Eisner has given you carte blanche to do whatever you want with Topps Baseball -- as long as you keep it under $2/pack.

If you were in charge of Topps, and based upon what you've seen of 2011 Topps Baseball Series One, what (if anything) would you have done differently?

Ok, here is what I would do:

1. Increase base set size - 330 cards is a little low, so how about we make the set something like 360 or 365 cards. And that does not mean making more subset cards of Strasburg, A-Rod, Halladay, or any of those other guys. Give middle relievers a chance at base Topps!

2. Include Manager Cards - I don't understand why these disappeared. So, they should come back. Just cause.

3. No more SPs or variations - I saw a post on the FCB Forums a few days ago and it stated that Topps needs to do these SPs and variations (including the sparkle cards this year) to increase the value of the base level Topps for people who flip cards on eBay, who he claims to be the majority of collectors. Note to this guy-base level Topps is not meant to be flipped on eBay, I'm sorry. Oh BTW, these cards really have no reason to be in the product (no, flipping this stuff does not count in my book) and I feel it compromises the integrity of the product. No more legend variations, no more sparkles, no more airbrushed uniforms.

4. Bye-Bye Reprints - A redundant set from last year? Yup, needs to go. And the pre-Topps reprints, gone as well.

5. No more Manu-Crap - Commemorative Patches and that Glove Leather stuff is quite unnecessary. Either that or don't treat that stuff as a hit.

6. A Creative Insert - Most of the inserts look like they're rehashed from last year. How about a Team MVP insert, with each team's best player from the previous year. Or something similar to UD's Pure Heat insert. Something needs to change on that front.

7. Stick to simple Autos/Relics - Do we need jersey cards of Mantle and jumbo patches in base level Topps? No. Just keep it to simple jersey cards and autos to keep the price down.

And finally:
8. No more Cut Signatures - Save that stuff for a higher end product. Again, not needed in a product like this.

From what I've seen, Topps did a pretty good job with 2011 Series 1, but they should really make some changes. There are other products to satisfy Joe Collectors and card-flippers. Now, I still need to go bust some of this stuff...

Million Card Giveaway Red Sox Junk

2011-01-29T21:53:00.003-05:00

With some time, 20-something redemption cards, and a good chunk of trades, I have finally built, what I feel is

THE ULTIMATE HENCHMEISTER RED SOX MCG COLLECTION OF EVER!!!!1!!!

Ok, maybe not. But, still I feel it's a pretty cool set.

Brings back good memories when the Curse was finally laid to rest. Bellhorn was never a great player, but he made some key hits that year. He also frustrated the hell out of us fans, but that is by the way.

Moss has never become a big talent in the majors. But, he will always hold a special memory to me. In 2006, I attended Game 4 of the Eastern League Divisional Playoffs between the Trenton Thunder and the Portland Sea Dogs. In that game, Moss hit a walk-off home run in extra innings to seal the series and send Portland to the EL Championship Series, where they would win their first ever title. In addition, Hideki Matsui struck out for Trenton. I had a bit of a laugh to myself.

Question: Why Jeff Bailey? Answer: I own one of his game worn BP Jerseys from his time with Portland. I always wanted him to succeed in the majors for that reason. Alas, that is not the case.

Now to some better stuff:

How can you not like the Rem-Dawg? Maybe not the best player, but a damn good color commentator.

This just needed to happen.

One of my dad's favorite players when he was young. Took me a while to acquire one of these. And, for some reason, I just like the 1959 design. Might have to buy some 08 Heritage...

Besides the Jensen and the Lee cards, this might have been one card I sought after the most. I also believe that Piersall was another one of my dad's favorite players. Now, to complete the Red Sox outfield at that time, I need a Ted Williams card...that won't happen.

Blaster Breaking Frenzy!!!

2011-01-20T22:29:00.003-05:00

What do you do when you have an itching for wax and $50 in Wal-Mart gift cards burning a hole in your pocket? Walk 40 minutes in the snow to the nearest Wal-Mart and buy 2 blasters of cards, obviously!

Topps Chrome:

BDP&P:

I seriously don't get how I couldn't pull a single Red Sox card out of either of these boxes...

Did That Have to Happen?

2011-01-16T21:02:00.004-05:00

CO'MON MAN!!!

YOU JUST LOST TO THAT GUY AND HIS GIANT-ASS MOUTH!!!!

*shakes head in shame*

I give props to the Jets for completely outplaying the Patriots, but I don't really respect a team that runs their mouths the way they do. Have fun playing the Steelers my friends!

On the brighter side...

YAY!!!!!!

Henchmeister's Best and Worst of 2010

2011-01-01T11:10:00.003-05:00

It's about time for a fresh start in 2011. It's also time to look back at 2010 and reflect on what an awesome or bizarre year it was. In 2010, Topps got their exclusive chokehold over the baseball card market back. Did they do good things with it? Ehhhhhh.....I'd question that. Panini obtained a license for making hockey cards and hockey stickers. Upper Deck went to hell without a baseball or a football license. And there were many other interesting moments during the course of the year. So, now I present to you: Henchmeister's Best and Worst of 2010.

Best Overall Baseball Set: Upper Deck Baseball
WHA???????!!!!!!! THE COMPANY THAT DIDN'T HAVE A BASEBALL LICENSE GETS SET OF THE YEAR?! WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?????!!!!! That's correct folks. UD had to give this set a good jolt because of the lack of license. And despite the lack of one, I think they put out a really good product. They had to put effort into making it, and came up with some good ideas for inserts, plus the excellent photography. The "double-take" variations are a waste, but that didn't hinder it much, UD Baseball was a real winner. Oh fine, you want an actual licensed set?

Best Licensed Baseball Set: Topps Heritage
There. Happy now? I just got back into the hobby this year and Heritage was a very nice find. The whole complete concept of the product is well thought out and (people will disagree with this) but I like the '61 design.

Worst Overall Baseball Set: Opening Day
Is it that difficult to make a good low end product? Same design as base Topps, really small checklist. The only redeeming part of this product? Mascot cards. Everything else: Garbage.

Worst Product I Haven't Busted Yet: Bowman Platinum
Strasmania was gonna carry this product. Then he blew out his arm. Then we realized when this hit retail shelves that the QC for it completely sucks. And I still can't understand the checklist. I will have a blaster to bust when I return to college.

Best Design: Bowman (any of them except Platinum)
For some reason, I just like it. Not exactly sure why. I just do.

Worst Design: Topps 206
Don't mind the set itself. It's just the design is boring as hell. Plus it doesn't look like 206. I guess you have to change something when you release the same tobacco era set 2 years in a row.

Worst QC Problem From Topps: Collation
We can complain about the chrome bow, miscuts, and surface defects. But, collation is the first thing in my mind that needs to be improved upon. My first box of Updates was riddled with doubles and quintuple of Jason Bay. People have been continually getting shorted out of promised hits in boxes. Worry about the other stuff later, and just figure out how to properly collate a box or a case.

Worst Gimmick: Pie In the Face
Waste of cardboard

Hobby Rookie of the Year: That Strasburg Guy
Seriously, who did you think was going to take that title?

Best Box Break of the Year: 2002 Topps Series 1
Loved that set when I was younger. And I got to tear into a hobby box of that stuff before I graduated from high school. Pulled most of the base set and a Mickey Lolich autograph. Take notes from this set Topps.

Worst Box Break of the Year: 1st box of Updates
Lots of doubles and a Yankee for the hit. Not the best break...

Here's to hoping that 2011 can continue to improve upon 2010, or be a hell of a lot better for that matter!

Box Break: 2010/11 Panini Score Hockey

2010-12-28T19:00:00.004-05:00

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.

Where Did I Disappear To?

2010-12-20T08:20:00.003-05:00

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!

A Nice Birthday Gift From the Sox

2010-12-04T15:36:00.003-05:00

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.

Box Break: 2010 Bowman Chrome

2010-11-27T15:14:00.002-05:00

I guess this didn't posted until Saturday when I promised Wednesday...

My recognition of refractors was so bad that I made an update video.

The pulls:
Base Veterans - 24 out of 220 (10.9%)
Prospects - 34 out of 110 (30.9%)
5 Refractors (1:4, Davis, Either, Upton, Peedy, Santana RC)

Inserts:
5 USA Baseball (1:4ish?)
1 Refractor #/500 (Henry Owens)
Topps 100 #/999 Austin Romine

Hits:
Pedro Baez Prospect Auto
Francisco Lindor USA Baseball Auto (1:207)

Review:
Good news-Better box break than some that I've seen out there. The design looks good with the chrome, in my mind. The prices on this stuff are falling extremely fast (I can't complain about this).
Bad news-Same old quality control issues with Topps it seems. A multitude of scratches can be found on the cards. The cards bow severely right out of the pack. There is a lack of color to be pulled because of overproduction (hooray Stras-hype!). LACK OF RED SOX PROSPECTS!

To Sum up:
Usually, this stuff sells for 65 bucks a box. For that price, I wouldn't touch it. Quality control problems and lack of value would steer me away (72 cards for 65 bucks ain't worth it). But, for the price, it isn't that bad. Plus, the break made it more worth the money.

2010 Bowman Chrome (at the current price below 50 bucks): Hench Approved
Break: Also Hench Approved

Here We Go! 1990 Upper Deck Contest Box Break!

2010-11-18T22:54:00.002-05:00

Here it is! The moment we've been waiting for!

And, finally:

A thank you to all who participated! And, congrats to cardinals_rock_17, who picked the Phillies! Shoot me a message we'll figure out other prizes.

SIGN UP!

2010-11-17T13:18:00.003-05:00

1990 UD CONTEST SIGN UPS END TOMORROW! COMMENT ON THIS POST TO CLAIM A SPOT AND WIN FREE CARDS!

Odds & Ends - Contest

2010-11-16T15:03:00.003-05:00

The 1990 Upper Deck Contest still has 13 more teams available. Sign up today! If all the spots are not filled by Thursday the 18th, I will go ahead and bust half the box with the teams we have now and take the highest number of the teams that are taken. I'm traveling out to Iowa for D3 XC Nationals, then back home to Boston for Thanksgiving and I don't want to lug that waxbox all over half the country. This also means that the prizes will not be mailed out until the week after Thanksgiving, when I return to campus. Again, I have little interest bringing those packs around too, especially because they could get damaged. And, no one wants to receive damaged prizes, am I right?
I apologize for this, but I have to do it this way in order to save myself a little bit of sanity. In the mean time, though:

PLEASE CONTINUE TO SIGN UP!!!

Haulin Off to Nationals

2010-11-14T18:57:00.004-05:00

I don't think I have told any of my readers this, but I am a runner. I run college cross country here at Ohio Wesleyan. I might not be great, but I feel like I contribute a good deal of cheering and support for the squad. This weekend, the top 7 on the team competed in Holland, Michigan at the 2010 Great Lakes Regional Championship and with a chance to make it to nationals. We placed 4th, not enough for an automatic bid, but a chance for an at large bid. Well, Selection Sunday has rolled around and you know what...

WE'RE GOING TO FREAKIN' NATIONALS!!!!

Expect some type of special post from the course, this Saturday.

And, another thing, only 13 more spots need to be filled in 1990 Upper Deck Box Break Contest so I can bust this box. Sign up today!

It's Contest Time!

2010-11-12T15:07:00.009-05:00

It's official, I'm doing this contest!

So, again, pick the team that you think will have the most cards from half of the box and you will win the other 18 packs, plus some other goodies. Sign up today! And, please, post this on your blog to spread the word!

The list of teams:
Atlanta Braves-PhaLe28
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox-dawgbones
California Angels
Chicago Cubs-cubsfan731
Chicago White Sox
Cincinnati Reds-FanOfReds
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Houston Astros
Kansas City Royals
Los Angeles Dodgers-smedcards
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins-mmmrhubarb
Montreal Expos
New York Mets-wickedortega
New York Yankees-Play at the Plate
Oakland A's-Dan
Philadelphia Phillies-cardinals_rock_17
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals-BA Benny
San Francisco Giants
San Diego Padres
Seattle Mariners-Mariner1
Texas Rangers
Toronto Blue Jays-The Big Kahuna

1990 Upper Deck: Giveaway/Contest Ideas

2010-11-05T20:51:00.002-04:00

I just snagged off of eBay a box of 1990 Upper Deck for $7.18 (and that includes shipping and handling). I don't care what you say, a box of cards for 7 bucks is awesome! But, the fact is, I don't want all 540 cards from this box (that's just too many). So, I want to either giveaway the cards I don't want, or have a group break of some sort. But, the question, how am I gonna giveaway these cards? So, I pose the question to you, my readers. How the heck should I giveaway/get rid of the cards I won't want? Please comment with suggestions!

MAILDAY!

2010-11-04T14:01:00.002-04:00

A mailday from Tim from Tim's Baseball Cards (link is in the links section).

Got plenty of SOX-JO here. And, some Indians-Jo as well.

What I Do in My Spare Time

2010-11-02T09:45:00.004-04:00

No running + lots of time + bored sports fan + Photoshop =

Here's another I just did:

Oh, and one more:

Box Break: 2010 Topps Update

2010-10-28T19:53:00.004-04:00

This box break started off about as well as it could go, and then slowly went downhill.

The pulls:

Base Set
184 out of 330 (55.7%)
66 Doubles
7 Triples
1 Quintuple (Jason Bay)
8 Gold Cards #'d to 2010
1 Stephen Strasburg Rookie (Card 661)

Inserts:
36 Topps Attax Code Cards
13 Cards Yo Momma Threw Out (2 doubles)
8 Turkey Reds
9 Stupid Vintage Legends (1 double)
5 Tales of the Game
2 Legendary Lineage
4 Peak Performance
10 MCG Code Cards

Hits:
Box Loader Rookie Chrome Refractor - Stephen Strasburg
Big Mojo Hit!!!!!1!!!1 - Robinson Cano All Star Game Jersey *groan*

Stephen Strasburg Cards Pulled - 7

Review:
You can't say Topps Updates is a terrible product. You can get an excellent selection of rookie cards in the set, some of whom will pan out and be worth a decent amount of money. Yes, this was the Stephen Strasburg hot box, right out of the gate even with the boxloader. The checklist for the boxloaders is pretty good, and there are decent odds you'll find something good. The regular checklist is the usual for Updates: rookies, traded players, and All Stars, nothing new or different here. The inserts are mostly all the same from Series 1 and 2, also nothing new here. For what you can and do get, it is what it is.

All that being said, the originality of Updates, quite frankly, sucks. I was kind of hoping for something different and original for an insert out of Updates, like with the propaganda posters in last year's set. Instead, it was just more Tales of the Game cards (I'm so happy with that). I'm not great with original ideas, and clearly neither is Topps, but some type of insert needed to be interesting. And can we all agree that the Vintage Legends need to go away? I think so. On another note, the "stamping" of the serial numbers on the gold cards looks even cheaper and worse than it did before in Series 1 and 2. It's still printed on, but the font looks even cheaper than before and looks sloppy, for lack of a better word.

Finally, and Topps you better be reading and fixing this, your quality control sucks. I'm going to be blunt with that. This is your flagship brand, make it a quality product, not this $48 worth of fail I just opened. Ok, so I pulled 7 Stephen Strasburg cards of various types and got my Ryan Kalish Rookie, so it wasn't all fail. But I for one want something more than Stephen Strasburg's galore in a box. I pulled 66 doubles, 7 triples, and 1 quintuple out of this box. 66 DOUBLES FOR GOD'S SAKE! This is just purely inexcusable; I got short-changed 20% of the base set. And, yes I did like Jason Bay during his time in Boston, but I do not want 5 of his cards in one box, and neither does anyone else. And, it wasn't just the base set, I pulled doubles of a few inserts. And it doesn't stop there, I got short changed out of a pack and instead of pulling 10 cards, I pulled 7.

Topps, do you actually give a crap that your quality control sucks this much? Diamond cutting T-206 cards, not following through on the promised hits, poor (and that's an understatement) coalition, not putting the right amount of cards in a pack, does that not mean anything? Are you realizing that people are getting fed up and pissed off about this? Have you just rolled over and given up? Is it just me, or did Upper Deck, who doesn't even have a baseball license, make the best product this year in terms of quality? Does that mean that you really deserve that exclusive license? I'm starting to question that. So, Topps, do what's best for you and start cleaning up your act and giving a crap about your product and the work that goes into making it, and that includes not putting 66 doubles in a box.

In any matter, this is Topps Updates. While this box was a fail, that does not that every box is a fail. I would still say this product is Hench Approved; it should be somewhat unusual to find 66 doubles in a box. This box, on the other hand, is Not Hench Approved, Stras-Jo, Ryan Kalish, and all.

Another thing, the hit was Yankee, Robinson Cano All Star Game Jersey Card, there-by making this box break much worse. As you know, it is for trade, preferably for a Red Sox relic or auto.

Some Reds-JO

2010-10-28T16:39:00.004-04:00

Got the group break stuff in from AJ at Georgia Mindset, and I thought I might as well show it off.

The Topps Update Box Break will be up later on. Please note, this box break was one of the most angering ones I have done, especially angering for a Topps Flagship product.

A Quest

2010-10-24T23:21:00.002-04:00

Today I ventured to the Greater Columbus Convention Center to perform several hours of manual labor to help gather funds for OWU Track & Field. The manual labor involved disassembling a set for a cheerleading competition (no, I don't understand the fascination or point of this, and yes, I was horrified by the attire, but that is another rant). But, the Convention Center is very nice, just outside of the recently built up Arena District, and it got me to thinking, and this is my quest (well, it's more like a wish that probably won't happen). I don't know how I'd get this to work, but my quest is to bring the National to Columbus. I just saw that 2014 is open for where the National will be held (I know, it's in Cleveland in 2012, but still), so come on! Just do it! The Columbus Convention Center is extremely nice, and while it might not be a great tourist destination, it would be convenient for me. It will probably end up in LA that year, but they should just amuse me.

They're Gone For Good

2010-10-22T23:32:00.002-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen: Neftali Feliz.
He officially ended the Yankees' season about 30 minutes ago. And, not only that, for the last out, he strikes out A-Fraud, who bolted from the Rangers to join the Evil Empire in 2004. Oh so fitting, so so fitting.

Boycotting Retail

2010-10-22T10:01:00.003-04:00

One can be exposed to many informative and interesting things while at a liberal arts college. After watching a documentary on evil practices of Wal-Mart titled, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, I am declaring that I will be boycotting Wal-Mart, and that includes cardboard. This boycott is not effective immediately however, as I do want to get my hands on a blaster/rack pack of Topps Chrome (I would prefer to purchase it somewhere else, but the bastard corporation is unfortunately the closest place). Why a blaster/rack pack? I don't really want to pay for a hobby box of that stuff right now. This doesn't mean I will stop buying retail wax, just only the wax from Wal-Mart.

So, to sum this up post up nicely, fuck Wal-Mart. There, I said it.

Opening Day 2011 Previews

2010-10-19T13:17:00.004-04:00

Just saw some previews for next year's Topps Opening Day. I have two questions.

1. Why does this product really exist?

and

2. Why does the set have the same structure as last year's set?

Same concept, same inserts. Really shows you how much effort Topps puts into their low-end brands...

Images to come later.

More Bandwagon Jumping!

2010-10-13T22:16:00.003-04:00

The Reds grossly disappointed me, except for the fact the Doc Halladay completely mowed them down. So, you know what that means:

Someone needs to beat the Yankees. I don't want to see them in the World Series again. Nolan Ryan & Co.'s Boys, you better step it up...

2010-11 Upper Deck Victory Box Break

2010-10-08T15:23:00.003-04:00

Like I said before, the season is here. So it's time to BUST SOME WAX!

The pulls:

Base Set: 197 out of 250 (78.8%)
Short Set: 179 out of 200 (89.5%)
Rookies: 18 out of 50 (36%)

Parallels:
1 Gold Card-Jamie Langenbrunner (1 per box)

Inserts:
Stars of the Game: 9 (1:4 packs)
Gamebreakers: 9 (1:4 packs)

Review:
From the reviews I read before I busted this, I had a feeling this set was going to be bad. But, I would say that this isn't as terrible as I thought it was going to be. I mean, yes the checklist definately isn't long enough (WHERE'S TUUKKA RASK?!), the inserts are cheesy, there needs to be more than one parallel per box, and the rookie selection is pretty bad. But, there are some positives to this. For one, I'm a fan of the base card design; some people might think it is corny and poorly thought out, but I feel they are very pleasing to the eye. I'm really a fan of the design of the Gamebreaker cards, especially with the layout of the color (yes, I like cards like this). Thumbs up to Upper Deck Design. This is also a very easy set to collect for cheapskates and cash-strapped people, like myself. I got close to 4/5 of the base set just by buying a hobby-box for $23.50.

So, it's basically up to the buyer if you want this product or not. If you're a Joe Collector, you can put this product off your radar. If you like more than just 2 sets of cheesy inserts and a bunch of base cards, don't buy it. Save your money and buy Panini's Score Hockey (to be released in 12 days). Though, it is the only hockey product available right now. And, if you have $24 bucks in your pocket and your craving hockey cards, I'd say pick up a box. If you're cheap, this is no question a product for you. I would have to say, by a slim margin, this product is Hench Approved (subject to change with the release of Score in a couple of weeks).

That Time of Year

2010-10-06T19:54:00.002-04:00

There seems to be a bit of chill in the air. Oh, you know what that means:

Yes folks, it's finally hockey season! Yes, I ride the Bruins' season like its my job. But, out here in the cornfields of Ohio, I have to settle for some good ol' mediocre Columbus Blue Jackets hockey. Good thing tickets are cheap...

Moss For a Third Rounder?

2010-10-06T10:16:00.003-04:00

In Belichick and Kraft I trust. But, moves like this just scream fail.

Now Wait A Minute...

2010-10-04T10:09:00.002-04:00

And now for a sports rant:

I have heard one too many "Trade Jacoby Ellsbury" proposals in Boston. Everyone has been banging on the door of the Red Sox Front Office telling them to do so, it seems. And, I for one, do not agree with this proposal. Have we forgotten already that in 2009 he hit .301 with 8 homers, 60 driven in, and 70 stolen bases? I sure as hell haven't. I wouldn't say he is the perfect leadoff hitter, but he's a pretty damn good one. Would I rather have Rollins leading off? Of course. But, is Marco Scutaro a better leadoff man instead of Ellsbury? No? Didn't think so either.

Ok, so maybe he was injured for most of the season (he played 18 games, mind you). Maybe it's his lack of skills as a leftfielder that caused him to get injured, which is why everyone wants his name out of Boston. Oh, wait a minute, he's played CENTERFIELD for the last 2 years. I never understood this last off-season when they brought in Mike Cameron for centerfield and moved Ellsbury to left. He had just played 2 straight season of center, why make the move now? Yeah, Pedroia and Youkilis played other positions before their current ones, but those changes were made early on in their careers, not after they had gotten used to one in the majors.

So, move Ellsbury back to center, sounds easy enough. Put Mike Cameron on the bench or in the minors, oh wow I'm smart. Now there's a gap in left. I'd say sign a bat since there aren't any sure fire replacements in terms of prospects coming up and taking the spot (maybe Daniel Nava, which I would love to see, but I can't them doing that). May I suggest signing Jayson Werth in left field for the short term? There, I did, now sign him. Now there's a bottleneck in right with Drew and Kalish. This might be out there (maybe not too out there), but I've been calling for this for a while now: TRADE JD DREW! I still can't justify the ungodly amount of money they gave this guy for, what has it been, 4 eh seasons here in Boston. Plus, it would open up a good amount of money that could be spent in better ways (hopefully).

Alright Red Sox Front Office, print, read, and follow said instructions. I expect many championships with this plan.

[end rant]

Playoff Bandwagon Time

2010-10-03T19:19:00.003-04:00

Postseason, no Red Sox, you know what that means:

BANDWAGON JUMPING!!!

I'm in Ohio, what did you expect? Besides, how does one not love Joey Votto? In other Boston sports news, Bruins open the season next weekend. Get ready for obscene amounts of hockey posts!

Group Break: Georgia Mindset

2010-09-28T11:27:00.002-04:00

I thought I might as well bite for this. I've never participated in a group break before (hell, I've only returned to the hobby for under a year now), so I figured: what the hell, let's do it. The Red Sox were taken, but since I'm in Ohio now, I figured I should do an Ohio team, preferably the better one. Soooooo....

REDS JO! Unlike my good-ol BoSox and that other team in Northern Ohio, The Reds are at least making the playoffs. Let's do it. It's not like I'd be buying Topps Chrome or Triple Threads anyway.

Also: GO HERE FOR THE GROUP BREAK INFO OR IF YOU WANT TO SIGN UP

Oh Lookie: 2011 Topps

2010-09-17T12:43:00.003-04:00

Again? The same Albert Pujols card? By now, you've probably seen this. I think it's an upgrade to the 2010 design. But, it feels like they've rehashed the same design concept for the past 4 years. Maybe a black-border, like the 2007 design, or blue like in 2003. Maybe the border should change based on the team...or not. I don't know. Something just needs to change. Opinions?

Junk Wax Break: 2002 Upper Deck MVP

2010-09-15T20:16:00.006-04:00

Who doesn't love junk wax?! Especially when its cheap and there ain't much in it, like with this box of 2002 Upper Deck MVP that I paid 25 bucks for!

What I got:

Base set:
182 out of 300 cards (60.7%)
No parallels

Inserts:
2 Ichiro: A Season to Remember (14, 18)

Mojo:
Jeff Kent Bat/Jersey Combo (1:144 Packs)

Review:
There's a reason why this box was 25 bucks. Like I said many times in the video, there ain't nutin' in it. The rookie selection is just horrible. The best rookie I pulled was a Brendan Donnelly, and that should explain everything you need to know about this product. The only insert is of the same player: Ichiro. It seems like this product was just built around Ichiro, not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just they failed at making it look good. One insert of the same player=FAIL

I can honestly say the best part of this box was the hit, which was pretty good: Jeff Kent bat/jersey combo, a 1 in 6 box hit. And, it was cheap, so I don't feel like I wasted my money. CHEAP WAX=GOOD WAX!

Overall, this product is Not Hench Approved. But, if you have 25-35 bucks burning a hole in your pocket, buy a box and see for yourself what why this box sucks.

One last thing, the bat portion of that relic card had Jeff Kent's number 21 pressed into it. Seriously, is that necessary? I didn't think so either.

All About Cards Free Card Giveaway

2010-09-13T14:07:00.003-04:00

Who doesn't love free cards? The All About Cards Blog is having a Free Card Giveaway. You can find the information here. I don't really feel like posting all the details. I'm a college student, what do you honestly expect?

This Also NEEDED to Happen

2010-09-10T10:29:00.003-04:00

Yeah, this set might be dominated by Red Sox rookies, not that that's a bad thing. *considers sending Beardy a request for Daniel Nava*

This NEEDED To Happen

2010-09-07T08:33:00.004-04:00

You all know about how Upper Deck lost it's license, made a baseball product, got sued, can't make baseball products anymore, blah blah blah. Well, Beardy has taken the liberty to make us, that being the virtual cardblogosphere, a 2010 Upper Deck Masterpieces Set. And, since he is taking offers for submissions to the set, I thought this guy needed a little love in the set.

RYAN F***KING KALISH!!!!

Go here to view the rest of the checklist. Trust me, I would be if not first, second in line to buy packs of this set. That's how awesome it is.

Topps Value Pack Strasburg

2010-08-22T16:04:00.002-04:00

I saw these yesterday when I was picking up that blaster of Series 2 Topps (see below) and was wondering what the hell are these things, what are they doing here, and why do they exist. Well, I guess it's one of the few products where you can find a Stephen Strasburg without paying an absurd amount of money. I just have one question for you Topps, just like with the black-bordered cards and those manufactured All-Star Game patch cards:

WHY?!

Is it really neccessary to make a three card (that's right, 3 cards) insert for this product? And, it's not like they're difficult to find, they're one per box. What is the point of that exactly? At least make the insert checklist 25-30 cards, not 3. Or make them one in every couple of boxes. Basically, I can buy 3 of them, and hopefully by then I'll have my Strasburg-JO fix.

CONCEPT=FAIL

Blaster Break - 2010 Topps Series 2

2010-08-21T19:17:00.004-04:00

I loves me some college!

I'm sorry, but there is: a. No purpose for the 2 packs of black-bordered cards, and b. No purpose for the stupid one-per-blaster manufactured patch card. NOTE TO TOPPS: I'd rather have 2 more packs of base cards than two packs of black-bordered bullshit.

Well Finally! - 2010 Heritage Video Pack Break

2010-08-06T19:31:00.003-04:00

Wow, it took long enough to do. Now, to figure out how to embed this damn thing. I'm still figuring out the lay of the video stuff.

And, it worked. Yee-hah!

The pulls:
Buncha Base Cards
2 Short Prints
1 Dice Game Variation (Grady Sizemore; I didn't notice it until after the video when I was sorting the cards, so I apologize for the obliviousness.)
3 Chrome Parallels #'d to 1961 (Prince Fielder, Ian Kinsler, Neftali Feliz)
2 Ruth Chase Inserts (1 and 5)
1 Baseball Flashback (Luis Aparicio)
1 News Flashback (Berlin Wall)

More worth it than a box of last years Bowman? Maybe. I did pull 3 chrome cards (1 in 5 packs, for those who don't know) and a dice-game variation (1 in 3 box hit). But was it like ripping a wax box? No. Was it worth it, in general? I'd say so.

Draft In Progress...

2010-08-05T17:55:00.002-04:00

FEAR THE TIPPERS!

Late Pack Break: 1984 Topps

2010-08-02T17:44:00.002-04:00

I did a video pack break a while ago of me ripping 4 packs of 1984 Topps. It looked like it went well, but it went over 10 minutes. So, the bastards at Youtube won't show it. But, it was a successful pack break. Now, to just remind myself I need to go faster when ripping these things.

The results: The packs yielded basically 112 cards (that's 28 cards per pack if you can't do math) and four sticks of gum that have turned into bricks. Out of those 112 cards, I pulled 4 hall of famers: Ryne Sandberg, Phil Niekro, Steve Carlton, and Tom Seaver. I also pulled 2 All Star cards of George Brett and Ozzie Smith (another 2 hall of famers). And, I got a Dwight Evans.

DEWEY-JO!!!

In my opinion: successful. 16 bucks for 112 cards is still a better value than today's Topps products. Maybe that just means they're not worth a lick anymore. But, do I care..........no.

And The Sox Get at the Deadline:

2010-08-01T09:18:00.003-04:00

JARROD SALTALAMMACHIAVELLIAPASTASPAGHETTIA

Yay. Just a couple of years ago, the Sox tried to trade for this guys, but the Rangers wanted everything and the kitchen sink for this guy. Now, we get him for a bag of baseballs and a couple of never to pan out prospects. Oh yeah, he's batting .200, a solid 1 for 5 this year and has a throwing problem.

Pie In The Face Fail

2010-07-28T14:54:00.004-04:00

I don't know about you, but this just cracks me up. You've probably seen it already, but in case you haven't, here it is:

Coghlan Pie In The Face Fail

The only good news is that Wes Helms will not be subject of another stupid pie-in-the-face gimmick card.

Not to Feature My Work

2010-07-12T12:24:00.002-04:00

But......

CSX at Fairport
DL RS-3 Chase at Mt. Pocono
DL RS-3 Chase at Moscow
Night Shoot at Steamtown Roundhouse

Look at them.....NOW!

8 Packs in Cooperstown

2010-07-03T18:01:00.002-04:00

Cooperstown is a little village that is completely and utterly dedicated to baseball. So, what do I do when I make my return there (yes, my first visit was in 03)? I find a card shop. And, I went into 5 or 6 places before I could find a place that sold a decent amount of wax. There were places that sold retail packs of crap, but nothing worth buying by any means. I think it was called On Deck Circle, or something like that. But, they had plenty of wax, including packs from the early 2000s for which I am a complete sucker to. So, for 20 bucks, here's what I bought:

2009 Heritage
2002 Topps Series 2 (2)
2000 Topps (4)
2000 Bowman
A bag of crap (free)

2009 Heritage brought forth not a lot, except for a Papelbon base card and a flashback of Frank Robinson. The only notable card I pulled from 02 Series 2 was a Junior Griffey, other than that....not much. 2000 Bowman was confusing as hell, but I did pull a Berkman, a Bagwell, a Smoltz, and a Jayson Werth, which I'm pretty sure is a prospect card. The bag of crap was just that. 2000 Topps was definatly the highlight. Pulled a Big Mac, not saying much, but I still like it. So, I give you now, the semi mojo pack (no big hits, but hall of famers, sticking with the Cooperstown theme):

Bret Saberhagen (12)
Dave Martinez (161)
Mike Morgan (195)
Andy Sheets (149)
Cal Ripken (4)
David Justice (66)
John Smoltz (125)
Greg Vaughn (113)
Frank Thomas (55)
Felipe Lopez, Pablo Ozuna, Alfonso Soriano Prospects Card (203)
Garret Anderson (97)
A Checklist

20 Bucks worth of wax, completely worth it.

Note: Stay tuned for a Railfan Report tonight, whenever I feel like posting it.

Waiting and Waiting and Waiting...

2010-06-22T15:55:00.004-04:00

Well, today was the day to catch those D&H Lightning Stripe GP38-2s. Went out to Wilkes-Barre at 7:15 and arrived at the 3rd Avenue Trestle at 7:45. Just as I get to the spot, CP 412 rolls by with 2 NS Trash-9s for power. My freight fix has been cured (for now). I'm thinking to myself this day is gonna be sweet. Figures it would turn out the opposite. After an hour of waiting, nothing, not even scanner chatter. Another railfan comes by and says that they pulled out of Scranton at 8:50. So, we figure, oh must be coming by in an hour. At 9:30, another railfan comes by and said the train is on the ground in Scranton....

Let me just repeat that: ON THE FREAKING GROUND.

All looks pretty much hopeless at this point. Most packed up and headed out, 2 others came back from down by the river banks where they were attempting to get shots (they were, by the way, the Blaszczyk brothers, Andrew and Christopher, who take some very exceptional railroad photographs), and some brave souls, including the Blaszczyk brothers and me, stayed in hopes of catching something. At 10, we learned that they had detrained the passengers and they reevalute the options at 12. Yee-hah. It was almost done for. I had started making plans for a trip to Steamtown. The Blaszczyk brothers had to make it to West Virginia to set up a night photo shoot tomorrow. But, wait! Andrew received a text before they left that the train would depart at 12. So, might as well get some lunch and come back. We arrive back at around 12 to set back up to finish what we came for. Railfans started arriving in saying the train had cleared Taylor Yard in Scranton. Other chasers started arriving as well. I ditched the idea of chasing, since it was much later than anyone expected. Soon enough, someone got a call from someone else on the train that they were at Hudson, five minutes out. At 1:04 PM EDT, 5 hours after arriving at the 3rd Avenue Trestle, the excursion finally rounded the curve above with those 2 D&H Lightning Stripe GP38-2s leading: 7312 and 7304. Good lord. I guess it was worth it, but 5 hours, seriously? Anyway, not to bore you more, but afterwards, I went to Target and was searching for Blasters of 2010 Bowman, to no avail. But, I did buy a jumbo pack 2009 Topps 206 and a pack of 2010 Upper Deck. Sure, I share the pulls with you.

UD Pack:
Scott Podsednik 128
Ryan Spilborghs 176
Jeremy Reed 324
Star Rookie Checklist 1
Asdrubal Cabrera 164
Fernando Perez 476
Brandon Medders 438
Renyel Pinto 220
Jesse Litsch 525
Joe Saunders Bio SB-39
Mark Teixeira Pure Heat PH-11
Koyie Hill 176
Kevin Frandsen 431
Rick Porcello 206
Nick Punto 310
Dexter Fowler 179
James Shields 487
Tigers Checklist 580

Not a lot of stuff there....

Topps 206 1st Half
Rich Harden 37
Garret Anderson 233
J-Becks 148
Casey Kotchman 279
Johnny Mize Mini - Old Mill Back 254 (1 in 20 pack hit-jo!)
Han Ram 102
Elvis Andrus 138

BAM! How's a 1 in 20 pack hit for ya? And, Beckett...well, it's a Red Sox card.

2nd Half
Mike Cameron 111
Chad Billingsley 285
King Felix Gold Junk 112
Koji Uehara 23
Aaron Poreda 268

Yeah, again, not much.

I'll end your misery now.

Where's the Freight?!?!

2010-06-21T21:06:00.002-04:00

Spent almost an hour out at Newburgh, New York on the CSX River Line this morning. I didn't catch a damn thing. All that was running was Amtrak and Metro North on the other side of the Hudson. So, now I'm in Scranton and I still haven't caught a freight to this point.

I did catch some passenger crap, though. On Sunday, I caught an outbound Metro North train (6834) arriving at Danbury, CT with CDOT BL20GH #130 leading. And, today, I saw an inbound Metro North train (64) heading to Hoboken depart Port Jervis, NY with Comet V Cab Car 6700 and MN GP40FH-2 #4903 (hooray for strange geeps!). In addition, I shot some static stuff (go figure, the static catches were better than the stuff moving). Sunday, I shot the equipment at the Danbury Railway Museum which included (but isn't limited to) an old New Haven FL9, a New Haven ALCo RS1, a B&M Steamer, and bunches and bunches of other assorted junk, some nicer than others. Today, I found the old Erie RR Turntable in Port Jervis. The turntable was pretty dead, but the stuff around it was nice: a nicely painted Erie E8 and a NY&GL RS3.

So far, success is...well, what it is. Not a hell of a lot so far. But, tomorrow, say hello to some D&H Lightning Stripes.

OH, IT'S ON!

NRHS 2010, Here We Come!

2010-06-19T22:00:00.003-04:00

Time for D&H Lightning Stripes, ALCo's, and ridiculous amounts of railfanning. Yes, it's NRHS Convention time! Only my first ever trip for one of these conventions, but it should bring lots of good stuff. And, it's in Scranton. So, it will add some The Office theme to it. I'll be there from Monday to Friday, then I'm heading down to Lancaster, then out west to Columbus. Yup, orientation time. But, tomorrow is when the fun begins!

USA Soccer: Awful Start, Excellent Comeback, Crappy Officiating

2010-06-18T12:16:00.003-04:00

Nope, I'm not heartbroken over the Celtics losing. I don't care enough about basketball in general to be heartbroken. I could go on a rant about what I think is wrong with the NBA right now, but I won't. Instead, why not talk about that awesome comeback/should've-been-victory for USA Soccer. I was quite underwhelmed with the start of the game. How does the defense give so much freakin space to Slovenia Midfielder Valter Birsa?! I know, it's easy to say that watching it on the tube. But, he easily could have read the paper, made dinner, and saved 15% on his car insurance by switching to Geico, and still would have made the shot! The game did make for some excellent entertainment, though. The USA made a 2 goal comeback courtesy of Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley, as you all should know by now. And, it should have been a 3 goal comeback. Figures that the ref would call a phantom foul against...well, I still don't know who. I'm also trying to understand how a ball off the shoulder is a handball. Last time I checked, the shoulder attaches the arm to the body, but is not part of the arm. Just sayin...
In the end, it was a very thrilling and entertaining game. But, we all know, it should have been a very thrilling and entertaining win.

Two In One: Railfan Report and Pack Breaks

2010-06-15T20:46:00.004-04:00

I took some time out of my morning to go do a little railfanning in Ballardvale. And by a little time I mean 4 hours. So here's the report from a good, solid 4 hours at Ballardvale.

(Time, Train ID, Power)
8:50; MBCR 209; MBTA 1004
9:30; MBCR 214; MBTA 1652, MBTA 1131
9:40; AMTK 681; AMTK 71, AMTK 90220
10:04; AMTK 682; AMTK 90213, AMTK 206
10:25; MBCR 218; MBTA 1633, MBTA 1004
11:00; PAR NMED; HLCX 6450, MEC 604 (604-Pan Am Blue)
11:14; MBCR 213; MBTA 1008
11:35; AMTK 683; AMTK 206, AMTK 90213
12:13; PAR WASE; HLCX 6413, MEC 314, HLCX 6329

A couple of pretty good catches here with NMED and WASE. Plus, a recently acquired TFM SD40-2 thrown in for good measure. And, plenty of horns being blown north of the station meant for a pretty damn good day railfanning wise.

In addition, I brought 4 four packs of 09 O-Pee-Chee Baseball with me to bust during the boredom. (Hey, the stuff is 99 cents a pack at Newbury Comics, why not buy it?) So, I ripped them between 218 and NMED. I pulled what you'd expect to pull out of4 packs of OPC: 4 short-prints, 4 black cards (Jonathan Broxton, Michael Young, Ryan Braun, Brian Wilson), 2 of those blasted 20th Anniversary UD Inserts (one was of Cal Ripken, though), you know, that stuff. But, I did pull a big mojo hit: an autograph of Aaron Laffey. I can't say it was a great hit, but I do appreciate pulling a one in every 216 pack hit in only my 7th pack of this stuff that I've ever ripped. Then, a half-hour later, I'd catch NMED. Yay me!

Photoshopping Spree

2010-06-13T10:08:00.003-04:00

Decided to do some post process work on a few photos yesterday. I haven't done any post process on anything other than train photos in I don't know how long. I posted that work to my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chenchey_photo/. So, check that shit out.

Series 2 Pack Break

2010-06-10T09:55:00.003-04:00

I bought the Blaster Box equivalent of packs yesterday at Kenmore Collectibles for 16 bucks (good place, by the way; check 'em out). A blaster box costs about 20 bucks. Would you say the manufactured patch card is worth the 4 extra bucks? Yeah, didn't think so. I was going to do an on location pack break, but the rain is holding me in since, well, photos on a day like today are shit. So, I proceeded to rip them here.

Whats I gots:

55 Base Cards (I know, yawn)
1 Gold Parallel #'d to 2010 (Evan Longoria)
4 Legendary Lineage Cards (I don't know how that happened, you're guaranteed 2 in 8 packs and I got 4)
1 Card Yo Momma Threw Out (Al Kaline '54, also guaranteed 2 or 3 and I somehow got 1)
1 Original Back (Duke Snider '57)
2 History of the World Series ('26 Babe Ruth, '61 Yogi Berra)
1 Peak Performance (Aaron Hill)
1 Turkey Red (Adam Dunn)
2 Vintage Legends (Babe Ruth, Ozzie Smith)
2 Team 2020 (Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp, Dodger-JO)
2 MCG Redemption Cards
8 Topps Attax Cards

Not bad for 16 bucks worth of wax (actually 20, since I bought a pack of '09 Heritage High Numbers and '08 Updates and Highlights). I'm still trying to figure out how I pulled 4 Legendary Lineage Cards, but I guess it makes up for the stuff I got technically screwed out of. I like the product, but I feel as a lot of people feel, WAY TOO MANY INSERTS. As I've said before, I don't like inserts very much. Some of them I don't mind, like the Cards Yo Momma Threw Out and Team 2020 (really loving those cards). But, the Vintage Legends can go away. I didn't really mind the Ozzie Smith of 1989 in the 1969 style because it didn't look that out of place. However, 1919 Babe Ruth on the 1999 template is completely out of place. I don't mind cards if they look halfway decent, but seriously, 1919 Babe Ruth on a card made 80 years later? Where's Charles Barkley when you need him? And, can we please go back to ToppsTown Cards instead of ToppsAttaxTown Cards? I know Topps trying to market the shit out of this product, but I don't want cards from a game that sounds like it takes you about 5 minutes to play. All in all though, it's still a pretty good product.