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.

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!

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.

Box Break: 2010 Bowman Chrome

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!

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!

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

Odds & Ends - Contest

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

Here's another I just did:


Oh, and one more:

Box Break: 2010 Topps Update

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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?

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

Now Wait A Minute...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

FEAR THE TIPPERS!

Late Pack Break: 1984 Topps

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:

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

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

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

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...

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?!?!

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!

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

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

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

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

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.

Sold

Remember that Strasburg Red Parallel that I was tracking? Well, it finally sold yesterday for $4,850. Maybe not as expensive as the Super Refractor, but it would get me a third of the way through my first year of college tuition payments. Just sayin...

For Once, MBTA Buying New Locomotives

Who knew the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority was smart enough to invest in new locomotives. Last time they bought new units they weren't exactly "new", just old, beat up, rebuilt, 30 year old freight locomotives. Yes, I'm talking about those god awful GP40MCs. I've read on the Railroad.net Forums that the MBTA is buying 2, count em, 2 new MP36PH-3C units. Now, that's not everything fortunately. They are also leasing 7 of the same units from the Utah Transit Authority's FrontRunner Service. FrontRunner doesn't need these units right now, as they have trainsets than tracks to run them on. So, why not have get beaten up a little on the East Coast. The leasers are to be held captive on the North Side Service, as they aren't equiped with ASCES. Users are also reporting that the estimated delivery date for these locomotives are in September. Figures that I'll be off at college by then.

Box Ownage: 2002 Topps Series 1

So, I decided not to go railfanning and sleep in, because sleeping is always good. That nice package that came in the mail yesterday was that box of 2002 Topps Series 1 Baseball, and it didn't take long to get here. So, in celebration of graduating from high school later on today, I ripped it to pieces. I'll get to what I got first then I'll give an opinion of some sort.

What I got:

Base Set - 341 of 364 cards (93.7%), 2 doubles

Parallels: Gold Parallel of Livan Hernandez numbered to 2002

Inserts:
36 (1 per pack) Logo Race Baseabll Cap Cards (Each Division)
4 Ticket to History Promotion Cards: Games 1, 2, 6, & 7
4 Logo Sticker Cards: A's, Tigers, Marlins, and Astros
4 Own the Game: Mike Sweeney, Rich Aurilia, Curt Schilling, and Roger Clemens
2 Ring Masters: Roberto Alomar and Paul O'Neill
1 Hobby Master: Barry Bonds
1 East Meets West: Hideki Irabu and Masanori Murakami
2 1952 World Series Highlights: Game 1 and Game 3
2 1952 Reprints: Allie Reynolds and Roy Campanella

The Big Hit: Team Topps Mickey Lolich On Card Autograph of 1964 Buyback card

All in all, a very good day with the pulls. I got one more than the guranteed Own the Game Card, plus two Ring Masters and two '52 reprints (one more than the guaranteed). Plus, I pulled that big hit. I wanted another parallel, but I'll live with it (1 in 19 packs). Now, unfortuantely, the cards stuck together in the packs. So, I had to sometimes pull them apart causing either 1 or both cards to become damaged. I have no plans to sell these cards, so I can deal with it.

Breaking these packs maybe wasn't exactly the same as 8 years ago, but I feel like I appreciate it a lot more than I did back then. The base set is very easy to collect, since there aren't many inserts (same can't be said of 2010 Topps). Plus, I don't like a lot of inserts. I am also very close to collecting the base set, which was pretty easy to do seeing as I pulled 93 percent of the base set. Alright, I got to go get ready to get the hell out of high school forever. I'm out.

Pack Shredage

I went into Boston today to buy some packs that I figured I'd rip while railfanning tomorrow. Instead, I received a nice package in the mail today that I will bust tomorrow. So, it will a nice railfan-box break combo post on the morrow. Yeehah!

So, I decided to rip the packs today. Here's what I bought:
4 packs of 2009 O-Pee-Chee Baseball (6 cards/pack, 99 cents a pack so I stocked up)
1 hobby pack of 2010 Upper Deck (20 cards/pack)
1 pack of 2010 Topps Series 1 (10 cards/pack)
2 packs of 2010 Topps Series 2 (same as S1)
1 pack of 2010 Topps Heritage (8 cards/pack
1 pack of 2009 Allen & Ginter (8 cards/pack)
So, 90 cards for 27 bucks. So, here went the rippage.

The Pulls:

'09 OPC:
19 Base Cards
4 Black Parallels (one per pack)
1 2008 Highlights and Milestones Insert (Kelly Shoppach)

'10 UD Baseball
16 Base Cards
2 Bio Cards (Andres Torres, Kenshin Kawakami)
1 Celebrity Predictor Card (which is stupid, may I add)
Gold Parallel Card numbered to 99 of Jose Bautista (yeah for AL Leader in homers!)

'10 Topps S1
6 Base Cards
1 Turkey Red (Ryan Braun)
1 Card Yo Momma Threw Out (Roger Maris '61)
1 Toppstown Card (Vlad)

'10 Topps Heritage
7 Base Cards
1 Then & Now Insert (Whitey Ford and King Felix)

'10 Topps S2
11 Base Cards
2 Cards Yo Momma Threw Out (Brooks Robinson '61, Ryan Zimmerman '08)
1 Peak Performance (Hunter Pence)
1 Turkey Red (Raul Ibanez)
1 Redemption Card for a Peak Performance Relic of Pablo Sandoval (Some damn good mojo for a 1 in 49 pack pull)

'09 A&G
6 Base Cards
1 Mini (Mark Teixeira)
1 Nat'l Pride Insert (Erik Bedard)
1 Crack the Code Insert (...yay?)

When you pull a parallel numbered to 99 and a 1 in 49 pack hit in the same day, you're having a good day. The Mojo Gods were on my side today, for once it seems like. So, thumbs up for 27 bucks worth of wax!

Following Up Last Night's Strasburg Post...

Damn thing is at $4,150 right now with only 5 days and 10 hours left on eBay. Think it can make up about $12,000 in 5 days, I'd bet so.

For the Love of Expensive Materials...

Is it just me, or are you stupid for buying a baseball card of player that you don't know will pan out for 16 grand? Orsillo and Remy were talking about the Stephen Strasburg Bowman Chrome Super Refractor auction on eBay (slow game, huh?), to which Remy said something to extent of I would never pay 16,000 bucks for a baseball card, to which I couldn't agree more. Hell, you could buy a damn car with that money, but this guy chose a baseball card (think of all the shit wax you could buy with 16 grand!). Well, whoever the sucker was better hope Strasburg pans out, otherwise it's money well wasted.

Junk Blog Up And Rolling

Alright, alright. No parades, no parties, no streamers. None of that crap. Let's get to business and welcome to the Junk Blog. I'm your writer/host/what-not Henchmeister (known officially as Chris Henchey...but that's not important right now).

So, many of you are wondering why the hell is this guy of all people making a blog? Well, I don't know why. But, there will be a good deal to talk about: trains, sports, photography, baseball cards. So it's like a pseudo train-photo-card-sports-anythingelsethatcomestomind blog.

And, I'll kick things off with the a lens review. I came into possession of a new Tamron 10-24mm lens yesterday and I've go to say I'm very impressed. My only complaint is that it sticks when I try to remove it when changing lenses. Other than that, I the shot I took today was very crisp and not fuzzy. And, the price can't be beat. If you have something like a Nikon D60 (my choice), D40 or other models that have an exterior auto-manual focus tab on the lens, you can buy one for 500 bucks. Of course, this is no professional review, but it's just my 2 cents. I give a thumbs up.

In other news on this Memorial Day, I will be doing a my first box break next week. I just bought off eBay a box of 2002 Topps Series 1 Baseball for 25 bucks and I'll be receiving it in the mail in 7-8 days, or so they say. Ahhhh, memories of my earlier childhood! But, more on that later. Also, if you're near TV, check out the Stanley Cup, Hawks-Flyers. Damn good game there.