Does Anybody…

…Have any interest in a Barry Zito autograph? I have several as he seems to sign every time I’m at a Giants game. Nice guy, too. Anyhoo, if interested shoot me an email at hapdude1000 at yahoo dot com.

On a side note, before the game yesterday that I went to (boring, they got one hit) my friend asked Sergio Romo how he grips his slider. Not only did he show us and everybody else there, he also showed us the technique behind sliders and how other guys throw them, which I thought was really cool.

-Giantsfan

Hey Everybody!

I know I haven’t posted in a really long time, as I really sort of lost the interest and the time to keep blogging. I still enjoy making the blog rounds but posts here will be pretty infrequent. I was surprised to see that I still get like 10 views a day with no new content, but, I guess I still have some loyal fans.

I plan to have a sort of “goodbye” contest fairly soon with some nice prizes, even if I do occasionally post once it is over, so stay tuned for that.

Oh yeah, before I go, check out this awesome contest over at My Past Time, I Love IT, but DON’T enter. That way I can win all that cool stuff!

That’s it for now guys,

-Giantsfan

2004 Topps Pristine Pack Break

Not much time for words, so here are the cards:

Base cards, with an Alberto Callaspo numbered out of 999.

Casey Daigle uncirculated refractor #/999.

The hit:

Frank Thomas fantasy favorites relic with a pinstripe.

-Giantsfan

Recent TTM Successes!!!

Hey guys. It’s been a while. I won’t get into it, but I’ve been busy. I just wanted to catch up on recent TTMs until I have time to post my 08 Masterpieces break and my 04 Pristine pack break.

I alluded to this one in an earlier post, but I didn’t scan them. Here are my customs, signed by last year’s Giants first round pick Zack Wheeler:

These were some of my first customs ever, but I had to wait until this year to send them out. The top one is personalized, and the bottom one is not. Unfortunately, the autographs are a bit hard to see. I like this success nonetheless. *Hey, that rhymes!*

Anyhoo, this was my other success, coming last monday, a week to the day after I had sent it out.

That’s right. My second TTM baseball came back, successfully. This one is inked up by AL ROY Andrew Bailey. Now that I have this, I feel better about trading my refractor autograph to Wicked Ortega. I had asked Bailey for a ROY inscription, but with his number and a signature in the sweet spot of the ball, I guess that I should be happy. I sent out my third ball today, and while I’m not going to say who it went to, I will say that it continues in the tradition of good, young players.

That’s it for now!

-Giantsfan

P.S. 5000 hits is right around the corner, so a contest is in the works!

2006 Topps 52 Hobby Box Break

Well, I got a box of this from Blowout. About 30 bucks, not too bad, and you get a lot of rookies. I figured that most of you know what the base looks like, so I just scanned the inserts:

Dynamic Duos. These come with two guys each, and I pulled 5.

Chrome:

Chris Resop, TJ Beam, Chris Booker, and Jeff Karstens. These are numbered to 1952.

Chrome Refractors:

Roy Corcoran. These look really nice in person. These are numbered out of 500-something. They fall 1:19 packs, but I lucked out and found two. Oh yeah, and the second one’s of somebody good, too!

Pudge! I really like this card. He looks so young!

Next is Mr. Mickey Mantle:

I’m not sure how rare the black background is. Do any of you? This is the only Mick of the box.

And finally, the autographs!

The first one that I pulled:

Anibal Sanchez of the Marlins.

Next autograph:

Expired redemption for a Jeff Mathis auto. Damn! If only I’d opened this box last year…

Two autographs down, one to go. Down to the last pack of the box, I open it to find this staring at me:

AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!! Another expired redemption! And this time it’s a Giant! (now with the Sox). NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

But wait. There’s more in that pack! What can it be? Out pops this:

Tom Mastny auto. And this:

Josh Kinney auto. And this:

Erick Aybar auto. And, last but not least, this:

Ben Zobrist auto!! SWEET!

Yes, you read that right. What  would have been 5 autographs in a single pack (if not for friggin’ redemptions). Can you imagine buying a hobby pack of this in 2006 and pulling 5 autographs. That would have been awesome! And now, I don’t feel shorted with the redemptions. & would have been nice, but 5 autographs is already two more that I expected.

So now, I ask. Have any of you had something like this happen to you before? More hits in one pack than you expected in the whole box? Or anything similar?

Leave a comment so that we can all hear what happened to you.

Last but not least, all cards are for trade, thanks for reading,

-Giantsfan

Box Break: 2008 Just Minors Mystery Balls

So, this is one of my three boxes from Blowout. Each box promises a signed Official Major League Baseball, two autographed cards, and a complete base set of some Just Minors release. I think I did all right on the autographed cards, but the ball was a bit disappointing. Each box is only 30 bucks though, and I might consider busting more of this in the future.

First auto:

Chad Tracy. Not too bad, at least he’s in the majors and I’ve heard of him. Same with the second one:

Jack Cust. Meh. From what I’ve seen, though, I think that I lucked out. Two decent major leaguers that I’ve at least heard of, and low numbered (one’s to 50 and the other 100).

As for the ball:

In case you can’t recognize it, it’s signed by Micah Owings. Now, the guy can rake (even though he’s a pitcher), but the auto’s a bit smudged and there are bigger names in the checklist. Oh well, I like this product at its price point, and an autographed ball is an autographed ball. It even comes with a COA. Well, that’s about it.

Soooooo…Here’s a picture of the ball that Buster Posey signed for me TTM that I got back last week:

BAM!

-Giantsfan

New Patch: Phillies

Knocked off the Phils courtesy of ebay.

Another from Topps Unique, this time out of 75. I really like the Prime Time Patches at their ebay price point.

Thanks for reading!

Giantsfan

Custom Card: Brian Matusz

Kind of speaks for itself. Brian’s going to be really good someday!

In other news, tomorrow I will be sending out my second baseball TTM. After the awesome return from Buster Posey, I decided to try another young player. Stay tuned to see when it comes back. I also have three boxes from blowout coming tomorrow, which I will break and post over the next week.

That’s all,

-Giantsfan

Would Anybody Be Interested In…

So, after being inspired by Beardy, I was looking at some blister packs on ebay. I found a few enticing options, but, not sure whether I want to jump in and buy multiple packs at once, I was wondering if anybody would be interested in splitting this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/3-blister-2005-topps-pack-wars-major-league-baseball_W0QQitemZ170460204643QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Baseball?hash=item27b0384e63#ht_500wt_1182

or this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-2004-TOPPS-SEALED-Pristine-BASEBALL-BLISTER-CARD_W0QQitemZ180482125268QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Baseball?hash=item2a0592add4#ht_500wt_1182

with me. If interested, let me know and we can work out the details. The only thing that holds me back is the high shipping prices.

In other news, I’ve had a couple more TTM successes this week, with customs signed by Zack Wheeler and a ROMLB signed by Buster Posey in blue, ballpoint pen. (Yes, it worked and I got it back) I’m looking to send another one out this ST or at the start of the season, so I turn to you, loyal readers, and ask: Who should I send it to?

Please let me know if interested in the blisters or to tell me who I should send the ball to! I can always be found at hapdude1000 at yahoo dot com.

Thanks!

-Giantsfan

Blowout Cards Purchase: Coming Soon!

Hey Everybody,

Yesterday, after looking through all of the sales on Blowout, I decided to place an order, so in the next few days I should have some boxes coming. Look for upcoming breaks of 2006 Topps 52, 2008 Just Minors Mystery Balls, and 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces. I also picked up a few magnetic holders to get my total up into free shipping land. I’m really excited to add 6 autographed cards, a relic, and an autographed ROMLB into my collection. Hopefully I get better luck with these boxes than  I did with my birthday box of Sweet Spot, which was terrible. That reminds me, I still need to contact Upper Deck about my damaged Pujols relic from that box. Anyhoo, wish me luck with my boxes and if anybody wants to trade for any of the pulls that you’ll be seeing, don’t hesitate to let me know!

That’s all!

-Giantsfan