Disastrous Box Break - 2010 Topps Chrome

I want to make these box breaks look nice, but this one doesn't deserve the effort.  Just in case you were curious as to just how bad these cards looked.  The rest of the box wasn't bad at all, but I just couldn't enjoy it.  I think that I'm going to scan the worst of the cards before I ship them off because the defects are really noticeable that way.  Here's the video.  (Sorry about the video being flipped, I'm still getting used to the new computer and software.)

Disastrous Box of 2010 Topps Chrome Baseball from Michael Travers on Vimeo.

This is bullshit

I read all of the horror stories in regards to 2010 Topps Chrome, but since the prices dropped on boxes after the Strasburg injury I decided to take a shot.  I like the cards and all of the autographs are on-card.  It seemed like it was going to a great product.  Boy was I wrong.

The third and fourth cards in every one of my packs were disasters.  Whatever machine makes the indentations on these cards for the outlines around the players was not aligned properly on these cards.  It occurred to varying degrees as well.  There are severe cards such as the Mike McCoy in the picture and then others such as the Strasburg which I probably wouldn't have noticed if the other cards weren't so bad.

I don't know how anyone could enjoy opening a box such as this one.  It became more of a chore than anything else.  So, I've sent an e-mail to Topps Support.  I think that I'm owed more than just replacements for these cards.  Opening a box of cards is about more than just what you get in the box.  For me, opening a box of cards is the most fun that I have in this hobby.  This box was no fun to open at all.  It's not about value either.  Check out some of the boxes that I open.  I love oddball stuff that's never going to be "worth" anything, but it's got amazing value to me.

So, I've sent off an e-mail to Topps Support and will see what they say.  I'm usually a big supporter of Topps Customer Support, but as of late things haven't gone so well.  I think that's mostly due to them being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of damaged cards that are being packed out these days.  I'm also not sure if the people working in support know much about the cards they are dealing with.  That's the only reason I can think of why they would replace a card with an upside down autograph with another card with an upside down autograph.

Stay tuned for updates.

A sampling of 2010 Topps Chrome Baseball

Went to the local (to work) card shop today on my lunch break to grab a little bit of Topps Chrome Baseball. Out of seven packs, I pulled a redemption for a Luke Hughes auto and a couple of regular refractors. Not too bad. Saw a lot of the curving of the cards that people are complaining about. My cards also seemed to be coated in something similar to baby powder. I don't know if this is so that they won't stick together years down the line or if someone spilled some of their stash at the Topps production plant. It would explain the recent level of their quality control. No pictures from work, but there really isn't anything of note anyway.

Topps Customer Support video

My thoughts on Topps and their customer service video (posted here: http://www.toppsblog.com/?p=663):

While this is nice, it really only speeds things up for those missing hits. If you get shorted a hit then you're already screwed. There's no way that you're going to be sent a Strasburg auto or some 1/1 card as a replacement for that shorted hit. So, while you will get the hit you were promised who knows what it might have been.

The main issue is that Topps' quality control has been declining dramatically over the past couple of years. I love opening jumbo boxes, but after seeing the quality of the cards coming out of the last three that I've opened, I'm now hesitant. It sucks having to pick out the best 25 of the damaged cards to send in. Also, the rarer (and better) the card that is damaged, the greater the chances that Topps isn't going to have the exact same card available as a replacement. So collectors lose out again. I'm still annoyed about a great Dwyane Wade autographed mini that I pulled out of a rip card in terrible condition. I still don't feel like I got enough in return for the card, but no one in customer service could get solid numbers on the print run of the card (which I felt was a 1/1). I later read about other collectors getting replacement product while still getting to keep their damaged card and got even more annoyed.

So, kudos on making things easier, but the only way to solve this problem is to improve quality control. Until then, too many collectors will get screwed out of what the deserve.

So...

It looks like the poll isn't designed to record who guessed what. That's what I get for not trying a test poll first. So, feel free to post either collection or wax box guesses in either of these posts. It'll lead to some fun discussions and once I finish busting open those 26 boxes, I'm sure that I'll have plenty of favorite players, teams and unwanted hits to send out. I'll look to those people first. To give you a hint as to what I may have purchased, the last box that I opened was 2010 Topps Series 2 jumbos, all boxes are either baseball or basketball with the exception of one non-sports box and none of the boxes are Allen & Ginter. I think I may just purchase a complete Ginter set this year so that I don't have another incomplete Ginter set in my collection.

Still Getting Up To Speed

I'm still transferring files from the PC to the new iMac. I've got to figure out how I'll be composing my posts in the future. On the PC, I used Windows Live Writer, but that's not an option now unless I also run Windows on another partition. I haven't ruled it out yet, but haven't given up on finding a Mac solution yet. In the meantime, I've posted a little poll to see if people can figure out some of the other things that I collect other than trading cards. I have a lot of other collections so don't be afraid to pick in double digits.

Other than that, I've got around 26 wax boxes on the way thanks to cashing out some vacation time. I think I may try out the iSight cam on the new iMac and try some video box breaks especially on the smaller boxes. Until then, I'd be interested in some guesses as to what you think I might be getting. Some is old and some is new. Some is stuff that I've busted before in the same type of box and some are retail versions of boxes that I've already busted, but am now trying to finish off the sets. I'll take a look at the guesses and who knows what may happen after the breaks are done. I don't want to announce a formal contest since I'm still getting everything together up here, but I'll definitely be sending some stuff out to the regular readers out there who have stuck around with little new content being written.

Williams/Buchholz (Goodbye Pierce, Hello Reggie)

For some reason, this scheduled post didn’t get posted on Saturday so I’m posting it now.  Just imagine that you’re reading it on Saturday.

Today is my 35th birthday.  For the past 9 years, it really hasn’t been the best day for celebrating.  In fact, I often get a sympathetic reaction just from telling someone my birthday when they are taking down my information.  That being said, I will be out having a good time tomorrow with the family.

Thanks to everyone still reading the sporadic posts here.  It’s been one issue after another this past summer keeping me from posting regularly.  There was the issue of the temperature getting too high to sit up here comfortably.  Next year, I’ll have a better air conditioner up here so that won’t be a problem.  Then there was the issue of my now 5 year old computer really not cutting it anymore.  The hard drive is pretty jam packed, the wireless isn’t so great and it’s about time I upgraded.  Luckily, I will have that opportunity soon and this computer will most likely become one that my daughter can use in her playroom.  There’s also the ennui that a lot of other bloggers seem to be going through as well.  I haven’t been purchasing a lot of cards lately and have lost some interest in writing about the hobby.  There hasn’t been a whole lot of new product out there that has interested me.  I do have my eyes on some products though and should be able to go on a little bit of a sports card splurge after my trip to Disney at the end of the month.

I do have some good news to write about though.  A friend of mine decided that he no longer had the space to store his sports card collection and brought a large Tupperware bin full of cards to me to sort through.  There was a lot of great stuff in there that I plan on posting about over the next couple of weeks.  So, there’s that.

So, it’s so long Pierce.

Hello Reggie.

Technorati Tags: Paul Pierce,Reggie Lewis,Ted Williams,Clay Buchholz

Panini Prize Winnings

I’m a little late in posting this, but I now have my Kobe Bryant autographed card that I won in a Panini Adrenalyn related contest.  Upon ripping open the envelope this is what I found:

The card reads, “Once again, thx for coming out and taking such a great picture.”  For reference, here’s that picture again:

Technically, the contest called for a picture of yourself with the bus, but I snapped these pictures as my wife was taking our daughter to the car as it was starting to rain.  This stop was before the contest was announced so I was hoping that the judges would be lenient.  While I wasn’t anywhere to be found in the picture, I thought that it did a great job of capturing the coolest stop on the Adrenalyn Tour, the Basketball Hall of Fame.  So, I submitted the picture, waited and ended up being selected the winner of the contest.


The really cool thing about this prize was how it was shipped.  They didn’t just take the card, throw it in an envelope and ship it off.  This card came in a special box worthy of their big name exclusive.

Upon opening the box, this is what I saw.  This is a 2009-10 Panini Rookies & Stars Kobe Bryant patch autograph.  If you’re not going to get an on-card autograph, this is by far the next best thing.  The athlete touched the jersey swatch and it looks a hell of a lot better than a sticker, especially the gaudy silver ones.

Here’s a look at the back of the card.  The serial number is 128/199.  While I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of Kobe, you can’t deny his place in basketball history and now that LeBron ran off to Miami with his tail between his legs, Kobe is certain to be the best player of this generation.  It’s kind of cool to have an autograph of a player of that caliber.  That being said, if anyone out there had the patch autograph cards from Timeless Treasures of someone like Bill Russell or Larry Bird I definitely think that a trade could be arranged.

Thanks again Panini for an awesome prize!

Technorati Tags: Panini,Kobe Bryant,Basketball Hall of Fame,autograph

2010 Topps Levi’s Workshops Beyond the Ballgame San Francisco Giants set

A friend of mine made a trip out to California and while he was out there made his way to a Giants game.  Upon entering the park, he was given a pack of these trading cards.  I had no clue what the cards were at first, but as I did more research, I found out that they were pretty cool.

You can find out all of the details here on the Levi's Workshops blog. What stood out for me was the lack of statistics on the back of these cards.  Instead of stars, you’ll find out what the player’s favorite charity is.  Also, the cards were produced by Shepard Fairey’s Studio Number One.  Fairey started getting popular while attending the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Boston was one of the first places that both the “Andre the Giant has a posse” and “Obey Giant” stickers started popping up.  Fairey had his first art museum exhibition here in Boston at the Institute of Contemporary Art (and was arrested at the premiere for outstanding warrants related to graffiti.)  You can even find his Obey stickers in Punk Farm, a book by one of my favorite children’s authors,  Jarrett J. Krosoczka a fellow RISD graduate.  Krosoczka also used a slightly altered version of the image as promotional stickers for the book.

I’m getting off track here, but what I’m trying to say is that I’ve become a fan of Fairey and his art over the years.  Everyone now knows the iconic Obama poster that he created and I own a Hurley “Dude” t-shirt that copies that style.

These cards give you a good idea of what can happen when talented designers work on cards.  These cards have a vintage feel without exactly copying a design from an old set.  I really wish that this design had been used for a mainstream set because it’s that good.

Not only is it a good looking set, but it is also a fun set.  I’ve always thought that mascot cards were fun and should be included in sets, but that’s rarely the case these days.  You might find them in kids sets, but that’s about it.  Here we’ve got a card of Lou Seal.  Before opening this pack, I had no clue that Lou Seal was the mascot of the San Francisco Giants which is exactly why we need more mascot cards in sets.

If you flip the card over you will see that Lou’s favorite charity is The Marine Mammal Center.  You can read all about the mission of  The Marine Mammal Center and find out some facts about the organization.

Now that you’ve all seen the card design, am I alone in thinking that these are great looking cards?  There’s nothing flashy, but they’re still great looking cards.  One interesting thing you’ll notice on these cards is that the player’s jersey number appears on both the front and the back.  The pictures are black and white, but that ties into the whole silk-screening workshop that these are promoting.  The only colors that you’ll find on these cards are red and various shades of black.

Lou Seal isn’t the only animal that can be found in these packs, there are Pandas to be found as well.  While Sandoval hasn’t replicated his outstanding 2009 season, his 2010 campaign hasn’t been terrible and he’s young enough that he’s got plenty of time to bounce back.

This set doesn’t just contain current players though.  You can also find cards of a few of the all-time great Giants players.

Will “The Thrill” is definitely one of the better cards in the set as is Willie McCovey.  Check out the rest of the set, including the Junior Giants cards, below.

Technorati Tags: San Francisco Giants,Shepard Fairey,Pablo Sandoval,Will Clark,Topps,Levi's,Beyond the Ballpark

Anyone interested in Benchwarmer Baseball?

Back in April, I wrote a post about a fantasy baseball league I had joined which was a lot different than anything out there.  The reason that I joined was that it was almost identical to a league that I used to be a member of through the mail in high school.  I just read a tweet from @benchwarmerBB stating that there would be an August special coming up that would allow new owners to play in 2011 for free.  It’s a great way to test the waters and see if this is something that you’d be interested in.  I’ll keep people up to date and depending on the details of the promotion, maybe we can get all of the bloggers in a league together.  I’d be willing to draft a second team to participate.  Check out the league’s site, check out my original post and if you think this might satisfy the baseball guru in you then let me know.

Technorati Tags: Benchwarmer Baseball,Robot Baseball