The Last Night of the Topps Million Card Dynasty

The second package I got in the mail last week while I was out of town was the last card of the Topps Million Card Giveaway that was still outstanding.  Apparently, Topps had an issue with not being able to fill 2 cards in particular.  And I had both of them.  So instead of this:

I got this:

Now, this was a good deal compared to the 2nd to last package I got.  For that one, instead of this:

I got this:

A Red Sox dude from 1954.  I’m not going to write a novel about how it was wrong for Topps to do this.  I’ve read plenty of blogs that go through that.  Topps messed up somehow, they should have fixed it by getting all the cards, but instead they gave substitutes.  It’s a little weird on the Pudge cards – you’d think they could have found a bulk lot of those to purchase fairly cheap.  I think this was probably a computer glitch on the Rizzuto.  I’m mostly fine with what I got, especially when I consider that, if I had pulled up a ’54 card  on the site (instead of the Rizzuto), I would have been really happy.  It’s a really nice card, seems in good condition for a 1954 card, and is the oldest in my collection.  It bugs me a little bit that they said they were giving away the unclaimed cards to charity – can that be believed if they clearly weren’t buying all the cards in advance?  But, ultimately, it’s a crappy mistake by Topps, and I’ll just adjust my habits and be sure to send in early for the Diamond Giveaways site.

That said – here’s the rest of the bounty that came in the first TMCG package I got.  Speaking of the Diamond site – I have been much more active with the trading there.  I love that they added new cards (the Diamond Die-Cut) on that site.  I’ll post on that a little later.

Gypsy Queen autos in the mail

I got a couple of nondescript packages in the mail from a certain company in Pennsylvania last week while I was out of town.  The second package I’ll cover in a post tomorrow or the day after.  The first was these 2 Gypsy Queen autographs I was missing from the 2 hobby boxes I purchased.  I actually was missing 3, as I only got one total.  It wasn’t worth trying to go through trying to get the other – I’m happy they replaced with 2 cards.  Overall, GQ was a really good product, I hope they a) bring it back next year, b) fix the QC issues, and c) most importantly, do a reprint set of the originals.

Trade with One Out Away

I recently completed a very large trade with Jason from One Out Away.  This was a really big trade that knocked off a ton of Gypsy Queen cards from both of our wantlists, and also helped me with some other card needs.  Below are the highlights.  Thanks Jason!

Here’s some cards from the cornerstone of the trade – the Gypsy Queen set.  I sent over a bunch of SP and base cards and got back a bunch of inserts and base cards.

Next up, here are some insert sets from recent years of Topps – always good to put a dent in those.

Finally – here’s some 1988 and 1989 Topps cards.  I love that I got a Jack McKeon card, given his recent hire as an 80-year old manager back with the Marlins.  The Raines card is cool because they went with the nickname here – this was an interesting choice here.

Next up, ‘ve

Completed set & master set – one last look at 1987 Topps

Before I started doing all this retro stuff on this blog, I had actually completed another set.  The 1987 Topps and Traded set is my second set and second full year completed!  This means I’ve completed my personal master set for this as well – which I’m defining as the base set, the traded set, and any inserts I’m collecting.  As I did with the 1986 set – and as I’ll do each time I complete a base set and/or a master set – I’ll do a “look back”.

Info about my set:

How I put the set together:

• 426 cards from the wax box
• 10 cards from a Target re-pack
• 356 cards from trades

Card that completed my set: #385 – Orel Hershiser (1 of 4 cards I got in a trade from Night Owl that completed the set – I find it particularly interesting that this was Dodger card received from a Dodger collector)

Topps Value Pack and another trade with Smed

I bought one of the Topps value packs from Target a few weeks back.  You get 5 packs of Topps series 1 retail, a few packs of Topps Heritage, 2 cards from the Diamond Giveaway, and one of 3 chrome cards of either Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle.  You also get a little booklet that has a write-up for each year of Topps cards.

I mostly got this to see what it had in it, but I did get a few cards I needed.  I got the Jackie chrome card.

I also recently finished up another trade with Scott from Smed’s cards.  This was a trade that was lingering from a previous trade where I hadn’t opened past 88 Topps and he had some doubles. I also just sent him some other cards from his list as well.

Topps Black Diamond cards in the mail

I was pretty lazy about sending in the packs for the Topps 1952 Black Diamond giveaway Series 1.  I bought 2 boxes back in February when Series 1 came out – but I just hadn’t gotten around to sending in the packs.  I finally did last week, and was shocked about the turnaround time.  I got the cards back exactly 1 week from sending the packs out.  The 10th card I don’t have shown below is Starlin Castro.  I just posted a pic of his relic card I pulled from series 2.  So he got cut here.

2011 Topps Series 2 HTA Jumbo Box – parallel cards

Showing off some more bounty from my HTA jumbo box of series 2.  Below are the diamond and gold parallels.

Platinum Diamond parallels

Gold parallels

2011 Topps series 2 HTA jumbo box – hits

Here are the “hits” and rarer inserts I got from my series 2 jumbo box.  I pulled a Koufax leather glove card – I do kind of like these cards, unlike a lot of other collectors.  I got a Papi Topps 60 relic – so I’ve now pulled 3 Yankees and 1 Red Sox Topps 60 relics.  The Castro auto is one I’m definitely happy with.

The Henderson is an actual back version – glad to get one of my favorite players, so I’m keeping this one for sure.  Glad I pulled a Topps Black, and Zimmerman is a decent player at that.  I’ve got a Zimmerman and a Tejada from series 1.  The Dawson might be the most interesting card I pulled – this is the diamond version of the Legends variation.  Interestingly, the Dawson variation is the same number as Matt Kemp.

2011 series 2 Topps HTA Jumbo box – inserts

Here’s the inserts from the Topps box that I opened last weekend.

Kimball

Topps 60

60 Years of Topps

Diamond Stars & Before there was Topps

And I have the Prime 9 insert set in this picture, too.

2011 Topps Series 2 HTA Jumbo Box – base cards

I got my Topps series 2 box in the mail last week, and opened it over the weekend.  I think Topps again did a great job with this product, just like they did with series 1.  My only gripe – there are just a few too many insert sets, and there are too many cards in those insert sets.  I struggled with whether or not I should get a jumbo box – I got a jumbo HTA and a hobby box for series 1.  When I started the Topps project – my intention was to always get a hobby box.  But these jumbo boxes just seem like so much of a better deal, I’ve got to go with them.  I’m thinking I may also get a blaster just for kicks.  I basically all but finished the set, except there were 2 cards that had pretty bad corners.  Below are my favorite pictures (and why for a few of them) from the base cards.

Wakefield – can see the knuckler

Reyes – you can see the lineup of the throw to the cutoff as he rounds the bases

Hamels – you can see the intensity

Burrell – captures Giants celebrating the WS championship

Cain – they did very well getting the ball in this picture

Arencibia – this was from his first game, when he had 4 hits and 2 HR

Valverde – this is my favorite picture in the whole product

Ross – this is clearly from the World Series

Maier – this could go in the Gypsy Queen Wall Climbers set