"2011 Topps Value Box" Rip

Today wasnt a particularly good day. i didnt sleep well last night. my hands and feet are pretty cold right now, i better test my sugars... ok, yep, just as i thought, a tad low, 68

anywho, Was at Target this afternoon and they had one of these on the shelf:



from pretty much everything ive read, they are supposed to be "loaded"
Five packs of Topps Update, one pack of Bowman Chrome "(Hobby) and one faust Bryce Harper refractor of three possible colors.

My Harper Refractor was the "regular" one as far as i can tell.

My Bowman Chrome pack did have an auto in it:

too bad he's 26 years old this month lol

First pack of Topps Update was cool ...



only one additional code card. heres the group picture ...



So there you have it. More crap i dont need :)

THANKS TOPPS!

It's been two years since my diagnosis

hard to imagine its been two years since i was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. still hard to type that out. each day is a daily struggle. some days are better then others.

i am fortunate (i suppose?) that i have what they call strong will power. i do not eat what i am not supposed to. i saw a picture of Paula Dean eating a rather large cheeseburger with bun and fries. i dont think i could eat that if you paid me to. strange to read i know, especially if youve know me for a period of time, back from my old life.

not sure there is much to this particular posting, but i felt like typing something about my two year "anniversary"

1/20/12 - White Plains Show Recap

This weekend there was a show in White Plains. The Show runs today through Sunday. The "big draw" for this show is a fairly rare signing appearance by Mike Pizza tomorrow. Also, PSA was accepting submissions.

Being that i had cards to hand into to PSA i was planning on attending. Then when they announced that Piazza would be signing, i figured the dealer turnout would be strong. Well, i was wrong! lol

The show was lacking in the dealer department. i wonder if the impending "snow storm" had anything to do with it. Oh well, that happens and i was not going to let it get me down. i love going to shows and can occupy my time there in different ways.

This show was about looking for some raw stuff to hand in with the order that i was giving to PSA anyway. i spent most of my time at the show looking for raw cards to submit, and then looking some more, and some more. i came away with seven additional cards, and a lot more respect for those that self-submit. Its this happening at shows that makes me more and more happy to buy already graded (when available that is)

My first stop was at the dealer that has a "$1 table". His stuff rarely dissapoints, and today was pretty good at his table:







Then is was time to seach for some "junk wax" Surprisingly there was a LOT less available then there is normally. that was a bummer. i did pick these up:



I was able to pick up just three slabs on the day. The usual PSA dealers werent there, and the ones that had PSA for sale had them priced pretty high.

Overall i wish there was more to report about this show. Of course i had a good time, but it could/should have been a lot better.

Thanks for the read,
Eric
ThoseBackPages

Ripping for George Brett Submissions - 1991 Studio Wax Box

Welcome to my latest installment of "Ripping for George Brett Submissions"

1991 Donruss Studio. 48 Packs. $10 from www.bbcexchange.com




These cards are in pretty rough shape right outta the pack. thin paper stock and rough condition is going to make grading these fair tough it would seem. my box had two Bretts in it, one has a shot at a 9 the other one does not. Thems the breaks.




i had a good time ripping this box, and at the price point its tough to beat!

on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being Best) i give this rip: 8

Until Next Time,
Eric
ThoseBackPages

Cold, Crisp Day. Clear Skies ... and here's that "Rainy Day"

Just wasnt having a good day today. So in an attempt to make me feel better, i decided it was time to rip my vintage stash of O-Pee-Chee Baseball Wax Packs



so i lined them up as pictured above. Today i opened 1977 to 1981. i will open 1983 to 1986 another day.

i will let the scans do the talking...



























Some winners, some not-so-winners.

it was nice to have HOF power in each pack of the '77s (even if two of the packs ran the same sequence). Typical of O-Pee-Chee, CENTERING was literally all over the place within each pack. crazy to thumb through a pack and see the drastic shift in centering from card to card.

i was hoping to pull some cards to hand in at the show this Friday. i MIGHT sub the Brett, but struck out on Schmidt Nettles Munson Keith Hernandez Gary Carter Reggie Jackson and Tom Seaver

Still was a rush to open wax from all those years ago

Them's the breaks or so they say.

Ripping for George Brett Submissions: 1976 OPC Wax Pack x 2!

The last two packs of '76 O-Pee-Chee Baseball Wax that remain in my inventory.

Cost: $29/each from www.bbcexchange.com



Well, i had a good feeling going into these packs, and decided tonight to rip 'em both!




Whoopsie! LOL well ok, i was wrong. it happens. i saw the Yankees Catcher card and bam, wrong catcher! it's in good shape too, would have been a Munson worth submitting.

The first pack even had an additional card in it, still no dice. No worries though, opening wax packs that are 36 years old is quite a rush indeed. I think that going forward i will stick to ripping '77 and newer wax because the sets are about half the size of its Topps counterpart (whereas most of the other 70s issues are identical in size). Also, the price point is about half as well.

Thanks for the read everyone,
Eric
ThoseBackPages

Did the Strike of '94 and the mass influx of the internet kill Major League Baseball?

Listen, i will be the first to admit that i am an old, bitter man. That being said, give this some real thought.

Did the Strike of '94 and the mass influx/popularity of the internet kill Major League Baseball?

we all know that the internet both helped and killed the baseball card market. Deny it all you like, collectors know that it's true.

But taking it a bit further, did the strike of 1994 followed by AOL offering "unlimited" internet access for a flat monthly fee allowing anyone the ability to over analyze baseball statistics?

Barry Larkin was elected to The Hall Of Fame today, and there seem to be a lot of people that are not happy. there are people all over the internet saying to the effect "Well, i looked at his statistics, and can't see why he would get in"

Of course statistics are an important part of Baseball, im not saying otherwise. But i think baseball is MORE then just the back of someones baseball card. There are plenty of guys in the Hall of Fame that if you just looked at their stats, you'd wonder wtf they are doing there. There are also some players that have "a lot of numbers" that probably do not belong there. That does work both ways.

Remember when you could challenge someone to some trivia? Now? ha, google it! instant answer. It really sucks that the youth of today and future generations will have no clue what it was like to be a baseball fan before the internet came along.

Well, i guess we should feel lucky that they care about the sport at all anymore.

1985 Topps Supers PSA Display!

These things are awesome looking in PSA Slabs and on display!



i had the Brett, but got the others in the mail today. i really like how they look all lined up. i also got in a Carter '86, but it doesnt go with the flow of the '85s. once i get the other players' '86s in PSA form, i will make another display.

Other news ... today is Day Four of being stuck in bed resting from this damn cold. last night was night two that i was not able to get to sleep. ugh.

Down with a head cold

its cold and windy here again, near single digits outside so says the weather app.

im knocked out for the day with a head cold that started coming on strong yesterday into last night. i didnt sleep all that well and decided that today i am not going to go for my walk by choice in an attempt to help recover from this cold faster.

Lets see what happens.

on a side note, my BGS #'s are LOWER then they have been before the illness arrived. thats "backwards" as how it's supposed to be. gotta "love" this freaking disease :/

1.3.12

Weather: low 20s, incredibly WINDY and cold today
Did you walk today?: yes
If So, how far?: 3.20 miles
Weather During Walk: COLD
Overall Walk Performance: better then i thought it would be
Current Mood: eh. i feel a cold coming on. sneezy, head congestion
How is your diabetes today?: blah
Fasting BG this morning?: 77

It's a new year, so they say...

i hope that everyone was safe and not too stupid over the holiday weekend.

Here's what i hope to accomplish with collecting in the year 2012.....

Being a collector that has a really difficult time Focusing, i decided that i will set my sights on these Registries:

Post War HOF Rookie Set

George Brett Master Set
Mike Schmidt Master Set
Dwight Gooden Master Set
Keith Hernandez Master Set
Gary Carter Master Set
Graig Nettles Master Set
Thurman Munson Master Set

i picked the "Master Sets" mainly because of the bias against O-Pee-Chee, but also because i feel it will keep me more Focused in the long run.

My Post War HOF RC Set is coming along nicely, im down to 10 with the 48 Leaf SPs being the "big ones" still needed

i also want to post some "write ups" on my player pages. i really enjoy what other set collectors have to write on their individual player and/or Set pages.
Sadly there dont seem to be that many people that bother/desire to post write ups.