Blaster Madness #8: 2019 Topps Stadium Club

When this yer's version of Stadium Club debuted, y Twitter timeline was flooded with images from the set. As usual, Stadium Club offers the best overall photography of any set Topps offers, and this year did not disappoint. I made my way to Walmart to grab a couple of blasters a couple of days ago. Let's see how I did.

As I mentioned, the photography is second-to-none.

When sorting through my cards, I initially thought this was Babe Ruth. The photo definitely makes on think of the Great Bambino. Such a beautiful card.

However, this is the card that I fell in love with. This might be my favorite card of all time, and I have zero ties to Bench. Everything about this card is perfect. I dare anyone to find a better photo used in this year's set.

The only Ranger I pulled in my two blasters was this red foil parallel of Adrian Beltre. I'm not complaining. I pulled a few other parallels, as well (black foil, sepia).

This chrome parallel of Rickey Henderson was in my first blaster. I think this is the second year of Stadium Club featuring chrome parallels, but I could be wrong.

I pulled plenty of inserts, also, with this red foil Ronald Acuna Beam Team being the best one. According to the odds on the box, these fall one in every 193 packs. Not too shabby.

However, the best card of the two blasters was this beauty:

This is the Ken Griffey Jr. photo variation short print! Outside of a photo of the Kid's backswingm is there a more iconic photo of Griffey than one with his hat backwards?!

So, there are my first two blasters of 2019 Stadium Club. Full disclosure: I went back to the store the next day and bought another blaster and a fat pack. I'll share the results of those tomorrow.

Have you bought any Stadium Club this year? If so, what did you find?

A Topps Update...Update.

I've been buying a few packs of 2017 Topps Update here and there, mostly from Walmart. I would pick up a fat pack or hanger box on occasion and I bought a few packs at my LCS when I had to make a supply run. I guess I should blog about it.

Nothing has really struck a chord with me. The first thing I noticed was the ridiculous amount of photo variations. Here are just a few that I pulled:

The Judge variation actually came in the first (fat) pack of Update that I opened. I thought I had won the cardboard lottery...but then I saw that "short print" is actually code for "over-produced." That was a bit deflating.

I've also pulled a couple of the "Father's Day Blue" parallels:

The Chacin really doesn't look blue, but it is numbered just the same as the Knapp and Lively, so I guess it has to be.

In all, outside of the Judge and Ranger base cards, the only card I pulled that I want to keep is this rainbow parallel (that my scanner doesn't know how to handle):

So there it is. My underwhelming experience with 2017 Topps Update. Everything here, except the Judge and the Bibens-Dirx rainbow foil, are for trade. Lemme know!

Today Was A Good Day (I Didn't Even Have To Use My AK)

Today was the first day of classes. It is even more special for me, as I begin my last semester. If I keep on track, I'll finish my dissertation in October and I'll be done. October can't get here soon enough.

I also got a text from my LCS owner to let me know that my PSA order was in. I decided to drop in to pick it up. I had five cards in the order:

Five Kris Bryant rookies! Three PSA 10s and two PSA 9s (one of which is from Chrome). I decided a while back that I should get this graded and slabbed, for both protection and re-sale value. Bryant seems to have staying power (so far), and while I doubt he will be on Trout's level, it would be nice if his rookies grow in value in a similar way that Trout's rookie did. 

While I was in the shop, I decided to grab a couple of boxes of the 2017 Topps Clearly Authentic. I watched a few case breaks of these and I really dig the cards. I opened the first box and thought to myself, "Oh great, a freakin' redemption." I'm still waiting on other redemptions, the last thing I need is another in in the queue.

But then I read the name on the card:

So...yeah. I'll take that. This is officially my first dip into the Aaron Judge auto-mania pool. I immediately listed the card on eBay. The card seems to bring decent money, and I would like to take advantage of that before his value bottoms out. That being said, there is definitely a part of me that wants to redeem this one.

My second box was okay:

Well, maybe it was better than okay. Alex Bregman is a nice pull, also! This is the second Bregman I have pulled (I also pulled one from 2016 Bowman's Best). That was a bad day at the shop!

If I am being honest, these aren't the first boxes of Clearly Authentic that I have bought. I also picked up a couple last week. The pulls weren't quite as nice.

Carson Fulmer was the first...

...And Javier Baez was the second. Baez isn't bad, and I think Fulmer can be a solid starter, but neither of these are on the Judge/Bregman level (in my opinion). 

So there it is, a handful of PSA Bryants and a handful of Clearly Authentic. 

It was a good day.

(And I didn't even have to use my AK)

Judge-Mania Pays Off

Last week, I visited my LCS to see what was new. Because of the rookie rage this year (JUDGE, Benintendi, Bellinger, etc.), most products have become too expensive for me to afford. That wasn't a problem this time, because the only baseball product available was 2017 Tier One. 

So, I'm not going to fork over $150 for two three cards. It just ain't gonna happen. However, the owner had something else that I wanted, and trust me - this piece will be a centerpiece item. I didn't have the cash for it at the moment, but he agreed to hold it for me and let me pay it out. I'll let you in on what it is in a later post. (Oh, the suspense!)

Anyway, I went home and started looking for semi-valuable cards that I had in my collection that I wouldn't mind letting go. I never thought about it, but I checked to see what I had of Aaron Judge in my collection. Turns out, I had a silver ice and a blue parallel of Judge from 2014 Bowman (oh, if they would have only been a year older!) and a Clubhouse Collection relic from 2016 Heritage Minors. Then I started looking at what I had from this year's cards and I found rookie cards from Diamond Kings, Heritage, Gypsy Queen, and Series 1. IN all, I found ten cards. Instead of trying to sell each one individually, I decided to put them all into one lot:

I list the group at $100 or best offer. I am thinking I will be happy with $60. I wait for a few days and nothing happens. No bites.

Then, something magical occurred. While I am at the theater watching the new Spider-Man movie (which was great, by the way), Mr. Judge decides to do this:

Thank you Mr. Judge!

I walk out of the theater around 12:30 and check my phone and viola, I have an offer much higher than I expected! So I hit 'Accept' and smiled all the way home. The item I want is that much closer to being mine!

How, I feel the need to say that I am clearly not in the hobby to make money. I do it strictly for the enjoyment. That being said, I am on a grad student budget, which means that I don't have the luxury of having a ton of cash set aside for my hobby. Therefore, I have to sell cards that aren't central to my collection to get cards and items that are. So if it bothers you that I sold those cards, then I'm sorry. But it's how I grow my own collection.

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great day!