Penny Sleeve Preacher

When you buy and open an entire case of something, you can pretty easily determine what constitutes an average box, and by extension, what's above average and below average.  I love Museum Collection, but can't afford to consider a full case, so a box or two (or a pack sometimes) is about all I deal with. The Blowout forums tend to illustrate only the best boxes and sometimes the worst, but I don't think they represent a real accurate cross-section of what's in a particular product.  So, I'm curious to "show off" the hits from this box and hear from you all as to how they really compare.  I bought the box at The Fantastic Store in Chantilly, Va.  No pictures of the base cards.  A Blake Snell #/150 was the best numbered parallel, we got 2 colors of Strasburg and a Trea Turner, so as Nats fans, this was a bonus.  This year's design might be my favorite MC design over the past 3-4 years.  They're very sharp. The two relics: neither are big nam...

Allen & Ginter is one of my favorite sets, I'll admit it.  I know the set gets a lot of flak from collectors each year, and maybe that's because the set always stretches beyond the limits of just baseball, and sometimes that gets a bit... well, weird.  Is the base set generally underwhelming? Well, yes.  Are the inserts wacky and sometimes downright bizarre?  Yes, also true.  Is it a little strange to open a pack and find Michael Rapaport tucked in between Daniel Murphy and Chris Archer?  Absolutely.  But Allen & Ginter brings one thing to the table that sucks me in every year - Rip Cards.  The intrigue of searching for them, the decision about whether or not to rip (I like to pretend it's a decision, but after a few minutes of thinking I might leave it intact, I always rip!), and the second round of hope (and disappointment) about the mini card inside.  So that's what draws me to the set each year.  This year, with another good ...

I almost never deal with non-baseball products, and very rarely buy Panini products.   However, when Blowout Cards offered a 100-pack lot of 2012 Panini Americana Heroes & Legends for just $20, I couldn’t resist.  That feeling was reinforced when I told my wife what I’d purchased, and she said, “You only bought one?”  Thankfully, Blowout let me amend my order, and I ended up with 200 packs of Americana to plow through.  They came in 2 separate packages of 100 each, and this post will focus on the second lot of 100, because to be honest, there was nothing of note in the first 100.  Keep in mind nothing is guaranteed, of course, compared to the 3 hits that are in each hobby box.  But for $20... You ever go yard sale shopping late on a Saturday morning?  You know you’ve missed out on the best stuff, but you stop at the sparse-looking, meager yard sales hoping that you may come across that diamond in the rough that somehow everyone else missed. ...

It's like Christmas!  Just like Spring Training, the release of the new flagship series always brings excitement.  Checking out the design of the card, hoping that prior bad luck will turn good or that existing good luck will somehow continue.  So, let's get to the details of this Series 1 Hobby Box break. The basic format hasn't changed - 36 packs, 10 cards each; one guaranteed Auto or Relic, generally 1 or 2 numbered parallels, plus the standard assortment of inserts. At first glance, I like the new design.  A full-bleed, borderless card is nice, especially with the higher-end photography than many of us are used to from back in the day (looking at you, '87 Topps).  First piece of good news?  Not a First Pitch insert set anywhere in sight!  Bad news? The insert set designs are all a little... blah.  Inserts are often nice because they represent a card that is a stark departure from the design of the base card.  Usually, you might say, "...

We are definitely in the lull between the end of the 2017 Baseball card season, and the beginning of the 2018 season.  However, there are a few things to watch out for.  Picked up this retail box of Elite Extra Edition from Target - only 11 cards come in the box, and it’s all prospects, so you have to get in the right frame of mind to judge the quality of this set. I always struggle with prospect-only sets; there just isn’t a whole lot of instant gratification.  While I do enjoy looking back through sets that are a few years old, hoping there are a few gems that have become valuable, it’s hard to buy something knowing that is THE primary way to get some value.  On the flip side, there are a minimum of 2 Autos and 2 Relics in each box, with a 3rd of one or the other - so 5 hits in a box of 11 cards certainly raises the pulse rate a bit.  You’re not going to see any super-big hits from this break, but a quick eBay search shows that there are definitely some cool...

George Herman “Babe” Ruth.  He was arguably the greatest baseball player to live.  He was the source of blessing for the Yankees, and a source of curse for the Red Sox, causing him to be one of the rare athletes to be in the pantheon of multiple franchises.  His homerun total of 714 is one of THE numbers in sports history, perhaps even the most well-known statistic in all of sports.    He single—-handedly made the homerun an integral part of baseball; an accomplishment that every modern day baseball fan should be grateful for.  His personality was larger than life, and his charisma drew people  to him.  He loved children, and made a habit of visiting orphanages and hospitals throughout his career.  His place on the “Mount Rushmore” of baseball history is rightly and richly deserved.  “The Babe” is a sports legend. But Babe Ruth wasn’t perfect, and though he did many good things in his life,  he was not perfect... but who is? ...