'American Pie' Needs - Can You Help?

Topps 'American Pie' has been on shelves for awhile now and the decision whether or not to complete the set has been rattling around in my head over the holidays. At first it seemed like a fun thing to occupy my time until Series 1 flagship baseball is released but I have recently changed my mind.

I decided to go through the checklist and pick out the cards I would really want and go after them. Of course, I will be trying to gather their parallels as well but base seems to be first in order. As well, the 'Hollywood Walk of Fame' insert set has grown on me so I decided to focus on that.

If you have any of the cards listed below please send me an email or leave a comment below and I would be happy to work out a trade with you. The ones listed in red are pending trades but some of them I would be happy to own doubles of anyway.

Thanks for taking the time to check this list out, I appreciate it......



Base Cards

#141 - MTV



Foil Parallel

3, 6, 8, 9, 20, 24, 25, 31, 39, 48, 51, 65, 66, 68, 70, 72, 73, 77, 79, 88, 89, 91, 94,
100, 103, 104, 108, 109, 114, 121, 123, 125, 128, 134, 145, 162, 170,


Spotlight Parallel #/76

3, 6, 8, 9, 20, 24, 25, 31, 39, 48, 51, 59, 62, 65, 66, 68, 70, 72, 73, 77, 79, 88, 89, 91, 94,
100, 103, 104, 108, 109, 111, 114, 121, 123, 125, 128, 134, 137, 141, 145, 154, 162, 170, 185



Hollywood Walk of Fame

HWF-1, HWF-2, HWF-6, HWF-8, HWF-11, HWF-12, HWF-14, HWF-15, HWF-17, HWF-19, HWF-20, HWF-22, HWF-23, HWF-25, HWF-28, HWF-31, HWF-36, HWF-37, HWF-38, HWF-41, HWF-43, HWF-46, HWF-49, HWF-50


If you have a needs list please let me know and I will go through what I have to help you finish your sets.

Cheers,

Then There Were Two........Well, Three, But......

Ever since I saw them on the sell sheet I knew I was going to build the set. Perhaps my relative newness back into collecting has yet to jade me, but, I am still quite content with the retro design releases that Topps is putting out there and the Series 1 Kimball Champions set satisfies.

This 50-card set done in the exact style of its namesake, the 1887 'Champions of Game and Sport' set released by the W.S.Kimball Tobacco Company. While the original set showcased sports of all kinds, containing only 4 cards devoted to baseball, this set obviously focuses on strictly baseball. I have no issue whatsoever with retro-themed sets like this being included as an insert in a modern product. Aside from the established sets like Heritage, Allen & Ginter and Goodwin Champions this is where retro-themed sets belong, as an enhancement. I am interested to see what happens with Gypsy Queen and how collectors embrace the "new kid on the block".

However, do not take my word for it. Judge for yourself.






As I am sure you have noticed there are a few blank spots in the pages there. I am down to the last few cards needed to complete this set and this is where you, loyal reader, factor in to the equation. I need your help. The last three cards I need are ;

#11 - Starlin Castro
#37 - Stephen Strasburg
#47 - Brett Anderson

I am pretty sure that the Starlin Castro card was pulled in the group break over at 'A Cardboard Problem' so essentially I am down to only the Strasburg and Anderson. I purchased a few lots off of eBay so duplicates/traders are not a problem. If you are working on your own set and can help me out I can easily send you a list of what I have. I also have a number of other inserts from Series 1 that can be sent your way, if you so choose.

Let me know what I can do to finish off this set and make those pages look pretty and complete.

Cheers,

Box Break - Topps Series 2 Baseball

As I mentioned before I have a couple of Topps Series 2 box breaks to post here. Part of the delay has been spent trying to figure out just what to post about it. Nobody needs to see the base cards; there have been more than enough images of those made available. In the end I decided to post what I would find most useful; the actual breakdown of what was in the boxes. I ended up purchasing two of the HTA Jumbo boxes which supposedly contain 10 packs of 50 cards. I say supposedly because not a single pack contained 50 cards, it actually ranged between 46 to 48 cards per pack. Nonetheless, the appeal of the Jumbo boxes for me is the potential to have a box yield a complete base set. Once again, notice the adjective there? In a perfect world where quality control would actually mean something you would get a complete set of base cards in a box. This was not the case here. On that I still do not know how I feel.

Just in case you are interested I will post the pack ratios for the inserts in the Jumbos;

Gold Parallel, Ring of Honor, Legends of the Game(LOTG) and Turkey Reds are 1:1

Topps Town 1:2

Black Parallel 1:10

Platinum Parallel 1:2,500

Printing Plates 1:210

Red Hot Rookie Redemption 1:10

WBC Stars 1:2

LOTG SP Variations 1:17

LOTG Career Best 1:6

LOTG Gold 1:345

LOTG Platinum 1:1,400

LOTG Stamps 1:590

WBC Stamps 1:1,733

Sketch Cards 1:2,800

Framed Silk 1:55

Ring of Honor Autos 1:823

LOTG Relic 1:1,282

LOTG Career Best Relic 1:3,100

Career Best Relic Platinum 1:160

Career Best Autos Group A 1:71, Group B 1:13

Career Best Relics Group A 1:56, Group B1:15

WBC Stars Autos 1:270

WBC Stars Relics 1:51

1959 Mickey Mantle Reprint Relic 1:18,000

LOTG Cut Autographs 1:16,500

LOTG Career Best Cut Signature 1:101,220

Career Best Auto/Relic 1:538

WBC Stars Auto/Relic 1:2,700

Career Best Dual Relic 1:92

Career Best Base Paths Quad Relic 1:535

American Legends Cut Sig 1:101,220

Career Best Jumbo Patch Relic 1:1,335

LOTG Letter Patch 1:40

Legendary Letters Commemorative Patch 1:20

Now here is what the first box yielded;

489 Cards Pulled*

425 Base Cards (318/330 96% of a set)

64 Insert Cards

95 Dupes

*23 Damaged/Mis-cut cards

I like the carry-over of the Inserts from Series 1, in particular the ‘Turkey Red’ and ‘Legends of the Game’. However, I have a couple complaints.

#1 – The ‘Legends of the Game’ inserts in Series 1 were numbered to 1 to 25. WHY could Topps not have continued this and gone from 26 to 50? WHY must the same themed set be numbered completely different in Series 2? It is a small but OH SO ANNOYING variation.

#2 – The ‘Turkey Red’ cards in Series 1 had a muted retro cardboard look to the fronts. Series 2 shine like they have been handled by someone who has finished a dozen glazed doughnuts. This is sin when you are continuing a set. The operative word here is continuity!!

Here are the scans of my Insert pulls pack by pack;

Pack #1

Pack #2

Pack #3

Pack #4

Pack #5

Pack #6

Pack #7

Pack #8

Pack #9

Pack #10

The other appeal that the Jumbo Boxes have for me is the opportunity for 2 Relic and 1 Auto card per box. At heart I am a set collector and rarely do “hits” hold that much of a draw for me. However, understand I am addicted to busting packs and the excitement of pulling something relatively unique from a pack can be lots of fun too.

Here are the “box hits”, so to speak, from this break;

Career Best Jersey Relic - Matt Kemp


Career Best Autograph - Akinori Iwamura


Legendary Letters Commemorative Patch - Mel Ott (#34/50)

I think this break was, on the best, average. Nothing really jumps out at me and the only high-spot was the SP of Wade. Box #2 was way more exciting and once I get the scans of it sorted I will post it. One thing I will say is that there were a couple pulls that will make some fellow bloggers quite happy as I will be sending them along in the near future.
Keep looking for my traders list on the side of my blog too. I will be uploading a list that hopefully people will find some useful cards for their collection.

Cheers,

Mail Day (aka Thorzul Rules!!)

Here we go, here is my first attempt to stay on top of mailings and give thanks where it is rightfully due.

When I got home from work today an envelope was waiting in the mailbox for me from the land of Richie and The Fonz. Thorzul Will Rule sent along his part in a swap of 2009 Topps singles bringing me mercifully closer to finishing Series 1. (The 22nd is approaching rapidly)


I always will love the "landscape" layout for baseball cards.


And these four thematically fit together perfectly.





Thanks again to Thorzul for the additions they are greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Sorely Delayed Mail Day

One of the things I am terrible for is collecting.

Let me explain.

I tend to let things gather. It is for this very reason I am not the one in charge of bills in the house. I finally decided to wade through a seriously large pile of mail addressed to me. Inside were two VERY important envelopes. One was from the Canadian Government thanking me for being a model citizen and filing my taxes. I like a country that pays me to live here...lol. Second was an envelope from Matt over at Heartbreaking Cards completing a trade from last month. Matt managed to knock a few cards off of the increasingly hard to finish Wal-Mart "blackout" parallel set. I say "hard to finish" because Wal-Mart in Canada has yet to carry ANY baseball cards this year. My two blasters came from my wife when she was in Utah and the rest came from two single lot auctions on ebay.

Anyway, thanks to matt for these,

these,

and these ;


Matt also helped finish off the Legends sub set with two titans of the game ;


As well as having 3 base cards inching me closer to the finish line.


Once again, thanks to matt and I will regularly keep an eye on your want lists for future trades. This was truly appreciated.

Anyone else needing to finish off their Topps baseball base, sub-sets, or Wal-Marts check out my lists here and e-mail me your want lists here we can work something out.

Cheers,

Mail Day (aka Western Canada Delivers)

Pulling into the driveway after a long, busy, grueling day listening to people whine and complain over the most mundane of issues I was looking forward to a glass of Johnny Walker's finest, putting my feet up and watching the battle of Pennsylvania.

Being greeted at the door by two of the most affection-starved animals on the planet, to hear them tell it, has a way of wiping away the day. So do bubble-mailers!!

Straight from Calgary, Alberta from the hands of the curator of Waxaholic came the very first blog inspired trade for me. 14 more cards designated for the monstrous 800 card OPC Hockey set undertaken this season.


Judging by the sheer fun and challenge that building both the base and parallel set of this issue has been I cannot wait until the Baseball release and starting all over again.

I have to admit that of all the recent expansion teams jerseys the Minnesota Wild appeal to me the most.


Thanks for the help Captain and I'll be getting your package out in the coming days. I'm searching for something specific for you and remembering where it is has become more of a challenge than I anticipated.

One of the things I truly appreciate is when people go the extra mile and do certain things "just because". It doesn't have to be a grand gesture just one that is unexpected. Coupled in with his shipment were two packs that I will be putting aside for a rainy day or when I need to "scratch the itch", so to speak.


While on the subject of unopened packs I recently rediscovered my shoebox of unopened wax. I will be going through it and posting some and maybe opening others. There is one pack in particular that I will be looking for serious input on as to its future.