The Dreaded “H-Word”

You may have noticed that the posts have come to a screeching halt in the past couple weeks and that I haven’t posted a box break/review in nearly a month. Sadly, I’m posting this today to let everyone know that it’ll be at least a little while longer before another break is posted. Thanks to some recent surprise bills and a lack of free time lately (among other craziness), my ability to post new material to this blog and more importantly, my passion for writing this blog has been dwindling. That said, it is with regret that I announce that Old School Breaks will officially be on hiatus as of today.

I would like to assure my readers that this is definitely not the end of this blog. I will be back in due time, as soon as I can get my stuff together. In the meantime, I encourage everyone to go back and read some of the past articles they have missed, either by searching, tag cloud, or the Best Of page. For those that need their “old-school” fix, be sure to check out ’90s Box Breaks while I’m away.

Thank you for reading and I’ll (hopefully) see you in the (not so distant) future.

-John Hollod
Old School Breaks

A Trade with the Night Owl

Note: An important announcement regarding this blog’s future will be posted shortly.

I haven’t done a whole lot of trading lately, but last week, Greg of Night Owl Cards and I reached a deal that sent several Dodgers his way. You can probably guess what he sent me in return. The great thing about being a Yankee fan is that people are often very willing to give away their (referring to the Yanks, of course) cards to you. Anyway, here’s a look at what Greg had sent me.

The complete list:
2007 Topps Update Gold Jorge Posada /2007
2008 Topps Update Gold Mariano Rivera /2008
2008 Topps Chrome X-Fractor Robinson Cano
2008 UD YSL #6014 Paul O’Neill
2008 UD YSL #6097 Tino Martinez
2009 Topps Chrome X-Fractor Mark Teixeira
2009 Topps Heritage Flashback Mickey Mantle
2009 Topps Career Best LegendsMickey Mantle
2009 Topps WalMart Cereal Box Mickey Mantle
2009 Topps A & G National Pride Hideki Matsui
2009 Topps A & G National Pride Alex Rodriguez
2009 Topps A & G Relic Mark Teixeira
2009 Topps A & G Relic Alex Rodriguez

Overall, I was very impressed with the lot Greg sent over. I always love getting refractors and the Teixeira card gave me my first taste of 2009 Topps Chrome. I really like it. The WalMart card was new to me as well. It’s pretty rare when I can actually trade for a Paul O’Neill card I don’t have so I was pretty happy to add the YSL to my collection (number 667 overall). Thanks a lot for this trade Greg! I’m happy I was able to “rid” you of these cards (and I’m sure you’re even happier about the fact).

Old School Hits: 1998 Donruss Signature Significant Signatures (Contest Prize)

Randomly inserted into packs of 1998 Donruss Signature were Significant Signatures inserts, which featured beautiful on-card autographs of legends such as Yogi Berra, Eddie Mathews, Ernie Banks, Stan Musial, and Phil Rizzuto, just to name a few. Each card was limited to 2,000 copies, with the exception of Rizzuto, who only signed 1,000.

However, not all the cards were directly inserted into packs. Redemption cards were created for Sandy Koufax, Ozzie Smith, and Nolan Ryan. The redemptions (which had to be redeemed before the year 2000) were for special signed REFRACTORS with a print run of 2,000. However, some time after the product’s release, non-refractive versions of these three cards were found. They featured different photographs from their refractor counterparts, but still looked very sharp in basic foilboard. While Koufax and Ozzie once again had 2,000 cards out there, there were only 1,000 of the non-fractor Nolan Ryan card.

Oh, and if you’re reading this Jason, this Ryan is your prize for winning the contest. Congratulations and enjoy!

The Cooperstown Grid: Winner and Solution

First off, I want to thank everyone who checked out the contest, especially those of you who tried solving the puzzle. Here’s how it worked:

The 9×9 grid was actually comprised of 9 3×3 grids with letters that, when rearranged, spelled out names of baseball Hall of Famers. In 6 of these grids, the letters spelled out a first and last name. In the other 3, they spelled out just a last name. These names were (from left to right):

Top Row: Jim Palmer, Dizzy Dean, Bob Gibson
Middle Row: Tom Seaver, Hank Aaron, Eckersley
Bottom Row: Tony Gwynn, Henderson, Newhouser

Most of you found these names, but were unsure as to what to do next. When I numbered the columns 1-9, I was hoping that someone would think outside the box and start thinking about how numbers could play a role in this puzzle. If you notice, every one of the players from the 9 3×3 grids wore a double-digit uniform number that was later retired by a Major League team. The uniform numbers of these players were actually coordinates to the letters you needed to find in order to find one last 9-letter jumble, which would lead to the identity of the mystery Hall of Famer.

Jim Palmer (22) (2nd column, 2nd box) = L
Dizzy Dean (17) (1st column, 7th box) = N
Bob Gibson (45) (4th column, 5th box) = N
Tom Seaver (41) (4th column, 1st box) = Y
Hank Aaron (44) (4th column, 4th box) = A
Eckersley (43) (4th column, 3rd box) = N
Tony Gwynn (19) (1st column, 9th box) = O
Henderson (24) (2nd column, 4th box) = A
Newhouser (16) (1st column, 6th box) = R

To see the grid again, here is the original post.

Put that all together and you get “LNNYANOAR” which when rearranged spells out the name of the secret Hall of Famer:

NOLAN RYAN!

Jason aka “The Jaw” was the first person to correctly solve the puzzle and (like I said) will win a special prize of someone directly related to the contest. The prize is actually one that’s on its way to my house right now and will be revealed on my next installment of Old School Hits shortly.

Thanks again all! Hope you enjoyed it!

CONTEST: The Cooperstown Grid (Big HOF Prize!)

THE CONTEST HAS ENDED. “THE JAW” FIGURED OUT THE CORRECT ANSWER, NOLAN RYAN. DETAILS WILL BE POSTED LATER TONIGHT/TOMORROW. FOR NOW, SEE IF YOU CAN FIGURE OUT HOW HE DID IT. CONGRATS JAW!

Last month, when I created the Crack This! contest, it was far more successful than I had anticipated. It seems that there are quite a few out there who like puzzles so I’m back again to give you your fix with something I call The Cooperstown Grid. Here’s how it works:

Below, you will find a 9×9 jumble of letters. Hidden in the jumble are the identities of several baseball Hall of Famers. Your job will be not only to figure out who these men are, but use them (the real puzzle) to figure out the identity of the secret Hall of Famer, who is the key to winning this contest. The first person to correctly post the identity of the secret Hall of Famer ON THIS POST will be declared the winner and will win a VERY special prize of someone related to this contest (something awesome, trust me). The special prize will be revealed once the contest is over.

EDIT: If you are viewing this post on the homepage, click on this particular post to see the grid better. The letters should be centered that way.

EDIT2: Not only are the grid letters important in this puzzle… Numbers are as well. This will be the only hint I give.

COOPERSTOWN GRID

1               2            3             4            5           6          7            8           9

M	A	E	Y	Z	D	N	B	S
I	L	J	E	I	A	O	I	O
R	P	M	N	D	Z	G	B	B
M	A	S	A	H	K	L	R	C
O	V	E	N	A	A	E	E	Y
R	E	T	O	R	N	E	S	K
N	G	Y	S	N	E	W	E	E
W	Y	N	E	R	N	R	U	N
O	N	T	D	O	H	S	H	O