Epic Mailday : 2 out of my top 3!

When summer break began, I knew I was going to have a little extra free time since we teachers get the summer to ourselves 🙂  It hit me that this was as good of an opportunity as I’d get to try and put my A-Rod collection back together.  While it’s been a little spendy, it’s been a fun ride so far.  I found my way to FreedomCardBoard thanks to Corockies, and ever since then my collection has taken a Huge step forward.

One member suggested I make a wantlist so I decided to make a top 3 most wanted cards.  It’s been a month since I made that list and I’ve been fortunate enough to purchase 2 out of the 3 cards on that original list!

#1 on the list was this beauty:

1999 Ionix HoloGrFx (1:1500 Packs)

If you’ve read my Ionix breaks from this year, you remember that I mentioned that this HoloGrfx insert was my most wanted card, after selling the first one I ever had 4 years ago. They fall at 1:1500 packs which isn’t even one per case!  I wonder how many were produced…my guess is 50 of each player but it may be as many as 100.

A big shout out to gradedeflator on FreedomCardBoard for hooking me up.  He originally posted it in the 90’s Insert Thread that has a huge following after I mentioned how nice his Piazza HoloGrFx was.  We then cut a deal for it and it was waiting for me after my Alaska Cruise.

#2 on the wantlist was this sweet insert from 1997 Donruss:

1997 Donruss Power Alley Die-Cut (#d to 250)

Donruss has some wonderful looking inserts and they, along with Leaf, are knowing for their serial #d inserts in the 90’s.  These also come in a non die-cut version which are #d to 1000.  While this card is #d to 1000, the first 250 were die-cut versions.  I remember seeing Magicpapa’s Griffey and thinking I had to find the A-Rod.  Well 7 years later, I finally have one in my collection.

A big thanks to George Kalfus at freedomcardboard for messaging me about this card.  One just popped up on eBay and I knew it would cost a pretty penny or three for it.  George messaged me the same day 🙂 I absolutely love it man, thank you!!

I bet by now some of you are wondering what #3 was right? Well just to get it out there that I’m looking for it, it’s this card.

The owner at the time was a user by the name of cubuffs13 who is on sportscardforum.  I remember seeing this card for sale many years ago and passing on it.  Let’s hope on shows up one of these days.

Before I sign off for a few days I have a couple of things to look forward to in the future.

First off, I have two 2000’s boxes coming in after I get back from my trip to Arizona.  A box of 2000 Showcase, and 2000 Ovation.  There’s a slim chance to find something spectacular but they should be fun breaks for me regardless.

Secondly, I will be in Arizona and should have some time to swing by some card shops while I’m there and also pick up my 1996 and 1997 Fleer Metal sets my buddy has been holding onto for me.  I’ll be sharing those and the story behind them next week.  Until then, thanks for the read and thank you to everyone who keeps me excited about collecting still, especially all of you are FreedomCardBoard.

~Matthew

OSGB 2: Box 7: 2004 Donruss World Series

Hey guys. Sorry this took so long for me to post! This is the second-to-last box in our break. The Fleer Rookies and Greats box is on its way here, but may not get here until Saturday (in which case I’ll have to bust it and recap it that night after work before hopping on the plane the following afternoon). Some of you may remember the one-per-pack Blue inserts I talked about in my original review of this product. While I did not scan them (there are 24 total), here’s a quick listing of those by team:

Blue Jays: 1
Braves: 3
Royals: 1
Marlins: 2
Athletics: 3
Orioles: 1
Angels: 2
Reds: 2
Yankees: 2
Diamondbacks: 3
Mets: 2
Phillies: 1
Tigers: 1

Now for the rest of the goods!

Holofoil 100 Roberto Alomar 020/100 (Diamondbacks – Chris Mays)
Holofoil 25 Mike Lieberthal 17/25 (Phillies – Dan)
Blue Holofoil 100 Darryl Strawberry 091/100 (Mets – Joe M.)

October Legends Cal Ripken, Jr. 180/500 (Orioles – Beardy)
October Heroes Marty Marion 103/500 (Cardinals – Dan)
MVP’s Mike Schmidt 0317/1000 (Phillies – Dan)
Legends of the Fall Reggie Jackson 134/500 (Yankees – Chuck)
Fans of the Game Gene Shalit (Dodgers – Night Owl)

Brad Penny bat 064/100 (Marlins – WickedOrtega)
Brandon Webb NL jersey 035/250 (Diamondbacks – Chris Mays)
Mark Buehrle jersey 39/56 (White Sox – Lonestarr)
Blue Dontrelle Willis jersey 031/103 (Marlins – WickedOrtega)
Playoff Souvenirs Mark Grace ball 015/100 (Diamondbacks – Chris Mays)
Legends of the Fall Reggie Jackson bat 013/100 (Yankees – Chuck)
EDIT: Jason Szuminski autograph (not pictured) 0663/1000 (Padres – oldschoolbreaks)

These boxes normally delivery 5 hits per box. We got a whopping 7! My favorite has to be the Mark Grace card which features a piece of ball used during Game 1 of the 2001 NLDS (Cards/DBacks). It was nice to see the Wicked One get on the board with some Marlins. Hopefully, we’ll see the love spread even more in our final box. Don’t give up guys.

OSGB 2: Box 6: 2004 Donruss Studio

Fans of the Game Steve Schirripa (Yankees – Chuck)
Fans of the Game Bode Miller (Red Sox – Shoebox Legends)
Rally Caps Mike Mussina 481/999 (Yankees – Chuck)
Rally Caps Joe Kennedy698/999 (Rockies – WickedOrtega)
Heritage Stan Musial 125/999 (Cardinals – Dan)
Spirit of the Game Roger Clemens 642/999 (Astros – darkship)

Studio Stars:
Mike Mussina (Yankees – Chuck)
Vladimir Guerrero (Angels – Play at the Plate)
Jim Thome (Phillies – Dan)
Jim Edmonds (Cardinals – Dan)
Ken Griffey, Jr. (Reds – Bud)
Edgar Martinez (Mariners – Bud)

Big League Challenge Rafael Palmeiro 364/999 (He’s not pictured in any uniform so technically, this doesn’t really belong to anyone. I will randomly throw this in someone’s package.)
Studio Proofs Platinum Ryne Sandberg 10/10! (Cubs – Shoebox Legends)

Spirit of the Game Derek Jeter jersey 185/200 (Yankees – Chuck)
Heroes of the Hall Steve Carlton jersey 134/200 (Phillies – Dan)
Private Signings J.D. Durbin autograph 134/250 (Twins – Lonestarr)

The Donruss WS box will be posted later this afternoon. Hopefully, box #8 will get here in a few days…

EDIT: Sorry guys, I will have to wait until tomorrow night to post the results.

OSGB2: Box 4: 2003 Donruss Elite

Travis Chapman Rookie 1662/1750 (Tigers – Night Owl)
Aspirations Miguel Tejada 39/96 (Athletics – Beardy)
Passing the Torch Stan Musial/Jim Edmonds 200/500 (Cardinals – Dan)
All-Time Career Best Andre Dawson (Cubs – Shoebox Legends)
All-Time Career Best Stan Musial (Cardinals – Dan)

Career Bests Roy Oswalt jersey 442/500 (Astros – darkship)
Throwback Threads Randy Johnson hat 072/250 (Mariners – Bud)

This marks the halfway point in our break. The last 4 boxes are loaded with stuff and some teams that haven’t hit much yet (if at all) are about to blow up. Trust me. More results coming Sunday night…

OSGB 2: Box 3: 2002 Donruss Elite

Craig Biggio SP (Astros – darkship)
Jorge Posada SP (Yankees – Chuck)
Jason Romano Rookie 0952/1500 (Rangers – Play at the Plate)
Recollection Collection 2001 Luis Garcia Rookie Auto 05/25 (Red Sox – Shoebox Legends)
Status Vladimir Guerrero 37/73 (Expos – oldschoolbreaks)
All-Star Salutes Pedro Martinez 0870/1999 (Red Sox – Shoebox Legends)

Hmm, I thought these boxes delivered a little more than this. The box states that inserts are found 1 in every 7 packs! For those wondering, the Biggio and Posada are part of a 50-card chunk of the base set which are shortprinted and seeded only 2 per box. I’m a sucker for Status/Aspirations parallels so I’m cool with the Vlad…