A Couple of Blaster Breaks…

EDIT: UD Timeline card numbers added.

No old boxes today, but I did just open blaster boxes of Stadium Club and Timeline. I had a Target gift card burning a hole in my wallet, so…why not? First, the Stadium Club:
Base: Just ask.

First Day: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Ichiro, Troy Tulowitzki, Justin Verlander, John Lackey, Mike Aviles

Beam Team (Black and White): Adrian Gonzalez (35/99)

I thought this was a pretty good box. It was a nice surprise to pull the autograph, especially since it’s numbered to 99. I certainly can’t complain about that list of First Day cards either. If anyone’s looking for a certain card or set fillers, let me know.

And for the Timeline box:
Base: Just ask.

Memorabilia: Richie Sexson jersey

1992 UD Minors: 102, 111, 115, 120 (x2)

1993 SP: 315

1994 SP: 347

1994 All-Time Heroes: 139, 148, 157, 166, 180

1995 SP Top Prospects: 184, 193, 202

2004 Timeless Teams: 224, 252, 266, 287

YSL: Andy Pettitte #6161 (on hold for Bench Charity Drive)

I don’t plan on building either set so send me your wantlists! As always, thanks for reading and good luck with your own breaks!

-John

10/27 Mailday: Munson 2nd year and more

For the first time in ages, I made a trade with a good friend of mine from The Bench, a moderator, Pat, who goes by the handle “pltcards.” Pat has been my most frequent trading partner over the past 4 years or so. Every trade with him has been a pleasure and has also had some very nice cards being exchanged. This time, I traded a football lot which included a Matt Ryan autographed Rookie Premiere Materials from Absolute Memorabilia, an Eddie Royal RPM prime, and a whole bunch of other Steelers and Giants cards. In return, I picked up this:
A 1971 Topps Thurman Munson. Ok, so the condition’s a bit rough and the centering sucks, it’s still pretty cool to me! As a Yankee fan, this one’s going into the PC for sure! The second card, however, will not be headed there and will be available for trade:
For those interested, it is a 2006 UD Sweet Spot Update Bat Barrel Black Ink #123 (RC), numbered to 35 on the front. It’s a great card, but I think it’d be more appreciated elsewhere so if you’re interested, leave a comment here or shoot an email to jhollod@hotmail.com. Thanks for reading and thanks again to Pat for the trade. Boom…..outta here (will they clinch tonight?)

-John

Special Guest Review: 2000 UD Ionix Baseball

Today I present you all with a very special box break, done not by myself, but rather a highly-regarded member of The Bench. This member goes by the online handle “worldwideed.” So, who is he? Ed is a very knowledgable and opinionated collector, and a very reputable trader to boot (nearly 500 completed trades with flawless feedback). He is a huge Mariners fan with extensive collections of Alvin Davis, Joey Cora, and Raul Ibanez. In fact, he is The Bench’s official Raul Ibanez SUPER COLLECTOR! You can check out his main site here. Lastly, he is one of the many fine moderators of The Bench, who help make it the outstanding trading site it is, and not some unruly zoo of a forum, like some that shall not be named. A couple weeks ago, Ed posted a thread about a box he broke, 2000 UD Ionix. He said that his box break was inspired by this very blog so it’s only fitting that I dedicate a post to his results. Before we get into the break, I should give some general information about the Ionix product so here goes…

Box information: A hobby box of 2000 UD Ionix can easily be had for under $30 nowadays. Each box consists of 24 4-card packs. Ed was able to find his box online for under $25 DLVD. Searching the ‘net, I came across a listing for a pre-priced $34.99 blaster box, but the number of packs in the box isn’t specified in the item’s description.

Base set: The base cards have a futuristic look to them, with a chromium finish. Like most/all chrome cards, these cards will come out of the pack warped. There are only 60 base cards in the short set, so one should be able to come very close to or even complete a set with 1 box. Following this is a 30-card shortprinted prospect subset called Futuristics, which are seeded in every 4th pack on average.

Reciprocal (varied seeding): All 90 cards come with a parallel called Reciprocal. Each base card featured a photo of the player on the front AND back of the card. In the Reciprocal parallel, the front and back photos exchange positions and the card is given a refractor-like finish. These cards, while cool, are quite common. The basic versions are seeded 1 in 4 packs while the Futuristic Reciprocals are seeded 1 in 11 packs.

Shockwave (1:4 packs): AKA Big Clustered Mess, these inserts are seeded 1 in 4 packs and have a very busy design to them. Like Ed, I wasn’t a huge fan of this set. When you see the scan, you’ll see what I mean. It almost gives me a headache just looking at it.

Atomic (1:8 packs): These cards feature a giant atom in the background and each player is given their own chemical symbol and atomic number (jersey number). This is also the only horizontal insert set you’ll find in this product, aside from the UD Authentics autographs. I personally dig this insert set, as I do most insert sets that stand out like this.

Biorhythm (1:11 packs): This is one of the insert sets that actually has some empty spaces on the card, and that’s a good thing. These cards look relatively plain compared to the others, but the design is still effective.

Awesome Powers (1:23 packs): Well, we just had a plain insert, so let’s go back to crowding the card, shall we? The background of these cards is yellow and features the late-1960’s retro font to them. Once again, Fleer uses a play on words for one of its insert sets, this time mimicking the name of some demented Mike Myers character. Who was that again? Eh, nevermind, it was stupid anyway.

Pyrotechnics (1:72 packs): These are interesting. The border of these cards makes them almost appear as a giant postage stamp, the player seems to be giving off a strange glow, and in small print it states “Caution: Contents Very Explosive.” Yet I still love these!

UD Authentics (1:144 packs): An autographed card will be found in every 6th box on average, and the list is star studded. Derek Jeter, Ken Griffey, Jr., Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, Scott Rolen, and many others were featured in this set. However, a few of the autographs were available only through redemption cards, and even worse, you could pull Ben Davis. Oh wait, he was a redemption too!

Warp Zone (1:288 packs): The final, and most rare (1 per case) inserts are those called Warp Zone. These cards featured a hypnotic “swirly” theme and were reserved for only the top stars of the time. If you come across one of these, just don’t stare at it too hard. You might be brainwashed into thinking that Upper Deck still makes decent products!

Well, now that I’ve told you about all the potential pulls of this product (and taken a long time to do so!), let’s find out what Ed’s box contained. WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU, ED’S 2000 IONIX BOX BREAK. I SHOULD ALSO NOTE THAT THE MEMBER YOU SEE IN THE THREAD WITH THE HANDLE “BRODEUR182” IS YOURS TRULY. 🙂 As always, thanks for checking out this very special edition box break, and good luck those of your own!

-John

It’s My 1-Month Anniversary. Thanks for the support!

Well, it’s been exactly 1 month since I started this blog and by the end of the day, it looks like this site will eclipse 1,700 page views (or at least come very close), which is FAR more than I could’ve anticipated. I want to thank everyone who has checked this blog out so far and hope to keep you as loyal readers. I have to thank Mario from Wax Heaven for helping me get started. This post on his site certainly got me off the ground in a big way! I also want to thank several members of the premier online trading site, The Bench. One member in particular, my bud Ravi aka “Nevermore” has helped out a lot in promoting me. He’s a big-time Yankee collector, especially of Paul O’Neill. Check out his site and help him out if you can. Coincidentally, we collect the same guy! Well, like I said before, this site has been off to a great start and has far exceeded my expectations. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my posts as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them. Be sure to stay tuned for more breaks and good luck with those of your own!

As always, thanks for the read!
-John