Stadium Club Blaster! Hooray For Me!
When I got off work this morning, the sky was still too dark to make my usual abandoned building photo route, so I chose to kill some time at the WalMarts by my jobby-job, until the sun came up...
As if it were some sort of omen, the WalMarts had ONE blaster of 2017 Stadium Club and three value packs of 2017 Bowman! (And a whole buncha 2017 Topps...) Long-time fans of Foreclosures will remember my choosing of Bowman and Stadium Club as favorite sets of 2017, even though I've bought very little for cards this year...
Oh man... Those look so awesome... I want to buy them and run to the car and rip them open... I'm craving those cards... I NEED THOSE CARDS!!!
You see, after smoking cigarettes for the last 20 years, I've recently decided to try and quit. Today marks the 31st day since I've last had a cigarette, which I'm calling a month.
And in my book, that's grounds for a celebration.
A very low key and mild celebration because I'm not the celebrating type...
In addition to going a month without cigarettes, I've gone well over two months without buying a single baseball card. Part of that is because money has been tight, but they also aren't around at the usual retail suspects this year. All the stores I previously stocked up on retail product, for whatever reason, they have next to zero 2017 baseball card inventory. Even Topps flagship brand (that I have no interest in) is kinda scarce in these parts.
I've saved well over $200 over the last 31 days by NOT smoking! So, yeah! I'm buying this blaster and one of the Bowman Value Packs!
Over the last five or so years, I've loved reading other bloggers pack-bustin' posts. I've been anxious to do my first ever pack-bustin' post, since I began planning (what became) Four Baggers and Foreclosures, about five or so years ago...
So I'm gonna kick back and rip through these, and highlight both my favorite card and least favorite card in each pack. That will be my take on the traditional pack-bustin' post.
I do reserve the right to show any other cards I wish, because I make the rules here...
Pack 1
I liked pretty much everything in the first pack. But I hate the Giants... So, sorry Suarez. Nothing personal...
Jacob deGrom - Mets
Paul Goldschmidt - Diamondbacks
Anthony Rizzo - Cubs
Matt Strahm - Royals
Bo Bichette (Prospect) - Chrome - Blue Jays
Daniel Norris (Prospect) - Blue Jays - 70th Anniversary Buy Back
Travis Demeritte (Prospect) - Braves
Alex Kirilloff (Prospect) - Chrome - Twins (Nice!!!)
Drew Jackson (Prospect) - Mariners
Andrew Sopko (Prospect) - Dodgers
Now a Detroit Tiger, at least this Buy Back is of a player that actually has a major league career... I don't quite remember his gimmick, but he lived in his van for a year and shaved with a chainsaw or something... Look it up, I don't feel like it. Happy with the card though...
The regular Bowman Kirilloff came to me in one of the first packs I opened. And I wanted the Chrome version... I got the Chrome version.
With the Cubs winning the World Series, causing all the "lifelong Cubs fans" (since 2016) to come out of the woodwork, now I'm completely sick of the Cubs. Not like I was ever a fan...
And I've really disliked Rizzo ever since I first pitched against him in MLB The Show on the PS3... His bat waving is distracting behind the pitch meter. I've never thrown him a curveball for a strike because his bat crosses the peak point on the meter at the same time. So they bounce off the catcher....
Pack 3
Andrew Benintendi (RC) - Red Sox
Alex Bregman (RC) - Astros
Giancarlo Stanton - Marlins
Jose Bautista - Blue Jays
Josh Bell (RC) - Pirates - 2017 Rookie of the Year Favorites
Garrett Whitley (Prospect) - Chrome - Rays
Cody Sedlock (Prospect) - Chrome - Orioles
Yang Hyeon-Jong (World Baseball Classic) - Chrome - Korea
Dylan Cease (Prospect) - Cubs
Oscar De La Cruz (Prospect) - Cubs
I don't like it when Bowman "wastes" cards in an expensive product on non-Major Leaguers. At 29 years of age, Jong isn't likely to develop into a widely collected star. So I feel like I was cheated out on a good card...
However, reading the card back provided an interesting nugget of info... Jong was posted by his Korean League team in 2014, but Jong didn't agree to terms with the top bidding team...
Pack 4 - Bonus Yellow Prospect Parallels
Luiz Gohara (Prospect) - Braves
Tetsuto Yamada (World Baseball Classic) - Japan
Josh Morgan (Prospect) - Rangers
Tyler Alexander (Prospect) - Tigers
Francisco Rios (Prospect) - Blue Jays
And I'm a hypocrite... I like the photo and remember him from watching the WBC last March... Actually, this choice is more representative of the rest of this pack completely boring me...
He plays for Atlanta... That jersey features some terrible Photoshop work... Pufferface doesn't mesh well with poutyface...
Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the Bowman Value Pack. $10 for this seems like an acceptable price for what I got. And I would have likely bought that Griffey as a single if I saw it for sale.
Pack 1
Brian Dozier - Twins
Wilson Contreras - Cubs
Jason Varitez - Red Sox
Robert Gsellman - Mets
Robinson Cano - Mariners - Contact Sheet
Twins bias aside, this picture perfectly sums up Dozier's incredible 2016 season. Nothing else in the pack came close...
I want a good photo on Stadium Club, not a filtered and cropped mess... Compared to the other 4 cards in the pack, this just did not belong. And I like Cano. And the Mariners. Actually more than any other player or team from this pack. Dozier aside...
Pack 2
Joe Mauer - Twins
Denard Span - Giants
Aledmys Diaz - Cardinals
Lucas Giolito - White Sox - Gold Parallel
Adrian Beltre - Rangers
The frozen action shot here is compelling to me, where are his arms? Giolito is another of those prospects I've followed since being drafted (by the Washington Nationals). The only difference these days is I don't go nuts buying these prospects' cards. The gold foil has no bearing on my ranking in case you were wondering. The alternate hat however...
Great photo. Fake intense face, throwback jersey and the stadium behind him... (And a former Twin...)
I think Topps chose this photo of Mauer because he's actually showing some emotion. Though it wouldn't have landed here if it featured him wearing his "tough guy" beard, that he sported through most of 2016...
They can't all be winners...
Lets see what Pack 3 has to offer...
Dan Vogelbach - Mariners
Roman Quinn - Phillies
Aroldis Chapman - Yankees - Scoreless Streak
Evan Longoria - Rays
Matt Carpenter - Cardinals
A great deal of the charm of Stadium Club comes from it's staged gimmicky shots. Evan Longoria getting ready to throw a football at Minute Maid Park in Houston is a good one...
PACK 4!!!
Curtis Granderson - Mets
Omar Vizquel - Indians
Stephen Vogt - Athletics
Andres Galarraga - Rockies
Adrian Beltre - Rangers
Granderson with the Roberto Clemente award, at the 2016 press conference where he accepted winning it. I love seeing moments like this documented in a card set.
Nice to see Galarraga getting some recognition from Topps card sets this year. While he didn't have a lengthy career as a top player, his 1993-1997 stretch for Colorado is still legendary out here. And look at all that purple! I'm very happy to have this card!
Ok, I hate all the inserts in Stadium Club... But this one is much worse than the other two. The ugly tan/orange/brown background, under some lame sparks... Really? Put this insert in the flagship set. It fits much better there...
Had it not been for the near disgust at the design of this Beltre card, Omar Vizquel would have won the least favorite title for this pack. Vizquel played nearly 3000 games in the major leagues, and was one of the best defensive shortstops in the history of the game. But Topps couldn't come up with a better picture than this? Why not a great diving stop? An acrobatic jumping throw?
Maybe Pack 5 will wake me up...
Tim Raines - Expos
Carl Yastrzemski - Red Sox
Trevor Story - Rockies
Yu Darvish - Rangers
Denard Span - Giants - Sepia Parallel
First of all, he is second of all... I hate the Red Sox, but this is a sweet card of an absolute legend.
Sticking with honoring the Rockies, but not letting them win, much like the entire Rockies history... At first glance, this is a boring head shot of a card, but there is an entire universe in Story's sunglasses.
Sepia Parallel? Really? Well, I still really like the photo. But with the color all messed up, it's nowhere near as cool. Plus there is the fact that this pack had five really good cards in it. If not Span, it would have been...
But I like this picture too... Don't like the Rangers, but Darvish is good pitcher, and that shot isn't something you see of him very often.
Let's see if Pack 6 can top it...
Bryce Harper - Nationals
Mark McGwire - Cardinals
Ken Giles - Astros
Wil Myers - Padres - Gold Parallel
Kevin Kiermaier - Rays
I don't remember the full story, but the Nationals invited one of the Olympic Gold Medal winning women to throw out the first pitch. Before throwing, she nonchalantly hands her medals to an unsuspecting Harper. He was standing there, looking like he had no clue what to do with them, while she threw the ceremonial first pitch. It was a funny video clip from last Summer. Nice to see it immortalized on a card.
Just a boring bunting photo. Kiermaier is an excellent defensive center fielder, and a big reason the Rays still maintain relevance in the AL East. Sure hope he doesn't take the Gold Glove award from Minnesota's Byron Buxton, who is the best center fielder on the planet.
What does Pack 7 contain?
Jake Arrieta - Cubs
Hank Aaron - Braves
John Lester - Cubs - Black Parallel
Andrew McCutchen - Pirates
Josh Donaldson - Blue Jays
Another card in this set that I really wanted. Hank Aaron at the post game press conference after breaking Babe Ruth's record. A simply awesome card.
I really want to draw something going into his mouth... I''ll let your imagination decide what to put there...
The nice thing is I don't need to get a massive hit in the last pack to feel like I got my money's worth this time. 7/8's of this blaster has left me happy, so anything else is gravy.
But will I like Pack 8?
Brad Miller - Rays
Christian Friedrich - Padres
Gavin Cecchini (RC) - Mets
Henry Owens - Red Sox
Alex Reyes (RC) - Cardinals - Scoreless Streak Gold
Not that this picture is anything great, but I was shocked to pull this from the pack. Friedrich was a former Rockies number one draft pick that didn't pan out after a few seasons in Colorado. He then had an average and injury riddled season with the Padres. Nothing that I would have expected to be worth a card in this set...
Yup, another of these crappy inserts... Though I'm thinking this might be the gold parallel of the crappy inserts. If so, the odds on that go from a listed 1 in 8, to 1 in 192. There's a bit of difference there. Maybe a buck or two on the secondary market?
My second blaster of 2017 Stadium Club. This one was better than the first. Mainly because I got the Tim Raines card I've been wanting. An autograph would have been nice, but those don't come around every day, and I don't need to be greedy.
Hopefully cards at the retail level will actually surface every now and then, so I can occasionally pick some up. All too often this year, the big boxes have had nothing for cards when I've needed to go there for something else. Which has made for a really boring year for collecting...
As if it were some sort of omen, the WalMarts had ONE blaster of 2017 Stadium Club and three value packs of 2017 Bowman! (And a whole buncha 2017 Topps...) Long-time fans of Foreclosures will remember my choosing of Bowman and Stadium Club as favorite sets of 2017, even though I've bought very little for cards this year...
Oh man... Those look so awesome... I want to buy them and run to the car and rip them open... I'm craving those cards... I NEED THOSE CARDS!!!
You see, after smoking cigarettes for the last 20 years, I've recently decided to try and quit. Today marks the 31st day since I've last had a cigarette, which I'm calling a month.
And in my book, that's grounds for a celebration.
A very low key and mild celebration because I'm not the celebrating type...
In addition to going a month without cigarettes, I've gone well over two months without buying a single baseball card. Part of that is because money has been tight, but they also aren't around at the usual retail suspects this year. All the stores I previously stocked up on retail product, for whatever reason, they have next to zero 2017 baseball card inventory. Even Topps flagship brand (that I have no interest in) is kinda scarce in these parts.
Previously, I blamed that on Aaron Judge... Meh...
And now these 2017's are just teasing me...
Financial responsibility be damned!
I've saved well over $200 over the last 31 days by NOT smoking! So, yeah! I'm buying this blaster and one of the Bowman Value Packs!
Over the last five or so years, I've loved reading other bloggers pack-bustin' posts. I've been anxious to do my first ever pack-bustin' post, since I began planning (what became) Four Baggers and Foreclosures, about five or so years ago...
So I'm gonna kick back and rip through these, and highlight both my favorite card and least favorite card in each pack. That will be my take on the traditional pack-bustin' post.
I do reserve the right to show any other cards I wish, because I make the rules here...
So let's look at some 2017 Bowman!
Pack 1
Evan Longoria - Rays
Rob Segedin (RC) - Dodgers
Jeff Hoffman (RC) - Rockies (Have it... Good pitcher... Ugly card...)
Ryon Healy (RC) - Athletics
Andrew Suarez (Prospect) - Chrome - Giants
Ken Griffey Jr. - Mariners - 1992 Bowman Tribute Anniversary Refractor Thingy
Francisco Mejia (Prospect) - Indians
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (Prospect) - Chrome - Blue Jays
Mauricio Dubon (Prospect) - Brewers
Austin Meadows (Prospect) - Pirates
Most Favorite - Griffey
Griffey's my favorite player. 1992 Bowman is one of my favorite sets. This is really colorful and cool. As much as I like the Gurriel, he's no Griffey...
But he still has a good future and a card I'm happy to own...
Least Favorite - Saurez
I liked pretty much everything in the first pack. But I hate the Giants... So, sorry Suarez. Nothing personal...
Pack 2
Paul Goldschmidt - Diamondbacks
Anthony Rizzo - Cubs
Matt Strahm - Royals
Bo Bichette (Prospect) - Chrome - Blue Jays
Daniel Norris (Prospect) - Blue Jays - 70th Anniversary Buy Back
Travis Demeritte (Prospect) - Braves
Alex Kirilloff (Prospect) - Chrome - Twins (Nice!!!)
Drew Jackson (Prospect) - Mariners
Andrew Sopko (Prospect) - Dodgers
Most Favorite - Norris
Now a Detroit Tiger, at least this Buy Back is of a player that actually has a major league career... I don't quite remember his gimmick, but he lived in his van for a year and shaved with a chainsaw or something... Look it up, I don't feel like it. Happy with the card though...
Honorable Mention - Kirilloff
The regular Bowman Kirilloff came to me in one of the first packs I opened. And I wanted the Chrome version... I got the Chrome version.
Least Favorite - Rizzo
With the Cubs winning the World Series, causing all the "lifelong Cubs fans" (since 2016) to come out of the woodwork, now I'm completely sick of the Cubs. Not like I was ever a fan...
And I've really disliked Rizzo ever since I first pitched against him in MLB The Show on the PS3... His bat waving is distracting behind the pitch meter. I've never thrown him a curveball for a strike because his bat crosses the peak point on the meter at the same time. So they bounce off the catcher....
So yeah... Least favorite...
Andrew Benintendi (RC) - Red Sox
Alex Bregman (RC) - Astros
Giancarlo Stanton - Marlins
Jose Bautista - Blue Jays
Josh Bell (RC) - Pirates - 2017 Rookie of the Year Favorites
Garrett Whitley (Prospect) - Chrome - Rays
Cody Sedlock (Prospect) - Chrome - Orioles
Yang Hyeon-Jong (World Baseball Classic) - Chrome - Korea
Dylan Cease (Prospect) - Cubs
Oscar De La Cruz (Prospect) - Cubs
Most Favorite - Bell
Good player and I like the throwback to the 1997 Bowman Insert set...
Least Favorite - Jong
I don't like it when Bowman "wastes" cards in an expensive product on non-Major Leaguers. At 29 years of age, Jong isn't likely to develop into a widely collected star. So I feel like I was cheated out on a good card...
However, reading the card back provided an interesting nugget of info... Jong was posted by his Korean League team in 2014, but Jong didn't agree to terms with the top bidding team...
Who was that team?
The Minnesota Twins...
Pack 4 - Bonus Yellow Prospect Parallels
Luiz Gohara (Prospect) - Braves
Tetsuto Yamada (World Baseball Classic) - Japan
Josh Morgan (Prospect) - Rangers
Tyler Alexander (Prospect) - Tigers
Francisco Rios (Prospect) - Blue Jays
Most Favorite - Yamada
And I'm a hypocrite... I like the photo and remember him from watching the WBC last March... Actually, this choice is more representative of the rest of this pack completely boring me...
Least Favorite - Gohara
He plays for Atlanta... That jersey features some terrible Photoshop work... Pufferface doesn't mesh well with poutyface...
Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the Bowman Value Pack. $10 for this seems like an acceptable price for what I got. And I would have likely bought that Griffey as a single if I saw it for sale.
Not for $10 though...
All right, let's tear into that Stadium Club blaster...
(Please bring me that Tim Raines Expos card I want more than any other in the set...)
Brian Dozier - Twins
Wilson Contreras - Cubs
Jason Varitez - Red Sox
Robert Gsellman - Mets
Robinson Cano - Mariners - Contact Sheet
Most Favorite - Dozier
Twins bias aside, this picture perfectly sums up Dozier's incredible 2016 season. Nothing else in the pack came close...
Least Favorite - Cano
I want a good photo on Stadium Club, not a filtered and cropped mess... Compared to the other 4 cards in the pack, this just did not belong. And I like Cano. And the Mariners. Actually more than any other player or team from this pack. Dozier aside...
Pack 2
Joe Mauer - Twins
Denard Span - Giants
Aledmys Diaz - Cardinals
Lucas Giolito - White Sox - Gold Parallel
Adrian Beltre - Rangers
Most Favorite - Giolito
The frozen action shot here is compelling to me, where are his arms? Giolito is another of those prospects I've followed since being drafted (by the Washington Nationals). The only difference these days is I don't go nuts buying these prospects' cards. The gold foil has no bearing on my ranking in case you were wondering. The alternate hat however...
Honorable Mention - Span
Great photo. Fake intense face, throwback jersey and the stadium behind him... (And a former Twin...)
Least Favorite - Mauer
I think Topps chose this photo of Mauer because he's actually showing some emotion. Though it wouldn't have landed here if it featured him wearing his "tough guy" beard, that he sported through most of 2016...
They can't all be winners...
Lets see what Pack 3 has to offer...
Dan Vogelbach - Mariners
Roman Quinn - Phillies
Aroldis Chapman - Yankees - Scoreless Streak
Evan Longoria - Rays
Matt Carpenter - Cardinals
Most Favorite - Longoria
A great deal of the charm of Stadium Club comes from it's staged gimmicky shots. Evan Longoria getting ready to throw a football at Minute Maid Park in Houston is a good one...
Honorable Mention - Carpenter
However, this awesome photo would have won the pack, had it not featured Cardinals...
Least Favorite - Chapman
See Cano, Robinson. Minus the stuff about liking him or the team...
PACK 4!!!
Curtis Granderson - Mets
Omar Vizquel - Indians
Stephen Vogt - Athletics
Andres Galarraga - Rockies
Adrian Beltre - Rangers
Most Favorite - Granderson
Granderson with the Roberto Clemente award, at the 2016 press conference where he accepted winning it. I love seeing moments like this documented in a card set.
Honorable Mention - Galarraga
Nice to see Galarraga getting some recognition from Topps card sets this year. While he didn't have a lengthy career as a top player, his 1993-1997 stretch for Colorado is still legendary out here. And look at all that purple! I'm very happy to have this card!
Least Favorite - Beltre
Ok, I hate all the inserts in Stadium Club... But this one is much worse than the other two. The ugly tan/orange/brown background, under some lame sparks... Really? Put this insert in the flagship set. It fits much better there...
Had it not been for the near disgust at the design of this Beltre card, Omar Vizquel would have won the least favorite title for this pack. Vizquel played nearly 3000 games in the major leagues, and was one of the best defensive shortstops in the history of the game. But Topps couldn't come up with a better picture than this? Why not a great diving stop? An acrobatic jumping throw?
But this?
Yawn...
Maybe Pack 5 will wake me up...
YES!!! YES!!! YES!!!
Carl Yastrzemski - Red Sox
Trevor Story - Rockies
Yu Darvish - Rangers
Denard Span - Giants - Sepia Parallel
Most Favorite That Is Not Tim Raines - Yastrzemski
First of all, he is second of all... I hate the Red Sox, but this is a sweet card of an absolute legend.
Honorable Mention - Story
Sticking with honoring the Rockies, but not letting them win, much like the entire Rockies history... At first glance, this is a boring head shot of a card, but there is an entire universe in Story's sunglasses.
Least Favorite - Span
Sepia Parallel? Really? Well, I still really like the photo. But with the color all messed up, it's nowhere near as cool. Plus there is the fact that this pack had five really good cards in it. If not Span, it would have been...
But I like this picture too... Don't like the Rangers, but Darvish is good pitcher, and that shot isn't something you see of him very often.
Excellent pack...
Let's see if Pack 6 can top it...
Bryce Harper - Nationals
Mark McGwire - Cardinals
Ken Giles - Astros
Wil Myers - Padres - Gold Parallel
Kevin Kiermaier - Rays
Most Favorite - Harper
I don't remember the full story, but the Nationals invited one of the Olympic Gold Medal winning women to throw out the first pitch. Before throwing, she nonchalantly hands her medals to an unsuspecting Harper. He was standing there, looking like he had no clue what to do with them, while she threw the ceremonial first pitch. It was a funny video clip from last Summer. Nice to see it immortalized on a card.
Least Favorite - Kiermaier
Just a boring bunting photo. Kiermaier is an excellent defensive center fielder, and a big reason the Rays still maintain relevance in the AL East. Sure hope he doesn't take the Gold Glove award from Minnesota's Byron Buxton, who is the best center fielder on the planet.
What does Pack 7 contain?
Jake Arrieta - Cubs
Hank Aaron - Braves
John Lester - Cubs - Black Parallel
Andrew McCutchen - Pirates
Josh Donaldson - Blue Jays
Most Favorite - Aaron
Another card in this set that I really wanted. Hank Aaron at the post game press conference after breaking Babe Ruth's record. A simply awesome card.
Least Favorite - Lester
So here is the last pack...
I like gravy.
Brad Miller - Rays
Christian Friedrich - Padres
Gavin Cecchini (RC) - Mets
Henry Owens - Red Sox
Alex Reyes (RC) - Cardinals - Scoreless Streak Gold
Most Favorite - Miller
That had to be one hell of a play... And it was against Boston!
Honorable Mention - Friedrich
Least Favorite - Reyes
It's still ugly. There's just less of it.
******
So there you have it.
My second blaster of 2017 Stadium Club. This one was better than the first. Mainly because I got the Tim Raines card I've been wanting. An autograph would have been nice, but those don't come around every day, and I don't need to be greedy.
Hopefully cards at the retail level will actually surface every now and then, so I can occasionally pick some up. All too often this year, the big boxes have had nothing for cards when I've needed to go there for something else. Which has made for a really boring year for collecting...
At least it's saving me money.
Not nearly as much as stopping this...
And let's hope this version of me doesn't come back...
*******
Post #40 is coming up soon, and I've got a very special subject lined up for that!
(Oh am I setting everyone up for a huge letdown or what...)
You dislike Giants, Cardinals and Stadium Club inserts. I bow humbly.
ReplyDeleteHeheheh... But as a Rockies fan, I cannot like the Dodgers...
DeleteKershaw is A-OK in my book though!