The last few weeks of breaks have been a lot of fun. I know that not everyone can join the live video feeds on Friday night or even want to view the (sometimes long) video. That said here are some of the highlights from 2003 Topps Stadium Club, 2000 Upper Deck HoloGrFX, 2002 Fleer E-X and 94-95 Fleer Excel.
It's getting harder and harder to 1) find sealed boxes that aren't priced crazily and 2) trying to appeal to everyone's tastes. However I feel as if the last few weeks have done a good job at bringing some variety to the product busted. Hopefully others feel the same and I can get the this trend moving forward.
I was particular fond of the 2003 Topps Stadium Club box. When the base cards look this good the need for parallels and inserts isn't quite so high. Be on the lookout for a future post where we look at more of the great photography from this set.
We did pull a Photographer's Proof (1:39) of the Ranger's Hank Blalock (202/299).
Beam Team (1:12) is a long standing insert set with the Stadium Club brand. This particular design though isn't one of the best. Bonds showed up in a lot of early 2000 sets/insert sets. Glad we pulled a Rockies player...always fun pulling inserts for the teams that aren't always well represented in breaks.
I was not familiar with the Stadium Shots (1:24) insert before this card was pulled. Wow, what a beautiful shot. If the other cards in this set look this good I may just have to build this insert set.
The box said one relic per box, but I did not expect to pull this Stadium Slices Trademark relic (1:415) of Gary Sheffield. As the host I prefer the hits go to other participants, but I won't turn down a card like this for my Braves.
Moving on to 2000 Upper Deck HoloGrFX, this box was requested by a member in the Facebook Group. It took awhile to find a box that wasn't overpriced, but once I found it I jumped on it quickly. I vaguely remember this set when it was new, but hadn't paid it much attention since it was released.
All of the HoloGrFX cards feature some sort of light refracting technology. The base cards are shiny and busy, especially in hand...but I can't deny the images of the players look a little washed out.
Stars of the System (1:8) features young and upcoming players (for the time). This insert by far was the best looking by far. Reminded me of the current "Scope" parallels that Panini is using in sets like Select. Burrell, Soriano, Burnett and some kid (Riley) for the Orioles.
Bomb Squad (1:34) features the same rainbow foil background as the Longball Legacy inserts. I should have scanned the back of the card as it showed the longest HRs hit the previous season. Very cool set.
Future Fame (1:34) inserts put the spotlight on would be future hall of fame players such as Cal Ripken Jr. here. Beautiful card, the new owner of this Cal was super happy to see it pulled.
I selected a box of 94-95 Fleer Excel minor league just to have something a little different. I figure not many breakers are breaking stuff like this, plus the box would yield a lot of cards for each team.
The big chase of the set would have to be Mr. Jeter...but several his teammates (Pettitte, Rivera) were on the checklist as well...all of which were pulled as well.
The League Leader inserts were the most plentiful and feature a minimalistic design.
First Year Phenom highlighted stand out player during their initial season. There was a lot of chatter amongst the views when I pulled this Aaron Boone. I'm glad someone was happy to see this card!
Up next was a box of 2002 Fleer E-X. I thought it was essentially an old school blaster since the box just had 11 packs, but once we got the opened I noticed all the packs were of the Hobby variety! Game used cards were seeded at 1:8 packs so I was hoping we'd get some sort of hit.
This Hit & Run insert (1:12) has some sweet bat or base varieties, but we had to settle for the base version. At least the participant who had the Phillies was happy to see this card of Pat Burrell.
The only other insert pulled was this Behind the Numbers (1:8) Sammy Sosa. The memorabilia version of these cards looks better, but we'll take this since we weren't sure at what so few packs would produce.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, if there is a product you'd like to see featured let me know and I'll do my best to find down a box for us to rip. If you want junk wax, let me know. If you want some older high end box, alright. Current stuff...well that might be tough (for me). As long as everyone is happy and wants me to keep on going, I'll do my best to keep everyone entertained.
The Stars of System are amazing! I had to grab a copy of the AJ Burnett from COMC after seeing this
ReplyDeleteYes, I was very impressed with those cards. Wait until you get it in hand!
DeleteReally happy with those Jeters. Thanks for the break!
ReplyDeleteWhen you're happy, I'm happy!
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