1996 Leaf Preferred Group Break Results

That latest edition of our Affordable Group Break went off great. It was the second consecutive break that completely sold out and we had a few in the live break which is always fun. The inclusion of a Steel card in every pack made it fun, but the odds at any other insert (other than the 1:24 Gold Steel parallel) were not in our favor. However with a little luck we were able to beat the odds! Before we get ahead of ourselves let's take a look at some of the base cards.

The base cards feature a simple and clean design. The checklist featured a good amount of stars and some young players and we got a nice selection...Jeter, Chipper, Bonds, Ripken, Griffey Jr., Puckett, Piazza and Frank Thomas to name a few.

The draw of the break for most (I assume) was the one per pack Preferred Steel insert. These cards are made of a some type of metal and are awesome. I've been chasing this 77 card set for some time. The cards come with a protective film on the front ala Topps Finest. Just about every team was well represented on the checklist and were pulled.

The gold parallel of the Preferred Steel cards fall 1:24 packs and this card of Darren Daulton was in the very last pack. Long time since the Phillies have been represented in one of my breaks.

Around the middle of opening the packs we beat the odds. Stare Masters were seeded 1:144 packs! These cards feature a rainbow foil and are beautiful in hand. Believe me when I say the picture above does not do this card justice. While the card may not go for much on the secondary market, it's an awesome card of an awesome player.

This was another fun break and fortifies the reason why I continue to host these. I appreciate everyone's participation and support, even if you weren't a participant in this break. If you were in this break or in previous breaks and you're ready to have your stack shipped, please reach out to me.

Heavy Metal Baseball

I don't necessarily think of heavy metal music when it comes to the sport of baseball (or baseball cards), although I do seem to remember Trevor Hoffman of the San Diego Padres coming out of the bullpen to AC/DC's "Hell's Bells".

Well in 1996 Leaf decided to shake things up with a their Preferred set of cards. While the base cards weren't anything special, there was a 77 card set printed on metal...or steel if we're being accurate. It wouldn't be until 1998 that game used cards would be introduced to the world of card collecting, so metal baseball cards really stood out...or at least they did to me. Like many of Topps' Refractor cards that came with a special coating that you could peel off, these Steel insert cards featured the same thing. I opted to peel them as they look way better naked.

The 90's were my heyday of collecting and I had many of these 1996 Leaf Preferred Steel cards, however I was never able to amass very many. A few years ago I decided to stop set building and focus more on insert sets and things I liked. I've always liked cards that were made of something other than cardboard so I put this set on my collecting radar. After several years I finally found a rather decent size lot for a very generous asking price so I jumped. Now that I've finally had some time to get then scanned, it's time to share them off. I've also updated my respective Want List to reflect what is left of the 77 cards to finish off the set. I also ended up with several doubles from this lot so if these interest you make sure to check my Trade List!

Steel blogging...

I've read on several other blogs where the blogger talks about their child(ren) pulling a great hit out of a pack or a box.  Heck, I've done that myself!  I love reading such posts.

My daughter - even though she is only 1 1/2 has already shown excitement on plenty of occasions when I get new cards in the mail.  This was evident more so than ever last week before we left to go out of town for training for my new job.  I had won an auction for 22 steel 1996 Leaf Preferred cards off eBay for a measly $.99.  I'm always leary about handing over cards to her to look at...even if they are in top loaders.  With these cards being made of metal I wasn't over cautious.  She squealed with delight as she thumbed through the cards and laid them out on the kitchen floor to get a better look.  I tried to grab the camera to snap a few pictures and capture her excitement.  That said I'll leave you with these pictures: