August 2012 Affordable Group Break - 10 TOTAL BOXES!

I've been preparing for this break for quite some time now and I couldn't have pulled it off without the help of my two sponsors:

I actually got my inspiration to do this themed break from Community Gum.  I had kicked around the idea of some of this product before, but never to this magnitude.  I shot off an e-mail to the guys @ CG and they generously offered to help sponsor the break by donating two boxes of 1993 cards.  I didn't want to settle w/ just 2 boxes so I hit up Steve from the Baseball Card Exchange and got a great deal on 8 more boxes!  If you're adept at math that makes a total of 10 boxes!!

I know I may be crazy and biting off more than I can chew, but I'm ready.  I personally think this will be a lot of fun.  Yes, it'll be a lot of work for me, but in the end I hope everyone will get something that will make them happy.

I mentioned this is a themed break.  What's the theme?  (Don't cheat and scroll down yet)  STADIUM CLUB!  I have always been a fan of the TSC sets and this ought to give us a nice sample size as we tour the TSC years of 1993-1996.  OK, now you can scroll down to see the boxes chosen.

1993 Topps Stadium Club Series 2

- 24 packs, 14 cards per pack

Inserts:

- First Day Production (1:24)

 - Master Photo Redemptions (expired) (1:24)

- Stadium Club Inserts (1:24)

1993 Topps Stadium Club Series 3

- 24 packs, 14 cards per pack

Inserts:

- First Day Production (1:24)

- Master Photo Redemptions (expired) (1:24)

- Stadium Club Inserts (1:24)

1994 Topps Stadium Club Series 1

- 24 packs, 10 cards per pack

Inserts:

- Dugout Dirt (1:6)

- First Day Issue parallels #d to 2000 (1:24)

- Golden Rainbow parallels (1:1)

- Super Teams (1:24)

1994 Topps Stadium Club Series 2

- 24 packs, 10 cards per pack

Inserts:

- 1994 Bowman Previews (1:24) 

- Dugout Dirt (1:6)

- First Day Issue parallels #d to 2000 (1:24) 

- Golden Rainbow parallels (1:1)

1994 Topps Stadium Club Series 3

- 24 packs, 10 cards per pack

Inserts:

 - Dugout Dirt (1:6)

- First Day Issue parallels #d to 2000 (1:24) 

- Golden Rainbow parallels (1:1)

- Stadium Club Finest (1:6) 

1995 Topps Stadium Club Series 1 (Hobby)

- 24 packs, 14 cards per pack

Inserts:

- Clear Cut Finest (1:24)

- Phone cards (1:24)

- Ring Leaders (1:24)

- Super Skills (hobby exclusive, 1:24)

- Virtual Reality parallels (1:1)

1995 Topps Stadium Club Series 2 (Hobby)

- 24 packs, 14 cards per pack

 Inserts:

 - Clear Cut Finest (1:24) 

- Phone cards (1:24)

- Ring Leaders (1:24) 

- Super Skills (hobby exclusive, 1:24)

- Virtual Reality parallels (1:1)

1995 Topps Stadium Club High Number Series (Hobby)

- 24 packs, 14 cards per pack

- Possible Hideo Nomo RC!

Inserts: 

 - Crystal Ball (1:24)

- Power Zone (1:24)

1996 Topps Stadium Club Series 1 (Hobby)

- 24 packs, 8 cards per pack  

- 1 Team TSC card per pack

Inserts:

- Megaheroes (1:48)

- Mickey Mantle Retrospective (1:24)

- Midsummer Matchups (1:48)

- Power Streak (1:24)

- Prime Cuts (1:36)

1996 Topps Stadium Club Series 2 (Hobby)

- 24 packs, 10 cards per pack  

- 1 Team TSC card per pack 

Inserts:

- Bash and Burn (1:48) 

- Metalists (1:48)

- Mickey Mantle Retrospective (1:12)

- Power Packed (1:24)

- TSC Awards (1:48)

I personally am excited about the 1995 boxes.  The inserts that year were especially nice (Power Zone & Ring Leaders) and there are (expired) Phone cards to chase!  Remember when those were all the rage?  If you're looking for autos and relics then you won't find much here for your tastes.  However if you're looking for a lot of cards w/ great photography and a slew of parallels and inserts then this break will be right up your ally.  And since you now this is one of my Affordable Group Breaks then you'll know it won't break the bank.

Because I've never attempted this many boxes before in one single break I'm opening it up to all 28 teams.  The Braves will be claimed by myself.  The rest of the teams will be up for grabs.  In order to make this a reality I'm looking for at least 20 teams to be claimed.  I didn't want to make it where all the remaining teams needed to be claimed in order to make this work.

Each one team slot will cost $12 shipped.  I'm estimating packaging materials and shipping to come in around $5 per team just to let you know.  Because of the number of cards each team should be getting there will be no multiple team discounts...sorry.

If my math is correct there should be a grand total of 2,832 cards in these boxes!  There should be plenty of cards to go around for everyone.

The faster everyone pays the sooner I can place the order and get to ripping packs.  If for some reason we can't get at least 20 people to join in on the fun then I'll refund everyone's money.

To claim a slot(s) please:

• 1) Leave a comment letting me know your team of choice (or teams if claiming multiple slots)

• 2) PayPal your payment via gift to:  cardboardcollections at yahoo.com

• 3) E-mail me (same address as payment) your screen name, full name, address and the team(s) claimed

01) Atlanta Braves (Cardboard Collections) (PAID)
02) New York Yankees (The Dutch Card Guy) (PAID)

03) Seattle Mariners (Kyle4KC) (PAID)

04) Cleveland Indians (Jason) (PAID)

05) New York Mets (BA Benny) (PAID)

06) Los Angeles Dodgers (Spiegel83) (PAID)

07) Cincinnati Reds (FanOfReds) (PAID)

08) San Francisco Giants (arpsmith) (PAID)

09) Texas Rangers (Play at the Plate) (PAID)

10) Kansas City Royals (Josh D.) (PAID)

11) Philadelphia Phillies (arfmax) (PAID)

12) Montreal Expos (Farrell Quinlan) (PAID)

13) Chicago White Sox (Farrell Quinlan) (PAID)

14) Milwaukee Brewers (cynicalbuddha) (PAID)

15) St. Louis Cardinals (madding) (PAID)

16) Angels (Tom) (PAID)

17) Toronto Blue Jays (Robert) (PAID)

18) Houston Astros (Carlos Salgado) (PAID)

19) Pittsburg Pirates (Carlos Salgado) (PAID)

20) San Diego Padres (All the Way to the Backstop) (PAID)

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Community Gum comes through again

A few weeks ago those great guys from Community Gum broke a case of 2012 Topps series 2.  While there wasn't any new Tim Hudson cards for me to chase there was plenty of other new Braves cards.  In their typical fashion the guys pulled some great Braves cards which I quickly swooped in on.

In addition to picking up all the base cards of the team and the normal inserts like the '87 Minis and the various gold themed cards I came away w/ 2 higher end inserts.

The Braves have a pretty young pitching staff this season and while most of the guys have had some rough starts lately it's always great to pick up autographs...especially when they come cheap.  Randall shows a lot of promise.  Even though the auto is a sticker at least it makes the Golden Moments design look better.

The highlight of the deal for me was picking up another 1/1 printing plate card.  This time it's #429 Michael Bourn.  He is having a great year and I really hope he gets that last needed push to end up on the All-Star team.  I've heard other Braves fans say he reminds them of Marquis Grissom and I can see the resemblance.

I think I'm going to start having Andy and Jon open up all my packs as they pull more and better Braves than I ever do.  Thanks guys!

Community Gum's All Topps Mega Group Break!

Those witty guys @ Community Gum are hosting another one of their awesome group breaks this month.  So if you're having the blues over my break being canceled then jump on over HERE for all of the details.  If you think your team may not fair that well let me remind you that I made out like a bandit in their last break (Topps Lineage).  So, what are you waiting for?  There are still great teams to be had!  No go and tell 'em Cardboard Collections sent ya!

I hit the jackpot and I didn't even go to Vegas...thanks to Community Gum!

I've gotten some pretty nice cards of my Atlanta Braves in the group breaks I host here on a regular basis, but rarely do I get anything good if I'm lucky enough to snag the Braves in someone else's group break.  That changed however when I signed up for the bravos in Community Gum's most recent case break of 2011 Topps Lineage.

I've read a lot of negative things about Lineage and granted it may not be the best set Topps puts out this year there are some redeeming qualities.  While the base design is just OK, I liked the checklist and inserts enough to give it a try.  Let me just say really quick I'm oh so happy I did.  Community Gum's case I believe was sent direct from Turner Field.  Don't believe me?  Then just scroll down!

These oversized Jason Heyward card comes one per box.  It's a little wider than your traditional card so I'm not sure how to display it.  I'll have to see if my LCS has some sort of page to accommodate it.

I wasn't surprised that I got all 10 Braves from the base set and I was happy to get several of the Diamond Anniversary parallels.  Surprised though that Freeman was the only Platinum Diamond Brave in the case.  Or did I just get those two parallel sets backwards?

I love the cloth stickers.  My first exposure to something like this was the mini team logo cloth stickers from Panini's NBA sticker collection.  I don't really care for the Venezuelan parallels.  The Stand-Ups are pretty cool...though I think I'll keep mine flat.

First starting collecting in 1990 I acquired a lot of these late 80's Commemorative Set style cards.  I was just thrilled Topps included Craig Kimbrel in the set!  If any other Braves fans need any of these doubles let me know.

I wasn't even born in 1975 (I came 3 years later) so I wasn't around to enjoy this funkadelic awesome design.  I'm really digging in these minis.  So much that I might take a stab at building the set.  Not sure yet.  I am happy that the case yielded these 3 Braves.

Before I realized these 1975 mini relics were so "common place" I was super excited to get this Jason Heyward relic.  Shoot, who am I kidding?  I'm still super excited!  I wish it was a Sunday red jersey swatch though.

Even if I stopped here I would be happy w/ my winnings of sort...but I'm not done yet!

On card auto of John Antonelli.  I can honestly say that I didn't know who that was so I had to refer to Google for some more info.  Thanks to Wikipedia I found out some really cool stuff about John.  I've trimmed my Braves collection to players I watch/watched so I'm on the fence what to do w/ this card at the moment.

One more card to share in my awesome Topps Lineage haul...and I save the best for last.

Your NL Rookie of the Year - Freddie Freeman!  Sure it's a sticker auto, but that doesn't bother me the least bit.  I'm just thrilled to add this awesome card to my Braves collection.  I only wish I had been able to see the card pulled from the pack.  The guys from Community Gum did the break live, but my daddy duties called and I was upstairs reading my little girl a bedtime story and tucking her in for the night.

Well that's it.  Now can you see why I was so happy that I signed up for the case break?  It'll probably be awhile before I have this sort of luck again so I'm going to soak this one up a bit longer.  Thanks to Jon and Andy @ Community Gum for hosting yet another great group break!

Group Break Haul - Community Gum

In an effort to get a little better at sharing my haul from other group breaks (because I love to read other blogger's posts on their haul from the breaks I host) here are a few of the inserts and my first ever GB hit from Community Gum's recent community break.

Chipper Jones

2002 Fleer Authentix Power Alley #13PA

I loved the idea of an all Fleer products break.  While subsequent years of the Authentix brand were better the 2002 offering wasn't too bad.

Andruw Jones

2002 Fleer Authentix jersey #JA-AJ Ripped

The best part of the '02 Authentix set are the jersey and auto cards.  I love the "ripped" deckle edge, the slightly smaller size and the pseudo ticket embedded into the card.  This card also marks my first ever hit from a group break!

Chipper Jones

2000 Fleer Mystique Supernaturals #2S

Mystique is one of those sets that I never opened and I have often considered including in one my own group breaks...but the guys @ CG beat me to it.  I was a little nervous watching the video as the shiny silver peeling was removed from this card.  As you can see however the peeling came off and a really nice card was delivered to me.  I actually got 2 of this card which surprised me.  Any other Braves fan that wants it let me know.

 

John Smoltz

2001 Fleer Platinum parallel #105 (159/201)

I really liked this year of Platinum.  The card fronts had a simple yet retro feel while the backs for a change caught my attention w/ the bar charts breaking down certain stats.  I believe this parallel originally went unknown in the video as the packs were being ripped.  I can see why as the only thing that would let you know it was a parallel (other than the serial numbering on the back) is that the Fleer logo is all silver foil along with the Platinum logo being outlined in silver foil.

Chipper Jones

2001 Fleer Platinum Grandstand Greats #1GG

The last insert I got in the group break was this cool card of Chipper.  You can't really tell from the scan, but the corners of the card are rounded like a playing card.

This had to be one of the most productive group breaks I've ever participated in where I was able to claim the Braves.  I got my money's worth and I eagerly await Community Gum's next community break.

Huge Fleer Group Break over @ Community Gum!

Do you like the 2000 era of Fleer baseball?  If so do yourself a favor and drop on in as the guys @ Community Gum are hosting a fantastic group break featuring lots of different Fleer product like the awesome 2000 Mystique!