I bought a new camera today. Some classy little black Fuji film piece. This blog will now have photos once more.

I was going to write another piece about my soccer club Tottenham Hotspur and how we should sign Niko Kranjcar from Portsmouth. A third Croatian on Spurs would be insane. He'd be able to fill in the gap left by an injured Luka, give time off to Palacios and Hudds and allow us for even more depth at midfield. Instead of that, I sit patiently awaiting the transfer news of him to Spurs. My buddy texted me around 1:30 pm telling me Niko was all but signed. There goes my Niko Pompey shirt I've had for 2 years now.

Also, for those of you who read Beardy's Blog you know he's done the Gint A Cuffs. I wish I had gotten into it as it's a great way to collect cards with people and try and fill in the gaps via other collectors. However, I don't really like A&G at all. So instead, I'd much rather find some people who'd like to bust a few boxes of Goodwin Champions when that hits in about 2 weeks. Anyone down? The few who probably don't read Beardy, I suggest you go check it out.

Spurs, 4 Games, 12 Points.

I've only been a fan of Spurs for about 4 years now. I have knowledge of the rich history at Spurs. The 60's era, the 80's, Ossie, Greaves, Hoddle, Villa, Bill Nicholson. All legends. One of the few clubs who've never been relegated since the Premier League was founded. Lilywhite and Blue. The only heartbreak I've felt since aligning myself with Spurs was at the end of 2005/2006, and to be honest, I didn't feel much as this was my first year following them.

With that said, starting a season out with all 3 victories and being the best start in club history since 1960-61 is something of magic, even a curse. I do often say I understand the troubles and woes all Tottenham fans share being that I've grown up in Cleveland and felt the pain and misery (albiet not as long as many others have felt).

Birmingham at home. Spurs off to the best start in nearly 50 years. Haven't lost at home since November of 2008. Something has to give, right?

Overall play was iffy, at best. No goals in the first half. Ledley King would leave with a groin injury and Hutton would come on. Our defense is already bare bones, but luckily for us Woodgate is going to start training and should be ready soon.

Then in a blink of an eye, Luka Modric, our creative force gets hurt. Reports are now that he is out 6-8 weeks, with Luka saying only 4-6. Either way, that's quite a bit of time to be out. The team will have to adapt without him, something that needs to be figured out in training, soon.

Although those two injuries are a black eye for all Spurs fans this week, there cannot be enough emphasis put on the positives from Saturday. Crouch scoring his first goal. And then, there's Lennon. The lightning fast Aaron with a much needed end product. A gift of a 95th minute and Aaron's end product came to fruition at the perfect time. This is why I love soccer/football. This is Tottenham.

COYS

West Ham, London Derby

The Cup Final. Where to Hammers fans this is the match us Spurs fans look forward too all year. To us, we play it off the same exact way. If the Hammers beat us twice in a year, it makes their season, regardless of their finish in the table.

During our fine 2005/2006 campaign, we needed to win our final game in order to qualify for the Champions League. Probably the biggest game in our most recent history. That day our whole team came down with flu-like symptoms due to some bad lasagna. This game was in West Ham. We lost and the rest is history.

However, Sunday we were again at Upton Park for (one of) our London Derbies. Highlights below.

3 Games. 9 Points. Best start since 1960/61, which was one of our legendary Spurs squads that ended up with the first ever double. Birmingham at the Lane on Saturday.

Player Collection: Sowers

I am a player collector for the most part. I did the whole MLB Showdown bit since 2000. The cards I need now don't even exist anymore (read: super rare promos). This left me with collecting Grady Sizemore cards, which I've done since 2004. I honestly haven't purchased any since probably the middle of last year. None of the new cards are even worth the time or the price. So I decided to re-start my Jeremy Sowers collection.

I started collecting his cards around mid 2005, I believe. My grand total for Jeremy is 6 cards.

2005 Carolina All Star Card with the Kinston Indians

2004 Bowman Sterling (which I paid $15 for in 2005 at a card show)

2005 Bowman DP&P Signs of the Future (lol) Auto

2005 Topps Personal Endorsements Auto /497

2005 Topps Turkey Red (Red Version) Auto /300

2005 Bowman Chrome X-Fractor (4x) /225 (177, 123, 062, 036)

All in all that's not really that impressive. Then again, neither is Sowers career to date, but he's my favorite player, so he gets a pass. Within the last two weeks, I've added quite a few nice cards to my collection.

The first being the card in the upper left hand corner. Yes it's a parallel. Usually I don't like parallels at all. However, I do think the Topps base design this year is quality. The red border I think also adds to the picture of the card, along with our "retro" themed jerseys. Here comes the homer part, it's serialed to 25 too.


This card has two different versions. This one is serialed to 299. The other is a die cut which is serialed to 61. I haven't seen the die cut on ebay in quite some time. I've always like the design of this card and the simplicity of it all. I'm not sure if it's an on card auto or not, but it doesn't matter, no ugly silver sticker, so that's a positive.

Last but not least is this one. I've always wanted to own an Exquisite card. They are the Ferrari of the sports card world. And when I saw that Sowers had an autograph in any Exquisite product I got excited because a) it's exquisite b) it's Sowers and c) it's going to be relatively cheap. The card ended up selling for a bit over $12. Ironic that it's with Andrew Miller, WaxHeaven's main man, who himself has been bounced around quite some time after being touted as the next big thing. The fact that there is only 10 of these cards is neat too. Add a big plus to the fact that both of these dudes are lefties, and I'm sold.

Defoe v Hull

Hull Away. Hightlights Here. Write-up below.

The swagger was there for Spurs and you could tell by the opening 10 minutes of play. Spurs controlled the ball, passing was great, and we were pushing up. The Hull backline (lead by Anthony Bambi Gardner himself) had their hands full the entire game. Jermain Defoe scored just 10 minutes in with a beautiful pass from superstar quarterback Tom Huddlestone.

After the first goal Hull tried a few efforts, mostly on the back of Stephen Hunt who did give Vedran Corluka trouble (which was a recurring theme all game). However shortly after that Wilson Palacios scored his first goal of the year. Just 13 minutes in, Spurs are up 2-0. Lovely way to ease that 1 goal pressure off. Unfortunately within a minute Hull would be on the attack and send a ball in the box that Gomes would punch out, but upon coming down to the ground would have to leave the game due to landing odd. To me it seemed that his ankle was rolled pretty hard. Cudicini the Italian Stallion would come in.

Hull would get a goal in the 25th off the dead ball kick by Stephen Hunt. I honestly though Geovanni (Super Sub) got his head to the ball but the goal was awarded to Hunt. 2-1 Spurs. Cuidcini was out of place, but the marking of Hull attackers was horrible. Corluka should have covered one of the runners, while T. Hudds was racing back to try and cover someone.

After Hull's first, I got that feeling in my stomach I always do when Spurs are up by a goal. I could sense that Hull might come back, and in usual Spurs fashion, we'd let them. Fans were alive again and Hull seemed rejuvenated. However Spurs pushed up and Hutton made a great run down the right side only to be stopped by what some thought was a handball in the box, but it wasn't intentional at all.

Much like Defoe, Lennon, Huddlestone, and even Keane were giving Hull nightmares early on, Geovanni and Folan were giving Corluka nightmares. The two paired up a few times and almost capitalized on a Corluka error but Hutton came from behind to make a fantastic tackle to save what could have been an equilizer. The kill sense wasn't there for Spurs nearing the end of the half as the passing tried to be forced instead of going with what was working early on. And then right when I thought we might be sluggish, Defoe puts one in for his second before half. 3-1 Spurs.

Second half went on and nothing really of note happened (at least to me) until the 77th when Robbie "dream move" Keane scored on a header. 4-1 Spurs. Honestly to hear the words Robbie Keane and goal in the same sentence gave me chills. Yes, he scored a few when he came back last year, but that didn't seem like the same Keane. Hopefully Keane is rejuvenated and we get the Robbie of old...you know the one who scored 100 goals for us.

Shortly after Keane's goal, Crouch came on. Had a decent chance from a cross by Lennon but was right at the keeper. Modric was subbed off in the 84th for Bentley. Luka had a decent game. Gave Hull some problems but wasn't able to push into the middle as much. Not sure if Keane dropping deep had anything to do with it. Did have one decent shot from about 24 yards out, but really that's all I can remember from Modric. Actually I take that back, I remember a few of his runs where he was almost bossed off the ball but held onto it and held off defenders nearly twice his size.

Credit: Nick Potts/PA

The star of the show was Jermain Defoe for sure. Lead the team in our offensive charge all game and just gave hell to the Hull defenders, mostly Gardner. You could tell he wanted that third goal. His effort was relentless and his energy was fantastic through the whole match. And right as time was expiring, he did a nice little 1-2 layoff with Lennon and fired a rocket of a shot into the net for his third and final goal. 5-1 Spurs. MOTM.

Positives of the match:

Defoe. Hands down best player on the pitch that day.

Huddlestone. Read the game well and made some brilliant passes to set up goals.

Midfielders. Excellent passing and distribution. Set each other up well and the score showed.

Hutton. Saved Corluka quite a few times and even got up and made some nice runs. Glad to have him back.

Negatives of the match:

Gomes. I hope his injury isn't severe. Not saying Carlo Cudicini isn't a decent keeper, but he's not our number 1 and if he goes down, yikes.

Corluka. I don't know if he is just rusty or unsure of himself at CB, but he cannot play there. I hate to make that rash of a judgement, but if he errored this much against a team that had a bit more quality (sorry Hull), they'd have probably put us out of the game.

Bentley. No real negative here, but there isn't a place for the guy anymore. I hear some Red team up north is having problems with their midfield. Maybe Fergie will want the "next Beckham" in his squad.

2 games, 6 points. If we continue this pace Top 4 will surely be ours, no? No thanks, I'll settle for 6th this year. Not reaching too much and a nice building point for us.

More Philadelphia!

Pack 6

Marion Barber III

Ladianian Tomlinson

Brian Urlacher

Stars in Action Donovan McNabb

Matt Hasselbeck

Eli Manning

Donovan McNabb

Bobby Wade

I love the Stars in Action cards. Very sharp. Pack full of stars too.

Pack 7

Karlos Dansby

Patrick Willis

Jamal Lewis

Santonio Holmes

Jerod Mayo

Isaac Bruce

Anthony Gonzalez

Aaron Kampman

Second Brown! All that's left is probably Edwards and maybe Quinn/Anderson. The more I open these cards the more I love them. I love non-glossy basic cards.

Pack 8

Aaron Rodgers

Zach Miller

Terrell Suggs

Stars in Action Steven Jackson

Steve Breaston

Maurice Jones-Drew

Tom Brady

Lance Moore

Two #12's in this pack. Solid. I doubt I'm getting any SP's other than the Rockefeller, but I need to find a complete checklist for this set. I'd love to try and complete the set and then work on a master set. Last "master" set I came close to was 2000 NFL MVP. Crappy set but was so pumped when I finally got that last card to complete my main set. Went through about 3 boxes too.

Pack 9

Marcedes Lewis

Dallas Clark

John Abraham

Alex Karras Retro

Greg Camarillo

Antwaan Randle El

Devin Hester

Reggie Wayne

First Retro card. Other than that, I got nothing for this pack.

Pack 10

Brian Westbrook

Kevin Williams

Lamarr Woodley

Lockheed AC-130 Airplane

1965 Paul Flatley Buyback?

Percy Harvin (Rookie) Mini SP

Phillip Rivers

Hank Baskett

Cool History card. I'm big into those. The Percy Harvin Mini is solid too. But I honestly have no idea what this Paul Flatley is. It came in my pack in a penny sleeve, and at first I thought it was an auto. The card that came with it says "You have received a previously released collector's card!" The back says "Congratulations! You have received a trading card that was originally released in a previous product, re-purchased and is now being re-released for your collecting pleasure. Enjoy your card!" Uhhh, so is this a buyback? And I'd love to see how much UD paid to purchase this card to later put into this product. Pretty cool idea though. Hopefully there's a Jimmy Brown floating around out there somewhere.

2009 Philadelphia Football

I went to a local card shop today to buy boxes for all of the 1950's-1970's sports cards my dad has in our attic. I bought 3 boxes and then the itch to open packs hit me. I now have a box of Philadelphia Football cards. I honestly do not really like Football cards at all. Even though I go to every Browns home game, I really am not super into football. This is my first box of NFL cards since 2001. The last set I got was UD Vintage. I'm a sucker for vintage sets, what can I say.

I'll get one auto and two memorabilia cards per box (average). Plus my one jumbo.

Jumbo first:

Hines Ward

Pack 1:

Steven Jackson

Derrick Mason

Jamarcus Russell

Everette Brown (Rookie)

Philadelphia Fabrics

Julius Peppers

Drew Brees

Laveranues Coles

LenDale White

Randy Moss

First pack and I get one of two supposed jerseys. My second team is Carolina simply because I've always loved their color scheme and when the Browns left I supported them due to Kerry Collins. I was even Collins once for Halloween. Glad the little swatch is blue and not white. Makes the card look nicer.

Pack 2:

Oshiomogho Atogwe

Tony Scheffler

Dwight Freeney

Stars in Action Marshawn Lynch

Michael Turner

Chansi Stuckey

Chad Johnson

Kevin Walter

UD Ad for an Adrian Peterson Auto'd Jersey Mystery Discount

Lynch is a cool card. I refuse to ever acknowledge Chad Johnson as Ocho Cinco. It's stupid. Oshiomogho Atogwe. Just look at that name for a second. I gurantee I have like 10% off that jersey. It's probably $5,000 so I'd still be paying $4,500 for an elite back, although I couldn't really care. Just for fun I'm going to see my discount. Apparently UD's website is down.

Pack 3:

Cortland Finnegan

Julius Peppers

Arnaz Battle

Rey Maualuga (Rookie)

Nelson Rockefeller Mini SP

Brandon Marshall

Jared Allen

Kyle Orton

Mystery Discount Ad

I love having non sports cards in my sports cards. Unless it's some dumb bullshit like what Allen and Ginter did this year. No, I don't want some Yo Yo Champion string relic. It might sell for a decent price but it's stupid. The buyer of the card is even more stupid for buying it, unless he's the person on the card, then it's acceptable. Mystery Discount Ad's Coupon code is the same as the past one, so I'd assume that I'm getting 0% off.

Pack 4:

Eddie Royal

Jeff Garcia

Josh Reed

Barack Obama Story Card

Philadelphia Fabrics Willie Parker

Jon Beason

Donnie Avery

Willie Parker

Santana Moss

A Barack Obama card. I own a card with Barack Obama on it. Incredible. I also forgot Jeff Garcia still plays in the NFL. I'm not sure which of those two is more shocking. 2nd Fabrics of the box, unfortunately it's of a Steeler. Then I pull his base card shortly after. White swatch. I really think the design of the jersey cards are incredible. Big picture of the player and the patch location on the card is perfectly placed. Great design overall. Unlike some horrible abortions out of Triple Threads.

Pack 5:

Greg Jennings

Asante Samuel

Zach Thomas

Justin Fargas

D'Qwell Jackson

Matt Leinart

Jason Campbell

Ray Rice

First (and probably only) Brown! Matt Leinart is oddly enough playing in an NFL game. I for sure thought his photo would be of him on the bench. I got another Mystery Ad Coupon with the same code.

Round 1, Spurs v Liverpool

The Football started yesterday. Not the American one either. If you've read any of my past blogs I follow soccer pretty hard and cheer for the Cleveland equivalent in soccer, Tottenham Hotspur FC.

Spurs opened the campaign with a rare home game (first one in honestly 5 years) to none other than Liverpool (a Sky Sport Top 4 Club). Going into the match I wasn't sure exactly who would start where and more importantly, who would be our starting strike pair. Would Robbie Keane be up for it, facing off his "boyhood dream" club? Why wouldn't he be up for it? Start Roman next to him? Nah, bad idea. Defoe? He's on form (netting two in a World Cup Qualifier) but it's rumored him and Keane don't exactly see eye to eye. Granted they've played together in the past and had good results (remember 2005-2006....something about lasagna...yeah I remember it real well). Or would our new signing of Frankenstein be paired up with Keane? I wanted Defoe, and we got Defoe.

A lot of people had reservations about Sebastien Bassong. Former Toon player, rated highly, but could he handle the pressure? Could he handle possibly covering for Ledley if his knee started to act up? Can he handle Torres coming at him? Corluka doesn't worry me at all (strong bias there). He's a bit slow yeah, but he doesn't play outside of his skill set and that makes up for his lack of speed. I honestly thought we'd see Bale play at left back. Instead we are treated to Benny Assou-Ekotto. I always love when BAE plays. I get frustrated because I always remember his performances of old where everything he did was surrounded by question marks. To his credit, he solidified his spot late last season with some strong showings.

Credit: Getty Images

Taking in the first 20-25 minutes, I ignored that I was watching complete garbage footy. Both teams played like garbage, but I honestly was just happy to see Spurs playing. I liked the choppy Internet feed I had that made it almost seem that our home kit was all-white. Until the zoom in's where the yellow reared it's ugly head. But in all honesty, I think the yellow isn't bad and I might get used to it. Come next year though, I hope it's gone.

I was laying in my bed watching the game while my girlfriend had the TV on the Food Network, so when I saw Huddlestone's free kick get deflected and the goal, I was excited to go 1 up on 'pool. When I saw exactly who made that incredible shot, I almost cried laughing. Immediate texts. This goal I can almost gurantee is Benoit Assou-Ekotto's career goal. Just a minute before half, a great way to deflate a team. However, this just meant we could (and usually would) sit back and let Liverpool come at us for the whole second half.

Sure enough, 10 minutes into second half Glen Johnson earns a penalty and Mr. England Stevie Gerrard (overrated) ties it up. Not to discredit Spurs, but Liverpool didn't look up for the game at all and played the way until the final 10 or so minutes. However, Spurs looked solid. Modric seemed out of place and wasn't able to get into the game the way we are used to. However his one free kick a few minutes after Liverpool's tying goal would be the goal to win the match. Luka's kick found Sea Bass' head for his first Spurs goal in his first game with Spurs. More texts come pouring in at this point. Even though that would be the match winner, I had my doubts that we'd eventually let them equalize within the last 3 minutes. They pushed hard from the 85th or so until the final whistle but Spurs held strong.

Credit: Getty Images

Lennon didn't really do much this game as neither did Modric. Luka did get some space and was able to pass but didn't have much room to work with. Central mid was completely bossed by Palacios and Huddlestone. All of you T. Hudd naysayers from the past few seasons are going to be proved wrong. I've always said Huddlestone is going to be quality for us. Our back 4 were incredible. Torres didn't do anything except stay on the ground as Huddlestone gave him a few words. If anyone can get me a .gif of that clip, I'll paypal you $10. No joke. I want that clip. Keane had 3 chances and honestly should have put one in. Defoe I really didn't pay attention to. The other two forwards didn't have any effect in the game. Gomes was solid except on his one challenge that lead to the penalty. But that's alright.

Also, when did Liverpool become so thuggish? That was a text my buddy sent me. And after watching a few challenges from Lucas, I wondered the same thing. Dirk Kuyt was an offender I believe late in the game on Assou Ekotto. Just seemed a bit dirty, which is odd for Liverpool.

After 1 game, we've got 3 points. That's more than we had after the first 8 last season. Triffic. Here's hoping to a solid performance Wednesday away at Hull. We need at least a draw, anything less there's no excuse. I don't mean to sound like a Top 4 or broke kinda fan, but no offense, it's Hull. Luckily, I have an off day from work, so I'll be watching the match for sure.

Lennon's gonna find his end product Wednesday and bag two. I feel it.

C'mon you Spurs!

Topps Series 2 Part 4 Extravaganza

Lucky 13:
Bill Simas ROOKIE
Steve Trachsel
Roy Halladay
Bobby Howry ROOKIE
Draft Picks Matt Belisle/Matt Roney
1998 All-Topps Pitchers Clemens/Maddux/Wood
1998 All-Topps Catchers Piazza/Pudge/Kendall
1998 All-Topps Outfielders Vlad/Greg Vaughn/Bernie Williams

Two stud rookies. A solid Draft Pick Card. And then stupid All-Topps crap. I always thought Bill Simas was like 35 when I got his MLB Showdown card in 2000. Apparently that was his second year, oops. Any time I pull a Clemens, I die a little inside.

Pack 14:
Bernie Williams
Shane Reynolds
Curt Schilling
Sandy Alomar
Mark McLemore
Reggie Jefferson
Preston Wilson
Carlos Guillen

If it wasn't for Sandy Alomar, Preston Wilson's smiling face, or Carlos Guillen's meth addict needing more drugs face, this pack would easily be ruined by Curt Schilling. Thanks a lot Curt.

Pack 15:
Ryan Klesko
Jeremi Gonzalez
Paul O'Neil
Tom Gordon
Rico Brogna
Joe Fontenot
Record Numbers Insert Curt Schilling
'99 Rookie Rush Marlon Byrd

RIP Jeremi. Rico Brogna is a legend. This box sucks. This makes me feel 100x worse than when I bought a pack of 2007 SPX and pulled Dennis Sarfate. Actually I had fun doing that. I don't want an insert of Schilling. Give me McGriff, Mark Grace, or Griffey. Not some asshole like Clemens or Schilling. The Marlon Byrd card is really shiny so it takes my attention away from the shitty Schilling card.

Pack 16:
Eric Chavez
Mike Hampton
Wilson Alvarez
Scott Elarton
Juan Guzman
Dennis Reyes
Ryan Minor
Charles Nagy

Wilson Alvarez is fat in his photo. Honestly there really isn't a whole lot to say about this pack. Although looking at the names I just pulled makes me miss 1999 so much. This was pre-Y2K, these baseball players were so young and naive and now it's assholes that take steroids that knock out the true heroes like Ryan Minor. Thanks a lot you steroid ridden dicks. Charles Nagy's card shows he has bleach blonde hair.

Topps Series 2 Round 3

Here is some more 1999 wholesome goodness.

Pack 9:
Omar Daal
Chili Davis
Jim Parque
Ramiro Mendoza
Draft Picks Matt Holliday/Jeff Winchester
Draft Picks Brad Lidge/Mike Nannini
Draft Picks Nate Bump/Nate Cornejo
Draft Picks Austin Kearns/Chris George

Pack sent straight from God himself. Chili Davis, Jim Parque, AND Omar Daal? And then the rest of my pack was draft picks!!! I honestly don't know which draft pick is worth more, but my favorite one by far is Nate Bump with Nate Cornejo. Gives the Jung Bong/Brandon Puffer 02 card a run for it's money.

Pack 10:
Jeff Conine
Jeff Abbott
Ricky Ledee
Mike Lansing
Strike Out Kings Kerry Wood
Strike Out Kings Roger Clemens
2 Checklists!

2 Jeffs. Former Indian. Kerry Wood ROOKIE INSERT. And then a douchebag who is on the level of douchebag-ness of Curt Schilling and two checklists to finish off my pack. Excuse me while I get the taste of crap out of my mouth. Honestly this box is already ruined due to the Curt Schillings and Roger Clemens.

Pack 11:
Jason Giambi
Tino Martinez
Alex Rodriguez
Henry Rodriguez
Rick Helling
Tony Womack
Dave Mlicki
Alex Gonzalez

Pack is full of steroids. Only wholesome thing in this was the Tony Womack card, and he's even in a Pirates uniform. Or Dave Mlicki, I can't decide.

Pack 12:
Mike Blowers
Matt Morris
Gregg Olson
Tony Saunders
Rafael Palmeiro
Brad Ausmus
Steve Finley
Dustin Hermanson

I had never heard of Mike Blowers. Apparently he had been playing in the league since '89. I also had no idea that Matt Morris had played in the league before 2001. I did know that Greg Olson played for the Indians (3 Games, 2.2 IP). And that Dustin Hermanson is an alumni of THE Kent State University.

I have to find some way of getting pictures up here soon.

Topps Series 2 Part 2!

Welcome back again to the most exciting box break (without pictures!) this year. I decided that since I'm going to be playing in a wiffleball tournament today I might as well get in the mood. And honestly is there really any better way to get ready for a wiffleball tournament than by opening Topps Series 2 1999 Baseball cards? Nope.

Pack 5:
Scott Spiezio
Jeff Shaw (Tribe Legend)
Fernando Tatis
Randy Johnson
Mark Leiter
Draft Picks Pat Burrell/Eric Valent
Draft Picks Adam Everett/Chip Ambres
All Topps Mystery Finest Refractor Sosa/Griffey/Juan Gonzalez (1:200 packs!)

I really think my favorite card in the pack is the Mark Leiter. He just looks really confused in the photo. The Mystery Finest is easily the best card I'll pull out of this box. The only problem is that there is a solid black coating over the front of the card that I cannot seem to pull off. I just thought it was a error card until I looked on the back and saw it said "REFRACTOR". I can see through the film though and the player is Sosa. I guess that's what happens when you don't open cards for 10 years.

Pack 6:
Kerry Lightenberg Rookie ($$$$$$$$$$)
Adrian Beltre
Bernard Gilkey!!!
Brian Hunter
Randy Johnson Strikeout King
Curt Schilling Strikeout King
HR Parade Sammy Sosa
1979 Nolan Ryan Reprint

Kerry Lightenberg. Solid start to any pack. Brian Hunter's photo is amazing. He's holding two bases and has a black Batman-esque villian mask that just covers his eyes. Creativity at it's finest. Unfortunately I got another Curt Schilling card who I just despise. The Sosa card is cool though. On the back it has a picture of Roger Maris, which I don't really understand. The Ryan Reprint is just that, a reprint. I'm sure my dad and I have the actual card somewhere around here.

Pack 7
Cal Ripken
Tom Glavine
Tony Clark
Andy Ashby
Ugueth Urbina
John Burkett
Shane Monahan
Bill Mueller

Average pack. Pulling the Tony Clark reminds me of the times when I'd go to Tribe games and we'd play the Tigers and I was always afraid Clark would hit homers. Ugueth Urbina is always another great card to pull. Wait scratch that. Shane Monahan's only contribution to MLB is when Griffey raffled off his car during a game.

Pack 8
Matt Franco
Lance Johnson
John Jaha
Alex Gonzalez (Canadian version)
Luis Gonzalez
Jose Offerman
Edgar Renteria
Roger Clemens

Pack was fantastic with Lance Johnson and John Jaha. Then I got the douchebag Clemens and now I don't want to open any more packs ever again. Thanks a lot Roger.

Unreal

Words cannot even begin to describe this auction.

If I had the money needed (I'd say at least 50K) I'd quit everything and move to Cali to run this shop. In all honesty, I don't care about the cut auto's and stuff like that, I'd just want to own my own card store.

Topps Series 2

NINETEEN NINETY NINE EDITION.

Unopened box. Only difference is this is a Super Value Box. 20 star studded packs with a bonus 2 extra packs of pleasure. 8 cards per.

Clemens is on the cover in his Yankee/Steroid Ridden Shirt along with a small insert of Nolan Ryan. Apparently in this edition I can pull Nolan Ryan Inserts, Refractors, and Autographs!

The odds on pulling inserts are:
MVP Promo 1:694
Record Number Silver 1:11
Sequentially Numbered Cards
1:200,000 (approx)
Nolan Ryan Reprint 1:25
The rest of the inserts are pretty much 1:600+ packs

I'm going to pull an MVP Promo.

Cards I hope I pull:
Ben Grieve
Tony Womack
David Justice
Bubba Trammell
Enrique Wilson

I did not know they put Box Toppers in boxes back in 1999. Pleasantly surprised by a Barry Bonds Box Topper. Weird part about the card, he's running. Should not be doing this.

Pack 1:
Ron Coomer
Fernando Vina
Marquis Grissom!
Blog Sponsor Marty Cordova
Robin Ventura
Ken Caminiti
Devon White
Topps All 1B Men Big Mac/Bagwell/Galaragga

Pack 2:
Miguel Cairo (All Topps Rookie)
Brian Anderson
Chuck Finley
Mark Grudzielanek
All Topps 1B Olerud/Thome/Tino Martinez
All Topps SS A-Rod/Nomar/Jeter
All Topps 3B Castilla/Chipper/Rolen
Strikeout Kings Pedro Martinez

Pack 3:
Tim Salmon
Jeff Kent (Douchebag)
Kevin Young
Andy Benes in a hitting pose!
John Franco
Pete Harnisch (Legend)
Hideo Nomo
Todd Zeile

Pack 4:
Jarrod Washburn
Eli Marrero
John Thomson
Matt Stairs
PROSPECTS Carlos Lee/Mike Lowell/Kit Pellow
Rickey Henderson
Brian Jordan
Delino DeShields

I saw that prospects card at the National at least 10 times. No joke. I'm glad I finally have one to call my own.

More packs to come later.

World Series Fever

1998. I'm about to open packs of Sports Illustrated (Presented by Fleer) WORLD SERIES FEVER. 4 Packs of this illustrious stuff.

Inserts are as follows (LOOK FOR THESE!):
10 MVP Collection 1:4
15 Reggie Jackson's Picks 1:12
10 Autumn Excellence 1:24
10 Autumn Excellence Gold 1:240

Oh man there's even EXCLUSIVE FIRST EDITION Parallels limited to only 1! 1/1 SICK NASTY BRO!

Pack 1:
El Dookie Orlando Hernandez
Curt Schilling*
Kerry Wood!
Jason Giambi
Autumn Excellence Gold!!!! Willie Mays
The New Mr. October Orel Hershiser
Edgardo Alfonzo

Well the Willie Mays just made all 4 packs. I've had a pretty solid record going where I open some packs of late 90's cards and pull something rare. At the National Jim bought a box of 1999 Fleer Ultra (I think) and I pulled a Ken Griffey Jr. that was 1:244 packs. Curt Schilling's card just reminds me of how much I hate the guy. Pretentious d-bag whose head is so large from all the steroids he's taken. I cannot wait until his name comes out for doing PED's. It'll be a holiday for me. Speaking of PED's, I got a Jason Giambi card. Creepy photo. He's all focused on something outside of the frame and it's very apparent that he was just injected.

Pack 2:
Gary Sheffield
Brian Hunter
Pudge
Jim Thome
Juan Gonzalez
Rusty Greer

3 Rangers. A Triber. And Brian L. (Please don't forget the L) Hunter. Great Job!

Pack 3:
Albert Joey Belle
Jeff Bagwell
Jaret Wright!!!
Andy Pettitte
Manny Ramirez
Ricky Henderson SI Cover
Andres Galarraga

2 Indians one being Jaret Wright. Plus an Andres Galarraga which is basically a icing on the cake. And an Albert Belle where he is unfortunately on the White Sox, and ironically smiling in his photo. I'm gonna go off here for a bit and say that I honestly believe that Albert Belle never used PED's or Steroids. He had plenty of solid years and then got hurt and never was the same after. God that sounds like a steroid user. Nope, I'm going to still say he never used anything and is clean, I don't care if I'm biased. If you disagree here, you are wrong. Maybe.

Pack 4:
Derek Jeter
Paul Konerko
Pedro Martinez
Bobby Bonilla!!!!
MVP Collection Tom Glavine (1995)
World Series Preview SI Cover
Magnificent Moments Bucky Dent

And the high of these packs just crashed right after seeing the Tom Glavine card. Thank you Fleer for briging to light my cities inability to win any sports championship in 65 years. The blow is only softened up a bit by the Paul Konerko Dodgers card as well as the Bobby Bonilla card. Jeter card is awkward in that he looks sorta queer in his stare and the fact that he was just knocked down by a pitch. It's either that or his FILA arm band, I'm not entirely sure.

I'll try and have some sort of pictures up via camera or scanner later, if possible.