1997 Donruss Baseball Review

A short while ago, I picked up a few older boxes online. I was ready to check out and then realized that I was just a little short of qualifying for some free shipping promotion. To put me over the hump, I decided to add a box of 1997 Donruss to my order. Why ‘97 [...]

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HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!!! For my first post of 2009, I present you with an “old school hit” from 2000 SPx. This hit comes from SPx’s mainstay set, Winning Materials. In 2000 SPx, there was a guarantee of one autograph or game-used card per box, with Winning Materials being seeded 1 in every 112 packs [...]

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In the words of Krusty the Clown, “have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah (spelled for the Fielder’s Choice family), a kwaazy Kwanzaa, a tip-top Tet, and a solemn, dignified Ramadan.”
For your viewing pleasure, a 2001 Pacific Ornament card of Vladimir Guerrero. These cards were seeded at a rate of two per box and were [...]

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About a week ago, I asked how many different New Jersey Devils (past or present) I had at least one certified autograph of. The winning answer is:
47!!!
After several guesses which ranged from 3 to 73, the winner was skoormit who submitted a guess of 45 this morning. Skoormit, please send your info to jhollod-at-hotmail-dot-com and [...]

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I just wanted to update everyone on the contest. Nobody has guessed the exact number yet (although some came close). The contest ends Monday at 2PM EST. Here’s a rundown of the numbers used so far:
3, 8, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 24, 27, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 41, 42, 44, 57, 64, 65, [...]

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Answer: A 13-year-old newspaper and an Atlanta Brave.
Those of you who have read my About Me page know the story of how I fell in love with the game thanks to my father, a lifelong Yankee fan. What you didn’t know was that he was also responsible for kickstarting my collection with cards that I [...]

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When I reached the 10,000 hit mark, I promised you guys a little contest so here it is. Inspired by the contest Mr. Ross at Boxbusters had a couple weeks ago, I wanted to have a little guessing contest of my own. I told you it would have something to do with my hockey blog [...]

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I think it’s about time for another box review so here’s a recap of what I pulled from a box of 1998 Topps Gallery recently. Each box contains 24 packs of 6 cards each and can be had for about $40 or so. Here are the goods:
Base set: The base set is comprised of 150 [...]

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Sometime in the next few days, I should finally be hitting the 10,000 hit mark with this site and with that will come my first (but not last) contest. The full details will be coming soon, but I can tell you right now that I am putting together a nice little star-filled lot of inserts/parallels, [...]

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Inspired by this Wax Heaven post, I’ve decided to show off one of my personal favorite cards, a 1998 Topps WCW/NWO Autograph of the late Curt Hennig. Hennig made his professional debut in the (now defunct) AWA in the early 1980’s and rose to stardom under the “Mr. Perfect” moniker in the World Wrestling Federation [...]

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A couple days ago, a few cards that I had earned via a group break, arrived in the mail. The break, conducted by The Truth17 on Youtube,  was held on Thanksgiving and featured boxes of Ultimate Collection, Exquisite Rookie Signatures, and Premier baseball. I drew two teams, the Blue Jays and Twins. While Toronto got [...]

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Well, Thanksgiving is here once again and you know what that means. Yep, saying grace, stuffing your face, and watching the Lions stink up the place (on TV). I’m thankful for many things, my health (I battled cancer in 2004), family/friends (including you guys in the blogosphere), the money in my pocket and the roof [...]

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In 1999, Upper Deck MVP debuted as longtime favorite Collector’s Choice (called UD Choice that year) was on its way out the hobby. The makeup was similar. MVP was a cheap $2/pack product aimed at a younger audience. They did away with all the stickers, Starquests, and mini bobble-heads that made Collector’s Choice fun, but [...]

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Following in the footsteps of Mario at Wax Heaven, I just opened up a box of 1997 Bowman Chrome. Many of you may recall the first-ever video box break of this stuff about three weeks ago. Now, it’s my turn. Yeah, you all know what’s coming…
Base set: There are 300 cards in the set: 100 [...]

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I don’t do football that much, but it seems during every season, I just get the itch to bust a box or two. I even joined a couple box breaks, including a recent one at Sports Cards Uncensored. Anyway, here’s a list of cards I have that are available if anyone wants them. I’d like [...]

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In its heyday, Donruss Studio was known for an all portrait-style base set and some incredible inserts (Heritage and Masterstrokes being some of my all-time favorites). Each studio set had its own unique design and background. Some background examples included a city skyline, the player’s locker, an actual studio backdrop, and Old Glory itself. Oh [...]

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Normally, I’m not much of a fan of game-used cards that feature non-personal items on them such as balls, bases, and DIRT, but this particular set is a very special one. A Piece of the Series is a 12-card set found in 2000 UD HoloGrFX. While the product itself is nothing noteworthy at all, this [...]

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For the hockey fans out there, I’ve just created a blog in which I’ll be showing off cards from my New Jersey Devils collection. Cards will range from autographs and game-used to rookies, inserts, and even some cool base cards. A few non-cards will also be thrown into the mix. Check it out here. And [...]

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The Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1999 was legendary. Nolan Ryan, George Brett, Robin Yount, and Orlando Cepeda were all enshrined that year and were the subjects of an early game-used set produced by Upper Deck. Randomly inserted into packs of Ultimate Victory that year was a set called Fame-Used Memorabilia, which featured bat [...]

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No, I was not referring to the man of America’s Most Wanted fame (though he rocks too), but rather a collector who has got to have the sickest Flair Showcase collection on the planet. Several weeks ago, John came across my site and this post in particular about a box of 1998 Flair Showcase I [...]

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Keeping the theme from the last post, I busted a box of 1998 Pinnacle, the last basic Pinnacle set ever. Sad, I know. This box contained 20 packs of 10 cards each and cost me about $22. Was it a memorable way to go out? Let’s examine.
Base cards: The base cards are sharp with crisp [...]

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Ok, so it’s not really a grudge match (I can’t hate him!), but Mario at Wax Heaven just busted a box of 1997 Pinnacle Certified. For those of you who are new to this blog, I busted a box of the same product last summer and wrote a review of it (several months later) in [...]

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…game-used card? Sure, they’ve lost their luster now. But remember when pulling a card with a swatch of fabric or wood affixed to it actually meant something? I know I do. My first such pull came just days before Y2K. I was at my local card shop busting packs of the then-brand new 2000 Upper [...]

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I’ve decided to add a brand new feature here which will display some of my personal collection while keeping with the blog’s theme: Old School Hits. In this feature, I will be displaying autographs and game-used cards from the year 2000 and back (before the GU situation got out of hand). Just a note, all [...]

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….and this was what I got. The group break, which was hosted by Youtube’s “thepackripper,” was for 10 tins of 2007 UD Sweet Spot Classic and a box of Topps Sterling. For those unaware of the group break concept, basically a person pays a fixed amount of money for a “spot” in the break (they [...]

Continue reading about So I joined one of those ‘Group Break’ things… »