Thursday, January 29, 2009

3 Random Packs

Just picked up 3 random packs today from a local store that sells cards. I'm sure they are a little more expensive than going to a hobby store but by the time you figure in gas and time, well they are totally worth it.

Pack 1:

08/09 UD Masterpieces Hockey (retail pack)

#51 Johnny Bower
# 26 Denis Savard
#76 Andy Bathgate
#36 Turk Broda

I really like this set. The art is amazing and the canvas style is beautiful. I don't think it's a set I would spend time collecting but I love getting random packs and ripping them open to see what's inside. Unfortunately of this set only 1 was a card that I haven't had before...3 dubs!

Pack 2:

08/09 ITG Heroes and Prospects

#79 T.J. Galiardi - of the Calgary Hitmen!!!!
#94 Marco Scandella
#52 John McFarland
#73 Kyle Beach
#43 Cody Hodgson

I love this set. I love the ITG Heroes and Prospects cards in general. This is my first pack of 08/09. I love the idea of prospects. Cards of players who haven't yet been drafted and players who have been drafted but play on the farm teams. Most of these players have some amazing promise. Most are either 1st or 2nd round picks. There are also a Heroes portion that have players like Lemuiex, Crosby, and Brodeur back in their days before the NHL. I love the old pictures of these players, it's awesome to see. This is definately a set I'll be collecting. Can't wait until I head up to Edmonton to go to a hobby shop with my Brother-in-Law and get a hobby box of this.

Moreover, I'm ecstatic to get a Calgary Hitmen player...even though he's on a different team right now and was drafted by Colorado...double wammy. We're hoping to go to a Hitmen game on Tuesday when they play Edmonton. 7-11 and Gatoraid have a promotion going on right now that for every 3 bottles you buy you get a free ticket to a Hitmen game, any Home game in January and Feburary. Can't wait it should be good....too bad Galiardi isn't playing there anymore I would have tried to get him to sign the card!

Side note: If anyone has been getting the redemption cards and don't want them feel free to send them to me!

Pack 3:

2008 UD Masterpieces Baseball

#78 Barry Zito
#38 Lance Berkman
#32 Justin Verlander - Black Border
#25 Joe Morgan
#11 Carl Yastrzemski
#74 Luke Hochevar RC

Again I love the Masterpieces sets. The cards are beautiful. I like that there are rookie cards in the sets and the borders make the cards stand out even more. The Verlander card especially stands out, because in the background it shows his no hitter against the Brewers (boo!). The Horizontal pictures are also very nice, I quite like the Berkman card. However, again I don't think this is a set I would really try to collect.

So if anyone out there would like to trade for any of my Masterpieces cards (hockey and baseball) let me know!

I'll be putting up baseball cards for trade in my trade/want list soon.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Something just came over me...Part 3

Okay so today I'm going to review my second box of 4 random MLB packs.

Pack 1:

2002 Donruss

The cards here are very interesting. The ones I pulled were inspired by the '82, '84,'86, & '88 cards.

#32 Albert Pujols...very nice card and very one loves Pujols!
#379 Rickey Henderson
#18 Kevin Brown
#170 Gary Sheffield (in Braves uni)
#147 Mark Grace
#314 Craig Biggio
#29 Roberto Alomar
#98 Rafael Palmeiro
#264 Tim Hudson
#361 Juan Gonzalez

Overall decent cards. I like the Pujols card just because it is Pujols. The photography is nice, the different borders based on year is cool. But for me, because I just got back into baseball recently I don't think this is a set I would collect. I think I'll have to focus on more recent years and just pick up a few player cards from years past, like Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun.

Pack 2:

2003 Fleer Fall Classic

#34 Wade Boggs
#70 Willie Stargell
#24 Willie Mccovey
#36 Don Drysdale
#79 Roberto Clemente

The base cards with their turquois borders are down right ugly. While the pictures are decent, I just can't get my eyes off of those ugly borders. Info on the back of the card is nice. I really like the Willie Stargell Dynasty Foundations and the Roberto Clemente cards. If the whole set looked like those two I'd definately consider picking up a few more.

Pack 3:

2002 Fleer Hot Prospects

#39 Magglio Ordonez...great card, love the player...too bad he doesn't have his flowing locks in this card though!
#68 Jeff Kent
#71 Brian Jordan
#45 Ichiro...this guy has a last name why does no one use it?
#CS13 Co-Stars - Vladimir Guerrero and Scott Rolen...very nice card

So far the best cards out of the bunch. I know most of the players. I like that the card has a good single shot of the player and background has a baseball in it that is subtle. The co-stars card is very nice.

Pack 4:

2008 UD First Edition

#108 Felix Hernandez...King Felix!
#193 Matt Belisle
#140 Kyle Lohse
#126 Billy Wagner
#223 Gary Sheffield....wish this was Magglio with the locks!
#158 Jamie Moyer
#3 Jered Weaver
#98 Rajai Davis
#279 Jose Morales RC
#SQ-4 Ken Griffey Jr.

This is definately my favorite set of the bunch. I enjoy the photography and the info on the backs. I can't wait for the '09 set! I really enjoy the Starquest cards. I love the green and you can never go wrong with Jr.

Over all I was very happy with this set. I don't think I would get it again but it was a lot of fun to open. And being that I'm trying to emmerse myself into the card collecting culture by venturing back a few years it was nice to see where some of the sets have come from to help see where some of them are going!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Something just came over me...Part 2

So in my giant Walmart, multi-pack buying spree. I also bought a box of 4 randomly assorted Baseball packs. The first box that I opened contained a pack of 2008 UD First Edition, 2003 Donruss Team Heroes, 07/08 Topps, and 02/03 Fleer Traditional.

Pack 1:

2008 UD

cards in order I pulled them... Rafael Betancourt, Dioner Navarro, Brian McCann, Mike Mussina, Coco Crisp, Brandon Inge, Rich Hill, Milton Bradley, Josh Anderson RC, and Justin Morneau Starquest.

Overall, very nice pack. I love the focus on photography. Good info on the back, AND a JUSTIN MOURNEAU starquest...very happy about that. Mourneau helped me a great deal in my fantasy baseball league. Great start! I will definately be getting a hobby box or 2 of the 2009 UD.

Pack 2:

2003 Donruss

cards in order...JOE "FREAKING" CARTER...right off the bat!!!! Sweet!!!! As I've written many times, One of my last memories of watching the MLB on tv was Joe Carter's walk-off 3 run, home run to win the World Series for the Jays, their second in two years! Well that just might be one of my favorite cards being that it's Joe Carter....oh right the rest of the pack...Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Chin-Feng Chen, Adam Bernero, Marquis Grissom, Bert Snow, J.D. Drew, Ben Howard, and Willie McCovey.

Overall a nice enough set, the pictures and fronts are nice, the info on the back is great. But being that I haven't been back into baseball for that long, I only know a couple of the players. But the Joe Carter was definately the highlight for me.

Pack 3:

2002 Fleer Traditional

This Day in History (Paul Molitor)...interesting card...Antonio Alfonseca, Edgardo Alfonzo, Orlando Cabrera (in an Expos jersey...very nice)...wonder who will sign him this year being that he's a FA and all, Royce Clayton, Johnny Estrada, David Wells, Brad Ausmus, Sandy Alomar, and Derek Jeter. I really enjoy the look of these cards. They are a nice hard cardboard. Nice coloring and pics, white border.

Pack 4:

2007 Topps

Fred Lewis RC, Nook Logan, Marcus Giles, Luke Scott, Mike Piazza (GOLD 0053/2007), Mark Grudzielanek, Kenny Rogers (makes me giggle every time), Jim Edmonds, Carlos Beltran, Emil Brown, Eric Byrnes, Brandon Inge. Nice set, I hate the "signatures" on every card. The black bordering is nice and the photos are decent. I like that I pulled a #'d card.

Top pulls from a walmart special...Joe Carter, Justin Morneau Starquest, Mike Piazza (53/2007), and This Day in History.

Overall, very fun to open. I enjoyed the different cards from different years.

I have another of these to share later. While the other set is just as good, I don't think I would bother buying this again. Especially when considering the Hockey set that I opened previously was the same price and I enjoyed all the cards much more.

However, this was definately worth it. It was fun and cheap. Can't really as for more now can we!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Goose Joak 2

Well I was going to write a blog today about some MLB packs I opened, but I'm lazy so instead I thought I would show you my second attempts at the Goose Joak Baseball Virtual Cards.




There are a few players that I have multiple possibilities for... I might post them all in one and have a little vote or something... What do you think ?

Goose Joak Cards

A little while ago I posted saying that a group of blogger led by Goose Joak were developing our own set of cards. I just recently got back into Baseball after a many years hiatus...let's just say Joe Carter was winning the World Series with a walk-off Three run homer... Being Canadian I've always been a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays. However, getting back into baseball, through Fantasy Baseball...I found myself drawn to the Milwaukee Brewers. With players like Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun it's hard not to love that team and when CC Sabathia joined to help push them to a World Series winner...I was esthatic! Any way the point is, being a loyal and devoted fan to both I offered my services to "sponsor" both teams...here are my first attempts. Let me know what you think!







Sunday, January 25, 2009

NHL All*Star Game *Live blog*

The West takes an early lead with a goal by Kieth Tkachuk; assisted by Rick Nash and Milan Hejduk. We got first blood, very nice!

I love how they keep introducing Hockey Hall of Famers!

Darn, A beauty of a goal by Ovechkin, you know every time you watch this kid you know why he's considered one of the best, if not the best, in the league. The young talent in the last few years is just phenomenal for the game! Kane, Toews, Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin...the list just goes on and on it's crazy. It's nice to see the game filled with so much talent. Reminds me of the mid-80's to the early-90's.

Ouch, Staal scores on Giggy picking by the net...come on WEST defense!!!!

Okay So I headed out for a bit and came back to the East leading 6-3...Come on WEST Offense!!!

wow just as I wrote that Boyle scored! Sweet, first All*Star game and goal for Boyle! Way to go!

Malkin with a beauty, between the legs. Better than any of the attempts last night 7-4

WOW OH WOW...Nash flashing down the ice...GOOOOOOAL 7-5

WOW OH WOW I can't write fast enough to keep up...Hedjuk with a goal! 7-6. You know being he plays for Colorado I'd never normally cheer for him but woooo wooo!!!

You know they were just talking about the All*Star game and how people hate it because it's not a real game, you know I LOVE the All*Star game. It's a celebration of the players. It's fun to watch. And where else can you have such talent playing together! No fights, no contact. Just a fun game of Hockey. Now I'm a HUGE fan of hockey, fights and all but I still love watching this game...

GOOOOOAAALLLL WEST, Souray! Wow I really wouldn't cheer for him being an Oiler (I'll blog on that later) 7-7...GO WEST GO!!!!

I love seeing all these old All*Stars watching the game, Messier, Lemiuex! Man those guys bring back some memories.

There's talk of doing an international cup every few years. I like that sounds of that! I don't think it should replace the All*Star game but I like that. A chance for all countries to be represented!

Apparently there are 9 countries represented tonight and 23 of the players are CANADIAN! Excellent!

I really love seeing these past Canadiens de Montreal introduced out in the crowds during the breaks. The fans must really be loving this! I saw "Pocket Rocket" Richard earlier...part of 11 of 24 Stanley Cups for the Canadiens de Montreal! WOW such history. I LOVE this game so much!

They were talking earlier about the rivalry between Malkin and Ovechkin and how Kovalchuk took the two of them out and said that the game is the game and they have to realize that they are being watched very closely and they have a chance to really represent Russia! I love that, these guys are really embassadors for their countries and their sport. Rivalries can exist on the ice, but once off the ice it's okay to be friendly and mature!

Goal by Kovalev, Canadians fans must be loving that! beauty of a breakaway goal for the East 8-7.

Come on IGGY!!! Dang...he must be getting frustrated...oh wait they are counting that for IGGY...his first All*Star goal..that can't be right I'll have to look that up... 8-8.

Lundqvist with a HUGE save on Kane! Wow!

2nd period has come to a end...16 goals, 8 each...wow. 1 more period to go! Can't wait to see Luongo in net!

Luongo in net...and mic'd. Wow that's kinda cool, Luongo is giving commentary while in net. I LOVE that! Luongo you the man!!!!!

Modano in the air pass to Doan...GOOOOOAAAAALLLL. Wow that's eye-hand cordination! Out of the air. 9-8 WEST

Heatley goal 9-9

Toews with his first All*Star goal! Very nice. Gotta love these young guns! 10-9 WEST!

Hey, George Stroumboulopoulos! Love that guy...hahahah he's booing himself!

LOL love Luongo's commentary. That alone is worth the watching the game at home instead of live....hahahaha he told them to hold on while he saved a shot...then back to commentary. I LOVE THIS!!! GO CANUCKS GO... I mean.... :). Still talking while making saves...this is why the All*Star game is awesome. Guess he likes facing Ovechkin because he likes to shoot more than pass...well he is a sniper!

There have been a lot of rumors about Lecavalier being traded to Montreal. That would be kind of awesome to see him going home to help Montreal make a run at the cup. Montreal has been doing awesome this year.

Dang, St. Louis scored. 10-10. Love Luongo's commentary. Souray got in the way, too bad...lol Luongo is just too funny. He doesn't want anyone blocking a shot here, just get out of the way he's got it. Love it, he's such an awesome player and person! Definately would love to meet him....hahahaha oooh right off the shaft, you can't teach that! lol such great commentary.

I hope some of you guys are watching this. It's money!

Well sounds like it's the end of the Luongo commentary tonight. too bad, I wish they did it every night

KANE ALONE....RUSHES IN...GOOOOALLLLL. Kane's first All*Star goal. The young guns really shining tonight! 11-10 WEST

I hope there's an All*Star subset or something in a hockey set this year. Some really great goals and what not....gotta say something about cards!

Oh Bouwmeester scored 11-11, his first. A night of firsts, the youngins are really amazing!

Man this crowd really loves Lecavalier. Every time he gets the puck they go nuts! I would love to see him go to Montreal just for the fans!

11-11 Overtime...

4 on 4 sudden death!

Even Lundqvist wants to see Lecavalier score the winner....if the East were to win I'd be okay if it was Lecavalier scoring. Otherwise... go WEST go!

IGGY...nooooo so close. Thomas, a Bruin being cheered by the Montreal fans, I love that. Not often that happens.

A penalty! hahahhaha yikes...Komisarek got the penalty. The Montreal fans booing like crazy...poor ref...hahahah Guy Carbonneau is laughing.

Time runs out...SHOOTOUT!

Thomas has been fantastic all year and showing how much he deserves to be here at this game!

Love the shootout in an all*star game, just hope Giggy isn't in net after last nights performance...

Luongo in net for the west

1) Lecavalier for the East...stopped...go Luongo go

Thomas in the net for the East

1) Doan...stopped

2) Kovalev goal, beats Luongo over the glove

2) Nash...stopped by Thomas

if the East scores they will win

3) Ovechkin....GOAL! just snuck it by Luongo.

The East wins...well that was a hell of a game that I enjoyed thoroughly!

Some youtube moments and goals, including Ovechkin's shootout goal there...better than his moves last night.

MVP of the night....quiet a few possibilities tonight...KOVALEV! The hometown crowd loves that! Well a great night. 100 years of Canadiens de Montreal, the East wins, Kovalev scores in the shoot out and he's the MVP.

NOW IT'S THE DRIVE TO THE STANLEY CUP!!!! IT'S SOOOOO ON!

Something just came over me...

Well I went a little ape crap today and bought a bunch of Walmart specials...I'll spend the next few days going over the cards and what I think of them.

I'll start off today with the hockey set I picked up. It was 3 different packs together.

1) Upper Deck 2005/2006 Series 2
2) Heroes and Prospects 2005/2006
3) Parkhurst 2005/2006

Some really great cards in these packs. I'll just talk about the highlights.

1)Out of the Upper Deck pack:

The base cards are nice, as always with the Series sets the photography is the main focus.

The Highlight of the pack to me was the Sidney Crosby: Diary of a Phenom card #dp22. Gotta love Sid the Kid, I'm sad that he's not playing tonight at the All*Star game

2) Out of the H&P pack:

I love the base cards here. I love the idea of the cards. Heroes and Prospects and a good mix of both. In this pack I got some very nice base cards of promising young stars, including one who played for the Red Deer Rebels, wonder if I ever watched him play?

The highlight of this pack...there are two. First a Martin Brodeur base card...he's in his St. Hyacinthe Laser's jersey...very cool. Second, I got a Shawn Belle auto card. Very nice. Belle was born in Edmonton!

3) Out of the Parkhurst pack

My least favorite base cards. They are nice enough but not something I would spend my time and money collecting the set for.

Highlight of this pack, a Kevin Nastiuk auto in blue ink.

Overall impression: These cards I would definitely buy again. Total cost was low and the cards pulled were nice. I might try and collect the H&P base, but if this is the only way I can find them cheap and easy I'll just keep buying them this way. And maybe if I'm really good, eat my veggies and do my homework, I'll find a Tavares card or two in there!!!!

Tomorrow I'll look at a similar buy, but MLB.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

NHL All*Star Skills Competition

Well we just finished watching the All*Star Competition tonight! That's always just so much fun. Have to say the highlight of the night was Shane Doan in the Shootout Competition at the end of the night. He just seemed to be having fun with it and his daughter was extremely happy for him.

Can't wait for the All*Stars game tomorrow night...too bad Crosby is out.

As you can hopefully tell, I'm a huge Hockey fan (Original Six!)

Mike

My first follower!

Wow that's nice to see, thanks Brian!

I started blogging about cards for two reasons. To give a different perspective, being that I haven't collected cards in almost two decades and really didn't have a clue about this online community until just a week or so ago. And I wanted to belong to that community. If one has a blog it seems that it becomes a great way to communicate and become involved in the process. So if anyone reading this has just gotten back into cards...set up a blog, read and comment on other peoples blogs. Everyone is very friendly and informative! I've had nothing but good luck!

Brian is the guy who started me blogging. His blog is amazing, please check it out, he's also very active in other blogs! I reached out to him first primarily because of proximity but also because his blog is very informative and well written. His advice has been very helpful. Just a hint for you newbies out there...to which I still belong...most card bloggers are extremely nice and helpful.

Oh and just a side note...that different perspective I was talking about...check out the Goose Joak blog. He and a bunch of other bloggers...myself included...are putting together our own set of virtual cards! How's that for new perspective.

Mike

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Just When I Thought I Was Out...They Pulled Me Back In!

Well this should have been my first blog, but I was learning how things worked here on blogspot. I used to collect cards in the early-80's to the mid-90's but then I just lost interest or who knows what happened.

Well recently my Brother-in-law started collecting cards and well it sparked my interested and got right back in. We went to his local card shop and I bought a few cards that were to my liking.

I bought
2 Luongo Jersey Cards,

1 Trevor Linden Jersey Card

and a Kiprusoff Jersey card.

In many ways I hope that would be enough. Get a few things of my favorite players. But I looked through my old albums and the hunger was still there...so now I'm hooked and I think there's no turning back. I just have to remind myself to take it slow and enjoy the process. After all this is a fun hobby that millions seem to share... We all seem to share this addiction, to wax!

Cheers and good hunting,

Mike

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

08/09 MLB Masterpices

So I was at a local store today and noticed that they had a few different cards for sale. I noticed that one of the sets they were selling was 08/09 MLB Masterpieces and the packs were out of a hobby box. So I figured what the heck. I bought two packs and here's what I pulled:

Pack 1:

#69 Chase Utley +5 points
#2 Justin Upton +5 points
#48 Ryan Braun (yaaaaa) +15 points...hey it's my game and I'm a Brewers fan...
#79 Russell Martin +1 point
#20 Carlos Zambrono...big Z...+7 points
SG-JB Stroke of Genius - Joe Blanton... Black Border ...+10 Points for this being my first pulled auto...Too bad it's a Oakland A's...but an auto is an auto, pretty damned cool looking too...I just upped an image from the UD website without auto...i'll post a pic of the card I got later on my want/trade list
...EDIT...This is a photo of the card I pulled...sorry about the blue color...will try and get a better pic later




43 Points for pack 1

Pack 2:

#21 Derrek Lee +5 points...he had a heck of year
#10 Nick Markakis +1 point
#113 Steve Carlton +1...but it's a short print so....+5 (total +6)
#51 Justin Morneau +15 points (he helped me get second in my fantasy league)
#29 Troy Tulowitzki +1 point
#49 Harmon Killebrew +1 point...who?
YSL#5817 David Wells -5...



24 points for pack 2... Pack 1 blew Pack 2 out of the water!

You know these are pretty impressive cards I just may have to walk back to the store and buy a few more packs, too bad they are so expensive...

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Hey

So the title of my blog says it all. I'll try to blog as much as possible regarding Bustin' Wax. My main collecting interests are Hockey cards. Right now I'm working on the 08/09 UD Artifacts collection. I'm also collecting Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Bluejays and Prince Fielder cards.

I'll set up a Wantlist and a Trade list very soon.