BBA: 5 Best Pack Pulled Hits

I'm always down for a Blog Bat-Around.  The topic currently trending around the blogosphere is posting your five best pack pulled hits.  It was inspired by Matt over at Diamond Jesters who utilized TCDB to create a list of all of his relics, autographs, and serial numbered cards in his collection.  He then isolated which ones were pulled from packs and voilà he formed his list.

Regretfully... I have yet to inventory my entire collection of anything outside of my Steve Largent PC on TCDB... so my process will be a little more challenging and probably inaccurate (in the sense that I might be forgetting some cards).

For the sake of this BBA, I'm going to follow Matt's guidelines of only counting relics, autographs, and serial numbered cards that I have personally pulled from a pack.  I haven't been opening up a lot of packs or boxes since the pandemic, but thankfully there were a few periods in my life when I did.  All of these hits were from those times.

Let's start things off with a few honorable mentions...

Honorable Mention #1:  Gehrig Bat Card

2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection

Career Legends Relics #CL-LG2 (#'d 158/184)

This card would definitely make my Top 5... but there's an asterisk attached to it.  Technically I wasn't the one who pulled this sweet card from a pack.  That honor goes to Colbey over at Cardboard Connections who hosted a group break and I happened to purchase the New York Yankees.

Honorable Mention #2:  Printing Plates

2020 Topps A&G Framed Black Printing Plate #30 Eloy Jimenz

2009 Topps 206 Printing Plate Mini Piedmont #104 Mark Melancon

2007-08 Topps Signature Printing Plate #TS-DJ Deandre Jordan

2017 Topps Bunt Magenta Printing Plate #132 Carlos Gonzalez

I felt like I should at least recognize the printing plates I've pulled.  There might have been one or two more.  Maybe one day it'll come to me.  Maybe it won't.

Honorable Mention #3:  Golden Babe Ruth of Higo 

2022 Topps Chrome NPB

1958 Gold Refractor #58-20 (#'d 37/50)

I pulled this shiny refractor from a box of cards that SumoMenkoMan sent me last Christmas.  Munetaka Murakami is one of the best hitters in the NPB and he's only 24 years old.  We'll just have to wait and see if he can carry his big numbers over to the MLB in a few years.

Honorable Mention #4:  An Under-Appreciated Relic Card

1996 Press Pass Jersey Card #J3

This was the first jersey card I ever pulled from a pack.... which makes sense when you see the year this card was produced.  Upper Deck gets credit for producing the first memorabilia cards in 1996, but Press Pass wasn't very far behind.

Honorable Mention #5:  Jumbo Jeter

2003 Flair Sweet Swatch Jumbo Jersey #DJ-SSJ

This is one of those questionable pack pulls.  Did I pull it from a pack?  Yeah.  But it was one of those 2003 Flair box topper packs that came in a Fairfield Collector's Cache Box from a decade ago.  Each of those packs contained either a memorabilia card or an autograph.  I actually pulled a Jeff Bagwell autograph too... but I like the Jeter more.

Honorable Mention #6:  Secretariat's Saddle

2012 Panini Golden Age Museum Age Authentic Collection #20

In regards of coolness... this card can be swapped into any of the Top 5 spots.  I've only been to the track a few times in my life, so my knowledge of horse racing is limited.  But I definitely know the name "Secretariat".

Alright... enough of the honorable mentions.  Let's get to my five best pack pulled hits...

#5:  A Fundamental Signature

1999-00 Topps Gallery Autographs #TD

I knew this was a pretty nice hit when I pulled it back in 1999 or the early 2000's.  But years later, I discovered it was a pretty significant one.

Some players don't have a lot of certified pack inserted autographs.  Tim Duncan is one of those guys.  

#4:  One Joe Leads to Another

2008 UD Masterpieces Stroke of Genius

Redemption Card for Joe Montana

Back in 2011, I opened a case of this product and as luck would have it... I pulled a redemption card of one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time.  Too bad it was expired.

I reached out to someone over at Upper Deck and this card eventually showed up as a consolation prize:

2008 UD Masterpieces Stroke of Genius #SOG50

I didn't hold onto this card for long.  Flipped it on eBay for a nice chunk of change.

#3a:  Beautiful Bird

2009-10 Bowman 48 Locker Room

Autographed Relic #LRCAR-LB

There was a short period in my life when I enjoyed buying cases on clearance and opening them.  2009-10 Bowman 48 was one of them.  There are a few cards from that case break that could make this list in regards to monetary value, but I'll keep it to two and let you decide which one makes the cut.

First up is this low numbered, patch auto of Larry Legend.  Even though I grew up hating the Celtics... I was pretty stoked to add this card to my collection.  I don't normally sell cards, but I did end up selling it at a card show a couple of years ago.

Here's the other card I really like from that case...

#3b:  The Baby Faced Assassin

2009-10 Bowman 48 #106

If there was a Mount Rushmore of all-time Bay Area sports legends voted on by fans... I'm pretty confident Steph would be on it.  The guy is very popular around here and his rookie cards sell for crazy money.

I ended up pulling two copies of this card and two of his blue bordered parallels.

It's not one of his most attractive rookie cards, but it's serial numbered and people are willing to pay a lot of money for it.

#2:  The Only Rickey Autograph

2014 Panini Hometown Heroes Scripted Legacy #SLRH

This card has the least monetary value on the list, but it has a ton of sentimental value.

I have accumulated a bunch of Rickey Henderson autographs over the years, but this is the only one I pulled from a pack myself.

#1:  My Sweetest Pull of All-Time

1999 UD Retro Inkredible #WP

As a child of the 70's and 80's, I had the honor of watching Walter Payton play.   Ask football fans from that era and they'll tell you he was special and one of the all-time greats.  Sadly he passed away only a few months after turning forty-six.

I pulled this card from a pack a few months later (shortly after pulling the Duncan auto) and it became the cornerstone of my autograph collection.  One of my buddies is a huge Chicago Bears fan, so I eventually sold this to him when I sold off the bulk of my collection in the early 2000's.  Thankfully he held onto it... and was willing to sell it back to me over a decade later.

Well that's my list of best pack pulled hits.  This was a pretty challenging post to write... and there's a chance I'm leaving some cards off this list.  Even as I'm wrapping up this post, I just remembered a couple of hockey cards I pulled in the mid 90's that are probably worth mentioning.  But it's in the wee hours of the morning and I don't have the time to dig them out and scan them.

So I'll wrap things out with a quick thank you to Matt for kicking off this Blog Bat-Around.  

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Lunch Box Snacks

Summer vacation is just around the corner.  I'm meeting with my students today and tomorrow to talk about current events, answer questions about their transition into high school, and saying goodbye to the Class of 2020. 

I'm actually kind of bummed that I wasn't able to make a connection with my 8th graders this year as much as I normally do due to the whole "distance learning" thing.

But those were the cards we were dealt.  Although I don't expect things to return to normal for quite some time, it does look like Santa Clara County is looking into reopening schools in the fall.  It will be interesting to see how things play out over the next two months.

2019 Topps of the Class #TC-65

Speaking of school, Kerry over at Cards on Cards offered a free group break last month.  The product was a promotional release called Topps of the Class.  I was very excited to claim the Oakland Athletics and land two Khris Davis cards from the break.

According to the Topps website, kids could bring their report card into participating hobby shops and get a free pack of cards.  Kudos to Topps for running this promotion.  Although I'm not the biggest fan of the current products, I'm impressed that they are still trying to expose baseball cards to our country's youth.

And kudos to Kerry for generously sharing the contents of twenty packs.  He also sent a few bonus cards.  This A.J. Puk rookie card definitely stood out:

2020 Panini Donruss Holo Pink #49

I can't speak for all Athletics fans, but I was excited to see how Puk would fit into Oakland's starting rotation.  He's been one of the A's top prospects the past few years.

In addition to Kerry's PWE, I also received one from John over at Johnny's Trading Spot.  Two weeks ago, I participated in his Big Fun Game and walked away with these 70's Hostess cards:

These cards tie in perfectly with my end of the school year post, because Hostess cards will forever be linked to my childhood.  What elementary school kid from the 70's didn't want a Twinkie, Ding Dong, or raspberry Zingers thrown into their lunch box?

He also included a ticket for his end of the year raffle, which I've already slipped it into a box of miscellaneous stuff sitting on my desk, so I don't lose it.

Thank you Kerry and John for the cards!  It's always fun seeing a PWE waiting for me in my mailbox.

Today's question of the day...

What was your favorite elementary school lunch box snack?

I'm looking forward to reading your responses to see if people from different decades have different responses.

Have a great week!  Happy Monday and sayonara!

Worth Every Penny

As collectors... we've all formed our own opinions on how we should or shouldn't collect.  When it comes to "group breaks", I typically avoid them like the plague unless they're for a charitable cause or something.

Why do I have such a strong opinion on them?  Well... it mainly comes down to the two teams I collect: the Oakland Athletics and the San Diego Padres.

Neither of these teams are hobby powerhouses, so it doesn't make any sense for me to try to grab them in group breaks and pay the same price as another collector who happens to pick the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, or the Boston Red Sox who are filled with more star power and legendary players.

I guess I'd be more likely to join a completely random group break, but then again... do I really want to get stuck with a bunch of Miami Marlins or Colorado Rockies base cards?  Nah.  Not really.

Group breaks just aren't my thing anymore.

Then a few weeks ago, Cardboard Collections offered up an affordable group break that included a box of 2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection.  The first time I saw his post, I was a little intrigued, because I really do like the relic cards from that product.  However I stuck to my guns and continued on my merry way.

Almost a week later I noticed that somehow the New York Yankees hadn't been purchased, which surprised me because according to Trading Card Database, they have a bunch of big names on the Clubhouse Collection checklist:  Derek Jeter, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Whitey Ford, Casey Stengel, Bernie Williams, and Mariano Rivera.

I decided for $18, it was worth a shot.

About a week later, I discovered that it was worth every penny.

This was my big hit:

2004 Topps Clubhouse Career Leaders Relics #LG2 (#'d 158/184)

This is my very first Lou Gehrig memorabilia card.

Although the New York Yankees have been my least favorite baseball franchise for as long as I can remember, I will always have a soft spot for The Iron Horse.  When I was a kid, I'd get excited every time The Pride of the Yankees was on the television.  Although... probably not as excited as I was when I saw this card in the group break video.

The Gehrig itself would have been worth the price I spent on the group break.  But there were two more solid hits that I am pretty excited to add to the collection:

2004 Topps Clubhouse Relics #MRI (Print Run: 239)

2004 Topps Clubhouse Copper Relics #JP (#'d 08/99)

Both Mariano and Jorge were part of the New York Yankees teams I despise the most.  They just kept winning and winning and winning... year in and year out.  It got to the point where I would rather see them lose than to see my teams win.

With that being said... now that they're all retired... I've learned to admire guys like Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada... since they spent their entire playing careers wearing Yankees pinstripes.

The group break also featured some 2002 Topps Gallery Yankees and Seattle Mariners (my randomized team) base cards:

Here's a look at the complete (non-short print) New York Yankees team set.  I'm a huge fan of Topps Gallery especially the 2001, 2002, and 2003 base cards.  

The Ichiro is a really good looking card though and the Juan Silvestre is a short print, but overall I really struck out in regards to the Seattle Mariners.  

I don't see myself joining anymore group breaks in the near future.  Let's just say that I want to try to end things on a positive note.

What about you...

What are your thoughts on group breaks?  Ever received any huge cards from a group break?

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!