Panini Doesn't Totally Suck

When I was a kid, my parents would drag me to their friends' annual Kentucky Derby party.  It was an excuse for them to hang out, drink, and gamble.  Me?  I'd play video games or watch movies with the other kids.

That's pretty much the closest I've ever come to being interested in horse racing.  I didn't bother watching the race yesterday and couldn't tell you anything about the event other than it costs betters a lot of money due to a disqualification.

But last month during a baseball card therapy session, I pulled this really sweet card out of a box of 2012 Panini Golden Age:

2012 Panini Golden Age
Museum Age Authentic Collection #20

The card doesn't explain the origin of this piece of leather, but I'll go out on a limb and assume it's a piece of Secretariat's saddle or something.  Regardless of where it came from, it's still a really cool memorabilia card... and easily the best card I pulled from the nine boxes of Panini Golden Age I opened last month.

There are only a handful of Panini products I'm interested in and Golden Age is one of them.  There's a lot of stuff from my childhood... and I really enjoy the on-card signatures.  That's why I went a little buck wild last November and purchased three boxes of 2012 Panini Golden Age, three boxes of 2013 Panini Golden Age, and three boxes of 2014 Panini Golden Age.  All nine boxes were part of Steel City Collectibles' Black Friday Sale, which set me back $212.55.  They were part of a shopping spree I went on after winning $1,200 on a slot machine back in November when I visited my parents.

My original plan was to review the entire break, but I'm trying to limit the length of my posts.  So instead... I'll just show off my favorite cards from the break:

Before Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, and Jimmy Fallon... there was Carson.  Each box of Golden Age promises one memorabilia card.  This box topper was a bonus and is numbered to 50:

2014 Panini Golden Age

Authentic Material Box Topper #6

My only complaint about this Carson is that the swatch doesn't match the photo.

2014 Panini Golden Age #48

I'm not a huge fan of Panini baseball cards, but this card doesn't need an MLB logo.  One day I hope to make the trek across the country to Cooperstown.  One day.

2013 Panini Golden Age

Historic Signatures #TSM

The Smothers Brothers were a little before my time, but this card makes my list because Tommy is a fellow San Jose State Spartan.  Go SJSU!

2013 Panini Golden Age

Museum Age Memorabilia #19

Muhammad Ali was one half of the "Thrilla in Manilla".  Frazier was the other.  The two legends fought each other three times with Ali taking two of the bouts.  Frazier's lone win happened to be the first loss of Ali's distinguished career.

2012 Panini Golden Age
Historic Signatures #RB

I'm a fan of baseball trivia... and Blomberg's claim to fame is he's MLB's first designated hitter.  Whether or not you're a fan of the DH, he's a part of baseball history and now a part of my collection.

2013 Panini Golden Age
Museum Age Memorabilia #27

Chris, the Pedestrian Collector, wrote an excellent post back in April where he created a timeline of his celebrity crushes.  I'm pretty sure Elizabeth Montgomery was one of my first celebrity crushes.

Before I close things out with my second favorite card from the break, if there's anyone out there who is building any of these sets... email me your wantlists and I can probably help you out.  Panini's collation sucked big time with this product.

And if you have spare singles laying around... here are my current set needs:

Okay.... here's my second favorite card from the break...

2014 Panini Golden Age

Historic Signatures #MAJ

What little boy wouldn't love watching a television show about a bionic man with the speed of a cheetah, the strength of a gorilla, and the eyesight of an eagle?  I've wanted to add this card to my collection for a few years now.  Now I just need the Lindsay Wagner autograph to go with it.

Okay... that's it for now.  Today's questions of the day...

How interested are you in horse racing?  Who's you favorite The Tonight Show host?  And are you a fan of the designated hitter?

Look forward to reading and responding to your answers...

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

If you're like me... you enjoy collecting autographs and memorabilia cards.  Here are the leftovers from my nine box break that didn't make the original post:

2012 Panini Golden Age Historic Signatures

2012 Panini Golden Age Museum Age Authentic Collection

2013 Panini Golden Age Historic Signatures

2013 Panini Golden Age Museum Age Memorabilia

2014 Panini Golden Age Historic Signatures

2014 Panini Golden Age Museum Age Memorabilia

It's A Trap

Star Wars has been a part of my life since I was four years old.  I'm pretty sure they were the first packs of cards I ever opened.  To put things into perspective, the first baseball card packs I remember opening were 1981 Donruss or 1981 Topps, which came four years after my interest in Star Wars cards.

These days sports cards are my primary focus, but back in November I picked up a box of 2017 Topps Star Wars High Tek for $29.95.  The box was part of DA Cardworld's Black Friday sale.  Each box contains eight cards, one of which is hard signed.  I figured the price was reasonable, especially since I enjoy acetate cards, Star Wars cards, and on-card autographs.

Reasonable or not... my box sucked.  See for yourself:

I decided to kick things off with the best card in the box.  R2-D2 is one of the most beloved droids in the Star Wars galaxy and my personal favorite.

Here's the on-card autograph I pulled:

As much as I love each and every one of the Star Wars movies, I had no clue who General Ramda was.  According to the internet, he appeared in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.  The actor who signed the card and played the role of Ramda is Richard Cunningham.  It would have been a little cooler to have the autograph of the actor who played Richie Cunningham in Happy Days instead.

There were also two numbered parallels in the box:

I'm familiar with Barriss Offee, since I've watched Star Wars: The Clone Wars multiple times on Netflix.  Toshdor Ni is another character from Rogue One that I wasn't familiar with.

And here are the final four base cards:

I've always been a big fan of Vader's bounty hunters, so the Bossk is cool.  The rest are "meh" at best.

Overall this box was almost a complete waste of money.  But that's how most of my box breaks are.  It's rare that I pull something I really, really want out of a pack.  The wiser move for me would be to take the money and buy something I'd appreciate.

However that's the thing.  Every now and then I get lured into buying a box, because I want to be able to beat the odds and pull something nice.  But realistically it's a trap.

Happy Star Wars Day and sayonara!

Special Star Wars Lego Edition

I know most of my readers could care less about Legos.  But since today is Star Wars Day, I wanted to show off my latest purchase:

When I first saw this set on YouTube about a month ago, I knew I'd eventually pick one up.

This weekend Lego is offering up a free Battle of Hoth set with any Star Wars purchase of $75 or more, so I decided to grab it now.

The regular price for the Slave I is $119.99.  However over the years, I've managed to save up $80 in VIP points, so I ended up paying $39.99 (+ $3.70 tax).

I can't wait to receive both of these sets.  I probably won't build the Battle of Hoth set.  But I'll definitely make the Slave I.

What about you...

Are you a Star Wars fan?  Did you take advantage of any May the 4th sales?

The Bane of my Blogging Existence

Scanning cards is the bane of my blogging existence.  That's why I've always appreciated the bloggers out there who take the time to scan tons of cards for their posts.  But last week, I purchased a set on eBay that I felt was definitely scan-worthy.

And since I've already spent over 30 minutes scanning and cropping, I'm gonna keep the typing to a minimum and let you bask in the beauty known as the 1998 Sports Illustrated Great Shots posters:

By now you've probably noticed the fold lines that run down the middle of these posters.  That's because each pack of 1998 Sports Illustrated Now and Then came with one of these posters.

Can't stand the New York Yankees... but I sure love this mini-poster of Yogi!

The checklist contains twenty-five different players representing rising stars, popular veterans, and hall of famers.

Seventeen of these posters contain a total of eighteen hall of famers and it's only a matter of time before Jeter and A-Rod join the club.

The icing on the cake was that this set cost me less than a Big Mac value meal.  Now I just need to figure out a way to store these oversized (5x7) beauties.

Okay... here's your question of the day:

What's your least favorite thing about blogging?

I've told you mine... now you tell me yours.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!