30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Friday, August 6, 2010

Seriously... I'm not a big wrestling fan... anymore!

Most of my friends and family always ask me, why did you become a teacher if you're always going to teach summer school. It used to be for the money. Then, I did it to keep me from being bored and lazy. Well, today I realized the real reason.

It goes back to last Thursday, my last day of instruction at my summer school. The whole day, I couldn't wait to get home and just relax. Next thing I know, I'm checking email and I notice that Pittsburgh Sports Wholesale sent out their weekly specials.

Like a little kid, who has no self control... I notice that they're selling cases of 2008 Tri Star TNA Impact for under $150 and each case has 30 guaranteed autographs. So, I head over to TNA's website to look at the checklist and a bunch of wrestlers I watched years ago catch my eyes. I start thinking... if I buy this case, I'm going to pull autographs of Sting, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Booker T, Scott Steiner, and Jeff Jarrett. Seriously... I have no idea what I was thinking... but I remember calculating the odds and figuring that I'd get most if not all of these guys... and all for around $150.

Next think I know, I'm adding three boxes of 2008 Tri Star TNA Cross the Line boxes and clicking "check out". One week later, it has arrived at my doorstep and I'm stoked. No joke, I was like a kid at a candy store. Last night, I was sitting in my office with 33 boxes of wrestling card surrounding me and I was on cloud nine.

Before I describe what I pulled... let me give you a description of the box breakdown. Each Cross the Line box contains one pack and each pack contains 25 cards. One of those cards is guaranteed to be an autograph. The TNA Impact boxes are similar, but instead of 25 cards they contain 35 cards per pack. Same thing, each box/pack is guaranteed one autograph.

Now, let's get things started. I figure I'd open the three boxes of Cross the Line first and save the case for later. Since I'm not a big fan of wrestling... remember me saying this because I'll say it again later... I don't care about the base or inserts. My only concern are the autographs and here's who I pulled: Karen Angle (ex-wife of Kurt Angle, now engaged to Jeff Jarrett), Alex Shelley (never heard of him), and Lauren (never heard of her, but at least she's hot). First thoughts... nothing special... but who cares. These were the three boxes I bought to put me over the $150 mark, so I could get free shipping.


Next up... 30 boxes of TNA Impact. I'll make this sweet and simple. 30 minutes later, my office is a disaster with cardboard, styrofoam, and wrappers all over the place. Sitting in the middle of the mess is me and the results of my impulse buying. 30 autographs. No Sting. No Booker T. No Kurt Angle. No Scott Steiner. Out of the 30 autographs, I recognized only 4 names.

I pulled two Don West autographs (one of my hobby idols), two Christy Hemme autographs, two Jeff Jarrett autographs, and three Kevin Nash autographs. The rest are a bunch of guys and girls I've never heard of (but at least a couple of the girls are cute).


How do I feel about this case break? Well, at first I was disappointed. I really, really, really, really wanted an autograph of Sting (I think I'll end up buying one if I can find it for the right price). However, I'm going to use this experience as a life lesson. Hopefully, I'll remember this the next time I'm about to buy something I don't really want/need. Remember, I'm not really a wrestling fan. Those days are in the past and I should have thought about that before I clicked "check out".

The good thing is I've added a couple of autographs to my PC. I'm keeping a Nash, a Jarrett, and a few of the ladies autographs for myself. The rest will be added to my newly created wrestling tradelist. Maybe I can end up trading these to a wrestling fan for some Packer or Lakers autographs I need.

So to everyone who wants to know why I teach summer school every year... It's because if I'm not busy teaching lessons, I end up buying crap that I don't need off of the internet. Thank goodness, I need to report back in 10 days. Hopefully, I'll be able to show enough self-discipline and keep myself from making any additional impulse buys.


3 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow. That must've been fun though. And for the price - well, at least the chance to open 30 boxes is pretty awesome.

I've not been into wrestling since the 90's. But I can understand why you would want to pull some of those autos.

Charles @ Hoopography said...

HAHAHA, great post. It's going to be a long 10 days.

How long did it take to go through all 30 boxes?

Fuji said...

g_moses - I'm pretty stoked to have a Jarrett & Nash's autographs in my pc... and it was awesome ripping through those boxes searching for the "Sting".

charles - tell me about it... as of this post, i've already spent another $150 on ebay. at least it's for 4 autographs i really wanted.

it took me around 30 minutes to rip through those 30 blasters. i had a box cutter in one hand... and the blaster in another. i pretty much opened up the blaster, took out the pack, ripped open the pack, separated the auto, then picked up the next blaster.

i should have taken a picture of the mess on my floor. it was crazy.