30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Damaged and Discounted

This weekend there was a card show at the Santa Clara Convention Center.  I've gone a few times over the years, but a rough work week and a tight budget convinced me to stay home and get some rest.

According to a couple of people I talked to... I didn't miss much... which is both good and bad depending on your point of view.  It's good, because nobody wants to miss out on a great card show.  However... it's bad, because this card show hasn't been great in a few years.


So anyways... I apologize to those who were expecting a card show recap.  

Instead... how about a summary of the three boxes of 2013 Panini Hometown Heroes I picked up at GTS Distribution a few weeks ago?

While on a supply run, I discovered that the wholesaler had a "damaged/sold as is" section with a smorgasbord of stuff.  There were some supplies mixed in with a few hobby boxes.  I was pleased to find these three boxes, which were kinda smushed for only $20 each.  I figured for that price it was worth the risk.

Let's see if it paid off.

As an autograph guy, the biggest draw are the on-card autographs in this product.  Here's who I pulled:

Box #1:


The first pack in the first box contained this sticker autograph of Mr. Fernandez.  I was happy with the player, but disappointed about seeing the sticker.


Ahh.  There we go.  Hard signed.  Just the way I like them.  I was really happy to see the McGee, since he was a favorite of mine back in the 80's.  Plus... he doesn't really sign a lot of cards.


Box #2:    


Panini loaded the second box with 5 autographs, so that was pretty nice.  The Darling is a nice addition to my collection since he was born in Hawaii.

The other four cards featured a pair of Gagnes...


the 1991 National League MVP...


and a gold parallel autograph of El Caballo:

#'d 22/25

Five autographs for $20?  That's what I'm talking about.  But... believe it or not... it gets better.  See for yourself...


Box #3:

#'d 01/25

Right out of the gates, I pulled another gold parallel autograph.  This time it's Bone... and it'll fit perfectly in my Prime Number PC.

Next up is another card for my personal collection...


Okay... so it doesn't feature a team logo and it's on a silly sticker... but it's The Man of Steal!  I was totally shocked to see this one come out of the pack.  This is the first time I had ever seen one of these Scripted Legacy cards before... and I believe I've busted five or six of these boxes now.

The last autograph was...


Meh.  This card would have been cool thirty years ago.  Anyone else pay way too much money for their 1985 Fleer Glenn Davis rookie card?


Okay... here's a breakdown of everything else I pulled:


I was able to build two base sets (w/o short prints) and come pretty close to completing a third.  Speaking of short prints, I pulled these four:


I'm pretty excited about the Pete Rose.  It's not often I get to add inserts or parallels of him to the binder.

Here are the other parallels, I pulled:

State Parallels

Zip Code Parallels

My favorite inserts are the lenticular Sport Discs:


This would be a pretty fun set to build... although it might prove challenging because of the set size (60 discs).  I'll have to see how many of these I have sitting around.

And rounding out the break are the rest of the inserts...

Calling Shots

City Hall

Curtain Calls

Homegrown Heroes

Defining Moments

Nicknames

Rivalry

After opening up all three damaged boxes, I ended up with exactly one damaged card and it had nothing to do with the condition of the boxes.  The Huston Street Zip Code parallel was badly miscut and off-centered.  At the end of the day... I'd say that I'm very pleased with these damaged and discounted boxes.

In fact... I'm tempted to rush back down to GTS to see if there are still any boxes left.


Oh... I picked up one more damaged box that I'll save for another day... when I'm in the mood to open some basketball cards.  Until then...

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

22 comments:

  1. If you can't enjoy busting a hobby box of Hometown Heroes, you're a sad, sad, person. Great breaks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. OMG I am jumping out of chair-which isn't easy. Terry and Willie-though no one thinks of Willie as a Giant-5 autos in one box fantastic-the a little Ricky-Ricky love autos-great pick up for $20-I mean great.

    ReplyDelete
  3. OMG Part 2-I just realized this places located around the corner from my office-they open to the public?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice pull on the Rickey Henderson...good thing I didn't open that box or it would have been Steve Henderson.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Really like the Hometown Heroes set, but I don't think the autograph cards were designed all that well, which ruins the appeal for me of the autos (I'm more about the design than the scribbles). Henderson is best of the bunch. That one looks good.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm pretty sure you mean "1985 Fleer Joe Hesketh" RC.

    ReplyDelete
  7. DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!

    If you are not sure what to do with the dupes, I know a blog that has a want list up for this set. Let me help you find it...

    http://www.2x3heroes.com/p/wants.html

    I just need 4 base cards. If you have dupes of the inserts, I may have a need for them. I never built the want list for the inserts, but I won't refuse if you need to make space. I am sure I can dig up some A's/Sharks/radon PCs cards to return.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Awesome boxes! Very cool that you pulled a Rickey Henderson auto!

    ReplyDelete
  9. really happy that you pulled a rickey auto! i liked the checklist for this set a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  10. super cool to pull the Henderson auto!! that's the best way to add an auto to your PC, hope it was in nice condition though?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Awesome break!! That was a fun read and some great pulls for the price.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Jay Buhner is my #2 PC guy, excellent pull there and anything signed by Rickey Henderson is awesome. Panini went in to the archives for Buhner's image, I would guess that photo came from around 1989-91 range.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Congrats! I would pay $20 all day, everyday for a box of HH. That set is such a fun break.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That's incredible! $20 a pop! I would do that all day.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Nice break. Only one "damaged" card, that is really just majorly miscut? Wow that is pretty cool.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Is it bad that the card I liked the most from that was the Fernandez?

    I do like the Hometown Heroes sets. Just never saw them up here.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Awesome break! That Rickey auto alone makes it worth it for the box.
    By any chance do you have an extra McCutchen base? I have the state but not zip code or base. Lmk if we can work something out

    ReplyDelete
  18. Of all the cards there I noticed the unusual Steve Stone. I may be wrong but it looks like on the Cubs side they may have used an Orioles photo.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great pickup and great cards. Love that Henderson pull. Nice post.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Damn... haven't had a 20 comment post since the good old contest days. I apologize for this ultra long comment, but let's do this...

    buckstorecards - agree 100%. off the top of my head, hometown heroes is my favorite Panini baseball product.

    b man - agree about willie. he'll always be a cardinal in my eyes. i loved watching mcgee, coleman, and ozzie play together in the 80's.

    swing and a pop-up - as weird as this sounds... i'd like a steve henderson autograph for my collection

    the lost collector - thanks!

    night owl - agree the scripted legacy design is better than the base autograph design. the only downside to the rickey is he signed a sticker and not the card

    stack22 - lol... i stand corrected

    jedijeff - i'll definitely help you out. let me go through my stuff this weekend.

    the dimwit - oh man... i remember chasing davis back in the day. just looked up his stats and realized he had a pretty solid career.

    daniel wilson & gcrl - thanks daniel. it's nice to finally be able to say i pulled a rickey. wish i could say the same about gwynn.

    cardboard hogs - seriously. i think it's in good condition. only downside is that he signed a sticker instead of the actual card

    sumomenkoman - thanks!

    corky - yeah... buhner was a beast. was excited to see his name and even more excited that it was serial numbered

    matthew scott & base card hero - me too. tempted to go back and see if they have any boxes left

    captkirk42 - yeah... i'm glad i took the risk. it would have sucked if all of the cards were squished

    mike matson - no sir. i loved watching fernandez play in toronto during the 80's

    collecting cutch - i'll double check. most likely i do. email me your mailing addy and i'll PWE it to you.

    hackenbush - just noticed that myself. i think you're right

    bulldog -thanks!

    ReplyDelete