Recent Auction Wins

In between running my group breaks and the tradebait blowout, I've also been scouring ebay and Listia for deals.  I've had a pretty good run of ebay wins. If my memory serves me (I'm too lazy to log in), I think all of the cards I've won on Ebay have been for less that 15 bucks shipped.

While I'm not a huge fan of the Golden Moments insert set from 2012 flagship, this  Markakis Golden Moments jumbo relic card #d 11/20 is awsome.  I love the dirt stains!

Another Ebay win this Reimold Silk #d/ 25/50 from 09 Updates and Highlights helps fill out the rainbow I have going of Moldy.  Between William of Foul Bunt and I we own 4% of the print run of this card!

I also dabble in Listia looking for Cal Ripken cards that I don't have on the cheap.  This Fleer Ultra Gold Meadallion from 1998 was mine for less than 500 credits!

The Orioles top draft pick in this years amateur draft was Kevin Gausman from LSU.  My cousin is a big LSU football fan though I doubt he knows who the 2nd best pitcher in the O's system is. I decided to splurge a little bit on this one and paid about 20 bucks shipped for it.  I think up to the time I won this one, the lowest completed auction price totalled about 25 dollars.

Here's my most recent Ebay triumph.  It's another silk card from this year's series 2 of Nick markakis.  The cloth is a lot darker than I've seen before and there's no card number on the back plus it's a little scratched up.  I think maybe the seller stored his cards between sheets of 220 grit sandpaper.  It doesn't really matter that much since you can't really see the scratches in a 9 pocket page.

There's always deals to be found on the various auction sites around the webernet.  You just gotta know where to look!

Trade with reader Scott O.

After this trade post, I should be all caught up on my backlog!  It's only taken me a month and a half to accomplish this task.  This trade comes to me from a reader of the blog named Scott.  He contacted me a couple weeks back about some Orioles cards that he had from my lists and wondered if I would be interested in them.  A deal was struck and soon after these cards showed up in my mailbox!

At a point in time, I was not a Pacific trading cards fan.  I'm not sure what my reasoning was but I have changed my tone over time.  Now I can't seem to get any  enough of Pacific.  The earlier years from 93 thru 97 seem to be tougher to come by for one reason or another.  I all I want is the Orioles!

This Cal Ripken from 1995 Score finishes off the team set. Another one bites the dust but only eleventy billion others to go.

I like the action shot on this card.  I'm having trouble figuring out who that is sliding into second though.  Let's play some "When Was It?"

I'm going to venture to say that this picture was taken on April 4th, 1998.  The Orioles were hosting the Tigers in a Saturday afternoon game.  I'm going to guess by the angle of the sun and Alomar's long sleeves indicating the early season game.  (Game time temperature was 50 degrees and sunny that day).  The orange stripe on the leg of the sliding player tell me it's Tigers outfielder Brian Hunter. He swiped 3 bases on Chris Hoiles that day in a 2 to 1 losing effort. Even though he stole a base the next day (Sunday the 5th) Alomar didn't play that day until the 8th inning.  Even then there were no stolen base attempts by the Tigers in the 9th inning.

Thanks for the cards Scott and thanks for helping me me play "When was it?"!

Trade with Cliff of Capewood's Collections

I know this is a shock to the blogging community but this trade DOES NOT stem from my tradebait blowout I conducted earlier in the fall.  This is just a good old fashioned "I see a card I like and I'm going to make an offer for it" trade.  Cliff of Capewood's Collections opened a Fairfield repack and got a few Opening Day packs from this year.  Inside one of them was this card:

I had to have it since I haven't seen any of these around anywhere.  They're numbered to 2012 so why are they so dang rare?  I guess it's because Fairfield snatched all of the Opening Day packs from the shelves and hid them away in their repacks!

This card was on my most wanted list.  While constructing my wantlists I wondered what the "RR" stood for in the listing.  Now we all know that "RR" stands for Radar Rating.  I don't really remember Moose lighting up the radar gun, but he sure was a crafty son of a gun.  My memory could be wrong though! Either way, Mike Mussina 1996 Score #197 has been replaced on my top 10 list with a new entry to focus on.

Thanks Cliff for the quick and easy trade!

Trade with Greg of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle

Here comes another trade post courtesy my Tradebait Blowout.  This one is from Greg of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle.  You can find his trade recap right HERE.  We've traded a few times in the past and this one is no less a blockbuster than the others.  I acquired a few nice pieces of tradebait as well as a few nice Orioles cards to add to the collection. Here's the 2 highlights:

Brian had an up and down season for the O's.  He won the 5th starters job out of Spring Training and proceed to get shelled for most of the first half of the season.  He was demoted to Triple-A Norfolk to the bullpen and was summoned back to the big leagues as a LOOGY.  He was fairly successful until he gave up the second of the Geritol swilling bag of bones Raul Ibanez's second homerun in the playoffs.  I'm still rooting for Brian to make it as a starter but it looks like his future may be in the 'pen.  Speaking of pens I'm glad to have this autograph in my collection as it is the second of Brian's that I have.

As far as I can tell, there are no Orioles GU or Autograph cards of Jayson Werth in the MLB uniform.  I was shocked to find out that Jayson did have this minor league GU card which I had to have.  I'm fascinated by the fact that Jayson started out as a skinny, glasses wearing hipster looking dude as a catcher in the O's farm system.  I'm not totally convinced that he is the same guy that turned into the wolfman outfielder that now roams the Nationals outfield!  Take a look at his 1997 Bowman rookie card and look at a card from 2012 product.  Even if he is the same dude, I'm shocked that the Orioles traded him to Toronto for Jon Bale!

Thanks for the trade Greg!

Trade with Paul of The Baseball Card Snob

This was one of the smaller trades from my tradebait blowout but by no means was it any less enjoyable.  I was able to strike a deal with Paul of The Baseball Card Snob.  This was a POW trade as I was able to exorcise a bunch of Yankees cards from my collection and receive some Orioles goodness in return.

The Vlad Guerrero relic was the crown jewel of the trade.  I didn't even know this card existed until Paul offered it to me.  I did enjoy watching Vlad play for the Orioles in 2011 even though he was just a shadow of his former slugging self. 

I'm still piecing together my One Card of Every Oriole binder.  I'm not sure what percentage I'm up to yet but it seems like every trade I add a few cards to the collection.  The guys I'm having trouble finding are the ones that only have one Orioles card or only one card on any team.  Check out my list to see if you can help me out!

Thanks for the trade Paul!

Trade with Roy of Plain Gray Swatch

Now that my 3rd Group Break is over and the packages have all been mailed, I'm going to continue with the tradebait closeout hauls that I've gotten over the last couple weeks.  I hope to have them all posted by Christmas and then take a little break until the new year.  This trade came to me from Roy of plain gray swatch.  He sent me several cards of particular interest:

 I'm not sure how I haven't acquired this card before.  This manupatch came out with 2011 Topps as far as I can remember.  Since Nick is one of my collecting focuses, it boggles my mind that I haven't picked it up before this trade.

 I really like the "Machine" theme used on this card.  Tejada was a good player his first go around with the Orioles, but man, he sure got old quick once he was traded to Houston.  Sorry about that Dimwit, but thank you for Troy Patton and Luke Scott.

 I love chromey looking Cal Ripken cards so this Mystery Finest gimmick card from 1998 Topps is right up my alley.  I believe the cards came with a black piece of plastic adhered to the front and you had to peel it off to reveal who you got.  I'm a peeler so all of the Topps finest cards from the mid 90s that are staying in my collection were peeled when I put them in my binders.

This card looks better in person. Skybox put out a lot of wonky sets in the late 90s/early 00s.  Skybox always makes me think of Skydome in Toronto whenever I look at one of the cards. I can only remember one Skybox product that I enjoyed at the time and still do.  Skybox Premium was a really nice looking set with full bleed photography, sturdy feeling card stock, and a glossy high end feel to them.  Almost reminds me of Stadium club.

Thanks Roy for the nice cards you sent me.  I really appreciate the trade!

"O" NO's 3rd Group Break: Round 6

All good things must come to an end.   This break has been enjoyable to me and I hope it has been for my readers also.  Lets get into the last round of packs starting with 1999 Topps Chrome:

Pack #21
39 Quinton McCracken - Rays
81 Roberto Hernandez (the original) - Rays

25 Travis Lee - Diamondbacks
235 Bernie Williams World Series Highlights subset - Yankees

The Rays got more cards in that pack than the Orioles have gotten from the whole box!  WTF?

Pack #22
158 Rick Aguilera - Twins
164 John Valentin - Red Sox
165 Dave Delucci - Diamondbacks
153 Eric Davis - Orioles (Finally!)

Pack #23
162 Jeff Brantley - Cardinals
146 Terry Steinbach - Twins
152 Omar Vizquel - Indians
37 Jason Dickson - Angels

Pack #24
Jason McDonald - A's
109 Shawn Green - Blue Jays
38 Sean Bergman - Astros

234 Chuck Knoblauch World Series Highlights - Yankees

The Topps Chrome box was a bit of a disappointment from my standpoint as an Orioles collector but as a group breaker we pulled some really awesome cards.  I'm glad that Topps Chrome isn't a parallel set anymore and just focuses on the bigger name players in the present.

Lets open that last 2010 Upper Deck pack:

564 AT&T Park - San Francisco
111 Derrek Lee - Chicago NL
600 Washington Checklist
463 Albert Pujols - St. Louis
152 Arthur Rhodes - Cincinnati
419 Heath Bell - San Diego
431 Kevin Frandsen - San Francisco
116 Koyie Hill - Chicago NL
385 Cole Hamels - Philadelphia

SB-195 Kevin Millwood - Texas
438 Brandon Medders - San Francisco
130 Paul Konerko - Chicaco AL
476 Fernando Perez - Tampa Bay
164 Asdrubal Cabrera - Cleveland
367 Josh Outman - Oakland
26 Brad Kilby - Oakland
273 Juan Pierre - Los Angeles NL
426 Nate Schierholtz - San Francisco

At least we got a hit out of one of the UD Packs.  What a mess that set was.

Moving on to when UD was good, 2002 Upper Deck MVP

Pack #21
196 Craig Counsell - Diamondbacks
170 Fernando Vina - Cardinals

144 Lance Berkman - Astros
121 Paul Konerko - White Sox
95 Neifi Perez - Royals
228 Mike Lowell - Marlins
202 Darren Dreifort - Dodgers
176 Tino Martinez - Cardinals

Pack #22
118 Ray Durham - White Sox
92 Joe Randa - Royals
66 Steve Bechler - Orioles
69 Alex Rodriguez - Rangers
43 Russell Branyan - Indians
17 Eric Chavez - A's
150 Rafael Furcal - Braves
124 Edwin Almonte  - White Sox

Pack #23

40 Brady Anderson - Indians!
14 Miguel Tejada - A's
294 Ben Petrick - Rockies
268 Kevin Young - Pirates
134 John Vander Wal - Yankees
98 Michael Tucker - Royals
72 Jeff Zimmerman - Rangers
46 Omar Vizquel - Indians

Pack #24
263 Doug Glanville - Phillies
237 Al Leiter - Mets
108 Doug Mientkiewicz - Twins
82 Trot Nixon - Red Sox
20 David Justice - A's
292 Jose Ortiz - Rockies
266 Kris Benson - Pirates

289 Todd Helton - Rockies

UD MVP wasn't the most exciting box in the world to open but the cards looked pretty nice.  And when you beat the odds pulling a hit, you can't beat that with a stick.

The last 6 packs of my favorite product of the break 1999 UD HoloGrFX

Pack #31
28 Carlos Beltran - Royals
31 Kevin Brown - Dodgers

L13 Barry Bonds - Launchers - Giants

Pack #32
1 Mo Vaughn - Angels
22 Tony Clark - Tigers

S9 - Chipper Jones - Starview - Braves

Pack #33
8 Andruw Jones - Braves
48 Mark McGwire - Cardinals
55 Jose Canseco - Rays

Pack #34
44 Scott Rolen - Phillies
53 Ken Griffey Jr. - Mariners

L7 - Mike Piazza - Launchers - Mets

Pack #35
26 Craig Biggio - Astros
16 Greg Vaughn - Reds
57 Ivan Rodriguez - Rangers

Pack #36
13 Pedro Martinez - Red Sox
35 Vladimir Guererro - Expos

10 Cal Ripken Jr. - Orioles
It took us until the last card of the entire break to pull a Cal Ripken card.

So there we have it. Group Break #3 is in the books. I said above that the HoloGrFX box was my favorite out of all the boxes that were busted.  Which was your favorite?

 I plan on having everybody's cards packed up and out in the mail over the next few days so that they arrive before Christmas.

Here's the final card count:
A's - 17
Braves - 27
Cardinals - 20
Cubs - 20
Blue Jays - 22
Giants - 18
Twins - 20
Mariners - 18
Yankees - 35
Dodgers - 22
Red Sox - 14
White Sox - 15
Pirates - 15
Reds - 13
Expos - 18
Rockies - 19
Mets - 17
Padres - 11
Marlins - 15
Brewers - 14
Rangers - 24
Angels - 20
Tigers - 19
Royals - 17
Phillies - 20
Astros - 18
Diamondbacks - 19
Rays - 14
Indians - 15
Orioles - 17

"O" NO's 3rd Group Break: Round 5

We're off and running for round 5 in this month's affordable group break.  Lets skip the chatter and rip some packs.  HoloGrFX first:

Pack #25
2 Troy Glaus - Angels
27 Ken Caminiti - Astros

60 Carlos Delgado - Blue Jays

Pack #26
14 Sammy Sosa - Cubs
41 Orlando Hernandez - Yankees
42 Ben Greive - A's

Pack #27
23 Juan Encarnacion - Tigers
5 Travis Lee - Diamondbacks
47 Jason Kendall - Pirates

Pack #28
11 Albert Belle - Orioles
25 Jeff Bagwell - Astros
32 Jeromy Burnitz - Mets

Pack #29
20 Todd Helton - Rockies
39 Roger Clemens - Yankees

39 Roger Clemens - AUsome Parallel - Yankees
Here's our second AUsome parallel of the box and also our second Rocket insert.

Pack #30
4 Randy Johnson - Diamondbacks
7 Greg Maddux - Braves
15 Frank Thomas - White Sox

2002 UD MVP
Pack #17
178 Moises Alou - Cubs
152 Tom Glavine - Braves
62 Jason Johnson - Orioles

36 Dewon Brazelton - Rays
28 Darrin Fletcher - Blue Jays
262 Mike Lieberthal - Phillies
236 Mike Piazza - Mets
210 Jose Vidro - Expos

Pack #18
126 Kenny Lofton - White Sox
100 Jose Lima - Tigers
74 Gabe Kapler - Rangers
269 Jack Wilson - Pirates
243 Shawn Estes - Mets
184 Corey Patterson - Cubs
158 Richie Sexson - Brewers
132 Alfonso Soriano - Yankees

Pack #19
41 Chuck Finley - Angels
15 Jermaine Dye - A's
274 Rob Mackowiak - Pirates
251 Ben Howard - Padres

225 Barry Bonds - Giants
199 Paul LoDuca - Dodgers
212 Tony Armas Jr. - Expost
186 Tom Gordon - Cubs

Pack #20
248 Ramond Vazquez - Padres
222 Marvin Bernard - Giants
173 Bud Smith - Cardinals
147 John Smoltz - Braves
299 Barry Bonds Checklist - Giants
160 Jeffrey Hammonds - Brewers
280 Barry Larkin - Reds
254 Ryan Klesko - Padres

UD MVP, missing the WOW Factor this time around.

1999 Topps Chrome
Pack #17
50 Juan Gonzalez - Rangers
Juan Gone is probably going to take the crown of "Most Pulled Player in the the Group Break"
4 John Flaherty - Rays
24 Paul Konerko - Reds

176 Bobby Jones - Refractor - Mets
Our second refractor is a bit of a dud but it still looks great.

Pack #18
169 LaTroy Hawkins - Twins
139 Fred McGriff - Rays
236 Tino Martinez World Series Highlights - Yankees

LD2 Chipper Jones - Lords of the Diamond - Braves

Pack #19
33 Doug Glanville - Phillies
57 Rey Sanchez - Giants
115 Hideki Irabu - Yankees
NB5 Travis Lee - New Breed - Diamondbacks

Pack #20
148 Pat Meares - Twins
35 Ray Lankford - Cardinals
68 Kenny Lofton - Indians

ER1 Nomar Garciaparra - Early Road to the Hall Refractor- Red Sox
It says refractor on the back but I don't believe it is.  I compared it side by side with the Ivan Rodriguez we pulled earlier and they both look like the regular version to me.

Pretty good round of Topps Chrome.  Every pack had a refractor or insert!

Here's pack #3 of 4 of the 2010 Upper Deck packs:
42 Justin Upton - Arizona
591 Philadelphia Checklist
546 Chicago AL Stadium
51 Juan Gutierrez - Arizona
288 Clayton Kershaw - Los Angeles (NL)
244 Alberto Callaspo - Kansas City
228 Darin Erstad - Houston
490 Grant Balfour - Tampa Bay

SB-163 Joe Saunders - Season Biography - LA (AL)
106 Jonathan Papelbon - Boston
380 Jimmy Rollins - Philadelphia
52 Doug Davis - Arizona
300 Jeff Suppan - Milwaukee
394 Andy LaRoche - Pittsburgh
71 Kris Medlen - Atlanta
25 Brandon Allen - Arizona
340 Nick Swisher - New York (AL)
511 Adam Lind - Toronto

Round 5 in the books.  I wonder what round 6 will hold for us?

The card count as it stands right now:


A's - 10 (+2)
Braves - 23 (+5)
Cardinals - 15 (+2)
Cubs - 16 (+4)
Blue Jays - 21 (+3)
Giants - 13 (+4)
Twins - 17 (+2)
Mariners - 17 (+0)
Yankees 32 (+7)
Dodgers - 19 (+2)
Red Sox - 11 (+2)
White Sox - 11 (+3)
Pirates - 13 (+4)
Reds - 11 (+2)
Expos - 16 (+2)
Rockies - 16 (+1)
Mets - 15 (+3)
Padres - 10 (+3)
Marlins - 14 (+0)
Brewers - 12 (+3)
Rangers - 19 (+2)
Angels - 18 (+2)
Tigers - 18 (+2)
Royals - 13 (+1)
Phillies - 17 (+4)
Astros - 15 (+3)
Diamondbacks - 16 (+7)
Rays - 10 (+4)
Indians - 10 (+2)
Orioles - 14 (+2)

"O" NO's 3rd Group Break: Round 4

We've reached the halfway point of the break.  There's been some good looking cards pulled and a pretty even distribution of cards per team.  Lets hope our luck continues in Round #4.  Lets start off with Topps Chrome.

Pack #13
196 Tony Fernandez - Blue Jays
45 Johnny Damon - Royals
207 Bergeron, Giambi, Lombard - Expos, Royals, Braves
205 Berkman, Frank, Kapler - Astros, Reds, Tigers

These Propsect cards are starting to get under my skin.  I never was a fan of dual, triple, or quadruple rookie/prospect cards!

Pack #14
131 Ron Gant - Reds
206 Escobar, Ledee, Stoner - Mets, Yankees, Diamondbacks
30 Todd Walker - Twins

9 Will Clark - Rangers

Pack #15
193 Jeff King - Royals
166 Chan Ho Park - Dodgers
108 Billy Wagner - Astros

237 Orlando Hernandez World Series Highlights - Yankees

Pack #16
159 Mike Lieberthal - Phillies
133 Shannon Stewart - Blue Jays
116 Roberto Kelly - Rangers
19 Brad Radke - Twins

Another solid round of Chromium, but nothing with that "Wow Factor".

Onto the MVP Packs

Pack #13
46 Omar Vizquel - Indians
20 David Justice - A's
292 Jose Ortiz - Rockies

J-JG - Juan Gonzalez - MVP Souvenir GU Jersey card - Rangers
That's the wow factor we I was just talking about!  These jersey cards are 1 in every 2 boxes on average.  Congrats to Roy!
201 Andy Ashby - Dodgers
227 Cliff Floyd - Marlins
253 Ray Lankford - Padres

Pack #14
91 Jeff Suppan - Royals
65 Josh Towers  - Orioles
270 Mike Williams - Pirates
244 Armando Benitez - Mets
218 Robb Nen - Giants
177 Sammy Sosa - Cubs
151 Greg Maddux - Braves
125 Carlos Lee - White Sox

Pack #15
39 Greg Vaughn - Rays
13 Tim Hudson - A's
282 Elmer Dessens - Reds
192 Curt Schilling - Diamondbacks
166 Albert Pujols - Cardinals
99 Dean Palmer - Tigers
73 Mark Teixeira - Rangers
47 Bartolo Colon - Indians

Pack #16
256 Robert Person - Phillies

230 Ryan Dempster - Marlins
204 Victor Alvarez - Dodgers
140 Richard Hidalgo - Astros
114 Jacque Jones - Twins
88 Shea Hillenbrand - Red Sox
21 Jeremy Giambi - A's
288 Mike Hampton - Rockies

Lets crack open some HoloGrFX

Pack #19
21 Larry Walker - Rockies

6 Chipper Jones - Braves
41 Orlando Hernandez - Yankees

Pack #20
42 Ben Greive - A's
47 Jason Kendall - Pirates

L10 Nomar Garciaparra - Launchers - Red Sox
Nomar was one of my favorites even though he played for the Red Sox.  Too bad injuries derailed his career.

Pack #21
24 Mark Kotsay - Marlins
3 Tim Salmon - Angels
56 Juan Gonzalez - Rangers

Pack #22
1 Mo Vaughn - Angels
22 Tony Clark - Tigers
51 Trevor Hoffman - Padres

Pack #23
29 Jeremy Giambi - Royals
9 Tom Glavine - Braves
46 Warren Morris - Pirates

Pack #24
19 Manny Ramirez - Indians
33 Corey Koskie - Twins

L2 Ken Griffey Jr. - Launchers - Mariners

A nice way to wrap up this round's HoloGrFX packs with a Kid insert.

I almost forgot about the 2012 UD Packs.  Here's another one:

Pack #2
571 Arizona Checklist
548 Cleveland Stadium
237 Bud Norris - Houston
456 Mark Lowe - Seattle
400 Zach Duke - Pittsburgh
83 Koji Uehara - Orioles

BH-7 Joe DiMaggio - Baseball Heroes - Yankees

UDGJ - HB Hank Blalock - UD Game Jersey - Rangers
Another hit for the Rangers this round.  Congrats again Roy.
SB-63 Scott Feldman - Season Biography - Rangers
521 Marc Rzepczynski - Toronto
216 Anibal Sanchez - Florida
85 Jim Johnson - Baltimore
311 Jason Kubel - Minnesota
265 Mike Napoli - Los Angeles (AL)
323 David Wright - New York (NL)
31 John Hester - Arizona

It's going to be hard to say that the Rangers didn't win this round.  2 relic cards isn't bad no matter how you slice it.  We're moving right on thru the packs.  I hope everyone is enjoying the break so far.

Let's check in on the card count:


A's - 8 (+4)
Braves - 18 (+3)
Cardinals - 13 (+2)
Cubs - 12 (+1)
Blue Jays - 18 (+3)
Giants - 9 (+1)
Twins - 15 (+5)
Mariners - 17 (+2)
Yankees 25 (+3)
Dodgers - 17 (+3)
Red Sox - 9 (+2)
White Sox - 8 (+1)
Pirates - 9 (+4)
Reds - 9 (+1)
Expos - 14 (+3)
Rockies - 15 (+3)
Mets - 12 (+2)
Padres - 7 (+2)
Marlins - 14 (+4)
Brewers - 9 (+0)
Rangers - 17 (+7)
Angels - 16 (+3)
Tigers - 16 (+2)
Royals - 12 (+4)
Phillies - 13 (+2)
Astros - 12 (+3)
Diamondbacks - 9 (+3)
Rays - 6 (+1)
Indians - 8 (+4)
Orioles - 12 (+3)

"O" NO's 3rd Group Break: Round 3

The break seems to be going pretty well so far.  Lets go ahead and start ripping packs for round 3:

1999 Upper Deck HoloGrFX
Pack #13
45 Pat Burrell - Phillies
36 Mike Piazza - Mets

L15 Jeff Bagwell - Launchers - Astros
We're starting off this round with a nice looking insert of Jeff Bagwell

Pack #14
25 Jeff Bagwell - Astros
Back to back Bagwell
20 Todd Helton - Rockies
39 Roger Clemens

Pack #15
4 Randy Johnson - Diamondbacks
31 Kevin Brown - Dodgers
48 Mark McGwire - Cardinals

Pack #16
7 Greg Maddux - Braves
15 Frank Thomas - White Sox
55 Jose Canseco - Rays

Pack #17
28 Carlos Beltran - Royals
35 Vlad Guerrero - Expos

L11 Vlad Guerrero - Launchers - Expos
Back 2 back Vladdies.  That's the second time we've gotten the same player back to back this round.

Pack #18
1 Mo Vaughn - Angels
22 Tony Clark - Tigers
44 Scott Rolen - Phillies

Lets open some Chrome packs next

Pack #9
127 J.T. Snow - Giants
242 Checklist
241 Checklist
239 Andy Pettitte World Series Highlights Subset - Yankees
2 Checklists in this pack!  What a bummer

Pack #10
187 Darrin Fletcher - Blue Jays
210 Enochs, Chen, Anderson - A's Braves Mariners
212 Abbot, Butler, Klaussen - Angels, Cardinals, Diamondbacks
both of these will be randomed at the end

LD7 Alex Rodriguez - Lords of the Diamond - Mariners

Pack #11
168 Jason Schmidt - Pirates
125 Scott Rolen - Phillies
211 - Lincoln, Dotel, Penny - Twins, Mets, Diamondbacks
209 Cline, Hernandez, Werth - Cubs, Athletics, Orioles

Another 2 cards to be randomed off

Pack #12
80 Jose Canseco - Blue Jays
69 Bill Taylor - A's
208 Barrett, Davis, Fick - Expos, Padres, Tigers
238 Scott Brosius World Series Highlights - Yankees

It's a good thing we got the Rodriguez Lords of the Diamond otherwise this group would have really sucked.  Lets see if the MVP Packs can help us out.

Pack #9
206 Hideo Nomo - Dodgers
164 Eric Young - Brewers
154 John Ennis - Braves
61 Tony Batista - Orioles
283 Aaron Boone - Reds
257 Jimmy Rollins - Phillies
231 Josh Beckett - Marlins
I4 - Ichiro - A Season to Remember - Mariners

Pack #10
128 Derek Jeter - Yankees
102 Dmitri Young - Tigers
76 Rafael Palmeiro - Rangers
35 Joe Kennedy - Rays
9 Aaron Sele - Angels

285 Larry Walker - Rockies
205 Eric Karros - Dodgers
179 Kerry Wood - Cubs

Pack #11
50 Brett Boone - Mariners
24 Chris Carpenter - Blue Jays
259 Anderson Machado - Phillies
233 Preston Wilson - Marlins
207 Vladimir Guerrero - Expos
3 Vladdies this round!
153 Andruw Jones - Braves
127 Roger Clemens - Yankees
101 Craig Paquette - Tigers

Pack #12
297 Sammy Sosa Checklist - Cubs
271 Jimmy Anderson- Pirates
245 Tyler Yates - Mets
181 Alex Gonzalez - Nationals
155 Vinny Castilla - Braves
75 Frank Catalanotto - Rangers
49 Ellis Burks - Indains
23 Raul Mondesi - Blue Jays

Not a whole bunch of inspiration for comments flowing when I was busting this round of MVP.

Here's the card count as of right now.  (Cards Pulled this round in Parentheses)

A's - 4 (+1)
Braves - 15 (+4)
Cardinals - 11 (+1)
Cubs - 11 (+3)
Blue Jays - 15 (+4)
Giants - 8 (+1)
Twins - 10 (+0)
Mariners - 15 (+3)
Yankees 22 (+5)
Dodgers - 14 (+3)
Red Sox - 7 (+0)
White Sox - 7 (+1)
Pirates - 5 (+2)
Reds - 8 (+1)
Expos - 14 (+3)
Rockies - 12 (+2)
Mets - 10 (+2)
Padres - 5 (+0)
Marlins - 10 (+2)
Brewers - 9 (+1)
Rangers - 10 (+2)
Angels - 13 (+2)
Tigers - 14 (+3)
Royals - 8 (+1)
Phillies - 11 (+5)
Astros - 9 (+2)
Diamondbacks - 6 (+1)
Rays - 5 (+2)
Indians - 4 (+1)
Orioles - 9 (+1)

"O" NO's 3rd Group Break: Round 2

 After a good start to the break in round 1, lets continue with round #2

2002 Upper Deck MVP
Pack #5
221 Deivis Santos - Giants
195 Steve Finley - Diamondbacks
79 Pedro Martinez - Red Sox
53 Ichiro - Mariners
27 Reed Johnson - Blue Jays
32 Toby Hall - Rays
6 Brendan Donnelly - Angels
281 Todd Walker - Reds

Pack #6
169 Jim Edmonds - Cardinals
143 Rodrigo Rosario - Astros
117 Magglio Ordonez - White Sox
1 Darin Erstad - Angels
296 Derek Jeter Checklist - Yankees
255 Scott Rolen - Phillies
229 Derrek Lee - Marlins

203 Adrian Beltre - Dodgers

Pack #7
48 Alex Escobar - Indians
22 Shannon Stewart - Blue Jays

284 Adam Dunn - Reds
217 Rich Aurilia - Giants
191 Mark Grace - Diamondbacks
165 Luis Martinez - Brewers
106 Damion Easley - Tigers
80 Nomar Garciaparra - Red Sox

Pack #8
258 Pat Burrell - Phillies
232 Hansel Izquierdo - Marlins
139 Wade Miller
113 Joe Mays - Twins
87 Rich Garces - Red Sox
54 Kazuhiro Sasaki - Mariners
10 Brad Fullmer - Angels
2 Ramon Ortiz - Angels

Not the most exciting round of packs for the MVP box, but you can't win them all!  Lets see what the HoloGrFX box holds for us next

Pack #7
18 Jim Thome - Indians
36 Mike Piazza - Mets
51 Trevor Hoffman - Padres

Pack #8
30 Raul Mondesi - Dodgers
11 Albert Belle - Orioles

59 David Wells - Blue Jays

Pack #9
32 Jeromy Burnitz - Brewers
43 Eric Chavez - A's

L1 - Mark McGwire - Launchers - Cardinals

Pack #10
20 Todd Helton - Rockies
4 Randy Johnson - Diamondbacks
54 Alex Rodriguez - Mariners

Pack #11
7 Greg Maddux - Braves
34 Todd Walker - Twins

F6 - Roger Clemens - Future Fame - Yankees
Another insert for the Rocket.  I really like die cut cards and I really like shiny cards.  It's too bad the player subject is not a little better person.

Pack #12
15 Frank Thomas - White Sox
28 Carlos Beltran - Royals
58 Rafael Palmeiro - Rangers

Not too bad a round for the HoloGraFX box. The cards really look good, and the inserts are really cool.  Lets see what the Chrome box gives us this time.

Pack #5
141 Dave Nilsson - Brewers
140 Darin Erstad - Angels
191 Jason Kendall - Pirates

233 Rickey Ledee World Series Highlights subset refractor - Yankees

One of our refractors has been found.  It's a really nice looking card!

Pack #6
71 Roger Cedeno - Dodgers
60 Steve Woodard - Brewers
98 Gerald Williams - Braves
232 Roger Clemens League Leaders subset - Blue Jays

Pack #7
199 Vinny Castilla - Rockies
91 Mark Kotsay - Marlins
92 Darren Bragg - Red Sox

LD5 - Mark McGwire Lords of the Diamond Refractor - Cardinals

Another really nice insert card.  The refractor versions fall at a rate of one in 24.

Pack #8
194 Rey Ordonez - Mets
195 Andruw Jones - Braves

ER9 Ivan Rodriguez - Early Road to the Hall - Rangers

220 Mark McGwire Homerun History #42 - Cardinals

Not a bad way to end the round with 2 nice looking inserts.  The McGwire isn't technically an insert but there are 70 versions of the card.

The Rangers and Cardinals seem to be doing well this time around.  The Braves and Yankees also seem to be getting a lot of nice cards too.


Here's the card count as of right now.  (Cards Pulled this round in Parentheses)

A's - 3 (+1)
Braves - 11 (+4)
Cardinals - 10 (+3)
Cubs - 10 (+0)
Blue Jays - 11 (+4)
Giants - 7 (+2)
Twins - 10 (2)
Mariners - 12 (+3)
Yankees 17 (+3)
Dodgers - 11 (+3)
Red Sox - 7 (+4)
White Sox - 6 (+2)
Pirates - 3 (+1)
Reds - 7 (+2)
Expos - 11 (+0)
Rockies - 10 (+2)
Mets - 8 (+2)
Padres - 5 (+1)
Marlins - 8 (+3)
Brewers - 8 (+4)
Rangers - 8 (+1)
Angels - 11 (+5)
Tigers - 11 (+1)
Royals - 7 (+1)
Phillies - 6 (+2)
Astros - 7 (+2)
Diamondbacks - 5 (+3)
Rays - 3 (+1)
Indians - 3 (+2)
Orioles - 9 (+1)