Baseball season has officially begun!

January 30th marked the official release of 2013 Topps Series 1.  While the release hit the retail outlets (Target / Walmart) earlier than Wednesday, the official hobby release started off with a bang yesterday with news of hits and box breaks running wild on the internet and Twitter.

I had pre-ordered a Jumbo HTA box at my local card shop but decided to splurge and purchase a second Jumbo HTA box when I went to pick up my pre-order.  Here are my results and pictures of my hits below:

Box #1:

Mark Trumbo Chasing History Autograph (1st pack I opened)
Willie Stargell MVP Manufactured Pin Relic
Andrew McCutchen Chasing History Relic
Danny Espinosa Camouflage Parallel #/99

Box #2:

David Justice Chasing History Autograph
Roy Halladay Cy Young Manufactured Trophy Relic
Wade Miley Chasing the Dream Relic
Pablo Sandoval World Series Game 1 #298 Black Parallel #/62

Overall, I was thrilled to rip into 2013 Topps Series 1.  I think that they really did an outstanding job with this year's release and the photography on the base cards is some of the best I've seen in quite some time.  Personally, I think I am starting to prefer the manufactured relic pieces to the jersey cards, as I find them to be very unique and creative compared to a plain swatch of "something" (jersey, pants, etc) that fails to include more detail around what it is and when it was worn.

I was able to put together a complete base set and have a TON of extra base here that I can use to trade for insert cards that I need for compiling my traditional master set.  I was disappointed in the fact that I failed to pull any of the SP variations, which display picture variations of players attempting to catch/field balls in the stands ("Out of Bounds").

The Rookie Card Silk cards, found in retail blaster boxes, is one of the coolest insert sets and created quite a buzz with collectors prior to the hobby release.  I purchased two blasters at my local target and pulled the Bob Gibson and Albert Pujols cards.  

I've included some pictures of my hits below and I welcome you to provide your thoughts/feedback on this year's Topps Series 1 release.  Also, if you have any set needs or would like to make some trades, feel free to send me an email or reach me on Twitter.

Until next time, best of luck with your box breaks!

As you are aware, I'm a huge fan of the Boston Red Sox and collect a few of the players from their history.  One player that I've built a small collection of is Carl Yastrzemski, and I was able to add a new item to my Yaz Personal Collection.  Although I missed out on another Yaz item from this seller, I was able to pick up a BGS 9.5 2007 UD Masterpieces card of Yastrzemski at a low cost.  Upon receipt, I noticed that Beckett slabbed the card upside down (if you look at the back of the card) and you can see in the picture below that it is slabbed opposite of the Red Sox World Series card I own from the same set.

No matter, this set by Upper Deck had some amazing pictures captured on the cards and they actually make for pretty decent TTM material.  I think I have a Y.A. Title TTM autograph from this set and I bought a huge lot of the Red Sox World Series cards to use for TTM and in-person autographs for players from that year's team.

I have no mail day items pending, so my next post will likely be the box break and review of 2013 Topps Baseball Series 1.  I have a jumbo box on order at my local card shop, so expect to see the box break and review sometime later this week.

Until then, keep collecting!

In an effort to focus my limited resources (MONEY) on items that will either help me build sets or enhance my personal collection.

One area in my personal collection that I'm looking to enhance is my collection of vintage era, graded rookie cards of star players.  Using some funds I received for my birthday (Jan. 22nd for those keeping track!), I was able to bid on and win a beautiful BVG 8.5 (my favorite vintage grade) Ozzie Smith rookie card.

Look for more PC additions throughout the year and feel free to drop me a note if you see my veering too far outside of my collecting focus in 2013!

Until next time, Happy Collecting!

I received my first cards of 2013 in the mail yesterday and I figured it would be a great time to return from my holiday hiatus with a blog posting!

My first purchase of 2013 was made using my quarterly payout from the eBay Bucks program.  I found a seller listing a 2011 Topps Chrome Cam Newton RC that was graded a BGS 9.5 with high subgrades, which is always my preference!  Although Cam had an off year, I still think he has great long term potential and it was a price I couldn't pass up.  After using my eBay Bucks, the card cost me a little over $5.  Grading cost alone is more than that and you run the risk your card won't get the grade you're looking for.  I'm thinking of expanding my football card collection this year and this was a card (at a cost) that I couldn't pass up.

My second purchase of 2013 was another "must have" card for my collection.  Trot Nixon is one of my all time favorite players from the Red Sox teams that I grew up watching.  The SP Holoview insert set is also one of my favorite insert sets from my childhood collecting days.  While I'm primarily a BGS 9.5 guy, there are certain lower priced cards that are just more abundant in terms of PSA population.  I was able to purchase this PSA 10 version of Trot Nixon's SP Holoview at a reasonable cost and have added this beauty to my collection of Red Sox cards.

2013 will be an interesting year from a collecting standpoint!

What was your first purchase of 2013?  Do you have collecting goals / resolutions for 2013?  Please share them in the comments section.  Until next time, keep collecting!