2009 UD Ultimate Collection

I'm not going to bore you with prose, here's the contents of the pack...





The Rasmus is going to ebay, the last one sold for $102. Not bad for a pack that cost $85.

Topps Tribute Poor Collation

Is it too much to ask that when buying a box of Topps Tribute you get something better than three Dustin Pedroia autos?! Seriously, mix in some other players please!!! Damn it Topps! I'm starting to get the feeling that the 2010 UD Exquisite cards are going to be much more interesting than anything you're curently "working" on.

2009 Topps Tribute Box Break

Here's the contents of my latest box break of 2009 Topps Tribute. On the heels of my revelation yesterday that these cards are actually cheap thin cards with an additional card pasted to the back to make it thicker, the boxes seem overly priced. However, a couple of Longoria's and David Wright's make me pretty happy. The Longoria auto will end up in my personal collection.


The common cards...




The parallels blue #/219, black #/99


Lance Berkman Jersey #/99


Gary Carter #/50


Nolan Ryan #/99


Darryl Strawberry dual bat relic/auto #'ed/75


David Wright dual jersey relic #/99


David Wright jersey/auto #/99


Evan Longoria bat relic #/75


Evan Longoria dual bat relic/auto #/25

2009 Topps Tribute card stock Epic Fail!

So I'm opening a box of 2009 Topps Tribute today, and I'm noticing that the card stock is thick, almost like two cards are just glued together, what was more interesting was that there was color in the middle of the card, which made me wonder... Did Topps actually just glue two cards together? So, taking a double of Lance Berkman, I destroyed the card to figure this out...

The result, YES, Topps did just glue two cards together. Actually, the card on the back is more like a sticker than glued to the card in front. Regardless, that seems like an epic fail that the company didn't just create the card on thick stock to begin with...

Hits Galore

I'm way behind on some hits I've been pulling... Here's a mix of Legendary Cuts, Topps Tribute, UD A Piece of History, and Topps Finest. I just busted the box of Topps Tribute today, and wasn't exactly thrilled with the value I got from the box. However, it reminds me SO much of 2007 Bowmans Best (one of my personal fav releases), but without all the cheesy prospect autos of guys that will never make it, that I actually kind of liked opening the box. You get 6 packs in a box, a hit in every pack and a guarantee of a relic or auto relic card that's numbered to 99 or less in each pack. You can bet that I will likely buy more Topps Tribute in the future (when I have more money to blow).


Some recent 2009 SP Legendary Cuts jersey cards...
Scott Kazmir, Carlos Beltran, Robinson Cano, Curt Schilling, Jason Varitek, Pedro Martinez


Tony Perez/Jason Varitek, Ozzie Smith/Khalil Greene, Robin Yount/Ryan Braun, Tino Martinez/Jorge Posada


2009 SP Legendary Cuts Cut auto of Aurelio Rodriguez #3/50


2009 UD A Piece of History Pat Burrell Jersey #/180


2009 UD A Piece of History Luke Montz Auto


2009 SP Legendary Cuts Yovanni Gallardo Auto #/125


2009 SP Legendary Cuts Pujols Jersey


2009 Topps Finest Rick Porcello redemption


2009 Topps Finest Nolan Reimold refractor redemption


2009 SP Legendary Cuts Ron Santo jersey #/75


2009 Topps Tribute Ty Cobb #/219


2009 Topps Tribute Carl Yastrzemski #/99


2009 Topps Tribute Josh Hamilton #/50


2009 Topps Tribute Reggie Jackson #/99


2009 Topps Tribute Dustin Pedroia auto/relic #/75


2009 Topps Tribute Manny Ramirez dual relic #/75


2009 Topps Tribute Josh Hamilton relic #/25


2009 Topps Tribute Doc Gooden auto/dual relic #/25


2009 Topps Tribute Jay Bruce auto/relic #/99

My take on Randy Johnson

Randy Johnson, is a first ballot hall of famer. Just look at the stats... 303 wins, 3.29 ERA, 100 complete games, 37 shut outs, 4875 strikeouts, 10.6 SO/9 Innings, this guy is a freak of nature. Sorry Tim Lincecum, you're not this much of a freak yet, get back to me in 20 years and we can discuss. I've seen Randy pitch a time or two and was amazed at his stature and way the fast ball just jumped out of his lengthy arms. it's quite unfair that the ball is released almost half way to home plate. More amazing is that if you look at him today and compare his body type to what it was 20+ years ago, it's not much different, no grossly oversized head, no overly developed muscles in odd locations, I feel it's safe to say that this guy was able to put up amazing numbers without cheating. Roger Clemens may have more cy youngs, but Randy Johnson has more respect.

A card I would like to see in a future release would be a 1989 rookie buyback auto of Randy Johnson. He has the time on his hands now to sign some cards, and a buyback auto of a future hall of famer is always a good pull in my book.