First Baseball Pack of 2017

2017 Topps is here! At this point everyone's posted their take on the new set. No matter your opinion on the design, it is great to have fresh packs to break open. My wife was nice enough to grab a blaster for me over the weekend after we made some unsuccessful trips in previous days. Here's what I pulled from my first baseball pack of the new year.

First Card:

Alex Bregman #341

I've seen a few others who've had this as their first card. Could definitely do worse than the #1 pick in the 2015 draft.

First Atlanta Brave Card:

Arodys Vizcaino #300

Viz will be back as a key part of the bullpen in 2017. Started off as the closer last year before getting hurt. He pitched in 43 games for the Braves in 2016.

First Parallel Card:

Alex Reyes Vintage Stock #103 /99

These cards are nice and thick and have the Topps logo in the corner. A nice parallel to pull. Can't they make the whole set out of this stock? I guess that's what Heritage is for.

First Insert Card:

Kenley Jansen MLB Awards #RLY-2

I like the design of this set. The color scheme is modified based on the team of the player, which is nice. Isn't always a given.

The rest...

Steven Souza Jr #10

Adam Wainwright #221

Francisco Lindor Jackie Robinson Day #JRD-6

This insert I didn't care for. The Jackie Robinson theme is nice, but the rest of the card doesn't fit the theme.

Chicago Cubs #206

Carlos Santana #121

Rajai Davis #239

A solid first pack. two inserts, a parallel and a Brave. Cleveland Indians fans would have been glad to open this pack, with three cards.

Will recap the rest of the blaster in a future post.

Stack from Cards On Cards Hits Every Part of Collection

Back in September, Kerry from Cards on Cards sent me a large stack of cards that hit just about every part of my wantlist and player collections, including a bunch of Indiana Pacer cards that fit nicely into my basketball collection, which I am starting to get back into and document here. While I opened the package from Kerry back in the Fall, life dictated that I am just getting around to sharing it now. More on that soon. What a stack of cards it is! And below are just the highlights!

I love getting new cards of Cesar Izturis. While I mainly followed him when he was playing for the Dodgers, he ended up on a number of different teams in his career, and these are the first post-Dodgers Izturis cards that go into my binder. Known for his work in the field, these two cards from 2012 Topps Update and 2008 Upper Deck show him at work there.

The Andruw Jones is from another one of the Ultra sets that I'm a big fan of. Will look to pick up the other Braves to complete a team set.

I wonder if we'll have any cards in Pizza products this year? These are the first two that go into my binder. I did open a few packs of these but didn't hit any of my guys. I'm still looking for the Freeman and then I'll have the ones I want.

  

Can't go wrong with a Heritage insert of one of my favorite players. Already a 3-time All-Star at age 24, what a career Manny could have if this level of play continues.

A trio of Ripken inserts. Almost any Ripken card is going to be new to me, so every package with Cal is like Christmas morning. Really digging the Gypsy Queen N174 insert. Would be a pretty set to display in a binder. The third card is from 2012 Panini Triple Play and is a neat design despite any logos. The second card from 1994 Stadium Club is so cool, I had to research to find out more about it.

Here is the card back. This is a Dugout Dirt insert from 1994 Stadium Club. All aboard the Ripken Express! This has to be one of my favorite cards, and especially card backs. Look out Lou Gehrig!

Yoan Moncada's time with the local Greenville Drive was fun and I'm glad I made it out to a game to see him play. Dirt was kept, player t-shirts were sold, there was lots of excitement around the team when he came to town. Even though he's since been traded to the White Sox in the deal for Chris Sale, I'm still glad to have cards of former Drive players in my collection. 

A trio of cards from the best pitcher in baseball? (Actually 4, an Opening Day card like the one in the middle was also included). Can't beat that. Right? Well it keeps getting better. Particularly like this Power Players insert from 2014 Topps, by the way.

Lastly we have a trio of Mookie cards that weren't already on my have list. Mookie has three cards from The Future is Now insert set from 2014 Topps, and now I can cross this one off.

Another Mookie from 2014 Topps, this time from the Update set showing his MLB Debut. I love cards like these. Nice shot of Yankee Stadium in the background. Mookie went 1-3 with a walk, a hit, and a run scored. His first hit was a single to center in the top of the 4th inning.

Last card I'm showing- I thought this was a base card from 2015 Topps...

Turns out it is a Boston Red Sox version of the card. So I can cross that off my list as well! This stack of cards was full of surprises.

Thanks again Kerry- I've got a stack of Trail Blazers to send your way soon!