Archive for Bryce Harper

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Putting the “loaded” Topps Value Box theory to the test

Posted in Box / Pack Break with tags , , , on January 28, 2012 by Cardboard Icons

There’s been a fair amount of recent buzz surrounding the Topps Value Boxes, which have been on Target and WalMart shelves for months.  The chatter lately has been about the boxes possibly being loaded.

There have been reports of big name superfractors coming from the Bowman Chrome hobby packs embedded within these boxes.  This news has sent some people to store shelves searching for these packages.

Beckett.com recently had a piece by Chris Olds, who stated in the piece that he purchased 10 of the value boxes and pulled two autographs.

Long before this buzz I purchased a few of these and mine were hit and miss.  Nothing major, but each of my Chrome packs had an insert or parallel.

But the recent talk sent me back into stores to see if there has been a new stock of these supposedly “loaded” boxes.  I found five of them.

I actually recorded my break using my iPhone, but my video was 17 minutes, which is too long to host on YouTube.  So I’ll spare you the time and show you what came from the boxes, specifically the Bowman Chrome packs.  Definitely had some interesting pulls, beating the odds with some refractors.

2011 Bowman Chrome Refractor Nathan Eovaldi /500

2011 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor Jean Segura /150

2011 Bowman Chrome Orange Refractor Jordan Swagerty /25

None of these is going to get someone to break the bank and make me a rich collector, but there is no arguing when you actually pull some colored refractors from just a few packs.

But do these pulls mean that these Value Boxes are loaded?

Not sure I’d say that.  I mean I definitely beat the odds, but I have opened and seen my fair share of duds.  Surely you have as well.

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A stunning statistic about my 2011 Bowman Chrome pulls

Posted in Newspaperman with tags , , , , , on January 27, 2012 by Cardboard Icons

Some time late last season, 2011 Bowman Chrome baseball was released.  And as usual, I bought a fair share.  I failed to pull any of the super high dollar cards, but I did get a few cards I liked, like the green XFractor Brett Lawrie and the 2001 Bowman Chrome Throwbacks Bryce Harper.

Well, when I pulled the cards from the packs, they looked absolutely perfect.  The Harper was pulled the same day that a major case buster pulled one and posted a picture of it.  His copy was horribly miscut.  I decided that day to have mine graded.

And so I did … along with my Brett Lawrie and nine other random cards.

Well, both the Lawrie and Harper came back Gem Mint 9.5.  I was stoked about the Lawrie because traditionally XFractors are tough to get in top shape.  The sub grades on both are stunning.

But this was like three months ago.

I haven’t written about this grading batch, so the other night I prepared to write about them and decided to do a quick population on both.

Here is the “stunning” statistic:

As of Jan. 20, 2012, I had the ONLY cop of these cards that have been graded Gem Mint.  And to that point, these are the ONLY copies to even have been submitted for grading by Beckett Grading Services.

Really?

Wonder why this is the case.

Lawrie is a top prospect who has a pretty decent following in the hobby.  This is a version of his first Bowman Chrome card.

And Bryce Harper is still a top draw in this hobby.  It would see that ANY of his cards would be submitted for grading.

**Note, there has been one additional Harper graded gem mint.

– Jan 27, 2012.

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A rainbow of meaningless Bryce Harper Chrome Refractors

Posted in Newspaperman with tags , , , on January 17, 2012 by Cardboard Icons

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Video Break: 2011 Topps Update / Bowman Chrome Walmart Value Box

Posted in Box / Pack Break with tags , , , , , , on October 26, 2011 by Cardboard Icons

Had to make a run to Walmart on Tuesday to get my oil change.  While waiting I  ventured over to the card aisle and discovered the return of the Walmart Value Box.  Here we get 5 2011 Topps Update, 1 Bowman Chrome HOBBY pack, a Topps Diamond Giveaway Code and a special Bryce Harper “Bowman Chrome” refractor for $14.99.  I bought one and did something I rarely do … I broke it on video.

Enjoy.

2011 Topps Hope Diamond Rod Barajas /60

The two codes yielded a 1981 Dave Stieb and a 1981 Dave Petry.  Three hours later the Petry was traded on the Diamond Giveaway site for a 1976 Dan Meyer, 1980 Jim Mason, 1983 Fred Lynn and 1983 League Leaders card w/ Lamaar Hoyt and Steve Carlton.

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2011 Bowman Chrome retail results (Bryce Galore)

Posted in Box / Pack Break with tags , , , , , , , , , , on October 19, 2011 by Cardboard Icons

I had the good fortune of getting to a Target on Wednesday just minutes after the vendor stocked the shelves with new items, including 2011 Bowman Chrome baseball.  I tell you, it’s a wonderful feeling to walk through the doors and see from about 100 feet away the sight of new packs.

So I dove in.

I bought a blaster and a few of the Value Pack Rack Packs.

The basics:  The blaster offers eight packs for $19.99 while each Value Pack offers three basic retail packs (same odds as loosies and in blasters) and a single pack of three green xfractors for $8.99.

What’s great about all of these packs is they offer a shot at the same cards that are in hobby packs, save for the superfractors.  This means the basic chrome prospect autos are available in retail packs.  Someone is going to pull a Harper Chrome Auto out of a pack at Target, or WalMart, or Kroger, or whatever. Awesome, right?

One problem:  Autographs fall one in 77 packs. They are one per box (18 packs) in hobby.

Anyway, the price points are obviously a lot more palatable than that of the hobby prices, which I imagine are eclipsing the $5 per pack point in some places.

Anyway, here are the better cards I pulled in my packs.  And yes, I actually hit an auto.

Did you know Bryce Harper is in this product?!

Calm down, I said that facetiously.

I got Bryce from the Past:

(And yes, it is dead center on both sides)

2001 Bowman Throwbacks

Bryce from the Present:

2011 Bowman Chrome Prospect

And Bryce from the Future:

2011 Bowman Chrome 2021 Bowman Chrome Future

Always nice at this point to see Bryce Harper in my packs.  Too bad none of them were covered in ink. That said, I did manage to pull this auto:

2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects Autograph Starling Marte

I know I showed off my Bryce Harper 2001 Bowman Chrome throwback above, but I also puled these two:

2011 Bowman Chrome 2001 Throwbacks Brett Lawrie

2011 Bowman Chrome 2001 Bowman Chrome Reprint Ichiro rookie

The Ichiro is the Japanese version.

But perhaps the nicest card of all came from one of my retail exclusive packs:

2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects Green Xfractor Brett Lawrie

Dead center.  No print lines. No scratches. Just beautiful.

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