Archive for Yu Darvish

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4x 2015 Topps Toys R Us blister packs with purples

Posted in Box / Pack Break with tags , , , , , on March 4, 2015 by Cardboard Icons

If you follow me on Twitter, you might know that I have fallen in love with the 2015 Topps Toys R Us purple parallels. They are foil and are gorgeous. I personally think they are the best looking parallel of the base set so far. And for $2.99 a pack you get three purples and a basic retail pack.

I you’ve been breaking any Topps packs this year you may have gotten some of those coupons from packs, which give you anywhere from 50 cents to $10 off a purchase. The amount is specified on the card.

Well, I had pulled six of them and placed a few into my wallet for future purchase. Well, guess what? You can use them at Toys R Us. I had four with me on Tuesday so I decided to go buy a few “purple packs.” With the coupon that brings the purchase down to $2.50 per, which is a no-brainer since I love the purples so much.

Here is the loot. As my luck had it I snagged a relic in the packs, one of Javier Baez. I also got a gold parallel, which is you haven’t noticed are tougher this year. And my purples weren’t half-bad either.

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TTM Return: Yu Darvish (and more)

Posted in TTM Success with tags , , , , , , , , , on May 12, 2014 by Cardboard Icons

So, about a month ago I quietly sent out a handful or TTM requests to some players who admittedly were longshots.  These were guys I did not expect to get ANYTHING in return, but figured it was worth a shot since it was pretty early in the year. Well, the first one returned, and lo and behold it was longest shot of all, Yu Darvish.

The Iranian-Japanese right-handed pitcher has been one of the best pitchers in baseball since he came to the Major Leagues in 2012.  So, on Friday night, my wife and I were having dinner at a local establishment, sitting at the bar, and in the background I heard that Darvish had a perfect game going through 7 innings. Surprise!

Then out of nowhere, my wife tells me that I got a small envelope in the mail at my mother-in-law’s house and she  pulled it out of her purse.  It’s the Darvish return envelope! (Worth noting that my wife has no idea who the envelope is from, other than “Y.D.,” the initials that I placed on the envelope

I rip it open at the bar (kinda funny to watch me do this I bet) and instantly see that my 2012 Topps Darvish rookie card is within the envelope, but is unsigned.  Behind the Topps card is an over-sized card often given away by clubs, and it’s signed … digitally.

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Bummer.

Let down.

Waste of time.

Whatever term or phrase you want to describe this situation I suppose could be justified.  But what you cannot say is that Darvish is a bad guy for not signing.  There are lots of players — let alone mega superstars — who simply do not signed through the mail and their requests simply go un-returned.

So while I did not get a real Darvish autograph in this attempt, it was still a cool story, given the circumstances. And I do appreciate the return.

On a side note, a day later I received this TTM return, I did receive a real Darvish autograph, one that I purchased on eBay a week earlier.  It’s the pictured 2012 Topps Chrome Rookie Autographs, graded BGS 9.

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Yu Darvish sighting / Bowman Chrome

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , on June 3, 2009 by Cardboard Icons

YuDARVISH

I’m kind of going into 2009 Bowman a bit blindly. I’ve not read a bunch of reviews, but given the fact that box prices are already under $60 at Dave & Adam’s, I’m guessing this product features a list of lackluster prospects. If I’m wrong, someone tell me.

Anyhow, that didn’t stop me from buying a single back at Target the other day while buying my wife’s birthday gifts. Based on the headline of this entry, you can guess what I pulled … the card on the left.

The rest of the pack was pretty un-eventful. Base cards were Cliff Lee, Andre Ethier, Mark Teixeira, Rich Harden and Chris Young; Gold parallel of Scott Kazmir; Base prospect Michael Stutes; WBC Base Alex Liddi (Italy), Chrome prospect Michael Swinson; and of course the Darvish Chrome.

For some reason this card made be extremely excited. Probably because it was one of the cards I was hoping to acquire this year. Getting it in the first pack was great.  Judging by eBay sales, it’s not worth a ton, but it’ll take a nice spot in my “rookies” box. Every time I hear this guy’s name I think of this damn Soulja Boy song. I’m not really a hip hop guy — used to be in the 90s — but this song is really catchy.

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

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Topps World Baseball Classic Redemption, Red Hot Rookie

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , on March 24, 2009 by Cardboard Icons
ngoepeI’m not sure if I should be excited about this. Last week I learned that the WBC redemption card I got from my 2009 Topps series 1 box is redeemable for a card of Gift Ngoepe (En-Wee-Pay), a product of South Africa, and a prospect for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
I was hoping for Yu Darvish — just to say I had a card of his, especially now since Team Japan won the Classic — but I suppose it could have been much worse; I was worried that I might end up with a Jerry Hairston Jr., Sidney Ponson or even a Ivan Rodriguez card.
And while I’m on the topic of Topps redemptions, where the hell is my 2008 Topps Red Hot Rookie Lou Montanez? Topps sent a note out about two weeks ago claiming these cards were shipped, via USPS letter. I’ve not received mine yet. Gah!

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2009 Topps Baseball Hobby Box Break results:

Posted in Box / Pack Break with tags , , , , , , , , , , on February 5, 2009 by Cardboard Icons

2009toppsturkeyredchristymathewsonEarlier I posted some initial thoughts on the 2009 Topps product. Here are the results of my single hobby box. If anyone has anything off my need list to finish the set, hit me up. Continue reading →

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