Those are the Breaks from The Daily Dimwit

There has been no interest in my proposed group break, but that's alright.  I'll put those aside for one with more boxes later in the year.  There are other people who do group breaks and do them right.  Sam from the Daily Dimwit used to do lot of breaks, and he ran them with aplomb.

I once participated in one many moons ago, even before the internet existed, and claimed four teams which I have no connection to.  The only explanation I could think of at the time is that I saw their wandering logos in a dream and wanted to claim them.    It was all the logos from the '80s, which is really the only explanation I can rationally have for claiming the Brewers in a group break.  The artistic integrity and majesty of the interlocking 'm' and 'b' in the baseball glove shape....I also always end up with the Athletics; it must be 2009 again.

<Fandom Digression>Speaking of 2009, I just saw the Phillies beat the Padres on some heady baserunning, taking advantage of events that break your way.  That would be the mark of a good team....if only that could happen every night. </Fandom Digression>

Anyway, there was a variety of cards to be had from the denizen daily dimwit delight.

2013 Topps Norichika Aoki: answer to the question of who had the 2nd highest WAR among NL position players rookies.

2005 Topps Chrome Update Black Refractor /100 Willy Mota: answer to the question of who was a baseball playing Mota not a progeny of Manny.

2011 Limited Prospect Auto Miles Head: answer to the question of who is the prospect most likely to join the all-body part team.

2005 Topps Chrome Update Ugueth Urbina: answer to the question of who was most likely to be the best pitcher in the Venezuelan Penal League.

2013 Topps Chasing History Auto Jarrod Parker: answer to the question of who is most likely to be carded at the Ruby Room.

2013 Topps Vance Worley: answer to the question of who does not like the Mall of America the most.

2013 Topps Cut to the Chase Ted Williams: answer to the question of who is the greatest on-base force in baseball history.

2013 Topps Calling Card Jonathan Papelbon: answer to the question of who on the Phillies needs a no-trade clause in July.

2013 Topps 1972 mini Josh Reddick: answer to the question of who had the most impressive baseball beard in April.

Thanks for hosting the breaks, Sam.  It's always fun.

2012 Phillies Cards (in which almost no one remains) from Cardboard Conundrum

Cardboard Conundrum held a group break a long time ago with the first products of the 2012 season.  It was a great opportunity to get a taste of the Phillies' cards offerings for the 2012 card season with Topps, Topps Heritage, and Gypsy Queen being sampled.

Unfortunately, with the Phillies having their worst season in 10 years, they became sellers at the deadline, and many of the players are no longer with the team for one reason or another.  So, essentially, these sets are a snapshot of the end of last year through Opening Day 2012.  Who made the cut for the checklists for Phillies team sets?  Here are some selections from the break....

2012 Gypsy Queen Mini Roy Oswalt:  I am on a quest for everything Phillies mini, and this card aids in that quest.  Roy Oswalt did not resign with the Phillies in the offseason, and eventually became a part-time starter on the Rangers.

2012 Topps Heritage Chrome Hunter Pence: I am also on a quest for everything Heritage Chromey with Phillies on it.  Hunter Pence and his old-school socks left for the city by the Bay, trading in the red for the black.  The reason was because of his impending arbitration payday at the conclusion of the season that may approach $15 million.  It seems like he's not liking the Bay as much as I do, only hitting 2 HR in 36 games and struggling with a .296 OBP.

2012 Topps Archives Mike Schmidt: Ok, he hasn't been on the Phillies since May 12, 1989 when he retired, and this is a nice card with the image from my youth.

2012 Topps Archives Auto Bake McBride:  This is one of the more impressive penmanship examples that I have seen displayed on a card.  The 1975 style also fits well with the decor on the card, though McBride was a Phillie from 1977-1981.

2012 Topps Heritage Jimmy Rollins: He is still a Phillie, and this is a shortprint, so that is always appreciated to receive.  Rollins joined a pantheon of all-time Phillies greats by getting his 2000th hit as a Phillie, joining Mike Schmidt, Richie Ashburn, and Ed Delahanty.

2012 Gypsy Queen Moonshots Jim Thome:  Thome hit a 466 foot home run at Target Field this year.  That is far.

2012 Topps Golden Moments Mike Schmidt:  Schmidt was the only player in the 1970s to hit 4 home runs in a single game.

2012 Topps Golden Moments Parallel Jim Thome: Thome also did not finish the season with the Phillies, being traded to the Orioles for a chance at the postseason.  It seems to have worked out, except he's been on the DL since July 28th with a herniated disc.

Crazy Group Break Idea

I've been thinking there hasn't been much external participation on this blog in awhile. (My last group break and contest were about a year ago). That, and my general inactivity, has led to some non-interactive content.....

I was thinking about a crazy group break idea (hence the title of the post). What about a draft-style group break of a case of 2010 Panini Century Collection? There are 15 boxes per case with 5 cards per pack (75 cards in total). Each card is a relic or auto. Granted, some of them are relics of hollywood celebrities and astronauts.

So I was thinking to group the boxes together in groups of 5 randomly....video those 5 box openings, list the cards, and have the participants draft the cards snake-style and then repeat for the other two groups of 5 boxes. I say groups of 5 because there is one encased hit per box...(check out the box break I just had in the near future) that is generally perceived as better than the rest.

I don't know the cost yet (depending on the case price I can negotiate) because I just had the idea, but I would need 3-5 people to make it work. I will also add some other stuff to make the numbers work if there's more people with interest.

No timeline right now, just gauging interest.....

Those are the Breaks of the Past: Mid-Year Buck a Box TribeCards Break

A while back, Tribe Cards held a nice little group break involving some not so common as well as recent products.  The Phillies weren't represented in all of them (Topps Coins), but I joined in anticipation of some new cards for the collection.  It did not disappoint.

1987 Sportsflics Juan Samuel: He was a great talent (though flawed) in his day.  One of the first exciting players I remember watching as a kid.   Sportsflics was also a brand for which I had never seen a pack.  For a long time, they were grouped in my collection boxes as "special" cards, which meant anything I didn't find in the annual Beckett guide.

2011 Topps 60 Ryan Howard: Led the league in HRs with team trailing from 2006-2010.  He's done more than that for sure.

2011 Bowman Prospect Jarred Cosart: He's already been sent away in the Hunter Pence deal.  I at least got to see him pitch once live at the Futures game.  He has an amazing curveball, though based on his stats hasn't yet harnessed the command.  We'll see in three years how he turns out.

2011 Bowman Gold Shane Victorino: He has been the best position player on the Phillies this year and has turned into a real force.  I wish these gold parallels would be forced out of the Bowman production run....they were tired by 2002.

1987 Sportsflics Mike Schmidt: Awesome card, that is all....as he approaches his 500th HR that year.

2011 Bowman Finest Futures Domonic Brown: I already touched on him in the last post, but I will say it's almost reassuring that he can brought along so slowly.  When was the last time you heard a prospect was held back too long for the Phillies?  (in 2011, there was Desmond Jennings of the Rays for a suitable comparison)

2011 Bowman's Best Roy Halladay: Dare to dream? Back to Back CYs?  It's debateable.  Anyone else notice that these are nice cards?  They're not spectacularly superpremium like their forebears, but sometimes nice is good enough.

1987 Sportsflics Steve Bedrosian (and others):  One of the few relievers to win the Cy Young award.  My guess (without reading it) is that this is a record breaker card.  Anyone care to guess what the records were?  I definitely know two of them, for the Mattingly, it can also be a record-tying card if that's the one they chose to highlight.

Peanuts!: Lucy, you are the foil to everyone's Charlie Brown (though I still wouldn't pay you a nickel for Psychiatric advice).  Also, would you stop stealing Linus's blanket?  And why do you never just let Charlie Brown kick the football or at least throw it around?  Why don't you try managing the team for once and get a new pitcher?

Glad that's off my conscience....

These Were the Breaks of Winter: Community Gum and Fleer

There are only two truisms that are relevant for all walks of life:

1. Don't walk in the same rhythm as the music you're listening to.
2. A scanner and a blogger have an estranged, conflicted relationship.

Everything else is just details.

This was a group break from long ago from the gentleman at Community Gum when they decided to venture into what many collectors have dubbed "The Dead Zone".  For many, this was the period after high school, before nostalgia, and after too much money being spent on late night billiards and road trips through unexplored towns.  My "Dead Zone" was intermittent from 1999-2007 with some much needed breaths in 2001.  Luckily, one of the sets I had pursued was in the group break, 2001 Fleer Platinum RC.   So I joined the plunge into the foray of Fleer and feasted upon the decidedly unformidably filling filet of Phillies (the Phillies were a bad team then; the most exciting player was Bobby Abreu for awhile. What does that say?  He never ever smiled.)

And here he is, the most exciting player until Jim Thome came along.  These guys definitely disagree about the Thome thing.  This Abreu card was from a set named after Ted Williams's nickname.

This is an interesting card. It's a photocopy of the boxscore from Mike Schmidt's first game in 1972.  Some surprising names from this "classic clipping"

Unfortunately, Eric Junge's ticket was not "Authentix" enough and expired by 2003.  He was a part of the very unfruitful Curt Schilling tree of trades, coming over to the organization for Omar Daal in 2001.

Jim Thome led the league in home runs in 2003.  I'm not sure why the card had a price of 50 cents.  A clipping of recent vintage, it is.

Kevin Millwood was the embodiment of the hopes for the 2003 team to break out of the shackles of the Vet.  Instead, he was a decent pitcher with an ace's expectations.  His release from the majors happened on August 6, 2011.  Every Avant base card had a "congratulations" message on the back like all the relic cards.

Pat Burrell was the most enigmatic of those early 2000s Phillies, great one year (2002), awful the next (2003).  He bent over more inside pitches over the plate that I can remember, but he was always ready to hit a home run off Armando Benitez.  This was the base card of Classic Clippings.

Jimmy Rollins at this time was a young speedster who struck out a lot.  I remember he trained with Tony Gwynn in a couple offseasons and cut his strikeouts to a more acceptable level.    here;s the Fleer Platinum RC.  Remind you of anything?  Heritage...Fleer-style.

Here's a Fleer Mystique card of Scott Rolen.    Cards with coverings on them confused me for a long time.  My first exposure to that was 1996 Topps Mystery Finest insert.  I just thought it was a blank front card for years.

This is Chase Utley in a very nice 2003 Showcase card.  The mark of the Flair/Showcase line was always the dual image front.

It was a fun group break to watch the contents be revealed.  Until next time, having different playlists for walking and running around is my advice.

Group Break Results of Futures Past and One Final Group Break Reminder

The artist formerly known as I Am Joe Collector used to hold  monthly group breaks in the recent past.  I did fairly well for myself during that time (usually with the Mets as a team of choice).  When the monopolizing licensure of Topps took ahold in 2010, the variety of product slackened and so did the group breaks.  Occasionally, he will hold single product case breaks and I was able to participate in a couple of them in the recent (well, recent in the sense of these cards were just scanned) past.

First, there was a 2010 Topps Chrome Case Break.  I claimed two random teams and ended up with White Sox and Rockies.

 Gordon Beckham T206 Chrome:  Honestly, if this entire set were in Chrome, it would have been so much less authentic and so much cooler

 Gordon Beckham Refractor: Anyone else have him pegged for a bounceback season this year.  There's not a Junior Jinx now, is there?

 Jake Peavy National Chicle Chrome: The hand-paintedness of this card really stands out in the chrome form.  This was a great idea for an insert set,

 Eric Young Jr.  Auto: EY Jr. has the speed, but does he have the playing time?

Esmil Rogers Auto:  It's nice that the autos are on-card, but as always wish there were more than rookie autos.

I also paricipated in a 2006 Ultimate case break.  Basically, the breakdown was one hit and a handful of base cards per slot.

Josh Willingham, Russell Martin, Rony Paulino Triple Auto:  These were all catchers at one time; I guess that's the connection. 

And here were my base cards (#d/799)....

High end base cards always have interesting, unexpected, geometric designs.

My first group break only has three slots left.  I will start asking for payment soon.  First scheduled box break will be March 29.

2000s Fleer Group Break at Community Gum

Sign up for 7 boxes of 2000s Fleer goodness at Community Gum. These are boxes that almost none of us have opened and have some really great sets, like the first Fleer Platinum, 2003 Fleer Avant, and the peel back enigma of 2000 Fleer Mystique.  Good luck!

The Bounty of the Troll Revealed......Finally

Presented in scanned form is just a small part of the cards sent by the hale and hearty Collective Troll of cyberspace fame.  He held a group break many moons ago, and this has been the first lot that has been scanned with my newly fixed scanner.

Behold!  There will be cards and there will be superfluous commentary!

For the vintage lover, here's a 1965 Topps John Boozer.  I think he was asked to pose like that, don't you.

Here's a 1971 Topps Oscar Gamble. This is before he was famous for the hair style of the century. And yes, there are sideburns in the '70s!

Coming up next is the Opeechee contingent...in no particular order.

1987 Opeechee Steve Bedrosian: "Bedrock" (really that's what they called him) in the light blue duds in anticipation of his Cy Young season.

1985 Opeechee Michael Jack Schmidt:  Mike Schmidt was so strong he used to swing a redwood tree as a bat.

1984 Opeechee Steve Carlton: He was an etoile many times in his career.  According to Google Translate, toile in French means canvas or cloth.  I have no idea if that's right.

Then we have cards from the representatives of the most burlyingest pennant winners ever (ok, it's possible), the 1993 Phillies.

1992 Opeechee Premier Lenny Dykstra (the catalyst of many various things, some good like runs and other bad like car accidents with long-haired catchers) and Ruben Amaro (the current GM, trying to get that right aggressive approach even during his playing days)

1994 Collector's Choice Kevin Stocker: showing the hustle that endeared him to hundreds of thousands.  No, seriously I actually hoarded Kevin Stocker rookies and placed them in a safety deposit box at one point (there was nothing else in there, I was 12)

 

1993 Upper Deck Darren Daulton: I guess he should have tagged out the runner before throwing the ball away.

Next, we have modernesque Phillies in various uniforms.

1994 Collector's Choice Pete Incaviglia: showcasing the stylings and profilings of the 1933 Chuck Klein-led, Baker Bowl contingent.

1992 Topps Tyler Green: highlighting the pitching motion and knuckle curve grip that made him an all-star as a Wichita State Shocker.

1992 Topps Charlie Hayes giving homage to the Whiz Kids.

Then, there were some cards from unique brands from the deluge-era of the hobby (1996-2005)

1998 Pinnacle Mint Scott Rolen:  This was a precursor to the floating swatches of the modern relic card era.  This was a floating coin die-cut.

2003 Fleer Authentix Mini Pat Burrell:  I hope whoever had that ticket did not take it.  Row 70 does not exist in any section of any stadium that I know of.

Lastly, there are recent cards, including the shiny and not so shiny.

Behold the stoic countenance of the unflappable Brad Lidge in a 2009 Opeechee black border.  If his eyes could stare right into a hitter's soul, what would they say to him?

2010 Topps Heritage Chrome Jimmy Rollins: This time he's not speaking.  I think he's due for a bounceback year.  It's the power of the diamond background.

2009 Topps Heritage Update Chrome JA Happ:  He became Roy Oswalt, which just means he aged really quickly.

2007 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection Jimmy Rollins jersey: This is a great card, let's just leave it at that.

And so it comes to pass that the Troll distributeth (through a huge group break) and the contents be displayed for visual consumption.  There are many more treasures to be stowed away as the Phillies red floods my credenza.  So all hail the bounty of the Collective Troll!