Free Topps Chrome

Hey everyone, Georgia Mindset is having a fantastic contest for  a free box of Topps Chrome. Go here for more info.

Want List

Hey everyone, here's an idea of some of the items I'm looking for to complete sets. In addition to these, I also collect a few players. Numbers in yellow are cards that are on their way via trade.

Updated: 10-4-14

Top Five Set Priorities
1. 2013-14 Select
2. 2013-14 Rookie Anthology
3. 2013-14 Artifacts
4. 2011-12 Certified
5. Allen & Ginter (Any Year)

Hockey

2013-14 Artifacts
7, 16, 24, 25, 31, 35, 36, 38, 43, 45, 50, 51, 53, 56, 63, 75, 77, 81, 83, 95, 96, 99

2013-14 Contenders
7, 8, 11, 24, 29, 33, 34, 38, 44, 49, 50, 53, 66, 81, 86, 91, 92, 95

2013-14 Select 3, 6, 10, 13, 15, 19, 26, 27, 29, 36, 40, 42, 55, 56, 57, 60, 61, 68, 70, 72, 83, 84, 86, 93, 97, 98, 99, 101, 102, 107, 109, 113, 114, 117, 118, 131, 136, 139, 140, 143, 144, 148, 156, 161, 169, 170, 171, 190, 192, 198, 200

2013-14 Rookie Anthology
1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 13, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 46, 47, 48, 50, 51, 53, 59, 62, 63, 64, 66, 70, 74, 75, 78, 79, 81, 88, 89, 90, 93, 95

2012-13 Between the Pipes
8, 19, 34, 45, 46, 62, 80, 81, 88, 98, 146, 149

2011-12 Certified
105, 150

2011-12 Titanium
4, 5, 7, 9, 15, 23, 28, 41, 42, 47, 54, 65, 78, 85, 89, 91, 94, 96, 98, 100

2010-11 Upper Deck
253, 260, 271, 285, 301, 314, 316, 338, 363, 422, 425, 429, 433, 434, 444, 450

Baseball

2013 Allen & Ginter
12, 15, 20, 29, 62, 72, 73, 76, 101, 107, 117, 122, 138, 149, 161, 166, 174, 178, 193, 230, 233, 236, 255, 258, 267, 268, 274, 276, 290, 291, 294, 304, 307, 309, 318, 327, 330, 332, 339, 341, 345, 346, 349

2013 Archives
17, 21, 28, 65, 84, 121, 122, 146, 167, 201, 202, 203, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 211, 214, 216, 217, 218, 220, 222, 224, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245

2013 Gypsy Queen
7, 19, 28, 87, 92, 99, 107, 111, 114, 133, 144, 181, 183, 187, 192, 198, 202, 204, 213, 215, 218, 239, 248, 258, 260, 267, 277, 293, 295, 302, 304, 318, 320, 330, 331, 334, 340, 346, 350

2012 Allen & Ginter
12, 18, 52, 57, 76, 124, 153, 176, 181, 203, 212, 217, 219, 272, 306, 311, 314, 322, 323, 335, 337, 338, 343

2012 Archives
201, 202, 204, 206, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 214, 215, 217, 219, 223, 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 231, 234, 235, 236, 237, 239, 240

2012 Golden Age
9, 54, 81, 104, 108, 109, 113, 118, 133, 143, 147, 148, 149, 150

2012 Goodwin Champions
24, 26, 28, 31, 44, 74, 80, 83, 90, 91, 105, 118, 124, 132, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 160, 161, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 173, 175, 176, 178, 181, 183, 185, 188, 190, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 201, 202, 204, 205, 206, 207, 209, 210

2012 Heritage
57, 123, 141, 207, 251, 275, 356, 427, 428, 430, 433, 434, 435, 438, 439, 440, 441, 443, 448, 449, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 457, 458, 460, 463, 464, 467, 469, 471, 472, 473, 474, 476, 477, 478, 481, 482, 483, 485, 490, 491, 492, 494, 495, 497, 498

2011 Allen & Ginter
128, 293, 336, 340

2011 Goodwin Champions
18, 38, 53, 55, 67, 72, 75, 84, 88, 99, 104, 116, 140, 151, 152, 153, 155, 156, 157, 158, 160, 161, 163, 165, 167, 168, 169, 170, 172, 173, 175, 177, 179, 180, 181, 182, 184, 185, 187, 189, 191, 192, 194, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210

2011 Gypsy Queen
305, 306, 308, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 318, 322, 329, 333, 335, 337, 343, 344, 345, 350

2011 Heritage
Base: 63, 189, 232, 273, 349, 355, 390, 427, 428, 431, 432, 433, 434, 439, 440, 441, 442, 444, 445, 447, 450, 452, 453, 454, 456, 457, 460, 461, 462, 467, 468, 496, 470, 471, 473, 474, 475, 476, 478, 479, 481, 482, 483, 485, 486, 488, 489, 490, 491, 493, 496, 500

2010 Topps Update
14, 15, 36, 41, 53, 84, 87, 105, 110, 128, 131, 144, 150, 172, 180, 182, 185, 192, 193, 201, 203, 206, 214, 222, 271, 307, 323

2009 A Piece of History
47, 63, 106, 130, 162, 196

2009 Allen & Ginter
25, 30, 36, 118, 162, 196, 208, 234, 279, 291, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 309, 310, 319, 320, 322, 323, 327, 328, 339, 340, 346, 348

2009 Goodwin Champions

3, 13, 15, 26, 41, 43, 50, 53, 80, 87, 96, 105, 113, 121, 123, 133, 140, 150, 151, 152, 153, 155, 157, 158, 159, 162, 164, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 173, 174, 175, 176, 178, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 188, 189,191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210

2008 Allen & Ginter

41, 53, 66, 140, 153, 228, 301, 304, 306, 308, 311, 313, 316, 325, 329, 340, 341, 342

2007 Allen & Ginter 5, 12, 13, 14, 16, 22, 25, 27, 28, 36, 39, 41, 43, 48, 49, 51, 53, 54, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 66, 69, 72, 74, 76, 77, 81, 85, 87, 88, 89, 90, 93, 95, 96, 97, 101, 103, 106, 107, 108, 113, 116, 118, 119, 120, 122, 123, 125, 132, 133, 134, 137, 138, 140, 143, 144, 149, 150, 153, 155, 156, 158, 161, 162, 168, 169, 170, 173, 175, 177, 178, 179, 181, 182, 183, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 193, 196, 202, 203, 205, 207, 208, 211, 212, 214, 215, 217, 219, 222, 224, 225, 227, 228, 230, 231, 232, 234, 235, 236, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 248, 254, 255, 257, 258, 259, 262, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 271, 272, 273, 275, 277, 278, 282, 283, 286, 290, 292, 294, 295, 296, 297, 300, 301, 302, 303, 305, 306, 307, 312, 321, 322, 325, 327, 328, 331, 332, 334, 335, 337, 338, 340, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350

2006 Allen & Ginter
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 88, 89, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 100, 101, 104, 105, 106, 108, 110, 113, 114, 115, 118, 120, 121, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 143, 144, 145, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 161, 163, 164, 165, 167, 168, 169, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 183, 184, 185, 186, 188, 191, 193, 194, 195, 196, 198, 200, 201, 204, 205, 207, 209, 210, 211, 214, 215, 217, 218, 219, 220, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 232, 233, 235, 237, 238, 240, 243, 245, 246, 247, 248, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 292, 293, 295, 296, 297, 298, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 312, 313, 314, 315, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 328, 335, 336, 337, 342, 344, 345, 346, 349, 350

2002 Topps
1, 2, 15, 17, 37, 39, 40, 46, 53, 76, 77, 91, 94, 96, 110, 113, 130, 136, 138, 148, 156, 161, 165, 183, 187, 215, 236, 307, 316, 319, 343

1991 Donruss
710

Football

2010 Topps

7, 15, 29, 47, 56, 81, 91, 115, 116, 130, 161, 171, 188, 216, 244, 286, 302, 356, 359, 363, 364, 387, 398, 428

2010-2011 Victory Hockey

Considering the low price tag, coupled with the fact that I'm too impatient to wait for the Upper Deck set to be released, I decided to pick up a blaster of 2010-2011 Victory. This set is Upper Deck's low-end hockey product, similar to Topps Opening Day in baseball, where they just want to get something quick and easy out on the market. There were 11 packs of six, which included 5 base cards and one insert/rookie.

Rookies: Adam McQuaid, Jerome Samson, Dean Arsene, Evgeni Dadonov, P.K. Subban and Nazem Kadri
Game Breakers: Drew Doughty, Evgeni Malkin and Shane Doan
Stars of the Game: Evgeni Malkin and Henrik Zetterberg

Penguins Pulls: 5/66 (8%). I got the two Malkin inserts, plus base cards of Sidney Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang. A great box for the black and gold.

2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes

Stopping my the sports card area of my local Wal Mart, I spotted a discounted blaster box of 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes on sale for only $8.97. Looking at the description, the box contained 7 packs of 5 cards, plus 2 bonus packs for a total of 45 cards. There were no guaranteed hits, but for the price, I figured it was worth picking up.

I was quite surprised, then, to discover my first-ever multiple swatch pull: A triple jersey card of Brandon Webb, Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez, numbered 52/200. Some of the best pulls are the ones you least expect. No matter who the player, or players, are, it's always good to be surprised.

The big gimmick run in the Baseball Heroes set is the different colored parallels. The base has a kind of yellow shade to the background and they include one black-background parallel per pack. The rest of the colors are serial numbered and are tougher to come by. In this box, I pulled a Robin Yount blue card, numbered 127/199

Cubs Count: 5/43 (12%).  A fantastic ratio for this Cubs fan. However, what I happened to get shows some loose definitions of what constitutes a "Baseball Hero." I understand Kosuke Fukudome being the hot rookie import, but Ryan Theriot? Felix Pie? Even with my North Side bias, that's a bit of a stretch. But beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.

Overall, I was pretty happy with what I found. The cards look nice, I pulled a few Cubs and I got a nice surprise with the relic card. Definitely worth my nine bucks.

2010 Topps

Due in large part to the Million Card Giveaway, I really got into Topps baseball this year. I really liked the idea of buying a random pack of cards and essentially finding something from the 50s or 60s. Unfortunately, I sson found out that with all those vintage cards are some commons from the late 80s and early 90s that aren't even worth the shipping it would take to get those cards.

Despite all of that, I love the basic design of Topps this year. They're colorful, but don't take too much away from the picture. I also loved the inserts. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out series was really cool, especially the variations with the original back, and I loved pulling insert cards (like the 1990 Frank Thomas) where I have the actual original card. Here's a few or the hits I accumulated over the summer:

Relics: Roy Campanella, Kevin Youkilis and Carlos Zambrano. I obtained the Zambrano, along with a Ryne Sandberg blaster patch card in a trade. The Jason Motte auto and Rollie Fingers manufactured hat patch were pulled from jumbo packs, along with rookie #5 (Starlin Castro, I think)

Blaster Patches: Duke Snider, Robin Roberts, Tris Speaker, Ryne Sandberg and Curt Schilling. As a life-long Cubs fan, I love the Zambrano and Sandberg cards and as a fan of old-time baseball, it was cool to get the two Brooklyn Dodger cards.

2010 and 2008 Allen & Ginter

I dove head first back into the card collecting this summer and what caught my eye right away was the 2010 Allen & Ginter set. I was first introduced to the set in 2007 and was impressed not only with the simplistic retro look of the cards, but of the random cards of the non-sports figures. Naturally, that became the first set I went after this summer, as I unloaded on a few boxes.What I really liked about the hits contained here is how A&G (and I know 206 does the same) went the extra mile to make them seem like something special. Instead of simply taking a base card, cutting out a hole and sticking in a jersey swatch, they took a miniature version and put it in a clear case with a colorful frame. Here's a few of the hits that I got from 2010 and 2008:

While some people wouldn't be happy with their hits being a domino champ, a high diver or a YouTube dancer, I thought that it definitely gave something different. For me, the best way to get my attention is to give me something I can't find anywhere else. The relics above are Max Poser, Ryan Braun, Ryan Zimmerman, Judson Laipply, Miguel Cabrera, Melky Cabrera, Darren Taylor, Ivan Rodriguez and Josh Hamilton.

From 2010 I got three autos: Alcides Escobar, Daniel McCutchen and Jim Zapp. From 2008, I got relics of Delwyn Young, Chipper Jones, Carl Crawford, Jason Varitek, Jeff Francoer and Ichiro.

By the way, Sam at The Daily Dimwit is having a contest for a couple of autographed cards. If you're a Cubs fan like me, it's worth checking out.