Group Break Sign Ups: 1 Team Left, Payments Due

Hey everyone, real quick here. I am still just one team away from filling up seven slots for my group break of 2010-11 Panini Luxury Suite. Each slot costs just $35 and will give you the one team you pick, plus three additional teams. 16 hits will be pulled from the two-box-break, so everyone is practically GUARANTEED to come away with something good. Go here for more information and to sign up.

Also, for those who have already signed up, PAYMENT IS DUE and can be made via Paypal to matt-pederson(AT)hotmail(DOT)com

Do we REALLY need anatomically correct cards?

I mean, come on Topps! Really??? Not what I want to see while flipping through baseball cards.


Man's best friend? It sure looks like HE has a best friend!   HIYO!!!!!

11-12 Titanium 2 Box & 2 Pack Break

I simply can't stay away from Panini hockey, can I? I loved ITG's Between the Pipes and I got a TREMENDOUS hit from Upper Deck's SPX, but whenever Panini comes out with a new hockey release, I turn into an addict going through withdrawal, about to get a fresh hit (of cards, of course). That being said, I saw enough good breaks on line of Titanium, that I figured I'd give the product a good shot. The first time out, I picked up just the single box. A few days later, I went back and got another box, plus two extra packs. Two weeks later, I finally got around to writing about it.

Anyway, Here's what I got.

Base:
I must say, the base cards look nice. You get three of them out of every four-card pack (the other card being the hit) and with 100 cards, it's not impossible to get with a little help. Of course, you won't put it together by breaking boxes, but with it being a hit-centric product, you can easily find people wanting to dump their base.

Rookies are also inserted into this product, but are pretty rare, as they are each serial numbered to 100. I pulled one, Andy Miele of the Phoenix Coyotes.

I got two autos, one being Craig Smith, and the other being Brandon Sutter. I was a little underwhelmed with these at first, until a few days later, when the Sutter became a Penguins hit after he was traded in the Jordan Staal deal. It INSTANTLY became a MUCH cooler card.

Alexander Semin has a white swatch, but there appears to be some kind of creasing or bunching of the fabric. I'm interested to see where he lands in free agency before jumping at the opportunity to unload this.

The Ben Scrivens is just a NICE looking card. He's still young, but with goaltenders kind of coming and going in Toronto, he might get a decent shot at some playing time. Being numbered to just 25, this was a REALLY good pull, but it wasn't the lowest SN of the box.

I know it's a redemption, but if it wasn't, you'd be seeing a beautiful autographed patch card of Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo. While I'm not a fan of the Islanders themselves, Okposo did play his junior hockey in the USHL, which is the same league that my hometown Fargo Force play in, so anytime a USHL alumnus makes it to the NHL, that's a good thing. Also, he DOES have some autos in this set that have "gone live" or were included in packs, so I'm not too worried about it getting filled.

There's box #1. Here are the hits from the two extra packs I purchased.

Calvin De Haan/Travis Hamonic dual jersey 24/300 and Jody Shelley jersey.

Blah, blah, and more blah.

NEXT!!!

Box #2 didn't give me any parallels or rookies or anything like that, so I'll just get to the hits:

I remember when Jay Bouwmeester was drafted in 2002, he was set to be a pretty big deal. He was selected third overall, behind Rick Nash and Kari Lehtonen, but as time has gone on, his value card-wise has seemed to drop. Still, I love getting Flames relics due to the bright red swatch you almost always find.

Kadri, who was selected seventh overall by the Maple Leafs in 2009, hold the distinction of being the second Muslim ever drafted to the NHL, behind Ramzi Abid, who was selected in the second round (28th overall) in the 1998 NHL entry draft by the Colorado Avalanche. She Weber, is currently the captain of the Nashville Predators, and is not too excited about the team's future after fellow defenseman Ryan Suter left to sign a contract with the Minnesota Wild. We'll see what the future holds for him in Nashville.

Now this is just a good looking card. I'm a fan of Lundqvist and a fan of the Staal brothers, even after Jordan left for the 'Canes. Oh, and the other two are Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards. You may have heard of them.

EASILY my favorite card of the bunch, This Ryan Miller auto/dual jersey card is from the rare "Third Sweater" variation. The card is die-cut on the top, to the shape of the arms and neck. Although there is no picture of Miller, the point of this card, I think, is to spotlight the jersey itself, with the two pieces of fabric. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the Sabres have, in my opinion, a GREAT looking third jersey, but I have some weird tastes when it comes to hockey jerseys.

By the way, Ryan Miller can sign his cards stickers, but Kyle Okposo can't find the time. I'm just sayin'.

Anyway, I liked this product a decent amount. I won't even try to say that my boxes were duds. They weren't. But I think I'll be buying any future Titanium cards from the secondary market.

Group Break Update - 1 Team Left!

Hey everyone, real quick here. I am one team away from filling up seven slots for my group break of 2010-11 Panini Luxury Suite. Each slot costs just $35 and will give you the one team you pick and three additional teams. 16 hits will be pulled from the two-box-break, so everyone is practically GUARANTEED to come away with something good. Go here for more information and to sign up. Also, for those who have already signed up, payment is due and can be made via Paypal to matt-pederson(AT)hotmail(DOT)com

Group Break Sign-Ups: 2010-11 Panini Luxury Suite

Okay, let's get a hockey group break going!!!


After testing the waters and gauging potential interest, I have decided to go forward with a group break of one of my FAVORITE Products over the last two years: 2010-2011 Panini Luxury Suite.

This is a semi-high-end product, with each pack containing three cards: two autos or relics and one serial-numbered rookie card. Each box contains four packs, making it an eight-hit box!

Each team will cost $35, and as I mentioned in my previous post, I have two options for the breakdown, depending on how many sign ups I can get.

Option 1: If I can get 7 participants, I would be able to purchase two boxes, which would total SIXTEEN hits. At seven participants, that would mean each breaker would get FOUR teams. Of course, that would leave two teams left over. In this case, I would leave out some of the teams with a lower presence (like Minnesota, Florida, etc.) and random off those hits, or combine them with another "lesser team" for a two team slot, if that makes sense.

Option 2: If I can get 10 participants, I would be able to purchase three boxes, which would total TWENTY-FOUR hits. Doing the math, that would give each breaker three teams. Granted, it would be less teams per person, but at ten participants, most of the high-dollar teams would be claimed at that point anyway.

For the un-picked teams, in either option, I will disperse them this way. First, I will list the remaining teams alphabetically by city. Then, I will use random.org to randomize the names of the participants and use that order to assign the teams down the list. For example, after randomization, the person's name who comes up first would get Anaheim, second gets Atlanta, etc. as long as those teams were not picked originally.

And if anyone does not receive a hit (auto or relic) out of the boxes, I will throw in one from my own collection, to make sure that everybody leaves with something.

Each slot is $35 and will allow you to pick one team. Payment can be made as a gift to matt-pederson(AT)hotmail(DOT)com. Please make the payment ASAP.

The product contains hits from all of the current stars, as well as autographed ROOKIE patch cards of players like Tyler Seguin, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Jeff Skinner, and much more. Here's a few examples of the types of cards we might find:

 Teams picked so far:

1. Pittsburgh Penguins - Matt Pederson (PAID)
2. Philadelphia Flyers - Brad's Blog (PAID)
3. Edmonton Oilers - Dave H (PAID)
4. Toronto Maple Leafs - Robert (PAID)
5. Chicago Blackhawks - Jeff Wilk (PAID)
6. New York Rangers - Commishbob (PAID)
7. Washington Capitals - Brad's Blog(PAID)
:::SIGN-UPS CLOSED:::

Anyone Up For A Hockey Group Break?

I had an AWESOME time with my baseball group break last month, and I want to do another, but this time, I want to do something a little different.

At my heart, I am a hockey fan above all else, and although I know there are plenty of hockey fans out there, I have never seen a hockey group break done by any of my fellow bloggers. I intend on breaking the ice, so to speak.

Here's what I'm thinking.

One of my favorite products over the past few years, since I have returned to the collecting world, has been 2010-2011 Panini Luxury Suite. The cards look good, the photographs are excellent, and it is LOADED with autographs and relics. Each box contains EIGHT hits, and I can get them for a really good price.

I have two options for the breakdown, depending on how many sign ups I can get, based on a $35 buy in.

Option 1: If I can get 7 participants, I would be able to purchase two boxes, which would total SIXTEEN hits. At seven participants, that would mean each breaker would get FOUR teams. Of course, that would leave two teams left over. In this case, I would leave out some of the teams with a lower presence (like Minnesota, Florida, etc.) and random off those hits, or combine them with another "lesser team" for a two team slot, if that makes sense.

Option 2: If I can get 10 participants, I would be able to purchase three boxes, which would total TWENTY-FOUR hits. Doing the math, that would give each breaker three teams. Granted, it would be less teams per person, but at ten participants, most of the high-dollar teams would be claimed at that point anyway.

For the remaining teams, in either option, I will list the remaining teams alphabetically by city. Then, I will use random.org to randomize the names of the participants and use that order to assign the teams down the list. For example, after randomization, the person's name who comes up first would get Anaheim, second gets Atlanta, etc. as long as those teams were not picked originally.

OR, if $35 seems like too steep of a buy-in for you, let me know, and maybe I'll have to do a different product at a lower buy in, but I REALLY want to do Luxury Suite

Either way, I want to do another group break, and I want it to be HOCKEY!!!

Anyway, if you are unfamiliar with Luxury Suite, here's a look at the product:

Once you're all done drooling, let me know what you think!


Also, if anyone wants to pre-claim a team already, before the "officiall" group break announcement, go ahead! Just keep in mind, this will commit you to the break. Do NOT send any payments in until I make the official announcement.

Trade With The Cardboard Don

I recently completed a pretty simple trade with WickedOrtega from The Cardboard Don. I sent him a jersey card of Jim Bunning from 2010 Topps Tribute that I got in a lot of autos & relics I purchased on Ebay. In return, he sent me a FANTASTIC looking jersey card of hall-of-famer Rod Carew (he converted) from 2010 Panini Century Collection.

Thanks for a great trade, Wicked, and thanks for participating in my group break last month!

Group Break Sign Ups at the Daily Dimwit

Hey everyone, real quick here. The Daily Dimwit is hosting another group break with a MASSIVE amount of hits to be pulled. He will be opening one box each of 2009 Topps Unique, 2009 Goudey, and 2009 SPX. Of those boxes, Three hits will come from Unique, two from Goudey, and TEN from SPX, so this should be a REALLY fun break. And if you need any more enticement, look at what Sam pulled for me the last time he opened Topps Unique in a break:

Commence drooling.

Anyway, two team slots are $16, and as always, you pick one team, and the second one is randomed. Only two slots remain, so follow THIS LINK to the sign up page.

11-12 Between the Pipes Box Break

Hearing so much about Between the Pipes from other hockey collectors, I decided it was time to pick myself up a box. Actually, I got this box a month ago and scanned everything in, but due to a group break I was hosting, and a backlog of other stuff I was posting, I simply just didn't get around to it. Anyway, it's all new to you, so here we go!

The base set consists of several different "subsets" within the 200 regular cards. Future Stars, of course, spotlights the goaltenders of the CHL and AHL who are in line for the NHL. I'm not 100% sure, but I think they have one goaltender from each of the teams in those two leagues. Then they have the Stars of the Game and Decades subsets, which spotlight goaltenders of the present day and of the past. They also go (somewhat) regional with Stars and Stripes (American goaltenders), La Belle Province (goaltenders from Quebec) and International Pioneers (European goaltenders of the past). One of my favorites, though, is Expansion Tandems which shows you the starting goalie and the backup of various teams from when they first came into existence.

Lastly, there is a one-card subset called One-Game Wonders which feature Paul Deutsch, who was a 51-year-old embroidery shop owner before signing a one-day contract with the Minnesota Wild. The Wild's starting goaltender, Niklas Backstrom was out of the 11/24/2011 game for "personal reasons," leaving Josh Harding in net. The only problem was, Matt Hackett, who was called up from Houston, wasn't scheduled to land in Minneapolis until 6:30 for a 7:00 game. Just in case he didn't make it, Deutsch was signed and ready to go (well, sit on the bench, which Harding played). Hackett made it just in time, so Deutsch didn't have to suit up, but it's still a cool story, and it's cool to see In the Game recognize him on cardboard.

With this being a goaltender-only set, you HAVE to spotlight the decorative goalie masks, and ITG does so with the Masked Men insert set. The cards are die-cut to the number ten to signify the tenth anniversary of the Between the Pipes set and have a really cool red foil board.

Speaking of the anniversary, Between the Pipes has a separate 10th Anniversary insert set that looks kind of boring. At least I pulled a Patrick Roy, which is never a bad thing.

Each box contains four hits, which usually consist of two autos and two relics. I pulled four prospect hits, which I wasn't too thrilled about, BUT the two relics I pulled were pretty awesome. Both were patch cards limited to just 19 copies. The Mac Engel is a three-colored patch and really well-aligned in the window to give good treatment to all three colors. The Maxime Lagace is a one-colored patch, which is not as good as the Engel, but a good pull anyways. Engel is currently playing for the Spokane Chiefs of the CHL and has no NHL ties quite yet, and while Lagace spent the 2011 training camp with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he went undrafted this year. The autos were of Eddie Lack and Mathieu Corbeil. Lack signed on with the Vancouver Canucks organization in 2010 after going undrafted in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and Corbeil was selected in the fourth round by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2010 draft.

Despite the presence of prospects and other unproven talent, Between the Pipes is a FUN product to open. There's a wide rance of subsets and inserts, with some great looking hits. Hockey fans will NOT be disappointed.

Help Greg Zakwin Win A Koufax Auto!!!

Hey everyone, real quick here. Greg Zakwin, who we all know as the man behind the Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle blog, is one of three finalists for a redemption card of Sandy Koufax's autograph from 2012 Topps Tier One on Beckett.com. Simply go to this link and vote for Greg Zakwin (NOT the other Greg) and you will help a fellow blogger in a tremendous way.