I made it this far...

thank you.

2008/09 Upper Deck Hockey box break

You've seen the base cards in some of my other posts here, and here... and here. So I'll skip that part and get to the hits you find if you buy by the box. 24 packs, 8 cards per pack.

Young Guns - Short Prints... 1 in 4 packs

Winter Classics - 1 in 12 packs

Captains Calling - 1 per box

Hat Trick Heroes - 1 in 12 packs

Sophomore Sensations - 1 per box

Sidney Crosby Heroes - I have no idea the insert rate for these....

Checklist #199 - Yes, the checklists are SP's...

UD Exclusives Joe Corvo #'d 046/100 - these fall approx. 1 every 2 boxes...

Jersey Cards - 2 per box on average..

( I hate the Leafs)

( almost as much as I hate the Bruins)

I'm down to 17 cards needed in the base set, not including the SP Young Gun set.... packs at this point will be pointless, unless I want to get more SP's...

Happy Birthday Jair!

We're combining posts in an effort to be more efficient. Today's birthday post is being combined with card #2 in the Goose Joak 2009 Invitational Card Set...
Braves starter Jair Jurrjens is turning 23 today. Jair was acquired from Detroit with Gorkys Hernandez for Edgar Renteria.
Happy Birthday Jair! Stay healthy... we need you.

I'm in... I'm all in....

The last thing I needed is another "project". I need to organize my cards... keep all the trades up to date... and, oh yeah, have a life along with working 10 hour days.
But Dave over at Goose Joak suckered me into his latest amazing venture. For those of you who are not yet familiar with what he's doing... go to his blog and check it out.
Here's my first effort.
Those of you who know me know that I'm not the most computer savvy person in the world. This rather simple card almost caused a blood clot in my brain. But I stuck with it, and you see the results.
More Braves to come, if my Advil supply holds out.

EDIT: opinion please... border? or no border?

another football box break....

This time we took a chance on 2007 Donruss Threads. I bought a couple of boxes from this seller, and he said I could get another two boxes in the same package for no extra shipping. These are the sellers that take all my money....
All Day on the front. Sweet. It went down hill from there.

Base cards:

They have simple fronts.... not my favourite, but the wife liked 'em.... the backs are horribly plain and under utilized...
I haven't sorted them to see how close of a set I got yet... I remember seeing a few doubles but not many.

The "Hits"

Blue Parallels #'d to 350 - Westbrook, Spencer, and Naanee
Good cards... mainly because I really like Spencer as a player... but what is that???

Nice. Saving a bit of money by not printing the "OOK"??? His base card has the same problem.

Other parallels-

Jackson #'d to 200, McCauley to 999, and a one per box Century Star of Marvin Harrison

Framed Gridiron Kings:

Ronnie Brown 22/50, Johnnie Lee Higgins 08/25 and Corey Dillion

I really like these.... but here's the thing. If you don't buy this stuff by the box, you may never get these. All three came in the SAME PACK!

And the big hit of the box............

Charlie Frye Jersey 075/250

If you"re gonna give me a jersey card of the third string quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks in his old jersey.... you better make it brown with an orange stripe and have him autograph it. And while you're at it, paperclip a $20 to the back for good measure...

Sweet Jesus.

I have a feeling....

So the plan last night was to post a box break of 2006 Fleer Ultra Football. Then I got distracted by the news of Chipper wanting to re-sign.... box break forgotten...
Until tonight. My wife reminded me that she had packs to open. (she loves football!) Box break on again...
The plan was to post a breakdown of the hits... a showing of the base cards, inserts, etc... but something strange happened on the way to blogsville.
The very first card in the very first pack....

Kurt Warner Post Season Performers. (who just happened to become only the third QB ever to guide two different teams to the Superbowl)

Two packs later....

Kurt Warner Award Winner insert.

Three packs after that...

Kurt Warner base card!

and then the coup de grace.... 5th pack from the bottom....

yep, game used, Kurt Warner jersey. In the same colour as what he'll be wearing in a week during the Superbowl.

The cards have spoken people.

The Arizona Cardinals will win the Superbowl!!!!!

YYEEAAAAAHHHH!H!HH!!!!!1!!!!

He wants to stay! He wants to stay! After all the crap that's gone on, He wants to stay!
Frank. For the love of the gods... open the vault and let him browse. Give him the keys. Sign over the deed. You've got until the beginning of the season or you lose him.
Offer to name your next child after him. (It worked for Brett Favre) If need be, I'll name my next child after him. Boy or girl. Tell him he can replace Bobby when the time comes. Whatever he wants. GIVE IT TO HIM!!!!!
After all of the crap over the last couple of seasons... he still wants to finish his career wearing the Tomahawk.

He is the face of the Franchise.

Treat him accordingly.

We need this one Frank.

Set completion via mail day!

A big thanks to reader Mike, who sent me the last three cards I needed to complete the 08/09 McDonalds Hockey set. Sliding that last card in the page is a great feeling, isn't it?
EDIT: Mike has started a blog, Addicted to Wax, check it out!

And Greg from Night Owl, sent over a tonne (okay, 7) Derek Lowe duplicates to officially start my Derek Lowe collection.
Thanks Greg!

up later tonight.... a football box break of 2006 Fleer Ultra Football. A couple of nice hits. (relax dayf, Matt Ryan isn't even in that set...)

Quickie Pack...

Awhile back, at the time when my last hard drive fried, I had received a gift box from Mark over at Stats on the Back. I lost all of those scans.... but In the Box O' Braves, I found a couple of extra packs for a rainy day. Well, it's not raining, but it's snowing like hell. Close enough.

1987 Donruss!!!
Cards 1 through 9

GlenAllen Hill - Blue Jays

Mitch Webster - Expos

Tim Burke - Expos

Eric Show - Padres

Jim Gantner - Brewers (Rockin' the glasses!)

Mike Witt - Angels

Greg Harris - Rangers

Jody Davis - Cubs

Steve Sax - Dodgers

Well that sucked..... let's hope the last six cards are better......

Bill Wegman - Brewers

Len Dykstra - Mets

Jim Adduci - Brewers (It's a Milwaukee packfest!)

Bruce Benedict - Braves (Yeah!!! Bruce saves the pack!)

Lee Mazilli - Mets

Curtis Wilkerson - Rangers

Hmmm.... not what I was looking for... any and all of these cards are available for trades...

Who the hell....

Who the hell is Jim Powell? And how do we use him to replace Chip Carey?
Reports today that the Braves have stolen free agent broadcaster Jim Powell away from the Brewers and Bob Uecker. The Braves are trying to pair him with longtime Braves announcer Don Sutton, but are having trouble securing him from the Nationals.
Question #1: Why the hell did the Braves let him leave in the first place??????
Question #2: What do you think Uecker would say to Chip Carey after about 7 innings of his inane ramblings?

Nobody could ever replace Skip Carey and Pete Van Wieren... but Joe Simpson and Don Sutton are enjoyable to listen to. Somebody tell Chip to shut the hell up. He's no Skip.

And how the heck can I get the Braves on radio here in Calgary? Any of these stations broadcasting on the internet???

There's hope for the Pirates yet...

Pittsburgh has avoided arbitration with 1B Adam LaRoche by signing him to a one year deal for $7.05 million plus incentives. Link.
An awesome deal for the Pirates. Unfortunately, this means yet another year when he won't be signed by the Braves and be re-united with his best friend Chipper Jones. Although the way things are going..... Chipper may be signing with Pittsburgh next season......

It came!!!!! It finally came!!!!

I've been waiting so long.... ever since the first one arrived unannounced. And today, it finally arrived.
I didn't want to beg... I didn't want to appear impatient. After all, Dave does this over at Goose Joak out of the goodness of his heart, the love of the game, and an apparent lack of a life. (I'm kidding!!!! I kid.... I'm a kidder..)
Check it out!
1976 Topps Adam LaRoche! The world is a better place with more Adam LaRoche cards!

1976 Topps is a set I'm going to collect... I've already started on the Braves team set... now I just have to make the plunge and do the rest of it.
One day.....

I WON!

Dan, from Saints of the Cheap Seats held a week long trivia contest awhile ago. This mother was hard! I had to pour through my reference books, google everybody, phone a friend, and generally pull my hair out.
But in the end, it was worth it.
Let's check out the loot that Dan sent over.....
Clint Sammons 2008 Topps Finest Rookie auto! Sweet. Clint is being held up being the Braves backup catcher by the free agent signing of David Freaking Ross. Seriously? Clint should be on the big club by July if he doesn't make it out of Spring Training.

Next up...

Brian McCann All Star Jersey! AwwYeah! This is what it's about!

Catchers aplenty here at Waxaholic!

David Ross?!???? Really?

I done been screwed again....

As most of you know, I've committed to collecting the 2008/09 Upper Deck Hockey set. I've bragged about this set here... and here. It's been going pretty well. I've opened three of those FatRackBlister thingies, and am about 2/3 of the way through my first wally world blaster. Scott from Hand Collated has been patiently waiting for me to update my list so we can begin trading.

I've even put my partial set in pages, enjoying the 121 cards I've pulled with NO DUPLICATES. I have card #1. I have card #198. I have 119 cards in between. Everything is awesome. And then I pull this:
Hmmm.... this is the fifth different insert set I've come across. Let's take a look at the back.

A rather benign card. Not exactly a snazzy insert set is ...... WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Card #249????????? It's not an insert???? But in all these packs, I don't have anything over #198!

Upper Deck Short Prints 1

Waxaholic 0

I need to lie down for awhile....

Hall of Famer...

Kurt Warner - Hall of Fame Quarterback
Get used to it... Kurt solidified his pace in Canton today, becoming only the third quarterback ever to win conference championships with two different teams.

I've been a big fan of Kurt ever since seeing him in the Arena League. Congrats to him and the Cardinals, who make the Superbowl for the first time in franchise history.

But the real key here.... the main point in all of this... is that the Eagles are NOT in the Superbowl. All is again right with the world.

Football Playooffs! Let's Open a Pack!

I've never heard of these cards before, but it was in a repack box I bought awhile back.
3 cards for $1.99? They better be good. Maybe we'll see someone who's in the games tomorrow...

Michael Robinson QB - Penn State (Michael is now the starting Fullback for the San Francisco 49'ers. How many former college QB's do you know who become NFL fullbacks??)

Leon Washington - RB Florida State (Leon is doing quite well as a RB / Kick Returner for the New York Jets.)

D.J. Shockley - QB Georgia (after recovering from a horrendous knee injury in 2007, D.J. won the 3rd string QB with the Atlanta Falcons on 2008 beating out Joey Harrington.)

These cards are horrible. Blurry photos, and newspaper quality backs. $1.99 for this? I woulda been choked.

I probably can't even trade these away... who's gonna want a former Bulldog QB who plays for the Falcons????

And.... no hint as to who is going to win tomorrow.

I did it again.....

I've been working on my wantlists, desperately trying to get some trades going and finish off some sets before the 2009 stuff hits.
Well, the trades haven't been forthcoming, and it looks like I've committed to another set. I love these cards.
So now I'm working on Series One, when Series Two hits in mere days.
Perfect. Why do I always do this? Derek Roy - Buffalo (Flying through mid air... nice effort.)
Brad Richards - Dallas
Drew Stafford - Buffalo
Anze Kopitar - Los Angeles ( pronounced like it's spelled, a great player on a crap team)

Niklas Kronwall - Detroit

Peter Budaj - Colorado (pronounced Boo-DIE)

Ryan Smith - Colorado

Henrik Sedin- Vancouver (no, you haven't been drinking too much... you're not seeing double, that's his twin brother Daniel beside him)

Mike Smith - Tampa Bay (All Rookie Team last season, also the rare, sideways printed version)

Tomas Vokoun - Florida ( this is one heckuva goalie pack!)

Zybnek Michalek - Phoenix (pronounced .... oh hell, I don't know...)

Joffrey Lupul - Philadelphia

Jean-Sebastien Giguere - Los Angeles Ducks of Anaheim (just seeing if you're paying attention)
Look at his eyes following that puck! Awesome.

Simon Gagne - Philadelphia

Guillaume Latendresse - Montreal ( finally! a Canadien)

Henrik Lundqvist Masked Men

Wow. A great pack. Not a lot of stars, but a lot of goalies, and superb photography. this was half of one of those FatRackBlister thingies that I busted first here... I've bought three of those so far and no doubles or damaged cards........yet. I love 'em...

A trade/want list will be up soon...