It's been two years since I last posted a video. Seriously. My laptop that had a video camera suffered a meltdown in 2010, and we only just recently purchased a new laptop (we've been making do with the desktop in the meantime, obviously). The new laptop, much like the old, has a webcam. So let's make a YouTube video!

Yes, that's a Brooklyn Dodgers cap. I won't wear a L.A. Magic Dodgers cap, but how can anyone not love (or at least have a warm feeling toward) the Brooklyn Dodgers? When I was visiting my brother last year, I saw an old guy walking down Montague Street with a Dodgers hat. Seriously, the guy was like 80 years old if he was a day. Somehow, I don't think he purchased his hat at a Lids store like I did. He probably got it at Ebbets Field. When Carl Furillo threw it into the stands or something.

So this is the last of my 2010 Heritage box. Most everything you see here (and indeed in all the videos) is available for trade, with the exception of the Reds, Orioles, Mariners, White Sox and Athletics, of course. If you are interested in trading, send me an email.

Some lucky folks I've already set cards aside for. You'll get them whenever Australia Post decides to send them on their merry way.

Part 5 (I apologise in advance for the general sucky quality of this video. I got kicked out of the home office and had to find somewhere else to put the laptop)


Part 6 (The grand finale. It's worth it, sort of)

Back with two more videos. These represent packs 9-12 and 13-16 in the box, so eight more to go. I have pretty much decided just to chase Reds, Orioles, Mariners and most likely White Sox and Athletics from the set, which means most everything else you see will be up for grabs. After I've busted the whole box I'll create a Heritage "Wants and Haves" page for your trading enjoyment.

The third video represents pretty much the nadir of the box. Not exciting at all. I wouldn't blame you if you skipped this one and just watched the fourth video.



The fourth video is light years better. But then again, that's not a hard task. It didn't get off to the best of starts, though. Please excuse the swearing. I can't remember if I swore or not but if I did, I'm sorry.

The first two videos from my 2010 Topps Heritage break:

Part One:


Part Two:

This is the end...



It was a good box break, especially for my first one. Lots of progress on the set. Unfortunately, I've been having a poke around and finding out just how hard it is to find 2009 Series 1 boxes available. Why is that?

Throughout the week, I'll be posting scans of some of my favorite cards from the box, including the Ryan Howard relic. It's also good because now I have a lot more cards of current players to illustrate my posts when I'm discussing baseball news.

Don't think I'll be doing videos for the 2010 box break - next videos will probably be Heritage (whenever it gets here).

Well, it had to happen sometime. No, I'm not talking about pulling a duplicate. That's still going strong - 31 packs and 238 cards without one base card dupe. At 72 percent complete, I'm well defying the odds with every pull. At the same time, even if my last five packs in the box are full of dupes, I'll have completed much more of the base set with this box than I could have ever hoped for going into it.

No, I'm talking about the "hit." In this video, you'll see that I found the guaranteed autograph or relic in each box. Who is it? What is it? Which pack is it in? Click on the video to find out more...



There's five more packs to go in this box, and then I'm going to tear into the 2010 Series 1 box. After I break the last five packs, I'll post my want list for the remaining cards. Even if I managed to keep my streak up and don't pull any more duplicates, I'm still going to end up about 50 cards short of completing the set (I'm 92 cards short at the present time). Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure we'll be able to work something out. Unopened 1988 Topps cello packs, anyone? ;)

Well, it's official - I blew past the 20-pack mark in this box break. 26 packs without a single base card duplicate, unless you count the gold parallels (which I don't). How long can this possibly go on? The whole box? It's good for my set building, but it's making it hard for me to accumulate cards for trading purposes.

Here's the video:



And here's the second part, packs 23-26. I'm now more than 60% complete with the set:

It's an error card that you're doubtless all familiar with already. The infamous Sharon/Shairon Martis card. On the back, he's the young Dutch pitcher we all know. But on the front, he's my mother-in-law.

Just watch the video and it'll make sense.



Still no dupes. Not that I'm complaining. I'm now more than a third of the way through the set.

I went and redeemed the code. Chris Coghlan. Whoopee. I was so underwhelmed, I went and dropped him from my fantasy team and picked up Ike Davis instead.

I just can't stay away.

I fully intended to hold off on opening any more packs until the weekend, but I couldn't help myself. So that's four more packs open. Still no hit (they say there's one in there) but some pretty good insert cards.



Something else that's interesting. I've opened 14 packs so far, an I haven't gotten a single duplicate. That is, unless you count the Jorge De La Rosa, which I don't, because I first pulled a gold parallel and later the base card (which went into the correct spot in the binder). How long can I keep that streak up?

What a week! The last week of vacation was certainly memorable. On Monday, I went into school to get some preparation done for next term. Guess what? No computer server. Makes it hard to do work. On the way home, the timing belt on my car broke. Makes it hard to drive. The good news is that I had just gotten it replaced, so it clearly wasn't installed properly, and the mechanics had to fix it. Didn't cost me any money because it wasn't my mistake. The bad news is, I had to sit by the side of the road for two hours waiting for a tow truck.

After a week, the car is fixed. School starts tomorrow. Go in to get some prep work done, guess what? The power's out. No computers, no copiers, no nothing. Makes it even harder to do work (at least I could photocopy some stuff when the server was down). Not a great start to the term.

Now the good news - my box of 2010 Topps Series 1 arrived from New Jersey today. That was two weeks - great timing, if you ask me. I think I earned some wax busting. Even though I said I wouldn't until the end of the week, somehow I feel like I can ration a little bit less. Here's a video of me opening the next four packs of 2009 Series 2. I promise it's better than the first two:



By the way, I put my cards in their sleeves as soon as I finished the video. When I got to Willy Tavares, I looked up his card number (341) and saw that he had a home right next to...Joe Mauer! The best hitter in Major League Baseball side-by-side with the worst.

The videos from the highly anticipation 2009 Topps Series 2 box break. I have to say, I'm pretty happy with the players I got so far. A couple of gold parallels, a bevy of star players, and an Oriole from the very first pack...

This is split into two videos. As dayf put it, "when YouTube says they have a ten-minute limit, they mean it!"

Part 1:


Part 2:




Thanks for watching!