Topps Dynasty: I feel like I made a deal

     It's been a while since I posted anything up here. I've been telling myself to get into a better habit of posting but the busy work life and other priorities make it a challenge sometimes. Anyway's I hope this is a start to more consistent posts to come.
     The start of baseball season has begun and the Seattle Mariners have already given me numerous headaches in the shape of blown leads and walk off losses. It's only a week in, I hope they can turn it around soon as I know it's very early. But we in Seattle are too used to this!
   For this post I wanted to share some of my Topps Dynasty cards. I have always been intrigued with this set since its inaugural release in 2014. A box only consists of one card. A price tag of ~$300. Just think about that for a second... People constantly run the numbers on ROI (return of investment) on box breaks. It's gets pretty simple to calculate when your dealing with a box that contains one card! It is the ultimate roll of the dice. Odds are you will not come out ahead, as all of us know going into any break but it becomes so very clear so very fast with Topps Dynasty.  I personally do not break boxes/cases I simply don't have the heart for it. I am not a gambling man. I do occasionally break retail blasters and packs purely for the fun of it with very minimal costs associated with it.
    If you hit a Ichiro, Jeter, Harper, Bryant, Griffey Jr, Trout and a few others then Bam you covered your costs and then some! But if you hit a Bobby Abreu then you just lost $270 just like that. I won a Abreu auto for $30 on eBay & it got lost in transit & I was refunded. So I was very bummed I wasn't able to receive that card. I buy a bunch of Dynasty cards if the price is right, knowing these came out of a $300 one card box gives me a lot of excitement. Like I got a "deal" I suppose. Of course not all cards are bargains, I did spend close to or more then a cost of a box worth for the Ichiro & some other 1/1's.
    All costs aside these are beautiful cards and I love collecting them.  Last count, I believe I have 18x Dynasty cards. Here are some of my favorites below. Thanks for reading! See you next time.

My first Dynasty Card. '14 Braun

'14 Dynasty Iwakuma #1/1

'15 Dynasty Kyle Seaver

'15 Dynasty Fielder #1/1

'16 Dynasty Fielder #1/1

'16 Dynasty Gray

'15 Dynasty Cano

'16 Dynasty Cano

'16 Dynasty King Felix #1/1

'15 Dynasty Ichiro

A new season and a Chase for 3k

         Hello all! I can't believe its been almost a whole year since I updated this blog. It has been a crazy busy year! I was promoted from a GM position to a Corporate management position in my career that has me constantly travelling all across the country. This led to less time organizing and searching for cards in the last year. This definitely doesn't mean I stopped! I just have been more selective in my purchases and had to squeeze time in wherever I could to enjoy this great hobby.
        Today is the official start of baseball season and its great to see Ichiro getting so much attention for his shot at 3k this season. I will be following his at bats as closely as I can. I was fortunate to be part of an article written about the upcoming season and Ichiro that you can read here: http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/ichiro-baseball-cards-3000-hits/
       I also had the opportunity to have a Photo signed by Ichiro during a private signing at an LCS close by that has exclusive signings with him. This is the first time I've seen an option to have hum customize the autos which was a huge deal for me as I always wanted one from him personalized. Yes I know it basically makes the market value non existent but for a Super Collector like myself that doesn't mean a thing. I don't plan on selling it or any other parts of my collection ever!
       I have also attached some select pick ups over the last year or so.  I hope to be able to update this more often this season with my other and future pick ups, especially as Ichiro continues to progress to 3k. Thanks for reading!!!

Personalized Ichiro Auto Photo:

2015 Topps Five Star Auto:

Diamond Kings Patch #1/1

Ichiro, Pujols, Hamilton, Jeter Quad Patch Book

2016 Topps buyback Ichiro, Griffey Gold #1/1

2015 Donruss Buyback Auto #1/1

The Japan-Fractors & Ichiro is Flawless

I always considered the 2012 series of cards to be significant to Ichiro collectors like myself, As I stated before its my favorite set since its Ichiro's last year with the Mariners and last year with Topps.  I believed I have seen every 2012 card released but somehow I totally missed the rare Japan-fractors Bowman Sterling set. This was some sort of subset to the standard Bowman Sterling set that had Japanese stars in it including Yu Darvish and Ichiro.  I have only recently seen these hit the market in /25 die cut base cards. They were going for serious coin $150-200. I then saw the 2 variations of the Relic die cuts /5. I happened to make a deal on one and found 2 more that surfaced and immediately contacted the owners of these cards and made a deal to acquire them. These are one of my favorite new cards in the set, they are a bit taller then standard cards so they wont even fit in a one touch holder!  

      Another recent arrival came in the newer '14 National Treasures Flawless set. I was always a huge fan of the Flawless design when they first hit with Basketball. They were very subtly beautiful and had an embedded gem inside each one. They just had a great very high end look to it. When I found out Baseball was going to have this design and Ichiro was in the checklist I became super excited. I was able to make some deals and complete the 3x card flawless set Diamond /20, Emerald /5 and the Diamond 1/1.

Japan Fractors /5

Flawless Diamond /20

Flawless Emerald /5

Flawless Diamond 1/1

Finally...An Ichiro rainbow has been completed!

I always hoped to complete the '12 Topps Chrome rainbow but this is not the case and may never be. The superfractor is likely sitting in a Ichiro pc never to be for sale again and I spent over a year to find the /75 sepia which isn't very rare at all yet I own 5 Gold /50 and 2 Red /25. Go figure ehh?  Anyways I had a realistic chance to complete the '14 Prizm Rainbow of Ichiro and I went all out trying for it as I didn't feel my Ichiro collection to be complete without at least one. I have been pretty indifferent to Panini products the last couple years. The lack of mlb license didnt bother me too much but rather the plain designs and lack of variety in colored parallels. That all changed in 2014 when Panini stepped it up in a big way with their Prizm line. The cards and colored parallels were absolutely beautiful in my opinion with a total of 11 variations for the full rainbow set. Ichiro's photo was in my favorite batting pose similar to his bowman chrome rc and '12 chrome ssp card.  The color pops out in all his cards and prizm has a nice chrome gloss to it as well. Very excited to own this rainbow for sure.

Whatdayaknow? It's Seattle's own Robinson Cano!

 I wish I was able to share a full Ichiro rainbow someday but until that time I have been working on other projects. Primarily focusing on the 2012 topps chrome line since previously mentioned is my favorite series of all time due to Ichiro's last year as a Mariner and the end of 12 years of mlb licensed/topps brand cards for him. As I continue for the neverending quest for Ichiro Rainbow Supremacy I worked on other all star players for the set. I was a fan of Robinson Cano before his arrival and his signing with Seattle made me a bigger fan of his. He always carried a cool confidence about him and I consider him an elite player. I started collecting his cards a bit since his signing including being able to finish a rainbow. His rainbow was the second completed rainbow in my collection. These sets are pretty difficult to finish and takes great timing/luck and research to complete but always an incredibly fun project. So here is some recent Cano pickups and the rainbow.
UPDATED 5/2/14 : Just received the Cano TTT 1/1 patch. Love it!

Hey I'm seeing Red!

Base parallel cards is something they never had when I was a kid. It was basically the base set and a few insert sets mixed within the packs. Nowadays its all about parallels and collecting rainbows and such. This is a fascinating and fun variation in the collecting world.  Sometimes I sit down and look through my cards and try to decide what parallel color is my favorite. I guess it really makes no difference but I decided the Red parallel is definitely the most striking and bold variation out there. Its just a beautiful looking border and typically a tougher pull as they are usually one of the lower serial #'d parallel in the set. These are some of favorites in my collection, all of them serial #'d to 25.

When Seattle lost its Star

When your a avid collector of cards you tend to be a fan of the mail man. As most of your buys do come from ebay and comc in addition to other online sources. Opening the mailbox with a pile of yellow bubble mailers is always like a mini christmas once a week or two.This weeks mail day consisted of my favorite player in a unfamiliar uniform I still cant get used to.  The highlight of the day was the '12 Five star patch and '12 Topps Update SSP. I covet his '12 cards due to the fact its his last year as a mariner and his partnership with topps.  Fittingly enough he is bowing in both cards in his first mlb game not in a mariner uniform, and first in a yankee uniform ironically at Safeco Field in front of his old team, hence the bowing to his Seattle fans. I still remember the day I think Seattle fans took his superior skills for granted over the years as we simply got used to it to the point when he started to struggle the city turned a bit on him. I still look forward for his return to Seattle even for a few days as a Yankee next season.

Holiday Fun

Happy holidays! Its that time of year to be thankful for friends and family and all that side squish goo.  Well the wife happened to get me something I always want which is baseball cards. My one dimensional nature makes me a very easy buy. After giving her all the fun presents she wanted during our x mas eve gift exchange I get a small pack of cards and told that was it, I was appreciative and happy as I never expect or ask for much. She than demands I put them away in my man cave room where I store all my cards. I thought that was odd but followed along. I walk into and see 3 boxes nicely gift wrapped. They were 3 hobby boxes of 2012 topps series 1,2 & Update. Pretty awesome gift.  Again, the sentimental value will far exceed any monteary value for gifts given like this. But nonetheless I got the value back in the boxes with a really nice pull of Mike Trout Black ROY card #/62 along with the SSP Prince George among other decent relics and such. Great night tearing through packs and relaxing at home.