Pack Break: 2010 Topps UFC Main Event

I've been mildly following the UFC for a few years now ever since my brother-in-law started inviting me and the wife over to their UFC fight night every few months. The first main event fight I saw was UFC 60 when Matt Hughes defeated the legend Hoyce Gracie by TKO. The most memorable moment had to be when Hughes had Gracie in a horrible arm lock, and Gracie, with a face of stone, just refused to tap out, even if it meant a broken arm. I guess Hughes decided not to break the arm and he ended up winning anyways by TKO. Honestly, if he did break the arm, I don't know if I would have kept watching UFC fights. Eesh.

Here's what the base cards look like. They don't scan very well because they're all foils.

Some more base cards. Notice the Torres doesn't say UFC but instead WEC. I don't know what that is, maybe some lesser league owned by the UFC.

I pulled one of the fight poster inserts featuring UFC 34 which looks great.

I don't plan on putting a base set together, but apparently there's a propaganda insert set just like the one put into '09 Updates & Highlights Baseball and I think I'll be chasing those. I'd love to trade for them if anyone has any.

Future pack breaks:

• 2001 Topps Archives Reserve
• 2007-08 Fleer Ultra Basketball x2
• 2008 Upper Deck SP Baseball x3
• 2010 Topps Attax Baseball x2

Feel free to let me know which one you'd like to see next.

Barter Scans

I'm beginning to feel the pressure of having more than one trade in progress at any given time. It is intense. I know I've been asking for it but, it's intense! I still have a family and a life outside of collecting and they just won't be ignored. But you guys can count on me. When I have to choose between postage and a meal, I will gladly choose postage because postage means getting cards in return. And I've skipped plenty of meals for cards, sometimes without even realizing it. In fact, just today, I started to lose my sight because I forgot to eat lunch.

This first trade comes from dgreen1899 from Drinking the Orange Kool-Aid. He's got quite an extensive want list, so if you've got any Phillies, Orioles, Ravens, Cowboys or Eagles to trade, head over and he will hook you up!

Initially, the trade was just for some Strawberrys. But things kindof got out of hand...

...He also threw in some surprise Ichiros which are pretty sweet. I've had my eye on the Japanese Topps Trading Card History card up above and I would have eventually paid real American money for it.

The jersey card was also unexpected! Wow! This is actually my first Strawberry jersey card. I didn't even realize that until this trade came in. Thanks D for a great and generous trade!

Next up are a couple of small trades, but of course hugely appreciated. These came from dogfacedgremlin from The Real DFG. He offered to send these over and didn't even ask for anything in return so I've been trying to find all of my Penguins cards to return the favor. Thanks DFG!

And last but not least, Flywheels from Cardboard Collections sent these over for just one card he spotted from a pack of Topps Platinum Football I opened up. My '09 set is really coming together.. 5 of these 9 cards finished an album page so these were really some thrillers for me! Thanks Flywheels!

3 Pack Break: 2010 Topps Opening Day Baseball

First, lets study the subtle differences behind the base set (on left) and Opening Day (on right). As you can see, the only major difference is the lack of foil and the Opening Day logo. Unlike previous Opening Day releases, the borders are the same color. That's one thing I didn't like.

Here's some more of the base cards.

3 packs worth of inserts. The Rolen is Opening Day's version of Topps Gold and are also numbered to 2010. That and the addition of unique Topps Attax inserts into this years set are a couple of big pluses.

The day that I bought these packs I realized that there was no 2009 Opening Day set! Since they skipped last year, I think they should have started fresh with what they're trying to do here, appeal to the kids. Maybe release a set of Topps MLB Marbles.. or Topps MLB Bicycle Spoke Cards. Topps SD Chip Cards?

Oh yeah, the Teixeira code is there for whoever wants it.

Future pack breaks:

• 2001 Topps Archives Reserve
• 2007-08 Fleer Ultra Basketball x2
• 2008 Upper Deck SP Baseball x3
• 2010 Topps Attax Baseball x2

Feel free to let me know which one you'd like to see next.

eBay Selling Success

I recently purchased a Panini Adrenalyn XL NBA starter kit, 1 for me and 1 for my wife. I have a thing for sports related collectible card games, and she likes to play me. We played a ton of games of MLB Showdown years ago when we first started dating. I think she just likes to spend time with me. Anyways, the kits come with 4 packs, a playing mat and an album to put the cards in. Its funny how 23 years after I bought my last album from panini, a baseball sticker album, they've come around and now sold me another. So, I opened my 4 packs and I pulled the rarest version of the Lebron James card. I was curious and tried looking it up on eBay. They had none for sale and none previously sold. And the less rare varieties were selling very well. So I threw it on eBay for $.99 knowing it would get tons of bids, hoping to net 20 bucks. Check out how much it sold for:

LeBron James Panini Adrenalyn XL ELITE

I was stunned! And I feel very lucky to have pulled it out of a 99 cent pack! Woohoo!

By the way, the game is pretty fun, if you have someone to enjoy it with of course.

Ichiro Collection

Updated 4/5/10

This is a list of all the Ichiro cards in my collection. If you have anything not on this list, I'd be willing to trade for it! Also, a good number of cards on this list have a link to a scan if you're curious what they look like.

Blue Means Pending

1. 2001 SP Authentic Stars of Japan #RS5 W/ H. Nomo
2. 2002 Donruss Originals #273
3. 2002 Donruss Originals #352
4. 2002 Fleer Tradition #487
5. 2002 Topps All-World Team #AW-1
6. 2002 Topps Topps Ten #102
7. 2002 Topps Topps Ten #122
8. 2002 Upper Deck #726
9. 2002 Upper Deck A Piece of History #13
10. 2002 Upper Deck Ballpark Idols #199 CL
11. 2002 Upper Deck Vintage #50
12. 2002 Upper Deck Vintage #271
13. 2002 Upper Deck Vintage Sandlot Stars #SS3
14. 2004 Fleer Hot Prospects Draft Edition #42
15. 2004 Fleer Ultra #40
16. 2004 Upper Deck #67
17. 2005 Donruss Diamond Kings Framed Red #202
18. 2005 Fleer Showcase #80
19. 2005 Fleer Ultra #137
20. 2005 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia #36
21. 2005 Topps #334 "Season Hightlights
22. 2005 Topps Cracker Jack #125
23. 2005 Topps Heritage #7a
24. 2005 Topps Heritage New Age Performers #NAP3
25. 2005 Upper Deck #456 Bound for Glory
26. 2005 Upper Deck #495 CL
27. 2005 Upper Deck Reflections #11
28. 2006 Fleer Tradition #86
29. 2006 Topps #250 "Rawlings Gold Glove Award"
30. 2006 Topps Chrome #260
31. 2006 Topps Rookie of the Week #13
32. 2006 Topps Stars #TS-IS
33. 2007 Bowman #75
34. 2007 Topps Chrome #158a
35. 2007 Topps Chrome #158b Japanese
36. 2007 Topps Heritage #489
37. 2007 Topps Moments & Milestones #7 Eight Doubles 083/150
38. 2007 Topps Moments & Milestones Black #7 Six Doubles 13/29
39. 2007 Turkey Red #15
40. 2007 Upper Deck #939
41. 2007 Upper Deck First Edition #137
42. 2007 Upper Deck First Edition Leading Off #LO-IS
43. 2007 Upper Deck Goudey #227
44. 2008 Allen & Ginter Mini Black #250
45. 2008 Bowman Chrome #176
46. 2008 Goudey #165
47. 2008 SP Legendary Cuts #4
48. 2008 Topps #15 AL Batting Average Leaders W/ M. Ordonez & P. Polanco
49. 2008 Topps #320
50. 2008 Topps Co-Signers #55
51. 2008 Topps Dick Perez #WMDP9
52. 2008 Topps Heritage #16 GB SP
53. 2008 Topps Heritage #373 Baseball Thrills
54. 2008 Topps Heritage T205 Mini #HTCP11
55. 2008 Topps Opening Day Flapper Cards #FC-IS
56. 2008 Topps Stars #TS7
57. 2008 Topps Target #TCP11
58. 2008 Topps Trading Card History #TCH24
59. 2008 Topps Update World Baseball Classic Preview #WBC10
60. 2008 Upper Deck #364
61. 2008 Upper Deck #787
62. 2008 Upper Deck 20th Anniversary #UD48
63. 2008 Upper Deck A Piece of History Franchise History Red #FH-46 021/149
64. 2008 Upper Deck Authentic SP Authentic Achievements #AA-28
65. 2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes #152
66. 2008 Upper Deck Documentary #550
67. 2008 Upper Deck Documentary #2941
68. 2008 Upper Deck Documentary #3433
69. 2008 Upper Deck First Edition Star Quest #SQ-1
70. 2008 Upper Deck Hot Commodities #HC21
71. 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces #81
72. 2008 Upper Deck Timeline Baseball #167
73. 2008 Upper Deck X #87
74. 2008 Upper Deck X Xponential 3 #X3-IS
75. 2008 Upper Deck X Xponential 4 #X4-IS
76. 2009 Bowman #10
77. 2009 Bowman Blue #10
78. 2009 Bowman Gold #10
79. 2009 Goodwin Champions #69
80. 2009 Goudey 4-in-1 #8 W/ B. Robinson, J. Hamilton, G. Sizemore
81. 2009 Goudey 4-in-1 #63 W/ G. Sizemore, B.J. Upton, T. Hunter
82. 2009 Goudey 4-in-1 #81 W/ C. Lee, G. Sizemore, F. Hernandez
83. 2009 O-Pee-Chee #544
84. 2009 O-Pee-Chee Black #275
85. 2009 O-Pee-Chee The Award Show #AW17
86. 2009 Topps Heritage #326
87. 2009 Topps Heritage #493 AS SP
88. 2009 Topps Legends of the Game #LG-IS
89. 2009 Topps Target Gray-Back #300
90. 2009 Topps Ticket to ToppsTown #TTT16
91. 2009 Topps Turkey Red #TR96
92. 2009 Topps Unique Red #125 0688/1199
93. 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights #UH153
94. 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights Propaganda #PP14
95. 2009 Topps Wal-Mart Dark #300
96. 2009 Upper Deck #333
97. 2009 Upper Deck X #80
98. 2010 Topps #125
99. 2010 Topps Legends Gold Chrome Target Cereal #GC3

Blogger Issues?

Is anyone else having problems connecting to anything blogger.com related? I haven't been able to update my blog or even view any blogger blogs for something like 2 days. I'm pretty sure it's my ISP but I just want to know if anyone else is having this same problem.

The Great Orioles Autograph Project Contest

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