HOLY CRAP I LOVE DAYTON!!! RETAIL HIT!!!

If you read my post last night, you saw that I planned on venturing out and finding some retail cards.  Well, after dinner, my colleagues and I ran into Wal-Mart for some odds and ends, and of course, for me to find some cards.  I was pleasantly surprised to see they had a gravity feed of 2011 Bowman.  I picked up two packs, and my mentor picked up one (blaming me for peer pressure).  He's the guy that I give all my WVU cards to, including the Pat White auto I pulled a couple weeks ago.  He collected cards in the '80s, and he's always been somewhat interested in what cards are like now, so what better product to ruin a look at modern cards than Bowman.  I had to explain to all of my co-workers the concept of autos and game-used cards and what cards are all about...you know what I mean, we all have to explain it at some point.  Anyway, my mentor opened his pack first:

BP16 Kody Hinze
BP79 Rafael Ynoa
158 Jered Weaver
134 Jason Castro
48 Justin Verlander
67 Kosuke Fukudome
FF7 Finest Futures Carlos Santana (1:4 insert)
BCP56 Kevin Mailloux Chrome
BCP51 James Fuller Chrome
151 Mark Buehrle Gold

I explained that it was a decent pack....some good pitchers and a nice insert.  He only recognized Verlander, and mainly because I talk about Mr. NoNo at work a lot.  He also donated the cards to me, in return for the countless WVU cards I've passed his way, so that was a pleasant surprise.  I pulled out my first pack, which was a little bit better:

BP8 Stephen Vogt
BP15 Michael Brenly
131 Gavin Floyd
203 Desmond Jennings RC
39 Carlos Lee
TP98 Topps 100 Zach Britton (1:3 insert)
BBR8 Bowman's Brightest Tyson Auer (1:8 insert)
BCP93 Brandon Belt Chrome
BCP21 Jose Pirela Chrome
44 Carlos Gonzalez Gold

A pair of inserts and a slightly better gold make this pack a little better.  So after explaining how rare good autos are in retail packs, I opened my second pack:

BP10 Erik Davis
BP73 Kevin Rivers
133 Jose Tabata
205 Freddie Freeman RC
189 Victor Martinez
TP6 Topps 100 Brandon Belt
BCP38 Eduardo Escobar
BCP101 Rymer Liriano
183 Bobby Abreu Gold

and this guy...

BPA-MP Michael Pineda AU

Damn right.  I had to explain my excitement to my co-workers, noting that this card is quite popular right now.  Pull of the year so far for me, edging out my 2009 Jared Mitchell Chrome AU, mainly because Pineda is nasssty right now, including against me in my fantasy baseball league. While I much prefer the Mitchell as it's a numbered Chrome Refractor On-Card Auto, the base sticker auto Pineda is just too good as far as timing.  I take back anything bad I said about Dayton.  I listed this card on eBay immediately because I gotta get it out there while it's hot.  Everything else is for trade (except Verlander), so let me know if you want anything.