Group Break: Final Tally

Well, my goal to get everything done before Thanksgiving didn't really work out.  But, things are wrapping up and I am starting to pack your cards.

First, I need to reveal who got the multiteam cards:

2008 Upper Deck Heroes 193 Black
(Nolan Ryan/Greg Maddux/Randy Johnson)
Rangers

2008 Upper Deck Heroes 193 Black
(Nolan Ryan/Greg Maddux/Randy Johnson)
Diamondbacks

2008 Upper Deck Heroes 193
(Nolan Ryan/Greg Maddux/Randy Johnson)
Diamondbacks

2008 Upper Deck Heroes 199 Black
(Griffey/Clemente/Guerrero/DiMaggio)
Reds

2008 Upper Deck Heroes 179 Black
(Reyes/Jeter)
Mets

2008 Upper Deck Heroes 192 Black
(Mauer/Ramirez/Tulowitzki)
Rockies

2008 Upper Deck Heroes 189 Black
(Jones/Braun/Cabrera)
Braves

2008 Upper Deck Heroes 200
(Pujols/Jeter/Fielder/Ortiz)
Brewers

2008 Upper Deck Heroes 184
(Gibson/Peavy)
Padres

2011 Topps Opening Day PFP-2 Presidential First Pitch Harry Truman
(Yankees/Twins)
Twins

2011 Topps Stickers 141/304
(Padres/Cubs)
Padres

2011 Topps 109
(Hamilton/Cabrera/Mauer)
Twins

2011 Topps 202 Platinum Diamond Anniversary
(Bautista/Konerko/Cabrera)
White Sox

2011 Topps Diamond Duos DD-27
(Johnson/Verlander)
Tigers

2011 Topps Heritage Babe Ruth Special 143
(Red Sox/Yankees)
Yankees

2009 Upper Deck Goudey 4-in-1 35-99
(Fowler/Snider/Bowden/Antonelli)
Rockies

2009 Upper Deck Goudey 4-in-1 35-16
(Sandberg/Uggla/Kinsler/Utley)
Marlins

1999 Topps Finest Split Screen SS7
(Galarraga/Thomas)
White Sox

2011 Tristar Obak 31 Germany Schaefer
(Cubs/Tigers/Senators/Yankees/Indians)
Tigers

2011 Tristar Obak 13 Hugh Duffy
(White Sox/Brewers/Red Sox/Phillies)
White Sox

2011 Tristar Obak 96 Al Simmons "Bucketfoot"
(Athletics/White Sox/Tigers/Senators/Braves/Reds/Red Sox)
Reds

2006 Topps Update UH213 Stolen Bases League Leaders
(Reyes/Pierre/Ramirez)
Mets

2007 Topps Update UH281 Classic Combo
(Hamels/Martin)
Dodgers


Now that we got that out of the way, here are the draft results for the non-team cards:

1. Eric L - 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions 70 Chuck Liddell (MMA)
2. Derek - 2008 Upper Deck Presidential Predictors PP-11 John McCain vs. Barack Obama "Taxes"
3. Justin - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 161 "D-Day Invasion"
4. Derek - 2010 Upper Deck CP-3/CP-4 Celebrity Predictors Timberlake/Diaz
5. Derek - 2008 Upper Deck Team USA USA-20 Ryan Flaherty
6. Derek - 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions 68 Matt Ryan (QB, Boston College) Mini
7. Matt Pederson - 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions 187 Joe Alexander (Bareback Rider)
8. Derek - 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions 16 Abraham Lincoln (US President) Mini
9. Robert - 2011 Topps Allen and Ginter WMF7 World's Most Mysterious Figures "The Man in the Iron Mask" Mini
10. Jason Cline - 2011 Topps Allen and Ginter AOM10 Ascent of Man Sarcopterygii
11. Derek - 2009 Bowman Chrome World Baseball Classic BCW16 Cheng-Min Peng (Chinese Taipei)
12. Robert - 2011 Topps HOT-4 History of Topps "1957 - Topps Sets the Card Size Standard"
13. Dayf - 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions 36 Lyndon Johnson (US President)
14. Josh D - 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Gypsy Queens GQ10 Levitia, Kars
15. Derek - 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions 128 Bill Rodgers (Marathon Runner)
16. Madding - 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions 128 Bill Rodgers (Marathon Runner)
17. Play at the Plate - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 161 "D-Day Invasion"
18. Derek - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 184 "Brooklyn Bridge Completed"
19. Daily Dimwit - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 184 "Brooklyn Bridge Completed"
20. Derek - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 197 "Republican Party Founded"
21. Jeff Laws - 1992 Confex Fun Stuff Baseball Enquirer Mystery Interview 16 Unknown
22. Derek - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 176 "Elevator Invented"
23. Derek - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 179 "Eiffel Tower Erected"
24. Derek - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 199 "Euro Currency Introduced"
25. Josh D - 2011 Tristar Obak 13 Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Commissioner Mini
26. Derek - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 163 "Earth Day"
27. Dawgbones - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 197 "Republican Party Founded"
28. Cheap Card Collecting - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 156 "18th Amendment Adopted"
29. Rod - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 185 "X-Ray Invented"
30. Derek - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 177 "Microwave Oven Invented"
31. Derek - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 172 "US Constitution Signed"
32. Daily Dimwit - 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History 176 "Elevator Invented"

So, that brings us to the final team tally:

Now, don't despair, those that didn't get a hit.  Chances are, your package will have a hit in it from your team, or at least a few nice cards that I have added as a bonus.  Now, let's dig ridiculously deeper into the group break results:

Essentially, if you assume a 10-card pack, we saw 8 base cards, 1 parallel, and 1insert per pack.  Hits came at roughly 1:10 packs, replacing the parallel.   Specifically, relics would come at a rate of 1:12 packs, whereas autos would fall at a rate of 1:55 packs.  I'd say those are reasonable numbers given that the majority of this stuff was retail.  The analysis breaks down a little given the fact that I am counting manu-patches as relics, but I think the trend is still pretty good. 

The two most hated teams in the card world are the Yankees and the Red Sox because of their perceived preferential treatment.  Well, all evidence here suggest that they are, in fact, the two most overproduced teams.  Since there are 30 teams, an even distribution would say the Yanks/Sox would make up 6.67% of the cards.  In this break, the Yanks/Sox combo made up 12% of all cards, including 16% of the parallels and a whopping 22% of the inserts.  So, I would conclude that the hate is warranted. 

As far as the MLB divisions go, the base card distribution is much closer to average, with each division getting 3-4% per team:

 When you look at inserts and parallels, the AL bias comes into play:

The NL (specifically the NL West) got their money back on the hits, though:

Now, let's look at what all was ripped for the break:

(1) 1991 Donruss Wax Pack
(1) 1992 Confex Baseball Enquirer Mystery Interview Pack
(1) 1998 Stadium Club Hobby Pack
(6) 1999 Topps Finest Hobby Pack
(3) 2000 Just Minors Justifiable Pack
(1) 2000 Topps Gold Label Hobby Pack
(1) 2000 Vanguard Hobby Pack
(1) 2002 Donruss Super Estrellas Pack
(1) 2002 Upper Deck Hobby Pack
(2) 2004 Bowman Hobby Pack
(10) 2004 Donruss Studio Pack
(2) 2005 Topps Hobby Pack
(6) 2006 Fleer Tradition Retail Pack
(1) 2006 Topps Retail Pack
(1) 2006 Topps Update Hobby Pack
(1) 2006 Upper Deck Series 1 and 2 Rack Pack
(1) 2007 Fleer Retail Pack
(1) 2007 Topps Chrome Retail Pack
(1) 2007 Topps Update Retail Pack
(4) 2007 Upper Deck Retail Pack
(1) 2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Hobby Tin
(36) 2008 UD Heroes Blaster Pack
(3) 2008 UD Heroes Retail Pack
(10) 2008 UD X Blaster Pack
(18) 2008 UD X Retail Pack
(8) 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Blaster Pack
(10) 2008 Upper Deck Series 2 Blaster Pack
(7) 2008 Upper Deck Timeline Pack
(4) 2009 Bowman Retail Pack
(1) 2009 Topps Chrome Retail Pack
(2) 2009 Topps Series 2 Cereal Box
(2) 2009 Topps Series 2 Hobby Pack
(4) 2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom Retail Pack
(24) 2009 Topps Update Blaster Pack
(14) 2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History Blaster Pack
(10) 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Retail Pack
(8) 2009 Upper Deck Goudey Blaster Pack
(2) 2009 Upper Deck Goudey Retail Pack (5)
(5) 2009 Upper Deck Goudey Retail Pack (9)
(3) 2009 Upper Deck Icons Pack
(2) 2009 Upper Deck Retail Pack
(10) 2009 Upper Deck Series 2 Blaster Pack
(2) 2009 Upper Deck SP Authentic Pack
(12) 2009 Upper Deck Spectrum Blaster Pack
(1) 2010 Pro Debut Series 1 Hobby Pack
(1) 2010 Topps 206 Retail Pack
(8) 2010 Topps Chrome Blaster Pack
(3) 2010 Topps Update Blaster Patch Pack
(10) 2010 Upper Deck Blaster Pack
(2) 2010 Upper Deck Retail Pack
(2) 2011 Bowman Blister Pack
(2) 2011 Bowman Chrome Hobby Pack
(3) 2011 Bowman Platinum Retail Pack
(5) 2011 Bowman Rack Pack
(3) 2011 Bowman Retail Pack
(1) 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter Retail Pack
(2) 2011 Topps Attax Retail Pack
(1) 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Retail Pack
(2) 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Value Pack
(3) 2011 Topps Heritage Hobby Pack
(2) 2011 Topps Heritage Retail Pack
(1) 2011 Topps Lineage Rack Pack
(1) 2011 Topps Opening Day Rack Pack
(1) 2011 Topps Series 1 Rack Pack
(7) 2011 Topps Series 1 Retail Pack
(2) 2011 Topps Series 2 Dollar Tree Pack
(1) 2011 Topps Series 2 Hobby Pack
(1) 2011 Topps Series 2 Rack Pack
(4) 2011 Topps Series 2 Retail Pack
(6) 2011 Topps Stickers Pack
(1) 2011 Topps Update Jumbo Pack
(2) 2011 Topps Update Rack Pack
(3) 2011 Topps Update Retail Pack
(1) 2011 Topps Update Value Pack Refractor
(5) 2011 Topps Update Value Pack Retail Pack
(1) 2011 Topps Value Pack Refractor
(2) 2011 Tristar Obak Retail Pack
(1) Bonus Jersey Pack
(2) Dollar Tree Jumbo Pack

That's almost 350 packs from 14 different years.  The breakdown:

2008 and 2009 made up about half of all cards, likely due to the availability of discounted blasters.  More than a quarter of the cards came from 2011, which was more than I thought.  Hopefully that means a lot of you scored newer cards you wanted. 

Since this break was inspired by Moneyball, I must make some mention of the price-ranking.  The Yankees and Red Sox were two of the top priced teams, and they didn't disappoint by racking up crazy stacks of inserts and parallels.  The Phillies, the #2 team, came through in the clutch with a couple of late relics for Dawgbones.  The Tigers did well with 3 relics, and the Cardinals were the third-highest card total.  They were both just above-average in price.  As for the lower end of the spectrum, the Diamondbacks and Astros over-acheived by pulling in relics of future HOFers Randy Johnson and Craig Biggio, respectively. 

Now, to the awards portion of the show:

Best Base Card: 1998 Stadium Club John Smoltz - Smoltz making a grab at the wall? Awesome. 

Best Parallel Card: 2011 Topps Update Babe Ruth Liquorfractor - This was pulled before the break officially started, but you can't beat the Babe on a Liquorfractor in a Red Sox jersey.

Best Insert Card: 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Preview Joe DiMaggio - I'm a little biased towards Joe, this year.  It's a great looking card, though. 

Best Relic: 2009 Topps Update Mickey Mantle Commemorative Patch - Sure it's out of fashion to pick a manu-patch here, but it's the best card, plain and simple.

Best Auto: 2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Signatures Adrian Gonzalez - No doubt about this one. 

MVP (Most Valuable Participant): Rod (Padrographs) - He killed this break.  He paid $9 for the Padres only to rack up nearly 100 cards, a Maddux relic, and the Gonzalez auto from above. 

I will be packing up the cards this week and will hopefully have them out by early next week.  If you are feeling the holiday spirit, you could even wait until Christmas Day to open them. 

And so ends my first ever group break.  I hope you enjoyed it.  I sure did.  Then, I hated it.  Then, I enjoyed it a little more; then, I hated it a little.  Then I really hated it at the end.  Now I'm enjoying it again.

Thanks for participating, hopefully you enjoy your cards once my slow ass gets them sent out!


-----Epic final group break post complete-----