Super Bowl Countdown: 3 Days to go

So here's a set that serves no purpose and just needs to go away. 

Wow, these scan worse than yesterday's Elite cards.

This is a red foil parallel, not that you could tell there was foil on the base cards. Apparently the red parallels are not numbered, which means they really really serve no purpose.

I hate hate hate the use of "Freshman" for rookies.  Even worse are wordplays like "Freshman Orientation".  Ugh.  The worst is "Frosh" by far.  Hmm, let's see, Egnew....Egnew...ah...here it is.  Michael Egnew appeared in two games this year and registered 0 catches for 0 yards and 0 touchdowns.  Super.  To be fair, his QB is a TE, too.

No points for the second day in a row.  I guess the Super Bowl will feature a period where the game is tied for a while...you know, since this prediction is perfect.

Ravens 11
49ers 11

Super Bowl Countdown: 4 Days to go

What better way to celebrate two elit teams than with 2 Elite packs?

No points to be had here.

#/399

A hit is always nice.  I'm a big fan of horizontal, large swatches on vertical cards.  If the swatch is going to cover part of the picture, it might as well do it all the way across.

No points means we still have a tie.

Ravens 11
49ers 11

Super Bowl Countdown: 5 Days to go

Who doesn't love Topps Chrome?

Today we have one value pack (3 packs + 3 orange refractors) and two hobby packs.

Vernon Davis was wide open that entire last game...will he be able to keep that up?  Too bad the PAts didn't make it, they had loads of points here.

Schaubfractor and DangeRuss RC, not bad.  The die cut rookie is pretty sweet too.  I really like the throwback cards.  The chrome tallboys are still cooler, though.

So, just one point for the 49ers puts us back in a tie:

Ravens 11
49ers 11

Super Bowl Countdown: 6 Days to go

Time for some randomness:

Is Jimmy Smith speed skating?  Pretty sure David Johnson is a badass.

5'6" Jim Breech kicked with a size 5 shoe...apparently David Johnson isn't the only badass around these parts.

I vaguely remember there being a blogger that super collected this guy but can't remember who it was.  Oh well.

49ers pick up a pair of points to draw closer to the Ravens.

Ravens 11
49ers 10

Super Bowl Countdown: 7 Days to go

One week to the Super Bowl!  Who's watching the Pro Bowl tonight?  I may flip it on, but I'm not really that interested.  I'm predicting Andrew Luck throws at least 1 pick. 

Today we have 18 packs (aka 2 blasters) of 2008 Heroes football.

2 points for the 49 ers for a pair of Willis' and 1 point for Flacco's Ravens.  I tried to throw Welker a point, but he dropped it.

Go Hokies.  My dream scenario is for Joe Flacco to be unable to play in the Super Bowl and Tyrod Taylor comes in and leads the Ravens to victory.

Ugh.  My least favorite player in the league. I'm glad this card doesn't get any points.

Ravens 11
49ers 8

Super Bowl Countdown: 8 Days to go

Since yesterday's packs didn't yield any points, I figured I would crank it up a notch with two high volume 2010 Gridiron Gear rack packs:

Those little red stickers are hard to resist.

Three points to the 49ers here...sorry Pats and Falcons, you coulda had 3, too.

The Ravens rack up 5 points.  Dennis Pitta gets my vote for most underrated player in the Super Bowl.

1 point for my Hokie collection.

Silver O #/250 and Gamebreakers insert

I never really saw the intrigue behind the X's and O's parallels.

The Ravens extended their lead with these packs:

Ravens 10
49ers 6

That's actually a somewhat reasonable mid-game score...

Super Bowl Countdown: 9 days to go

I said once before that I really liked 2012 SPx football.  Well, I snagged some more packs.  4 to be exact.

"Look for rookie auto jersey cards!" ...don't mind if I do...

Damn these cards are sweet...no rookie auto jersey cards here, though.

Got a bad rookie, but no rookie auto jersey cards.

Wow, what a sweet card.  This is a great card for fans of the underdog.  Moore and Keenum were two "system" QBs who really torched college defenses throughout their careers.  I really like the dual swatches.  Still, it's not a rookie auto jersey card.

Rookie - Check.  Auto - Check.  Jersey - Check.  Card - Check....ladies and gentlemen, we have a rookie auto jersey card, just like the pack says. Woohoo!  I really like the layout of the card, too.  The oversized wide swatch looks great, and they didn't skimp with the player photo. Ingram was a first round pick of the Chargers, and while he wasn't spectacular this year, he does have a lot of potential to be a solid pass rusher. 

Unfortunately for the Ravens and 49ers, no points are awarded for today.

Ravens 5
49ers 3

Super Bowl Countdown: 10 Days to go

Let's do a double rip today: 2 x 2012 Topps Platinum Hobby Packs

So, another appearance of Alex Smith, on a parallel no less, and he has all 3 of the 49ers points.  While this looks like a pack win for the 49ers, a Ravens rookie feels otherwise:

I'm giving this bad boy 3 points for being a die cut refractor insert.  It's a great looking card in person.  It doesn't hurt that Pierce is a good contributor this year (532 yds, no fumbles). 

Ravens 5
49ers 3

Super Bowl Countdown: 11 Days to go

Today's Pack: 2006 SP Authentic

I actually got this off eBay for $0.99. 

Wow, Reggie Bush on the cover...remember when that guy dated Kim Kardashian? Reggie Bush...Kris Humphries...Kanye with a kid...that's a serious downhill slide.

Score one for the Ravens. 

The first of several hits in this countdown...

On card autographs are always king.

Ravens 2
49ers 1

Super Bowl Countdown: 12 Days to go

Today's Pack: 2005 Bowman Hobby Pack

I picked up this pack because 2005 happens to be the rookie year of Bryan Randall, my all-time favorite VT player.  The weird part about buying this pack, though, is that I already have the base, bronze, silver #/200, and the gold 1/1.  So, barring a miraculous printing plate pull, I didn't really have a good reason to pick this pack up, especially since 2005 Bowman can be expensive.  2005 is also the rookie year of Aaron Rodgers.

I'm awarding one point to the 49ers for the pack featuring also-rookie Alex Smith.  I'm guessing the 49ers really hope they don't see that pack image on Super Bowl Sunday: Alex Smith with a helmet and a football.

Nothing crazy with the base cards.  The bronze parallel in the lower right is a Heath Miller RC...not bad, though he's a dirty Wahoo. One guy who isn't a dirty Wahoo is Kevin Jones, who is a clean Hokie:

Score one for the home team...well, not in the Super Bowl...I mean me...y'know, the guy who runs this joint.

Tie ballgame:

Ravens 1
49ers 1

Super Bowl Countdown: 13 Days to go

This was originally intended for Monday, but I spent MLK day with family. 

This is also my 900th post.  I really can't believe that.  When I started this blog, I never though I would get to 100 posts...

Now that the Super Bowl is set with the 49ers taking on the Ravens, it's time to countdown to game time, and keep score along the way.

Pretty much all of the cards I show in this countdown are available for trade except for former Hokies and former Wolverines*

Today's pack: 2012 Topps Strata Hobby Pack

Let me start this post by pointing out the most awful thing about Strata.  The hobby base cards are nice thick card stock.  The retail base cards are thin crap.  What moron decided there should be two versions of the base set with the only difference being card stock?  That person needs to be slapped.

 

 

On another base card note...the base cards are a complete waste of time.

 



Strata essentially equals layers.  That concept was completely lost on these cards.  They could have done so much more with the base set.  If these cards had Halo characters on them, they would make more sense.  Maybe I'm just mad because my one hobby pack had nothing but base cards.  Or, maybe these cards really do suck. I could also be mad because I bought a retail pack that had an Andrew Luck RC in it, yet I have no idea where the pack ended up.

Anyway, the Ravens pick up one point for the Anquan Boldin, who was a beast in the conference championship game.

Ravens 1
49ers 0

* Dennis, don't worry about claiming any Michigan players' cards. I've already pulled them aside for you.

2011 Sweet Spot Football Box 5 of 5

Like Box 4, this one is timed with a football game.  This time, it's Ravens vs. Patriots.  My pick?  Ray Lewis and the Ravens defense are able to keep the game close for a while due to the absence of Gronk in the red zone.  Flacco will play well enough to give the Ravens a third quarter lead, but it will be all Brady for the rest of the game.  Patriots 30, Ravens 21.

We finally come to the last Sweet Spot box.  The last three have been good, producing autos of Aldon Smith, Cam Newton, and DeMarco Murray.  Of course, my favorite was the Tyrod Taylor base auto from the third box.

Tin 1:
69 Evan Royster
13 Niles Paul
39 Nick Fairley
5 DeMarco Murray
35 J.J. Watt
MR-24 Bo Jackson Chris Mortensen Retro Report
RS-TA Tyrod Taylor Helmet Autograph

>>> Hell yeah! First I get a base Tyrod auto, then I snag a helmet auto.  I may need to track down the helmet variation auto for the trifecta.  It's always fun to pull a player you collect.  It's even more fun when you get the exact card you wanted.

Tin 2:
8 Colin McCarthy
15 Stephen Paea
50 Anthony Allen
85 Cam Newton
41 Dane Sanzenbacher
91 Ryan Mallett
TM-5 Torrey Smith Todd McShay Scouting Report
53 Nathan Enderle Autograph

Tin 3:
16 Ras-I Dowling
27 Mario Fannin
47 Ryan Whalen
66 Jeremy Beal
94 Shane Vereen
MR-11 Brian Bosworth Chris Mortensen Retro Report
RS-AB Allen Bailey Helmet Autograph

 

>>> Ugh, another auto from The []_[].  Seriously, people use []_[] for The U in message boards.  Another reason I don't like Miami.  At least I was able to pair this with the regular Bailey helmet auto in a ebay listing.  If Brian Bosworth played volleyball, he'd be Steve Timmons

Tin 4:
89 Mark Ingram
45 John Clay
71 Aldon Smith
67 Ross Homan
4 Vai Taua
59 Vincent Brown
TM-19 Greg Little Todd McShay Scouting Report
40 Austin Pettis Autograph

>>> Speaking of ebay listing pairings, I was able to sell this Pettis along with his helmet auto from box 2.  Good times.  That does it for my Sweet Spot breaks.  It was an exciting finish, for sure, with pulling a Tyrod Taylor helmet auto in the last box.