My First Sign Of Spring Is Here. 2015 Topps Yakees Cards!

For those of you poor, unfortunate souls who live in the northeast like I do, you are looking for any glimmer of warmth from the cold winter we have been experiencing. It seems like when the calendar switched to 2015, old man winter turned down the thermostat and proclaimed, "I'm back".

I have been looking for anyway to beat the cold. Staying indoors, drinking lots of coffee, layering, anything. But today, my first real sign that the cruel winter will soon be over arrived in the mail today. No, it wasn't the head of old man winter staring at me when I opened my package. It was my 2015 Topps Series One Yankees cards that I got in a team break my team collector group recently held.

I had been holding off picking any packs of this up because I knew my group would be breaking the product. But, like a drug addict jonsing for his fix, I would wander into Target, looking at the card section in hopes of grabbing a rack pack or two. Then I remember that I have the absolute worst Target in the free world when I see no 2015 Topps. No 99 cents packs, no rack packs, no blisters, no nothing. I guess it's a good thing I didn't pick any up because when my package arrived, I tore into it like I tear into a Big Mac.

Let's take a look at the goods...

First off, I really like the design of this year's set. It's not the same, boring designs Topps has used in the past. I like how the Yankee colors are blended in the border and of course, the photography is top notch. Not Stadium Club top notch, but good enough for this collector. Love that Jeter card. The picture was taken during his last game at Yankee Stadium, right after he hit a walk off single to win the game in his last at bat. That's an image I will carry with me the rest of my life.

I get my Teixeira card for the Tex binder as well as the Jeter short print card. My only beef is there isn't a Betances card or a Chase Headley or a C.C. Sabatha card in this set. I understand that there need to be some players for Series Two, but come on. We couldn't have included Bryan Mitchell or Shawn Kelley in Series Two so we could get the missing stars in this series?

Ah, the inserts. I maybe one of the few collectors who don't complain about Topps bringing out so many inserts. I love inserts and I think Topps did a great job with the inserts in this set. I love the look of the Free Agent 40 cards. The Gallery Of Greats is a pretty classy looking card and I got some of the classier players you can find in Jeter, Rivera and DiMaggio.

Another nice looking insert set in this set is the Archetypes set. Love the way the gold and blue of the card blends in with the image of the player featured. I also got the only Yankee card in the Inspirations Duels set, which will also go into the Teixeira binder. I think Donnie Baseball will like it in there.

Finally, we come to these awesome insert cards, the Highlight Of The Year set. As you can probably gather, Topps takes a particular year and player and gives you a highlight of that year from the particular player chosen. I actually thought I had these cards in order by year when I took the picture. Embarrassing...

I also got a gold border parallel Derek Jeter short print and what I believe are Rainbow foils of Jeter, Ellsbury and Martin Prado.

My hit is this Career High Hiroki Kuroda autographed card. I have been trying to get a Kuroda autograph in my collection since he first joined the Yankees. I tried TTM to Steinbrenner Field during Spring Training and Yankee Stadium during the season. I tried in person at Yankee Stadum, but to no avail. No, I finally have a Kuroda autograph in my Yankees collection. I hope he does well in Japan for what may be his final year as a professional ball player.

I am really happy with this year's Topps release. I'm so glad I got in on the group break, I have just about every Yankee card in this series with the exception of Ellsbury Robbed card, the Babe Ruth Gallery Of Greats card. I didn't get any of the First Home Run cards or Babe Ruth Story cards, which I think are Target exclusives. The Coin And Stamp cards are case hits, so if I want any of those as well as the other autograph cards, I will have to go though eBay or trades with other collectors.

Regardless, I am quite pleased that I was able to add a near complete set of Yankees cards into my 2010 to 2019 Yankees Topps Flagship binder. Whenever I get new Yankee cards around the time Spring Training begins, I usually start to get my Yankee t shirts and jerseys ready because spring, and more importantly, Yankee baseball is just around the corner.

Recent Mailday. Yankees, Yankees And A 1/1

Recently I participated in a group break of 2014 Topps Minis. It's not a product I normally pick up as mini cards are kind of difficult to protect. Recently, I have seen pages that can hold mini cards, so my Allen and Ginter mini's can now be displayed in my A&G binder. Knowing this, I decided to take grab the Yankees spot in the group break and I'm very glad I did.

When I opened the mailbox, I was excited to see another package with my group break scores. It was the Mark Teixeira card I recently picked up off eBay.

I grabbed this 2007 MLB Artifacts Awesome Artifacts Quad jersey card numbered to 50 for a steal. I have a Derek Jeter bat card from this same subset and I put in a bid when I saw this card. I was pretty shocked when I won as  put in a $2.00 bid on it. I am very pleased to be able to add this to the Teixeira PC. This is game used card number 66 for the PC. The march towards 100 continues.

Then I opened up the bag containing my Yankees cards. My buddy threw in a couple of extras for me to add to my various collections.

A  Roger Maris Manufactured Patch Card for 2012 Topps Series 1. Me likey.

2013 Bowman Blue Border Mark Teixeira numbered to 500 for the Teixeira PC

2014 Allan & Ginter Lou Gehrig mini that I needed

A couple of the 2013 Topps Cut To The Chase inserts. I love these cards. I have to make sure I don't already have these two.

A 2012 Topps Derek Jeter Short Print card, which I am stoked to have in my Jeter PC.

And a couple of cards of El Capitain that I needed for my Jeter PC.

Now, on to the main event. To be honest, I think the Topps minis are actually pretty nice. They are just the regular flagship cards, shrunk down. They are going to look pretty sweet in their pages next to the regular flagship cards once I get the complete set done.

I have some Jeter and Teixeira cards to pull out for their PC's, but other than that, I will be putting them in the Topps flagship binder soon enough.

I got a few nice gold border cards in the batch. This Tanaka was the best of the bunch. This is numbered to 63. Not sure why Topps picked that number though.

And this pink bordered CC Sabathia card numbered to 25. Not sure if I'll chase after the set of these. Probably depends on how much the cards go for.

I also got a huge pull from this break. I was shocked when it was pulled and it's going to become a permanent part of my collection until I leave this life.

A yellow printing plate of Derek Jeter

Yup. A 1 of 1 card. My first 1 of 1 Jeter card. I am very happy that I could add this to my Jeter collection and will cherish it for life.

I am very glad I decided to participate in this group break. I actually almost passed on it. I can only imagine how I would feel if I saw that Jeter slip through my fingers. I might have given up on collecting cards all together. OK, not true, but I would have made sure I was involved in every single break going forward.

Now, I look towards 2015 Topps Series 1. Can't wait to break some of that.

Happy 4th Of July!

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Independence Day. I hope you all got to spend your day with family or friends or both. Hope you ate a ton of BBQ and had some adult beverages.

Me? I am spending mine watching the Yankees/Twins game. So far, the Yankees are winning, so I am hoping they hold on for the win.

Today, the Yankees are wearing special 4th of July caps.

I think they're alright. I will pick up one if I can find one that fits my tiny cranium.

Today is also the 75th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's famous speech. Major League Baseball is celebrating with a special video of the speech read by every first baseman in baseball and a special short stop.

I think MLB did a wonderful job producing this video and I'm sure everyone involved was honored to be asked to read a piece of what is essentially baseball's Gettysburgh Address.

Also, a commemorative patch has been produced for the players to wear today

 
I've always wanted to start collecting the patches the Yankees wear on special occasions. I would love for this to be the first one I grab.

To end this blog, I will post the speech Lou Gehrig made on this day back on July 4th 1939. I don't believe a full copy of the speech exists. From what I have read, a lot of the writers who were there that day go very emotional and not a one wrote down the speech word for word. I don't think it exists on film in it's entirety as well. But whenever I read what does exist, I get all choked up.

Happy Independence Day everyone!

Mark Teixeira Bobblehead

Back on Thursday, June 19th, the Yankees held their first bobblehead give away of the season. Now, as a bobblehead lovin' mofo, I was going to be there. Throw in the fact that it was Mark Teixeira Bobblehead night and I was practically scaling the wall to get my hands on one of these to add to my bobblehead collection. Thankfully, I was one of the first 18,000 fans to get to the Stadium early and Mr. Teixeira was added to my collection. I was then able to "enjoy" the game, watching the Yankees beat the Blue Jays in an important AL East battle 6-4. I say "enjoy" because the dude who was sitting next to me was invading my personal space by leaning on my arm, putting his back on me to take a picture of his group and opening his rather large book to read. I should have known he wasn't a baseball fan when he asked who Derek Jeter was.

But I didn't care. I had my bobblehead and I couldn't wait to get home, open it and put him on my shelf. When I opened the box, I was in for a bit of a surprise.

First off, let's take a look at the box. As you can see, I was given a box that was less than perfect. If I ever did want to resell this, the box would hurt the resale value on it. Most bobblehead collectors want the original box and for it to be in as pristine condition as it can be. This one falls short of the mark.

The front of the box has a picture that shows what the bobblehead inside will look like once you open it up. It also tell's you who it is and what number in this season's series it is. In this case, it's the first of 4 player bobbleheads to be given out this season. This doesn't count the Hello Kitty and Lucy bobbleheads that will be given out later in the season.

The box does have the listing of the rest of the player bobbleheads and the dates they will be given out. Right off the bat, I can see I will be missing the Lou Gehrig give away. Thank heaven for eBay.

The other two sides of the box has Tex prominently featured, just in case you forget which bobblehead you are getting and when you see the bobblehead, you just might.

I'm not really liking this bobblehead. First off, I'm not crazy about the size. It's a few inches smaller than a regular size bobble. I don't understand why we have to get smaller bobbleheads. Is it a way to save a few dollars?

That's being said. I could get past the size if this bobblehead looked anything like Mark Teixeira to begin with. I'm shocked that Alexander Global would allow this off the assembly line. They are usually pretty good with the likenesses of players. This one falls way off the mark. No pun intended on that one folks.

 On one side of the bobblehead, you get the name of the player and the sponsor on the base it's self, which is AT&T on this particular bobblehead. The lettering looks kind of sloppy as well, The last part of the last name is so crooked that the A is almost off the base completely. Plus, the paint on the letters as well as on the figure its self is very sloppy. There is a sploch of paint right on the ear, the hair is missing pain in spots and the lettering looks like a five year old painted them.

The back of the bobblehead is probably the best angle on this bobblehead. Numbers look fine and the pinstripes afre not crooked nor are they missing paint. The helmet is also nicely painted. The bat is screwed in, but it's not tight in it's hand, so if your are looking to pick up this bobblehead, your going to have to be careful with the bat.

Maybe this is the best side. You can't see the face.

I don't know what happened with this bobblehead. Maybe it's just mine, but that one side, the main side, is terribly painted. I don't know what happened at AGP. They are usually a very reliable company when making these bobbleheads. Someone really dropped the ball on this one. The reaction I got when I opened the box is usually saved for Forever bobbleheads. Hopefully, someone got an earful regarding this one.

Regardless of how this one came out, I am looking forward to the other three bobbleheads, especially the Lou Gehrig which is commemorating the 75th anniversary of his famous speech. If you haven't seen the bobblehead, here's a picture of what fans will be given this Wednesday at 1:05 PM:

Man, I am going to hate missing this game.

Last year, AGP did a good job on the Jeter, Matsui, Rivera and Berra bobbleheads. Plus, I have loved their earlier bobbleheads that were given out at Yankee Stadium in 2002 and 2003. That's pretty much why I am giving them a pass on the Teixeira. Although I am pretty disappointed with how this one came out, I believe the next bobbleheads will be better and ones that will be worthy of being displayed in any bobblehead collection.

Yankee Stadium Tour

It's cold outside. It's snowing. So, what do I do? Do I curl up in front of the T.V. and watch some Yankeeography? Do I go and build a snowman? How about none of the above. When it's colder than cold and the snow is blowing in my face, I want to be reminded how soon it will be warmer than Hades so I go to my summer home. I take a trip to Yankee Stadium.

My girlfriend, Gina, was in town for Valentine's Day Weekend and one of the places we both wanted to visit was the home of our favorite team. So, we went on Saturday afternoon to see if there was any tickets available for any of the remaining tours that day. Luck was on our side and we were able to score tickets for the 3:20 tour.

Before the tour started, we walked around and took some pictures outside the ballpark.

Once we were let inside, we were treated to a fantastic view of the Great Hall.

And The Hard Rock Cafe

And The Yankees Clubhouse Store right next to the Hard Rock

Once the tour started, Carlos, our tour guide, led us up to the Yankee Museum. We stopped by the Mickey Mantle Exhibit first. Mantle is one of my favorite Yankees, so this was a real treat for me.

There are a lot of those pieces on display I would just love to add to my Yankees collection, especially those vintage magazines, the movie poster and pin collection. I just wish I got a better picture of the pin collection.

After the Mantle display, we got a look at all the Yankees World Series rings. The Yankees got pocket watches instead of rings. The first year the Yankees got a ring was 1927 when they swept Pittsburgh. Due to the crowd, I was unable to take pictures of all the rings. I just got a few quick shots of the more current rings.

After the rings, we were bought to the Babe Ruth exhibit.

Lou Gehrig Exhibit

After the Museum, We were then taken to the Press Box. The view of the field from there is real nice. Makes me wish I finished my journalism degree so I could have worked from there as newspaper reporter.

Then we went down to one of the suites. This particular suite goes for 385.00, which includes an all you can eat buffet. A great view and food makes me consider this deal.

Yes, they serve Blue Moon here. Deal maker.

Gina and I even got to take a picture on the Suite deck.

After this they took us to a more expensive suite, which was pretty unimpressive. Just a couple of tables and pictures. I didn't really take any pictures in this suite. I was too busy talking to Carlos, our tour guide. We found out he is a 19 year old who is a student at St. John's University, taking Sports Management as his major. He's working his way through college by being a tour guide at the Stadium. Carlos seemed to be pretty smart person. I hope he goes pretty far in life.

OK, I lied. I did get to take a picture with the huge Tino Martinez picture in the suite.

After, we were led back downstairs and given wrist bands and that was the end of the tour. A bit disappointing because we couldn't go into the players locker room, dugout and on to the field. Carlos told us that because they were still dismantling the hockey rink we couldn't go down there. Great. First my Islanders lose to the Rangers, now we were denied access to the field. I was told to come back for a later tour during the season and we could go to the locker rooms and field, so I'm thinking that's what Gina and I will do.

Afterward, Gina and I picked up a few items at the Clubhouse Store and left the Stadium.

Outside the Stadium, I noticed a life sized bobblehead. I have this same bobblehead on my shelf, which is an all star bobblehead. I don't remember which All Star game it was from though.

Then Gina and I decided to hit the Yankee Tavern. Rumor has it that Babe Ruth actually used to get drunk here so I thought it would be a great place for Gina to visit.

It's a nice little place. In between drinks and some Motown on the jukebox, we got to take a quick picture.

Dispite the snow and the fact we weren't able to visit the locker room or field, this turned out to be a great day at the Stadium. I now we will take the tour again and now Gina can say she had a drink in the same bar that Babe Ruth did. Isn't that what dreams are made of?