2008 Topps Chrome Hobby Box Break

2008 Topps Chrome Hobby Box
24 packs, 4 cards per pack
2 autographs per box

All Topps Chrome is good Chrome, but not all sets are created equal.  Most feel 2008 Topps is a bit of a weak design.

Everyone and their dog has seen the set by now, so I'll keep this to inserts and hits.

Chrome Trading Card History still ring cool.

Seven total.  Super shine.

These 50th Anniversary All-Rookie Team cards are beautiful.  Combing shine with color, a giant trophy, and a nice pic, is a formula that can't fail in my book.

Topps wasn't able to kill my joy of pulling a Mantle card, but they sure have been trying.  Now if people pull a Mantle Topps card they are just as likely to be annoyed as they are to be happy.

Okay, okay...the hits:

Chrome Heritage serial numbered to 1959.

Kendrick refractor s/n to 599.

A rookie card!  Oh...Brian Bass (4.87 lifetime era).  Copper refractor serial numbered to 599.

Finally.  A copper refractor Griffey numbered to 599.

Ohlendorf auto.  After a terrible 2008 with the Yanks (6.46 era), Ohlendorf was shipped to the Pirates where he had a respectable season in 2009 (11-10, 3.92 era).

I don't mind getting this auto because it appears Ohlendorf might have a fairly long stay in the majors.  As long as I get players that stick around I usually am okay with the auto.  It's also his rookie card which is always more desirable.

Randy Wells auto.  Another rookie card.

At first glance a lot of baseball fans probably don't remember much about Wells' 2009 season.  He had a crisp 3.05 era in 165.1 innings (12-10 record) for the Cubs.  The 26 year old finished sixth in the Rookie of the Year balloting.

Wells kinda came out of nowhere (3.75 career era in seven seasons in the minors).  He impressed Pinella quite a bit and the Cubs will be counting on him to repeat his 2009 performance.

I'm definitely content with this auto.

Overall this was probably a slightly below average box.  The Griffey Jr copper refractor and Wells auto stand out above a sea of mediocre hits.

2005 Donruss Champions Hobby Box Break (Box 2, Eight Game Used Hits)

2005 Donruss Champions Hobby Box

24 packs, 8 cards per pack

Look for (8) Game-Used or Autograph Cards and (16) Parallels per box on average
Cost: $49.95 (Blowout Cards - Black Friday deal)

Ah ha!  Feedback from readers regarding the first box break of this product told me I got lucky: 2005 Donruss Champions Box 1.  Indeed that seems to be the case.  This time around it looks like I've come away with a more common box.

Box break one has a lot of pictures of base along with the hits.

I'll just show the hits for box two:

 Impressions Red Inserts:  Orlando Cabrera (s/n: #241/250), Ken Griffey Jr. (s/n: #162/250), Rafael Furcal (s/n: #075/250), Andruw Jones (s/n: #003/250).

Impressions Blue Insert:  Eddy Rodriguez (s/n: #041/100).

Impressions Green Insert:  Deivi Cruz (s/n: #07/25).

So Taguchi bat card.

Brad Radke jersey card.

Josh Phelps bat card.

Toby Hall jersey card.  I also received two serial numbered cards of Hall in the first box.  I seem to get a lot of Toby Hall stuff.  Yes he has a page in the binder with games used, serial numbered, and auto cards.  I never deliberately seek him out but I somehow start to enjoy the random (and essentially valueless) Toby Hall inserts that wander my way.  It's a sick resignation to 'The Toby Problem'.

Adam Dunn bat card.  I like Big Donkey.  He is one of just eight players in major league history to hit 40 or more home runs in five straight seasons.  His 38 home runs in '09 ended the streak.

Dunn will only be age 30 for all of 2010.  With 316 lifetime home runs already, he looks likely to finish with 550-600 in his career.  If he finishes with that many will the Hall of Fame voters be able to ignore him?

Dunn reminds me a lot of Harmon Killebrew.  They both hit around .250 usually, with massive power and a lot of walks.  In fact, Killebrew had 321 home runs at Dunn's age.  Killebrew finished with 573 in his career.

I wish the Orioles had signed Dunn to a five year contract.  He was a Hell of a bargain at the time.  It amazes me nobody wanted him.  The offense he supplies greatly outweighs his struggles in the field.

Troy Glaus jersey card.  His career is quite similar to Dunn's except Glaus has been injured often and also directly tied to receiving performance enhancing drugs through an "illegal internet distribution network" (source: Sports Illustrated).  Dunn has not been implicated.  Dunn's numbers have stayed almost identical pre-roid testing and post-roid testing.  Sometimes a Big Donkey is just a Big Donkey.

Wilson Betemit jersey/bat card (s/n: #184/210).

Doug Mientkiewicz jersey card (s/n: #004/118).  Great patch.  This card is thicker than the other game used cards I pulled.  I have hardly any three-color patches.

The hits were all fairly basic.  Mientkiewicz is the card of the box, which says a lot.  I still can't help but admit I really enjoy this product.  You get a stack of stars including retired players (none shown - see first box break), and a lot of inserts. 

Sure, there was nothing staggering here.  This box is still fun even if you miss out on a big hit.  There are plenty of boxes out there that leave you feeling empty if you don't land a nice pull.