Sports Card Forum - A Sports Card Community - Blogs - thecardswap https://www.sportscardforum.com/blogs/66782-thecardswap SportsCardForum is your source for everything related to sports cards for collectors and non-collectors alike! en Sat, 06 Jun 2026 23:46:19 GMT vBulletin 60 https://www.sportscardforum.com/images/misc/rss.jpg Sports Card Forum - A Sports Card Community - Blogs - thecardswap https://www.sportscardforum.com/blogs/66782-thecardswap 2018 Gypsy Queen Box Break Recap and some banter https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/2458-2018-Gypsy-Queen-Box-Break-Recap-and-some-banter Wed, 28 Mar 2018 19:01:45 GMT On Monday night, we opened 3 hobby boxes of Gypsy Queen. It was really fun to open, even though our autos were pretty weak. Including getting two Garrett Cooper autos. The Gypsy Queen set this year... On Monday night, we opened 3 hobby boxes of Gypsy Queen. It was really fun to open, even though our autos were pretty weak. Including getting two Garrett Cooper autos. The Gypsy Queen set this year has a slightly different look than the past GQ sets. Is it me, or is does it feel like all the GQ designs blend together? This set feels different and will stand out from some of the other stale GQ designs. They have gotten the memo. In addition to a new base card look and feel, Topps went all out in sticking with the variation craze that seems to be going on. Variations are one of my favorite things to collect, but lately these sets are going overboard with them. Some of the variations that GQ put out this year include:Missing Black Plate, Capless Photo, Jackie Robinson Day Photo, Missing Team Name, GQ Logo Swap, Bazooka Back Parallels, Legend Variation, and Team Swap (which is just confusing). Heritage and Donruss each had a lot of variations supporting their sets as well. Which was consistent last year, but 2018 GQ added a few more versions to their list of variations/parallels. As opening, it's hard not to be distracted by knowing what to look for. Most of the variations come in the pack facing a different way but they are still sneaky and hard to always find the first time through.


One other thing that was different last year is the quality of the Glassworks box toppers. They were cool in the past, but this year they are so much nicer. The quality of the card in general, but also the design and colors they used this year really made these cards more than a $2-3 dollar throwaway item like most of the players last year. Our 3 Glassworks cards for this break were Francisco Lindor, Freddie Freeman, and Mike Trout. A picture will not do these cards any justice.


Gypsy Queen also featured some nice inserts this year. The Fortune Teller insert and the Tarot inserts are different and fun theme. These cards don't hold much value but are definitely fun to open and get for your PC players. The Francisco Lindor and Aaron Judge Tarot cards really stood out to me.


Variations and Parallels we opened:


Corey Seager - Jackie Robinson Day/GQ Logo Swap
Buster Posey - GQ Logo Swap
Trevor Story - Bazooka Back
James McCann - Bazooka Back
Adam Jones - Bazooka Back
Ted Williams - Legends Variation
Hank Aaron - Legends Variation
Cal Ripken - Legends Variation
Bryce Harper - Missing Team Name
Elvis Andrus - Missing Team Name
Javy Baez - Missing Team Name
Byron Buxton - Missing Team Name
Tommy Pham - Missing Team Name
Andrew Cashner - Blue Border /250
Alex Coleme - Blue Border /250
Shin Soo Choo - Blue Border /250
Byron Buxton - Black and White /50
Tim Anderson - Black and White /50


Here are the 6 Autos we received:


Jose Berrios
Garrett Cooper RC - Qty 2
Zack Granite RC
Franklin Barreto
Brandon Woodruff RC


We also opened one Shohei Ohtani Rookie Card.


That was about it from the break. It was a lot of fun and I am looking to break two boxes of this next week. Still coming up with logistics but will be posting that soon.


Is everyone ready for opening day!?! It really snuck up on me this year, especially with the season starting on a Thursday. Do you have a favorite opening day memory? For me, it was just blowing off work when living in Baltimore then just watching baseball all day. It's been a tradition I have tried to keep up. Along with my yearly opening day picture of my daughter and I, that photo gets used for our yearly baseball card.


Some updates on The Card Swap just in case you missed them. Redesigned HOME PAGE! Hopefully eliminated any cluttering and confusion. I think this layout has a better flow to it. Redesigned SHOP and COLLECTIONS! Now with a search function, You can now easier find players, cards, and blogs even faster. This new design should also improve mobile shopping experience. The slider galleries should make it easier to scroll and see more cards, faster!

picture version here ]]> thecardswap https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/2458-2018-Gypsy-Queen-Box-Break-Recap-and-some-banter The Stella Project https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/2456-The-Stella-Project Wed, 21 Mar 2018 04:34:08 GMT Surely I am not the only one that goes through ups and downs when collecting. Whether it's boredom from the hobby or financials reasons, people go and back quite frequently. Then the itch will usually come back. For me, what made me want to start collecting again was a project that I thought of that would change collecting for me. A few days before Opening Day 2015, my daughter was born (my first child). I thought it would be really cool to put together a binder of each years Topps flagship product for her. Then when she's old instead of reading books together, I can teach her about the game in a lot of ways. Topps does a great job of incorporating the history of the game into their inserts. Plus with the retro designs it'll be a good way to show her the cards I remember as a kid. It's just a fun and inexpensive way to build up a collection for her, in hopes of getting her hooked on collecting cards, like her dad.

Since having a daughter, my perception of everything is different. Including collecting baseball cards. She gives everything in my life more purpose, and I apply it every aspect of my life. This is a project that I hope helps us share a connection when she's older. Baseball has always been a big part of my life, and now being able to share some of this stuff with her makes it more fun than it ever has been before.


Each new set of Topps, I try to include the same types of cards from season to season. First page is always Manny Machado. Followed by the rest of the Orioles. Then I include the top stars, some of the all star starters, Future Stars, then Rookies. Each season the rookie page is really fun to keep track of. I include a page about the World Series Champions from that season as well. I then get into any inserts. I always try to do at least a page or two of each insert. Depending on the look and quality of players. Then I do a page of any numbered cards, relics, or variations.

Some highlights from her books so far include:
Page of Aaron Judge Rookies
Clayton Kershaw All Star Relic
Kris Bryant SP RC
Yu Darvish All Star Relic
Giancarlo Stanton Players Weekend Relic
2 - Different Khris Davis Relics
Page of Corey Seager Rookies
Chris Davis Snow Camo /99
Darren O'Day Pink /50
Legend Variations from 2017 (Rickey, Ozzie, Brooks, Mattingly)
3 Francisco Lindor RC's
3 Cody Bellinger RC's
Yuli Gurriel Rainbow Foil RC
Ian Happ Rainbow Foil RC
Qty 3 Rookies of (Mancini, Moncada, Benintendi, Seager)
Cole Hamels All Star Relic
Corey Kluber Holiday Relic
Ryan Zimmerman Red /50
Nice Inserts Sets - Five Tool, Archetypes, Fire
Carlos Correa Rainbow Foil
Freddie Freeman Manufactured Relic
and every Manny Insert, of course.


One card that I got in some packs for her binders that I didn't put in there was a Job Pederson Debut Rookie RC Platinum 1/1. That card sold on ebay for about 120 dollars I think. So that money went towards the next series to fill her binder. Who am I kidding, I probably bought some Manny's with some of the money!


Putting the binders together is really fun for me. I picture in my head what I would say to her about the cards and go through everything in my head. Really I am just thinking to myself "I just hope she cares". She is almost 3 now. She loves books, She likes to play baseball. She knows that I made these books for her and when she asked me to bring them in and "read them to her" - I melted. She made it through one book and it was awesome. Then she realized she was almost 3 years old and started to focus on something else. It was surely a step in the right direction!


There is one quick funny conversation with my daughter that cracks me up everytime I think of it...
Me - "What do you wanna watch"?
Stella - "Ummmm Baseball"
Me - "REALLY!?!?!"
Stella - "Noooooooo, me kidding, me watch Doc"


These binders are very important to me and I take them way too serious. But they aren't my favorite thing in my collection that represents my daughter. For my first fathers day, my wife surprised with custom Topps cards of my daughter and I when we posed on opening day in our Orioles gear. This has become my favorite yearly tradition. Here are the four cards so far that makes up the Aaron and Stella Set.


The quality of printing isn't that great on the customs, so the pics didn't come out as clear as I would have liked.


1 - 2015 Topps - Notice the RC Tag. Will always be my favorite.


2 - 2016 Topps - Featuring her Pink Orioles jersey that can't be seen very well. I am wearing my pullover Cal Ripken Jersey.


3 - 2017 Topps - Featuring her first Manny Machado jersey. I am wearing my gray pullover Manny Machado jersey.


4 - 2017 Topps Photo Variation SP - Had to get the jersey backs.


Stay tuned for the 2018 version of this pic. I have a new jersey to debut for the photo. Not too far away.




The third special connection I have with my daughter and baseball I didn't want to fail to mention is our time in Cooperstown. For our tenth wedding anniversary, we went to Cooperstown and let Stella wear her Halloween costume for the year. The costume is first picture you see in this blog, Rockford Peach from A League of Their Own. So as we walked around Cooperstown, Stella received so much attention and it really became a special day. The picture to the left happened as soon as we got there. There was a game at Doubleday field, which is where we parked. We walked over to the game and in between innings, the ump and players came over to Stella to fuss over her outfit. It was really cool to see. This will always be my favorite picture of Stella.

After we left there, we walked the main street and visited the shops. One shop owner could not get enough of her outfit, and asked where we got it. We didn't think too much about it. During our next yearly trip to Cooperstown, right outside of that same shop, was a baby mannequin wearing the same costume! Sadly, we didn't have Stella wear the outfit that time.


When we were in the actual Hall of Fame that day in her costume, and there happened to be A League of Their Own display set up by the theater. Unfortunately, we were not able to get a memorable picture in front of it.


Thanks for reading about my Stella Collection and the things that I love about her and the connection with baseball. I could go on and on about her and baseball, but I'll save that for a follow up post down the road. Would love to hear if you have similar collections for your families.

- Aaron B - www.thecardswap.net (visit site's blog post for images) ]]> thecardswap https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/2456-The-Stella-Project My Manny Machado Super PC https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/2455-My-Manny-Machado-Super-PC Thu, 15 Mar 2018 20:40:51 GMT This was an entry I couldn't wait to write! I told myself I would save this one for when I didn't have another topic at the time. So that didn't take long. Don't be surprised if it's my longest entry. About two years ago, I was tired of buy boxes and packs and not having much luck, especially for collecting guys I like. After wasting too much money on retail and random hobby boxes, I started focusing my efforts on the one player I was searching for the most...Manny Machado. In May of 2016 I had 88 Machado cards just by buying ones I saw and base from packs. I had one or two autos and 3 relics. Then it became an actual project. I didn't buy anything unless I knew it had a chance for more Manny's. This mostly meant buying singles on ebay, comc, and at shows. This is also where I discovered breaks and what made me want to do this site. If I had this much finding Manny cards, maybe I can help others find their PC guys.

It is now March of 2018, almost two years since I put forth most of my focus into building the best Manny PC I could. So what did the 88 Manny's turn into now. As of 3/15/18, I have 632 different Machado cards, and a total of 1091 including doubles. Here are some other fun stats about my collection so far:

## 27 Autos ##
## 65 Relics (includes manufactured and plates) ##
## 170 Serial Numbered Cards ##
## 459 Doubles ##
## 55 Different RCs, 120 Total ##
## 1 Bad ™™™ Spreadsheet ##
click the link to see spreadsheet

This is a great place for me to do something I have always wanted to do with my Manny collection...TOP 5 lists!

TOP 5 AUTOS



























1 - 2013 Topps RC Silver Slate Auto - Wrapper Redemption only. Only 50 made. Sticker Auto. No parallels. This was a card I always wish existed and had no clue. Was lucky to get one off ebay. #d 12/50 (13 of 50 would have been awesome)

2 - 2017 Topps 87 30th Anniversary All Star Auto Wood Card. This whole card is a piece of wood and the picture will never do it enough justice. Numbered 2/5.
3 - 2013 Topps Finest RC Auto Orange Refractor. Not the toughest card to find, but I love any orange refractor of Manny. This is a great photo on the card which just adds to how sweet it is. This one is numbered 33/99 and was one of my first really nice autos that I bought of his.

4 - 2017 Topps Clearly Authentic Auto Red Refractor. Acetate cards have always been some of my favorite to collect. This is a red parallel and is numbered 28/50. The back of this card is awesome as well - not pictured

5 - 2014 Topps Dynasty Auto. This card is just pretty. The shading on photo, the silver ink, and the nice patch made it a must for my list. This one is numbered 1/10.


TOP 5 ROOKIES




























1 - 2013 Turkey Red RC SSP - Most Manny collectors would agree that this is a must-own rookie of his. This was a tough card to find, being a SSP plus the boxes were only available online at the time. Everything about this card just tells you that this a classic.

2 - 2017 Topps RC Variation 2 SSP - This was my favorite rookie until I finally got the Turkey Red. Always been a fan of variations. There was 2 variations of Manny's main Topps rookies.

3 - 2013 Topps Chrome Orange Refractor - Again, I love orange refractors. A chrome, orange, rookie of Manny is definately going to make the list.

4 - 2013 Topps Bowman Platinum RC - I usually go towards the vintage looking cards, but this one is just smooth and pretty. Bowman Platinum was tougher to find back then, and this card is more rare than some of the others.

5 - 2013 Topps Five Star RC - Same photo as the Topps Finest RC Autos which is ok by me. This card is very tough to find as they only made 75 of the base. This card would be higher on my list if it weren't for one thing, there is no RC icon on this card. His autos from the same set has it but not the base. Cardboard Connection has a list highlighting his rookie cards and they talk about how rare this card is.



More Top 5 lists to come (one more on the site that I couldn't fit here). That was fun! Also, for those interested in Manny Machado, I will be starting up a store just for my doubles. Hopefully others can build their pc as well!

- Aaron B www.thecardswap.net
]]> thecardswap https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/2455-My-Manny-Machado-Super-PC Worst Break Ever - Part 1 (from thecardswap.net) https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/2453-Worst-Break-Ever-Part-1-(from-thecardswap-net) Sun, 04 Mar 2018 20:35:29 GMT March 1st was nerve-wrecking before the break even started. It was the biggest break that I would be running to date and to say I was nervous was an understatement. After some issues going live the... March 1st was nerve-wrecking before the break even started. It was the biggest break that I would be running to date and to say I was nervous was an understatement. After some issues going live the night before with a giveaway, I wanted to make sure that everything went smoothly, but more importantly, that everyone enjoyed themselves. This was a big deal to me because it was the first case I had purchased (the case was split into 2 breaks) and it was the first break that I ran that sold out. I wanted it to go well for everyone's sake. For 2 weeks, I promoted on Instagram and Sports Card Forum , which included a giveaway to some SCF members in exchange for banner advertising. It sold out, and the next break was getting planned with no issues so then I was only worrying about the first break. I didn't want to sound like a noob, I didn't want to sound forced, and I really didn't want any technical issues.

When I get nervous, I am only nervous up until whatever the event is. Then once it starts, I don't normally feel the nerves (unless something is off). This was the same case on Thursday. Aside from the randomizing of teams being a little tough to see on the screen (resolution in place for next break), I felt comfortable and was ready to break to see what we got. Adjustments were made with the streaming so I was confident that the stream would look better than the night before. It just all comes back to me wanting everyone to enjoy themselves and have the break not feel like it just thrown together. Overthinking aspects are what caused me to wait to long to actually schedule and start to promote.

Time to rip! There could be countless blog entries on countless blogs complaining (and praising, I have those stories too) about Topps and the legend of their amazing collation. But what happened on Thursday was poor collation and probably just somebody not doing their job. After the 3 first jumbo boxes were opened, we found NO AUTOS! Each box promises one auto and 2 "relics" per box. I use the " " because the fact that Topps counts the commemorative pieces a relic is silly to me and a lot of people. The 6 "relics" were there that were supposed to be there. Everything else seemed to be there. No Auto. No Auto. No Auto.



Everyone was disappointed, no one more than me. Couldn't blame them. The great thing was everyone was cool with me and felt bad for the process. So that was definitely a weight off my chest. Still need to make it right for them though. So now what? Call Topps obviously. I called the next morning at 9am and spoke to a rep who couldn't get any of the information correct. I wasn't surprised when she called back 2 hours later to verify the same information I had given. Because get this, she got it wrong the first 3 times we went through it. She apologized, could tell me annoyance and said she would call me back with more info soon. In about an hour, she called back to verify my address. She was going send me out 3 new Jumbo boxes. That was great news. What about the other 3 boxes? I can't imagine those have the autos in the them. Especially if they have the same date stamp on the lid. So my instruction was to open them. If no autos, then submit an official claim to Topps - which needs to include a letter and has to be mailed to Topps, apparently I am disputing a case from 1988. The rep was very nice and did what she could, my only worry now is the resolution on this claim. The 3 replacement boxes will be what I use for the next break so once I get tracking info on those, I will schedule the next break.




Time to rip the second three! NO AUTOS again. That's right, a whole case of Topps Jumbo with no Autos. very unbelievable and I await to see what Topps does to fix the issue. In the early 90's, when the market was flooded and it was the beginning of the inserts and subsets, there were boxes that you knew a certain pack position would mean a certain "hit". It's 2018 and apparently, they haven't found a better way. Each of the six boxes had the "relics" in the same exact pack position. #5 and #6. Very disappointing and makes buying packs not as random as you think. Aside from this, is the noticeable runs of the same cards stacked in a row. The one that comes to mind here is a stack that contained - JUDGE LL - JUDGE FS - HOSKINS RC - HAYS RC - URENA RC - now I am well aware that this might 5 of the best 10 cards in the base set so getting them is not a bad at thing. But during this the first break, we pulled that combo of cards, in the same order 6 times. Then when you talk to Topps they say that "it's all random". Now that is insulting everyone's intelligence to a new level.




After opening these three boxes, and not having autos to pass on the buyers of the first break, my focus quickly became "making sure everyone gets something". I handed out the 6 new "relics" from the second three boxes to the teams that were drawn last night. It wasn't ideal, but without those autos it was the best I could do at the time. Like I said earlier, everyone in the break was so cool and understanding, so that really took the pressure off but it still wasn't enough to make me not want to do more for them. Especially to a few folks who didn't get much to begin with. I'll have the lots ready soon to go out.

Stay tuned for the resolution from Topps and any other updates. I will do a part 2 of this entry.

- Aaron B www.thecardswap.net ]]> thecardswap https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/2453-Worst-Break-Ever-Part-1-(from-thecardswap-net) <![CDATA[My Best "Hit" Ever...]]> https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/2452-My-Best-quot-Hit-quot-Ever Sat, 24 Feb 2018 15:32:00 GMT In sticking with the theme of "what I love about collecting", I decided not to wait long to share the story of the best card I ever got in a pack. It was last summer, my wife and I took a yearly visit to Cooperstown. It's my favorite place on earth for so many reasons, and I would love to open up a card shop there in my future.


This trip was quicker than the other times we visit, but after hours of checking out the shops, I walked to in a small shop on the end. It was by the car and we were on our way out of town. This shop is one that I have had luck at in the past, but mostly just singles for sale at good prices. I saved it for last because I knew I would find something. But I didn't, they had downsized the singles a bit which was disappointing. They still had a nice selection of boxes and packs.

There was a older woman working behind the counter, and I shared with here how bad my luck is and that I needed her to pick the packs from the boxes. I didn't want to waste bunch of money because I never have luck but I still wanted to buy something since I didn't find anything else that day. So I ask her "can you please pick me one pack of 2017 Topps Jumbo and 2 packs of 2017 Archives Hobby.


Since this was the last stop before the car, I thought I would save the cards for the next stretch of our drive. Once everyone was settled in the car, I started to open. The Topps pack hit a Tyler Austin auto but that was not the card that made me go numb. Then comes the first pack of Archives. Nothing. Next pack coming up. I already considered it a success with the Austin auto. Then it happened. I opened the pack, I saw a small peak of peach and figured I just got a numbered parallel. Little did I know that it was this beauty of a card!
Aaron Judge - 2017 Topps Archives Peach Parallel Auto 43/150


I started shaking. At the time, this card was going for 700 dollars on Ebay. I knew it wouldn't be that high long. Especially when the other products started coming out and flooding the market with Judge autos. I could never get up the nerve to sell it. Not with that story, the player, and where I got it. It's become a cornerstone of my collection and I don't think I'll ever get rid of it at this point (though there are some things I would consider a deal for).


After this trip, we went to a friends house for a couple days, since I didn't have any thing to keep it safe the first thing I did was find a local shop that I could something to keep it in before I got home. The amount of anxiety that created was shocking.


I love new players on vintage card designs, so this card is even cooler to me. That is one of my favorite things about the cards that are being released these days. It also works the other way, I like vintage players on new set designs.

more blog posts @ www.thecardswap.net

Thanks for reading - Aaron B ]]> thecardswap https://www.sportscardforum.com/entries/2452-My-Best-quot-Hit-quot-Ever