2024 Topps Fat Packs Opening

The first cards of 2024! Ok, well, the first cards of the 2024 baseball brand year. You get the idea. It's 2024 Topps! There’s nothing quite like opening the first back of a new base set. I really love the design of the 2024 Topps set. It has a more vintage feel, as opposed to going space age like several of the past releases. I know that "neon" may not scream "vintage" to prople, but I was getting tired of all the geometric shapes in gray steel. This has an older, simpler, feel to it. Even with the neon. It’s also nice that I haven’t read up on the checklist very much, so there were some fun surprises included. I had no idea there would be Grffey inserts, for instance.

How did the packs go? I'm glad you asked.

Here are the packs. If you're super observant, you'll see that they've already been opened. You'll just have to excuse my forgetfulness and trust that they are the right packs. 36 cards in each of these packs, which is obviously the perfect number.

The first Red Sox card of 2024! Kenley Jansen gets the honor this time. Jansen has been showing up on this blog a lot lately. I guess as last year's only all-star that's allowable.

A super shiny card of Enmanuel Valdez! No idea what parallel this is, but when a card is this shiny it's good to flip it over.

There we go, numbered to 199. Always nice to pull a card like this because I doubt I'd ever acquire it another way.

And there you have it. Out of the 72 cards, I pulled two Red Sox. Not bad, I suppose. I'm sure I'll be opening plenty more of this as the year goes along.

If you want to see the rest of the packs, go check out the opening on my YouTube video. And feel free to like/subscribe while you're there.

Open any of this yet?

2023 Topps Archives Blaster Opening!

I really like the Topps Archives brand. It’s a nice way to add variety to a set, both in design and player selection. You can get stars from years ago like Carl Yastrzemski, and the hottest rookies like Triston Casas. And the milti-design aspect to the base set means you’re never bored flipping through the packs. Just look at all the designs we had in this one blaster. I do wish the designs weren’t repeated quite so often year to year and brand to brand. I always thought Topps should have a system. Heritage keeps plugging along. The base set can have inserts sets of designs celebrating their 70th, 50th, and 30th anniversary. Archives can have 60th, 20th, and 10th anniversary. That way, a set wouldn’t be repeated for ten years, but every set gets to play along.

How did this blaster go? I'm glad you asked...

Here's the box, in case you're curious.

Here's a nice looking Devers. But, this is what I was talking about. Topps just did the '65 design as an insert set. Do we really need to see it again so soon in the Archives set? With so many designs to choose from?

The best card in the set, obviously. Hard to complain about Casas in the '56 design. But, still, '56 again?

The 2003 design is fairly rare, and so is Yaz himself. So, this one works for me.

Another '56. But, I mean, it's Nomar. Nothing wrong with this card.

So, all in all a pretty good haul. Lots of Red Sox representatives covering 60 years of Sox stars. Can't ask for much more.

If you want to see the rest of the box, go check out the opening on my YouTube video. And feel free to like/subscribe while you're there.

How did your box go?

Go Red! 2014 Topps Red Hot Foil Jake Peavy

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

Peavy was a midseason pick-up for the Sox during their run to the 2013 World Series. He put up a 4-1 record for the Sox, which was just what they needed as a way to solidify the team down the stretch. He did the same during the playoffs, doing just what the team needed him to do to ear the duckboat parade after the season. He easily became one of the fan favorites after he purchased the duckboat he rode on to keep as a souvenir of the season's success. Can't ask for much more from a player when it comes to adopting a new fan base.

The card itself...lets just say sometimes less is more. It's hard enough to read the names on regular cards since Topps keeps insisting on writing them in foil. Now, the whole card is also shimmery foil? Talk about overdoing it. But, I suppose it does add interest to a collection.

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I'm sure you all remember Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

2023 Topps Chrome Update Blaster Opening!

Unlike the "Sonic" box from last time, I both understand and enjoy this product. As a fan of the Topps Chrome brand, this is a fun box to open. I like how Topps has taken the “Update” series and really found its niche. In addition to the new players on new trams concept, they’ve added in the “rookie debut” cards as well as all stars and combos. So, what was one a set made up of players you’ve never heard of and an occasional star that changed teams has become absolutely stuffed with stars and key rookies. In this case, I was able to get both.

How did this box go? I'm glad you asked.

Here's the box.

With a very shiny Kenley Jansen card. A card that special must be numbered, right?

Yup. Out of only 250. Nice pull of a Red Sox All-Star.

Unfortunately, that was the only Sox card from the box. At least it was a good hit. Can't complain about that.

If you want to see the rest of the box, go check out the opening on my YouTube video. And feel free to like/subscribe while you're there.

How did your box go?

Go Red! 2023 Topps Heritage High Number Kenley Jansen

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

Kenley Jansen was an all-star closer for the Red Sox in 2023. It will be interesting to see what his role will be moving forward. Whether it's in a modified closer role, or with another team. It's always hard to take public comments from management at face value. But, it seems like Breslow wouldn't object to the "closer by committee" approach. Whether tht would only apply if Jansen is dealt first remains to be seen. But, either way it will be an interesting season for Jansen. 

The card itself is on the bland side. The blurry player name certainly doesn't help. But, the red is really forced into the design. With all the different colored parallels Topps produces, it's probably hard to make sure every one workes with every individual card design. But, this one misses the mark for me.

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I'm sure you all remember Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

2022 Topps Chrome Sonic Hobby Lite Box Opening!

I’m not sure I understand this product. While I love Topps Chrome as much as anyone, and more than some, I think that’s probably enough. If Topps wanted to have a set with Pulsar refractors or whatever they’re calling them, they could just add that to the regular Chrome set. There are already 36 million chrome parallels in the standard set. Why create a whole new set just to add a couple more? But, all that aside, this is still a fun box to open. Like I said, I like Topps Chrome. And, this is just more of that. So, file this under “Useless, but good”.

How did this box go? I'm glad you asked.

Here's the box. Let's just skip right past that.

Here's a nice horizontal card of Devers. Virtually identical to the standard Topps Chrome Devers. I don't feel like squinting to notice a code written on the back of the card means I have a new card. 

OK. So this Schwarber card here is completely differnt than his regular Chrome card. You see, if you look closely, the "Topps Chrome" logo is in the upper left of this card. On his regular Chrome, it's on the upper right. It's as different as night and later that night.

And there you have it. I guess it went well. Got two "different" Red Sox cards. Although, I'm annoyed I needed to get a new binder page for this "new" set. Getting new cards is always good.

If you want to see the rest of the box, go check out the opening on my YouTube video. And feel free to like/subscribe while you're there.

How did your box go?

Go Red! 2021 Topps Stadium Club Red Foil Chris Sale

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

This is a really nice card of the Red Sox departed former ace. Stadium Club is known for its photography, and this card is no exception. Sale is nicely framed and the ball is captured in flight. That always makes for a fun element in a show. I suppose if I had one minor criticism, it's the cropping of Sale's left hand. They couldn't shift the picture over a millimeter to avoid cutting off the tip of his index finger?  

Of course, after his run with the Sox, Sale has moved to Atlanta. While he wasn't quite everything we hoped he would be during his time in Boston (Not everyone is Pedro, after all) he brought the city another title and closed out the deciding game in style. That's one of those moments that lives with you, and makes any stint with the Sox a successful one.

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I'm sure you all remember Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Shannon Kelly Visits Section 36!

Section 36 had another visitor! Shannon Kelly is passionate about self-care, a talented singer, and the current Miss Champlain Valley. I was so excited that she was willing to visit with us to discuss those topics, and a few more. 

So, let's see what happens when Shannon Kelly visits Section 36!

What made you decide to try for the Miss Vermont crown as Miss Champlain Valley?

I began getting involved with the Miss Vermont Scholarship Organization in 2020 because I was looking for a performing arts opportunity in the midst of lockdown. 4 years later, I’ve acquired key skills, made lifelong friendships, and learned to value myself in ways that make me so excited to come back and rock the Miss Vermont 2024 stage!

What is something Yamuna Turco is doing as Miss Vermont that you would want to emulate?

Yamuna has served wonderfully as Miss Vermont, and will leave a lasting impression on the legacy of the organization. One of the things I admire most about her reign and hope to emulate with mine is her sense of joy. Yamuna is able to brighten up any room she walks into, and can make anyone feel comfortable and important when they talk to her. 

How would you complete the sentence, “I get great satisfaction when ___”?

I get great satisfaction when I can make people smile! In my everyday life, I’m always cracking jokes, and i’m a fierce optimist. If I can brighten someone’s day with a compliment or a story, there is no greater prize. 

How did you select your community service initiative Self C.A.R.E.?

My Community Service Initiative, Self CARE: Creating Accessible Resources for Everyone, was formed after I realized how deeply basic self care was impacting my mental health. As someone diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and ADHD, finding the motivation to perform simple self care tasks can be challenging for me. Through competing, I began to rediscover the drive to take care of myself, in order to make myself feel and look good. I realized that in order to make self care a bigger part of peoples lives, someone needed to talk about it and find ways to make it more accessible for lower income folks.

As a talented singer, what is your favorite part about performing your talent on stage?

As a theater major, I love being given opportunities to perform. My favorite part of performing my Miss Vermont 2024 talent is telling a story of determination and hope. The character in my song has struggled, but she’s sure that through perseverance, she can achieve her goals.

You are currently a theatre major at Borough of Manhattan CC. Where do you see your studies taking you?

After I graduate college, I’d love to become a professional actor or director. Theater is what I’m more familiar with, but I’d love the opportunity to try working in film as well!

If you could be a Disney character for a week, who would you choose? Why?

If I could be any Disney character for a week, I’d be Tinker Bell! I’ve seen every Tinker Bell movie, and she was always my favorite character growing up. I love her friends, fashion, and being able to fly doesn’t hurt either! 

If you had an extra ticket to see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park, who would you take with you? Why?

If I could see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park, I would take my little brother with me! I love spending time with him, and we would have an awesome time together. 

Is there a feature or activity at a baseball game that you’d especially like to experience?

In the past Miss Vermont and Miss Vermont’s Teen have been able to throw the first pitch for Vermont’s baseball team, the Vermont Lake Monsters! If crowned that’s an event I’d be stoked to participate in! 

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A first pitch is always a fun time. Hope she can make that happen!

As always, I want to thank Shannon for visiting with us, and for sending along the pictures to go with the interview.

I'm sure you'd like to follow along with her during her journey. You should be sure to check out her title's Instagram account, as well as her personal website. They're both great ways to keep track of everything she has going on. 

Thanks again Shannon, and good luck in the future!

2023 Topps Holiday Mega Box!

I like when baseball cards are fun. I think some people in the hobby take things a little too seriously. So, to me, a card set that doesn’t is a good thing. Enter Topps Holiday. It’s basically a parallel of the regular Topps Set, but with some whimsey. They put snow falling on the card. There are gimmicky SP with holiday additions. And there’s an autograph or relic in every box. Hard to not have fun when you’re opening this box. Especially when you can get the hot rookies like Brayan Bello and Corbin Carrol.

How did this box go? Let's find out!

Like I said. You can get rookies. Red Sox rookies are, of course, even better...like this Yoshida one here. 

Nice card of the now former Red Sox ace.

Speaking of hot rookies, doesn't get much better than this one of Bello here. It will be intersting to see if he takes the next step this season. If he does, that would be huge.

Topps is really taking advantage of the horizontal format with these Sox cards. Hopefully Devers got all of that one in this picture.

Again with the really good use of the horizontal format. Like Bello, I'm excited to see what Story adds to the team this season. If he's healthy last year, the Sox are likely in the playoffs. See if that comes to be this season.

And there you have it. Not much to complain about. Got two of the three est rookies in the set, and some key vets. I'd call that an absolute win.

If you want to see the rest of the box, go check out the opening on my YouTube video. And feel free to like/subscribe while you're there.

How did your box go?

2022 Topps Allen & Ginter Blaster!

Not sure why I still had this one hanging around, but here we go. Allen and Ginter are always fun wax to open. Sure, it can get a little annoying when the best card in the pak is an influencer you’ve never heard of. But, it that really worse than a bench player from a team you don’t like? I think it’s a small price to pay for the variety and interest that can be found in any pack.

How did this one go? I guess there's only one way to find out...

As always, here's the box. I wonder who the model is for the old timey player they show.

This is an interesting insert set. It's called "Pitching a Gem", which is one way to describe a good pitching performance. But, to add to the odd nature of the set, they took it a step further. The bottom of the card lists Roger's birthdate, and his birthstone. So, not only is he pitching a gem, but it's also mentioning a related gem. Not bad. I think it's way better than another generic "MLB Stars" insert set.

And, that's all the Red Sox cards. Pretty disappointing. But, I thought I'd give you a chance to see the rest of the cards from the box by checking out my YouTube video.

How did your box go?

Go Red! 2014 Topps Update Target Red David Ross

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month.

Let's talk about this card...

Clearly another member of the 2013 World Series Championship team. You don't see a lot of cards with players showing off their rings like this. I think it's great that Topps took advantage of having Ross in the Update set to include a picture from 2014 like this one. It's a great departure from the standard baseball card photos. 

Once again, there are like 36 different shades of red on this card, whcih messes with my brain more than I'd like. But even that can't detract from this card celebrating my favorite World Series title.

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I'm sure you all remember Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!

Go Red! 2013 Topps Target Red Ryan Dempster

February is American Heart Month. As a nod to the Go Red for Women activities going on this month to help raise awareness, I thought I'd contribute several "red" themed posts sprinkled throughout the month. Here's the first one.

Let's talk about this card...

2013 was quite the year for Boston and the Red Sox. It wasn't Dempster's best year stat-wise, but he was able to celebrate a World Series championship when the season ended. He was even able to close out game one of the series at home. Not a bad way to end it.

As for the card itself, while I love the Target red variations in general, the colors are just odd this year. The border is almost crimson, where the Red Sox logo is more of a fire engine red. The sea turtle in the corner appears to be a third shade of red. It's all just a bit "off". But, still a nice memory of my favorite World Series title.

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I'm sure you all remember Miss District of Columbia Jude Maboné from her interview with us. Her "heart health" community service initiative is, obviously, quite relevant this month. As such, she's supporting the Simon's Heart campaign this month (and every month). I highly recommend you join her efforts with a donation if you are able. You can find the link here.

Support her efforts, and Go Red!