Tag: Donruss

Random Review: 2019 Donruss Optic baseball FOTL

~ danieladubay ~ Leave a comment

This was a $100 bucks. I grabbed it because ‘First Off the Line’ was a collecting bucket list item.

2 Garrett Hampson autos with 1 being a redemption and a David Fletcher auto. Stephen Gonsalves Rated Rookie numbered to 7. I wasn’t expecting 3 huge names but this is a major bust. Major is an understatement. At a little more than $4.15 a card, I doubt that I can get that for the cards above. Plus, I got a redemption, what a joke.
The cards below are all numbered to 99. I am not sure if each color has 150 cards or if the spread it out and certain card numbers go to a certain color. Regardless, not my cup of tea.

I am so pissed off. More at myself than at Panini. I am not in position to spend a $100 bucks and I certainly feel like my FOTL premium was lacking. I was saving this to open for when I needed a smile, instead I find myself more pissed. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go slam my head through a wall.

Random Review: 2019 Donruss baseball Target mega box

~ danieladubay ~ Leave a comment

Donruss baseball is one of my favorite sets this year. Heck, I am doing the set. The autograph checklist is great, and it takes what I like about Topps Heritage and makes it readily available; I am talking about the base card variations by that comment. Since I am still trying to complete my base set, I took a shot at the Target Mega Box. I am not a mega box type of guy but this was worth it to me.

The allure here is the pink parallels. The inserts have a fireworks feel while the base cards lack the pizzazz; well as much pizzazz as bright pink will  let you.

I wasn’t surprised to see variation cards but I was surprised to see the numbered stat line cards. I really like the USA prospect insert set. Some of the numbered versions of those will be worth chasing once those guys get drafted. As it is, I have seen some sold for $20.

The blue and white stars parallel snuck in with an appearance that I wasn’t expecting. The autograph was of Garrett Hampson. I thought this was a safe set and that I would get a better autograph; maybe next time.

Random Review: 2019 Donruss Baseball

~ danieladubay ~ Leave a comment

The past 3 years, I have committed to putting together one set together. This year, I am going with Donruss baseball. I know that it is random but I have my reasons:

Positives:
More hits per box than Topps flagship
Better checklist in regards to hits and rookies
I know you hate it when I say anything about design aspects but compared I prefer the Donruss design to the Topps flagship. If they had team logos then it would be perfect.
Emphasis on the Japanese phenom and current Seattle Mariner Yusei Kikuchi
Variations like Heritage; except they are easier to identify – and probably more readily available.

Negatives:
Domingo Ayala autographs; Some of you may like him. For some reason he just ticks me off. https://www.domingobeisbol.com/

 

Only got 2 duplicates. About 35 to 60 percent of the base set. I am working on the camera angles and realize that I need to hold the cards at a better angle to the camera. Good thing I am not a breaker.

Random Review: 2016 Donruss Optic baseball rack pack box

~ danieladubay ~ Leave a comment

I am at the point in my collecting journey where I have very few things on my (attainable) collecting bucket list. Things are getting to be pretty inane for the list because other than adding some cards in my collection, I can’t think of anything after this. I pulled a one of one, I pulled a hall of famer’s autograph, I opened a case. One thing on my list though was I always wanted to open a rack pack box.

So I wanted a product who had base cards that I cared about. One that I would be excited about if I went hitless. So when I saw that I could get an Optic box that featured Corey Seager rookie cards, it was an easy call. It cost $25 plus shipping. I am notorious for not opening boxes for ages but because this was a bucket list item, I opened it immediately.

I was so excited that I didn’t take a picture of the layout of the packs but it looked a lot like the normal retail pack boxes, and not rack packs, making me wonder if sometimes they are laid out like that.

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The rookies I hit: Sano, Bird, Severino, Turner, Peraza, Shwarber, and others. Of course I didn’t hit any Seager cards in this, despite that being the reason why I bought the product. I also had several chances with inserts and still struck out.

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There were four purple parallels per pack. I feel like I hit more than that. Notable is the Story parallel. The only card that I hit duplicates of from this box was the Conforto purple Rated Rookie. I believe other base duplicates are Prizms.

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I went hitless, although this is not a hit based product. Samardzija and Tulo are numbered to 99, so is the Tyler Duffey rated rookie. Franco and Braun are numbered to 299. Crawford is numbered to 149. You also see the ROY variation for Bryant and Correa with other inserts.

Overall, I was disappointed at first. I mean if I wanted a bland product I would have been better off buying a rack pack box of Contenders football that you can grab for $12. After sorting and seeing that only half or less of the cards are true base cards, I felt better. This isn’t a hit based product and sorting it ended up being immensely fun.

Speaking of bucket list items: hey Panini, how about inviting me to the rookie premiere? Los Angeles is my backyard.

Random Review: 2017 Donruss Rack Box

~ danieladubay ~ Leave a comment

Even though I pulled some good stuff, my guess is that this is a flash in the pan and other packs have a chance to be duds. I think anyone will take 2 Ben Simmons inserts from one of these. It is not shown in the picture but the Retro parallel really shines.

 

Pickups: more Donruss basketball rack packs

~ danieladubay ~ Leave a comment

No longer titling this a ‘Random Review,’ as I have ‘reviewed’ these to death. Excuse the fact that I forgot how to spell for. I hate typing on cell phone keyboards. I am six and a half feet, more or less, so you can can imagine how big my hands are.

I collated this instantly. I felt the excitement of seeing how close I was to finishing the set. When I opened these, the very first card was a rookie that I knew for a fact I needed so I was excited.

I picked these up as a treat. I got in free to the hockey game that I went to last night and a Target was down the street. On a side note, I seriously love Division 2 hockey and enjoy the fact that my SoCal alma mater has a hockey team. Below are some of my ramblings regarding the game.

 

Well, this short post turned into a lengthy one. I have a box of cards out to open. I will do a post in the next few days, and it won’t be a Donruss basketball post.

Random Review: 2017 Donruss basketball blaster

~ danieladubay ~ Leave a comment

You can currently buy an Edmund Sumner autograph on COMC for 98 cents. I didn’t search too deep but I found 1 comparable autograph to the one I pulled on Ebay for $5 or best offer plus $3 shipping. Regardless, I am pulling for him.

I was really happy with this box. I got some rookies that I am missing, pulled a couple extra important ones. Encounting the Retro inserts was fun. I wish it was more plausible to pull more. Maybe when this rookie class comes crashing down to earth in the market, I will pick up a hobby box of this product.

This is actually me second Mitchell rookie but I can’t get enough. Even if he busts out, he will be in my personal collection.

When I open boxes, I will be doing more of this Twitter pack by pack. Not only is it easier on the website storage but more importantly to me, it is more engaging. I will still post the full results here but be sure to follow me.

Random Review: 2017-18 Donruss rack packs, Round 3

~ danieladubay ~ Leave a comment

In the time between the last round of these and now; I have officially committed to doing a set of this product. Although I am still hunting for that Donovan Mitchell rated rookie too. He was the man when I saw him against the Clippers last month. This week I bought two rack packs from two different stores. Just because I am building a set, doesn’t mean I can break the bank. When I am in Target, WalMart, or any other store that sells cards, I now have a reason to pick up a pack or two. So I picked up one pack from my shopping trip at WalMart and one at Target. These must have just been put out by Target as everything other current basketball product was still sold out.

Pack 1: Target, not that it matters because this isn’t a scientific experiment. My first autograph from this product. It is funny how when you are not hunting or thinking about it, things like this seem to find you. Another Lonzo Ball rookie. I believe this is my third. If you can’t make it out, that is a DeAndre Bembry autograph. A three dollar autograph but one I am happy to have none the less.

Pack 2: WalMart. A couple duplicate rookies. Still no Donovan Mitchell rookie.

Random Review: 2017-18 Donruss Basketball rack packs round 2

~ danieladubay ~ Leave a comment

Hello from sunny SoCal. I understand many of you are freezing in your homes, while I am not embracing the warm weather I have here – hey, I would like one month of winter. Anyway today we have 2 more Donruss rack packs for your viewing. I wasn’t going to buy these but I got caught up in the hype. You see I went to Target and Walmart yesterday for grocery shopping. During my perusal of the card aisle at the end of my visit at Target, I noticed that everything that they had, minus the Lakers team sets, of this year’s basketball was sold out. Even the crappy gravity packs were sold out. So when I went to WalMart and noticed that they had a bunch of Donruss I was caught up in the hype. I almost grabbed a hangar box but I went with what I knew. I wanted more rookies; plus hangar boxes almost guarantee no hit.

Pack 1:

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Pack 2:

At this rate, I might as well go for the set. At $5 a pack, I have been very happy with these.