Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Blackout rewards

I got blackout!!



OK, some context might help, I guess.  A while back, I was invited to play in Johnny's Bingo Night.  It's fun and fast, and he has prizes for a lot of different bingos.  Regular bingo, 4 corners, postage stamp and of course, Blackout!  Yep, I got the blackout, and Johnny sent me an impressive Box O' Prizes!
 
First prize was this partial set of 200 Topps ''Home Team Advantage" cards.  I didn't know anything about Home Team Advantage, had to look up the details:

In 2000 Topps released three different factory sets. 1) The traditional factory set that was made available both to Hobby outlets and mass-market retail stores. 2) A "Home Team Advantage" factory set. And 3) a "Limited" factory set.  The HTA Factory set was (as the name suggests) exclusive to Hobby stores participating in the Home Team Advantage program. Each HTA factory set included all 478 base cards plus one Hank Aaron Chrome reprint. All of the base cards within Home Team Advantage factory sets were stamped with a special "HTA" gold foil logo on the card front. 

So basically, the HTA set is more limited than the regular Factory Set, but not so limited as the 'Limited' Factory Set.  And the cards I got were the commons, the stars were gone.  Can't blame Johnny for that though!


So next up, I received a 2003 Topps set.  This one was packed pretty much to the limits of the box, but when I pulled it out, the cards were all out of order.  So I did something I haven't done in years, and hand collated a set!!  It was kind of fun, even if my back hurt by the end.  And guess what?  They were all there!  Woohoo!

I also got this 1999 Topps complete set.  It too is packed tightly, and the cards are out of order.  I have no doubt it is complete, but will wait to collate it another day.

Here are 2 cool looking cards from the 1999 set:
Everyone loves that Hunter card, right!


Next up were 2 of these "Black Sox" mini sets




The cards look like this:


And the 8 who were banned get black borders, ooh shame!  There is an extra Joe Jackson with a red border.  Not sure what that is supposed to mean.

Here are the backs, no numbers:
And last but not least, this 1989 Topps "Major League Debut" set.  Its actually a set from 1990, just full of players who made their major league debuts in 1989.


Back then, one of the big names might have been this guy.  I remember him being chased by a lot of my friends.  But now, he's been surpassed by the huge number of really good players in this set.

Here are a few!  Nice crop of players indeed!  Each of these guys was considered a stud at one time or another.

Johnny also sent a box of penny sleeves, which were much appreciated.  Thanks Johnny!

12 comments:

  1. Nice! You scored some really great prizes!

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  2. Good stuff! A tad bit jealous of that 2003 set.

    Johnny sent the Black Sox reprint set my way as well: https://nightowlcards.blogspot.com/2020/03/building-black-sox-set.html and https://nightowlcards.blogspot.com/2020/04/heading-down-reprint-road.html

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    1. Always nice to find links from you. I always learn stuff!

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  3. blackout isn't an easy win! congrats! it's been my experience with the few factory sets I've opened that the cards are in no order whatsoever. Twice I've had a dupe with another card missing completely.

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    1. I worked hard for that blackout. All skill, no luck whatsoever. True story! Thanks for the heads up about the factory sets, I haven't gotten one since the 80s!

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  4. Glad to know that I'm not the only one in the world who has a sore back after sorting. That being said... I hope your back wasn't too sore.

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  5. Congratulations on winning all those great prizes!

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  6. Those are some great prizes! Johnny's games are always fun!

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  7. I have that '90 Topps Debut set, but I don't think I realized how many big names are in it until now. Nice scores!

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