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Contest Winnings from Cards on Cards (2023 Topps!)

Every year, Kerry (from Cards on Cards) holds a College Football Bowl Game Pick 'Em Challenge where the goal is to pick the winners of the (approximately) 200 different bowl games.  I try to join Kerry's contest every year but up until this year, I never did particularly well.  That all changed though, perhaps in no small part by Kerry switching the contest to no longer require "confidence" rankings on each game.  Historically, I never enjoyed the confidence ranking part of the picks and would often move a couple of games up or down and then simply leave the remaining majority where they were in the original lineup.  Not a good way to win the contest, admittedly, and probably it's no surprise to anyone reading that I never did win using my lazy man strategy.  

Well, now lazy people can celebrate because that rule wasn't in play and so all I had to do is click on the winning team for each bowl game.  Somehow, someway, I ended up with a final entry that finished 30-13 which put me in the 99.7 percentile out of all ESPN entries.  I think I would have been salty if an entry that good lost Kerry's contest but luckily, I did win!

Last week, my prize package arrived which included a brand new, hot off the presses blaster of 2023 Topps Series 1.  


I'm excited for the blaster since I made the decision to collect this year's flagship Topps set.  In addition to the blaster, Kerry also included a team bag of assorted Reds which I also appreciated. 


Now, let's dig into that blaster!

By now, almost everyone that cares has probably seen all of Topps Series 1 that they want to but I'm still going to show off my favorite cards out the blaster.

Pack 1:
177.  Kendall Graveman
315.  Corey Seager
65.  Triston McKenzie
196.  Jordan Romano
109.  Eric Lauer
237.  Brandon Marsh
21.  Max Scherzer
313.  Cal Mitchel
12P-18.  One-Two Punch:  Verlander & Cole
SMLB-17.  Stars of MLB:  Bobby Witt, Jr.


310.  Checklist
329.  Mark Canha
137.  Kyle Hendricks
81.  Ozzie Albies

I have a soft spot for Bobby Witt, Jr. right now because he is (probably) going to be my keeper selection for hitters in my fantasy baseball league this year.  

Pack 2:
228.  Ryan Pressly
59.  Eduardo Rodiguez
321.  Garrett Cooper
242.  Jarren Duran
143.  Nestor Cortes
74.  Tarik Skubal
171.  Mychal Givens
132.  Gavin Sheets
HRC-24.  Home Run Challenge:  Riley Greene
SMLB-11.  Stars of MLB:  Christian Yelich
306.  Jesse Winker


69.  Caleb Kilian
219.  Dodgers team card
316.  Nationals team card

Jesse Winker wasn't nearly as good for the Mariners as he was for the Reds but at least he got a cool Mariners card out of the trade.  I expect we'll see Winker again in Topps Update this year as he is now signed with the Brewers (Winker had spinal surgery and knee surgery this offseason).

Pack 3:
53.  Dylan Cease
236.  Shane McClanahan
232.  Ian Happ
13.  Giovanny Gallegos
163.  Miguel Vargas
5.  Albert Pujols
320.  Cade Cavalli
151.  Tyler Wells
Royal Blue:  241.  AL RBI Leaders


SMLB-16.  Stars of MLB:  Julio Rodriguez
10.  Trevor Story
254.  Jimmy Herget
291.  Mets team card
134.  Royals team card

The Royal Blue parallels are seeded 1:10 packs or a bit rarer than one-per-blaster.  They are not serially numbered for those who might be wondering.

Pack 4:
265.  Anthony Santander
207.  Paul Sewald
129.  Nolan Jones
239.  Ketel Marte
235.  Robbie Ray
167.  Michael Massey
123.  Zach Davies
57.  Ha-Seong Kim
AA-11.  All Aces:  Shohei Ohtani


SMLB-22.  Stars of MLB:  Adley Rutschman
241.  AL RBI Leaders
326.  Checklist
190.  Checklist
226.  Michael Harris II

I love the All Aces insert set so very much as it combines my interest in baseball cards and board/card games!  This is the one insert set from 2023 Topps Series 1 that I plan to try to complete as well.  Unfortunately for me, I actually made a trade for this particular card already - but perhaps I can swap this one for some of my other All Aces set needs down the line!

Pack 5:
314.  Ke'Bryan Hayes
188.  Davis Martin
192.  Christian Yelich
214.  Graham Ashcroft
50.  Mookie Betts
293.  J.T. Realmuto
34.  Zack Thompson
Gold:  105.  Seth Beer (#/2023)
SMLBC-11.  Stars of MLB Chrome:  Christian Yelich


SMLB-28.  Stars of MLB:  Francisco Lindor
194.  Josh Staumont
220.  Cubs team card
292.  Rangers team card
113.  Checklist

I had no idea that there were Topps Chrome parallels of the Stars of MLB insert set.  We didn't pull any of those in my case break (maybe the Chrome cards are unique to blasters)?  According to the blaster box, the Chrome Stars of MLB are seeded 1:10 packs so they aren't exactly rare in retail.

Pack 6:
221.  Rhys Hoskins
165.  Jeter Downs
101.  Tyler Mahle
73.  Jon Gray
322.  Luis Urias
158.  Kris Bryant
80.  Tanner Rainey
7.  Bobby Witt, Jr.
T88-89.  Topps 1988:  Luis Robert


SMLB-2.  Stars of MLB:  Mike Trout
174.  Checklist
70.  Darin Ruf
168.  Braves team card
246.  AL HR Leaders

I'm glad Topps went with the 1988 design for their throwback insert set instead of rehashing the usual sets again and again.  I'd be even more glad if Topps saved the design rehashes for the Heritage brand (and I suppose the Archives brand) but that's just me.

Pack 7:
176.  Kody Clemens
161.  Carlos Carrasco
52.  Mathew Liberatore
225.  Corbin Burnes
149.  Josiah Gray
204.  Manuel Margot
210.  Checklist
54.  Marcus Stroman
TLP-BR.  Commemorative Team Logo Patch Card:  Brendan Rodgers


T88-93.  Topps 1988:  Riley Greene
SMLB-6.  Stars of MLB:  Luis Robert
82.  AL Wins Leaders
245.  Checklist
217.  Luis Arraez
64.  Josh Donaldson

The one-per-blaster Team Logo Patch card was a Rockies player.  Not my first choice but whaddya do?  The Reds actually have a pair of cards in that particular relic set (Votto and India), so perhaps I can end up swapping this card for one of the Reds in the set.  

That does it for the blaster!  I have to say, it was fun opening a blaster for myself, many thanks to Kerry for the generous prize package.  

Comments

  1. A blaster *and* a stack of Reds cards is a heck of a prize! Congrats on your winnings. The Ohtani Aces card is really neat.

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  2. I opened a box of 2023 Topps. Let me know what you need and it will be on the way.

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  3. Nice win. I never enter Kerry's contest because I hate bowl season and ignore college football in general. Oh the guilt if I won.

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  4. Congratulations on your prize winnings. I started out really bad in Kerry's contest but ended up in the middle of the pack (no pun intended). Looking forward to Kerry's March Madness contest...

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  5. The Ohtani Aces insert looks great. Do you need Alcantara? I have that one available.

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  6. Congratulations on your contest win!

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