I recently purchased a box of 2011 Leaf Ultimate Draft from my LCS. It turned out to be the best Topps Finest break I've ever had. Let me explain. My break of Leaf was pretty weak, the best hit being a Christian Ponder helmet auto /49. A buddy of mine that is a huge Florida State fan was there so I gave the card(plus a Michael Jordan photo book that I happened to have two of) to him. He kindly reciprocated by purchasing a couple of packs of 2011 Topps Finest football for me. I opened the first pack and could see that it had a hit in it so I set it aside. The second pack had pretty much nothing, so I went back to the first pack, opened it the rest of the way and saw this:



This happened last week, so you can imagine how happy I was to see the box score of the Baltimore game this weekend! I don't think there could have been a better time to pull this one. Thanks for looking!

I pulled it from Jason's Sports Card in Baton Rouge, LA.

Thanks folks, I appreciate it. It will cover all of my recent(limited) breaking plus a LOT more. I think I am going to try to save it for my upcoming Disney World vacation.

After much deliberation, I finally decided to pick up a box of National Treasures basketball. I am certainly glad I did. I only have a scan of the big hit, but it will make up for the rest. It is the only one of what I pulled that is available, if anyone is interested just let me know. It is for sale only. Enjoy!

??? GU /99(can't remember who this was, nobody good)
Scottie Pippen GU /99
DeMar Derozan GU /99
James Harden Patch /10
Dexter Pittman RPA /99
Gordon Hayward GU Auto /50
Kevin Love GU Auto /15

and the big one...

the really big one...

John Wall RPA 34/99

Here is a link to the auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...T#ht_500wt_1156

I almost forgot, if anyone wants to make me an offer here I would be happy to pull it off eBay if we can make a deal. LMK if you are interested.

and here are some scans:

Redemptions are in no way comparable to lottery tickets. When you buy a lottery ticket there are several qualifications. You know in advance that this is something you will have to redeem and that there will be a timetable for that process. It also states clearly on whatever ticket what that timetable will be. If you want to talk about scratch offs, there still isn't really a comparison. Once all top prizes are claimed or when the company stops payouts for those tickets the game is pulled from the market and destroyed. There is no chance, short of simply having the ticket for an extended period of time(with the knowledge of when/where/how/etc. it needs to be redeemed) and not cashing it in, of buying a lottery/scratch off ticket and not being able to redeem it. You won't purchase a ticket(from a valid retailer), see you won $xxx.xx, and not be able cash it in. It just doesn't work that way.

Trading card companies, on the other hand, pull that crap all the time. If they want their older product on the shelves for years to come they should honor the redemptions. If not, then they should buy those boxes back and destroy them(honestly, that would just be stupid, which just leaves them with honoring their commitments). As long as they actually make the card there is really no reason for them to not honor a redemption. Storage, even of millions of autographed and game used cards, is fairly trivial when you think about the costs already incurred by a card manufacturer. If they didn't make the card, they should replace it.

What it all comes down to in the end is that if companies want their products to stay on the shelves for an indefinite period of time, they need to continue to honor redemptions indefinitely. Otherwise they are, in my eyes, perpetrating a kind of fraud. Their sell sheets, checklists, and box odds would all be incorrect and misleading. Everybody hates redemptions because of what they are, but situations like the kind that GoGiants is in right now only make things worse. The card companies should understand that if they are going to continue to use redemptions, they are going to need to work with people so that these kinds of wrongs don't happen.

Okay folks, all packages are in the mail. I have updated our transactions with DC numbers. Here are the results of the randoms, the first person in the list gets the card/cards and I will get the video posted this evening(I can't post it from work).

Sage pack w/ Michael Crabtree RC, John Parker Wilson RC, & Jason Smith AU

There were 6 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

Hail24
Prophecy Guy
11eleven11
chadb1733
tsanto
19th Century Indiana Jones

Timestamp: 2011-03-14 15:27:03 UTC

Sage pack w/ Chase Coffman RC, Hakeem Nicks RC, & B.J. Raji AU

There were 6 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

19th Century Indiana Jones
Prophecy Guy
11eleven11
tsanto
chadb1733
Hail24

Timestamp: 2011-03-14 15:27:29 UTC

Dexter McCluster/Ben Tate Dual Auto /5

There were 2 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

Prophecy Guy
chadb1733

Timestamp: 2011-03-14 15:27:51 UTC

The break is complete and the cards are in the mail and should arrive sometime this week. The DC# is 9101 1501 3471 1630 3399 49.

The break is complete and the cards are in the mail and should arrive sometime this week. The DC# is 9101 1501 3471 1630 3916 33.

The break is complete and the cards are in the mail and should arrive sometime this week. The DC# is 9101 1501 3471 1630 4376 45.

The break is complete and the cards are in the mail and should arrive sometime this week. The DC# is 9101 1288 8230 0601 5593 19.

The break is complete and the cards are in the mail and should arrive sometime this week. The DC# is 9101 1288 8230 0601 5131 82.

Alright, I think I finally have a video uploaded. Here it is:

http://tinypic.com/r/n5hgsn/7

Box 3:

Fred Jackson 18/79 - Hail24
Hakeem Nicks 53/79 - tsanto
Percy Harvin 61/79 - chadb1733


Randy Moss Patch 9/20 - chadb1733


Eric Decker RC Auto 63/100 - chadb1733


Golden Tate RC Patch Auto 21/40 - 11eleven11


Drew Brees Auto Inscription 5/10 - redbaron16


Greg Jennings Booklet Patch Auto 16/20 - tsanto

Box 2:

Rashard Mendenhall 58/79 - tsanto
DeAngelo Hall 66/79 - chadb1733
Steven Jackson 31/79 - chadb1733


Larry Fitzgerald Jumbo Jersey 19/40 - tsanto


Brandon LaFell RC Auto 29/100 - 11eleven11


Eric Berry RC Patch Auto 18/20 - Prophecy Guy


Ray Rice Jersey Auto 53/60 - Hail24


Jermaine Gresham/Jordan Shipley Booklet Patch Auto 3/5 - 19th Century Indiana Jones

Apparently it is not meant for me to post a video. I finally get it uploaded and bam, error. Oh well, I'll try again. Until then, here are the scans!

Bonus Packs:
These will be randomized between everyone in the break:





Box 1:

Matthew Stafford 26/79 - Prophecy Guy
Patrick Willis 35/79 - Hail24
Thurman Thomas 70/79 - Hail24


Colt McCoy Jumbo Jersey 25/40 - Hail24


Jahvid Best RC Auto 3/75 - Prophecy Guy


Demaryius Thomas RC Patch Auto 12/40 - chadb1733


Mark Sanchez Auto REDEMPTION - tsanto


Dexter McCluster/Ben Tate Auto 5/5 - Prophecy Guy/chadb1733

Okay folks, the break is done and the video is being uploaded(slowly). I will start scanning right now and I will get them posted ASAP!

Okay, here is the deal. I still can't get Ustream to record correctly. That said, I have no problem broadcasting. So, I will broadcast live on Ustream while I record with my camera. I will then post the video on Ustream if I can or Youtube if not. So, I will be going live shortly on Ustream. The URL is http://www.ustream.tv/channel/redbaron16-on-tcc. See you there!

Card received, thanks for the deal! Transaction can be closed.

Scratch that, according to my UPS update it is delivered! Break tonight for sure! Oh, along with the video I will post the hits, scans, and who each card goes to or who will be in the random for it.

The package is Out for Delivery! There are a couple of bonus packs as well, I believe 2009 Sage Autograph. I think the fair way to distribute those would be that any member(not spot) that doesn't get a hit will go into a random to get the cards. If every member gets at least one hit then everyone will be part of the random drawing. Also, I have found out that the problem I am having with doing live videos is with my internet connection(more to the point, what my router is doing with the signal). If everything works correctly this evening the break will be live and then saved to my Ustream. If not, I may have to record the break and then post it online. If that is the case, I do apologize. That's everything, UPS usually delivers to my area in the afternoon, so the case should be there before 6:00 and I'll either go live or have the video posted around that time. Good luck all!

According to the UPS tracking number I have, the case should arrive sometime tomorrow. Hopefully it will be home when I finish work. If so, I will plan on having the break as soon as I get home, say at 6:00PM CST. If it isn't in by then it may be 8:00 or 9:00 before I can do it. For now, though, lets plan on the break being at 6:00PM CST Tomorrow. If anyone has any concerns, please let me know.

Good news! The boxes should ship either today or tomorrow. I'm not positive I will get a tracking number, if I do I will let you all know. Either way, we should only be a couple of days away from the break! When I get a tracking number or the boxes in hand we can set a break time.

I agree and payment sent. Thanks!

I am interested in the Stackhouse/Howard dual auto. It would be $15 DLVD, right?