A Christmas Zapping: Part 4 (the end)

This has been fun, but the box of Zippy Zappy's Christmas Zapping has come to end with just a few more packs. It's a been a great run with some amazing cards. So how will it end?

Pack #18 literally couldn't start any better with a Ty Henlsey #'d to 99 that I needed! That's always a huge plus. Also, the Pacific card makes it look like the player's name is Jardinero Corto, not Andy Stankiewicz.

I love the 1971 Stick Michael! Also, another picture of Big Daddy running. Those card companies loved that back in the day.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Pack #20 with a case hit! You know when Topps packs state "packs with relics may contain less cards"? Well, it's because of thick-ass cards like this! This Yogi is just tremendous. I've never seen one of these up close, and for a manu-relic, it's a very cool card and very well done.

Here's a sweet vintage pull! It's a 1954 Bowman Tom Gorman. It's a very cool card from an amazing set! I love the sky and his Dwight Schrute glasses.

The final pack of them all! Pack #23 has a sweet Pineda diecut. I also love the Ricky Ledee SI card. He signed this card for me TTM back in 1999, and I never replaced it without a signature. Now I have it!

Kenny, this was an absolute blast. Thanks again for the box!

A Christmas Zapping: Part 3

We're making some headway and are halfway through Zippy Zappy's Christmas Zapping! I've featured eleven packs so far. Here are a couple more!

Pack #12 has a PC guy Gary Sanchez on some shiny Bowman Platinum. I really like the purple-bordered Russell Martin, as I never get these Toys R Us versions.

 

Lucky pack #13 is up, and we have a hit! A Mark Teixeira framed jersey card pops out of the pack. Add in a Tex 'Spot the Error' insert, and the Yankees 1B really brought it here. With the Beltran, I suppose this must be 2014 Archives, but I've officially gotten past knowing what year is what when it comes to Archives over the last few years.

Another hockey alert! How is this getting past quality control? This pack is a little bittersweet with the appearance of Manny Banuelos. I wish the little lefty the best of luck with Atlanta.

More hockey!! This is nuts. But it's cool, it's the Rangers and it's Brad Richards. The rest of the pack was pretty fun too! The JR Murphy 2014 Finest is definitely my favorite card of the pack, although the Leaf Mattingly is riggggght behind it.

Pack #16 has a hit! And this time we have an auto of Shaeffer Hall, who has a decent signature and the name that sounds like a college dorm. And I gotta say, that Cecil Field '97 Topps of him running is gold. It's not Topps Gold, but it's gold.

Let's finish it off (pack #17) with a low-numbered Posada refractor. We've also got Jeter and my man Tino, so that's a damn fine pack. I also should mention that Brian McCann reappears after a 13-pack absence.

Reclaiming my old cards: Cecil Fielder TTM

The next TTM cards I reclaimed in the clear cube of cards was one of my favorites. I definitely forgot about this one, but was thrilled to find it. Cecil “Big Daddy” Fielder signed my two Yankee. The Stadium Club card looks particularly cool.

Big Daddy played a big role (pun very much intended) in the Yankees march to the 1996 World Series title. I was excited when the Yankees got him at the trade deadline. I was sleeping over at a friend’s house, and his dad actually came in and woke us up after midnight to tell us.

It was a little bittersweet seeing him start a few games in the World Series over Tino. However, Torre had to go with the hotter bat in the NL park. Regardless, Cecil was a force in the middle of the line-up, and I really enjoyed having him in NY after he was so good with the Tigers in the early ‘90s.