Lizard's Rant

One of the coolest things about the web these days is that it gives us new and exciting ways to communicate. A few years ago it was awesome for collectors to share results of their box breaks with other collectors on a message board or through email. As much as we love believing the manufacturers that there are “an average of 2 autographs per box”, we really like hearing from other collectors that they really did get 2 autographs, and that they actually got some decent cards. It adds a certain sense of realism to the card collecting hobby.

Fast forward to 2007, and the latest craze is video box breaks. It’s cheap and simple for anyone to post a video on YouTube and share with the whole world. The videos add a dimension to the realism because you can actually see the cards (and because everyone would rather watch than read).

SportsLizard recently launched a SportsLizard YouTube channel when we debuted the price guide video, and below you can see the first of what we hope will be many entertaining video box breaks. Enjoy!

The Set - 2007 Topps Moments and Milestones
In hindsight, this was probably not the best series to break for our first box. It is quite possibly the most confusing set of cards ever made, and it shows on our faces as we attempt to determine if we actually pulled a good card or not. That’s not to say that it isn’t a very cool idea - just that it’s something new that collectors will have to decide whether or not they like.

The idea is this: every single card is “rare”. Topps accomplishes this by numbering each card to 199 or less…sort of. Say a card is to commemorate Mickey Mantle’s 52 home runs during his 1956 Triple Crown season. The 52 home runs are captured in 52 separate cards, all sequentially numbered to 199. So there’s really 199×52 of these cards, or 10,348. Each card you pull feels rare, but does it really matter if you get home run 4 or 44?

I do commend Topps for the unique idea for a set that enables collectors to collect a bunch of different ways. Using the example above you could try to get a card for each home run (1-52) or try for all 199 cards for a specific home run.

A full breakdown of the set can be seen here, but here are the essentials:

• Suggested retail price: $6 pack/$108 box
• 18 packs per box, 6 cards per pack
• 2 autograph cards per box
• 1 parallel card numbered to 40 or less per pack (there are red parallel cards that are 1/1 and black parallel cards that are 1/40)

The Video
Without further adieu, here’s the video. We tried to make a somewhat boring process fun by dubbing over some hilarious music from our friends Pots and Pans which is at about a PG-13 level, but might still be too harsh for young kids (if the word “tits” offends you then you probably shouldn’t watch).

We also had to reduce the quality quite a bit to get it to fit on YouTube - next video will probably a bit shorter so we can keep the high quality we originally produced it at because quite honestly I don’t think this quality is on par with where it should be (if you’re reading this in an email, visit the site to watch the video).

What We Pulled
Here’s the pack-by-pack breakdown:

Pack 1
Derek Lee - 2005 NL Silver Slugger 46 Home Runs - #136 Black Parallel
Mickey Mantle - 1957 AL MVP 121 Runs - #76
Tom Glavine - 1998 NL Cy Young 20 Wins - #139
Albert Pujols - 2001 NL ROY 130 RBI - #2
Mike Piazza - 1993 NL ROY 112 RBI - #80
Roger Clemens - 2004 NL Cy Young 218 Strikeouts - #162

Pack 2
Chipper Jones - 1999 NL MVP 45 Home Runs - #21 Black Parallel
Bobby Crosby - 2004 AL ROY 64 RBI - #88
Derek Lee - 2005 NL Silver Slugger 46 Home Runs - #136
Hanley Ramirez - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 185 Hits - #72
Ryan Zimmerman - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 176 Hits - #67
Vladimir Guerrero - 2004 AL MVP 126 RBI - #40

Pack 3
Miguel Tejada - 2004 AL Silver Slugger 150 RBI - #155 Black Parallel
Chipper Jones - 1999 NL MVP 41 Doubles - #25 Black Parallel
Ryan Zimmerman - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 110 RBI - #68
Prince Fielder - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 81 RBI - #59
Mickey Mantle - 1957 AL MVP 146 Walks - #77
Roger Clemens - 1987 AL Cy Young 256 Strikeouts - #20

Pack 4
Chipper Jones - 1999 NL MVP 181 Hits - #23 Black Parallel
Alex Rodriguez - 2005 AL MVP 130 RBI - #34
Alex Rodriguez - 2005 AL MVP 194 Hits - #35
Randy Johnson - 1999 NL Cy Young 364 Strikeouts - #55
Pedro Martinez - 2005 NL All Star 208 Strikeouts - #142
Albert Pujols - 2001 NL ROY 130 RBI - #2

Pack 5
Garret Atkins - Autograph
Ichiro - 2001 AL MVP/ROY 69 RBI - #10
Alex Rodriguez - 2003 AL MVP 30 Doubles - #31
Albert Pujols - 2001 NL ROY 194 Hits - #3
Randy Johnson - 1995 AL Cy Young 294 Strikeouts - #51
Mickey Mantle - 1956 MVP 132 Runs - #166

Pack 6
Roger Clemens - 2004 NL Cy Young 218 Strikeouts - #162 Black Parallel
Ken Griffey Jr. - 1997 AL MVP 56 Home Runs - #45
Francisco Liriano - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 144 Strikeouts - #66
Hideki Matsui - 2005 MLB All Star 192 Hits - #98
Hanley Ramirez - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 51 Stolen Bases - #70
Hideki Matsui - 2005 MLB All Star 192 Hits - #98

Pack 7
Chipper Jones - 1999 NL MVP 110 RBI - #22 Black Parallel
Ichiro - 2001 AL MVP/ROY 34 Doubles - #7
Randy Johnson - 1999 Cy Young 364 Strikeouts - #55
Ichiro - 2001 AL MVP/ROY 242 Hits - #6
Manny Ramirez - 2005 AL Silver Slugger 144 RBI - #135
Chipper Jones - 1999 NL MVP 116 Runs - #24

Pack 8
Frank Thomas - 1994 AL MVP 101 RBI - #107 Black Parallel
Dontrelle Willis - 2003 NL ROY 142 Strikeouts - #85
Randy Johnson - 1995 AL Cy Young 294 Strikeouts - #51
Prince Fielder - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 81 RBI - #59
Miguel Montero - Autograph
Mickey Mantle - 1957 AL MVP 173 Hits - #75

Pack 9
Ryan Zimmerman - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 176 Hits - #67 Black Parallel
Travis Hafner - 2005 MLB Superstar 33 Home Runs - #150
Mickey Mantle - 1957 AL MVP 146 Walks - #77
Hideki Matsui - 2005 MLB Superstar 192 Hits - #98
Derek Jeter - 1996 AL ROY 183 Hits - #83
Barry Zito - 2002 AL Cy Young 182 Strikeouts - #49

Pack 10
Mickey Mantle - 1957 AL MVP 146 Walks - #77 Black Parallel
Andruw Jones - 2005 NL Silver Slugger 52 Home Runs - #93
Manny Ramirez - 2005 AL Silver Slugger 45 Home Runs - #134
Ichiro - 2001 AL MVP/ROY 242 Hits - #6
Ryan Zimmerman - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 110 RBI - #68
Justin Verlander - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 124 Strikeouts - #64

Pack 11
Curt Schilling - 2004 AL All Star 21 Wins - #91 Black Parallel
Michael Young - 2004 AL Batting Champion 24 Home Runs - #112
Ken Griffey Jr. - 1997 AL MVP 147 RBI - #46
Vladimir Guerrero - 2004 AL MVP 124 Runs - #42
Alex Rodriguez - 2005 AL MVP 130 RBI - #34
Alex Rodriguez - 2005 AL MVP 124 Runs - #36

Pack 12
Ichiro - 2001 AL MVP/ROY 242 Hits - #6 Black Parallel
Randy Johnson - 1999 Cy Young 364 Strikeouts - #55
Randy Johnson - 1995 Cy Young 295 Strikeouts - #51
Roger Clemens - 1986 AL Cy Young/MVP 238 Strikeouts - #18
Randy Johnson - 1999 Cy Young 12 Complete Games - #56
Mickey Mantle - 1956 MVP 188 Hits - #165

Pack 13
Hideki Matsui - 2005 MLB Superstar 116 RBI - #97 Black Parallel
Vladimir Guerrero - 2004 AL MVP 206 Hits - #41
Pedro Martinez - 2005 NL All Star 208 Strikeouts - #142
Greg Maddux - 1993 NL Cy Young 197 Strikeouts - #15
Roger Clemens - 1986 AL Cy Young/MVP 24 Wins - #16
Mickey Mantle - 1957 AL MVP 173 Hits - #75

Pack 14
Prince Fielder - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 81 RBI - #59 Black Parallel
Curt Schilling - 2004 AL All Star 203 Strikeouts - #92
Randy Johnson - 1999 NL Cy Young 364 Strikeouts - #55
Alex Rodriguez - 2003 AL MVP 124 Runs - #30
Ryan Howard - 2005 NL ROY 22 Home Runs - #89
Mark Teixeira - 2005 AL Silver Slugger 43 Home Runs - #143

Pack 15
Ryan Zimmerman - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 176 Hits - #67 Black Parallel
Randy Johnson - 1995 AL Cy Young 18 Wins - #50
Alex Rodriguez - 2003 AL MVP 118 RBI - #28
Dan Uggla - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 26 Doubles - #60
Alex Rodriguez - 2005 AL MVP 194 Hits - #35
Mickey Mantle - 1956 Triple Crown 130 RBI - #164

Pack 16
Pedro Martinez - 2005 NL All Star 208 Strikeouts - #142 Black Parallel
Miguel Cabrera - 2005 NL Silver Slugger 116 RBI - #110
Hanley Ramirez - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 119 Runs - #71
Roger Clemens - 1986 AL Cy Young/MVP 238 Strikeouts - #18
Vladimir Guerrero - 2004 AL MVP 39 Doubles - #43
Scott Rolen - 2004 NL All Star 34 Home Runs - #122

Pack 17
Randy Johnson - 1995 AL Cy Young 294 Strikeouts - #51 Black Parallel
Dontrelle Willis - 2003 NL ROY 142 Strikeouts - #85 Black Parallel
Roger Clemens - 1986 AL Cy Young/MVP 238 Strikeouts - #18
Pedro Martinez - 2005 NL All Star 208 Strikeouts - #142
Albert Pujols - 2001 NL ROY 130 RBI - #2
Jim Edmonds - 2004 NL Silver Slugger 42 Home Runs - #116

Pack 18
Albert Pujols - 2001 NL ROY 130 RBI - #2
Ryan Zimmerman - 2006 Topps Rookie Cup Winner 176 Hits - #67
Vladimir Guerrero - 2004 AL MVP 206 Hits - #41
Albert Pujols - 2001 NL ROY 47 Doubles - #5
Derek Lee - 2005 NL Silver Slugger 107 RBI - #137
Alex Rodriguez - 2003 AL MVP 181 Hits - #29

Final Thoughts
We were somewhat disappointed not to get a Dice-K card or a better signature card. We got our two autographs and got 18 parallel cards so we got exactly what was promised to us, but overall I was hoping for more. That’s the problem with a set that touts no commons - you subconsciously expect a great pull. Personally I like the idea for the series, but I’d rather break open a box of a more “standard” set where a short printed card is actually “rare”. I think I would go crazy if I had to open another box of these…we pulled SIX Albert Pujols cards, NINE Arod cards, NINE Mickey Mantle’s, and TEN Randy Johnson cards. I need some variety and you’re clearly not getting it with this set. If you enjoy pulling quasi-rare cards of superstar after superstar, than this set is for you.

I give the box a 3 lizards out of 5.