Hey!!! This is a trade BAIT post! (National Chicle)

I think I figured out why so many people hit on my post where the title was "Hey!!! This is a trade post!" Maybe they were expecting trade bait?

Well, I've been promising to post my list of 2010 Topps National Chicle cards for trade, and now I will finally do just that.

First, a real quick thanks to Night Owl for the prize winnings - I will be devoting a full post in the near future, and another quick real big thanks to Jim for the cards yesterday. He mentioned he's building this set so I'm going to give him first picks through the list (I owe him), but make your comments and I'll get back to you ASAP as always.

Base: 1, 6, 8, 10, 11, 22, 29, 31, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 38, 40, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 56, 58, 60, 71, 73, 73, 75, 76, 78, 80, 87, 88, 91, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 107, 111, 112, 114, 115, 116, 118, 120, 121, 122, 123, 125, 126, 128, 133, 137, 139, 141, 143, 145, 147, 149, 151, 152, 153, 158, 161, 163, 165, 166, 168, 176, 178, 181, 185, 187, 196, 198, 201, 203, 205, 206, 210, 211, 213, 216, 217, 218, 220, 221, 223, 226, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 235, 236, 237, 239, 241, 245, 247, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 258, 260, 262, 263, 265, 268, 271, 273, 275.

SP: 307 Manny Ramirez.

National Chicle back: 24 Kevin Kouzmanoff, 49 Adrian Gonzalez, 89 Chone Figgins, 187 Joe Saunders, 210 Robin Yount, 217 Frank Robinson, 250 Joe Morgan.

Bazooka back: 55 Carl Crawford, 107 Mark Teixeira, 239 Walter Johnson.

National Chicle Box Break Comes to a Conclusion

It's time to knock this bad boy out! Eight more packs to the end.

 This set is full of bright, vibrant color, like the Thurman Munson card. And there are cards which look like highly detailed fine-pencil drawings (Robin Yount). And then there are cards like Lou Gehrig, with death-black backgrounds.

 And sometimes there are short prints done in vintage Topps designs, like the Stoner card.

 Saundberg looks shocked and surprised, while Roy Campanella plays baseball on the edge of the river.

 Another Chicle back: Frank Robinson. Back when Topps 206 came out, with all the tobacco back variations, I thought the concept was pretty cool. And for the 206 set, it had meaning, since the original T206 cards had different backs. I don't like the concept here. If they had done the set in mini form (the same size as the original Diamond Stars of course, not tobacco mini size) with the various backs it would have been better. Anyway, this is our sixth Chicle back, the average for the box.

 Speaking of back parallels, here's our other Bazooka back. That would be Mr. Carl Crawford. By the way, what team did Michael Bourn play for in 2010? Oh, right. Houston. Thanks for reminding us, Topps.

 Three packs left, and this one contains another SP. The 1991 Topps version is one of my favorites. Why do I like junk wax era Topps so much?

 Hey, a bonus Chicle! Let's see if anyone wants it. I know there's a Kevin Kouzmanoff fan out there somewhere! No, really, I know. I just can't remember who it is.

Last pack. Hm, only four cards. We got jipped. No we didn't! That's an Evan Longoria game-used bat card! Those are some nice-looking relics, even if there are two boring spots on either side of the relic. Let's turn it over, shall we:

Bazoooooooooooooooooooka! It's numbered to 99! That's an awesome hit! Relics hit, on average, every two boxes, and this one has even tougher odds. That's a keeper, and a great end to the box.

I'll have a recap/have list ASAP for you if you're trying to finish the set!

National Chicle Box Break Part Two

Time for more fun! Continuing the break of the National Chicle box - this is the middle of the three sets.

 Purple backgrounds are awesome! Sort of. It works, I guess. I like Juan Pierre's face in this one. And Buster Posey is the key card in the base set - that would be his RC.

 You would think Pujols is the best card in this pack, and you might be right, except for Mr. 99 sitting in the bottom left corner. You see, he's a short print. That makes Manny more specialer than Albert. I guess. I'd rather have more Pujols.

 *Yawn* just another pack in the box. Hey, what's that fading and blue squiggle at the bottom of that card there on the bottom left? Hey, that's an autograph! How pleasant! Checking the odds, I should expect one autograph per box, so here it is.

 It's time for another parallel, this time of Adrian Gonzalez. The Dennis Eckersley is a nice card too.

 And another parallel; this Bazooka is Teixeira. Is Tim Wakefield eating a baseball? Seriously?

 It's short print time again. The Ryne Sandberg and Walter Johnson are both retired SPs!

 Moving right along, not much to see here...

And once again the last pack has a Chicle parallel. Chone Figgins. That Kurt Suzuki card is kind of a strange image.

We'll finish this up in twelve hours!

National Chicle, One Year Later (Yet another box break!)

It seems like I'm opening a lot of boxes lately. And I suppose I have. Well, two retail boxes I've had for months, and that 1997 Pinnacle XPress box earlier today. And I have packs opened waiting to be scanned, plus a bunch more packs I bought earlier this week that haven't even been opened yet.

I think it's time to get this sucker out of the way, so let's do this in three parts. There are 24 packs per box, so I'll give you eight packs at a time. Like the Topps Update box, I'm busting this just for fun, so if you need any of these cards let me know! A few cards may be kept for my collection. As with the Topps Update box, I'll have a full checklist of card numbers and such after the break is complete.

 Pack one: our first insert; National Chicle backs come 1:4 packs. That's Robin Yount. This was a pretty good start, with Reggie Jackson, Russell Martin, and hometown hero Nick Markakis. I love the art in this set and I wish it would come back, even as just an annual insert.

 This pack shows two art extremes - the Cabrera is very bold and in-your-face (or his face, I suppose), while Murphy appears faded and pencilly over his bright yellow background.

 Yet another Chicle back, Joe Saunders. Three vintage New Yorkers fill the pack.

 My first Bazooka back, inserted 1:8 packs. This set is loaded with retired stars, which is kind of cool. I like the arch behind Gibson and the bridge behind Castillo.

 Wait a minute, what's that? An SP? Yep! Chipper is a short print!

 Back to a sense of retail normalcy - no inserts and no big stars. If every pack was like this it wouldn't be a very exciting break, now would it?

 Another pack with several vintage players. In fact, the whole pack is full of vintage players, New Yorkers, and Bahstonites. If Topps had their way, that would be the entire set.

And we'll finish out the first eight packs with another Chicle back, meaning we're a little over average on the Chicle parallels. Number 250 is Joe Morgan.

Eight more packs in twelve more hours! I bet you can't wait.