Perhaps the most unethical thing I've seen in our hobby. Topps should be ashamed

[the 'stache]

Ya, they were pretty rough. Cutter Dykstra's two claims to fame are going to be his daddy going to jail, and dating Meadow Soprano. You don't want your two claims to fame being things other people did. In his seventh year in the minors, he made it to AA finally, where he rocked a fat .740 OPS. But you know that AA money supports a baby mama well, right?

I always wondered when she would dump him, but he knocked her up, and they have a kid now. I guess that Sopranos money is pretty fat. She can afford to be with a career minor league scrub. But Beau Kyle Dykstra will be making more than his daddy soon.

Edit: Wow, she dated Mark Sanchez, formerly of the Jets, before Dykstra. She has a thing for horrible athletes, it seems. Hey Meadow, I played some Park Rec baseball when I was 15.

[Rich Klein]

Who in the heck is Meadow Soprano and are her photos safe for work?

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

Who in the heck is Meadow Soprano and are her photos safe for work?

Jamie Lynn Sigler played Meadow Soprano on the Sopranos.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

Who in the heck is Meadow Soprano and are her photos safe for work?

I guess if you do baseball cards 24/7/365 you miss out on even the best-known cultural phenomena like the Sopranos.

[Peter_Spaeth]

"He knocked her up..."

Who on earth talks like this in this day and age??

[slipk1068]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

"He knocked her up..."

Who on earth talks like this in this day and age??

Probably nobody in your social circle, but I know this vernacular works with Kim Kardashian/Lenny Dykstra crowd.

[hangman62]

its pretty bad if you care about newer stuff

Im glad I don't collect anything newer then 70s

[Rich Klein]

Looks like all photos safe for work -- and I should have said who or what is a Meadow Soprano. Sounded like a porn star to me

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

"He knocked her up..."

Who on earth talks like this in this day and age??

It just popped into my head. Sorry, Peter. By the way, I also will break out the occasional "groovy", and I have been known to say "fosro-far out, solid and right on", though I realize neither of those are offensive.

Originally Posted by Section103

I wont necessarily get into details, but anyone who is buying cards from packs and expects those packs to be fairly, equally, and randomly distributed should give pause to think. I can not speak for every card company, but I can speak of one certain company which specifically did NOT distribute 2007 NFL Rookie auto cards (numbered to 10) in a fair manner. You can believe me or not. Im just here to warn you.

Rich, after those three boxes, I wised up fast. I had nothing at all against breaking a box once in a while, purely for the fun factor (bringing back memories from my childhood). But in order to put together the collection I wanted, I started buying the cards individually. And I was rather successful. I subscribed to Baseball America, MLB.tv, Milb.com...I scouted minor league players, did spreadsheets ranking the prospects based off of Baseball America, MLB.com, and a site called Baseball Prospect Nation. And I watched a lot of film, when it was available. There are some guys I've been pretty high on before they became the flavor of the month-Joc Pederson of the Dodgers and George Springer of the Astros were top 100 prospects, so I didn't pull them out of mid air, but out of those prospects, I really liked their upside more than most. These are two guys with impressive power-speed combinations. Their athleticism should make them both 30-30 players in the Majors, and soon. Springer by 2016, and Pederson possibly a year after that. It depends on when the Dodgers finally bring him up. They'd be nuts to trade him. He's blocked in the Majors right now, but they need to make room. If Kemp will rework his contract, keep him. Otherwise find a way to move him, and eat most of his contract if you have to. Joc Pederson's ceiling is high.

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

Looks like all photos safe for work -- and I should have said who or what is a Meadow Soprano. Sounded like a porn star to me

Ya, I'm sorry, Rich. I should have been more clear. I can see how that would give some people room for cause.

[mark evans]

Just another reason to eschew new product. Card collecting has gone downhill, in my view, ever since it became infeasible to collect complete sets.

[Jayworld]

Originally Posted by mark evans

Just another reason to eschew new product. Card collecting has gone downhill, in my view, ever since it became infeasible to collect complete sets.

+1 on this. Being a former set builder (complete sets 1975-82) outside the pre-war realm, I quickly realized when I got back into the hobby about 2001 or so that I could no longer affordably put together a new/current set of baseball cards. That was a bummer and redefined the way I approached the hobby.

[EvilKing00]

So the 2014's came out in 2014, then the 2013 Bryant came out in 2014 as well?

Does the 2013 Bryant have a date on it?