Topps Attax Doctor Who

Yes you heard correctly. Topps has finally produced a Doctor Who set of collectable cards. It may be in 'Attax' form but it is still The Doctor. Pity Topps couldn't produce some dalek relic or Rose Tyler DNA cards, those might be interesting to collect. The Topps Alien Attax coincides with the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who television show.
If your a fan of The Doctor, you would have already realised that this year is a special year in the Doctor Who calendar. On the 23rd of November 1963  the first Doctor Who episode 'The Unearthly Child' was broadcast, although eclipsed by other historic events, the show pulled in a decent audience.
In 1973, on the tenth anniversary of the show, a series of episodes called 'The Three Doctors' was made.
In 1983, on the twentieth anniversary, a special called 'The Five Doctors' was made.
In 1993, although Doctor Who series had been on temporary leave since 1989, a Children in Need special called 'Dimensions in Time' was broadcast.
Unfortunately in 2003, the Doctor was still off the air, so to speak, but roll on 2013 The Doctor has never been more popular, which means there is a flood of Doctor Who celebratory merchandise available - Royal Mail stamps (which are pretty cool even for a non stamp collector), cups, mugs T-shirts, miniature TARDISes, (is there a plural for TARDIS?), hats, figures, you name it.

The Alien Attax set contains 240 cards to collect which includes 16 rainbow foil cards and 32 mirror foil cards.

The collector pack comes with the collection folder, checklist, battle mat and a 'special' 3D Matt Smith card. 

The rest of the 240 cards are divided into groups of Aliens, Humans, Humanoids, Doctors, Companions, Robots, etc. Thankfully the set includes the very lovely new assistant Clara/Oswin Oswald played by Jenna-Louise Coleman.

There has never been a shortage of Aliens in the Doctors past, whether they were the creepy sort to keep you up in the night such as; Snowman, Weeping Angels or gas-masked children,

 Or just downright weird like the Face of Boe, The Ood or Sulirians

 Although there were some that would barely past the Alien screening process. Really- an alien made from Liquorice Allsorts.

I am pretty close to completing this set, so if you want to fill any empty spaces, just contact me. 



Finally some 2013 Topps Heritage.

But by the looks of things it only just made it. This package arrived squashed and soaked through. We have had some heavy rain (and snow) recently, however this package was not treated with tender loving care you might expect from the UK and/or US postal systems.
The inside of the package actually felt wet and the plastic wrapping damp. The blaster of 2013 Topps Heritage, although a little dented, looked fine. The cards within the blaster - undamaged and bloody brilliant.

I may have mentioned once or twice that 2013 Topps Heritage was hot on my list for set collection. In preparation for this monumental 425 card base set,  I tried to slim the other wants lists down a tad, (in particular completing a few sets), with a modicum of success-thanks largely to COMC.
But in doing so I realised that there a number of inserts that have used stealth to worm their way into my collecting habits, so rather than reducing the complete set wants list, I probably doubled it. Card collecting tends to do that to you.
This blaster was all that I could get my hands on, at the present time. A little demoralising when I saw that a fellow UK collector purchased a box of 2012 Panini National Treasures.
The blaster itself was opened quickly and the move to a complete set has now started in earnest,(or Westgate).

There are eight packs of cards within the blaster. There are nine cards per pack.

Pack 1:

#18 Cliff Lee Phillies

#38 J.D.Martinez Astros

#187 Tyler Clippard Nationals

#238 Joe Nathan Rangers

#246 Josh Hamilton Angels

#297 Jordan Lyles Astros

#314 Shane Victorino Red Sox

#359 Wilton Lopez Rockies

#445 Lucas Harrell Astros

 

Pack 2:

#45 Brandon Phillips Reds

#91 Chris Nelson Rockies

#185 Ian Kennedy D-backs

#241 Geovany Soto Rangers

#354 Sean Marshall Reds

#406 Jaime Garcia Cardinals

#419 Joe Saunders Orioles

#CCR-SC Stralin Castro Cubs

 

 

Pack 3:

#5 Strikeout Leaders

#102 Kirk Gibson Mng D-backs

#196 Chris Carter Athletics

#219 Young Aces

#274 Justin Morneau Twins

#360 Mark Teixeira Yankees

#402 Will Venable Padres

#416 Paul Maholm Braves

#449 Jered Weaver Angels

 

Pack 4:

#24 Anibal Sanchez Tigers

#32 C.J.Wilson Angels

#72 Chase Utley Phillies

#92 Chris Young Athletics Venezuelan

#194 Mike Moustakas Royals

#266 Lucas Duda Mets

#327 Heath Bell D-backs

#362 Ezequiel Carrera Indians

#384 Ryan Doumit Twins

 

Pack 5:

#22 Andrelton Simmons Braves

#197 Mark Buehrle Blue Jays

#222 J.P Arencibia Blue Jays

#239 Joel Hanrahan Red Sox

#386 Jared Burton Twins

#396 Jeff Karstens Pirates

#401 Alex Presley Pirates

#423 Tops in National League

#NF-TB The Beatles  

 

Pack 6:

#103 Gordon Beckham White Sox

#166 Dustin Ackley Mariners

#229 Jed Lowrie Astros

#265 Lorenzo Cain Royals

#353 Chris Heisey Reds

#378 Nyjer Morgan Brewers

#394 Brandon Inge Athletics

#425 Joey Votto Reds

#NAP-YC Yoenis Cespedes Athletics 

Pack 7:

#82 Pablo Sandoval Giants

#94 2013 Rookie Stars

#180 Carl Crawford Dodgers

#182 Felix Doubront Red Sox

#198 Gavin Floyd White Sox

#204 Gregor Blanco Giants

#275 Kevin Youkilis Yankees

#367 Jeremy Guthrie Royals

#MMBH Bryce Harper Nationals



 

Pack 8:

 #40 Carlos Beltran Cardinals

#56 Ross Detwiler Nationals

#78 Mike Napoli Rangers

#106 Mike Leake Reds

#193 Garrett Jones Pirates

#223 James Loney Bay Rays

#393 Pat Neshek Athletics

#410 John Lackey Red Sox

#488 Wilin Rosario Rockies

Another Cubbies relic, the last time I pulled a relic it was Cubs as well.
So the journey to complete the base set has started, fortunately I was able to bite a large chunk of 2013 Heritage off with a recent purchase from e-bayUK. Follow my progress here.

2013 baseball World Classic Update Pool B

In Taichung, Taiwan the pool was much closer. there was not overall convincing winner as there was in Pool A.The only disappointment was Australia's failure to win any match.
The three other clubs hypothetically tied for first- each winning 2 games and losing 1.The eventual winner and pool team to go through was Chinese Taipei, who won the Asian qualifying round in style, back in November 2012. During the qualifying campaign they didn't allow a run, winning all games: 10-0, 16-0 and 9-0.
Chinese Taipei's wins over Australia and the highly favoured Dutch put them on course for another three straight wins.

 

The second team through to the second round was the impressive 'Kingdom of the Netherlands' or Holland as we say in Europe. Possibly the best of the European teams in the competition. Although they beat South Korea convincingly in the first game, they let a 3-1 lead slip to Chinese Taipei. Their final game against Australia, they didn't look back after securing a 4-0 lead. They should do well in the rest of the competition.

 

The South Koreans must feel unlucky. Winning as many games as Holland and Chinese Taipei but still not getting through to the next round. Losing without scoring against Holland (5-0) was eventually their downfall.

 

 

 

The biggest disappointment, for me, was the Australian team, who only scored 2 runs in their three tournament matches. This is the same nation who set the record for most hits (22) in a past Classic, when they beat Mexico 17-7 in  2009. Despite have a professional league and many players in the MLB, they didn't deliver at all this year and will need to go through qualification for the next Classic. Three games, 3 losses.

 

2013 World Baseball Classic update Pool A

So a quick update of the 2013 World baseball Classic- Pool A and Pool B has been decided.

In  Fukuoka, Japan, the Cubans were relatively comfortable winners of Pool A, winning all three games and proceed to the next round. The Cubans made mincemeat of the Chinese in an almost completely empty Fukuoka Stadium, which doesn't say a lot for the future of the Classic.

 

Japan also move to the second round having lost only to Cuba, although their wins were less than comfortable.

The third team in the group China, are a growing nation in the sport. Although convincingly defeated by Cubans, they went on to beat the Brazilians.



 

Unfortunately for Brazil, who had advanced through last years qualifiers and were playing in their first Classic, the competition was tough and they lost every game (if only by a few runs.)

 

 

(I know its not a Brazilian player- do you really care?)

 

2013 Baseball World Classic

Here in the UK there has been barely a ripple of interest in this baseball competition,even in the preliminary rounds where the United Kingdom featured.
Although their participation was short lived, the UK played three games in the qualifying rounds against: Canada, Czech Republic and Germany. These games took place back in September in the premier European baseball stadium in Regensburg, Germany called the Armin-Wolf Baseball Arena. It is also the largest stadium specifically for baseball in Germany, pretty impressive it is too.

 

The United Kingdom team were comfortably defeated by both Canada 11-1 and Germany 16-1, but overcame the Czechs in a hard fought game, 12-5. Canada made light work of the Germans 11-1 to advance to the World Classic Pool stage.
In another of the qualifying rounds in Florida,  saw more European teams: Spain, France and Israel (well they participate in the Euros in football) battle South Africa for another of the empty pool stage places. The plucky Spaniards overcame Israel 9-7 to advance.
Brazil advanced from the South American qualifier in the Rod Carew Stadium in Panama City beating Colombia, Nicaragua and Panama.
Chinese Taipei advanced from the Asian qualifier beating baseball giants the Philippines, Thailand and New Zealand in Xinzhuang Stadium, Taiwan.
All these qualifiers took place late last year (September and November) in preparation for the World Classic in March 2013.

There are four pools of four teams in the World Baseball Classic, taking place in different parts of the World. There are possibly only a few countries in the world that have enough baseball stadiums to host the classic in a similar fashion to football, cricket and rugby, which take place usually in one country).

Pool A 
Japan, China, Cuba and Brazil
Games are played in Fukuoka, Japan in the Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.




Pool B
South Korea, Holland, Australia and Chinese Taipei
Games are played in Taichung, Taiwan.



Pool C
Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Brazil
Games are played in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the

Hiram Bithorn Stadium

 

 

 

Pool D

USA, Mexico, Italy and Canada

Games played in Phoenix, Arizona.

 

 

Is there any interest in these ganes at all?

2012 Goodwin Champions Blaster

 

When the Upper Deck version of Goodwin Champions first appeared in 2009 with the inclusion of  butterflies and insects, bits of coal from the Titanic and thoroughbred horse hair. It looked like a pretty exciting product. The base cards looked nice too, so I decided to collect the whole set. Who knows I might even snag a horse DNA card and create my own horse...in the future.

I looked forward to 2010, but had to wait until 2011 for the next helping. Some unique cards again became accessible. Fancy a piece of Abe Lincoln's desk, a piece of White House wood (no pun intended), Nelson's Battle Flag or even some of Edward the 8th's snot? 

Well 2011 Goodwin Champions made it possible, but you would have to be extremely lucky with stated odds of 1 in 54,000 packs for a piece of desk, but only 1 in 4,000 for a piece of Eddy's hanky. 

By the time 2012 Goodwin Champions, I had moved on and had pretty much lost interest in these rare relics. Even the tempting possibility of landing a space rock or collecting the card of a stellar sportsman like Kasey Keller didn't override my desire to pursue other cards.

However that doesn't mean I will turn away a free gift. 

The 2012 Goodwin Champions blaster contains 12 packs, each pack contains 4 cards.
There are 210 cards in the base set; 150 'regular cards', 40 short prints and 20 super short prints. In other words there are 150 base card and 60 cards you might get.

Pack 1:

#62 David Robinson basketball

#84 Don Mattingly baseball

#127 Dennis Eckersley baseball

#190 Sherry McGee baseball SP

Pack 2:

#44 Chris Paul basketball

#90 Clyde Drexler basketball

#113 Steve Carlton baseball mini

#130 Marques Colston football

Pack 3:

#93 Arnold Palmer golf

#105 Mike Bossy hockey

#120 Kawhi Leonard basketball

#153 Ross Youngs baseball SP

Pack 4:

#27 Mike Schmidt baseball lady luck mini

#91 Jonathan Huberdeau hockey

#102 Mike Tyson boxing

#147 Y.E.Yang golf

Pack 5:

#52 Robert Griffin III football

#64 Ned Crotty lacrosse

#115 Sarah Bernhardt actress

#207 Walter Travis golf SSP

Pack 6:

#66 Annika golf

#108 Nolan Ryan baseball

#136 Doug Flutie football

#MM17 USS Balaq

Pack 7:

#36 Eric Lindros hockey

#56 Bo Jackson football

#103 Bryan Clay track and field mini

#124 Brendan Shanahan hockey

 

Pack 8:

#70 Kent Desormeaux jockey

#80 Randy Couture MMA

#87 Jim Kelly football

#144 Adrian Peterson football

 

Pack 9:

#32 Wayne Gretzky hockey mini

#46 Zach Johnson golf

#88 Larry Bird basketball

#139 Shoeless Joe Jackson baseball

 

Pack 10:

#17 Grant Hill basketball

#28 Ron Francis hockey

#118 LeBron James basketball

#186 Camille Pissarro artist SP

 

Pack 11:

#11 Dawn Harper athletics

#21 Jozy Altidore soccer

#34 Troy Aikman football

#163 Pretty Boy Floyd gangster

 

Pack 12:

#38 Billy Hamilton baseball

#94 Adrian Dantley basketball mini

#103 Bryan Clay athletics

#142 Chantal Sutherland jockey 

Being predominately a baseball card collector, I think this sort of multi-sport set is wasted on me. Which is probably why I have only chosen to collect Allen+Ginter/Goodwin sets only once.
Although the black borders are very smart and it is pretty cool that the set contains cards of a gangster and an impressionist, it just isn't for me.

Blaster Break-down
7 basketball
7 baseball
7 football
5 hockey
5 golf
5 minis
2 jockey
2 track and field
1 MMA, soccer, boxing, lacrosse
1 actress, gangster, artist
1 insert
3 Short Prints
1 Super Short Print