The Dog Days Of Summer

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After a long week which consisted of way too much overtime, and not enough undertime your boy Mojo has finally returned to the Mac. As the dog days of summer approach, and the outside world becomes more appealing The Mojo Hand will probably become more quality than quantity. Lets just hope the card companies will follow the same path.

Earlier this week I picked up a box of 08 Masterpiece, and 08 Elite for Fathers Day. I'm still eight S.P's shy of set completion, and at $34.00 a hobby box Masterpiece is quite a steal these days. Upper Deck's decision to dump Masterpiece was a huge disappointment to a lot of collectors. Not only was it a fun pack to rip it also featured on card autographs at an affordable price. The checklist was very well done, and the player portraits were actually worth looking at.

The framed parallel conception was also really cool, and the mysterious on card patch autographs made for quite an exciting chase card. I was fortunate enough to pull a Matt Cain autographed jersey relic out of this hobby box, and with Matt seriously on fire what better time to pull one. I always believed that Matt would overcome his inconsistencies and become the ace we all knew he could be, but 9-1 with a 2.28 ERA now that's just ridiculous.

I also conjured up a little mojo, and pulled a 5/5 blue framed Palmer which I will give away to the first Oriole fan who emails me. I have ripped over 300 packs of Masterpiece, and this is the first Blue I have ever seen. I was also fortunate enough to pull a Chris Carpenter Relic, and several other framed pieces including a red Gibson that rivals the red Ryan I pulled the previous box. Unfortunately the only S.P I pulled was of Albert Pujols, but once again at $34.00 how could one complain.

I was a little tardy on my Elite purchase this time around, and almost a year after its release I was still a little hesitant on the purchase. In the past Elite was the most anticipated product of the year for me, but after Donruss lost its M.L.B license I lost some interest as well. I was, however, climbing the walls for 07's release, but that was due to the fact the draft was so deep. The current release was loaded with over 100 R.C autographs, and with 08's draft being one of the slimmest in years it was no surprise I ended up with four dupes I have never heard of. I was, however, happy with the overall design of the cards, and was fortunate enough to pull a Jhoulys Chacin 25/25 Gold Status die cut.

If your looking for a Rick Porcello, Chris Davis or Buster Posey autograph the odds may not be in your favor, but at a little over $50.00 a box its a pretty safe gamble. If anyone is trying to complete any of these two sets please email me as I have plenty to throw around. Also starting Friday I will be holding at least one contest a week. STAY TUNED!