BA Benny's Pack Rip Cafe Is Now Open

Hello Buffet fans. I am proud to announce that I have added another blog to the landscape out here in Blogoland. BA Benny's Pack Rip Cafe will feature loose pack breaks of all different brands of cards. While baseball will dominate, some other stuff will pop up as well. Go on and check out the first installment featuring 3 packs of 2008 Goudey here.

BA Benny's Pack Rip Cafe first post!

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2 cards from Epic break and I still need some addresses

Hey all. I was in a break hosted by Thorzul where he busted 4 boxes of 06 UD Epic. I ended up with 2 cards from the lot.

Kazuo Matsui sn'd 151/450

Kaz Matsui was a failed experiment for the Mets when he came. They even moved Jose Reyes to play second base so he could play shortstop. He was only in NY two and a half years before being traded to the Rockies. As most Mets fans here say, we got the wrong Matsui. The card companies loved him and produced many different cards of him. I have a dozen or so different Game used alone.

Tom Seaver Game Used Jersey sn'd 058/155

I was hoping to get one of these when I signed up for this break. A pinstripe is the icing on the cake for this awesome card. Tom Terrific was a cornerstone of the Mets until they traded him in 1977 to the Reds, still to this day one of the biggest mistakes the team has ever made.

 The pictures don't do these cards justice as the reflections create a dark looking photo.

On a different note I need some addresses from the group break I did a few weeks ago. I need from wickedortega, madding, Roy, pricelesspursuit, Andrew, and gcrl. Send them over so I can get your cards out. I have sent out a few and have six or seven more packed and ready to go out Thursday when I get to the post office.

Thanks for Reading!

The Postman Delivers Some Trade Goodies To The Buffet

       I am back to a somewhat normal schedule with all 11 nights of the school fundraiser in the rear view mirror and back to normal work hours for now at least. The school raised over $100,000 profit and the festival went off with no major problems while the weather was near perfect so all involved were elated with the outcome. I had a great time as usual dealing Black Jack and being co-captain of that part of the gambling tent. While I was all wrapped up in that endeavor the mailman dropped off some trade packages and here are a couple of them.

      First I have a trade with Dave of Drinking the Orange Kool-Aid fame. We took a few months to get this trade don as life had been interfering with our hobby time but we eventually got it done and it was well worth the wait. He had a bunch of sweet  game used cards from the Yankees, Nascar, and NFL I liked so I put together some Orioles and Phillies for him and these showed up in my mailbox.

 Jose Contreras and Mike Mussina 2003 Fleer Rookies and Stars gu jerseys sn'd 350/360

Jason Giambi 2003 Leaf Home gu jersey

Mariano Rivera 2009 Topps Manu Patch 1999 World Series

Roger Clemens and Alfonso Soriano 2003 Leaf Cornerstones gu jersey and bat sn'd 02/50

Casey Mears 2009 Press Pass AuthenticsPremium Signatures auto

Denny Hamlin Press Pass Authentics Hot Threads race used firesuit sn'd 97/99

Adrian Gonzalez 2009 UD Icons Manu Letter Patch "R" sn'd 07/30

Michael Huff 2006 Threads Rookie Class Letter Patch auto sn'd 086/100

All in all I am thrilled with this trade as the Yankee cards rock, the Nascar cards are georgeous and the letter patch cards were going to be part of my first contest with the letter patch card word jumble. Thanks Dave, I hope you like the cards I sent you.

Next up is an awesome package, or I should say box, that I got from Tim (aka Dog Faced Gremlin) of the The Real DFG blog. He posted about a bunch of 2010 Bowman he was ripping and I inquired about some Mets and Yankees he got since I do not do a lot of Bowman collecting. After a few e-mails it turned into a Mets and Yankees for Pirates and Steelers trade and he came through with a great bunch of cards. Here are only a few of the many cards he sent.

Tom Seaver 1993Action Packed next to the pile he sent.

2010 Bowman Mets

Beltran, Wright, Santana, Beltran gold, Mejia RC, Thole RC.

2010 Bowman Yankees

Sabathia, Vazquez, Posada, Baisley, Teixeira gold, Burnett gold

2010 Bowman mixed

Burnett Throwback, Mejia Topps 100, Santana Throwback, JR Murphy prospect, D.Murphy gold, Teixeira Throwback.

2010 Bowman Chrome BCP's

Santomauro, Gee, Shaw, Murphy, Medchill, Baisley

BCP Purple Refractors

Melky Mesa sn'd 869/999

Dillon Gee sn'd 684/999

Phil Hughes 08 Topps gold sn'd 1346/2008

John Maine 2010 Topps old school logo/cardboard parallel

That's just a taste of some great cards Tim sent my way. Thanks Tim, I hope you like the Pirates and Steelers I sent along.

More regular posting to resume so stay tuned for more trade posts, contests, and othe fun stuff from BA Benny's Baseball Cards Buffet.

Thanks for Reading!

Silver Platter Card Of The Day ~~ Double Vision Edition

Hey all. Things are still super busy here so posts have been scarce. Between work where overtime has made a surprise appearance the last few weeks, coaching travel softball, and dealing Black Jack every night for the last 8 nights, I have had very little time for much else after a little family time. Hopefully by next week some time things will get back to normal around here. The last night for dealing Black Jack will be Sunday (night 11) and the odds of OT over 4th of July weekend are slim and no softball either should make for some time on the horizon. Anyway here are a couple of favorites out of my collection to show off to get a quick post in.

2005 Playoff Prime Cuts Dwight Gooden

Game Used Bat, Hat, Jersey, Glove

SN's 04/50, 26/50 

As you can see, I have two of these gems.I love the odd swatches like the hat and glove pieces and to get four different items is a huge score. Gooden was so dominant in 1985 so this is a good way to commemorate that season. Feel free to share your opinions on these cards.

Thanks for Reading!

Anybody Want To Trade Silks??

Hey all. A quick post here as time is short. I am looking for a NY Mets silk card and have this 2009 Topps silk to offer. I don't have any Mets silks so I would love to swap for one.

Scott Podsednik sn'd 20/50 (White Sox)

I would also consider a Yankees silk too as I don't have any of those either. If you have silks to trade but don't want this one, e-mail me and I can offer something else for them. Off I go to night #5 of 11 to deal blackjack for the school fundraiser I mentioned during my Keith Hernandez auto post.

Thanks for Reading!

Silver Platter Edition of Mr. McCovey

2008 Donruss Threads Willie McCovey

Game Used Jersey sn'd 016/500

I love the old school jersey swatches. Enjoy!

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Contests over at The Orange Kool-Aid and Nachos Grande

Check out the contest over at Drinking The Orange Kool-Aid and let's help him figure out how to store his tabacco sized cards. Spread the word because the more entrants, the better the prize. Fan of Reds is also running a contest over at Nachos Grande. For a two stamps and two envelopes you get two cards and a chance to win a cool prize.

Silver Platter Edition Card Of The Day

Hello again all. I am here with a new feature on the Buffet. I will call it the "Silver Platter Edition" of a card from my collection that I want to show off on days where I just don't have a lot of time to post. I start this now because I am committed for eleven nights starting last night at the school where my kids attended kkindergarten thru eighth grade (they are in tenth and eleventh now) working their festival to raise money for the school. I have dealt Blackjack for the last 11 years and have been asked to help run that aspect of the gambling part of the festival. As you can imagine that will take most of my free time after work and assistant coaching my daughters travel softball team so blog time will be limited for the next couple of weeks. I also have wanted to start sharing some of my favorite cards from my collection so why not now. First card up is..........................................

2004 Donruss Timelines #20 Keith Hernandez Auto (NY Mets)

A sweet looking auto card!  Discuss among yourselves.

Thanks for Reading!

Last 8 Packs For Group Break plus 12 Bonus Packs.

Welcome back once again to the group break postings. This is the finish of the last eight packs and I added 12 more bonus packs to round it out. First I must say that I had a lot of fun doing this free little break. I started out planning to do the ten packs of 07 Fleer and it grew into 41 packs and over 400 cards. I love the bargain bin! The final standings are updated on the sidebar page. Cam, The Brooklyn Met, and Play At The Plate guessed the best pack when they went with pack #7 so there will be a little extra something with your cards and I do mean little extra. I am still quite surprised at the fact that there was a "hit" in one of the retail packs and it was actually a Mets card to boot. I went with video since there were 20 packs total to get in today and that would take way too long to type out and do pictures. As it is, it took three videos to get them all in. Check them out!

Here are all the cards from the 41 packs.

I hope to be able to do another one of these in the future. Everybody who had a team send me your address so I can start getting them out. I will be stagering how I mail the teams out so I don't get pounded with postal costs all at once. I hope everybody liked the cards they ended up with and don't be shy, post a comment about your opinion on the break.

The Marlins finished with the most inserts at 10, twice the number of the next teams, Nationals and Dodgers with 5 each. The Blue Jays held on to the top spot on base cards with 21, one ahead of the Pirates at 20 and four up on the Mariners with 17. Toronto also had the most cards overall with 23 cards. The Pirates and Marlins were close with 21 and 20 cards respectively.

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A group break over at Cardboard Collections!

Check out Cardboard Collections group break here and jump on in. For only $10 there are great teams left and there is a second team discount. Help celebrate Colbey's (FlyWheels) birthday and first Fathers day by sharing some wax with him.

Group Break Fun Continues With Packs #'s 14 and 15 plus a 99 Chrome

The fun continues with our free group break. On we go with more 2007 Fleer retail!

Pack #14

Adan Laroche (Braves)

Craig Monroe (Tigers)

Luke Hudson (Royals)

A ho hum start to this pack

Albert Pujols (Cardinals)

Felipe Lopez (Nationals)

Jerry Owens RC (White Sox)

Now Things are picking up with a Pujols and look at that rookie card in the first six, that means an extra two inserts to be had.

Andy Cannizaro RC (Yankees)

Die Cut Dave Roberts (Giants)

A Yankee rc for me and a die cut to the Giants. That makes 8 Yankees base to quietly climb within 2 cards of the top spot.

Rookie Sensations Jon Lester (Red Sox)

Crowing Achievement Manny Ramirez (Red Sox)

Two Inserts go to the Red Sox making their total four. That moves them to second behind the Marlins and Mr. WickedOrtega selected both those teams, good choices I must say. That pack started slow but finished real strong.

Pack #15

Derrek Lee (Cubs)

Jeremy Hermida (Marlins)

Hank Blalock (Rangers)

Not a bad start to this pack.

Aaron Miles (Cardinals)

Ramon Ortiz (Nationals)

Hector Gimenez RC (Astros)

Another early rookie card so two more extra inserts are on the way.

Alvin Colina RC (Rockies)

Die Cut Brian Schneider (Nationals)

We saw that Schneider base a few packs back so here is the parallel to go with it.

Rookie Sensations Scott Olsen (Marlins)

In The Zone Miguel Cabrera (Marlins)

The first In The Zone insert I believe and no surprise that two more Marlins inserts pop out to make their total eight, double the Red Sox four in second place.

1999 Topps Chrome

John Flaherty (Rays)

Jaun Gonzalez (Rangers)

Rick Reed (Mets)

Brady Anderson (Orioles)

Four cards to four different teams and I get one of them. It's been a while since a Mets card came out.

Overall I would say there were 3 pretty good packs with 17 teams getting cards. I would say the Marlins, Nationals, and Red Sox made out the best in this round.

We are closing in on the end with 8 packs left. Don't forget to check out the standings page on my sidebar. The Jays and Marlins are still at the top but the other teams are shuffling positions. I hope everybody is enjoying the packs and I welcome comments with how you like what has come out so far.

Thanks for Reading!

Break Packs 10,11,12, 13, and a 93 Topps

Hello again all and welcome back to the mini group break. I am short on time today so I went with another video. I have 5 packs for you today.



A quick recap has the Blue Jays moving into the lead for the base side at 10 with the Mariners jumping into second with 9. The Marlins are still way out front with 6 on the insert side. There were 3 substitutions for 2 players in my collection. I think I upgraded them so I hope the affected teams are happy with what I swapped in for them.

 Dennis Eckersley 93 Upper Deck Award Winners sub set (A's)

Frank Thomas Trading Places insert  (White Sox)

Frank Thomas 08 Topps Gold Foil (Blue Jays)

Break Packs #8 & #9 plus a 2000 Finest

Welcome back to the group break Buffet readers. Pack #7 has jumped to the lead in the best pack competition after a hit came out yesterday. I am still surprised at that.  See video for details. We have 2 more 2007 Fleer retail and the first of two 2000 Finest. On we go.

PACK #8

Andrew Jones (Braves)

Dan Uggla (Marlins)

Ervin Santana (Angels)

Three good players to start it off. The Marlins first base after 5 inserts.

Carl Crawford (Rays)

Jaun Morillo RC (Rockies)

David Murphy RC (Red Sox)

A good sign when you see the two guaranteed rookies in the first six cards.

Rookie Sensations Nick Markakis (Orioles)

Rookie Sensations James Loney (Dodgers)

An extra Rookie Sensation is always good. Two very good players. I guess that's why they are on the inserts.

Die Cut Mini Dan Uggla (Marlins)

Year In Review Jered Weaver (Angels)

Another extra insert/parallel bringing the total to 4 inserts for this pack. Not too bad when they guarantee only one per pack. No surprise that one is a Marlin as they lead inserts by far with 6 now. A plus when it matches the base card in the same pack. I would rank this pack second to the hit pack.

PACK #9

Jeff Francoeur (Braves)

Brandon Phillips (Reds)

Jorge Posada (Yankees)

Another good start to a pack and a Yankee for me.

Carlos Silva (Twins)

Mark Mulder (Cardinals)

Vernon Wells (Blue Jays)

Three nice established players with 20 years of big league experience between them up to this point in 2007.

Carlos Maldonado RC (Pirates)

Francisco Cruceta RC (Rangers)

The two promised rookie cards.

Rookie Sensations Kenji Johjima (Mariners)

Crowning Achievement Ryan Howard (Phillies)

A nice extra insert in the Howard to save an average pack.

2000 Topps Finest Series 2

Mark Kotsay (Marlins)

David Wells (Blue Jays)

Troy O'leary (Red Sox)

Roger Cedeno (Astros)

Ryan Anderson (Mariners)

Andres Galarraga (Braves)

I very much like the design of these cards. The player selection out of this pack was so so except you do have David Wells who threw a perfect game.

Over all a great pack, an average pack, and a so so pack. A nice mix with 18 teams represented. I still can't figure why we haven't seen one Indians card yet. Hang in there, the tide has to change I would think. Only one card for me from this bunch but I guess that's OK after the day I had yesterday. No substitutions either. The Pirates still lead on the base side but the Braves and Blue Jays have moved within one. The Marlins are cruising on the insert side with 4 more then anybody else. Don't forget to check the standings page on the sidebar to see how everybody is doing. We have 10 more 07 Fleer packs plus 6 or so bonus packs. You never know though as I may add some more if the opportunity presents itself. Let me know what you think so far.

Here are the substitution cards from the video packs 6 and 7 for the A's and Jays.

 Thanks For Reading!