Busting Wax

Don’t Call it a Comeback

Yes, I know it’s been a while. I apologize to you all, because I realize that there are still many of you out there reading my site. I’ve fallen into a funk of card collecting ennui, but I seem to have broken out of it. I’ve busted some wax recently that has renewed my faith in the joy of the elusive, valuable bust.

More on that once I get a scanner up and running. I hate to tease, it’s the oldest blogging trick in the book, but it’s all I’ve got right now.

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Stalk me

So I’m still working on a video I shot a couple weekends ago of my first box-break. It’s taking longer than normal (mostly because I’ve been lazy and putting it off) but I wanted to check in after having a flurry of posts recently. I don’t want to squander the good will.

Also, I wanted to post a couple ways you can “follow me” and the other online activities I do (other blogs I post to, music I listen to, etc). The first is Twitter. You can follow me here. Twitter is basically micro-blogging site where I post random updates throughout the day, I post stuff that may bore you, but will probably exhilarate you.

The other site is FriendFeed. You can follow me on Friendfeed (my FriendFeed feed) here. FriendFeed basically aggregates almost all my online activity. That includes posts to my different blogs, activity on sites like Digg and Reddit, Flickr, Last.fm, items I share on Google Reader. Basically, it’s my online life.

So feel free to get more regular updates by following me on either of these sites. Let me know if you use them, as well. If you have any questions about the services, feel free to ask.

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Summer Doldrums

Usually during the summer, my interest in and the time I devote to my collection wanes. The time I spend with my collection is proportional to the how nice the weather is. When it’s cold, rainy or miserable, I’m more likely to be in the basement ripping packs, organizing cards and doing the blog thing (taking pictures, writing words). If the weather’s good, I’m usually in the back yard, playing with the kids or doing some kind of yard work. If I’m lucky, I’m golfing. I just never have enough time to get to my cards.

This summer, though, I’ve been given a break from the wife and kids (even though I’m missing them now) and a few extra bucks to spend, so I went to the hobby store and got myself a nice little stack of goodies:

This is the first hobby box I’ve purchased since I picked the hobby back up. I’ve already busted the entire thing, but this time I caught the whole ordeal on video. This is my first attempt to do a video box break. I’m still doing “post production.”

One thing I’m debating is putting the box break on Vimeo or YouTube. I know Mario does his videos on Vimeo and other bloggers use YT, but I’m not sure. I know I’d get more “exposure” on YouTube, but I’d also be exposed to the dregs of the internet there. Vimeo always seemed a like the high-rent district. Any suggestions?

I taped myself busting the other packs above as test runs, so we’ll see if any of those are worth putting up here, too. I’ve got a couple old pack breaks in the queue to post, and then I’ll be mostly caught up. I am without my camera right now, but once it gets back, I’ll get some higher quality pictures up of some of my recent pulls. And of course the pulls I got out of that 2008 Legendary Cuts. I am SUPER excited about that one.

So again I thank all of you who’ve stuck around to read my site. I know I haven’t been as prolific as other bloggers, but I appreciate all the comments and feedback I’ve got so far. I’m looking forward to a lot more!

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Site updates

I just wanted to throw up a quick post to let those of you reading my site (thanks!) that I’m still around. I just recently updated my sites to WordPress 2.5 and plan on hitting the ground running with more content as things settle down at work. In the meantime, here’s a picture of the Cleveland Pronkinator.

My Indians are off to a nice 2-0 start, besting the White Sox once again this evening 7-2. Sorry, White Sox fans, it looks like it’s going to be a long season.

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What to post, what to post.

I’m having a dilemma at the moment. I’m not really sure what I should be posting here. I understand that this is my site and I can post whatever I darn well please, but I also realize that people come to a site because it’s something they enjoy reading, as well. So I’m trying to figure out which way to go with the site.

When I first imagined this blog, I envisioned posting each and every one of my pack breaks. I thought it was a genius idea (little did I know there were already so many card blogs out there!). Then I thought I’d differentiate myself by posting a picture of each card from each pack, but that is turning out to be a lot of work! Especially with Jumbo packs or packs with 20+ cards in them. And quite honestly, I don’t know how exciting it is to see everything I pull. No offense to the Pack a Day guys, because what they’re doing is great, but I’m just not sure everyone is interested in every pack I break. So the debate goes on.

I of course would like to blog other topics than just my wax busts. I have a bunch of ideas and some cool topics on my mind, but I’m still working my way through my recent pack breaks before I delve into other subjects. This site is called “Busting Wax” afterall, and hopefully you’ve come here to see some wax busted.

As it stands now, I think I’m just going to post pack breaks that result in something “cool.” Something that makes me say “suh-weet” when I come across it. You know the feeling. I’m thinking that any time I hit a numbered/relic/autograph card, the pack break will get posted. I don’t want to bore you with my 34th Mantle HR insert from Topps.

I would also like to hear from the few readers I have what they would like to see. It will definitely factor into the decision. Or at least let me know that they like the idea of posting the “good packs”. I’m trying to do the majority of my wax purchases at hobby stores, so that already increases the chances of good hits and I occasionally will plunk down the extra money for “guaranteed” hits, so it shouldn’t affect my posting too much, but I’d really just like to gauge the reader’s interest and go from there.

Thanks for indulging me with this little mini brain dump. Things are becoming clearer.

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Just a heads up

One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about reading other people’s blogs are the community interaction. The trades, the gifts, the comments, I love it all. I’m also trying to be a part of it, as best I can.

With regard to the cards I break out of a pack and feature on Busting Wax, unless I mention otherwise, it’s available for trade (or sale, if that suits your fancy). I’m pretty easy to deal with and very reliable and honest (100% feedback rating on eBay!). Just let me know if you see something you like and what you’re interested in. You can always hit me up on the contact form (found here).

What I’m looking for is a little harder to nail down. If you’ve got Cleveland cards (Indians, Browns, Cavs), especially LeBron James (duh) and Travis Hafner cards, I’m interested. I also collect former Ohio State Buckeye players (mostly football), Eddie George being a favorite. Like I said, I’m easy to deal with, so don’t hesitate making me an offer.

Thanks for reading. I’m really hoping to have a much regular posting schedule now. I’ll have some 2008 stuff up as soon as I work through my backlog of previous busts!

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Huge apologies

I must apologize for the absolute lack of posts for almost two weeks. My wife got sick last week and I was taking care of her and the kids, when whatever super bug knocked her out finally made its way into my system.

It took me out for about a week as well, but now I seemed to have recovered for the most part. I have a bunch of posts ready to go, I just need to make a few adjustments and tweaks. But I should have the new content flowing regurlarly soon. I think I may be heading to a card show tomorrow, too, so hopefully I’ll be able to grab a couple 2008 packs to bust here on the site.

Thanks to everyone how has been checking regularly without any new updates. They are forthcoming, I promise!

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I feel dumb

I was browsing some other blogs today when I saw a link to Tuff Stuff’s blog, called “Bustin’ Wax.” I swear I hadn’t heard of that site before I registered mine, but I felt pretty dumb nonetheless.

So to the guys over at Tuff Stuff, I am not trying to get in our your turf! The ‘g’ is for me and the ‘apostrophe’ is all yours!

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Accck!

I may have deleted a few of your comments that inadvertently went straight to the spam pile, bypassing the moderation pile. I made sure I checked the right box for the “good comments” but then hit the “delete all” button instead of the “not spam” button. Gah! I apologize if your comment got zapped. I really appreciate the comments so far, and it’s suicide for a burgeoning blog to be deleting comments left-and-right, so I’m already starting off on a bad foot.

I’ve been using WordPress for years, so this wasn’t a newbie mistake. Just me being anxious to approve my new comments, only to send them off to oblivion.

So again, sorry if your comments were lost. I’ll endeavor not to let that happen again.

We’ll return to the regularly scheduled blogging soon.

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Busting Wax dot com!

Welcome to the inaugural post of bustingwax.com, the newest Card blog on the block.

I recently got back into the hobby after a ten year and then a five year hiatus. I’ll get more into my history with the hobby in other posts, but the long and short of it is that I collected cards as a kid (from about ‘85-’92) and then didn’t buy another pack of cards until 2001. I purchased packs steadily for about a year and then petered off for another five. I’ve recently rediscovered my love of the hunt and I love to bust me some wax packs (even though, yeah, no wax.) It feels great to be back.

I’ve been blogging for almost seven years now. I started a personal blog shortly after 9/11. I’ve also been blogging at my video game site, buttonmashing.com for 3.5 years. Most recently, a year and a half ago, I started an Ohio State sports blog with some friends, Men of the Scarlet and Gray. I’m a HUGE Buckeye fan. So when I started buying cards again last month, I had the great idea for a new blog where I’d rip open packs, take pictures along the way, and show the world my wonderful pulls. Surely no one had done this before! So I started looking around and found on A TON of card blogs, some that were doing this very thing. I’ve been subscribing to them like a madman and loving every minute of it. You can find them in my blogroll.

As with every great idea, someone else got there first. But that’s okay. I’ve got some ideas of my own for this site. I plan on including more images than some of the other sites and I also hope to do some other fun things. Either way, I’m just looking forward to sharing my adventures in busting open packs!

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