rippin' wax

Lets rip some wax...well, plastic. While going through my box of packs, I decided to open one up.

A 1993 Topps rack pack. 45 cards of early 90's goodness. Normally I wouldn't even bother showing what I got out of a pack of cards from 1993 but this pack had so much star power, that if I had opened it up in 1993, I would have squealed with delight.

Here are the first nine:

Griffey, Dawson, Yount, Sandberg, all Hofers now (well, Griffey soon). HoJo, Glavine, Sosa, Martinez and Sheffield are all just icing on the 1993 cake.

The second nine:

A rookie cup! Hrbek, Kruk and Finley are some good players. Blyleven in what seems like it may be his final card (I forget if he is in '94 or later) and a great picture of Mack. I like the casual Karkovice with his catcher gear on in the dugout. The gold is Mike Scioscia, another quality pull. The other two golds were Jeff Parrett and Chad McConnell, a draft pick for Philly. Wow. What a rack pack. Seriously, five Hall of Famers and a gaggle of other good players. Too bad 1993 Topps is so overproduced...

random pack monday (plus the reveal)

Random Pack Monday time. I was out of packs for this week so I had to pick something kinda lame:

Yeah yeah yeah, 2011 Opening Day. The set that is supposed to be easy and fun but ends up being neither. Lets see what comes of this...

Oh, well, I guess it isn't all bad, Pujols, an AWESOME looking Mauer, the seemingly-on-fire-rookie-that-no-one-is-talking-about, Chris Sale and a newly Brewered Shaun Marcum. AND A TOPPSTOWN AAARRRGGGGHHHHH....well, at least they seem to come in every four packs. I did only end up with 3 from my blaster. Seriously, this is how it should be for the base set. No one wants a Toppstown per pack. What a waste of a card. Like
I stated the other day, I am not chasing this set by any means. Topps can kiss it with this set after what 2010 OD did to me.

Well that about wraps up today's post. I see that Heritage has made its way to the 'Bay. I don't think I'll be chasing the set like I mentioned in my 2011 collecting goals but I'll get into that another day. Until then!




















Oh wait...you're still here? Oh right. The T206 I posted about yesterday. Well, have a look for yourself:

Christy makes number twelve, but easily the most impressive 206 I own, let alone maybe the most impressive card I own period. It ain't perfect but its awesome.

random pack monday and the accidental trifectica

It's another installment of Random Pack Monday. For today's opening pleasure we have...

1998 Topps series 1. Lets see whats inside:

This set is alright in the design side of things. Nice almost full card picture but other than that nothing too special. The highlight here is the Clemente reprint (odds 1:18) which there are 19 of. This is reprinting his 1969 card, and is going right into the personal collection.

Now for the trifectica. I didn't even realize it until last night while driving home from dinner.

Troy Tulowitzki. The rookie, auto and relic. The auto coming from yesterday's 2009 Icons box completed it. I do have a different relic for him, a bat card from 2010 Topps series 2 but I like the jersey with the stripe better. As far as accidental trifecticas go, I could not complain, especially since I don't collect him or the Rockies but I'm actually glad I do have it. He is definitely one of the top shortstops in the game right now and his career is on the right track as long as he stays healthy.

random pack monday

So here we are with another edition of Random Pack Monday. Hopefully the pack I go with today makes up for the super junk wax pick I presented on Thursday. What do we have today?

1980 Topps. A simple blue wrapper and kind of the beginning of the design they used from 1981 to 1991 for their packs. I don't have much of this set at all. Actually this pack puts me at around 25 ccards from this particular year. Lets see what we got:

Well, nothing too special here. Just an average pack really, minus the Cardinals team card for the personal collection. Dusty Baker and Lee Lacy's awesome hair are the highlights here. I might also like to mention that I like the design of this set. A nice, classic baseball card design, and its close to what 1974 Topps looks like but with angles.

pack pick results, with a twist

Ok, so this week's pack pick was super weak. I thought it would be neat to pick four packs from different manufacturers, from the same year. Oh well, blame it on lousy product...or my silly thinking. So I'm mixing it up a bit. The winning pack is featured today. I'll have something better in store for tomorrow. So, without further hesitation:

1992 Stadium Club. The SC line lasted quite some time, as I discovered when I got back into collecting. I always knew about it and had many cards from the first couple of years, 1991 to 1994. Apparently it lasted until 2003. I had no idea until I started getting some Jays from those years and being kind of amazed that it was still around. Topps tried to bring it back in 2008 but it seemed to fail quite miserably. Who knows? Maybe 2011 will be the return of Stadium Club? Anyway, enough talk, here is what we got:

Dibble goes into the 'guys from Connecticut' portion of my personal collection, along with the checklist hanging out in the bottom there. Yes, I collect checklists. I don't go out of my way for them but I do have them all in one place and it is a personal collection box. The Fielder 'Member's Choice' is cool too. I remember having these types of cards in '92 and we thought they were the greatest that SC had to offer. Turns out they weren't all that special because they were just part of the base set. Oh well. Decent pack, still a great design, with the full bleed photos and miles beyond the flagship set photography. Obviously though, that was the whole push of this set. Speaking of photos, what is up with Tim Wallach at the bottom there? What's that baseball tellin' you Tim? Amusing. Until tomorrow, with a better pack in hand.

pack pick results

In an unsurprising 8 out of 10 vote landslide, 1994 Topps Finest is the clear winner for tomorrow's featured pack. I don't blame you, '94 Finest is a great looking set. Here is a breakdown of the results:

1994 Topps Finest: 8 votes
2003 Topps series 2: 1 vote
2005 Topps series 2: 1 vote
2002 Topps series 2: 0 votes (no love for '02)


In actuality, 2003 was a series 1 pack. I didn't notice I canned the wrong pack until it was posted up and I checked out the picture. Since I messed that up, I decided that the 2003 pack would be today's runner up. Here it is:

Kind of a boring wrapper design if you ask me. I'm usually all for minimalism but this is jus plain boring. Lets hope the contents do better.

Ok, here we go, I can deal with this. Way back when I did set reviews (remember those? I think I'll be bringing that back soon), and collecting Topps base sets, I ranted on how much I liked 2003 Topps. I can't put my finger on why I dig it so much but I do. So we got a pair of Carlos' on the Royals in Beltran and Febles, a checklist, two first year guys who I've never heard of (yes that includes the Jay), a Thome, and a father and son duo in Bob Boone and Aaron Boone. Now thats a pack! Well maybe not but it is pretty uncommon to get a father/son combo in a pack unless you're buying up '88 Topps and getting Cal Ripken and his father's manager card.

Tomorrow will be the regularly scheduled Random Pack Monday but there will also be a second part to the post that involves the most valuable rookie card ever produced, according to my wife. WHAT CAN IT BE??? Stay tuned...

random pack monday

So here we are with another edition of Random Pack Monday. Today, as per your voting, will feature 1984 Topps. The key cards from this set are the Don Mattingly and Darryl Strawberry rookies.

Same old green they used in 1990 also. Same design for the packs they used from around 1982 to 1990 (1991 was kinda like those). Lets see what we got:

Overall a blah pack really. Ron Guidry and Dennis Eckersley are the highlights here, maybe the leaders card. I really like the '84 set. Its got a nice design and holds up well even today without looking dated (unlike 1990 Topps). Classy all the way. Even though the pack was uneventful, it was still a good rip. Old packs are fantastic to rip even though a card is usually ruined by gum (like poor Mike Scott was in this pack).

In a related but totally unrelated sort of news, I recently purchased the other 12 cards I needed for the exclusive Chrome wrapper redemption set. Remember my original pack included the Mantle, Davis and Posey cards. Apparently each pack is the same configuration, meaning you will get the same three each time you see Ike on top. Well, I also bought an unopened one from a seller for around 6 bucks. It came today and contained the same three cards I got from Topps, with an exception, check it out:

What of all the dumb luck. The Posey auto numbered 07/90. In-freaking-credible. Here I was totally regretting buying the pack because I had bought them all already and it comes today with that. Now, as awesome as this is, this card has sold on eBay for $250 and $293. Those were the only two that had ended within the last 30 or so days. I believe this one may join them.

pack pick results

So the results are in. The voting for Monday's pack has closed and the results are:

1984 Topps- 4 votes
1997 Topps- 2 votes
2000 Topps- 3 votes
1987 Sportflics- 3 votes

1984 Topps is the winner and will be shown on Monday. We have a tie for second between the Sportflics and 2000 Topps. How do I remedy this? Well, how about I do them both up right now? Lets start with:

1987 Sportflics. Score before it was Score. I may have opened up one of these when I was younger but I really have no idea. So we'll call it something new that I've never opened. Lets see what we got:

These don't scan particularly well. We got a (from left to right) Pedro Guerrero, Bruce Hurst and Cecil Cooper. Also in the pack was a redemption/send-away thingie for team logo pins and two team mini-flix of the Dodgers and Orioles. This set is quite interesting, Sportflics always have been. They tried to bring them back I think in the late 80's/early 90's but I'm not sure they were successful.

Next up is the 2000 Topps:

Definitely a pack I've never opened, as we see 'then home run king' Mr. McGwire on the front here being that he was all the rage in 2000. Lets see the contents:

Decent pack. A Jay, Bret Saberhagen (who I've always known to be a Royal but looking at the back he's played for a couple other teams), Tim Raines and a Vlad. I've never heard of either of the draft picks on that card and hey, we got an insert! A Power Players Albert Belle (odds 1:8 packs). A checklist too. 2000 Topps is an interesting issue. Its all vertical, front and back, which is unusual for Topps but I think I really like. Reminds me of early Fleer stuff. Well, mid-80's to early 90's Fleer stuff.

That about does it. Was this a good idea? I like the idea of Random Pack Mondays and even more I like the voting on which you'd like to see. I like to make things interactive. Plus its better seeing and reading about something you chose to be written about. More fun that way. So I think I'll keep this idea going. I'll post the packs to pick from on Thursday, end the voting on Sunday morning, rip open the second place pack and save the winner for Monday. Sound good? Until tomorrow, when 1984 looms above us. Did I get the Mattingly rookie? We'll just have to wait and see...

its 'snow' fun

As some of you in the south and in New York have experienced, I am currently snowed in. Lots of wind, snow and unplowed roads...oh, and no work. Only because the boss said not to worry about it today due to us not being behind in our printing. The other back story to this post is while I am at shows, I'll pick up some random old packs just to save for a rainy (snowy) day. Well, here we are. Let the wax fly! Here is what I picked today, something I have never opened before:

1981 Donruss. Have I ever mentioned how bad this set is photography-wise? The actual card design isn't horrible, but the photos sure are. Blurry action shots, blurry close-ups. Every card looks as if it was taken with a Kodak instant camera. Well, here is what I got:

Some good names there; Gary Carter, Carl Yastrzemski (twice, two different cards), Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, Dennis Eckersley. Had I opened this pack in '81, I would have been the big kid on the block....maybe. If you notice, the pack only held Red Sox and Expos. Weird collation, but not for Donruss, who are notorious for weird collation. I got a pack of 1988 Donruss once and it was 15 cards in numerical order. Oh yeah, there was one more card in the pack, but unfortunately he didn't make it out alive:

Too bad too, Dwight Evans is a solid 1981 pull. Silly gum, maybe thats why they went with puzzles. I have seen 1981 Donruss before but have never had the 'thrill' of opening up a pack and overall I guess I can't be too disappointed due to the names I grabbed but its a pretty lame set.