A Quick Repack Box Before Dinner

Alright, in addition to the box of 2013 Topps, I also grabbed a repack box containing 20 packs.  It had a Bowman Platinum pack on the front, so I figured it was a win.  Let's see if I can get through all this before my wife calls me to go eat Vietnamese......

A little appetizer of 5-year old gum, anyone?

The box contained 2 packs of 2008 Stadium Club.  These two sequences of cards were repeated in each.  Guess which 2 cards made it into the "keep" pile?

A baddass Chipper, a Coco, and lots of other cards that almost certainly go to other bloggers (or their wives).  That Nick Franklin is just a cool looking card, and that Adam Moore is an autograph.  Great box for Mariners so far.....

More cards for bloggers, and a mascot for yours truly....

A Verlander non-rookie, a sweet view of the Mariners logo, and CC Sabathia's belly button round out this group, so to speak.

That Arod/Jeter got me excited.  And a great Mattingly.  I'm still not on board for the non-baseball related cards, but at least it's kind of cool, and I'm sure someone will want it.  Edgar, tuck in your shirt, bro!

That Carlos Lee is one sweet card.  I was taken aback.

All those Mariners and no Griffeys?
 .....
 ....
 ...
 ..
 .
Nope!

 Ahhhhhhhhh.  That was good.  And I've just been summoned.  Pho time!

A Blaster of 2013 Topps

 I got a box of 10 packs plus one patch card of 2013 Topps today.  I also got a rack pack for good measure.

And I saved the best card for the end....

Anyway, here we go:

The patch card

More Trouts than a fish market

A few minis, this one says "Rookies."  Cool backs.

The Yount and Killebrew are refractors - they came from the rack pack.

"Calling Card" insert

Here's the flagship - nice Inge.  The blue borders are 2 per pack.

And the backs - looking good

GCRL, I mailed you a huge box of cards today.  I should have waited.  These will be yours eventually.

Green foily versions.

And the best card of all goes to........................

The only card I wanted.....

So much to look at.  Look at the Career Chase at the top.  Awesome card!!!!

A Repack Box for You to Judge

I love other peoples' repack box posts just because it's fun to see what they produce.  I've never seen anything too mind-blowing come out of one, but someday maybe.  That's what the chase is all about....

$20 at Walmart.  And oooooh! O-Pee-Chee!  This is my lucky day - I just know it!



I didn't know Moises was still playing until recently, and look!  A Pitcher batting!  Gotta love it....



So many throwback cards nowadays, but I enjoy them.  That Seaver is a refractor of some kind.  And who else is excited about 42 - the Jackie Robinson movie?

 

One of two new presidential cards that this box produced.



Can't argue with a Babe Ruth, and that Ichiro is sweet.  I am really getting to like that guy as a result of my card collecting.  The one-name gimmick has totally worked on me.



Some great leaping double plays that will be making their way to gcrl.



I gather that he is the big star on the scene these days, the way Griffey and Frank Thomas were in the mid-90's, but who collects his cards?  I have a few, but I would gladly trade them all for some Griffeys, man!  Griffeys are the best!



That Jeter is going in a pile for Sooz, and I ALWAYS seem to get a few Prince Fielders.  I got his Upper Deck Gold rookie numbered out of some super-low number and a fistful of other P. Fielders.  Who collects this guy?  This is information I need.....



A pair of Posadas, and I seem to remember somebody around here collecting Ethiers.  Also, sweet award card....





That's the 2nd of this Koufax I've pulled, so one is for trade; and a great JFK for my presidents collection.  But the real star here is Sutter's sweet 'stache and Archie Bunker grin.





I have no idea what this set is.  I mean, I remember this design on some UD subset cards in the 90's but never thought much of it.  They made a whole line out of this design??  Stretching for nostalgia much?  Anyway, look at my Pudge.





Another Jeter for Sooz.  His face gets bigger every year.  He's really staring to look like Quagmire.





Another Frank Robinson and a Verlander.  I hear he's also quite good at baseball.



According to Beckett, this card is worth ten bucks.  So, if you would like to send me $10 as a gift via paypal, I will put you in the drawing..... Or we can trade for some Griffeys.  Speaking of which, were there any Griffeys in this box at all?



You bet your sweet bippy!  There's your $40 value!



Now, no more new posts until I mail out some trade fodder.  Watch your mailboxes, people!

Trade with Dime Box Nick

I have a ton of cards to mail out on Saturday.  This is part of the reason why:

When my wife and I got home from Vegas, two things were waiting for us in the mail: a credit card offer from Citi and a package from Nick over at Dime Boxes. 

I had e-mailed Nick a few weeks ago, notifying him of the stack of cards I plan on sending him (which is still growing).  He told me it would take a while to ship me anything back, so I figured I had some time to root through the many many boxes I have for only the Nick-worthiest of cards.  Lo and behold he beat me to it. 

I think the 80's and early 90's may have had the funniest baseball card pictures.  There are some good ones from the 50's and 60s, and quite a few from the 70s, but everything that came out after those Iranian hostages were released is pure gold.

Case in point: Jim Palmer.  It's 3 years later and his hair is still extremely happy....

Nick loves '95 Fleer, and he catches Hell for it.  Well you know what?  I like it too - I'll admit it.  I think it's the predator-vision.  I can look at that all day like Geordi Laforge.

Whoa....save it for the rally there, Rolf.  There's a cameraman in jorts around here somewh.....oh, crap.

Some excellent silly names here.  Plus I've always wanted a non-Big Unit Randy Johnson!

We need to bring Pozo into the gangsta lexicon.  As in "Damn, you just got Pozo'd, son!" or "Check yaself before you Pozo yaself." or "I'ma bust a Pozo all up in yo Pozo fo sho-sho.  Pozo!"


Thrilling!

Ladies and gentlemen, New Orleans native and all-around awesome guy, Will "The Thrill" Clark!  Out of the six WC cards Nick sent me I only had one, so this was a great treat!  That shot of him with Bonds and Matt Williams is excellent, and those fleer cards have a great matte-glossy hybrid front that exudes class.

Chuck is also a great player and a great guy from down the bayou, Louisiana.  I'd like to see him in the Hall of Fame someday.

Big Unit rookie - it seems he always looked pissed off in his rookie days, probably because he was stuck in Montreal.  Those Ultra Stars cards are cool, and that Fun Stuff I'd never seen before.  That is how a caricature is supposed to look (are you paying attention, Score?).

And finally, Kenny Lofton, scourge of parachutes everywhere.  Kenny was a solid hitter who could run like a beast, much like Willy Mays Hays in the Charlie Sheen/Tom Berenger classic Major League.


Don't steal home without it.....

Kenny was not only a really fast runner, he was also an amazing bunter.  Those two combined for an exciting player with solid numbers.  He played for 11 different teams before retiring in 2007.

Thanks a bunch, DBN!  I'm shipping you (and lots of other people) a bunch of stuff on Saturday - hope you like it!

1990 Fleer: Everything Else

 

A few weeks ago I featured the regular and box bottom cards.  Now, here are the rest of the cards from 1990 Fleer.

League Leaders #14, Soaring Stars #6, All-Stars #14, Award Winners #16

In my collection: 1 of each

Griffey looks: fine, fine, kinda dorky, and like a deer in headlights, respectively.

Let's take these one at a time:

This is card #14 in a 44-card set that appears to be another money-grab by Fleer sold only in large retail stores.  The back says nothing about what he led the league in nor does it include any verbiage as to why he should be considered as representative of the theme of this set.  It's got nothing going for it other than the fact that it is different from the regular set which drives collectors like me into a frenzy of purchasing.

Griffey looks poised to swing away.

This is card #14 in a 44-card set that appears to be another money-grab by Fleer sold only in large retail stores.  The back says nothing about him being an All-Star nor does it include any verbiage as to why he should be considered as representative of the theme of this set.  It's got nothing going for it other than the fact that it is different from the regular set which drives collectors like me into a frenzy of purchasing.

Sorry - had to do that.  They're both #14 for goodness sakes.  Come on!

Griffey looks kinda dorky in his flip-up grandpa shades.

To be honest, I bought the whole set just to show this card on the blog.  Here's the box:

The set came in the mail brand-new, wrapped in lovely factory plastic.  It took all I had to puncture said plastic and remove the Griffey to show you here.  I feel I owe a pittance to the collector gods.

At least it came with plenty of stickers.

In 1990, Griffey won two awards: his first of 10 Gold Gloves and Player of the Month for April.  Neither of these are listed on the back of this card.  The shape on the front is reminiscent of a sugar bowl.  Maybe he was just a really sweet guy that year (bad pun, sorry), or maybe he kicked ass at college football.  Your guess is as good as mine. 

Man, do these Fleer cards ever suck.

Griffey looks like a deer in headlights.  This picture is weird and off-putting, like a wax statue staring back at you, freaking everybody out and not having a soul.  But it's a Griffey card, so it's totally awesome and here it is.

Now here is a card I really like:

That's right, folks!  A rainbow.

I miss rainbows.  They're pretty.  You know that would never fly on a baseball card nowadays, and that's a shame.  Plus the Kelly green taken out of spectrum and used as the background here really makes it pop.  This is a solid insert for 1990.  Zero complaints. 

Griffey looks ready to take a pitch.  Not ready to swing, but more along the lines of taking a ball on the first pitch of an at-bat.  See the relaxed elbow?  I'm thinking we're about to be at an 0-1 count.

Or possibly a homerun.  You never know with this guy....

This post was hard to write because the cards either didn't really have a purpose or they failed miserably to fulfill the purpose they did have.  The only redeeming things in this post are the Soaring Stars card and Junior's glasses on the All-Stars card. 

I'm going to jump ahead in time in my TARGIS (Time and Relative Griffeys in Space) for the next post and give you something really cool and high-tech to make up for this lot of snoozers.  Not sure what yet, but I'll find something cool....possibly with sparkles.  We'll see.