Target Missed, Settling Ensues

I stopped by Target yesterday for a less easily-destructible dog toy (lessons were learned that involved a large quantity of white fluff), and while I was there I figured I'd check out the new Topps Archives.  Well guess what?  No Archives.  I can't tell if they were sold out or if it was never even on the shelf, but it looked like the latter.  This is not the first time that particular Target has disappointed me. 

Anyway, I settled on grabbing a few clearance packs and one of those guaranteed hit packages with three packs and a little white envelope containing an auto or relic.  I've never pulled an auto from one, only relics (the best I ever got was a Jim Thome); but they continue to put Griffey on the front of the package, so I continue buying them.  Here's what I ended up with this time:

A good-looking card, but the two extra squares on some relic cards have always bothered me.  It feels like something is missing.  Are they reminding us of the triple-relic card that we didn't pull?  I prefer ones that make the relic the center of attention with a cool visual effect.  This design just feels like a silver medal.

This is the best stuff from the three packs that came with the relic.  I have never gotten anything good (Griffey) out of a pack of Upper Deck Future Stars.  That Posey is the best Future Star I've ever pulled, and it's a Gypsy Queen card.  The pack of Opening Day was a bust except for that cool shot with the bat in the foreground and Slider (tm) creeping everybody out.  Your mascot sucks, Cleveland!

Everyone has been so down on Prizm I just had to check it out.  My verdict: this pack costs at least a dollar more than it should.  The cards themselves are really cool - not just shiny but mirror-like.  I like 'em.  Not 75 cents a card like, but like in general.  Plus I pulled a Deion Sanders.  How crazy is that?  I think I may end up keeping this card.

I also bought four packs from the clearance box:

Packs of 2007 Ultra have Griffey on the front, so I picked up a couple.  That Reyes looks like it was supposed to have a relic and they forgot to put it in?  I like it because it's clearly based on the '87 Fleer design.

I occasionally pick up a pack of football just to mix it up.  This one produced a Romo, who is never going to win a Super Bowl by the way, about to get his block knocked off.  I also pulled a Brady who everybody outside of Patriot Nation hates to love.  Spiller was a beast this past season and helped my fantasy team win the league - unfortunately it was my one free league and neither of my two money leagues.  That Keenan Allen throwback rookie is pretty cool.....

These were a buck, and they must be popular because I see them pop up on various blogs and at card shows.  I figured I'd see what the hubbub was all about.  Turns out they're pretty grotesque.  I assume I got some parallels there with the differently-colored borders.

So that's what I got from Target.  Not a single Griffey nor a pack of Archives to be found.  Oh, well.  We'll just have to wait and see what comes of the Nachos Grande group break....

P.S. About the dog toy: I ended up with a green rubber chicken for six dollars.  It honks....loudly.  We'll see how long this one lasts (or how long we can take it).

One Wild Repack and a Bunch of Randomness

I've collected a few random bits of information and knowledge I've been looking to drop strategically in various blog posts, but instead I'm going to tack them on all at once to this here repack box post.  In other words, this post is going to be all over the place.

Being a Griffey collector, it is not in my best interest to break packs and repacks in search of my guy's cards.  As I've stated before my strategy should be to stick to COMC, eBay, card shows and trades.

But I am also a hopeless pack breaker; so in a trip to Walmart for little travel-sized shampoos and beef jerky for our recent cruise, I broke down and grabbed a repack box.  It turned out to be different from any I'd encountered before.  Was it worth it?  You be the judge:

 

These were the best of a rack pack of Heritage that was also included.



This is not the first pack of these I've gotten in a repack.  The Votto has deckled edges on the top and bottom which I can only assume is a parallel.





There was also a rack pack of 2009 Upper Deck.  Sadly there were no Ken Griffey Jr #855 SP's in there.  Still, not a bad haul.





And I've never been gaga about GQ, but these are some nice cards.



Before we get to the nice surprise from this box, here is what the obligatory metric ton of Topps packs yielded:



I have like 50 of that Matt Holliday card now.  And that's a sweet Nolan Ryan.
Heck, I even like that Josh Reddick non-rookie.  Great picture.



Big Hurt, Linceum and B Wilson on the same card, and Jeff Hamilton in Texas.



The two remaining packs in the box were something I've never encountered before: Upper Deck Team-Exclusive Jumbo packs.  Each contained a large quantity of various previously-manufactured card styles featuring popular players from a single team.  I don't know how many teams Upper Deck made these for, but I got two, one for the Red Sox and one for the Yankees.

Here's the Red Sox pack:



Cy Young, Boggs, Yaz



These are smooth and shiny, leading me to believe they were printed just for these packs.





Lotta this guy.



As you can see, it seems like a simple "best of" that Upper Deck threw together possibly to sidestep their licensing issues.  The textures don't quite match some of the original cards (such as the Masterpieces) so I'm wondering if these are all reprints.  Yet I found nothing on the cards to indicate that fact.

Check out what came in the Yankees pack:



DiMaggio, Gehrig, Ruth, Mattingly





These are just awesome.



Pretty impressive, no?  I want ten more packs like these.  They were a blast to open and finger through.  If anyone comes across a Mariners one, please save it for me.  I'll pay you money.

Last but not least: YES, I pulled a Griffey:

I already have a couple of this one, but a duplicate Griffey is better than no Griffey at all.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with that repack.  I'll definitely be looking out for another with Team-Specific UD Jumbos, that's for sure.

Moving on, my friends got married on the aforementioned cruise.  They had their rehearsal dinner at the legendary and very spicy Tujagues (pronounced "two jacks") restaurant in the French Quarter.

Now, we're no strangers to celebrity in New Orleans especially with this Hollywood South movement going on (I've already been an extra in a couple of movies myself), but in the private room at Tujagues was a celebrity endorsement I never expected to find:



I toasted The Man with a Canadian Club on the rocks.



Stan was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, the same birth place as both Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr.  This was providence.

Baseball is not popular here unless it is of the high school or college variety.  We are very much a football town even back when the Saints were the 'Aints and we all wore Schwegmann bags on our heads, so you can imagine my surprise when I came across this great signed screen print of Stan the Man.  While I was the only guy at the party who seemed to give a damn, it reminded me that I should always expect the unexpected when I go Downtown.

More randomness: Nachos Grande had a Topps Tribute box break a few weeks ago.  I took the Mariners (and was given the Astros) in the hopes of pulling one of the very few Griffeys in the set.  I ended up with a single card:

While there was no Griffey this time, this base card is a beaut.  Reminds me of a Flair Showcase refractor.  I'm glad (and lucky) I got to see one in person.

Ooh, I got these for a dollar each at Winn-Dixie:



The pic is sideways, and Blogger wouldn't allow it to NOT be sideways, so there ya go.

 Lance Moore is a great young wide receiver with the Saints who tends to produce in clutch moments.  He is also a big fan favorite down here.  You might say he's the Ron Kittle of New Orleans Football.
Last but not least, as promised, I framed that uncut sheet of Mother's Cookies father/son Griffey cards:

This is not archival quality or anything, just a big poster frame I had lying around.  Still it turned out pretty good.  Even my wife likes it which is rare for baseball card stuff.

OK, that's it for now.  Hey, is everybody enjoying the new Arrested Development on Netflix?  We just finished epsiode six.  It seems to be getting better with every show which is good because I was starting to get worried after the first few.  It's never too late for a nu start......

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 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!