2008-09 Topps Tip-Off

I've tried to make a point to buy one basketball card pack every time I make a trip to a big box retailer or a card shop to buy a bunch of packs. For 99 cents, I felt like this Topps Tip-Off set was a low risk/high reward type of product for someone who is only marginally interested in basketball cards and only cares for one NBA team. I was expecting the NBA version of Opening Day, but was pleasantly surprised with a completely different card design and what I'm assuming are different photos from the base set.

17 - Mike Dunleavy (PLUS! The aforementioned card design. It's different. MINUS! It's um, different. And it kinda looks like a crappy Bowman design rehash. Plus, there's some kid's middle-aged adult's creepy fingernail scratch all over the top card, no doubt searching for that jackpot of an autographed Marreese Speights rookie card.)
82 - Raymond Felton (PLUS! These cards are cheap. MINUS! So cheap, in fact, that the first four cards in this pack are slightly miscut.)
87 - Chris Kaman (PLUS! At least Chris Kaman cut his hair. MINUS! He's hurt, and the Clippers are horrible.)

59 - Elton Brand (PLUS! This card reminds of of early Series 2 style NBA Hoops cards when there would be a big offseason trade or free agent signing. Almost all of the players that switched teams had cards with cheesy studio portrait photos. MINUS! Brand is also hurt, and now he's brought two franchises down to their knees with his injuries.)

33 - Dwyane Wade Some Sort of Red Parallel Card 0589/2008 (PLUS! It's, um, red. And it's Dwyane Wade, who is an MVP candidate this season. And there's those shiny gold serial numbers. MINUS! Dwyane spells his name like an idiot. And I bet these parallels are one-per-pack inserts since they aren't even mentioned on the back of the wrappers and there's currently one selling on eBay for $1.40.)

132 - Courtney Lee (PLUS! It's a Rookie Card, which actually sort of means something in the NBA. MINUS! Well, I can't really say anything bad about Courtney Lee. He's a rookie and he's doing alright, I suppose.)
- Checklist (And that wraps it up. Without this, I wouldn't have even known Marreese Speights was a real person.)