1988 Topps Cello

Last year I opened a wax pack of this stuff, hoping to find cards for my then-unfinished 1988 Topps set. Time has passed, and there's still a huge empty space in my box. No, I didn't make a want list for the set quite yet, as it would be too embarrassingly large.


We're going to do another got it/need it for this cello pack. For a 28-card pack, I'd consider getting at least ten cards I don't have a victory. Anything above that, a major success.

Let's tear in.
Top to Botom:
76 Denny Martinez
253 Checklist
63 Jimmy Jones YES!

631 Jack Howell YES!

553 Tracy Jones
357 Floyd Bannister
711 Bill Gullickson YES!

610 Keith Hernandez
788 Ray Searage YES!

139 Jerry Browne YES!

27 R.J. Reynolds
161 Bryn Smith
511 Joel Davis
129 Greg Minton
744 Whitey Herzog YES!

153 John Habyan YES!

310 Tom Herr YES!

280 Pete Incaviglia YES!

566 Charlie O’Brien
411 Wayne Tolleson
43 Dick Schofield
612 Curt Ford YES!

113 Kelly Gruber YES!

644 Terry McGriff YES!

140 Jesse Barfield
657 Gary Redus YES!

487 Jim Pankovits
374 Doc Edwards YES!


Wow, 14 cards needed out of 28! A 50% success rate for a set that's about 2/3 finished is pretty good. We hit the sweet spot with three in a row toward the end there with Ford, Gruber, and McGriff. That deserves the Daniel Bryan seal of approval.


Thanks for reading. Maybe I'll get a want list going soon.

2016 Topps Allen & Ginter Retail

Repack box pack time.

Let's tear in.
Top to Bottom:
141 Colin Rea

144 Matt Holliday
BL-11 Ted Williams Baseball Legends

142 Jake Arrieta Mini

310 Patrick Corbin (SP)

196 Josh Reddick

A short print, a full-size insert, and a mini. Not bad for my first pack of this stuff from last year.

2015 Topps Heritage Fat Pack

From a repack box, short and sweet, presented without comment.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
45 Mookie Betts

109 Didi Gregorius

260 Madison Bumgarner
55 Justin Turner
391 Christian Vazquez
287 R.A. Dickey
131 Checklist (Angels)

269 Bryan Price
267 Santiago Casilla
432 Adam LaRoche (SP)

TN-7 Sandy Koufax / David Price Then & Now

235 Kevin Gausman
124 Yovani Gallardo

16 Anibal Sanchez
94 Ken Giles
85 Derek Holland
220 AL RBI Leaders

119 Trevor Rosenthal
5 Ryan Vogelsong
13 Stephen Vogt

2014 Panini Prizm Perennial Draft Picks (Again!)

With yesterday's pack it was fun to look up the status of a bunch of no-names. Here's more of the same.


Let's tear in.
Top to Bottom:
31 Michael Kopech
Is up with the AA White Sox affiliate Birmingham Barons and apparently throws some heat.

26 Foster Griffin
High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks (Royals) with a 1-0 record and 0.82 ERA so far. Not too shabby.

21 Michael Chavis Minors Gold Prizm
High-A Salem Red Sox. Likes to keep injuries from his club.

22 Chris Ellis
AAA Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis) - Being part of this parent club, of course, ensures that Chris will eventually strike out every Brewer he faces for all eternity.


So the insert was pretty cool, and I gained a newfound appreciation for the logo of the Blue Rocks.

Pretty cool, but from my digging I found that Wilmington has a secondary mascot, Mr. Celery.

I want to go on a road trip with Mr. Celery. I wonder if he shares an affinity for any of my favorite car treats (Gummy Life Savers and beef jerky)? Either way, he won't even have to chip in that much for tolls. We will get all the babes.

2014 Panini Prizm Perennial Draft Picks

I have a particular disdain for minor league cards. Just not my cup of tea. However, they are a bit more fun to open when they are a few years old. The possibility exists that you hit a guy you've actually heard of. Let's check in and see where the guys we pull are at in their careers.


Let's tear in.
Top to Bottom:
36 Isan Diaz
Diaz was part of the trade that sent Jean Segura (featured in yesterday's pack, coincidentally) to the Diamondbacks. Just last week, Diaz was promoted from the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to the High-A Carolina Mudcats.

64 Trace Loehr Prizm
Currently on the Class A Beloit Snappers, batting .083 in 12 plate appearances this season.

37 Jordan Montgomery
Today was the biggest day of Jordan's life so far. Not long ago, he was named the Yankees' fifth starter in a surprise announcement. Today he started his first major league game, pitching 4 2/3 innings and giving up two earned runs in an 8-4 Yankees victory over the Rays. He was not the pitcher of record, but he struck out seven batters. Pretty cool to get his card today.

37 Austin Cousino
Released by the Mariners while in single-A last year, Austin is not listed on any team's roster for the 2017 season.


Fun, interesting pack with guys at a variety of success levels.

2016 Topps Bunt

Looks like we went 0-for-2016, everyone. Does anyone know that this blog still exists?

This pack came from a repack box I recently picked up at Target. Prior to this, I didn't even know Topps made a physical Bunt set. And no, you'll never be getting me to buy or collect digital images of baseball cards.

Let's tear in.
Top to Bottom:
95 Darryl Strawberry

99 Jason Kipnis
35 Wade Boggs
FF-10 Ketel Marte Future of the Franchise

75 Jose Berrios
158 Billy Hamilton
196 Jean Segura


Actually a very nice looking set. Huge logos in the background will do that. Nice mix of retired and current players. I would actually spend money building a set of this, if it came to that.