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.

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 Topps Series 2

More from the repack box.


Let's tear in.
Top to Bottom:

540 Ike Davis

458 Vinnie Pestano
468 Wilin Rosario FS (I've noticed that Topps has been much more liberal with the Future Stars imprint as of late. Not everybody is a B.J. Surhoff, guys.)
645 Wilson Ramos (Can't argue with a Cardinal being tagged out on a card.)

359 Sean Rodriguez
338 Carlos Santana Red Hot Foil

340 Casey McGehee
549 Hank Conger
437 Alex Wood
426 Koji Uehara
539 Trevor Bauer
341 Mike Moustakas

More fun than is allowed by law.

2015 Topps WWE

Over the last couple of years, I've slowly gotten back into WWE wrestling. I think it's the unique type of fandom that the sport demands that has made it attractive to me. A combination of scripted drama with the possibility of actual surprise is an intriguing one, and for this reason, I plunked down $1.99 at my local Target.


Let's tear in.
Top to Bottom:
42 John Cena

He gets a bad rap from serious fans, but I can't help but like the guy. They say he's there for the kids to have someone to cheer for, but I appreciate what he brings to the ring. His ring entrance music is the best in the business, in my opinion.

7 Big E

Currently representing for The New Day, a group of clowny also-rans that are downright embarrassing to watch. Automatic FF when I'm watching RAW on the DVR.

41 Jimmy Uso

Part of another snooze-inducing tag team. The WWE's tag division is an absolute joke, a far cry from the days of Demolition and the Road Warriors.

55 Nikki Bella

Fitting I get one Diva in a pack, just like you get one Divas segment per show. Nikki is the less attractive of the Bellas. Fact.

66 Rusev

This guy never disappoints. The Russian schtick is enjoyable, and I love it when he gets enraged and starts shouting in rapid Russian (or Bulgarian, possibly, his true heritage). Looking forward to another match with Cena, though that storyline looks as if it's gone by the wayside at the moment.

Crowd Chants 6 "This is Awesome!"

Fun idea for an insert, but I wish I had gotten someone with a little more pop.

Hulk Hogan 6 Faces Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania IV

What's that, two inserts in this retail pack? Can't go wrong with that. Hogan rules.

So I have to say I think I'll be buying more of these. I like the use of the 2015 Topps baseball design, and with a small set, I think completion won't be all that difficult. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go listen to the Cheap Heat podcast.

1988 Topps

I found this pack in a box full of miscellaneous junk. My 1988 Topps cards are housed in an 800-count box that looks to be about 9/17 full. As I open the pack, I’ll check which cards I need. I’m considering five cards needed from this pack a success.

Let’s tear in.

Top to Bottom:
417 Mark Ciardi (Got it.)
182 Ken Phelps (Got it.)
250 Nolan Ryan (NEED IT!)

68 Dave Dravecky (NEED IT!)

327 Larry Sheets (Got it.)
518 Greg Gross (NEED IT!)

751 Jim Morrison (NEED IT! One more, and this is a successful pack.)

607 Mickey Hatcher (NEED IT! WOO-HOO!)

723 Bob Kipper (NEED IT! GRAVY!)

659 Bobby Meacham (NEED IT! ICING ON GRAVY!)

330 Eddie Whitson (Got it.)
112 Les Lancaster (NEED IT! COOL WHIP ON ICING ON GRAVY!)

323 Rick Leach (Got it.)
240 Lee Smith (Got it.)
34 Ricky Horton (Got it.)

Okay, 53.3% is an outstanding hit rate.

Full disclosure: I still haven’t completed a single set of any brand from 1988.

1991 Stadium Club Series 2

It's still snowing, so I'm opening this pack that's been sitting around for a few years.

Let’s tear in.

Top to Bottom:
518 Terry Steinbach

341 Kent Mercker
399 Mark McGwire
539 Rob Deer
524 Alfredo Griffin
541 Mike Sharperson

438 Randy Velarde
342 Ken Griffey (Love getting a look at Griffey's rookie here. Amazing, too, that his son's rookie cards came only 15 years later. And here's another mind-blower: 1991 Stadium Club is only slightly closer in age to 1974 Topps than it is to cards from the present.)

421 Jeff Russell
531 Steve Bedrosian (Sweat-hat visible.)

491 Gary Wayne
443 Vicente Palacios

While my gut says Series 1 had a somewhat stronger player lineup, a quick look at BCP tells me that the two checklists were pretty equal. McGwire would have been a nice pull back in the day, and Rob Deer was a personal favorite of mine. Decent pack.