Halloween Special

For Halloween night, I found the scariest pack imaginable to open. The pack that sane men fear. The pack that causes collectors to wail in dismay and horror. The pack that has lured many a soul to its lair before GOBBLING up their money and KILLING their hopes and dreams. You know what I'm talking about... That most evil and nefarious of packs....



TRISTAR HIDDEN TREASURES!!!

Find the Wagner my ass! YOU'LL FIND NOTHING BUT SORROW!!! So let's open it already!

1992 Upper Deck Pete Harnisch #635

Pete suffers from clinical depression that started when he quit chewing tobacco. See? I told you - this will all end in tears.

1992 Upper Deck Wally Backman #350

Phillies cards make Tampa Rays fans cry. Woe! Woe and despair!

1984 Topps Bill Almon #241 1984 Topps Bill Almon #241

AAAAAAH! Bill Almon has a doppelgänger! He's a Pod Person! Ruuuuuun!

1985 Topps Gary Carter #230

A world where Gary Carter is in the Hall of Fame and Dale Murphy isn't even allowed to enter the city limits of Cooperstown is a world that scares me. This must be the 1 per pack "Star" card. Meh. Even if he is an Expo and not a Met.

1986 Donruss Paul Molitor #124

Wait! A happy ending!An '86 Mollie card! JOOOOOY! Everything turned out all right in the end. And you were so worried.

SPECIAL BONUS!

A 1991 mini three card pack like what I opened up for Halloween last year! Hooray!

Willie Stargell Puzzle .52 .53 .54

Dick Perez' signature.

176 Brook Jacoby

The trade of Brook, Brett Butler and Rick Behenna for Len Barker was a bloodbath for the Braves.

41 Phil Plantier

For everyone who bought up piles of his rookie cards, this card is a nightmare.

91 Dickie Thon!

There is nothing but joy and candy and happiness and rainbows with Dickie Thon! SAY IT WITH ME! DICKIE THON!

Happy Halloween!

Thank you, thank you very much (2008 Elvis by the Numbers)

This is what happens when I am sent to the store to buy Halloween goodies for my daughter's school party... I end up with a pack of 2008 PressPass Elvis by the Numbers. WTH was I thinking? (edit - in my haste to post this earlier, I forgot to explain WHY it's called 'by-the-numbers.' Se, on the back, each card has a number and that number is related to the photo and the write-up on back. Example: the Lisa Marie has 36.58, which turns out to be the wingspan in meters... Groovy, huh?)


Each pack sports five cards. Every pack comes with a Dick Perez "Canvas Creation" card (we'll see it below). Wow, so Wal-Mart/PressPass got Dick Perez to paint Elvis... The first card out of the pack is "Fat Elvis" though he appears to be severely airbrushed to a thinner state... Or maybe he wasn't fat yet when this was taken. The next one is the Elvis-does-Bruce-Lee-for-Halloween pose. All kidding aside, he actually earned 8th degree black belt status in 1974. Wasn't he a bit fat and on serious drugs to be chopping wood with his head?


The next card is of the Lisa Marie... No, that's not his daughter in the picture. That would be a plane, though I suppose I could understand why some might make a mistake. Oh, that was rude. My apologies to the Convair folks. The next is a still from Jailhouse Rock. Even I, an openly anti-Elvis person, have to admit JHR was a decent flick for the genre and time period. And, finally, my 1/1 Wal-Mart Dick Perez Canvas Creation - Elvis in the Army. I dunno, he looks a little 'Colonel Klink-ish' here....

There are cut signatures, hair samples, spit swabs, gun shells, drug paraphernalia, er, uh, okay, maybe not.. But you really can get signatures if you buy enough boxes... Though, really, I'd have to pass... Man, that's two dollars I could have spent on a Choco-Taco....

APADTV Extra: Halloween Extravaganza - 1988 Topps Football

When I think of Halloween, two things come immediately to mind: silly costumes and 1988 Topps Football cello packs. Therefore, it is my great pleasure to bring you a little of both. On a side note, I usually record my videos in one long take... But not this one. With that being said, I figured why not take some of the "unused" footage and throw it together at the end?

Let me know what you think!

2006 Fleer Ultra

Whew, just getting today's pack in under the gun. Pack two from the repack, and the first issue of Ultra that I've ripped since 1995. Whoa.

126 Freddy Sanchez - Upped his batting average from .158 in 2004 to .291 the following year. Sure, he only had 19 ABs in 2004...details, details.

70 Randy Winn - I'm sure Patricia and Lucy like the action shot with Randy kicking up dirt behind him as he digs for the next base.

14 Barry Zito - Despite the fact that he has oodles more money than I will ever see, I kinda feel for this guy amidst his struggles in San Fran.

URS1 Ryan Howard Ultra Rising Stars - Oooh, Brand New World Series Champ Ryan Howard! I opened this pack before tonight's game ended, and took it as a good omen for the Phils.

78 Cliff Lee Gold Medallion - And a parallel of the AL Comeback Player of the Year and likely Cy Young winner to wrap it all up.

1993 Pacific Nolan Ryan Texas Express

The pack for tonight is a 1993 Pacific Nolan Ryan 27th Season Texas Express pack. Pacific released two 110 card tribute sets to Nolan Ryan in 1991 and 1992, this is a third series of 30 cards that was put out to commemorate his 27th season in the league. This quarter pack has cards from the entire 250 card set inside. I picked this pack up at Arlington Stadium when I attended a Rangers/Yankees game in 1998.

See, that's an official 1998 Arlington Stadium price sticker. It would have been cooler if it had a Rangers logo on it or something, but oh well. I've been holding onto this unopened pack for a decade, I may as well brag about where I got it.

234 - 24 of 26 Seasons

The 24 of 26 is the number of seasons Nolan struck out 100 batters or more. This is the only third series card in the pack, it's different from the others due to the 27 logo, the pacific logo on the top right and the font used on "Nolan Ryan" on the left side of the card is slightly different from the other cards. Yes, I notice these things.

211 - Nolan Ryan Seven No-Hitters

The seven are listed on the back: 5/15/73, 7/15/73, 9/28/74, 6/1/75, 9/26/81, 6/11/90, 5/1/91. I'd normally link to the box scores on baseball-reference.com, but it's getting late.

115 - Nolan at Age 20

Ok, this is easily the coolest card in the pack. Nolan's styling in his Jacksonville Suns jersey.

130 - Number One

Number One is his first No-Hitter. Pacific reprinted the box score on the back. Looks like Bob Oliver hit a homer in that game!

169 - Texas All-Star

This card commemorates his victory in the 1989 All-Star game in Anaheim. The pack netted 4 second series cards and 1 third series card. At that rate you may as well just buy the high series set using the offer on the back of the pack. 30 cards and a special collector's box for $5.95! How can ya beat it?!

2006 Upper Deck Series Two

Okay, we could all use a time-passer as the World Series has been hijacked by the weather gods. As I drove home Sunday after a Saturday night Halloween party (never drink and drive, kids), I was dispatched to Wal-Mart by my sister to pick up some elastic she needed for her homemade gypsy costume. Sheesh. Might as well pick up a "3+ packs" for $5 Legends repack. Here's the first pack, 2006 Upper Deck. All I have from this set is a handful of Orioles, so let's give it a peek.

905 Chris Britton RC - An Oriole right off the bat! The delightfully doughy Britton had a decent year in relief, then was traded to the Yankees for Jaret Wright. Lovely.

983 Boone Logan RC - They're not booing you, they're saying BOOO-ooone.

584 Eduardo Perez - Mushmouthed-yet-harmless Baseball Tonight team member.

528 Corey Patterson - Another Oriole! One of the few baseballers who managed to be less horrible in Baltimore than he's been elsewhere.

653 Jason Bulger RC - Three rookies in one pack, eh? Never heard of him, apparently an Angels reliever. Maybe he's related to Ray Bulger.

677 Sandy Alomar - I didn't have any cards of Old Man Sandy with the Dodgers. Nice Spring Training photo with the players just chillin' behind home plate.

PBDJ-4 Play Ball! with Jeter contest card "E" - If you spelled "J-E-T-E-R" you would win Great Prizes. The prizes ranged from a private clinic with Derek Jeter to...screensavers. Seriously.

827 Shawn Camp - Ah, the halcyon days of the Devil Rays.

1989 Fleer Baseball... PINSTRIPES!!!

Well, it's time to bust open some more wax. This time, it's real wax. 1989 Fleer baseball. There's a few good rookies in this set. Unfortunately, Fleer only stopped printing them last spring.
But press on we must!
I obtained this pack as an unexpected free gift from an ebay seller that I bought a couple of Braves team sets from. It's sellers like this that would make ebay great, if only there were more of them. I even wrote his name down so I could buy from him again..... but I lost that damn piece of paper. *sigh*
A salute to you, Mr Anonymous ebay gift giver!

Peeking through the wrapper, it looks like I can see a familiar shape.........
It's a Kansas City Royals sticker! I miss stickers.... somebody need to start doing them again.

Anybody admitting to loving the Royals? This card could be yours....

Up next, Bruce Sutter - Braves! Yeah baby! Bruce had just recorded his 300th save in '88... although he was pretty much done by the time this picture was taken...

Felix Fermin - Pirates

Joe Magrane - Cardinals

Jody Reed - BoSox - going in the mail pile for Jackplumstead

Keith Brown - Reds

Fred Manrique - White Sox - wow. Look at those glasses. wow. It's no wonder Fred was on his 4th team in 4 years. Fred is going in the mail pile for Steve over at White Sox Cards

Andy McGafigan - Expos

Mike Moore - Mariners

Paul Gibson - Tigers

Steve Sax - Dodgers
Will Clark - Giants - Will kinda exploded on the scene, becoming one of those "must have" cards in the late '80's early '90's... then he fell of the face of the Earth.

Craig Worthington - Orioles

Rafael Ramirez - Astros - a former Brave, all glove, no hit.

Stan Javier - A's

and..............................................................

Ken Griffey Jr. !!!!

I never pulled one of these back in '89.... still kinda gave me a thrill pulling it out of this pack.

Come to think of it.... I not only miss those damn stickers.... I miss the thrill of pulling that elusive rookie or favourite player out of a pack. Base card, I mean, as I build the entire set and put them in pages... crossing out the new acquisitions off of my "need" list. No autos... no swatches... no short prints... no damn gimmick cards.... (except maybe a prank or two on Billy Ripken)

I miss those days.

1990 Bowman Baseball

Long before there was BowChro...long before there was Bowman's Best...long before there was the great Bowman sets of '92,'93,'94 and '95...there was 1990 Bowman baseball. Probably the least desirable of all the Bowman issues. At least in '89 Topps tried the make the cards look like old vintage Bowman. But the next year they basically gave up and made them look like any crappy cheap card you might find in the nineties. Overproduced and featuring poor printing quality, this set still had a few decent rookies like Big Frank, Sosa and Juan Gone. Upon opening the pack we find a badly shattered piece of gum. Onto the cards...

To watch a video of this pack break click here.


142 - Todd Hundley
I remember when Hundley was a big time prospect. Whatever happened to him?

414 - Greg Gagne
Front is badly printed off-register as are most of the cards in this pack.

283 - Kirk McCaskill

498 - Gary Pettis
I forgot he played for the Rangers once.

290 - Gary DiSarcina


510 - John Olerud
I remember when his cards were worth something.

494 - Scott Coolbaugh
This pack is like a who's who of early nineties rookie flame outs. Kinda funny actually.


Robin Yount Bowman sweepstakes giveaway card.
This is actually a nice looking card. Kinda reminds me of UD Goudey.


440 - Kevin Maas

319 - Scott Fletcher
Nice shot of the old Comiskey in the background.

517 - Luis Sojo


27 - Greg Maddux
Finally a half way decent card.

469 - Erik Hanson
18-9 for the '90 Mariners and 15-5 for the '95 Red Sox.

44 - Danny Jackson
Started a game for the Pirates in the '92 NLCS.

509 - Jimmy Key

Nothing happening pack but it brought back some fun memories of when I collected these as a kid.

2008 UD SP Blister Pack

I had to run to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things for my wife, since i am out of town. Yes, you read that correctly. I am out of town, and I am running to Wal-Mart... It's the little things that keep married folks happy, and married.

I digress. Naturally, my errand took me to the card aisle. There was no way I was gonna drop a twenty on a box of this SP stuff, but I'd spare 3 bucks since I was getting a free taco tonight anyway...

The pictures were taken with the built-in camera on my EeePC 1100H. Take 'em for what they are...


First up, we have Derek Jeter (Yankees).

Lastings Milledge (Nationals):

Bernie Williams YAYSLC... Talk about the world's most over-produced set of cards. Just how many gazillion of these legacy cards are there? Did anyone notice that Shea was closed down this year, too? I didn't think so....

Joe Mauer (Twins).

Carlos Beltran (Mets) finishes up the pack...

Well, not the greatest pack in the world, but three out-of-five ain't bad. (That would be Jeter, Beltran, and Mauer).

Somehow, I think I should bought a box of the basketball cards featuring Bird on the front...

2005-06 Upper Deck ESPN Basketball

Tonight is opening night for the NBA. Feel free to take just a minute to let that sink in. Sure, baseball is still being played (kind of) and we're still functioning in Daylight Savings Time in the U.S. (unless you're in Arizona or you're another rougue area that doesn't believe in it.) Since I don't really buy basketball cards, here is a pack that I discovered in a box recently, along with some football packs. I bought it a few years ago and completely forgot about it.

72 - Zach Randolph (Zach can fill up the stat sheet, but his deficiencies are especially glaring: he can't defend, he doesn't move especially well and, at least in his Blazers days, was pretty terrible at passing out of a double team. Whoever thought he would be a good fit in New York was obviously on some crazy pills.)

16 - Dirk Nowitzki (The peak of my Mavericks interest was probably around the late 90s or early part of this decade, back when Dirk was still gaining legs in the NBA. Now they're just annoying.)
37 - Caron Butler (I forgot that Butler used to play for the dreaded Lakers.)

35 - Elton Brand (The Sixers threw 80 million dollars at a guy trying to come back from a ruptured Achilles' tendon.)

MAG-LJ1 - LeBron James ESPN The Magazine Covers (Nothing like a set advertising ESPN with insert cards that further promote ESPN ventures in other media.)
22 - Ben Wallace (He's probably one of the most overrated players in the history of the league. An absolutely worthless offensive player who has never even put up Dennis Rodman-like numbers to justify his existence as a multi-million dollar multi-year contract player.)

64 - Allen Iverson (I'm not sure what the jersey is throwing back to, but it's not bad.)

8 - Emeka Okafor (One of the better players from an otherwise dismal draft class.)
45 - Shaquille O'Neal (If he's not all costumed-up in '90s hip-hop and/or movie gear, then he's not worth showing a picture of here.)

The Blazers/Lakers game is game 2 of the doubleheader tonight on TNT. Feel free to revel in the awesomeness that is the Blazers. Meanwhile, if anyone wants any of these cards, please let me know. I can always use more Blazers cards.