2003 Fleer Authentix

A lot can happen in the span of seven years. Coincidentally, that's how long ago this pack of cards came out. In case you didn't know, I freed it from a cheap-o box of cards I got at K-Mart.

Since this pack was produced somewhere before the dawn of television, and thus, before mixed martial arts pay-per-view, I'll give you an update as to what each player is now doing. Fun stuff!

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
23 Jacque Jones
Update: Changed last name to Mauer, currently lapping up all of the accoutrements therein and therein contained.

93 Darin Erstad
Update: In the running for Disneyland's Goofy, summer 2011. Will settle for Thumper.

109 Victor Martinez
Update: Splitting time between Boston Red Sox and his home-operated "Bring Back Surge Soda" website.

18 Jose Vidro
Update: Spearheading the now-thriving Puerto Rican bullfighting movement.

98 Bartolo Colon
Update: Free agent starting pitcher.

By the way, the backs of the cards all show the exact same stadium seating diagram. How hard would it have been to show the diagram specific to that player's team?

2008 Topps Stadium Club

Yet another Target cheapie.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
20 Jorge Posada

8 Mark Teixeira

19 Jason Bay

2 Tim Lincecum

144 Justin Ruggiano First Day Issue

It still hurts with regard to the way this set was constructed. The design and photography is just about the best Topps has done in a long time. However, even after reading several explanations surrounding the hypothetical building of this set, I still cannot fully comprehend its madness. Oh well.

2010 Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 3D

Topps Widevision.
The ultimate in non-sports cards.

They're back.

In 3D.

And there isn't any half-thought-out garbage to junk it all up. These hearken back to a time before we referred to these as "episodes."

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
46 "Plans for His Son"
With a Darth Vader-centric card, this pack is already a win.

31 "Magnificent Cloud City"
No crime, great schools, and an unbeatable public transportation system put Cloud City at fifth place on Forbes' annual "Most Livable Cities" list.

8 "Back From the Brink"
The Bacta, the weird underwear, the uncomfortable jostling... it's all as I remembered it.

Speaking of which, why don't we have Bacta available to cure our illnesses? Sure, there's Bactine, but that's the light version. We still need something for more than minor scrapes and burns. Why is the scientific community keeping this from us?

Overall, these are great cards. They don't quite work as 3D, since they use the old lenticular technology. It's more like a very subtle Sportflic with less movement. Images in the foreground are kept more or less in place, but the backgrounds move from side to side. The effect does create some illusion of depth, but it's not perfect. I might consider picking up the entire set on eBay at some point in the future, but who knows.



Han shot first.