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.

1991 Topps Traded Baseball

This pack has been sitting in my living room for the past few months. Every so often we get out a bowling ball and play a game where we roll it under the pack to score points. It's fun.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
116T Todd Taylor
121T Mike Timlin
97T Ernie Riles
129T Willie Wilson

103T Tom Runnells
74T Candy Maldonado
42T Steve Finley

Mattress Man says, "That's that."

1991 Topps Stadium Club Series 2

I have two of these packs to open, so on Twitter I asked for someone to pick which one it should be. The cellophane on the back allowed me to see that one pack's last card was Vicente Palacios and the other's was Dale Murphy. They went with the Murphy.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
555 Mike Devereaux (Here's an interesting concept for a blog: All cards numbered 555, call it the Generic Sitcom Phone Number Card Blog. Too wordy, yes, but someone could make it work.)
314 Pedo Guerrero (Ha, he has a dirty cartoon from a Penthouse mag taped to the inside of his cap.)

563 Dave Gallagher
506 Roger McDowell (Holy shit, that Mets fan kid with the world's skinniest arms is about to give Roger the old one-two for switching to the Phills.)

405 Tom Candiotti
458 Wally Whitehurst (Gosh, all the real stars were in series 1, weren't they?)

449 Bob Ojeda
479 Mike LaCoss
434 Casey Candaele (Love that '87 Traded double-flap rookie, never seen it before.)

574 Jerry Don Gleaton (One of the worst names in sports history.)
486 Gary Redus
511 Rick Fucking Cerone (Yes, I've been had. Dayf called it.)

Repack Box Remorse - Volume 3

Aargh, not again!

A collector friend who buys so much retail he should own stock in the store recommended the $20 Championship repack boxes to me.  So the last time I was in my local Wal-Mart, there wasn't much of anything else interesting, so I caved and got one. 

The Box

When I got it home, I expected the concealed innards to contain packs of ubiquitous junk wax to contrast the newer stuff that was mounted in the windows. 

The visible packs

What I found was an even worse abomination than just junk wax.  Inside were several "bundles" of junk wax cards that had apparently been created by a previous buyer* who must have returned the box to the store.  They were five card groups of 1987 Topps, 1989 Donruss, 1990 Donruss, 1990 Fleer, 1991 Topps, 1991 Upper Deck, and 1995 Fleer sealed in what looks like penny sleeves closed with a shrink wrap heat sealer.

The inside "wrappers"

I thought it was just a cheesy way to repack old cards.  My friend says that these boxes are usually all more recent packs, so I knew I got screwed.   To make matters worse, I got DUPES in the bundles and a couple of the packs.  The OPC Premier pack only had five cards in it.

Dupes from bundles (top row) and real packs (bottom row)

Needless to say, this tarnishes my desire to ever buy any more repacks, especially from that store.  I'll have to check if their shrink wrap has logos on it normally.  This box was one of only two left along with one football box.  No use trying to return it now, since I opened everything.  More trade fodder at best....



* [Sensitive readers go back to the text now] Previous buyer = fucking douchebag.

1991 Studio

Here's the second pack from the best repack box ever [/heavy sarcasm].

Ozzie Smith - C'mon, Oz, don't be shy. Show us those pearly whites. And that better be your index finger.
Jeff Reardon - Beard!
Bret Saberhagen - Looks a little skeezy here.
Harold Reynolds - Before he was the best studio analyst in the biz.
Frank Thomas - Dig the fade, man.
Kirby Puckett - The bat to head studio thing is a bit overdone in this set, I fear.
Gary Scott - Uh, who? First guy in the pack I couldn't tell you a thing about. Here's the back.
Looks like he had the same taste in TV as my mom.
Kevin McReynolds - So dreamy.
Matt Williams - See what I mean about the bat thing?
Mike Scott - Looking like Andre the Giant. Just a bit? Maybe? Ok, fine.
Rod Carew Puzzle Piece - Probably the most boring piece I could get.

A typical Studio experience. Even with three HOFers (I'm counting the Big Hurt) and five members of the Hall of Very Good in a ten-card pack, it's still just kind of boring. The Ozzie is the only memorable card. If anyone wants any of these, give me a shout.

Those of you who haven't submitted your guesses for the contest, there's still time. Midnight tonight is the cutoff.

1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier

This is the final pack of 1991 O-Pee-Chee cards that I got from Motherscratcher at the beginning of April. Now, THIS pack features some greats!


Jeff Conine (Royals), Eddie Murray (Dodgers), and Luis Sojo (Angels) come out of the pack first. Eddie Murray!? Sweet. Jeff Conine!? Cool. I have him (and Murray of course) in my non-Indians collection. I really have no rhyme or reason for a lot of the players I have in there.


Pat Tabler (Blue Jays), Barry Bonds (Pirates), and Vince Coleman (Mets) are up next. Anyone remember Bonds when he was thin and one of the most hated, er disliked, players in Pittsburgh? It's a shame, really.*


And, the last card in the pack is ..... Dale (expletive) Murphy (Phillies)! Holy friggin cow! That is awesome. I do have to say, though, he does not look right when he is shown in anything other than a Braves uniform...

*No reason for the asterisk, other than there seems to always be one whenever his name is mentioned... Wonder why that would be? (Yes, Sheldon, that's sarcasm)

1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier

This pack of 1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier features a few very recognizable names:


Will Clark (Giants), Mel Rojas (Expos), and Barry Jones (Expos) lead things off. Will Clark is the stand-out in this trio for sure.


Next up, we find Junior himself (Mariners), Pedro Guerrero (Cardinals), and Hensley Meulens (Yankees). That's actually not a bad trio, though I would venture to say most folks would put Griffey at the top of the list here.


And, since there is an odd number of cards in the pack, Todd Hundley (Mets) gets his card on a line to himself.

1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier (Pack #2)

For your enjoyment and perusal, here is another pack of 1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier that I received from Motherscratcher.


This one features Don Mattingly (Yankees), Scott Sanderson (Yankees), and Brett Butler (Dodgers). Two Yankees in a row? Wow, maybe I should start a "Yanks or no Yanks" game... By far, Mattingly is the star in this trio! Butler spent four seasons with the Tribe back in the day.


Rounding out this pack, we have... wait a minute... The pack says "7 cards" per pack. This one only has SIX cards! I got ripped off. Wait, these were a gift. Nevermind... Well, maybe they should have added "on average" to their packs....

Here we have Devon White (Blue Jays), Bernie Williams (Yankees), and Jack Morris (Twins). Man, another Yankee. Half the pack was Yankees. You won't hear me complain though, I got some nice giveaway cards out of it.

Though, I still think they ripped SOMEONE off...

1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier

I received a box of cards and wax packs from Motherscratcher the other day, and I thought the best thing to do with a gift like that is to share it with everyone else! The first pack I am opening is a 1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier. The pack itself (above) is shiny and gold - a combination sure to bring collectors running, right? There are 7 cards in each pack.


The first two cards out of the gate are Roberto Alomar (Blue Jays) and Ozzie Smith (Cardinals)! Holy crap! Now, THAT'S the way to start a pack. The cards themselves feature (in my opinion) photography that is a step above the 80's Donruss cards, but not too much higher. The top of each card features a gold banner with the company logo on the left and a multi-colored 'Premier" on the right. Photos are surrounded by a colored border. Below the photo is the player's name, team, and position. The position is written in English followed by a French translation. O-Pee-Chee is a Canadian company, after all.


I don't know much about the history of the company, but I am guessing these are called "Premier" because it's the first time the company did not use photos and designs from Topps. It sounds good anyway.

Next in the pack, is Roger Clemens (Red Sox), Tim Wallach (Expos), and Dave Winfield (Angels). Seriously? This pack is turning out to be an early 90's collector's dream (edited due to younger readers that I know frequent the site). Holy crap (again!).


The last two cards are Chris Nabholz (Expos) and Gary Scott (Cubs). I decided to show the backs of the cards this time. The backs feature a large closeup of the player on the left. The upper right features the card number (BTW, Alomar is card #1) and the scripted "Premier" again. They really wanted you to know this was THE PREMIER set. The player's name in all-caps is next with the position below that in English and French. The previous year's stats are shown in a bright yellow box along with "carriere" info (that's French for career). Beneath the photo, we find biographical information, all in English.

Really, so the only part in French is the player's position!? I don't even know what to say to that.

In the lower right corner, the team logo and the bottom of the card features logos from the various MLB property entities. I admit, after shuffling through these a couple more times, the photos aren't quite as bad as I had thought originally.

Pack Prognosticator: Super Bowl XLIII

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl, so I thought I'd open a really old pack of football cards, sort of as a prediction as to who will win the game. There's been a pack of 1991 Score Series I lying around my house for the better part of two years. I can't really bear to let is sit for another season, so today's the day.

The Rules:
Since this will determine the winner outright, we have to lay some ground rules.
1. Any Cardinal or Steeler is worth 5 points to that team.
2. Any card of a team the Cardinals or the Steelers beat during the regular season is worth 3 points to that team.
3. Any card of a team the Cardinals or Steelers beat during the post-season is worth 4 points to that team.
4. Any card of a team the Cardinals or Steelers lost to during the regular season costs that team a -2 penalty.

I'd say that these are pretty even odds. The Cardinals lost more games this year, but they played one more playoff game than Pittsburgh. Plus the Ravens didn't exist in 1991. Then again, the Panthers didn't either. (On a related note, I'm calling it that teams who moved but kept their name, such as the Rams, will count, but teams who changed their name, like the Oilers/Titans, will not.)

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
267 Leo Goeas - Chargers (+7 to Steelers via one reg. win and one playoff win; Steelers 7: Cardinals 0)
273 Todd Bowles - Redskins (+3 Steelers (W), -2 Cardinals (L); Steelers 10: Cardinals -2. Looks like a good old fashioned ass whupping in the making.)

287 Daniel Stubbs - Cowboys (+3 to both teams for regular season victories; Steelers 13: Cardinals 1)
293 Jeff Bostic - Redskins (Another dagger to the Cards, +3 Steelers, -2 Cardinals; Steelers 16: Cardinals -1)
307 J.B. Brown - Dolphins (+3 to the Cardinals for an early-season victory over Miami; Steelers 16: Cardinals 2)
337 Albert Lewis Dream Team - Chiefs (No change, K.C. played neither team)
105 Anthony Bell - Cardinals (+5 to the underdogs; Steelers 16: Cardinals 7)

10 Gerald McNeil - Oilers (No change, defunct in Houston.)
15 Emmitt Smith - Cowboys (+3 to both again; Steelers 19: Cardinals 10)

30 Tim Harris - Packers (No change, neither team dared face this 6-10 juggernaut)
35 Eugene Lockhart - Cowboys (+3 to both; Steelers 22: Cardinals 10)
115 Anthony Munoz - Bengals (+6 to Pittsburgh for two regular season wins. I don't think the Cardinals can recover from that knockout blow. Steelers 28: Cardinals 10)
130 Bart Oates - Giants (-2 to Arizona, though I'm tempted to give both teams 400 points because of the love Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force has for this man; Steelers 28: Cardinals 8)

135 Joey Browner - Vikings (Another team the Cardinals lost to, so -2; Steelers 28: Cardinals 6)
150 Erik McMillan - Jets (The slide continues with another two-point penalty to AZ; Steelers 28: Cardinals 4)
155 Robert Delpino - Rams (The Cardinals salvage some pride with the last card, having beat the Rams twice this season; Final Score - Steelers 28: Cardinals 10)

I'm surprised how well that turned out looking like an actual football score. I was worried for a second that the Cardinals were going to have to pull off two safeties in a losing effort. Have fun watching the game, everybody. And don't forget to bet on Pittsburgh to cover and go with the under. You can all thank me later.

"That pack was totally kick-ass! Reminded me of the time I saw Whitesnake at the Meadowlands in '89!"

1991 WCW Wrestling

This was a free pack handed out at the entrance to the card show I reported on at Thorzul Will Rule. I believe that in 1991 I was probably at the tail end of my wrestling interest period. These WCW cards, I believe cover some of the territory during which the classic AWA and NWA franchises folded and morphed into the Ted Turner WCW enterprise. I could be all wrong on this, but that's OK, it's just wrestling.

Let's tear in.

Top Turnbuckle to Bottom Rope:
147 Doom (This is actually a tag team made up of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed. I remember "The Natural" Butch Reed from his WWF days, but have no memory of this team-up. They have Sting in a headlock. This is from the days before Sting changed his persona into a Crow ripoff.)

87 El Gigante (Back copy: "Those who disbelieve the existence of biblical Goliath will lose all skepticism once they lay eyes on El Gigante.")
55 Flyin' Brian (Hometown: Cinicnnati, Ohio)
111 Steiner Brothers (I remember these guys, big time. Rick Steiner was portrayed as being quasi-retarded, and he always wore his Michigan singlet and head gear into the ring. And this is what Scott looked like before he devoured a 55-gallon drum of steroids in one long, hectic weekend and changed into Big Poppa Pump.)

99 Ricky Morton (Ht: 5'9")
32 Sid Vicious (I think he got to the WWF eventually. Words to live by: "I'm no blonde, prima donna cutie pie.")
141 Doom (Again. "...you don't want to square off against these two without medical insurance.")
95 Tommy Rich (The back of his card lists his favorite hold as the "Thesz Press." I guess that would make him a disciple of wrestling pioneer Lou Thesz. It's embarrassing that I would know that.)

78 Dutch Mantel (You're going to have to wait until next Card-vent to see this one.)
125 Fabulous Freebirds (Michael "P.S." Hayes' hometown is listed as Badstreet, USA. What a crock. I was doing some reading on wrestling this summer, and some research indicated that Haku was probably the meanest wrestler of all time. He reportedly gouged out the eye of Jimmy Jack Funk during a backstage brawl. More on this here, if you're so inclined. Tonga Fifita (his real name) and Bad News Brown could have shown these two what real tough guys were like.)

22 Lex Luger (Who doesn't remember this guy?)
154 Jim Ross (Commentator, and apparently still at it.)

Not a bad stroll down Memory Lane. To get this I bypassed a rack pack of 1990 Donruss, and I must say that this sure beats getting that Ed Whitson Diamond King for the millionth time.

If you want in on a cheap group break, check this out. Spots are still available.