2009 Topps Fat Pack: What the Fungus?

I'm sure we've all seen our share of 2009 Topps already, but I got two fat packs at Target and something was odd. Check out the the following scans:






So, as I said..."What the Fungus?". You'll notice that all of the affected cards are horizontally oriented. I pulled about six others like these. Each fat pack had two separate runs of three misprinted cards in the middle of the pack. It looks like some of the colored ink didn't make it onto the cards; maybe yellow? At any rate, the backs of the cards are fine. You'll also notice that no less than three of the affected cards feature Josh Hamilton. Weird, huh?

Has anyone else found similarly gerfunct cards? (Yes, these are so weird looking that I had to use a fake word to describe them.)

2009 Topps Series 1 Fat Pack

What is the official terminology for these? It's the 36-card, two-section pack that hangs on the rack. Jumbo is the 50-card single-section pack, right? So is this a fat pack, or is that copyrighted by Upper Deck? Is it simply a rack pack, old-school style? Anyway, I bought it along with a second pack and a cereal box at Target last Tuesday. The big hits in the cereal box were a Chrome Refractor of Mickey Mantle (yawn), a Turkey Red David Wright, and a Lou Gehrig Legends of the Game. A few cards in the cereal box were a bit mangled, with the worst being an Omar Vizquel with a seriously bent corner. What's up with that? Anyway, let's check this bad boy out.

Top Section:

312 Ryan Sweeney - with fuzzy Phillies in the visitor's dugout.

195 Tim Lincecum - I read on espn.com that he sometimes goes two or three days without showering. Thanks for that, guys.

119 Craig Counsell - Do you realize he's been in the league for 13 years? Crazy.

262 Mike Gonzalez - According to the card back, the following hitters are all 0-for-their career against him (min. 5 ABs): Pat Burrell, Luis Castillo, Geoff Jenkins, Aaron Miles, Scott Rolen, Brad Wilkerson. Pick it up, fellas!

265 Carlos Zambrano - Love the photo of Z's home run swing.

143 Matt Joyce - Depicted with the Tigers instead of his new team, the Rays.

209 Alfredo Amezaga - The blurb on the back includes Dan Uggla raving about AA's defense. There's an easy joke here, but I like Uggla in spite of his lead glove.

83 Ryan Garko - There were rumors in the offseason that the O's would trade for him. But they fulfilled their ridiculously named corner infielder need by signing Ty Wigginton.

275 Alex Rios - Looking at the list of his best pitcher matchups, he kills old men (Julian Tavarez, Jamie Moyer, Randy Johnson). You're next, John Smoltz!

314 Matt Treanor - Do you think he resents his wife's fame, even just a little?

TTT16 Ichiro ToppsTown - Three of the seven TT cards I've pulled were Ichiro.

267 Michael Bowden RC - Was born in 1986, when I already knew how to read. I'm SO. OLD.

191 Shane Victorino Postseason Highlights - Commemorating his NLDS grand slam against Captain Cheeseburger. May it lead the way to several more Sabathia meltdowns in the Bronx.

224 Max Scherzer - Is it possible to pronounce his last name without yelling like an angry German? NEIN!

102 Garrett Atkins - His OPS each season since 2006: .965, .853, .780. That's what we call a disturbing trend.

165 Matt Kemp - An anagram for "Matt Kemp" is "Kempt ATM". That's all I got.

281 Tug Hulett - His 6 Degrees of Mantle features four Orioles: Tug's father is Tim Hulett, who hit his 1st HR off Dennis Martinez, who was a teammate of Mark Belanger, who was a teammate of Woodie Held, who was a teammate of Mantle.

234 John Russell - Apparently he "hopes a foundation based on fundamentals will pay dividends". That's code for "The Pirates suck hard".

Section the Second:

159 Matt Antonelli RC - Does he have a nickname? I suggest "the pride of Peabody".

284 Luis Ayala - Good trade for the Mets. He went from a 5.78 ERA with the Nats to a 5.50 to the Mets.

150 Kosuke Fukudome - Shown taking a curtain call at Wrigley. That photo must have been taken in April.

288 Guillermo Quiroz - According to Night Owl, the O's backup catcher is Mr. Ubiquitous of Topps Series 1.

26 Jason Giambi - Between the goofy 'stache and even goofier face, complete with protruding tongue, this is my favorite photo from the set so far.

110 Hideki Matsui - After playing in every game in his first three seasons in New York, Godzilla has missed almost 200 games in the last three. Uh-oh...

319 Brian Fuentes - If his card had a flavor, it would be grapity-purple.

50 David Ortiz - Does anyone actually hate Big Papi?

LG8 George Sisler Legends of the Game - I know dayf was a bit down on this player choice for the Legends set, but I like it. Topps and Upper Deck have done the usual suspects to death, and it's neat to see one of the few legendary St. Louis Browns get some props.

12 Andrew Carpenter RC - He looks too much like Sidney Ponson for my tastes.

22 Classic Combos: First Rate (Evan Longoria and David Price) - Thanks guys, for making it that much harder for my O' s to climb out of the AL East cellar. Isn't it time for more realignment?

282 Chris Lambert RC - Career ERA of 4.60 in the minors? Hold on to your socks, kids.

242 Ricky Nolasco - One of the more anonymous 15-game winners around, I'd say.

158 Ray Durham - I'm surprised no one signed him this offseason.

207 Joe Blanton - His World Series home run was one of my favorite non-Baltimore moments of 2008.

40 Carl Crawford - Have I mentioned that Carl and I share a birthday? Yes, probably I have.

329 Gil Meche - How many "What a Meche" headlines has he inspired?

151 Carl Pavano - "It was a welcome sight to see Carl (elbow) back on the mound again in 2008." For whom?

2008 Upper Deck Fat Pack

Well...I've finally gotten around to posting that pack that dayf sent me after our bet. Much has transpired since then. Let's list what has taken place:
1. Nearly the entire Braves roster has gone on the DL, not to mention Rickie Weeks and J.J. Hardy's ailments for the Brewers.
2. I heckled Joe Mauer to the point of tears on consecutive nights this past weekend. An old lady in front of me reminded me of appropriate language use. Mauer was so rattled that he went 1-5 on Saturday, including grounding into two double plays. I am a quiet man, but all bets are off if your home stadium is the Metrodome.
3. The last day of school has come and gone. Thanks goodness for recorded entertainments.

Enough of this claptrap.
Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
49 Willie Harris (A Brave right off the bat. Perhaps this will go right back to dayf.)
10 Garret Anderson
208 Adam LaRoche
130 Franklin Gutierrez (Nice shirt.)

173 Chris Ray
95 Brandon Lyon
197 Chase Utley
119 Dave Roberts (Huh, old Graybeard was born in Okinawa. Learn something new every day.)
195 Ryan Madson
273 Scott Baker
234 David Weathers
39 Matt Stairs (Just missed being a Brewer teammate with the guy above him.)
319 Luke Hochevar (RC)
337 Steve Pearce (RC)

373 David Ortiz Red Sox Checklist
310 Billy Buckner (RC)
391 Jim Thome Season Highlights
HC16 Alex Gordon Hot Commodities

Pretty good first floor, so let's see what the basement holds.
244 Manny Corpas
166 Jesus Flores
283 Jose Contreras
127 Travis Hafner
88 Brendan Harris
290 Jermaine Dye
251 Brian Bannister
212 Brandon McCarthy
75 Ryan Dempster
192 Kyle Kendrick
78 Ryan Theriot
117 Ryan Klesko
364 Ichiro Mariners Checklist
301 Jonathan Albaladejo (RC)
400 Trevor Hoffman Season Highlights

355 Chipper Jones Braves Checklist
YSL2262 Johnny Mize Yankee Stadium Legacy 09/18/1951
HC40 Hot Commodities Prince Fielder

dayf is totally awesome for selecting this pack for me, taking the time to dig through a box to find a Prince Fielder showing through the back.
Since I don't think I have it in me to try for what will ultimately be a 1,000+ card set, all of these are available for trade or sale except the Mize, Ichiro, and Fielder. Make me an offer.

A Pack Smelling of Victory: 2008 Upper Deck Fat Pack

Today's mail brought forth the pack of cards that dayf had wagered in the Brewers/Braves series a couple of weeks ago. This man's generosity speaks for itself, but he really came through this time with a jumbo pack of 2008 Upper Deck. This sucker is big, brotha! I'm used to packs of no more than 8 cards, but this thing will take me a couple of minutes to go through.

To give you an idea of its size, I traversed my home in search of cool things that this pack is bigger than. I'm not exaggerating when I claim it could be used as a yardstick, one that could pass any acceptable limits from the U.S. Dept. of Weights and Measures. Well, maybe I am guilty of hyperbole here, but so are those stupid themed bars in Spring Break towns that boast drinks referred to as "yards." Those things are two feet tops! Here's what I came up with.

A. A Criterion Collection DVD (a few years OOP by now) of Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca. I could probably get a box of something really nice by flipping this on eBay, but that ain't gonna happen.

B. A Ryan Braun bobblehead, procured this past Sunday. The wedge of cheese upon which he stands makes this SGA fall just short in twofold ways. First, it doesn't quite measure up to the fat pack, and second, it ruins an otherwise nice bobble. Stuff like this ruins teams. If you don't believe me, just go to Google and type in "Turnbow," "bobblehead," and "hair," and you're likely to find rants from the shores of Lake Michigan about this particular stadium giveaway's curse.

C. The coolest novel about video games ever written. Your library probably doesn't have it, but try to track it down.

D. One of last night's beers. This is a new product from Point. (More on this delicious brew here, along with a better view of the excellent artwork.) I'm guessing if you're not from Wisconsin, you probably can't get it, but I'd love someone to prove me wrong.

Sorry for the tease, but I'll get to the actual cards later on.

2007 Upper Deck Series Two Fat Pack

Ok, the second pack in the repack cube is a Series Two Fat Pack from 2007 Upper Deck. I don't think I bought a single pack of UD Series 2 last year, the only series two cards I have are from the combo Fat Packs. At least there will not be a lot of doubles in this pack...

Top half:
588 Wily Mo Pena
999 Josh Towers
934 Jarrod Washburn
576 Javier Lopez
984 Mark Teixeira
920 Russ Ortiz
692 Curtis Granderson
943 Brandon Morrow RC
892 Adam LaRoche
898 Jason Bay
971 Ben Zobrist
543 Chipper Jones
804 Pat Neshek
742 David Riske
668 Brian Lawrence
MVP9 Aramis Ramirez MVP Potential

I can't complain about the first pack with Chipper, Tex and LaRoche. Plus I got everyone's favorite Pat Neshek!

Bottom half:
795 Claudio Vargas
737 Zack Grienke
655 Franklin Gutierrez
787 Brain Shouse
720 Wandy Rodriguez
643 Fernando Cabrera
828 Scott Schoeneweis
767 Joe Beimel
530 Edgar Gonzalez
625 Jermaine Dye
538 Randy Johnson Checklist
834 Dave Williams
952 Russ Springer
896 Jonah Bayliss
875 Abraham Nunez
MVP27 Nomar Garciaparra

Not as good on the second half. Jermaine Dye's probably be best other than the checklist card of Randy Johnson. I like the K.C. Monarchs uniform on Zack Grienke. One Rookie card in the whole pack seems odd. The exclusive inserts didn't impress me that much, Nomar Garciaparra hasn't been a legit MVP candidate since about 1998. Overall not a bad pack though.

2007-2008 Fleer Basketball Fat Pack

All right, I know everyone here hates basketball cards like they were a disease, but my Hawks just clinched their first playoff spot since the Clinton Administration and I'm celebrating with a Fleer Fat Pack. I like this set and it might be the last Fleer set ever (sob) so indulge me, ok? I'll give you a cool pack later tonight to make up for it. Joe Johnson is showing on the back, so I've got at least one Playoff-Bound Atlanta Hawk in the pack!

Top Pack:
16 Chris Bosh
6 Rasheed Wallace
95 Rajon Rondo
80 Quentin Richardson
65 Willie Green
35 Vince Carter
73 Ryan Hollins
43 Caron Butler
28 Luol Deng
12 LeBron James
93 Desmond Mason
63 Kyle Korver
116 Martell Webster
102 Darko Milicic
144 Cuttino Mobley
119 Shareef Abur-Rahim
149 Stephen Jackson
117 Sergio Rodriguez
109 Luke Ridnour
166 Shane Battier
103 Damon Stoudamire
194 Maurice Ager
164 JR Smith
134 Tyson Chandler
218 Aaron Brooks Rookie
61R-26 Joe Johnson '61 Retro card

This set makes me nostalgic. Loud colors, flimsy card stock, a badly designed back with only 5 years of stats... if half the cards were off center and badly cut, I'd think I was in the late 80's again. King James is by far the bast in this pack. I like to put together starting lineups out of basketball packs so we'll have LeBron at small forward, Chris Bosh at power forward, Rasheed Wallace at center (I almost went with Tyson Chandler, but Rasheed growled at me and I regained my senses) Vince Carter will be in the back court along with Rajon Rando at point who is used to dishing the ball off to superstar teammates on the Celtics. That lineup should win a couple of games. I thought I had gotten a bad quarterback for my rookie card, but it turns out he's a bench player for the Rockets. At least he's in the league. The 1961 Fleer retro card of Joe Johnson looks great, the original set is a classic. Since you'd get way more inserts and rookies by buying individual packs, the Fat Pack bonuses need to be this good.

Bottom Pack:
71 Jason Richardson
55 Ike Diogu
47 Etan Thomas
91 Michael Redd
61 Rodney Carney
31 Ben Wallace
5 Tayshaun Prince
66 Samuel Dalembert
36 Jason Collins
21 James Posey
29 Ben Gordon
88 Andrew Bogut
178 Deron Williams
148 Al Harrington
133 Hilton Armstrong
118 James Jones
131 Rashad McCants
145 Chris Kaman
192 Boris Diaw
199 Jerry Stackhouse
184 Brent Barry
154 Andrew Bynum
139 Morris Peterson
86R-150 Acie Law IV '86 Retro Rookie
209 Jermareo Davidson Rookie
61R-34 Shaquille O'Neal '61 Retro card

I tried putting together a starting five, but this pack is a little too guard heavy to create a functional team. I don't think anybody wants Jason Richardson to play power forward. I also just noticed that there is no personal info on the back of the cards like birthday, height, college, etc. How do you forget to put height on the back of a basketball card? It's like a pitcher's card without any throws left or right stat on the back. The Rookie is another bench player, this time for the Bobcats, but it's not a D-League scrub. I got a Hawk for the '86 Retro Rookie card, Acie Law IV. Acie is the Hawks' version of Scott Thorman. Just like Scott prompted the Braves to go get Mark Teixeira, Acie hastened the coming of the Mike Bibby era in Atlanta. I'm not sure why the card is numbered 150, unless Upper Deck is continuing the '86 retro set from last year's Fleer set. It wouldn't be the dumbest thing a card company has done I suppose. The Shaquille O'Neal card is easily the coolest out of the entire pack. The Miami Heat team colors look great on the '61 retro card even though Shaq is now a Sun.

This is some good stuff to celebrate the Hawks' exit from the lottery. Just in time to fork over our first rounder to the Suns for the Joe Johnson trade! Now I get to root on my Hawks as they try to maybe sneak one win at home before getting absolutely murdered by the Celtics. I'm a fan, but I'm not delusional.

2007-2008 Upper Deck Basketball Rookie Edition Fat Pack

Back in the late '80s I was a way bigger basketball fan than a baseball fan. I played more basketball, watched more basketball, went to more Hawks games than Braves games and collected tons of basketball cards. Then the Braves went nuts and 'Nique got traded and basketball sort of went to hell in Atlanta. This year the tables have turned, for the first time in forever the Hawks are the lone saving grace in a town full of imploding franchises. This is how crazy things have gotten: Billy Knight had a good draft. Scary! As a result I'm building a basketball set for the first time in a decade and I'm more susceptible to buying stuff like this pack on impulse. I wasn't planning on buying any Upper Deck basketball this year, but I really had no choice in the matter as you soon will see.


Top pack:
52 Shareef Abdur-Rahim
85 Tony Allen
68 LaMarcus Aldridge
63 Randy Foye
46 Luke Walton
11 Tracy McGrady
120 Shannon Brown
152 Gerald Wallace
109 Jose Calderon
157 Antoine Walker
105 Kyle Korver
148 Raymond Felton
121 Drew Gooden
118 Tyrus Thomas
203 Julian Wright Star Rookie
SH-DC Daequan Cook Star Rookie Santa Hat

The cards look pretty good. They are similar to the baseball set except the silver border is only on one side. The name is stamped in foil, but there is at least a colored band behind it to make it a little more readable. The photos are all good, every one except for the rookies is an action shot so you get a lot of goofy looking faces in these cards. The best card out of the first pack is T-Mac driving on Joe Johnson. There's also a sweet looking rookie card of Julian Wright in the classic Kansas uni. This pack is labeled as the Rookie Edition, so why only one rookie you say? Well the bonus insert is a variation card of the Star Rookies set:

Rookies wearing Santa Hats! Daequan Cook looks thrilled to be wearing that stylish faux fur chapeau. This is rookie hazing at its finest. I still haven't gotten to the only reason I bought this pack though.

Pack 2:
73 Martell Webster
39 Cuttino Mobley
38 Corey Maggette
64 Troy Hudson
616 Mike Miller
2 Devean George
99 Channing Frye
33 Stephen Jackson
119 Ben Wallace
160 Travis Diener
180 Mike Bibby
174 Chris Paul
136 Jamaal Tinsley
195 Michael Redd
168 Brendan Haywood
SH-AH Al Horford Star Rookie Santa Hat

Al Horford Santa Hat card! This is one of my favorite cards out of any set this year. A Hawk draft pick that was actually a smart move wearing the brand new uniform and a little touch of Christmas cheer. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.

Wal-Mart $9.99 Value Pack: 2006 Upper Deck Series 1 & 2 Fat Pack

Last pack in the Wal-Mart Value Pack, and its an Upper Deck Fatty from last year. Speaking of fattys...

There, much better. I needed that. (Do cards not drugs, kids.)

Anyway, in 2006 Upper Deck released three different kinds of Fat Packs. One with only series one cards, another with only series two cards, and a third with cards from both series one and two. This particular pack is a "one-&-two;" that is, all the base cards in the top compartment are from the first series and all the cards in the bottom compartment are series two. There's also a "one-&-two" Fatty exclusive "Season Highlights" insert that's seeded at the rate of one-per-compartment.

Top compartment

Base (all series one):
Adam Kennedy
Javy Lopez
Neifi Perez
Joe Crede
Willy Mo Pena
Andy Pettitte
Dan Wheeler
Carlos Silva
Barry Zito
Rich Harden
Jim Thome
Woody Williams
Doug Clark (RC)
Cristian Guzman
Nick Johnson

Insert:
Season Highlights: Johan Santana

Bottom Compartment

Base (all series two):
Wilson Betemit
Matt Belisle
Miguel Ojeda
Brian Moehler
Todd Wellemeyer
Rafael Furcal
Julio Franco
Ryan Doumit
Victor Santos
Josh Hancock
Brad Wilkerson
Robert Fick
Val Majewski (RC)
Ricky Nolasco (RC)

Inserts:
Season Highlights: Alfonso Soriano
Collect the Mascots and Win!: Phillie Phanatic

The Season Highlights inserts look virtually identical to the Player Highlights cards that were inserted into series two Hobby packs. In fact when I first saw these cards, I thought these were Player Highlights.

Collect the Mascots and Win! is a three-card one-&-two exclusive insert, featuring Mr. Met, The Phillie Phanatic, and Wally the Green Monster. By collecting all three cards, and entering the codes printed on the back, you can win prizes and stuff. I pulled the Phanatic, and yeah, the Big Green Guy is still the man. But don't take my word for it. Ask Mr. Met's wife.

2007 Upper Deck Fat Pack Rookie Edition

I'm just in a rack packy mood right now. This 'Rookie Edition' Fat Pack is basically the same as the regular series 1 fat packs except they have the same inserts with rookies instead of stars on them, 20 added rookie cards and a lovely purple wrapper. This pack had Phil Hughes on the back for one of the inserts, and he was the only rookie I'd really heard of in among the packs in the store. My hatred of Upper Deck has lessened since Goudey came out, so I thought why not give it a chance.

Top pack:
232 Wes Littleton
49 Beltran Perez RC
25 Dennis Sarfate RC
372 Francisco Cordero
184 Jay Payton
120 Nate Robertson
454 Jeff Weaver
319 Hanley Ramirez
210 Carl Crawford
55 Corey Patterson
307 Yorvit Torrealba
182 Nick Swisher
279 Michael Barrett
435 Steve Finley
123 Mitch Maier RC
SR35 Phil Hughes Star Rookie

So far the rookies in Rookie Edition suck... Sarfate is the only player to even see the majors this year, pitching eight and a third innings in relief for the Astros in a September call up. The Hughes is nice though, and there's some good young stars like Hanley and Crawford in the pack.

Bottom pack:
332 Craig Biggio
1 Doug Slaten RC
131 Todd Wellemeyer
330 Taylor Tankersley
266 Ryan Langerhans
310 Brad Hawpe
387 Ryan Howard
251 Johnny Estrada
118 Joel Zumaya
371 Derrick Turnbow
246 Justin Speier
87 Jon Garland
243 Gustavo Chacin
498 Matt Cain Checklist
504 Alex Gordon RC
SR11 Chris Stewart Star Rookie

Ok this is more like it. Doug Slaten's good enough to be on the Diamondbacks playoff roster and Alex Gordon is Alex Gordon. Nice broken bat there Alex. Ryan Howard showing off his Home Run Derby championship trophy is cool, even though that jersey is hideous. I'm not sure what is going on in Craig Biggio's card. It doesn't look like he much knows either. Not bad at all I must say, and 32 cards for five bucks is a whole lot better than eight cards for three.