2013 Topps Archives pack break recap

I picked up a pack of the new 2013 Topps Archives [$4.50 each from a card shop] - to see what the cards look like.

I grew up collecting 1990 Topps but out of the retro designs within this product, I probably like 1985 Topps the best - followed by 1982 Topps, 1990 Topps and 1972 Topps.

#5 Allen Craig - 1972 Topps
#92 Ken Griffey Jr. - 1982 Topps
#143 Jake Odorizzi - 1985 Topps
#197 Chris Sale - 1990 Topps
#83-BH Bryce Harper - 1983 Topps All-Star
#78 Johan Santana - 1982 Topps
#141 Adam Jones - 1985 Topps
#151 Jason Motte - 1990 Topps

Super Awesome Fairfield Co. Target Baseball Repack Package!

'Sup? I couldn't pass up a Sweet Spot Classic John Montefusco on the front of this repack (I actually need it for that base set), plus I was told to "Look for Memorabilia Cards!" (like everyone else at my Target, I looked at the sides of the package, saw no thick cards, and said "meh", but I'm the yutz who brought it home anyway), so here we go, my first post here, 100 cards of dubious vintage for your perusal and enjoyment!

Left stack:

Some days, you just want the Icons cards to be base cards. If you don't recognize him, since this is illegible, this is '09 Upper Deck Icons Matt Kemp #78.

'87 Topps #754 Dave LaPoint

'87 Topps #623 Kurt Stillwell (Who here remembers when he was supposed to be the big deal instead of Larkin?)

'87 Topps #274 Jeff Hearron

'87 Topps #752 Dan Petry

'89 Topps #388 Bobby Bonilla All-Star

'89 Topps #584 Randy Velarde

'89 Topps #395 Danny Jackson All-Star

'89 Topps #617 Mark Parent (This pack's off to a real rip-snorter of a start, ain't it?)

O HAY THAR HANK

('89 Topps #663 Hank Aaron Turn Back The Clock)

'88 Donruss #450 Atlee Hammaker

'88 Donruss #506 Geno Petralli

'88 Donruss #98 Tim Burke

'88 Donruss #228 Willie Randolph (This is the best of this very sad bunch of '88 Donruss, 17 in a row in fact, so I'll only burden you with a scan of this one. Worst part is, I can see the borders in the 2nd stack of cards that I haven't been through yet. When "I hope they're at least Leaf" enters your head, you know you're in trouble. This was a borderline Bipping.)

'88 Donruss #95 Chris Bando

'88 Donruss #284 Pete O'Brien

'88 Donruss #114 Benito Santiago

'88 Donruss #107 Tom Brookens

'88 Donruss #604 Don Newell

'88 Donruss #636 Mike Flanagan

'88 Donruss #610 Mickey Brantley

'88 Donruss #480 John Morris

'88 Donruss #132 Danny Jackson (2nd appearance in the pack so far...)

'88 Donruss #250 Darrell Evans (I'd scan this, but it's a boring shot of him, and well, '88 Donruss)

'88 Donruss #504 Joe Hesketh

'88 Donruss #85 Jim Deshaies

'88 Donruss #323 Dave Magadan (this one totally juked me; saw the Mets uni and the pose and thought it was Jefferies)

'90 Score #473 Terry Puhl

'87 Topps #132 Paul Assenmacher (oh, how we laughed at that name)

'92 Upper Deck #277 Frank Viola (Damn it, didn't need it; almost forgot to check...)

'87 Topps #293 Bob Rodgers

Here's where the pack gets cool for a second:

'87 Topps #250 Teddy Higuera

Now, I know what you're thinking, but shut up, I like Teddy Higuera, and this is a great card of him.

'90 Topps Mail-In Glossy #20 Ken Griffey Jr.! (I have it already, blast it, and it's dinged up, but compared the first half of this pack, this is like heaven...)

Then this happened. '91 Topps Glossy All-Star #19 Andre Dawson, #13 Will Clark and #22 Juan Marichal. Now, I haven't looked on eBay yet, and I probably shouldn't make my life any harder than it is, but I feel compelled to mention that, in my usual travels, I've never found '91 Glossy All-Stars before these three. They were a mail-in, if I'm not mistaken, so the bulk of these are probably sitting in Fairfield's warehouse collecting dust or something.

Actually needed this dinged up poor bastard of a card. Vander Wal was one heck of a pinch-hitter.

...and then we went back to tedium again:

'87 Donruss #534 Jerry Royster

'87 Donruss #533 Ty Gainey

'87 Donruss #603 Jerry Narron

'92 Donruss Triple Play #20 Erik Hanson

'87 Donruss #356 Doug DeCinces

'90 Upper Deck #795 Juan Samuel

'90 Upper Deck #772 Mel Rojas

'90 Upper Deck #727 Scott Hemond

'90 Upper Deck #729 Jeff Reardon (wasn't gonna scan it, but check out this card back...)

'90 Upper Deck #785 Dave Hollins 

'90 Fleer #95 Duane Ward

'90 Fleer #43 Rick Sutcliffe

'90 Fleer #394 Jose Gonzalez

C'MON, MAN!

'90 Fleer #593 Lonnie Smith

Card #50 makes this half a Kemp sandwich! '2011 Topps Chrome Orangefractor #24. Up for grabs, like the first Kemp in the post.

A closer look at the card that sold the pack, 2003 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic #46 John "The Count" Montefusco. I think he still lives in the same town as the Target I went to. Probably planted the card himself. I should put all the real junk wax from this in his mailbox.

Just to really mess with my head, they also put a '91 Topps Glossy Rookie (#2, Kevin Appier, pictured) in this repack! I didn't have none of them, neither.

'89 Fleer #535 Curtis Wilkerson

'94 Upper Deck Electric Diamond (hate those) #288 Greg Vaughn Home Field Advantage

'90 Upper Deck #189 Tom Browning

'90 Upper Deck #792 Charlie Hough

Were Upper Deck being ironic by calling these three "Rookie Threats" in quotes? Gonzo didn't look very threatening back then. Bagwell, not so much, neither. Tuffy Rhodes would still stomp a mudhole in you, though, even as a "rookie" (he was in '90 sets too, if I'm not mistaken). '91 Upper Deck #702.

'91 Upper Deck #712 Dante Bichette

'88 Topps #531 Rich Yett

'92 Pinnacle #174 Milt Cuyler (Hey, needed it!)

'88 Donruss #288 Juan Samuel

'89 Donruss #500 Checklist

'88 Donruss #140 Joe Magrane

'91 Donruss #66 Tim Jones

'91 Donruss #339 Steve Olin (RIP)

'88 Donruss #131 Brook Jacoby

'92 Leaf #60 John Olerud

'93 Bowman #234 Bryan Harvey

We know you're not really juggling, Rolen, you little punk. '97 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #15

C'MON, MAN!

I mean, I get it, Classic Four Sport was released primarily as a baseball issue, but was the repack person blind? Did they not care about my happiness? This is a f00'ball card, y0. *sigh*

(As an aside, I was in the Webelos with a kid named Mike Evans. He didn't look like this guy.)

'93 Topps #261 Bill Wegman

'93 Topps #121 Todd Worrell

'92 Donruss #90 Bobby Ross (Happy trees and their friends not included.)

'92 Donruss #466 2013 Canadian Baseball Hall Of Fame Inductee Rob Ducey

Hey, a Pete Rose Special. That's one of those things that sounds dirty, but isn't. '86 Topps #4.

'88 Donruss #307 Willie McGee

'86 Topps #21 George Bamberger

'92 Donruss #11 Andy Ashby Rated Rookie

'90 Upper Deck #670 Tim Crews (Weird, both Crews and Olin, who showed up earlier in this repack, were killed in the same boat accident. If Bob Ojeda were in this repack, that'd be super-weird, as he was severely injured in the same accident.)

"I had a great meal..." (NSFW)

('88 Topps #141)

'88 Topps #297 Zane Smith

John Stearns will stone cold beat you. '82 Fleer #537

'82 Fleer #120 Mark Littell

Anyone know what the deal is with the box on Chambliss' batting helmet here? '82 Donruss #47. (Needed it!)

'81 Fleer #39, Renie "Don't Call Me Cognac" Martin

'91 Upper Deck #416 Tom Herr

'90 Upper Deck #152 Don Slaught

'91 Score #738 Mike York

'90 Score #640 Tommy Greene

'91 Score #305 Rafael Ramirez

'07 Topps Series Two Checklist #3

'90 Upper Deck #611 Jeff Wetherby

'84 Topps #751 Charlie Moore

'84 Topps #469 Tom O'Malley

'90 Upper Deck Astros Checklist #88 (featuring substandard Mike Scott art)

'88 Donruss #105 Mike Pagliarulo

'88 Donruss #617 Kevin McReynolds

'89 Fleer #212 Dave LaPoint (LaPoint ties Juan Samuel, Matt Kemp and Danny Jackson for the lead!)

'88 Donruss #318 Keith Atherton

'88 Donruss #600 Checklist (Are. You. Kidding. Me?)

And finally, mercifully, the last card...

"Hey Rog, could you look a little more pompous for this one?" '91 Bowman #118.

So, some of the totals:

Cards I needed: 8

Players with more than 1 card: 2

'88 Donruss cards: 25

Cards printed before 1981: 0

Memorabilia cards: 0

"C'MON, MAN!" moments: 2

That's it for now. Thanks for reading!

-Scott Crawford

1989 Donruss cello

I found some 1989 Donruss cellos [$1.00 each x1] - I picked one up out of the scrap heap [pre-priced at $1.29] so I could see if I can pull and Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card. I already picked up a graded version of the card, but it is nice to see if you pull a similar card like the one you pulled out of a rack pack 20 years ago.

The back of the bottom card of the cello is visible and for full disclosure I could see Junior was right there before I bought the particular cello pack - the cello features six puzzle pieces and 39 cards.

#409 Bob Kipper

#BC-11 Dave Winfield - MVP insert or bonus card

#5 Robin Yount Diamond King subset
#158 Rich Gossage
#624 Ricky Jordan
#503 Shawn Hillegas
#379 Jim Presley

#649 Rod Nichols - I have to remind myself that no matter how many of these guys looked on their baseball cards, they appeared in at least one Major League game as players.
#251 Shane Rawley
#180 Alan Trammell
#58 Melido Perez
#526 Rick Aguilera
#16, #17, #18 Warren Spahn puzzle pieces
#7, #8, #9 Warren Spahn puzzle pieces

No. 12 Ellis Burks - Grand Slammers insert
#554 Steve Lombardozzi
#559 Dennis Rasmussen
#210 Storm Davis - a Tony LaRussa/Dave Duncan reclamation project in the late 1980s.
#161 Willie McGee

#636 Scott May - goes under my 'I would have never guessed this guy appeared in a Major League game' pile.
#BC-18 Kal Daniels - MVP insert
#351 Jeff Treadway
#591 Ernie Whitt
#242 Bo Diaz
#129 Lance McCullers
#551 Luis Aguayo
#438 Doug Jones
#560 Pat Borders
#565 Felix Fermin
#216 Bryn Smith
#100 Checklist
#46 Gregg Olson - relief star early in his career, became a journeyman for a while after injuries derailed him.
#470 Jeff Robinson
#357 Paul Assenmacher
#643 Jose Canseco - 40/40 card
#21 Harold Reynolds Diamond Kings subset - the star of the early MLB Network programming
#134 R.J. Reynolds
#557 Alejandro Pena
#444 Jerry Don Gleaton
#566 Darnell Coles
#571 Don Robinson
#33 Ken Griffey Jr. - there are fuzziness and imperfections along the top, where his name is.

So much for a nice pull -I think I got what I paid for.

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.

2008 Goudey

2008 Upper Deck Goudey pack [$4.00 each] - I grabbed this one on the fly as my last purchase at the card show that I go to occasionally for supplies and cards.

Pack one [8 cards per pack] - I've tried to come up with what either Junior or Jeter would have to say.

#147 Freddy Sanchez - Ken Griffey Jr. - says...you are quite underrated even though you are struggling in 2008.
#95 Vladimir Guerrero - Derek Jeter - says...the Angels need to adapt a grooming policy.

#43 Jermaine Dye - Derek Jeter - says...ditto for the White Sox.

#3 Brandon Webb mini parallel - Ken Griffey Jr. - says...he's probably the front runner for the 2008 National League Cy Young.

#140 Ryan Howard - Ken Griffey Jr. - says...why did Laurens have to pull him in another pack of cards? Howard the player is not the problem, even with his strikeouts, but just pulling his cards when you can't mail them out to Howard anymore to get signed or perhaps try to get signed in-person.

#178 Carlos Pena - Derek Jeter - says...he's a one-year wonder who cashed it at the right time.

#36 Kosuke Fukudome - Ken Griffey Jr. - says...I got Fuk'd.
#235 Andrew Jackson U.S. Presidents [short print] - Laurens - says...the only presidents he appreciates are the ones appearing on money.

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