2008 Topps Heritage

I found myself in a Toys 'R Us recently on a quest to find some basketball packs to open. This is when the Blazers were still alive, so I think I was a lot more excited about basketball than I am now. Fortunately for me, I didn't find any basketball other than some beat up looking Topps Murad blasters, but I did find this lonely neglected 2008 Topps Heritage pack. I am nowhere near close to finishing this set and it's probably my main priority right now. Hopefully there's some stuff in here that I need. Oddly, this was a repack of sorts (it has a Vintage Sports Cards logo on the back) but the price wasn't discounted at all.

63 - Eric Chavez (Needed it.)
239 - Zack Greinke (I wish the Cardinals had somehow traded for this guy before the Royals knew what they had or something.)
147 - Cubs Clubbers Lee / Ramirez / Soriano (Bleh. But I needed it.)
377 - Chris Capuano (I wonder if this guy is coming back at some point.)
282 - Jose Vidro

82 - Carlos Beltran (Needed it. Beltran had a big start to this season. Somehow he's always stuck on my fantasy teams and he doesn't usually start fast.)

483 - Orlando Hudson All-Star (Nice! I definitely needed this SP. Hudson is pondering what it would take to get him out of a D-Back uniform and into one of his division rivals'.)
90 - Hideki Matsui Black Back (Already have it, unfortunately.)

All in all, it was a pretty good pack. Four of the eight cards were ones that I needed, including an SP. I'm probably going to have to turn to eBay or other potential traders to make any headway on this set.

Royal Rumble 2009 CONTEST: Gettin' Out the Repack

I thought it might be time for me to come in from the bullpen to relieve dayf and timrooks, who are both kicking ass on this blog as of late. Since I'm pretty sparse with my posts here, I thought we'd have a fun contest today. If you're a wrestling geek like I am (anybody? *crickets*) you should know that tonight WWE (formerly WWF) will hold their annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view. The Royal Rumble match is my favorite gimmick match in wrestling. It's a 30-man battle royal, where you have to throw your opponents over the top rope to the floor to eliminate them from the match. Last man standing wins. But the twist is this: the match starts with just two men in the ring, and another wrestler enters every two minutes afterward until all thirty men have entered. It allows for some creative scenarios to unfold instead of the usual horrendous clusterfrick that occurs when thirty large, muscly men are all trying to fight at the same time. Plus, you get the anticipation of counting down from ten seconds every two minutes...the buzzer sounds...and someone else's theme music hits. Who will it be this time?

Anyhoodle, here's what I'm going to do. I bought a 10-pack repack box from Sports Authority last weekend, and I've grabbed five packs that total 30 cards:

-2006 Topps Opening Day (7)
-2006 Fleer Ultra (5)
-2006 Topps Series 2 (6)
-2004 Fleer Hot Prospects Draft Edition (5, with one disqualification bringing it to 4)
-2006 Upper Deck Series 1 (8)

I'll number the cards in the order that they're pulled and ask you to choose a number from 1 to 30 and leave your number in the comments to this post. Each number can only be chosen once. I'll cut this off at 9:30 PM EST, which is roughly the time that the Rumble match should start. Your number corresponds to the wrestler that enters the Rumble at that numbered slot. If your guy wins the match, you get a prize! The prize will be an assortment of cards from the team of your choice. Pick wisely...

P.S. I'm running late with this, so scans will come later.

2006 Topps Opening Day

1. Barry Zito - The $126 Million Dollar Man will have a tough road to victory today!
2. Alex Rodriguez - Uh-oh, it's the villainous A-Fraud!
3. Jason Bay - Hailing from British Columbia, it's the Canadian Clubber!
4. Danny Sandoval RC - 31 major league games in an 11-year pro career? Your wrestling gimmick is Mr. Coffee, as in cup of.
5. Nomar Garciaparra - Who needs a wrestling name when your birth name is NOMAAAAAHH?
6. Tadahito Iguchi Rookie Cup - Watch out for the mysterious green mist sprayed by the devious Iguchi.
7. David Ortiz (front)/Dontrelle Willis (back) Funny Photos - How appropriate! Big Papi has clamped a bear hug on Rafael Furcal. There is no escape!

2006 Fleer Ultra

8. Shannon Stewart - I forgot that he played for the Twins. I hereby dub thee "Twinkie".
9. Jake Peavy - Also known as "Ace", a nickname he can borrow from 1980s mainstay Bob Orton.
10. Julio Lugo - Um...Lex Lugo?
11. Robinson Cano Rising Stars - Switch it to Kano and he can go with a Mortal Kombat gimmick.

12. Brad Radke Gold Medallion - He was just elected to the Twins Hall of Fame, so we'll go with Goldenarm.

2006 Topps Series 2

13. Jason Lane - I guess he'd take to the ring with a hockey mask and machete.
14. Jason Vargas - Jason and Jason? Sounds like a tag team.
15. Moises Alou - Would be the Hitman, the second-generation star from the great Alou family.
16. Jon Lieber - Translating his last name from German, he will wrestle as "Loverboy".
17. Chris Young - At 6'10", he is the Tower of Doom.
18. Jamie Moyer - Now 46 years old and still plugging away. Rip Van Vader.

2004 Fleer Hot Prospects Draft Edition

19. Todd Helton - Went from Tennessee to Colorado. Rocky Top is a no-brainer nickname.
DQ. Nomar Garciaparra - You can't enter the Rumble twice! I started posting and realized that I'd forgotten to account for the extra Funny Photos card in the Opening Day pack. So Nomar must go, having already popped up in the first pack.
20. Jim Thome and Pat Burrell Hot Tandems - I normally wouldn't permit a tag team to enter as one, but the Philadelphia Phantoms can be very persuasive. E-C-Dub!

21. Carlos Delgado - El Hombre.
22. Lyle Overbay - Hails from Washington state, just like Ted Bundy and Green River killer Gary Ridgway. I'm thinking of a serial killer gimmick: Lyle Wayne Overbay.
(Leave it to Fleer to put "draft" and "prospects" in the name of a product, and then give me a pack that has neither of the above.)

2006 Upper Deck Series 1

23. Luke Scott - LUUUUKKKKEEE! He is a proud gun owner. I say Cool Hand Luke.
24. Jason Marquis - Snooty Frenchman Marquis de Jason? Oui!
25. Brian Lawrence - Attended Northwestern State University of Louisiana, whose mascot is the Demon. His nickname is self-evident. Just don't confuse him with the KISS Demon, played by Jeff Torborg's son Dale.
26. Carlos Zambrano - The hotheaded Big Z is a force to be reckoned with.
27. Aaron Rowand - A dark horse in this match could be scrappy cruiserweight "Crash" Rowand!
28. Kirk Saarloos - The Sar-loose Cannon?
29. Bob Gibson Diamond Debut - WOW! A surprise entrant at #29! Hit the deck, it's Hoot the Headhunter!

30. Robert Fick - Sure, he used to be a valuable and versatile hitter, but I look at him and see "Third Bushwacker".

Wow, I have wayyy too much time on my hands. Tell you what...If you're especially curious and impatient, I'll live-blog the Rumble match on my Orioles blog. Updates should start some time around 10 PM. Now get those guesses in, you pencil-neck geeks!

2008 Legends Thirty Five Cards For Two Dollars Junk Repack

Wow, I guess no one wanted the 1000th post. You all hated my Elvis post too. How can you hate Elvis? It's not natural. I shall have my revenge, however. You had your chance, now you're stuck with a Legends crap pack. I got this at Books A Million for two bucks while shopping for presents. There were actually 39 cards in the 35 card pack, so I've put 36 of them in old 9-pocket sheets to scan and saved three special cards to show off individually. Here's what I got.

2005 Fleer Tradition Nomah - this is the grey parallel version for what it's worth.
2005 Fan Favorites Rafael Santana - Fan Favorite? Really? The card is creased in the middle too.
2004 Skybox LE Kevin Brown die cut - I can't remember if the die cuts were a parallel or a hobby version or what.
2004 Upper Deck Casey Daigle Star Rookie - The former 1st round pick of the D-Backs has been stuck in Triple-A for the past three years.
1987 Topps Cecil Fielder - This would have been a good card about 18 years ago.
1991 Donruss Rob Dibble - Nasty!
1987 Chuck Cary - Chuck's factoid on the back is all about Brooks Robinson.
1990 Donruss Ozzie Guillen - If Bobby ever stops managing the Braves, I want Ozzie for manager. Hopefully he'll say something horrifically stupid and get kicked out of Chicago the day Bobby announces his retirement.
1987 Topps Ed Vande Berg - There's a lot of '87 cards in this pack. Ed's split last name on this card looks weird to me.

1986 Donruss The Rookies Pete Incaviglia - Inky Rookie!!! No way! I just checked my 1989 price guide and this card booked for $2.00 which is how much I paid for the pack. Too bad it's not 1989.

1986 Donruss Cesar Cedeno - I never got a single pack of '86 Donruss in 1986 and they always look special to me now.
1992 Pinnacle Ruben Sierra - somewhere in my basement there is a binder with about 5 pages worth of Sierra cards in it.
1992 Upper Deck Milt Cuyler - I wonder if he's related to Kiki? Maybe Early?
1994 Collector's Choice Scott Livingstone - I hated this set when it first came out and now I can't remember why.
1992 Leaf Dick Schofield - My roomate in college collected Dick Schofield cards. I have no idea why.
2004 Showcase Esteban Loaiza - I always got him mixed up with Javier Vazquez, which is really annoying now. Esteban was dominating in Front Page Sports '98 for some reason.
1991 Score Joe Grahe - Score was always known for their colored borders so when one of the colors was white in 1991, I thought it was a big rip-off.
1990 Donruss Oil Can Boyd - Every serious collection needs at least one Oil Can.
1991 Donruss Ramon Martinez - Remember when Pedro was his brother instead of the other way around? This card looks like it's been in the bottom of someone's shoe.

1994 Andy Tomberlin - Look at this picture. Andy only had 5 major league cards (at least that's all I can find) and this is one of them. '94 Donruss, Pinnacle and Stadium Club, '96 Mother's Cookies and '97 Pacific Gems of the Diamond. That's it. And Topps chose this photo. Poor Andy.

1993 Fleer Carlos Baerga - This card's beat up too... there must have been some wild times at the repack factory that day.
2001 Fleet Tradition Aubrey Huff - Old school rainbow Rays cap. Gotta love that.
1997 Pinnacle Inside Scott Rolen - Scott's REAL rookie is 1995 Bowman. It has no autograph on it and it's not a funkyfractor numbered to 5 so no one cares.
2001 Fleer Tradition Corey Patterson - How in the hell is he not the next Griffey?? Dammit Cubs, quit screwing up outfield prospects!!!
1991 Topps Keith Miller - One of these days I'm going to buy a box of '91 Topps just to try to pull a vintage buyback card.
2003 Bazooka Barry Zito Comic - FACT: Barry has the best Win Percentage (.734) among pitchers with 50 or more decisions since 1900. ANOTHER FACT: Man, things can really change quickly.
1988 Leaf Joe Carter - One of my favorite things in the world is seeing a logo look at itself on an '80s baseball card.
1987 Fleer Mike Lacoss - See, more '87s. We're not done yet...
1989 Donruss Mike Greenwell - If I could hop in a time machine and go back to the late '80s I bet I could sell the cards in this back for at least 20 bucks. I'd get some funny looks when I showed them the Showcase, but it would be worth it.

1996 Collector's Choice Kirk Rueter - I bet you don't know how to pronounce his last name. Quick- say it three times fast.
1986 Topps Lance McCullers - Lance McCullers is a MAN'S name.
1994 Pacific Kevin Brown - Two Kevin Brown cards in this pack from oddball sets 10 years apart. Weird.
1987 Donruss Brian Holton - This card is about an eighth of an inch taller than normal, and coincidentally enough it beat at about an eighth of an inch from the top.
1992 Fleer Ultra Todd Marinovich - I have no idea what this card is doing in here.
1992 Topps Mike Flanagan - Mike has the full stats from 1975-1991 on the back.
1987 Donruss Tito Landrum - Final '87 count: 6 with one Fan Favorites card in an '87 style. Tito smiles at the '87 domination.
1993 Fleer Ultra Chico Walker - Tito and Chico back to back!
1990 Fleer The Starter & Stopper - Those two guys behind Jeff and Mark are creeping me out.



1990 Fleer League S Best Shortstops - Even though this combo card with Cal Ripken Jr is the 39th card in a 35 card pack and is probably the best of the bunch, this card is actually a tragedy. You see, the card slipped to the side of the pack and got glued to the cardboard backing. If I try to remove it a big chunk is going to come off the front of the card. That's not all though -

This is a scarce Canadian version of the card which makes it 10 times as valuable as a normal Fleer card. Of course that makes it worth about 50 cents, but still. Anyone know how to unstick Ripken cards from the cardboard backing of a junk repack?

2008 UD A Piece of History Re-Pack

Last night I posted a pack from a 50-cent bin at a local card shop. In the same bin I found this poly-bag that I couldn't resist. While there wasn't much for me to like about the one pack of A Piece of History I bought this summer, I was intrigued by the Historical Moments subset. This repack (the result of a dealer going through a box looking for all of the "hits" and then dumping the rest as if it were garbage) had HM cards on the front and back. Maybe there are players inside, but maybe it's just all non-sport cards.

With the election looming, I thought it might be fun to see how the candidates have been affected by each historical development. I will judge whether Obama or McCain benefitted more from the depiction on each card, with the winner earning a point. The winner of this showdown in turn must win the election. That's right, you can treat this as official canon of U.S. politics. "Is you is, o' is you ain't my constitch'ncy?!"

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
166 Cotton Gin
I'm sure McCain's ancestors got the sweeter end of this deal than Obama's. +1 McCain.
McCain 1 Obama 0

195 The Supreme Court
This judicial body gave Bush II the election in 2000. Without Bush, Obama's platform message of "change" never registers. +1 Obama.
McCain 1 Obama 1

153 Declaration of Independence
John McCain fought for the rights of the 13 colonies with the best of them. You gotta go with the man about to celebrate his 252nd birthday. +1 McCain.
McCain 2 Obama 1

152 Wright Brothers
Barack Obama appears to possess the upper body strength necessary to complete the "hold on for dear life" variety of early flight, but this event set the precedent for McCain's years and years spent in first class. Split point.
McCain 2.5 Obama 1.5

196 Lewis and Clark
Obama's Illinois was already settled, so this card appears to give the edge to McCain through the eventual exploration of home state Arizona. Yet, we must not hasten to forget Obama's Hawaiian roots, which might not have been possible had the Pacific coast not been reached. +1 Obama.
McCain 2.5 Obama 2.5

168 Suez Canal Opens
I've always found it odd how so much of the world's history has been made in pursuit of spices. Did this trade route to Asia enable the expeditious attainment of spices for the lower 48? Hell if I know, but if it did, I think we need to look at the man who appears to be able to handle his spicy curry as if it were Constant Comment tea. McCain looks like he goes with "mild" when he's hungry for chips and salsa, and Obama looks like he's sampled from several levels of the Scoville Scale. Edge and point Obama.
McCain 2.5 Obama 3.5

190 Steam Engine
Equal amounts of hot air are expelled by each man. Harnessing this steam would solve the energy crisis. Split point.
McCain 3 Obama 4

165 Woodstock
Let's see what each man was doing during the 3 Days of Peace, Love , and Music. John McCain was getting his arms broken every other day in a POW camp. Obama was 8 years old, assembling Tinkertoys on his grandmother's living room floor while rocking out to Country Joe and the Fish. +1 Obama.
McCain 3 Obama 5

179 Civil Rights Act
Obama, no contest.
McCain 3 Obama 6

Last card, 182 Creation of the Internet

No points awarded to either 2008 candidate. One full point goes to Al Gore, for obvious reasons.

Final Score: Barack Obama 6, John McCain 3
I tried to be as objective as possible with this and just report what each card spoke to me. I hope you enjoyed this and that you make in informed choice on November 4. Unless, of course, you don't happen to live in a battleground state, in which case your vote doesn't matter. Sorry.

Another repack pack will soon be posted at Thorzul Will Rule.