2007 Schmeer Schmultra

Sometimes it's fun to transpose the initial consonant sounds of two word, like in a name. I am told that my wife's relatives make a habit of this, especially when masking light profanity, such as doing something for "gits and shiggles." Let's try it out as we open this pack of 2007 Fleer Ultra Baseball.

20 Schurt Cilling

68 Wontrelle Dillis

172 Jenji Kohima (surprisingly close to Weeds creator Jenji Kohan's name)

124 Donny Jhamon

136 Rimmy Jollins Gold Foil

Alright, that last one turned my stomach a little bit, sounding more like someone who starred alongside a Jamie Gillis or a Harry Reems than a National League MVP.

But wasn't that fun?

2007 Fleer Ultra

Lance Berkman (Astros), Miguel Tejada (Orioles), and Jason Bay (Pirates) lead off this pack. That's a pretty good mix in a five-pack of cards!


Bobby Abreu (Yankees) and Faces of the Game Adrian Beltre (Mariners) finish out this pack.

Well, I have to say that this was not a bad pack at all. I don't think I've seen the "Faces" cards before. The back features the player in three additional poses and gives some info as to why he is a face in the crowd.

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!

2006 Fleer Ultra Baseball

At the store the other day, I heard a voice. I think it sounded an awful lot like Ken Griffey, Jr. He's saying a lot of things these days, though I'm not sure how much to believe. In this case Ken Griffey, Jr. says... "Buy a pack of 2006 Fleer Ultra. It's out of print now, and will never be made again. I'm on the wrapper. I guarantee you an insert card in every pack (on average)." So it bit.

Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
RBI13 Miguel Cabrera RBI Kings (Well, there's my insert card.)

159 Craig Monroe

103 Miguel Tejada (Did anybody else enjoy watching him bat like 17 times in the All-Star Game? Yeah, me neither.)
MCK2 Mike Piazza Midsummer Classic Kings (There's another insert card. That makes up for all of the times guaranteed inserts have fallen through. Mike apparently had to be woken up from a nap in order accept his award for the MVP of the 1996 All-Star Game.)

69 Pedro Feliz
13 Eric Chavez
167 Brad Radke
35 Geoff Jenkins Gold Background Parallel (If there has to be a parallel, it might as well be a Brewer. I'm glad it's one I haven't been traded yet.)


Yeah, that 2006 Ultra was a nice little set. The inserts were similar to what you'd find in a late-'90s pack, but the design didn't cause epileptic seizures.

1993 Fleer Ultra

There is nothing quite like the sound of taking a stack of glossy-covered cards and hearing the 'crack' as you bend them in an attempt to separate them. Over the years since 1993, the Ultra cards in this pack joined together in some kind of 'lets all stay mint' solidarity move. Leave it to me to kill the party.

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The wrapper on these bad boys is a shiny, foil teal/turquoise something-or-other. Look, I'm one of 'those' guys who sees everything in very specific colors. You can call it aqua, teal, turquoise, sea foam, or whatever. Frankly, it's blue-green to me. There are 14 cards in the pack, and upon opening, one has a chance to collect "Dennis Eckersley and 'Award Winners' limited edition subsets." Fat Chance.

First player is Rene Gonzales (Angels). The cards have nearly full-length player photos with just enough accent to list the player's name and team, and a small 'bug' in the upper corner with the Fleer Ultra '93 logo. These were great cards! The backs featured two additional pics of the player plus the card number, bio info, team logo, and 1992 stats.

Next up is Cardinals pitcher Mike Perez. He may not be smiling on the front of the card, but his portrait on the back would make the girls at Dinged Corners very happy!

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Hey, Jim Thome (Indians) comes up next! A Triber AND the guy who has waited nearly as long as this photo is old to be recognized for his talents...

Man, I also pulled Wally Joyner (Royals). Joyner is one of those guys that I liked collecting in my younger years.

John Wehner (Pirates) finishes out this trio. I don't remember him at all, and I can't help but wonder if that first "E" is long or short (man, walked right into the pun, eh).

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The next triplet starts with Tim Naehring (Red Sox). His card makes it look like he is swinging for the logo - a high pitch that's fading downward quickly.

Julio Valera (Angels) comes in second here, and rounding out the three cards:

Vince Horsman (A's). Now, I have to ask: Was his last name pronounced "Horse-man" or "Whore's Man?"

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Here is a great shot of Tigers star Alan Trammell. He has yet to be elected to the HOF, but he'll be back on the ballot in 2009, and deserves to be in there.

Another great franchise player, Darren Daulton (Phillies) is just a bit too far right to have the logo look like it's about to be smacked. That's a bummer, because it would have made for a cool effect. Hopefully he will be remembered more for his good playing days than the bad ones and his 'interesting' post-baseball life.

The Brewers get to make a showing in this pack with John Jaha. Most folks will probably remember him in an A's uniform, unless they happen to be Brewers fans!

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Chito Martinez (Orioles) had the unfortunate card placement of being nearly welded to the back of the Fryman card. In fact, some of the coating from the Fryman is still stuck on Martinez's face and helmet.

Man, here is ANOTHER long-time player from the Tigers organization - Travis Fryman. I was always a fan of his, especially when he came to the Tribe.

And the last card in the pack belongs to Jack Morris (Blue Jays).

All-in-all, an okay pack from 15 years ago... Anytime I pull a Triber, I'm a cappy hamper!

The Dirty Dozen: 1999 Ultra

God I miss Ultra. And not that Ultra "SE" crap, but Fleer Fuckin' Ultra. So I was pleased to have found a pack of the 1999 edition in the TemDee dollar box.

Unfortunately, the design of 1999 Ultra looks a lot like '97 Ultra. And 2004 Ultra. And 2005 Ultra. And 2006 Ultra. And 2007 Ultra.....

Ok, Ok. So, design was never Ultra's main selling point. (How many ways can you possibly design a full-bleed card?), but something more important was: brand consistency. Year in and year out (2007 Ultra SE, notwithstanding), you knew what you were getting with Ultra: A 250-300 card base set (with 30-50 SPs), a one-per-pack Gold Medallion parallel, and collectible inserts.

Something interesting on the back of each card is a feature called "DARE TO COMPARE." Wedged between the player's stats and a Did You Know? snippet, D2C paired that player's stats with a retired star at the same point in both of their careers.

Listed besides each player is the legend Fleer "Dared to Compare" stats with.

Base:

Fatolo Colon
DARE TO COMPARE: Ralph Terry

Craig Counsell
DARE TO COMPARE: Davey Lopes

Mike Piazza
DARE TO COMPARE: Yogi Berra

Henry Rodriguez
DARE TO COMPARE: Bo Jackson

Rondell White
DARE TO COMPARE: Gary Matthews

Andy Benes
One of the few cards without a D2C.

Mike Lansing
DARE TO COMPARE: Davey Johnson

Frank Thomas (Checklist)

Parallels
Gold Medallion (one-per-pack): Royce Clayton
Another one without a D2C

Insert
The Book On... (1:6): Andruw Jones

2007 Fleer Ultra

This is one of the Target packs I picked up from the $1.59 bin. I don't know what these cost originally, but I have a feeling the 'discount' price is not much less than the original retail price. In any case, had I opened the pack even seven months ago, I could have had a chance to be an "MVP in NYC." A day late and a dollar short....

The first card in the pack is the Astros' Roy Oswalt. The Ultra cards feature a red, white, and black "Fleer" logo in the upper corner with a silver foil "Ultra" just beneath the logo. The player's last name is written in a team-color script with silver foil around the lettering. Beneath that, the player's name is typed out with the team name and position. The back of the card features a still headshot in the upper left corner with the last name in script to the right of the image. Bio info, a blurb about the player, and stats from previous years fill out the back. Oh, under the player's pic is the team logo. And, we cannot forget the "Upper Deck Kids" code in the lower corner of the card (ZEMU). Since someone is already out there stealing codes they find online, I figure I would just make it easier for them to find.

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Second up in the pack, we have Erik Bedard of the Orioles. Is it just me, or does the guy behind him at shortstop have a different colored hat on? Was this photo taken at an all-star game, practice, or just victim to bad photoshopping? The world may never know... PBZZ - That's not a bodily noise, that his code...

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Third up is Chien-Ming Wang getting ready to hurl a ball toward the plate for the Yankees. I am just immature enough to get a chuckle at his blurb on the back of his card - "Wang was a pleasant surprise for Yankees fans..." Wow, so much could be said here... 458E

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Next up, we have the 2007 Topps Spokesperson, David Wright (Mets). According to the back of his card, he is the "up-and-coming" third baseman. I don't really follow the Mets, but it's weird to think of Wright as only "up-and-coming..." Hasn't he already arrived for the team? That is, isn't he already a team star and more? L2XN

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The last player card in the pack is a "Lucky-13" card of Delmon Young. I don't understand the reference to "Lucky-13" in relation to the information about the player... No where is the number "13" mentioned... Oh well... It's an interesting card that will go into my "Devils Rays to trade" box. CD3R

And, finally, there is the MVP-in-NYC entry card. One could go to the web site shown and type in the code for an entry to win a trip to the All-Star game in New York. Once again, I am posting the code. Why? Well, if the dingleberry who is pilfering codes comes across this one, he (or she) will discover the web site no longer resolves... Aww.. Poor, thieving bast'ad...

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