2007 Topps Updates & Highlights

Part of a Target repack box from a few years ago, I'm guessing. This set was really good about showing guys standing around with bats.
Let's tear in.

Top to Bottom:
120 Jason Phillips

293 Wilson Betemit
172 Yunel Escobar
126 Chad Gaudin
30 Kevin Frandsen

71 A.J. Pierzynski

GN447 Ian Kinsler Generation Now 23/27 Doubles
157 Andy LaRoche
314 Craig Monroe
255 Dmitri Young AS

234 Francisco Rodriguez AS
219 Alex Rodriguez AS

As I've already finished this set, all cards are available for trade.

2005 Topps Updates & Highlights

There was one rogue pack of 2005 Topps Updates & Highlights in the bargain bin during a recent Target visit. I will grab this stuff as soon as I see it, even though I own most of the Cardinals in the 2005 Topps base sets. I still don't own Colby Rasmus, and there's a ton of other choice rookies available in the U&H set, the last Topps set that came out before the new "Rookie Card" rules. 12 cards for $1.59 - let's see what happens:

UH33 - Placido Polanco (He may look like Mr. Potato Head, but all he's done is hit .306 over his career and play a solid, steady second base. I'm not sure if he was worthy of his Gold Glove in 2007, but that award is kind of a joke these days anyway. I'd still much rather have him back than Adam Kennedy.)
UH55 - Marlon Byrd (Incidentally, these cards have the 2005 season stats on the back. This must have been released very late in the year.)
UH243 - Daniel Haigwood First Year (Haigwood is in the Red Sox system and hasn't advanced beyond AA.)
UH290 - George Kottaras First Year (Kottaras was the PTBNL in a David Wells trade and made his major league debut with Boston late last season.)
UH259 - Ricky Barrett First Year (Barrett is still with the team that drafted him, the Twins, and has pitched in AAA for four straight years. Ouch.)

UH321 - Chris Volstad Draft Pick (Well, he's not Jacoby Ellsbury or even Jay Bruce, but Volstad pitched very well last season for the Marlins.)
UH24 - Jody Gerut (I saw him play for the Portland Beavers last year.)

UH145 - Roger Clemens / Andy Pettitte / Dontrelle Willis NL ERA Leaders Gold 0308/2005 (This card is going straight to the stack of cards that I still haven't mailed off to The Pettitte Pursuit. Oops.)

UH172 - Bobby Cox All-Stars (Cox would be the Dean of all major sports coaches if it wasn't for Jerry Sloan, I believe.)

UH195 - Bobby Abreu Home Run Derby (Abreu is in danger of being best known for this Home Run Derby business. It would be fun to see a consistent line drive hitter like Ichiro in the derby, just to mix it up a bit.)

UH170 - Chris Carpenter All-Stars (Please, Carp, PLEASE be healthy and normal this season. I think that would be my number one wish for the upcoming season.)
UH163 - Andruw Jones All-Stars (Does anyone else think Andruw should spend some time at AAA this season?)
- Checklist 3 of 3

Not bad. I need to find more of this stuff, or at least find a way to finish off my Cardinals team set for this year.

2005 Topps Updates and Highlights

Here's a quickie post so that we don't blow the pack a day thing on the second day of the new year. I got this pack out one of those repack boxes where the packs are stuffed inside a plastic card box. I needed the box to be honest, the cards were a nice bonus.

UH257 Tony Arnerich first year
UH 228 Brian Miller first year
UH94 Thomas Diamond prospect
UH248 Hayden Penn first year
NI-BW Nationals Inaugural Lineup Brade Wilkerson
UH214 Conor Jackson Futures Game

This was the last year before the MLB Rookie Card logo started getting slapped onto rookies so this pack had a lot of "First Year" rookie cards in it. A first year stamp didn't necessarily mean it was the guy's official rookie card though, as Adam LaRoche collectors will know. Hayden Penn was the only first year player I'm familiar with, he's a fading prospect who can't seem to stay healthy enough to get on the major league roster. Tony Arnerich never played another game after this card was released and is now an assistant coack for the Cal Bears. Same thing with Brian Miller, he gets a card and is out of baseball. Maybe that Rookie logo rule isn't that stupid after all? Thomas Diamond is in the Rangers organization, but had missed a lot of time the past two years due to injury. He might be able to make the squad with a good spring training though. Conor Jackson at the very least is doing well.

The insert in the pack was an opening day lineup card for the (then) brand new Washington Nationals. It's a neat idea for an isert set, but that lineup isn't all that hefty. Christian Guzman, Jose Vidro, Jose Guillen, Nick Johnson, Vinny Castilla, Terrmel Sledge, Brian Schnider and Livan Hernandez. Well, I bet a Nats fan would love it...

2005 Topps Updates and Highlights

Hey hey! Friday my roommate told me she was heading to Target, and my ears perked up. It's been too long since I've bought any packs, and I've had a hankering for a cheapo repack box lately. Plus, I desperately needed groceries. But that was more of a secondary concern. I don't blog about Cinnamon Life cereal, after all. Though maybe I should. Anyway, as I was pushing the cart through the store and near to the checkout lines, I just happened to pass the baseball card racks! Who'da thunk it? Seeing as how I was already there, it would've been rude not to pick up a $10 Fairfield Company repack box. It's one of the ones with four packs and a grab bag of 100 loose cards. There were two to choose from, so I went with the one that had a pack of 2007 Goudey in one of the windows. Wouldn't you? So here's one of the boring packs, before I get to the goods in the coming days.

The cover boys on the pack are Vlad Guerrero, Derrek Lee, and Albert Pujols. Six cards for an original price of 99 cents. Dig in!

UH278 Jake Postlewait First Year - Not to be confused with creepy British character actor Pete Postlethwaite.

UH1 Sammy Sosa - HAHAHAHAHA...ugh. Not one of the shrewder trades in Orioles history.

UH35 John Olerud - Olie shares my birthday, as do Carl Crawford and Mark Mulder. I barely remember him being on the Sawx, though it's even harder to remember his time with the Yankees (49 games in 2004).

UH50 Jeff Kent - Think Jeff Kent has a shot at the Hall of Fame? Considering that he's got a well-earned reputation as a poophead, his chances of getting elected by the highfalutin BBWAA are slim and none.

UH188 Derrek Lee 2005 MLB All-Star - The Fish traded him for Hee Seop Choi and a minor leaguer. For their sake, I hope it was just a salary dump.

UH28 Jason Vargas - Card back says he was born righty and his father taught him to throw lefty. Smart dude.

Checklist 2 of 3 - Mostly the inserts. Hmm, I could've gotten an Andre Dawson relic or a Pedro Martinez signature. But hey, at least I didn't pull a damned Barry Bonds Home Run History card.

Friday 2-fer-1 Special 06 Topps U&H and 05 UD MVP

Ok, fun time's over. Back to the repack box. These are two of the more blah packs in the box so I'll knock em both out at once.

2006 Topps Updates & Highlights
UH146 Willy Aybar
UH64 Todd Walker
UH223 Ivan Rodriguez All-Star
UH285 Gold parallel Miguel Cabrera Home Run Derby #0660/2006
UH264 Mariano Rivera All-Star
UH319 Texas Rangers Team Leaders

Well, a Miguel Cabrera numbered parallel is better than a kick in the junk. Got a Brave in the pack too, even if it is Willy Aybar. Todd Walker has a cool cartoon about Double Duty Radcliffe on the back of his card. A couple of All-Stars and a team leaders card round out the pack.

2005 Upper Deck MVP
8 Barry Zito
67 Mike Sweeney
56 Livan Hernandez
27 Frank Thomas
7 Aubrey Huff
BU-11 Batter Up! Eddie Mathews

The Eddie Mathews card literally makes the box for me. I can chuck the rest, I gots Eddie. I hated MVP when it came out (6 cards for $2 and this is your low end product??) but the Batter Up cards of old timers are fantastic. Barry Zito is Exhibit A of why collectors are skittish about pitchers. It makes no sense how badly he's fallen after his first couple years in the league. Big Hurt is another fine pick up from this pack.

Another pack of 2006 Topps Updates & Highlights

Okay! Big Rookies! Big Rookies! Inserts! NO WHAMMIES! Big Rookies! NO WHAMMIES AAAAAAAND

STOP!

UH101 Roberto Hernandez
UH 63 Ben Broussard
UH250 Carlos Lee All-Star
BB728 Barry Bonds Home Run Travesty
UH209 AL Saves Leaders
UH266 Tom Gordon All-Star



HOW IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE TO PULL A BEN BROUSSARD CARD IN THREE STRAIGHT PACKS????

One pack to go folks, and this cube is mercifully dead.

2006 Topps Updates & Highlights

There has been at least one of these in every Wal-Mart cube I've opened. Usually two or three, but always one. I'm counting on them to start putting 2007 U&H packs in soon so I can finally finish up that set. I'm not sure if I've completed this one yet to be honest... I must have, I spent enough time futzing with checklists for it, but I can't remember for sure. Here's six more cards towards the set if not.

UH126 Endy Chavez
UH63 Ben Broussard
UH132 Mike MacDougal
UH247 Chris Capuano All-Star
UH186 Albert Pujols NLCS
UH261 Roy Halladay All-Star

No rookies or inserts. A couple all stars and Pujols though. I noticed the cartoons on the back of the three regular cards seemingly have absolutely nothing to do with the player. The cartoon on Endy's card is about the 1916 New York Giants. New York Mets... New York Giants... ok there's sort of a connection. MacDougal's card has a factoid about the 1987 Blue Jays hitting ten home runs in one game. Mike doesn't give up that many homers so I'm not sure what's that about. Ben Broussard's toon is the weirdest, elevating former Umpire Doug Harvey to deity status. Poor Ben paid for Topps' blasphemy, and was cut by the Rangers last week.

Up next - A whole lot of Topps cards I already have!

2006 Topps Chrome and Friends

Geez, I sure caused a lot of trouble yesterday. Truth is, I can't open just one pack a day on this blog either. Oh well. This is a three packs for 4 bucks repack I picked up from Wally World on a whim. I couldn't resist the allure of chromey goodness. I'll open that pack first. Along for the ride are retail packs of 2006 Ultra and Topps Updates and Highlights.

2006 Chrome
235 Jeff Francoeur
250 Javier Vazquez
142 Cliff Floyd Refractor
134 CC Sabathia

Freakin' awesome pack. Chrome Frenchy with a Rookie cup starts us off plus there's a refractor. Cliff Floyd is a dang good player, it's a shame he can't stay healthy. Plus the card is shiny! Shiny shiny shiny! The absolute best thing about refractors is that they scan so much better than regular chrome cards. Compare Floyd and Francoeur's scans, it's not even close. This is how good this pack is: CC Sabathia is the AL Cy Young winner and he's the worst card in the pack! How does Javier Vazquez beat Sabathia you ask? The cartoon on the back:

Ok, it's silly, but the "Work" horse made me laugh.

2006 Ultra
88 Carlos Delgado
32 Ben Sheets
248 Lucky 13 Zack Greinke
URS3 Rising Stars Jeff Francoeur
87 Gold Juan Pierre

Woohoo! Another Francoeur! This time an insert that looks like Frenchy is being beamed up to the Enterprise. What's with me and inserts lately? This is a 5 card retail pack, but it still manages to have three inserts in it. The other two aren't as good as Jeff though. The Gold parallel is of much-maligned Juan Pierre who is about to bunt on this card, appropriately enough. There's also an SP of Zack Greinke. I'm kinda bummed by this card because it's a Lucky 13 Rookie card that isn't actually a rookie and it's a card I already have. I don't have that much 2006 Ultra either and I should not be getting SP dupes. Anyone need this card? Beuller? Delgado and Sheets are nice though, but 2 base cards in a pack makes for a difficult set build. Lets see if we can go three for three on Frenchy cards with U&H...

2006 Topps Updates and Highlights
UH39 Zach Day
UH124 Jamey Carroll
UH218 Ichiro AL All Star
MHR108 Mickey Mantle Home Run #108
UH239 Classic Duos Stephen and JD Drew
UH312 Tigers Team Leaders
Checklist 3 of 3

Nope, no Francoeur. He's not even on the checklist card, I checked. That would have counted too. It's a decent pack though, any Ichiro is a good Ichiro. I think I'm going to end up with the entire Mantle Mirror set by accident the way I manage to pull them all the time. Just as 70's and 80's Topps will always be known for their spectacularly bad airbrushing, the Aughts will be known for terrible photoshop. Check out the Drew brothers standing side by side in a sunny field with two different light sources hitting them at the same time that both manage to cast weird wispy shadows behind them. Plus JD looks like he's about to club his unsuspecting bro on the back of the head. Brilliant! Not so brilliant is Topps' inability to get their act together on the numbering on the back. This is one of those pet peeves of mine that I've never gotten around to bitching about, but this is as good a time as any. Check out the numbering for the first three cards in the pack:


Three cards, three font sizes. C'mon, Topps. Pay attention to what you're doing. I'll be watching for this when 2008 comes out...

Assorted 2006 Topps

Let's see what else I got in my six-pack repack from Legends, why not?

Series One Pack:

19 Jeremy Reed
44 Carl "Dinosaurs didn't exist" Everett
227 Corey Koskie
318 Brayan Pena RC
MHR1 Mickey Mantle Home Run History #1
Series One Checklist 3 of 3
284 Yankees Team Card

NICE! I'm generally not a fan of the pointless endless insert series, but the 1955 Topps-style design is at least more aesthetically pleasing than the Bonds and A-Rod garbage. Plus, if you've got to have one, #1 is a nice one to have. He hit it off of Randy Gumpert of the White Sox, whose name makes me giggle. The Jeremy Reed card has two divots on the right side, a casualty of the repack.

Series Two Pack #1:

489 Jason Bartlett
372 Marlon Byrd
OD-MA Mariners vs. Angels Opening Day
596 Buddy Bell MGR
Series Two Checklist 3 of 3
628 Tim Corcoran RC
627 Matt Capps RC

Series Two Pack #2:

555 Scott Rolen
394 J.J. Hardy
364 Ryan Madson
583 Craig Counsell
413 Gregg Zaun
610 Reds Team Card

Both of these packs are pretty blah. No decent inserts, and only one real star in Rolen, though Hardy has shown some promise. Tim Corcoran only sounds vaguely familiar, but according to the back of his card, he was a former Orioles farm hand. Not only was he a 27-year-old rookie in 2005, but it says that he was a two-time Rule 5 draftee. Poor bastard. The Capps card shows him shagging balls in practice, in what may have been a lame rookie hazing ritual.

Updates and Highlights Pack:

UH59 Shawn Chacon
UH56 Doug Mirabelli
UH249 Gary Matthews (Jr.) AL All-Star
MHR194 Mickey Mantle Home Run History #194
UH264 Mariano Rivera AL All-Star
UH322 Classic Duos: Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder
Updates and Highlights Checklist 1 of 3

Another Mantle insert, which is okay in my book. The Classic Duo card should be subtitled "The Surgical Ward". It's confusing enough that there was a Cris Carpenter in the 1990s and a Chris Carpenter in the 2000s, and that they are both righty pitchers. But did they both have to pitch for the Cardinals? Come to think of it, Chris debuted with the Blue Jays in 1997, and Cris last pitched for the Brewers in 1996. Has anyone ever seen them in the same place at the same time? The truth is out there, people.

Two for One: 2007 Topps Updates and Highlights

Hey there! For those who don't know me, my name is Kevin and I blog the two-headed monster of The Great 1965 Topps Project and Orioles Card "O" the Day. This is my debut post at A Pack a Day, in a manner of speaking. I guest-blogged some packs of 1995 Stadium Club last year, and dayf was kind enough to post them on my behalf.

Let's kick things off with some packs that I received in my Christmas stocking.

Pack 1:

UH73 Boone Logan
UH296 Edgar Gonzalez
UH60 Michael Barrett
UH31 Tony Pena (pitcher)
UH149 Homer Bailey RC
UH145 Macay McBride
UH25 Mark Hendrickson
BB739 Barry Bonds Home Run "History" #739
UH282 Classic Combo: Jonathan Papelbon and Jorge Posada
UH188 Ryan Rowland-Smith RC
UH244 Brad Penny NL All-Star
UH267 Brian Roberts AL All-Star

Pack 2:

UH41 Ryan Langerhans
UH6 J.D. Drew
UH305 Orlando Palmeiro
UH178 Matt Lindstrom RC
UH144 Edwin Jackson
UH137 Erick Aybar
UH214 Alex Rodriguez Season Highlights: 500th HR
GN542 Curtis Granderson Generation Now: Double #23
UH271 Dan Haren AL All-Star
UH276 Classic Combo: Alex Rodriguez and Russell Martin
UH216 David Ortiz AL All-Star
UH257 J.R. Hardy NL All-Star
Thoughts: The first pack here is definitely the better of the pair (no Alex Rodriguez cards; let's just say that I am not a fan). Homer Bailey is a promising rookie, and who knows, he might be an Oriole soon if Cincy is serious about trading for Erik Bedard. The Bonds card is pointless, but not as pointless as a card honoring Granderson's 23rd freaking double. Coincidentally, Bonds' 739rd homer was given up by Edgar Gonzalez, who appears elsewhere in the pack. Rowland-Smith is the first player in MLB history with a hyphenated last name for you trivia buffs. And of course I'm happy to get a Brian Roberts card. He is one of the best and most likeable players on my favorite team, and a lot of people seem to believe his steroids alibi.

I'll be back in a day or two with some more stocking stuffers from 2006 Topps.

2007 Topps Updates & Highlights HTA Jumbo

I know I've been hatin' on this set for months, but this is the first time I've seen a Jumbo pack of any of this year's Topps for sale by itself. The brick & mortar shops I usually go only sell it by the box, not so with flea market guy. Once he told me there was still one hit left in the box, my greed got the best of me and I splurged on this pack.

(the UH from the number has been omitted to preserve my sanity)
108 David Newhan
196 Brian Wolfe RC
202 Danny Putnam RC
29 Carlos Silva
166 Felix Pie RC
300 Jason Gabbard
184 Yovani Gallardo RC
143 Jeff Baker
77 Esteban German
190 Eulogio De La Cruz RC
12 Marlon Anderson
330 Brian Burres
42 Chris Snelling
41 Ryan Langerhans
6 JD Drew
305 Orlando Palmiero
178 Matt Lindstrom RC
144 Edwin Jackson
137 Erick Aybar
214 A-Rod Season Highlights
208 Mark Buehrle Season Highlights
95 Dmitri Young
306 Paul Bako
287 Red Alex Rios Home Run Derby
311 Red Josh Phelps
122 Red Rich Harden
100 Red Abraham Nunez
23 Red Tadahito Iguchi
193 Red Chase Headley RC
99 Red Carlos Ruiz
323 Red Jorge Cantu
129 Red Dustin Moseley
288 Red Vlad Guerrero Home Run Derby
253 Gold Derrek Lee #0033/2007
MHR490 Mickey Mantle Home Run #490
GN 520 Curtis Granderson Gen Now Double #1
153 Mark Reynolds 1st Edition RC
HAAH Aaron Heilman Autograph
99 Carlos Ruiz
100 Abraham Nunez
287 Alex Rios Home Run Derby
173 Kevin Slowey RC
154 Jesse Litsch RC
93 Chris Sampson
245 Takashi Saito All Star
227 David Wright All Star
259 Freddy Sanchez All Star
261 Carlos Lee All Star
223 Russell Martin All Star
255 Dmitri Young All Star

Well there certainly was a hit left in the box. It's an auto of a Mets relief pitcher, but the sticker is shiny so I don't care. Me like shiny cards. WooooOOOoooo shiny! This pack has also cemented my decision to buy a Jumbo box of 2008 Topps. Opening these big fat packs with a bunch of inserts in them is more fun than ripping through pack after pack of little packs and pulling a bunch of Generation Now inserts. I wonder what will be the crappy Gen Now insert of 2008? My guess is they seed the Presidential Campaign cards 1:2 packs and when we all pull our 18th Giuliani card we will all go collectively mad. That's a scary thought, isn't it? A bunch of insane card collectors mobbing the streets gibbering and drooling and throwing Hillary and Huckabee cards at innocent passers-by. At least the Granderson card I pulled was #1. Too bad Topps didn't stop at #1 for all of them. I'm also happy I got a Mantle Home Run crap card instead of Bonds or an A-Rod Waste of Space. Making the 1st edition cards with gold foil instead of silver was a good move by Topps. It was way too easy to shuffle by a one-a box insert thinking it was nothing when all there was to signify it was a little circle with 1st inside. Not that you could actually tell the color of the foil from my lousy scan. I have got to figure out how to work my scanner or better yet get a new battery for my digital camera.

So the final wrap up on my Jumbo pack is: one auto, 2 inserts, enough parallels to fill a retail pack and a bunch of cards I probably already have but I'm not completely sure because I cannibalized my set to help Thorzul complete his. I still haven't pulled that damn card 103 though. Who could it be that is avoiding me so? My favorite card from the pack is one of the stupid Red parallels, the Vladdy Home Run Derby card with him holding up his trophy triumphantly.

2006 Topps Updates & Highlights

Ok, I've been posting a bit sporadically lately, but I got a little ca$h today so I spent some of it on enough packs to last me till around Christmas. Today I have a couple of Updates & Highlights packs from last year that was a throw in with a Bowman Heritage pack in a repack blister. These are the 6-card mini packs that came in the blasters so they can advertise 20 packs for $20, plus two bonus packs! Two of these packs equal one normal retail pack so why not open both. These must be the bonus packs, because they look like they've been through a war. They may have been left in the microwave or came from the Topps plant in Chernobyl. Both wrappers are kind of melted and you can peek into one of them. Whatever happened to them happened before the repack, because the Heritage wrapper is fine. Then again, Heritage wrappers are made of some space age heavenly substance that has the power to seduce men. It's a mystery, but I'm not in the mood for puzzles, I'm in the mood to open wax. Rip, rip, and such.

Pack 1: the one with the peephole
UH11 Russell Branyan
UH24 Eddie Guardado
UH249 Gary Matthews All Star
MHR141 Mickey Mantle Home Run
UH289 Lance Berkman Home Run Derby
UH 207 AL ERA Leaders

Man, this pack was hard to open. I have this ripping thing down to a science, grab the flap at the back of the pack, gently pull to break the seal, open up the rest of the top of the pack and slide the cards out. This is not easy to do when the mylar has withered like shrink wrap. I got it open though without killing any corners. Unfortunately there was a big dent in the Branyan and Guardado cards anyway. Who cares though, it's Branyan and Guardado. The good cards are all fine though. Mantle has a bright yellow background on his faux '55 Topps card that matches Berkman's hideous '06 Pittsburgh All Star Jersey. The League Leader card is fantastic though, and features Johan Santana, Roy Halladay and C.C. Sabathia. Three Cys on one card! It reminds me of some of the killer league leader cards from the 60's with 3 or 4 Hall of Famers on the card.

Pack 2:
UH54 Josh Bard
UH137 John Rheinecker RC
UDH238 Francisco Liriano All Star
BB713 Barry Bonds Home Run Travesty
UH192 Postseason Highlights - Cardinals vs. Mets NLCS Game 6
UH210 NL Home Run Leaders

Two inserts in two packs, too bad they are both Home Run cards. Mickey hit his 141st HR off Camilo Pasqual and Barry hit #713 off Jon Lieber. I don't really care either, but I gotta write something about these packs. The playoff card features Jose Reyes. Topps printed the postseason cards without foil (probably because they had to print them up at the last minute) and they look so much better than the regular cards. There is just too much foil on these damn cards. The foil name I don't mind since they are on a black background, but what's up with the foil flying buttresses on either side of the team name? I forgot how awesome the cartoons on the back of these cards were. Josh Bard's cartoon shows Frunobulax, a very large Poodle Dog wearing a baseball uniform with the caption "1930's Dodgers outfielder Joe Hutchinson's nuckname was 'Poodles'" Once again the best card in the pack is the League Leader card. Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols and Alfonso Soriano. It ain't Aaron, Clemente and Cepeda, but 30 years from now though, who knows...

2007 Topps Baseball Updates and Highlights

I found myself in enemy territory this Thanksgiving. All of the talk radio stations were discussing some team called the "Vi-keengs." I decided to try my luck at one of the small, local establishments that went by the name "Wall Mart." Never heard of it before. Anyways, I was surprised to find a 2007 Topps Updates and Highlights blaster. Here's the first pack.

57 Carlos Marmol
315 Edward Mujica
309 John Wasdin
86 Kevin Thompson
83 Tom Mastny
263 Alfonso Soriano All-Star

Not great, but the pack gets an A because I need all of those cards to help finish my set. Pretty boring, yes, but here's the fun part. Included in the blaster was a pack of 6 special cards. Sweet stuff.

WM51 Justin Verlander 1972 Topps
WM43 Hideki Okajima 1950s Japanese Caramel
WM52 Akinori Iwamura 1950 Japanese Karuta Card
WM44 Dan Uggla 1887 Gypsy Queen
WM53 Adam Laroche 1959 Topps
WM45 Jake Peavy 1909 Ramley


Not sure why Topps continues to shoot itself in the foot here by calling your attention to cards cooler than ones they could think of this year. My favorites are the Uggla and the Okajima (which reminds me of this Japanese exploitation film):

Good stuff. Wish I had more.