1981 Topps Movie Giant Pin-Up Revisited

My apologies for posting back-to-back, but when I got these in the mail today, I just couldn't wait!

Not long ago, Thorzul posted a great and unique find (here) on here: 1981 Topps Movie Giant Pin-Ups.

You can read about it by using the link in parenthesis above. After reading his post, I went on my own search and scarfed up four of these packs to see what I might get. I was glad I did!

One thing I did not see in his post (do not recall seeing) was the size of the actual posters themselves. They are close enough to be called 12" x 20".

According to Thorzul's list of hits and misses in this set, I scored THREE "Epic Wins" and a "Not Too Shabby." I'd have to say I agree:

1994 Topps Stadium Club

Hey, look at this! Full color pictures, very little text on the front of the card, and NO BORDERS! This is the stuff baseball cards should be. Period. Throw borders away, throw all the logos, text, etc away from the front of the card. Just give us what we (collectors) want: Players on cards.


The first four cards out of the pack are Jeff Bagwell (Astros), John Doherty (Tigers), Mariano Duncan (Phillies), and Jeff Blauser (Braves). I was pretty happy pulling the Bagwell as the first card out of the chute. Doherty and Duncan didn't ring any bells in my head, but I was okay with the Blauser. Bagwell is definitely the star so far. I was disappointed that his was not an action shot. Doherty's got a nice "just-before-the-pitch" photo. Mariano appears to be catching some rays. Blauser's photo is a nice action shot, but why show the guy NOT getting the runner out??


Next up, we have Tom Pagnozzi (Cardinals), Dave West (Phillies), Tim Naehring (Red Sox), and Charlie Hayes (Rockies). Okay, Pagnozzi is about to be safe on base, judging by the ball location in the photo. West is in mid wind-up. Naehring is another one who suffers from having his card feature the fact that he is NOT going to get out the runner (who happens to be LOFTON, HELLO!?). Hayes looks poised for action. I have to give the nod to Naehring in this grouping based on the fact there is a Triber on his card.


The last quartet features Lenny Dykstra (Phillies), Lance Painter (Rockies), Luis Gonzalez (Astros - Gold or something), and Chris Turner (Angels). I have always been a fan of Dykstra, even though on this card he dropped the "Lenny" in favor of "Len." I have no idea who Painter is, but that's most likely my own tunnel vision in action. Gonzalez looks up after stealing a base. Great card! And it is a gold card, or some other kind of insert. I'm sure I could look it up pretty quickly, but I'll just leave it to one of the readers to fill in the blanks with a comment.. :-) And, finally, Turner is sliding home in a great action photo. You can see that he has just slid passed the outside (left) corner of the plate. The position of the catcher indicates that the play was never made on him. Not a bad way to round out the pack.

Bagwell, Dykstra, Gonzalez definitely make the pack worth the price paid. How much was the pack? 34 cents.

2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Retail

I'll be honest with you all. The only reason I bought this pack is because I fondly remember the Baseball Heroes insert cards from the early 90's Upper Deck packs. There's also no way I would have paid more than $1.99 for a pack of this stuff. At least I knew that there would not be a Tom Morello card coming my way no matter what happened here.

168 - Luke Scott (ugh, seriously? Luke Scott? I guess I better keep quiet, because you know that he's packing.)

35 - Nolan Ryan (exactly the reason why I bought this pack. anyone want some original Nolan Ryan Baseball Heroes cards?)

131 - Andre Ethier (I'm not sure if he qualifies as a Hero, either, but Luke Scott will make anyone look heroic to me)

83 - Torii Hunter Sea Green 15/99 (apparently this is "Sea Green", and not "Emerald" or just plain "Green"? is that even right? I have no idea.)

81 - Bo Jackson Black, or maybe Charcoal, or perhaps a Charbroiled Marble (Bo Knows One-Per-Retail Pack Parallels)

2007 SP Legendary Cuts

I've always wanted to buy a pack of this stuff but it was too dang expensive. During my wax binge I found a box of them for five bucks a pop. Still expensive for 4 cards, but I love the set and since Upper Deck totally screwed up this year's product by relegating the legends cards to a short print '07 is probably the last year I would want to buy anyway. I grabbed one of the packs out of the box and then watched as someone who got to the box before me pull a Nolan Ryan jersey of some sort. Oh well. Next time I won't spend so much time going through the box full of early '80s commons. I made dang sure big hit guy didn't get any '82 Fleer commons that afternoon, that's for sure!

55 Casey Stengel
83 Juan Marichal
47 Ralph Kiner
61 Don Mattingly


Ok, five bucks is a little pricey for four base cards.


But can you name one thing wrong with the four cards I pulled?

Didn't think so. I think the ol' Perfesser has some some words of wisdom about this expensive non-hit pack:

You gotta lose 'em some of the time. When you do, lose 'em right.

Topps Bazooka Baseball 2006

I've never ripped a pack of this before. Here we go.

First out is a piece of gum that, even still wrapped, smells pretty good. But it's 2 years old so I think I'll pass.

Top card is #13 Josh Beckett, a blue parallel. I have no idea what that means.



Beckett was awesome in 2007 but has returned to being a pretty average pitcher this year.

Next is #69 David Wright, what I guess they call a gold chunks card. That's what I blow when I eat too much honey.



He's sporting the Michael Jordan tongue.

Comic 7 of 24: Miguel Tejada wins All-Star MVP



How cute.

#21 Justin Verlander. Such a disappointment this year that he doesn't get his card scanned.

#210 Bryan Bullington


He was a rookie here but has done almost nothing in the big leagues.

#20 Tim Hudson



I couldn't scan the front because he's not wearing a hat or helmet.

#200 Justin Morneau



Who knew he'd be the MVP next season? I still think Jeter deserved it more.

#12 Magglio Ordonez - nothing to say about this guy.

Overall, I like this set. The cards have a pleasingly simple design and are printed on lower quality stock than most thick slab cards these days. These cards much more closely resemble what collecting was like 20-30 years ago and are a nice break from all the crazy hoopla.

1991 Donruss Series 1

By the time 1991 rolled around, Donruss had been in the baseball card business for 10 years. The cards had a much slicker look and could be held in the collector's hand without fear the thing would bend, fold or become mutilated at the slightest touch. An interesting tidbit, in case you did not already know, the company got its name from its founders in 1954 - Donald and Russell Weiner - by combining their first names. So, if you didn't know that, then I've taught you something today, and you are free to go. :-)

The 1991 series 1 cards featured BRIGHT blue borders with various diagonal lines and 'painted' dots or mark, kind of resembling tire tread. The pictures were nice and big, taking up about two-thirds the face of the card. The company logo was in an upper corner, the team logo in a lower corner of the image. At the bottom in a red diagonal banner was the player name and below that in a baby blue banner was the player's position. The backs of the cards were a similar baby blue with black text. A wonderful color combination for those who don't actually want to READ what's on the back!


In today's pack, we have a pretty good mix of stars, HOF, and people long forgotten...

The first card in the pack is Robin Yount (White Sox)! That is awesome! Then we have Al Newman (Twins), Walt Weiss (A's), Greg Hibbard (White Sox - Man, this would have been a great Sox-or-no-Sox pack!), Charlie Hayes (Phillies), Greg Olson (Braves), Jose Offerman (Dodgers - Rated Rookie), Dave Martinez (Expos), Tony -Frickin- Gwynn (Padres), Delino DeShields (Expos - Diamond King), Tim Crews (Dodgers), Scott Bankhead (Mariners), Billy Hatcher (Reds), Dickie Thon (Phillies), Terry Bross (Mets - Rated Rookie), Willie Stargell puzzle piece with wax pack stuck to it (#1,2,3).

Did you know that the MLB contract with Donruss REQUIRED they produce a "Diamond King" for every team or they couldn't produce ANY Diamond King cards!? That's why you see some crappy Diamond Kings in the early days of the subset. I'm not saying DeShields is a crappy DK, just giving a little bit of useless trivial knowledge...

2008 Upper Deck NFL Draft Edition

The Bulldogs' victory got me all jazzed up over football again and I felt like getting a pack with some college players. I chose UD Draft Edition mainly because it was cheap and has players in their college unis. It's like a low rent Press Pass. I've been deathly afraid of pulling a card of Matt Ryan, but I figured I could risk it. There's ninety nine other rookies in there, what are the chances I'll pull Ryan?

Here's how I reacted when I opened the pack:

95 Thomas Brown

Hell Yeah!!! Go Dawgs! Sic 'em! WOOFWOOFWOOFWOOFWOOF!

74 Matt Ryan

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

82 Philip Wheeler

Hey cool! Tech! Sting 'em! or... something

SOD8 Antoine Cason Stars of the Draft

Yay, an insert. Wait, these are one per pack. Yawn.

170 Kellen Clemens
130 Demarcus Ware

Meh. meh. Don't care about NFL players at all right now.

My worst nightmare was revealed but I got a Dawg and a Jacket to help mitigate the pain. Now it's time to start drinking heavily in preparation for the Georgia - Alabama game between the Hedges next week.

Tristar Hidden Treasures (not!)

Quite awhile ago, my good friend Mike over at BadWax, sent me this pack as a "reward" for something or other... I hadn't seen this before... but I'm Canadian, and these are hockey cards, so how bad could it be? Right? AND... I could find a 1951/52 Parkhurst Gordie Freakin' Howe!!!! I could... maybe... no. Not a snowball's chance in H-E-Double hockey sticks....
They try and build you up on the wrapper. Memorabilia! Autographs! Rookies! Vintage!

I'll show you their idea of vintage....


1993/94 Classic Draft Picks Denis Metlyuk. Denis spent one year in Hershey, and the rest in Mother Russia. A high 2nd round pick wasted on this never was by Philadelphia.
1993/94 Upper Deck Pat Elynuik. Pat played 4 years for the Winnipeg Jets.... and that's all I got.

1991/92 Pro Set Robert Reichel - a Flame! Robert won an Olympic gold medal... and is still playing in Europe.

1990/91 Score Canadian Memorial Cup Champions tribute.

This was a cheap ploy to add yet another card of Eric Lindros in their set. That's Eric Lindros. Anyone? Bueller? Think Akili Smith. Todd VanPoppel. You get the idea.

1989/90 OPC Bill Ranford.

Not exactly a Patrick Roy RC... in fact, not even a Bill Ranford RC....

Okay. So it sucked big time. What did you expect ? A '52 Parkie of Gordie Howe?

1994 Topps (Black Gold, Texas Tea... Y'all come back now...)

Ah, the days when a pack had more than 5 cards in it and you could actually see players on the cards. The days when the borders were thin and our wallets were not-quite-as thin. It was the "International Year of the Family" and NAFTA had just been turned up to full effect (Well, we're still feeling the effects, really). Lorena Bobbitt was found not guilty of performing an erectile shortening procedure and the World Series had been cancelled because players wanted MORE HOURS, FEWER WAGES!! Oh, wait, no, that's not right..... Welcome back to 1994.

The specimen you see before you represents one pack of 1994 Topps Series I baseball cards. There is a Topps Gold card in every pack, and a Topps BLACK Gold inserted randomly in other packs. I say 'other' because as you can see, I did not strike it rich. In fact, the whole pack is something of a ghost town in my book. I'll let you be the judge:

Pat Mahomes (Twins) - I'm curious, is this pronounced like it looks: Pat Mah Homies? I'm thinking there's a bad SNL routine in there somewhere... Oh wait, this is from 1994, they were ALL bad SNL routines....

Craig Shipley (Padres, Gold) - I don't know if you can see it or not, but it looks like Shipley is sliding, however, his KNEES are what is sliding into the base and the angle of his body suggests this was a last-minute decision. Is he any relation to the Shipley's of Shipley's Donuts?

Darren Daulton (Phillies) - In my opinion, the best base in the pack. You decide what that tells you about the pack...

Dean Palmer (Rangers) - This guy is laughing his head off. I'm setting this aside for a "Dinged Corners" shipment! I think he's laughing at the fact I even bought this pack...

Ken Ryan (Red Sox) - Any relation to Nolan? It's a nice action shot, displaying the split-fingers clearly.

Al Martin (Pirates) - It took me a minute to realize the catcher was a Giant because it almost looks like the Pirates are playing with themselves... I mean AGAINST themselves... I mean... Well, you know what I mean...

Orlando Merced (Pirates) - Hey, Two Bucs! Man, that's probably what this pack costs nowadays... :-)

Rickey Jordan (Phillies) - Wow, the state of Pennsylvania is well-represented here today. He looks ready for fielding. I should save this card for my son's little league team... "See, kids, THIS is how you are supposed to look when you're in the field... Notice how he is not kicking the dirt around?"

Gary DiSarcina (Angels) - He's pointing toward the sky. I wonder if he sees the angels in the outfield. Or maybe he's done eating and is trying to get his check...

Carlos Quintana (Red Sox) - A couple of Beantowners in the pack! He is also looking up with his gloved poised to catch... pigeon-poop? a falling star? a pay raise?

Darrell Whitmore (Marlins) - He's just taken a swing in this photo. Perhaps he is hitting a ball to his other brother Darrell... (old TV reference, I'm afraid some readers may not get that one...)

1993 Topps All Stars - Mike Piazza (Dodgers) and Mike Stanley (Yankees) - I'm not quite sure what the background on this one is supposed to be... It almost looks like sparks, but appears to be more like a side-view shot of a mug of beer with the golden bubbles floating to the top...

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Thanks for taking the trip back in time with me folks. And to think, in 1994, most of us thought interns were people who worked in hospitals for free... Little did we know...

2008 National Rugby League

My brother Peter from Australia visited recently for a short while. He bought some baseball packs with him and what I am posting today.

Now Rugby League may be as well know as say Aussie Rules or cricket in the US of A, but that's not what this post is about. Rather, how this set was released.

The photo above is the whole set of 240 cards, including a collector book with 6 pocket pages. The set was collected over a period of 15 weeks.

Each week a pack of 16 cards was released.

Each pack cost $2.00 and to receive the pack you had to collect tokens.

The collector book was free with the first pack.

Nice card stock, action shots, bright co-ordinated colours and about the same size as a Goudey.

The pack contained a checklist telling you the names of the players inside the pack.

Each pack contained:

• 12 player cards

• 1 club card

• 3 inserts; gold, silver and green foil cards

The pack that I chose randomly to show is week 14 of 15.

The player cards were(I guarantee you won't recognise any names)

Team in Italics

David Stagg Brisbane Broncos,

Terry Campese Canberra Raiders,

Jason King Manly Sea Eagles,

Ben Cross Newcastle Knights,

Petero Civonicea Penrith Panthers,

Ben Pomeroy Cronulla Sharks,

Rangi Chase St George Illawarra Dragons,

Willie Mason Sydney Roosters,

Jeremy Smith Melbourne Storm,

Carl Webb North Queensland Cowboys,

Manu Vatuvei New Zealand Warriors,

Sonny Bill Williams Canterbury Bulldogs.

The Club card was

South Sydney Rabbitohs (which is incidentally owned by Aussie actor Russell Crowe)

The Inserts

Green Foil Andrew Johns Record Breaker

Silver Foil Steve Rogers Modern Legend (and dead)

Gold Foil 'Big Norm' Provan Team of the Century.

Every single person who bought this weeks cards received exactly the same cards.

So at the end of the 15th week you had the entire set.

Job done, set finished, $30.00!

Easy peasy.

1992 Skybox Pre-Rookie

Here's a pack of cards I had never heard of before: 1992 Skybox Pre-Rookies. The cards are a matte-like finish and feature large photos on the front. The player's name is in the upper left corner, the minor league team logo and league are in the upper right corner. At the bottom of the picture is the Skybox logo, and below that in the border is the team name and player position. For fun, since I had not heard of any of these guys except for the lone former-Indians player, I thought I'd do a little research on each one...

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The first card is the Charlotte, NC, Knights expansion. There's a red-orange photo of the city skyline. Honestly, it reminds me of the same orange cast that Michael Enslin sees in room 1408 in Stephen King's short story (not the movie version). The first player we see is Pete Schourek (Tidewater Tides). Pete played in the majors for 11 years with the Mets, Reds, Astros, Red Sox, Pirates, and then back to the Red Sox for his final season in 2001. Armando Reynoso (Richmond Braves) played for the Braves, Rockies, Mets and Diamondbacks. His last game came in 2002.

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Mike Ignasiak (Denver Zephyrs) played four seasons with the Brewers, bowing out in 1995. Steve Scarsone (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons) bounced from Phillies, Orioles, Giants, Cardinals, and eventually to the Royals. His last season was 1999. Turk Wendell (Iowa Cubs) spent 11 years in the Bigs with the Cubs, Mets, Phillies and Rockies. I'm seeing a bit of a pattern here, I think...

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Brian Barnes (Indianapolis Indians) played for the Expos, Indians (1994) and Dodgers (also 1994). Rosario Rodriguez (Buffalo Bisons) played for the Reds and Pirates and by the time this card came out, he was done in the Bigs (last season was 1991). Lonnie Maclin (Louisville Redbirds) played in 12 games for the Cardinals during his only season in the majors.

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Harvey Pulliam (Omaha Royals) played for the Royals and Rockies between 1991 and 1997. Greg Johnson (Portland Beavers - sorry, I must have had Braves on the brain earlier... I've now corrected this.) represents the first player for which I could not find any major league stats. Joey Vierra (Nashville Sounds) evidently never made it to the Show, either. That's a shame, because he certainly has a baseball name.

Will Taylor (Las Vegas Stars) shows the back of his card on here. The backs are very plain, but have the player name, the MLB affiliate, the minor league team name and affiliation, player bio info and minor league stats. There is also a little semi-paragraph about the player on the bottom of the card. I do like that the card numbers are in a home-plate motif... Jerry Schunk (Syracuse Chiefs) and Larry Shikles (Pawtucket Red Sox) apparently made no MLB appearances either...

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I should note that my research comes from www.baseball-almanac.com (other such sites may have different info)

A Pack(et) A Day: 2007/08 Topps EPL Match Attax Extra

Wrapping up my grab bag are five packets of 2007/08 Topps Match Attax Extra. TMAE was an 83 card update series featuring new signings and new players. There are two inserts: Club Captains (4:5/packs) and Rainbow Foil (1:5)

1992 Topps Stadium Club Series 2

One of the first brands to have full bleed photography and glossy finish, comes with 36 packs per box with 15 cards per pack. In 1991 Stadium Club was Topps answer to the first "Super Premium" brand costing over $10 per pack. There were 3 series for a total of 900 cards in the set. I think the only card that is worth a buck or two is Cal Ripken. Rookies were not that exciting, players like Jeremy Hernandez, Scott Bullett, and Rey Sanchez. The insert was the First Draft Picks. It looks like Ryan from http://www.tradercracks.com/ succeeded with his "Bring back Stadium Club" campaign, as Topps is releasing the new Stadium Club baseball on 11/03/2008. Let's get to the pack ripping!


Will Clark


Scott Bankhead


Tony Phillips


John Franco


Ed Sprague


Jeff Huson


Mike Timlin


Billy Hatcher

Terry Pendleton

The other players I pulled were Bob Macdonald, Josias Manzanillo, Rob Ducey, Tony Perezchica, and John Olerud.

Well I have to say even though you can get these boxes on Ebay for $20 and you can get the whole set for $40, these are some beautiful cards. The full bleed is awesome and the action shots are great.