2009 Topps206 Hobby

I've been waiting for this set for 100 years. Let's check out my first pack.

248 Mariano Rivera

Topps did the 'retro fuzz' treatment on all the images in this set. On a lot of them it looks pretty awful, but this card is frickin' gorgeous. I'd love to see the mini version in person.

Here's the back design for these cards. There weren't no stats on the back in 1909 so quit yer bellyaching. Note the fake old timey staining printed on the back.

127 Javier Valentin

Javier never played a single inning for the Nationals. This is a complete waste of a card.

60 Daniel Murphy

Daniel looks a bit green on this card. After a year with the Mets, I don't blame him.

278 David Freese RC

The Rookie With No Face.

146 Tony Gwynn Jr.

I'm glad that the Jr. is on this card. I think there should be a federal law requiring that all new Tony Gwynn cards should have to specify the Jr. The punishment for not doing so: DEATH BY PAPERCUT.

191 Paul Konerko Piedmont Mini

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MIIIIIIINNNIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEDMOOOOOOOOOONT!!!!!!!!

160 Thurman Munson Bronze/Copper/Whatever thick parallel

I was sort of bummed to hear that there was a bullcrap parallel in this set, but it looks pretty nice. The border is basically the same color as the name and the Topps206 logo on the normal card. This is going straight into the set, I no longer pay attention to contrived parallels anymore. I've even incorporated minis into my 1975 Topps set, which I'm pretty sure is considered blasphemy in several mainstream religious sects.

7 Rocco Baldelli

Rocco's never going to be the second coming of Joe Dimaggio, is he?

58 Brian Roberts

Here's another example of a retroized card that came out right. Very nice.

Mickey Mantle Checklist 5 of 7

If Topps insists on making Mantle cards ubiquitous, it's nice they are finally putting him to work.

I like how they put the team name of each player on the checklist. #262 - Tommy Hanson! Hopefully it's not a shortprint of variation or all gimmicked up.

2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom Retail

Here's the first and probably last pack of Topps Ticket to Stardom that I'll buy, at least until it hits the bargain bins sometime next year. Retail style!

21 - David Ortiz (Big Papi isn't exactly the sort of young player bound for future stardom that I expected that this set was going to be geared towards. He's already had plenty of sun.)

69 - Jermaine Dye (Rumors abound about where Dye might end up next year and even what position he might play. 1st base?)

102 - Travis Hafner (By the way, has anyone figured out what the story is with the tracking info on the back of each Topps card these days? It probably would have been smarter of me to actually provide a scan of that so people would know what I'm talking about.)

173 - Dan Uggla

128 - Carlos Quentin Perforated (This is a one-per-pack parallel where the top and bottom edges are wavy/bumpy like they're supposed to look like a torn ticket stub. It doesn't really make sense when both edges are "perforated", however, and there's no stub fuzz. I'm not buying it.)

TTS-2 - Travis Snider Ticket to Stardom (Want to be even more confused? This is an insert card that shares the same name as the actual set. So in truth, this is a Ticket to Stardom Ticket to Stardom card.)

48 - George Sherrill

168 - J.D. Drew (Lots of Sox - both kinds - in this pack. I'm surprised that J.D. hasn't played for the Yankees at this point. One of the most disliked players around on one of the most disliked teams. It would be perfect.)

1991 Score Baseball Series 1

I like the 1991 Score set because it really isn't just one design but several different color schemes spread throughout the set. In my pack I've got white, turquoise, blue, and black cards.

Of all the cards, I'm only really excited about the Bo Jackson "Rifleman" card.

#432 Tony Fernandez
#428 Eric Plunk
#412 Bo Jackson "Rifleman"
#408 Ramon Martinez "K-Man"


#181 Tim Burke
#187 Tim Belcher
#182 Gary Pettis
#184 Craig Lefferts


#64 Tim Layana
#61 Dave Hollins
#67 Lee Stevens
#62 Scott Radinsky

#222 Mike LaValliere
#238 Charlie Hayes
#327 Kevin McReynolds
#313 Lance MCullers

World Series Trivia #41 Cubs Last Hurrah

1988 Topps Baseball Clear Wrapper

I'm not 100% sure of this is an individual pack or if it is 1/3 or 1/2 of a rack pack. It was part of repackage all by itself so I'm going with it's a pack by itself.

The main difference between this and a regular wax pack is obviously the clear packaging and the inclusion of the great All-Star game card...one of my favorite Topps inserts ever.

1987 All-Star Game Commemorative Set #17 Eric Davis

Two Record Breakers cards that start the set:

#1 Vince Coleman '87 Record Breakers
#3 Mark McGwire '87 Record Breakers

And some interesting stars:

#145 Bill Madlock
#681 Bobby Bonilla
#661 Nolan Ryan Turn Back The Clock
#51 Baltimore Orioles Team Leaders

Commons:

#684 Hal Lanier
#584 Steve Trout
#131 Don Schulze
#82 Darrel Akerfelds
#367 Tim Leary
#527 Steve Henderson
#242 Tom Niedenfuer
#156 Gary Matthews

2 Packs of 2007 HT Cards Hidden Treasures

Here are two packs of the Hidden Commons Hidden Treasures that promises "five licensed, out of production baseball cards". Normally that wouldn't be a big thing until this year's exclusive contract explosion and the resulting increase of unlicensed cards that will presumably happen next year.

Pack 1

1990 Topps Traded #8 John David Barfield


2004 Topps Traded #T7 Carlos Guillen


1990 Donruss #516 John Morris


1987 Fleer #120 Dave Winfield


1992 Score #193 Darrin Fletcher

Pack 2

Of all the cards, I'm most excited about this one. I collect Diamond Kings and looking into my collection I didn't have this one.

1990 Donruss Diamond King #13 Joe Magrane


1992 Topps #146 Al Newman


1992 Donruss #784 Dave Martinez


1989 Topps #396 Kirk Gibson


1996 Leaf #118 Joe Carter

2008 UD Icons Football Retail

I saw couple of packs of the 08 UD Icons in the budget bin at K-Mart and couldn't pass them up. With 6% PA Sales tax the cost of a 5 card pack was 52 cents. This set is relatively recent and I am surprised that there has yet to be a pack busted here on A Pack to be Named Later.

I think 2008 was the inaugural edition of UD Icons which consists of 100 base cards. In addition to the typical Auto and Relic cards there are a variety of serial numbered cards including a 150 card rookie set, a Football Legends Series and a special set dedicated to Movie Icons.

This is a retail pack and there are no odds specified on the packaging.


(click to enlarge)
#68 Jeremy Shockey
#29 Travis Henry (b-side)
#62 Drew Brees
#16 Brian Urlacher


#LEG8 NFL Legends Rainbow Die-Cut Emmitt Smith (#34/150)

The final card certainly helps out this pack. The NFL Legends consists of 100 cards and the Rainbow Die Cuts are a #d parallel. It's not an Auto, but this is a pretty good pull for a retail pack. If I understand the seeding odds from the UD Press release link above, there are only 2 Legends Die-Cuts per Hobby Box - good pull from the bargain bin. I opened up one other pack of Icons and came away with 5 base cards. On a personal level neither pack had any Vikings or Eagles so that was a dissappointment. I will have the pack up over at Phungo hopefully later tonight.

For more retail of 08 Icons click here to see what Squeeze Play Cards found or for a Hobby Box Break check out Sports Card Info.


One quibble with the Emmitt Smith card:
#LEG8 NFL Legends Rainbow Die-Cut Emmitt Smith (b-side/click to enlarge)

Upper Dreck does this pretty much as a matter of course - they typically put the final year or years of a retired players statistics on the card. C'mon UD, we all know that Smith played out the string with Arizona, but he will always be remembered as a Cowboy. Do we really need to know that Emmitt averaged 2.8 yards a carry in 2003?

I am sure that there is someone out there that wants the Emmitt Smith parallel more than I do. Let me know and we can work out a deal.

1986 Fleer Baseball Star Stickers

I wish I had collected these when I was a kid. This is the first pack of these stickers I've ever opened and I think I might check out a full box of these...if for no other reason than to try to get a complete set of the logo stickers.

#21 Montreal Expos Logo Sticker


The reverse side:

Two great Tigers:

#126 Lou Whitaker
#121 Alan Trammell

And three commons:

#33 Mariano Duncan
#75 Scott McGregor
#87 Tony Pena