Fairfield $5 Jumbo Rack Pack Repackage

I stumbled upon these at Target over the weekend and was pleasantly surprised by what I found inside.


I'm an easy mark for repackaged cards but even so these are worth your time as one in every four packs has a gamed used card inside.

But this is mostly about the commons, which you get a lot of, but there were some nice older cards from the early 80s :


I'm a big fan of the duo cards that were popular in the 60's so I enjoy this "Shortstop Supreme." The real treat for me is that the Metrodome's centerfield seats are clearly in view meaning that this was taken during the 1985 All-Star that was held in the Twin Cities.

1986 Fleer #633 Alan Trammell & Cal Ripken Shortstop Supreme

Perhaps when I'm done with my Diamond King collection, I'll move onto these All-Star cards that were mainly found in the Topps rack packs.

1988 Topps All-Star #3 Paul Molitor

And here are my other eight promised Hall of Famers:


Beyond those cards, I also got some pretty nice ones that you don't usually see in a repackage. Like an Oscar Gamble with what has to be the biggest afro every worn by a Yankee.

1981 Topps #139 Oscar Gamble

I also got the 1 in 4 packs hit! A dual relic of Freddy Sanchez numbered to 50. Not too shabby for a repackage.

2007 Upper Deck SPX #WM-FS Freddy Sanchez Dual Jersey 08/50

And now a Daisuke rookie from another set that I will probably collect after I wrap up my 1971 set. I just really love the black bordered cards. As a side note, this version of the card is not from the base set but rather from the Red Sox team sets as it is #B0S1.

2007 Topps #BOS1 Daisuke Matsuzaka [Rookie Card]

A nice Frank Thomas/Rickey Henderson that I don't think I have even though it was from my heyday of collecting.

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #640 Frank Thomas

Not only is it a Fred McGriff but an O-Pee-Chee Fred McGriff as well!

1987 O-Pee-Chee #395 Fred McGriff

Since opening this pack I've purchased two others and there are problems with getting the same 10 Hall of Famer cards again and again. The other random commons tend to be different but I can't really recommend these for more than one pack.

2010 Topps206 retail

Topps206 hit Targets today, so I ran out to the one in Cartersville on my lunch break to pick up a blaster and as many packs I I could buy with the cash I had in pocket. Here's the loosey pack with something interesting.


I forgot to scan the wrapper so sue me. It's dark blue with a bronze logo and a tan background. Lookit tha cards, willya.

32 Brad Hawpe

The design is similar to last years. Bronze border, logo, name & team at the bottom. The difference is that there is a double-line border with a notch in each corner. Subtle, but more or less the same design. Pastel clouds and trees are in most backgrounds.

2 Willie Stargell

Gotta have mah Pops! Legends return in this set and are one of the big reasons I like it so much.

Here's the back for base cards. The card backs in this set have always been somewhat minimalist. The short prints once again simply have player name inside the border. They are numbered as part of the set this year, sadly.

225 Adam Wainwright mini

The minis look good even though the borders are a little thick. they may be that way because of Topps' difficulty with cutting this set. This one here is off center and slightly diamond cut, as many of the short printed back varieties have turned up so far.

Polar Bear back! 1:10 packs. there is also an Old Mill version 1:20 packs, a Cycle back numbered to 99 1:230 packs and a new variation back, American Caramel, found 1:4 packs. Oddly enough American Caramel is a completely different set than the original T206es.

ACA-SR Sean Rodriguez Sticker Auto

Retail Mojo. This is actually designed very well for a sticker auto. The plastic frame diminishes the weirdness factor of a holosticker on a retro style card. Sean's tiny little picture kind of gets lost in that mass of frame and sticker though.

Like the minis, there are four different flavors of autographs, and this is the second easiest one to get. The design looks really good, I have to say.

195 Steven Drew

I can't think of anything to say about Steven Drew, can you?

263 Captain Cheezburger Sabathia

One thing Topps seems to have done with the design of this set is use lots of pictures with no cap. If you look at a gallery of original T206es you won't see a lot of caps there either. Nice little detail put in by Topps!

I've got a blaster of this stuff too, if I can find the time I'll post it on the home blog this week.

1983 Donruss Hall Of Fame Heroes

I am glad to be back here at APTBNL with a way cool (at least in my opinion) pack of 1983 Donruss Hall Of Fame Heroes. I have another one of these bad boys being shown over on BA Benny's Pack Rip Cafe.

1983 Donruss Hall Of Fame Heroes

#24 Yogi Berra (Yankees)

#14 Duke Snider (Dodgers)

#37 Casey Stengel (Yankees)

#27 Cy Young (Cleveland Spiders?)

#17 Roberto Clemente (Pirates)

#7 Mickey Mantle (Yankees)

#41 Robin Roberts (Phillies)

#1 Ty Cobb (Tigers)

Mickey Mantle puzzle pieces (#'s 61, 62, 63)

A couple of the backs.

BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards: 9

Teams Represented: 6
Rookie Cards: n/a
Sub Sets:  n/a
Parallels: n/a
Inserts: 1 (Puzzle) 
Hits: n/a
Keepers for Me: All!

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 9 out of 10 Great  pictures drawn by Dick Perez, Excellent layout and design. 
Back Design: 8 out of 10 Nice design, simple yet fitting for the card style, great write up on the player, can't go wrong with red, white, and blue.
Player Selection: 9.5 out of 10 Great, all HOFers.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: 2 RBI Double down the line. I love this set and I have decided to try and build this 44 card set as well as the puzzle. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Check out the other pack over on BA Benny's Pack Rip Cafe and a more detailed description of the set over on BA Benny's Baseball Card Buffet.

Thanks for Reading!

1991 Line Drive AAA

Here's another pack from the Giveaway. it's the companion piece to the 1991 Line Drive AA set. Naturally, while these packs always had a better shot at name recognition with me when I was younger (not to mention Portland Beavers cards), the AA set had the better player selection overall. Can anyone imagine tossing a pack of minor league baseball cards in with their groceries on a trip to the corner store anymore?

11 - Chris Jones (Major League Games: 0. Highest Level Reached: AAA - 1990.)

356 - Eric Hetzel (Major League Games: 21. Hetzel spent two seasons as an occasional starter with the Red Sox.)

366 - Jeff Plympton (Major League Games: 4. Plympton logged 5 1/3 innings of mop-up duty in 1991 for Boston.)

341 - Carlos Maldonado (Major League Games: 38. Maldonado had a career ERA of 5.65, making a career high 29 appearances with Milwaukee in 1993 after a few scattered appearances with the Royals.)

551 - Kevin Baez (Major League Games: 63. Baez bounced around the minors for more than a decade, but did not appear in the majors after 1993 with the Mets.)

331 - Victor Cole (Major League Games: 8. The Russian-born Cole started 4 games with the Pirates in 1992 and made 4 additional appearances that season out of the pen.)

570 - Dave Trautwein (Major League Games: 0. Highest Level Reached: AAA - 1990.)

561 - Tim Leiper (Major League Games: 0. Highest Level Reached: AAA - 1988.)

36 - Joey Meyer (Major League Games: 156. Meyer was a pretty serious power prospect in the late '80s, so it surprised me to see that he didn't appear in the majors after his second season - 1989. I believe he was even a Donruss Rated Rookie.)

375 - Rich Gale (Major League Games: 195. The Paw Sox pitching coach logged 7 seasons in the majors and was named The Sporting News AL Rookie Pitcher-of-the-Year in 1978, finishing 4th in ROY voting overall as a member of the Royals.)

411 - Kenny Morgan (Major League Games: 0. Highest Level Reached: AAA - 1991. I don't feel bad about not knowing who Morgan is when I see that he only logged 27 ABs for the Beavers and did not play again after '91.)

46 - Jim Tracy (Major League Games: 0. Highest Level Reached: AAA - 1991. No, this isn't the Jim Tracy who managed the Rockies.)

1994 Donruss Baseball Series 1 - Hobby pack

Your ranting coyote is here with another pack of Donruss baseball this time from 1994. The year is forever known for the strike shorten season that canceled the World Series. This pack is from series 1 with 13 cards in a pack. The cards itself is pretty good being foil stamped and glossy pictures on the front and back of the card with stats limiting to 1993 season. The problem with it comes years later when tried to open a pack and often the cards stick together. Good luck and careful opening the packs now. As for the pack I got:

113 - Mitch Williams. This was "Wild Thing" last productive season before becoming out of control wild on the mound losing control of his pitches starting in the World Series. It effectively ended his career several years later despite number of comebacks.

42 - Mo Vaughn (special edition) - he was the Beast in Boston. As for the special edition card they produced 100 card set with a holographic embrossed foil stamping. About one comes per pack and is split in 50 cards from each series.

217 - Don Slaught - he's chasing the foul ball

18 - Ryne Sandberg - 1993 was the last time this Hall of Famer made the All-Star team. He abruptly retired after 57 games in 94 season for not playing the standards the Cubs paying him. He made a return in 96 playing two more seasons before calling it quits for good. Now he's rising in the managerial ranks and is predicted to become Cubs manager for 2011 season. What a class act.

23 - Robin Ventura - when I saw his first card (1989 Big Topps) I expected big things out of him. He was good hitter but left me disappointed when he didn't get the numbers I expected of him. He never made the All-Star team in his 16 seasons. At 9 years old at the time and a fan, I really set him that high.

259 - Bernie Williams - what I like about full blown back shots is not just on the field plays but off the field as well. Here's Bernie playing a guitar in the dugout.

DK-1 - Barry Bonds - Diamond Kings insert set starts with Barry Bonds. He did become the king on the field as in homeruns.

262 - Bob Tewksbury - 1993 was his last productive season. His ERA ballooned up in 1994 and so was his losses playing few more years til 1998.

169 - Rick Honeycutt - 1993 was his last season with the A's. He's became effective reliever during his run with the A's and stayed that way playing to his final game in 1997. He's been Dodgers pitching coach for last five seasons.

90's Dominators (10 of 10) - Mark McGwire - the other Donruss insert card. In series 1 it features the top homerun hitters from 1990-1993. Mark McGwire was no. 10 at the time.

291 - Jose Vizcaino - the utility player was with his 2nd team at the time. Just before start of 1994 season he shipped off to the Mets. By the end of his playing career he played for 9 teams in 18 seasons.

305 - Bruce Ruffin - He was Rockies closer for few seasons during the pre-humiditor years.

113 - Pete Harnish - of all players Astros keep from the Glen Davis trade it was him while they shipped off Steve Finley and Curt Schilling. He was a decent ace for the team during this time. He would be traded after the strike shorten season.

It was a nice pack for me.