2012 Mash'Ems Angry Birds Series 1

Greetings!

There are only a few hours left until 2013 begins.  While we have fallen short of 200 posts for the year, I wanted to add one more tally to the 2012 final numbers.  It's a quick one, so you can zip right through this post and resume your partying.  Here's some 2012 Mash'Ems Angry Birds Series 1!

While not an actual pack of cards, it is something you tear open, and I believe that meets the minimum qualifications.  My kids each got one in their stocking from jolly old Saint Nick for Christmas.  Only he knows where they are now, but before they disappeared, I was able to grab one and do a quick scan for you all.

With the notation "Series 1", this could be the first of many Angry Birds.  The front of the pack says there is one mystery character inside.  Here's the back of the pack, to simplify the mystery:

I only know of the 3 on the left and the pig.  Are there really enough Angry Birds to constitute a 2nd series?

Oh, and yes, it appears Santa is outsourcing at Target, where you can try to build your own set for 3 bucks a pack.  Which Angry Bird did one of my boys get?

Sorry for the blurred pic...on the plus side, I got a nice 3D effect.

I know the other Angry Bird was the black one.  You can squeeze them and pull them and do all sorts of silly stuff to them, and then wash them under warm water to clean them off.

Anyway, that's the pack.  I hope you all have a happy and safe New Year...keep on posting!

More next year...thanks for reading!

2003 Decipher The Lord Of The Rings Trading Card Game - The Return Of The King

Greetings!

Hope everyone got to enjoy time with their family and friends this Christmas.  Is everyone gearing up for this weekend and the upcoming New Year's celebrations?  Hope it's fun and safe times for all the readers out there.

After we all survived the end of the world, I celebrated our good fortune by going to see The Hobbit with my brother and brother-in-law.  IMAX and/or 3D are the way to go, and good times were had by all.  Since we were supposed to die, I threw caution to the wind and picked up two packs of this at the local Dollar Tree a week before our impending doom...2003 Decipher The Lord Of The Rings Trading Card Game - The Return Of The King!

I didn't know if there were any Hobbit trading cards, and I've seen some of these old packs scattered about in the Dollar Tree's card section, so I figured this was as close as I could get to mark the film.

By 2003, I was well out of Collectible Card Gaming.  I had heard of this game but never got any packs, so I have no idea how the game was played.  I was able to find a website for the different card lists and one that gives a basic overview of the game.

OK, enough rambling, here's what I pulled:

7U354 - Pelennor Grassland
7U109 - Long Prepared
7U134 - Desert Scout

The first three cards are the Uncommon cards.  The "7" in front of the "U" means this is the seventh release in the LOTR game.  There are 365 cards in the set (the numbers after the "U").  With the Uncommons out of the way, next one is the Rare card:

7R10 - Loyalty Unshaken

So the big reveal is no big deal, time for the commons...wait, what???
 

7R7 - Gimli, Feared Axeman

GIMLI-JO!!!  (My apologizes if I used the terminology incorrectly.)

The Gimli is a randomly inserted diffraction foil card that comes 1 in 6 packs.   Everybody knows foil = shiny.  The blue you see in the card is the shiny.

The dot next to Gimli means he is a unique character.  There is no dot next to the characters below, meaning you can play as many of them as you want.

Here are the commons:

7C150 - Harsh Tongues
7C226 - Enraged Horseman
7C312 - Siegecraft
7C192 - Morgul Hound
7C108 - Knight's Spear
7C11 - Out Of Darkness

If I didn't get the Gilmi, I would have gotten another common card.

Bonus pack!

I got a second pack (remember, end of the world), so here are those cards.  I am not showing the Uncommon cards because they were the same as the ones in the first pack.  I'd feel shafted, but then I'd see the shiny Gilmi and all is well.  Here's the Rare card:

 

7R261 - With Strength To Fight
No # - Card Back

There's the back for you all to enjoy.  Here are the 7 commons:

7C83 - City Of Men
7C62 - It's Mine
7C29 - Still Needed
7C72 - Smeagol, Hurried Guide
7C131 - Desert Fighter
7C111 - Man The Walls
7C303 - Orc Pursuer

Anyway, there's the packs.  I would imagine the only reasons to get these cards are either you're a LOTR fan or a fan of the game and wanted to get more cards.  If either reason applies to you, head over to the Dollar Tree and spend your hard-earned cash as if the world will end tomorrow.

More later...thanks for reading!

2009 Upper Deck Series 2

Jeff again. The only time this pack was ever opened, the post had no photos of the cards. Unacceptable! You, the fine reader, deserve better. So let's rip another pack and share the contents. Being this is pack #2 of series 2, let's post images two at a time, with two 2 word comments on each card. Oh, and for you that love the look of the wrapper...

Ok - let's light this bottle rocket.

Left: Series champ. Lucky break.
Right: Two rings. Giants overload.

Left: Ex-Sox. Ex-Sox.
Right: Still Twinkie? Demand trade.

Left: Series ring. Oriole minor.
Right: Free agent. Goto Japan.

Left: Ex player. Selling insurance?
Right: Series MVP. Tiger killer.

Left: Cooperstown's calling. First ballot.
Right: Rare gold. Lame player.

Left: Ugly jersey. Second baseman.
Right: Available player. Nobody wants.

Left: Left baseball. Homer greeting.
Right: Free agent. Back soon?

Left: A monster. Stay sober.
Right: New Mariner. Bad team.

Right: ABOUT TIME! Future HOF.
Left: Perfect game. Middle rotation.

And there you have it. The backs are pretty boring - I really won't waste the time. Same image as the front, cropped on the face. And stats. You know the drill.

2004 Topps Series 1 HTA Jumbo

Happy Holidays! Here's a big fat present for your reading perusal from the Days of Bonds.

155 - Kirk Rueter
90 - Jose Vidro
72 - Carlos Guillen

249 - Jose Cruz Jr.
225 - Rich Aurilia - Lots of Giants coming up here.
254 - Jung Bong - There's a joke here, somewhere.

209 - Roy Halladay
224 - Ryan Klesko
244 - Brad Wilkerson

206 - Freddy Garcia
104 - Mike Hampton
77 - Francisco Rodriguez

102 - Dave Berg
100 - Alex Rodriguez - We had K-Rod and now we have A-Rod.
120 - Vernon Wells

WS-TS - Tom Seaver World Series Highlights

37 - Jake Peavy Gold (0540 / 2004) - There's a lot of chaff in this set, so Peavy is a pretty nice get.

240 - Rocco Baldelli - Onto the horizontal portion of the pack.
181 - Jason Michaels
31 - Mike Piazza - And a host of other Mets...
 

199 - Brandon Inge
57 - Michael Tucker
153 - Jason Kendall

243 - Doug Mientkiewicz
87 - Juan Uribe
19 - Aaron Rowand

217 - Preston Wilson
118 - Jason Phillips
325 - Zach Duke

292 - Bob Melvin
329 - Rich Harden / Bobby Crosby Future Stars
271 - Grady Little

354 - The Rivalry Intensifies Postseason Highlights - Intense!
366 - Frank Thomas Sporting News All-Stars - It's weird to see so many print publications ceasing to, well, print these days. The Sporting News became one of those recently and I just heard about Spin going away, too.
343 - Albert Pujols / Todd Helton / Edgar Renteria NL Batting Avg. Leaders

Well, it probably wasn't worth $5, but I don't get to open hobby jumbo wax all that often.

2012 Panini NFL Player of the Day

I just won four packs of 2012 Panini NFL Player of the Day packs over at All About Cards and since it's the season of giving, I figured I'd share my winnings with you.

But before I give anything away, let's check out what I pulled from the packs:

Pack #1

Each pack contains two cards from the eleven card base set.  I was hoping to pull an Andrew Luck, but  instead I found Darren McInjured and Mr. Beast Mode.

 Pack #2

No Luck again.  But A-Rod is a nice consolation prize and who doesn't like the Head & Shoulders guy.

 Pack #3

This pack was Bush league.  My first double... at least it's a Hawk.

Pack #4

Another Luckless pack.  Another injured running back.  Another double.

Overall, if you're a fan of Panini products, then you probably like this design.  I'm going to keep one of the Lynch's for my Seahawks PC,  one of the McFaddens for a student, and the Aaron Rodgers for my Packers PC.

But the remaining cards are up for grabs.  Just leave a comment saying you want them and I'll randomize the interested parties' names on Random.org.  Let's set the deadline for Christmas afternoon at 3pm PST.

And if nobody wants them... well, I don't blame you. I'll just give them away to my students.

Happy holidays and sayonara!

Contest results...

I randomized the list of 6 entries and High-Five Man was on top.  I'll send you an email in a few minutes asking for your mailing address.  Congratulations!

2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures

Hey gang. I decided to take a dive into a higher end product when I hit my LCS a short time back and picked up a pack of Panini Classics. Every pack has a hit, with all the autographs on card. Five cards to a pack, with one being the auto and another a banner insert. More on that later. For you that enjoy the packs, here's the wrapper.

Mr. Hockey on the front of a nice retro looking pack. Great colors. I wish they would have used the older NHL logo, but maybe for license reasons they were not allowed. Best part? Look at the top of the pack. It has an age restriction: 9 or up. So let's check out my three base cards.

Gary Leeman. Of the top of my head, the name sparks no memory, so let's hit Wikipedia. Ok, he's a bit of a journey man, but did pot 51 goals one season and does have his name on the Cup with Montreal.

Pierre Turgeon. Getting better. First round draft pick. Had a successful career, though I think he fell a little short of what his potential was. Still, would take the guy on my team.

Savior Faire. Now we are talking! Great shot of Denis (with Patrick Poulin in the background), getting ready to head up ice. You can just see, in his eyes, he's thinking Spin-o-rama. Sucks he had to go to Montreal to get his name on Lord Stanley, but he deserves to be on there.

Here's the back of Denis' card. The scratching and aged look of the card is intentional. Bit of wasted space, as they only put their career stat totals on the back along with a little playing days blurb. If you go to the start of that Spin-o-rama video I linked, you can see the goal mentioned here.

Here's that banner card insert. It is a die cut. The innerwebs aren't keen on these, and I have to agree. The idea is nice and certainly different. I don't know - they just kind of stink. It's cutesy, but that is about it. The banner is the last card of the pack, but I held the hit for the end. And what did I get?

Terry O'Reilly. Old school with no helmet. +5. Had to Wikipedia this dude as well, though. He was the heavy with Boston in the early 70's, protecting the stars of the Bruins. He decided some fans in Montreal needed to have a close, personal discussion with his fists and got an 8 game suspension. His #24 is retired by the club, so he's a big deal in Beantown.

There ya go. Maybe if I find another pack of this a little cheaper, I'll rip open a second. We'll see.