1991 Space Shots Series 2

You never know what you'll find at the Thrift Shop.  I have a Value Village not too far away from my house and I stop in a couple times a month to see if there's anything that interests me.  To be honest there seems to be no rhyme or reason to some of the packaging or the pricing.  I ended up picking up this sealed pack of 1991 Series 2 Space Shots for a buck fifty.  It came packaged with a couple packs of playing cards.

I'm a big fan of history and space and I'm not sure if I'd ever even seen these cards before.

I'm sure Series 1 was similar, but the cards range from the early days of NASA and Space Exploration right up to the present day, which was 1991 when this set came out.  Very cool. Plus the back of the cards have a ton of great information.  This set would have been great had it included some autographs of these American Heroes.

There were two Charles Duke Jr cards in the pack

2015 Upper Deck Football

With the NFL Draft looming tomorrow, I thought it'd be appropriate to get this pack up on the blog. I was lured in to buying this by seeing the star Ducks quarterback on the wrapper. I'll just try to forget about that National Championship game. After months of speculation, it's nearly time to find out where Marcus Mariota is heading. Dennis over at Too Many Verlanders has a bulkier review of this product if you're looking for more.

140 - Titus Davis - I don't know this guy. (This is going to be a theme for this pack.) SB Nation's Mock Draft doesn't have him going in the first around and NFL.com has him projected as a 5th round pick.

124 - Jesse James - He may not be an outlaw or a first round pick. NFL.com has him going in the 5th or 6th round. Make up your mind, NFL.com!

27 - Brandon Jacobs - Not to be confused with the former Giants running back and 2-time Super Bowl champ, this Brandon Jacobs plays the same position and apparently doesn't appear on NFL.com at all. Probably not a good sign, new Brandon Jacobs!

94 - Paul Dawson - Here's what the back of the card looks like. This Horned Frog is projected to be a second rounder. If he's taken any lower than that, NFL.com owes us all a Slurpee.

47 - Ameer Abdullah - Okay, fine, I've heard of this guy. Abdullah is not a huge back, but is expected to be a 2nd round pick as well.

1989 Topps Nintendo Game Pack

A seller recently tossed in one sealed pack of 1989 Topps Nintendo Game Pack cards with my latest Sega Saturn video game purchase. I've seen packs of these cards at throwback stores and at card shows, but I've never purchased a pack, yet alone opened one. Let's see what's inside!

I haven't opened a vintage wax pack in some time! Just opening this brought me back to my beginnings with baseball cards. Alright, 5 cards total - 3 scratch offs and 2 stickers...with top secret tips! 

It appears the scratch off cards are actually some type of game...fitting considering the overall Nintendo theme. Scratch off 3 bats and you lose, but if you can find 1 arrow plus either 2 kicks, 3 elbows or 4 punches and you win and advance. I guess there are multiple Double Dragon scratch off cards as it says Screen 4 of 10 underneath the game logo.

Super Mario Bros. 2 scratch off up next. Same premise as above. Scratch to reveal certain items to win the game and advance. This is Screen 3 of 10.

Wouldn't be a complete pack without something Zelda related. This game seems pretty forward. 3 swords and you win or 3 fireballs and you lose.

The stickers come with these hideous, yet cool all yellow backgrounds. Billy Lee here of Double Dragon fame. On the flip side is one of these Top Secret Tips the pack mentioned...however it's for Super Mario Bros. and not for Double Dragon?! Did you read the tip? That's not a Top Secret Tip! That is common sense!

The last card in the pack is a sticker card for Punch-Out!! I must have been the one kid growing up in the 80's that could have cared less for Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. Just never could get into the game. This card's tip is for the Legend of Zelda. At least this is something that not everyone may have known about when originally playing the game back in the day.

Overall this was a fun pack to open and now it's got me wondering how hard it'd be to find a sealed box of this stuff? 

2015 Topps Chipz Baseball

Back again for the 3rd year.  Topps did away with the auto chipz, but there are still relic chipz to find and Mascots and the Black Border Red Foil Chips seeded one per case.

In all there are a bunch of parallels to chase.

PARALLEL CARDS: Red Border - 1:2 packs, Gold Sticker - 1:3 packs, Blue Border - 1:4 packs, Green Border - 1:6 packs, Black Border - 1:10 packs, Black Border Red Foil Sticker - 1 per case

(from Cardboard Connection)

 No checklist yet as the writing on this, but once again chipz aren't numbered.

The chipz are still heavy and poker quality.  

Here's what I got.

The Bernie Brewer is a magnet parallel.  The magnets are easy to find in the gravity feeders since they stick to each other.  

2013 Cryptozic Big Bang Theory season 5 retail

I couple years back, seasons 3 & 4 cards were posted on this site. I've had this pack scanned a good year I would say, and the randomizer finally decided it was time to clear out the folder.

The pack changed from season 3/4 to 5's card release to a darker color and a mocking look of a movie poster. I'll get this out up front: I am NOT a fan of the show at all. I guess I am the minority, as this show does well in the ratings week to week. Then again, so does American Idol, Survivor and Faux News, so take those high ratings with a grain of salt. Also realize what I like. I may just be an idiot. Anyway, back to the cards. Five total card in the pack, and since the fronts and backs are different, you get scans of both sides.

I am not sure if the word mark on the front is the name of the episode or just some phrase. A quick Wikipedia search seems to just make it a random statement from the card manufacturer. Design, like the pack, is darker in color than season 3/4 release. The layout, though, is basically the same. Image on the front, different image on the back (see Topps/Panini/Upper Deck - YOU CAN DO IT!). The only difference from the previous release rear-wise is the back image on a slant. I don't have a protractor to calculate the angle. However, in an imperfect calculation, It's about 5.2 degrees tilt.

Nerds marry and wacky hijinxs ensue.

Any horizontal cards have the back matching to rest of the set, as can be expected. Also, Kaley Cuoco.

I'm guessing card 4 would have been an insert, had I pulled one. Seems to be the standard placement in packs I rip. But I got all base. Also, Kaley Cuoco.

Final card. I didn't mention that the back appears to be a quick write up about the episode. Maybe?? I don't know. Could just be talking about the scene on the front. Again, not a show I watch and really care about. Also, Kaley Cuoco.

2013 Bowman Chrome

I picked this up in a repack box of sorts. 3 cards, short and sweet... let's do this.

BCP94 - Tyler Pike Prospects - Pike was a 3rd round pick a few years ago. He is still at the AA level, but he's just barely of drinking age so we'll give him a little time.

76 - Jake Odorizzi Purple Refractor (121/199) - Hey, has anyone noticed that "Jake Odorizzi" sort of sounds like "eggs over easy"? Am I... not the first to notice this? Fine, then.

8 - Kyuji Fujikawa - Did someone hit the team shop and find Fujikawa a replica jersey to wear? Because that's what it looks like in this awkward photo.