2014 Topps U.S. Winter Olympic and Paralympic pack

I ended up picking up two deep discounted blasters of Topps' 2014 Winter Olymipics blasters.  I've decided to post the best pack out of the two blasters, because I can.

First up we have local Anchorage, Alaska celebrity Kikkan Randall.

Each pack comes with two foil parallels, unless you get a hit.  Here is a bronze parallel of figure skater Max Aaron.

So while I didn't grab an autograph out of either box I also didn't pull any manurelics.  I was lucky enough to hit this pretty awesome Gracie Gold Silver relic card numbered to 50! Sadly my scanner really doesn't like bright pink.  As the swatch is a really cool bright pink, not white.

 
If you're curious what my other hit was out of the other box it was poster boy and two time gold medal winner Shani Davis, sadly Shani didn't place in 2014.

2016 Topps Spring Fever Baseball

 Back again for another year, Topps has really dialed the set back.  Gone is the foil board, as a matter of fact there's no foil at all on the card.  I'm not exactly sure what the design is all about and Topps didn't put too much effort in the back of the cards either.  There are 50 cards to the set and of course the slim possibility that you'll pull an autographed card.  You get 5 cards per pack and a MLB Wacky Packages promo card, Topps is really trying to sell that set.  , I think the promotion was you got one pack for every $20 on Series 1.

I didn't pull an auto, but I did get a nice Kris Bryant card.  I have to say while Topps has taken away all the embellishments from years past the cards do look nice.

2015-16 Panini Donruss NBA

Here's the latest offering from Panini NBA in a Donruss style. I picked this up at a local Bi-Mart store, where you can buy both shotguns and large jugs of wine if you so desire.

35 - Omer Asik - Each border is color coordinated with the team the player represents, which is a nice touch.

28 - Avery Bradley - As much as I don't mind the design on the front, the backs are just atrocious. Lots of wasted space, no photo and minimal stats.

20 - Nik Stauskas

32 - Larry Bird Elite Series - This insert is modeled after the old Elite line. These carry 1:9 pack odds.

121 - Ed Davis - Here's one for my Blazers collection. Ed Davis has been a dependable workhorse off the much improved Portland bench.

112 - Mirza Teletovic

102 - Markieff Morris - One of the creepy Morris twins. He threw a season-long temper tantrum when his brother was traded and now he's finally been traded himself.

192 - Rudy Gay - Gay is surrounded by Suns. Just can't escape 'em.

2006 TriStar Hidden Treasures hockey

Here's a real oddball. You have probably seen the 20 pack TriStar Hidden Treasures baseball repacks. They always boast there is a pack of 1954 Topps or some other ancient wax hidden in a box somewhere. If you have ever ripped one, they are loaded with junk wax - FAR more junk wax than the Fairfield repacks from Target. I came across a hockey repack from with 10 packs and a Hot Wheels Zamboni and I had to buy it. Within were these custom 5 card packs - I got two of them, so here's one.

Again, if you know of TriStar, the pack should look somewhat familiar. The big deal with the hockey pack was the chance at a 51-52 Gordie Howe. I remember these were out many moons ago as a per pack purchase, which is why you see the 99 cents badge. I'll tell you know that you will not be seeing that being pulled from this custom pack. But maybe I get one of the others - vintage, autograph, memorabilia or star rookie. I can tell you none of the first three, and the 4th is subjective. Let's just have at it.

Oh, and since this is a repack, I scanned both sides of the 5 cards and combined them to one image.

Ahhhhh Pro Set. These are a staple in the 100 card Fairfield repacks, but not in the pack repacks. Dig the old time waffle board blocker on Puppa.

Pro Set squared. Vancouver brought back this sweater as a throwback the other day. It's nice they embraced their 70's and 80's look, but they should have gone full ugly with the flying V.

89-90 OPC. Cam Neely is a decent pull, though a couple years earlier would have been nice.

90-91 Score. I'm guessing this might be my star rookie. Can-Am version of the Score release, as you have the duel language and the crossed flags at the bottom.

93-94 Parhurst. Soooooo 90's with the marble background. Krupp bounced around a bit but was a solid blue liner with Cup rings on two fingers.

Now, I mentioned the fact that I got two packs of this custom 5 card only because I had to share something from the other pack...

BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP'ed!!!! Yup - 4 of the 5 cards was Iain Fraser, journey man with a grand total of 94 NHL games. I don't think grading these will increase their value.

2015 Topps Update Series Rack Pack

Greetings!

Hope everyone is having a fun weekend.  Pitchers and catchers reported to camp this past week, a sign that spring's upon us.  The 2016 flagship is the talk of the blogs these days, and Bryce Harper's mug is all over the trading card section of the big box stores.  However, shoved off in the corner are the remnants of last year's set.  Before memories of buying those packs fade away, here's a rack pack of the 2015 Topps Update Series!

There's 400 cards in the Update set.  I'm all for that.  They still have those pesky All-Star and Home-Run Derby cards, but the more the merrier.  Since there's a lot of cards to go through, I'll just fly through them...here's what I got:

#US38 - Michael Lorenzen (RC)
#US30 - David Phelps
#US325 - Matt Kemp
#US205 - Andres Blanco

#US157 - Noah Syndergaard (RC)
#US122 - Marlon Byrd
#US263 - Pedro Strop
#US49 - Mark Canha (RC)

#US63 - Kelvin Herrera (All-Star)
#US88 - Marc Rzepczynski
#US391 - Clayton Richard
#US209 - Prince Fielder (Home-Run Derby)

#US3 - Tyler Wilson (RC)
#US70 - Vance Worley
#US140 - Mark Melancon (All-Star)
#US362 - Rick Porcello (#862/2015)

In the Rack Packs, the Gold Parallel comes 1 in every 2 packs.  More inserts:

#H-66 - Ted Williams (Highlight Of The Year)
#US201 - Jose Altuve (Stats Variation)

The Rack Pack does not list the Highlight Of The Year odds (the retail packs have them at 1 in 4).  The Stats Variation is 1 in 19.

#TMB-9 - Bo Jackson (Tape Measure Blasts)
#FHR-20 - Dalton Pompey (First Home Run)
#WW-8 - Roger Clemens (Whatever Works)

Sorry, I accidentally flipped the Pompey and Clemens cards.  Both Tape Measure Blasts and Whatever Works are 1 in 3 packs.  There's no odds listed in either pack for the First Home Run insert...isn't there gold and silver versions?  I'm too lazy to research that.

#US193 - Angel Castro & Arnold Leon (Rookie Combos)
#US100 - Andrew McCutchen (All-Star)
#US590 - Rafael Martin & Matt Grace (Rookie Combos)

#US275 - Casey McGehee
#US26 - Jack Leathersich (RC)
#US195 - A.J. Ramos

#US162 - Jorge Soler (RC)
#US68 - Albert Pujols (All-Star)
#US167 - Derek Norris

#US336 - Mark Teixeira (All-Star)
#US293 - Cesar Ramos
#US319 - Will Harris (Future Stars)

So...much...cropping...

#US86 - Chris Colabello
#US119 - Jacob Lindgren (RC)
#US189 - Adam Warren

Man that's a lot of scanning.  But I do it for the people.  Here are the backs:

That Stats Variation card is pretty sweet.

Anyway, that's the pack.  More later on.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend, and thanks for reading!