1983 Donruss Action All-Stars

I recently received two packs of the 1983 Donruss Action All-Stars and opened up one of them on my blog. I reserved the other one for this blog, which I will show now:

60 - Set Checklist

This card was staring out of the top of the cellophane packaging, not exactly an enticement for a young collector to pick up that particular pack. But it is numbered, which means you need it to finish the 60-card set!

54 - Richie Zisk, Mariners

I interviewed Richie Zisk once. I'll bring that up every time I pull one of his cards. He was one of my favorites as a kid, back when he was a Pirate and Ranger.

48 - Dave Stieb, Blue Jays

Dave Stieb has received quite a bit of retro appreciation in the last couple of years. But anyone watching baseball in the 1980s knows already how good he was then.

 

 

50 - Lance Parrish, Tigers

There was one of those best-of-the-'80s vote-offs on Twitter last week in which the top catchers were listed. Parrish won out over Gary Carter, which shocked me. But looking at the stats an argument can be made for both. Both were World Series champs in the '80s.

Mickey Mantle puzzle pieces

I've forgotten what numbers the individual three pieces are and I don't feel like figuring out where I put it.

44 - Carl Yastrzemski, Red Sox

All right, some Hall of Fame action! Yaz was a great pull at the time as he was winding down his career and tributes were everywhere. Heck, his cards were a great pull any time of his career.

 

Look at all those stats! Donruss even found space to squeeze in some bio information, including his hobbies!

I have a theory that the Action All-Stars cards went overboard on stats to show all the collectors complaining about the limited amount of stats on Donruss' main sets that Donruss had a mean stat game, too.

38 - Rod Carew, Angels

Two Hall of Famers to wrap up the pack! Interesting photo choice for Carew.

That's the end. I mentioned over on my blog that I remember buying these cards in 1983 from a deli in town that had all kinds of oddball sets, like Topps stickers and Fleer stamps, which my regular card source did not have.

Good times.

2022-23 Panini Donruss Basketball Value Pack

Greetings...

Hope everyone is doing well.  Once again, Ol' Jafronius is off with his timing, as the plan was to get this posted during the NBA Finals.  Instead, the Nuggets took care of business and had their parade already, and we're a few days past the NBA Draft.  Oh well, here's the pack:

30 cards for 7 bucks, which is tolerable for me.  Let's see what I got (spoilers - I wasn't disappointed):

#42 - Saddiq Bey

#99 - Jaylen Nowell

#57 - Grayson Allen

#15 - Jalen Brunson

Here's the base card design.  A little too much border for me.  The 3D effect (duplicating the Donruss Baseball design) contributes to the waste of space, but still looks alright.

#72 - Bam Adebayo

#29 - Lonzo Ball

#34 - Ayo Dosunmu

#91 - Michael Porter Jr.

A couple players from my hometown team here.  Ayo had a disappointing follow-up from his rookie campaign, but still has plenty of upside.  Lonzo though, may be done.

#49 - Myles Turner

#7 - Kyrie Irving

#65 - Gordon Hayward

I believe Kyrie's a free agent again.  Is he talented?  When healthy, yes.  Is he worth the risk?  I don't think so.

The next card was faced backwards and I didn't pay attention to the card back enough to notice what I picked up:

#SS-FRN - Frank Ntilikina (Signature Series)

Sure, it's not a big-time name.  It's not even a small-time name.  But he's played more NBA games than me.  Frank doesn't have a card in the base set, just in the Signature Series.  Still very cool to get an auto in a retail pack.

#167 - Doug McDermott (Holo Green Laser Parallel)

#19 - Dominique Wilkins (Bomb Squad)

The inserts portion continue with what I think is a Holo Green Laser Parallel.  As you all know Panini goes all out and then some with their parallels.  Great Bomb Squad insert of The Human Highlight Film.

#19 - Dalen Terry (Great X-Pectations Holo Pink Laser Parallel #10/50)

This is pretty nice in hand too.  The colors match the team colors, making the parallel even better.  A pack with both an autograph and a numbered parallel is an absolute winner in my book.

#177 - Max Strus

#200 - Bruce Brown

#158 - Tyus Jones

#116 - Stephen Curry

Back to the base cards.  Since I don't buy many packs, it's good to get base cards of the superstars.

#173 - Derrick White

#130 - Talen Horton-Tucker

#110 - Gary Payton II

#168 - Josh Richardson

There's 200 cards in the base set, with 50 additional rookies.  Here's the checklist for those interested.

#126 - Luke Kennard

#183 - Reggie Bullock

#140 - Harrison Barnes

#197 - Andre Drummond

I think I prefer the transaction note on Drummond's card to photoshopping.  If you want the player in the right uniform, wait until the Update set.

#216 - AJ Griffin (Rated Rookie)

#238 - E.J. Liddell (Rated Rookie)

#211 - Ousmane Dieng (Rated Rookie)

I'm not sure why Ousmane's head can bust into the border but his hand cannot.  Liddell's hand was able to though, and look what it cost him!

Here are the backs:

Anyway, that's the pack.  Easily the best one I've opened in a very long time.  Have a good week everyone, and thanks for reading!

2023 Chip Ganassi Racing

I got an oddball pack ready to be opened . It's this year's Chip Ganassi Racing trading card set. It's the first time the team put out a trading card set. The set consist of 37 cards with 6 cards being autographed and numbered to 100. The pack contains 8 cards. I obtained the pack when they offered it on their social media page last month for $10 a pack with all proceeds going to American Legion. I jumped at chance to and it came in today. I have a few singles from the card set back in April at Texas Motor Speedway during the autograph signing when CGR drivers Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, and Takuma Sato gave them out after autographing the cards. Time to open the pack.

CGR-02 - Scott Dixon - six time Indycar champion and 2008 Indy 500 winner. He's currently 2nd all-time in wins behind legendary A. J. Foyt. I already have this card autographed by him. Nicknamed "The Iceman"

CGR-05 - Marcus Armstrong - his first season in Indycar driving only on road and street courses with Takuma Sato driving on ovals. Currently the leading rookie in Indycar this season despite not driving in two races, both of them ovals. There's a chance he might drive an oval this season. The official driver entry list for car no. 11 listed as TBA for the Gateway race.

CGR-08 - Sebatien Bourdais - former Indycar and Formula 1 driver turned to driving IMSA sports car full time joining the factory-back Cadillac team last year. Won three races last year and have already picked up a win this season at Laguna Seca.

CGR-10 - Earl Bramber - a driver I never heard til now. He's driving the team's Cadillac hypercar in World Endurance Championship along with IMSA. Took home a victory at 12 Hours of Sebring last year in the DPi class along with two other drivers.

CGR-13 - R.J. Anderson - another driver I never heard along another series. He's driving GMC Hummer EV in the Extreme E series. Found out Extreme E series debut in 2021.

CGR-30 - a foil card talking about team's successes from last year. This one about Earl Bramber winning 12 Hours of Sebring in the DPi class.

CGR-16 - another foil card. Scott Dixon became the all-time Indy 500 lap leader passing 4-time Indy 500 winner the late Al Unser, Sr. He dominated the race but ends in tears when he got penalized for going over the pit speed.

CGR-24 - the final card is a foil card. Scott Dixon won the pit stop competition at Nashville street course. Wouldn't it be much better to say he also win the race breaking the tie with Mario Andretti becoming the sole no. 2 in the all-time wins list?

Hope you enjoy the oddball pack from Chip Ganassi Racing. Even though they sold out of pack hope they offer more later on this season. If you catch Indycar race in person there's a chance you get a card from one of the drivers during the autograph signing. Indycar Detroit Grand Prix is this weekend. Let's see if the team's four drivers can take pole and win the race.