1993-94 Fleer Power Play Series 1

Greetings!

Hope everyone is doing well.  We were in the Fort Worth area last week for a wedding, and I was hoping to run into an oddball pack so that I can show it off on the site, but alas, it was not meant to be.  I was also hoping to attend a Rangers game with the family, but those plans did not materialize either (they were playing the Red Sox, and it would have been the game after the Yu Darvish no-hit attempt).

To avoid further disappointment, I decided to post my first hockey pack on APTBNL.  I mean, it's good times in hockey, right?  Playoffs are good times.  Blackhawks resting, awaiting the winner of Anaheim / Los Angeles is good times too.  So, here's a pack of 1993-94 Fleer Power Play!

Image borrowed from interwebs since I can't find the wrapper right now.

Years ago, when I was dating the future-Wifey, I would occasionally stop at her part time job to have dinner with her.  The lobby of the building where she worked had a gift shop; sometimes I would loiter there while waiting for her.  One day, the shop was getting rid of a whole bunch of packs - packs that retailed for 6 bucks were going for 2.  Not one to pass up a good deal, I bought a bunch of packs from sets I didn't even collect.  This was one of them.  I'm sure I'll come across others in my never-ending quest to organize my collection.

This was a 2 Series / 520-card set, and the cards measured 2 1/4" by 4 3/4".  Yep, it's one of those oversized sets.  Three cards came in a pack.  The checklist has some familiar names, but since I really didn't follow the game back then, I wouldn't know most of them.  Here's what I got:

#150 - Derek King:  Derek ended his NHL career in 1999-2000 with Toronto, but kept playing in the AHL until the end of the 2003-04 season.  He's currently an assistant coach with the AHL's Toronto Marlies.  I'd give stats and stuff, but I wouldn't know if that would make him a good player.  He played 14 years, so I guess that's impressive.
 

#177 - Josef Beranek:  Josef ended his NHL career in Pittsburgh after the 2000-01 season, but kept playing in the Czech league until the end of the 2009-10 season.  He helped the Czech Republic win the Gold Medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics.  
 

#141 - Stephane Richer - Stephane's NHL career started in 1984-85, playing 1 game for Montreal.  He last played for New Jersey in the 2001-02 season, but did make one comeback attempt in 2004-05 in the Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey.  In 2009, Richer competed as a pairs figure skater on the CBC Television reality show Battle of the Blades.

Here are the backs:

Sorry about the scanner eating the borders again.  They cut off the "1993-1994" underneath the Power Play logo on 2 of the cards.  They're not too bad design-wise - minimal borders, different photo on the back, and full stats (I think).

Anyway, that's all for now.  More later.  Enjoy the playoffs and thanks for reading!

2014 Topps Gypsy Queen Retail

One of the fine saving graces of 2014 Topps series 1 Target blasters was the inclusion of coupons for future releases.  While it is not my favorite set of the year, there was a coupon for a dollar off two packs of Gypsy Queen in those coupon books so while I was out this afternoon buying Mother's Day cards and Doritos, I passed by the card aisle where my love of a bargain overrode my dislike of swirly faux-victorian borders.

 Who could resist Miguel Cabrera's follow through mug?  I opened both packs, this is the first one.

Quite an interesting selection here.  Right away I noticed two things, the borders are less garish than in past years but the Gypsy Queen logo is more bright and conspicuous, so I will call this a design push.  As for the players, well, I always had a soft spot for Juan Gone.  Fister?  I don't even know 'er.  I got another Cabrera, this one of the Asdrubal variety.  I must say, these photoshopped paintings look much better when they use pictures of the players in throwback uniforms.  I got an N174 insert and it is of my favorite, The Franchise.  That nifty card makes this pack worthwhile.  The mini is of speedy outfielder Peter Bourjos, nicely fake painted into his new Cardinal uniform.  Last but certainly not least is the other saving grace of this pack, Pedro Martinez in full god praising mode. I wonder if there is a mini short print with him holding his midget...

Disney Store Star Wars trading cards

Happy Star Wars Day!!!

My daughter, being the awesome daughter she is, was at a mall with a Disney store. They had some events going on for Star Wars Day, which she had to take part in for the paper Medal of Bravery as was as a mini lightsaber balloon thing. She also scored a free pack of cards given away.

Yes, the pack is that dark. What you can't see is the Death Star just behind the Disney store logo. No odds on the back of any parallels, relics or autographs. Just three cards in the pack, but let's rip!

Fairly straight forward design. No foil, which is a very good thing indeed. No name on the front (like we all don't know who it is), but I thought I would make mention of that.

Big write up on the back. And look - DIFFERENT PICTURE! Of the three cards in this pack, though, it is the only one that is different on the back. But they all give that rear photo the hologram look. From the write up and the categories, you can see it is geared towards children. Just a 9 card set. I wonder if all the packs were just the first three cards in the set, or could you make a complete set today if you got the right packs? No idea who printed these cards as there is no mention on the card or the pack. From the lack of foil, I am thinking a company NOT named Topps.

TK-xxx is next, though he is technically card #3. As I mentioned, same picture on the back, just holo'ed.

Walking carpet comes last. See that line on the back of Luke's card that reads "Allegiance: Rebel Alliance"? Chewie's reads "N/A".

2014 Topps Opening Day

This is pretty much the only new pack of baseball cards that you can buy with pocket change. With an increasing number of inserts, a few packs of this stuff can go a long way if you're looking for some trade bait. I've never been totally sold on its necessity, but I do like more and more what you can get for your buck.

179 - Johnny Cueto - Like the past 4 years, the 2014 offering has the same design with plain grey replacing the foil from the base cards.

71 - Jordan Zimmermann

2 - Dustin Pedoria - He has a face of a middle infielder who likes to get dirty.

ODS-17 - Dustin Pedroia Opening Day Stars - I am a big fan of this insert set, year after year. I want them all.

42 - Mariano Rivera - We've already seen this card a bunch from the base set, but like most of the cards they duplicated the photo for the Opening Day brand and gave the card Mo's uniform number.

186 - Jonathan Schoop - Schoop. Schoop-a-Doop. Schoop-a-Doop.

87 - Jayson Werth - Check it out, guys! Bryce is shooping!

2012 Press Pass Yo Gabba Gabba

I've never actually seen an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba but it's something I feel like I should know about culturally. From what I've gathered the show is universally loved by people my age who have young children and I imagine that I'll be watching them along with a bundle of joy someday myself. So let's get the training started!

My first card is of Mr. Lizard one of the side characters from the show...for each of these cards I've scanned the front and back to give you an idea of what they look like.

#37 Mr. Lizard

My sticker card is of Brobee who is the youngest of the gabba monsters and is the drummer in the band. Looking at the card I didn't even realize that it was a sticker until flipping it over.

#15 Brobee!

The set also includes cards devoted to some of the songs from the show. This one's for the show's theme song:

#64 Yo Gabba Gabba!

Next we have a Story Time Book card that doesn't make too much sense out of context with the rest of the cards in the set.

#90 The Story Time Book

And last but not least we have another song card...this time for "I Love Bugs":

#68 "I Love Bugs"

2006 Upper Deck Series 1 Fat Pack

Greetings!

Hope everyone is doing well.  April 23rd was the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field, but I totally spaced out on that and didn't write up a post to celebrate the occasion.  That's alright, I guess; the Cubs didn't start playing there until 1916.  So, barring a post from one of my associates (I don't like posting on APTBNL when someone else posted that day), I'll mark the 100th anniversary of the Cubs' start at Wrigley with some sort of post on 4/23/2016.  Stick around!

Anyway, time to remove some scans from the computer.  It's a 2006 Upper Deck Series 1 Fat Pack!

Again?!?!?

Oh yes, this is the 5th 2006 Upper Deck pack posted on the site.  These guys pulled out all the stops that year.  I only scanned a few cards, including the Team Upper Deck Inserts.  Here's what I got:

Top Half

#291 – Anderson Hernandez (RC)

#6 – Dallas McPherson

#234 – Terrence Long

#251 – Hong-Chih Kuo (RC)

#460 – Josh Rupe (RC)

#175 – Dmitri Young

#264 – Prince Fielder

#381 – Robert Rick

#96 – Mark Prior

#404 – Felix Hernandez

#119 – Scott Podsednik

#252 – Oscar Robles

#12 – John Lackey

#468 – Aaron Hill

#183 – Placido Polanco

#UD-4 – Alex Rodriguez (All Upper Deck Team)

#UD-38 – Manny Ramirez (All Upper Deck Team)

The McPherson and Long cards are very cool.  If Upper Deck still had a license, would they be providing excellent photography on their cards like they did then, or would they follow the existing image route Topps does?

Bottom Half

#196 – Juan Pierre

#405 – Gil Meche

#120 – Tadahito Iguchi

#180 – Mark Woodyard (RC)

#308 – Gary Sheffield

#23 – Claudio Vargas

#226 – Jimmy Gobble

#378 – Khalil Greene

#93 – Jeromy Burnitz

#24 – Conor Jackson

#480 – Roy Halladay

#195 – Juan Encarnacion

#430 – Matt Morris

#145 – Grady Sizemore

#297 – Robert Andino (RC)

#UD-13 – Hideki Matsui (All Upper Deck Team)

Hey Jeromy, don't leave Juan hanging!  Or, um, hey Juan, don't leave Jeromy hanging!

Here are the Team Upper Deck Inserts that came in the Fat Packs.  Note that I got an extra one...win for me!

Which of these things is not like the other?

Anyway, that's the pack.  Everyone have a great week...thanks for reading!

1992 Impel Star Trek The Next Generation

I haven't ripped have any baseball packs in a long while but I don't have any on hand so we'll try something a bit non-traditional, a pack of Impel Star Trek The Next Generation from 1992. Having been out of the blogging game full time for a while I really have no memory where I picked these up from...a discount bin somewhere.

First up we have card #94...this emergency maneuver is when the primary hull is separated from the secondary hull of the ship...you might remember this happening in Star Trek Generations.

#94 Emergency Landing of Saucer Module

Sela is Tasha Yar's daughter from an alternate timeline and is one of the major antagonists of the Federation in the later seasons of The Next Generation.

#28 Sela

The Ferengi Alliance is the governing body of the Ferengi people and advancing in the governmenet was based on bribery.

#81 Symbol of the Ferengi Alliance

Some of these cards have some really great designs...

#45 Ship Schematic Dorsal Plan View

...just check out the reverse side with the high level of detail. 

#45 Ship Schematic Dorsal Plan View Back

The Klingons were always my favorite villains in the Star Trek universe and so when The Next Generation made them essentially Federation allies I was a little disappointed.

#33 Klingon Vor'cha Class Attack Cruiser

Okay, we can just toss this card in the trash.

#90 Principal Photography

For the uninitiated, Data was essentially the Spock of the Next Generation series...as an android he was very analytical and typically each season of the series, for one reason or another, Data would acquire emotions for a short period of time.

#6 Lieutenant Commander Data

Here's what the reverse side look like on typical cards. 

#6 Lieutenant Commander Data Reverse

Lieutenant Reginald Barclay was an engineer on the Enterprise who would appear from time to time as comic relief. He also appeared on several episodes of Star Trek: Voyager.  

#15 Lieutenant Reginald Barclay

These last two cards are only for the hardcore Star Trek fan who want to have a card representing every possible ship or part of the Enterprise.

#58 Shuttlepods

#106 Navigational Deflector Systems