Tuesday, October 30, 2018

1993-94 Topps Basketball Series 2

We got series 1 posted here. How about series 2? Series 2 consists of cards 199-396. 12 cards in a pack with one gold card. Let's rip....
235 - Pete Myers
277 - Grant Long
341 - Harvey Grant
282 - Dino Radja
354 - Wayman Tisdale - the late jazz musician guarding against now current Kings GM Vlade Divac. Talk about foreshadowing
327 - Lafayette Lever - gold card and they put his nickname. Despite being 6'3 he lead the Nuggets in rebounding as well steals. Nuggets retired his jersey two years ago. 
304 - Frank Johnson - game face!
218 - Jud Buechler - became part of Bulls second 3-peat championship sitting on the bench
294 - Mark Price - shooting a three ball
337 - Glen Rice - driving this down the lane
383 - Dennis Scott - you ain't getting the ball
247 - Chris Smith - dribbling it down the court

Thursday, October 25, 2018

2018 Topps Update Series Rack Pack

Greetings!

Hope everyone is doing well.  As we get ready to watch Game 3 of the World Series, it's important to remember the season that was.  And in the baseball card world, Topps tries to do it with it's Update Series.  The 2018 version was released the day before Game 1, although some in the blogosphere got their hands on some before the 22nd.  I also had the opportunity to get a pack before the release date, but passed, opting to get a rack pack after my overnight remodel shift ended Wednesday:


There's 300 cards in the Update set, just like the last 2 years. 

If I remember right, some bloggers commented on the lack of traded players in sets from the last couple of years.  I checked the release dates for the past few years of Update:  2017 was released on 10/18, 2016 was released on 10/19, and 2015 was released on 10/21.  It appears the release dates are around the same time frame, so maybe it was an editorial decision?

Anyway, I decided to look up the transaction date for traded players in the pack I picked up.  Here's what I got:


#US272 - Matt Duffy
#US101 - Chris Sale (All-Star)
#US245 - Jose Pirela
#US148 - Michael Brantley (All-Star)

I still think the All-Star cards should be inserts.  Allows for more bench players and middle relievers.



#US190 - Mike Montgomery
#US109 - Patrick Corbin (All-Star)
#US260 - Lewis Brinson
#US94 - Willson Contreras (All-Star)

Willson's card is Stadium Club-esque (and Panini-esque).  He also believes he can fly.


#US221 - Jose Bautista
#US285 - Shohei Ohtani (RC - Rookie Debut)
#US91 - Zack Lettell (RC)
#US269 - Francisco Mejia (RC)

Bautista started the year with the Braves but was released and signed by the Mets as a free agent in May.  New York traded him to the Phillies on August 28; obviously the Topps cut-off date is before 8/28.

Mejia was traded to the Padres on July 19th, although that card could still be photoshopped.


#US10 - Ian Kinsler
#US177 - Jacob DeGrom (All-Star)
#US201 - Nick Kingham (RC)
#US212 - Alex Bregman (HR Derby)

Kinsler was traded by the Angels to the Red Sox on July 30th.  It would be nice for him to get a ring.


#US80 - Jonathan Villar
#US193 - Christian Arroyo
#US227 - Ketel Marte

Villar was traded from Milwaukee to the Orioles at the July 31st trade deadline. 

Here come the inserts:


#SE-7 - Cal Ripken Jr. (Storybook Endings) 
#S-38 - Sean Manaea (Salute - Game Changers) #130/299
#83-41 - Hyun-Jin Ryu (1983 Tribute)
#LITM-12 - Justin Upton (Legends In The Making)

Storybook Endings come 1 in 3 packs.  I looked up the cards in the set; there's only 10 players on the checklist.  I'm sure there could have been more players, but I'm glad they didn't include Lou Gehrig, which would be a Topps thing to do. 

If I read the odds right, the Manaea card is a 1 in 124 pull.  It's a black parallel.  The Salute insert set is still not necessary.

The 1983's are back and come 1 in every 2 packs.  You get one Legends In The Making card in each rack pack.

Time for the horizontals:


#US178 - Danny Farquhar
#US5 - James Paxton (Checklist)
#US98 - Edwin Diaz (All-Star)

Farquhar made news for nearly dying in the dugout from a brain hemorrhage.  Nice of Topps to give him a card.


#US279 - Isiah Kiner-Falefa (RC)
#US241 - Chris Archer
#US2 - Joe Jimenez

The position given for Kiner-Falefa is awesome...3B/2B/C!

Chris Archer was traded from the Rays at the trade deadline.  Nice card...no chance of photoshopping here.


#US220 - Robinson Chirinos
#US4 - Jorge Alfaro
#US258 - Lance Lynn

Back to back Matt Garza trade cards here, as the Cubs sent Chirinos and Archer, among others, to Tampa Bay for Garza and two others.

Lynn was traded by the Twins to the Yankees on July 30.


#US103 - Luis Guillorme / Gerson Bautista (Rookie Combos)
#US151 - Matt Kemp
#US65 - Yelich & Cain
#US247 - Marcus Walden (RC)

Rookie Combos get dual water slides.  And thanks to Kemp, looks like you can form one long water slide if you line up a bunch of Rookie Combos together.

Here are the backs:



Well, my traded player experiment fell flat with this pack.  It appears Topps got the July trading deadline players but I wanted to see if there were any August transactions made (Bautista's move was obviously too late).  I'll defer to the blogosphere for the final word on the player selection for this year's set.

Anyway, that's the pack.  The inserts still need help (I miss First Pitch) but overall Update does what it's supposed to do.  Enjoy the World Series, and thanks for reading!

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

1993-94 Upper Deck Hockey Series 2

Let's go back 15 years ago with this 12 card pack. Hey I even got it for a quarter. Series 2 take cards 311-575 with World Junior Championship subset. Notable names on WJC from series 2: Jamie Langenbrunner, Michael Peca, Todd Harvey, Jason Allison. Also have 1 card from SP insert set. Careful on opening as cards as some cards are stuck together especially WJC subset.
20 (SP) - Ted Drury - older brother of Chris played 8 seasons in the NHL. He spent remaining years of his career in German league.
505 - Arto Blomsten - played only 25 games in three seasons before returning to Swedish league
523 - Milos Holan - promising career cut short by leukemia. Able to beat it and return to play two seasons in Czech league.
369 - Valeri Zelepukin
374 - Larry Murphy - Hall of Famer in the pack. Currently studio analyst on NHL Network
318 - Patrice Brisebois - took up racing after his career ended. Currently in charge of Canadiens player development
552 - Jason McBain - WJC card as McBain played for Team USA. Spent almost all his career in the minors playing total of 9 games in the NHL.
561 - Deron Quint - played 9 seasons in the NHL before spending remaining decade of his career overseas in Germany and Russia. Last played in 2016-17 season.
473 - Daren Puppa  - warmup shot stretching the leg out. Interesting note he's the only player taken twice in expansion draft in the same year.
474 - Alexei Kasatonov
337 - Iain Fraser - played 94 games in five seasons of NHL before spending his career in Europe
360 - Ulf Dahlen - his shot getting blocked by Shawn Burr


Monday, October 22, 2018

1992 Fleer Ultra Football

It's an early 90s football pack with 14 cards with insert cards of Reggie White (a beast on defense) and Chris Miller (career year with his only Pro Bowl selection) running in 1:7 packs
409 - Wilber Marshall
325 - Luis Sharpe
349 - Nate Lewis - good catch
305 - Fred Barnett
197 - Don Mosebar - at the time he was only third starting center of the Raiders
257 - Gene Atkins - waiting for the punted ball so he can run it
186 - Eddie Anderson
424 - Mark D'onofrio - an injury ended his career after his rookie season. He's currently defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach at University of Houston.
73 - Kevin Mack
28 - Leon Seals
244 - Vincent Brown
283 - Kanavis McGhee
169 - Tim Grunhard
16 - Jesse Tuggle - three-time All Pro spent his entire career for the Falcons becoming one of best defensive players on the team