2004 Bowman Chrome

One of the oddball tables at a recent card show I attended had some packs that you just don't see every day. There were several things from what I call "The Lost Era", the years I didn't collect cards. This was roughly from the mid-90's bust to 2005 or so, around the time that people my age apparently start to revisit things from their youth that made them happy - or at least slightly amused. The packs weren't incredibly cheap, but I took a stab at six different packs for the total of $10. Here's one of those packs.

41 - Ryan Ludwick - Ludwick proved to be a key cog in the NL Central-winning Reds machine last year, so it's troubling that he was lost with a major shoulder injury on Opening Day. Of course, as a Cards fan, I should be delighted that the rival team suffered a blow like this. Ludwick was a Cardinal at one point, and is an easy guy to root for. He lost a great portion of his early career to serious injuries, but became an All-Star just shy of his 30th birthday.

202 - Carlos Quentin - It's rare when there's a fight in sports that's barely polarizing at all. Only the most strident of Padres fans could seemingly defend Carlos Quentin's actions. No matter what you think of Zack Greinke or the Dodgers, it's hard to side with Quentin there.

32 - Jorge Posada - A friend of mine would constantly remind me when Jorge Posada's name came up that the now former Yankees catcher would willingly, perhaps even blissfully urinate on his own hands. He's not exactly the most reliable and informative person, but a little Googling turns up some information about this... thing.

162 - Felix Pie - Pie never set the world on fire in his opportunities with the Cubs and Orioles. He's playing at the AAA level in the Pirates system currently, which means we'll probably see him back in the league at some point.

1990 Donruss

Yes, you are reading that title right. I bought a repack from Target and got not only a regular pack of 90 Donruss, but a freaking rack pack of the product too. Haven't decided what to do with the rack pack, but I was pretty shocked we have never ripped open one of these here at APTBNL.

I do not remember those so orange. Anyone remember the contest? Grand prize was $10k and a trip for 4, with hotel, to the 1991 All-Star game. Frist prize: $500 and a trip for 4 to Cooperstown. 2nd was a Rawlings baseball glove. 3rd, an official 1991 All Star cap. 4th netted you a baseball and 5th was 5 packs of Donruss. Value of those 5 packs? $2.50. Ahhhhh, the good ol' days. But I am getting off tracks. 16 cards and the famous Donruss puzzle piece, with Yaz being the star this year.

Mike Bielecki, Pat Shields, Bob Kipper and Boever. The lighting on the Sheridan and the Kipper is pretty poor. Boever looks WAY too happy.

 

 

I GOT BIP'D!!!!

Jeff Reed, Bip Roberts, Tom Brunansky and Randy Ready. Wow.....someone wake me up.

Joey Belle, Greg Hibbard, Jamie Moyer and Bryan Harvey. A pre-Albert, a nice White Sox, a 5th year Moyer (which would make him like 42 or 43 years old on the card) and a nobody.

Rex Hudler, Mike Gallego, Steve Farr and Brad Komminsk. By the way - the font totally sucks on these cards. The names are tough to read. The Hudler is nice in that I seem to see just the blue road Expos unis on cards. The whites looked much nicer.

 

Here's the puzzle piece and the back for old times sake. Almost as orange as the wax. Well, that was fun. Junk wax at its finest.

1979 Topps Regular Baseball

It has been quite a while since I posted here last, but since I am in full-swing with my "Tribecards from Outer Space" daily pack break, I thought I would share some of the packs that I open.

Today, I am bringing you a pack of 1979 Topps Baseball Regular.  Before I start, though, I would like to point out that this pack was purchased from eBay and had a nearly perfect wax sealing on it. Usually, that means the pack was opened, searched, stars removed and replaced with commons or not-quite-stars, then heat-sealed with a blow dryer. In any case, it is still fun to open a pack from the 70's.

We've got Willie Horton, Rick Bosetti, and Rick Auerbach. I like that the photos are nearly the full size of the card with just a hint of border. Of course, this was the 70's, so centering might be all over the place. The photos themselves bring back memories of Polaroid cameras. Or, really, the old 110 film camera that I carried around as a kid. I digress. Often.

Next up, Doug DeCinces, Roger Freed, and the Braves Checklist. Had I opened this pack in 1979, I would have been thrilled to snag a DeCinces card! I have several of his cards in my "Non-Indians Players" collection.  When I was a kid, we never thought about condition, so the Braves checklist would have been marked up with any Braves cards I had.

Finally, at least as far as scanned photos go, we've got a Rangers Prospects card, Ed Glynn, and Fred Lynn.

When we were kids, my brother and I had a nickname for each of the card sets. This was "The ribbon kind," I believe.

The entire pack consisted of these cards:

Willie Horton - Blue Jays
Rick Bosetti - Blue Jays
Danny Darwin, Pat Putnam, Billy Sample - Rangers Prospects
Rick Auerbach - Reds
Doug DeCinces - Orioles
Mike Jorgensen - Rangers
Ed Glynn - Tigers
Enrique Romo - Mariners
Brian Downing - Angels
Fred Lynn - Red Sox
Roger Freed - Cardinals
Bobby Cox - Braves Team Card

1991 Pro Trac's Formula 1

 

Early 90s is a strange time for the hobby. They would print anything out. This is one of them. Auto racing cards been around. Maxx printed NASCAR while All World printed Indycar. This Canadian company called Pro Trac's printed 200 card set of 1990 and 1991 Formula 1 season. Formula 1 is a racing series that raced on road and street circuits all over the world. Teams built the car and drivers raced it. The series is still on its high at the time before big money ruined the enjoyment but that's another story. On this pack I got 11 cards instead 10 as listed. Here are the cards.

31 - Lotus 102B (Johnny Herbert) - front of the cards are black border while the back is white filled with info on drive, engine, management, and best finishes in constructor standings. Lotus 102B is 1991 car driven by Johnny Herbert. He drove the car in 7 out of 8 races he entered with his best finish 7th in 1991 season. He continued drive for the team til Lotus left the series at end of 1994 season. He would go on driving various teams winning three races. Last drove in the series in 2000.

44 - AGS JH25B (Fabrizio Barbazza) - 1991 is final season for AGS as the team struggled to qualify for the races. Fabrizio Barbazza couldn't qualify the car in 12 tries. Barbazza would bounce around various series til a career ending accident at Road Atlanta.

 

 27 - Lotus 102B (Mika Hakkinen) - Another Lotus car this time with Finnish driver Mika Hakkinen. He drove for the team for two years before becoming McLaren test driver in 1993. Once Michael Andretti left McLaren he took over the car and stayed with the team retiring in 2001. In that span he won 20 races and two championships (1998, 1999).

 

85 - Canada -  a track card. Race action on the front, back of the card showed track design, the circuit, miles, and records. The track is Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal where they been running since 1978. A dispute between FIA and the circuit (money) led them not have a race in Canada in 2009.

 

81 - USA - the street circuit in Phoenix. Ran for three years from 1989-1991 to laughable attendance. In 1990 ostrich race in Chandler outdrew the race. After 1991 season Formula 1 did not run in US til 2000 at Indianapolis road course. They would run at Indy til 2007 when big money rear its ugly head. USGP made another return in 2012 this time at road course in Austin.

 

 96 - Australia - the race was held at streets of Adelaide where it ran from 1985-1994 before moving to current location at Albert Park. At time it was host to final race of the season.

 94 - Spain - Catalunya track where raced there 27 times. This year they are going be at Valencia track.

 135 - Honda RA101E - Honda V10 engine Tyrell Racing used in 1991.

 77 - Nicola Larini - hey look a driver card and it has stats. In 1990 he drove for Ligier finishing the season without any points. His best finish of his career in 2nd in 1994 in the dark weekend as two drivers were killed including three-time champion Aryton Senna.

 

146 - Nelson Piquet/USA - race action card of three-time champion Nelson Piquet mentioning his third place finish in USGP.

 131 - Nigel Mansell - Nigel in a Ferrari where he drove for the team in 1989 and 1990. A colorful career as he won 31 times and a championship in 1992. He left the series driving for Indycar where he won the championship there then left after embarrassing 1994 season returning back to F1. His return in 1995 is more embarrassing driving in two races for McLaren before completely quitting in dramatic fashion.

This pack features three cars, four tracks, one engine, two drivers, and driver highlights. I rather have few more drivers and cars.

2007 Topps Series 1 Blaster Box Ted Williams 406 Pack

Greetings!

Hope everyone's doing well.  Got a quick one for you all this evening.  Continuing on my never-ending reorganization quest, there was a pack of this tucked away in a 2007 Topps blaster box...here's the pack of 2007 Topps Series 1 Blaster Box Ted Williams!

Nice placement of the different logos, Topps.

So, it would appear that back in 2007, you could have headed over to Target and purchase blaster boxes of Series 1, which contained an exclusive 3-card pack of Ted Williams 406 cards.  I guess this is before the Target Reds and Wal-Mart Blues of today.  According to my 2 year old Beckett, cards were seeded 1 in every 4 packs.  The cards chronicled the 1941 season, where Ted Williams became the last player in the Major Leagues to have a batting average over .400.  The cards came in a clear package so there was no need to scan it.  Here's the 3 cards I got:

TW18 - June 7-12
TW12 - May 29
TW28 - August 19-23

Well, then, that's a disappointment.  Why couldn't Topps use different photos for each of the cards?  You're buying the card just for the BA!  Here's the backs of the 3 cards:

The backs redeem the set a little, with the stats to date and a brief write-up of the games covered.  However, it's not enough to overcome the disappointment of the repeat image used for all of the cards.

Anyway, that's it for now.  Enjoy the rest of the week...thanks for reading!

Fairfield $5 Jumbo Repack Basketball Edition

Greetings!

Hope everyone is doing well.  Since it's Final Four weekend, I thought I'd put up some basketball cards...but it's not just any old pack.  It's a Fairfield $5 Jumbo Repack...Basketball Edition!

It doesn't look like that HH player's gonna make that dunk.

The Baseball version has been showcased here before and I've seen the Football ones as well, but I've only noticed the Basketball version at Target in the last couple of months (and a Hockey one has popped up in the last couple of weeks).  I decided to try my luck with one.

There's no need to bore you all with all of the cards, so here are the highlights.  From the top half:

4 inserts, all from mid-90's sets.  Here are the backs:

 

Here's some of the commons in the top half:

 

 

I always found the soft-light they used in those Collector's Choice cards amusing.  I was surprised to find the Finest and Flair cards in the pack...same goes for the SPx Kapono card below (apologizes for the scan; that's supposed to be a spiky-haired Jason staring at you).

 

Gotta love Shackelford's flattop.  And I do like the Mount Mutombo vs. 'Zo duel in the vastness of space card.

The pack promised 5 rookie cards and I got them in the top half (that sensitive Theo Ratliff is also a rookie card, making it 6).  I haven't seen that white border 2007-08 Topps card before.  A quick internet search revealed that it's part of a 14-card set (Brandan is #8 of 14).

To wrap up the top half, here are some common card backs:

I like how the Ultra card has Dale Davis with and without hair.  And how did Skybox track down Sam Mitchell on a construction site?  BTW, Sam's shown as a Pacer on the front of the card.  Finally, the Top 20 Jammer card is of Tim Perry, from 1992-93 Fleer Ultra.  It has a NBA Jam Session logo on the front of the card.  Take a look at the stats on the back...Dunks Per Game Average?

OK, time for the bottom half:

The foursome above shows the range of cards in the pack.  You've got a logo-less Pippen from 1992 Wild Card, a 1991 Star Wilkins, a 1994 Olympic 'Zo, and a collegiate Press Pass.  I like the Dominique card, even though you can see the crease going though his shins.

More commons.  Surprised by the Chrome and the Topps Gallery.

Got a few more rookies.  The Brewer is #7 of 14.  The oldest card I got was the 1981-82 Moses Malone.  I'd like to say the scanner cut off the side of the card, but that's really how it looks.

Might was well show some card backs:

I don't remember why I scanned the Luther Wright back.  Probably because most of the card is devoted to the big Topps Stadium Club fonts and not to the player's stats.  As for Negele Knight, take a look at the background.  The white team's got the ball (it's being covered by the copyright info).  You can clearly see 3 of the red team's players in the image; they appear to have no idea where the ball is.  I even like #4 (standing on Negele's right shoulder), looking at the stands, guarding no one.

In case any of you were interested in the range of years in the pack, here it is:

81-82 – 1

89-90 – 2

90-91 – 10

91-92 – 4

1992 – 1

92-93 – 16

93-94 – 20

94-95 – 8

95-96 – 9

96-97 – 8

97-98 – 3

98-99 – 3

99-00 – 3
00-01 – 2

01-02 – 3

02-03 – 1

04-05 – 2

07-08 – 4

As you can assume, most of the cards came from basketball's junk wax era.  Still, overall it was a decent pack for five bucks.  I was expecting all commons, so getting some higher end cards like Chrome and SPx was a nice surprise.  Anyway, that's it for now.  Have a great weekend...thanks for reading!

1993-94 Star Pro Basketball

I knew as soon as I looked at the wrapper that I had run into something special. This mysteriously plain wrapper, lacking any information other the brand name, "Pro Basketball", and the chance to "win stuff!" all screamed A Pack To Be Named Later to me. I'm not gonna lie, folks. Even at $1 a pack, this is hot garbage on a sweltering day. Once upon a time, Star used to be a cool, mysterious brand that made some highly sought after NBA cards during years where no one else was up to the task. By 1993, apparently devoid of any license to print anything that anyone would want, they came up with this.

18 - Xavier McDaniel - Well, hey, at least it's trying to be NBA basketball. After looking at the wrapper, I honestly had no idea what to expect.

3 - Harold Miner - Star cards were never much to look at or printed on the most substantial card stock, but they managed to only add a thin bit of UV coating to their standard minimalist look, while exploring some fonts that were straight out of an Apple ]['s Print Shop software or something.

64 - Tim Hardaway - Some cards have stats, while others just have bios. I do give them props for managing to do what Panini can't even figure out in their current sets by including a second photo of the player instead of just lazily cropping the front photo and using it a second time. Of course, they're airbrushed to hell and back.

22 - Walt Frazier - This seems to suggest that there's a "Career Stats - 2" card out there somewhere.

45 - Bill Walton - Star used to make mini sets for individual players and must have enjoyed it so much that they put multiple cards of the same player in their larger sets. I'm guessing Walton has other cards besides the one he's pictured on here, as a seldom seen San Diego Clipper.

37 - Harold Miner - Multiple Harold Miner cards in the same pack? Not a good sign. I wonder what "Baby Jordan" is up to these days.

76 - Oliver Miller

52 - Chris Mullin - This is one of the few cards in the set where the airbrushing is not quite as jarring. It all has to do with team logo placement, I suppose.

77 - Kevin McHale - Surely they could have picked a better photo of McHale to doctor. Not only did someone have to go to work on two different iconic jerseys, but they really managed to mangle McHale's.