Fat pack wars

At Walmart the other day, and they had restocked their clearance cards. Lots of blasters of 2016 Topps (ick), Score football (yuck), hanger boxes of 2016 Topps (see: ick) and other none interesting discounted items. There was a fat pack of 2016 Allen and Ginter, and since they also refilled the current product, I picked up a pack of the 2017 offering.

So let's pit them head to head and see who wins the battle. Each pack comes with 14 cards, so we can have a pretty even fight. The scoring will just be subjective to my whim on each head to head match up.

Right out of the pack we have the late Jose Fernandez up against Joey Bats. When you put the sets side by side, I am reminded that 2016 looks better. 2017 isn't horrible, but a step down from last year. And man, that Fernandez is riding high. Is that......

YES!!!!! Just like the Gravitational Waves card, Jose is miscut!!!! Holy moley what a nice start. Jose was going to get the win anyway, but sealed it being miscut. Ditto with science over Andrew Miller. So current score is '16 with two and '17 with zero.

Hmmm. Tough one here. Papelbon is also miscut, but gotta love the specs on Urias. Ok, the Dodger puts 2017 on the board.

Side note: here is the backs of those three cards. Only I can be this excited over crappy cards.

In a battle of who has a better left side of the face, I think I'll give the nod to Healy. The seriousness of his expression beats out Steinberg. Plus, I never liked that goofy logo Topps put on the non-baseball players in 2016. Had potential, but never really worked. All tied up 2-2.

Rookie card of former White Sox Frankie Montas against Jonathan Villar. Both players are Dominican, by the way. I think Villar's not looking at the camera is a bit unsettling, so 2016 goes back into the lead.

Adam Jones against a fence loaded with locks. Jones was a lock for a while as an All Star, but has had a couple bad years. The locks take it, tying the score back at 3.

First inserts have Josh Donaldson against Anthony Rizzo. Still hate the Cubs. 2016 back in the lead.

The other inserts put parrots against fish. The Mascots insert is fun, but the fish cards scream Allen and Ginter. Hard to bypass those, so we are tied yet again.

All the minis go into battle at the same time to get an odd number so we will have a winner in this war. I needed the mayor and the Molitor. 2017's are meh. 2016 noses back in front.

Franenset or not, buybacks that are NOT A&G do not belong in A&G!!!! Also, that Trea Turner was one of three cards I need to finish 2016. Down to two cards needed, which is also the same size as the lead 2016 has in this war.

Easiest battle:a mustache that grand trumps all. 7-4 is the lead now. By math, this war is finished, but let's play it out.

Ex White Sox Marcus Semien against Maikel Franco. Now unlike the Villar card, Franco looking away is far less creepy, plus I needed the Franco for the set build. 7-5.

Final cards pit Chris Archer against Brooke Hogan. Now, I can't stand the Hogans. Sure, Hulk was the man at one time, but I use that is the VERY past tense. He was a jerk worker in wrestling and a bigger jerk away from it. And I have to admit, the feud Archer has with the Astros Orbit is brilliantly funny. But I am going to give the nod to Hogan for two reasons. First, I needed the card and second - #feminism.

And there you have i......wait, what?

2017 BONUS CARD!!!! Yup, I think the buyback landed me a 15th card in the 2017 pack. And it's a White Sox. So that brings the final score to 7-7 and DAMMIT!!!!

(goes to Walmart for 2 more packs)

Repack Wars: it's been a while

It has been a while since my last repack wars post. Almost 2 years!!! REALLY????

Man..... I suck at this blogging thing. (shut up GCRL, P-Town Tom, Dime Box Nick, Night Owl, Fuji...er.....everyone).

I have been buying repacks, but long breaking them down before thinking "hey - post fodder". And as repacks go, this is not too shabby. Let's us peer closer into a 10 pack repack from Target. $12. You get to see the front packs, and I selected one showing a fat pack of 2016 A&G and a pack of Panini Contenders. It was more the fact that I could see a pack of 2015 Topps Update when I shuffled the box side to side that I grabbed it, hoping for one of the throwback inserts from that pack. Let's go through the packs from oldest to newest.

First up - 1988 Topps Big Baseball. This pack was loaded with some big names - Jim Abbot, Dave Winfield, Doc Gooden and Mike Scioscia. But I like the fact that Rex here is obviously on some high school field waiting on a grounder. Let's hope Mrs. Wilson over the left field fence brought over Kool-Aid and popsicles to cool down the boys.

Next is a pack of 1992 Stadium Club series 3. I had no idea that set was 900 cards strong. Wow. Again, a couple decent names in the pack with the Kid Gary Carter and a White Sox Bo Jackson. But love this card of Vince Horsman. Be honest - you are all reading his name as "horse-man". Plus, dig the Jagr mullet he is sporting.

Big leap from 1992 to 2013 Panini Pinnacle. Baes of Jeets and Harper, but how are you going to not give the top position to a Museum-ish card of recent 3k hit club member Beltre?

My pack of 2015 Topps Update had no throwback variations. It was a total snooze. Here's a gold card of Byron Buxton. Zzzzz...

Boom. The pack of 2015 Panini Contenders gives up a hit of Jalen Miller. He is toiling in A ball and barring a miracle change in his play, will probably never get a cup of coffee at the big league level.

All 2016 flagship cards just hurt to look at. This is from series 2, and I almost went with either the Bunt code card or that card they put in to set off the door sensors, cuz this pack was dreadful. I went with this Tejeda for one reason: how bad it looks. Or, if you are missing Topps Gallery, how amazing it looks. The over the top enhancements done to the image makes it look like a painting, or just over exposed. Topps - knock it off. License an image from AP or Getty, frame it and click "Print". Moving on...

Another pack from 2016. This is Update, and technically the first of the ten I opened. I cannot say I know all the set layouts to everything released, but the moment I saw this card, I knew there was something special about it. And I was right. Image variation SP of Almora. Don't think this will pay for a mortgage, though. Ebay shows a few sold. One was listed with a BIN of $99.99, but the seller accepted an offer. One week later, another copy sold in an auction format for less than 6 quarters. I do hope that BIN buyer made a REALLY low offer that was accepted.

A second pack of 2016 Update. I passed on giving the best in the pack to a card of Chris Sale. Not from any animosity, but simply to show that Topps can make really nice cards. It just sucks when the card design completely ruins the image selected. While the wide space is nice. I think they could have gone horizontal with this, showing a full body of Coghlan and would still have enough greenery to give this card a high score with me.

2016 Bowman. And if you are scoring at home, this is hit #3 from the box (I count the SP as a hit). Brady has made it to AAA, though got demoted back to AA. Still, he is promising. While the Jalen will head to a blogger out west. this card is destined to leave the US.

Final pack is the 2016 Allen and Ginter. I need three base cards, but non fell out. I am not 100% sure if I need this card, but I select it because of the weird look of the image. What's with Donny Baseball's hat logo? I'm not the only one that thinks it's quite off center, am I? I thought he had the cap on crooked, but if you look at the top of the cap, you can see a notch that looks lie the dip in the cap seam. The interlocking NY is nowhere neat centered on that notch. Even if you just eyeball the edges of the ca bill, that logo is too far to the left.

I obsess over card images. Hope A&G never releases cards of Antony and Cleopatra. Wait - they did release Cleopatra. TWICE!

Repack Wars: The Repack Awakens

Been a very, very long time since I have ripped some repacks and picked the best card in the pack. Recently, at my local Meijer's, I found some of the good ol' 16 pack repack boxes. I haven't seen one of these in a while, and I had to pick one up. But there were two, so a few days later, I picked up the other one. I actually thought about two separate posts for the boxes, but the packs within were pretty close, so I have decided to not just choose the best card per pack, but then put the best against the other box in a winner take all. Make sense.

So, uh, you don't want some 'possom?

All the cards on the left were the first box, while the right side is the other. And away we go.

We'll get '09 OPC out of the way first. I know many people like it, but it's not a design I enjoy ripping into. That being said, a super sweet Upper Deck image of Figgins easily beats the ok Manny from box #2. Not saying much about box 2.

Sticking with Upper Deck, 2008 Baseball Heroes appeared in both boxes. Penny got selected for his high pants, but Carew trumps him because Rod Carew.

Had a couple packs of First Edition in box #1, but none in box two. Then again, no packs of 2008 Topps in box one, so I put the packs against each others. I have no clue why that Castro scanned the way it did. Three tries and it looks out of focus. I'm giving the nod, though to Patterson. Better view of the stands, nice action shot and HOLY CRAP - is that a broken bat?!?! You better believe it is.

No Hunter didn't have the same scan issues and Castro. Go figure. Great shot of him kicking up the dirt. But sorry, Punto making a bunt-o. You lose, Torii.

Both packs are 2010 Topps, series 1 on the left and series 2 on the right. And series 1 was a all black pack, which tells you have crappy all the cards were when the Helton ToppsTown in the best pulled. Still, a Cards Your Mom Threw Out that talks about the lack of black ink on 1984 cards is a nice view indeed, and is better that Mr. Helton.

08 Upper Deck Timeline on the left, and 09 Upper Deck Icons. Icons just sucks. I hate that set more than OPC. Then again, so does Timeline. At least a decent inset was in Timeline. Still just a win in which sucked less.

Last two releases of Upper Deck baseball, with contract (2009) and without (2010). Even though you can hardly see the subject, there is something fun about the Ludwick. However, Hundley is a very nice play at the plate, and one of the few cards in 2010 that completely avoided the lack of licensing, so it wins out.

Some more 2009 Upper Deck, and now we have not just a battle of cards, but of teams, as both best cards happen to be Astros. They also both happen to be at Wrigley. Erstad in left center and Lee leaving home plate. Good appearance of the ball on Erstad's card, plus the green is a nice contrast to Houston's old softball tops.

Remember 2008 and Upper Deck X? Yeah, it's not that great of a design. Gold die cut of Longoria goes up against a X2 insert of Thome. Sox win by default. My blog, my rules.

Well hey now!!!! Box one had a hit with a nice Mets swatch for Astros player Kazou Matsui. No such hit luck in box two. Sorry Justin - you lose.

2008 Baseball Heroes is back, put up against a pack of 09 Artifacts. Do you see I selected a card of a frigging microwave oven as the best card of the Artifacts pack??? Hell - Baseball Heroes could have been a pack of Bieber cards and it would have won over a damn microwave. Fortunately, it's a gray parallel of a flamed out Yankee pitcher, so it's not the Biebs.

Bowman Chrome was the only shiny cards in box one, so I put it up against 2009 Upper Deck Spectrum. Let me check something........ Yup. 2009. With a weird set like Spectrum, one would have thought it was released in the mid 90's, am I right? Purcey was the only name I half knew in the pack, because of a few months spent on the south side. Matty Cakes, you win this round.

Home stretch, guys and gals. Box two had the only Masterpieces I ripped. So no matter the sweetness of a close up shot of a head first slide, it's up against Masterpieces and Bucky "F***ing" Dent.

Ummm....yeah. I hope Mr. Doerr can sign that card for me. I have one TTM from him, but that card is begging for a signature.

2009 Goodwin. To me (unfortunately), the best Goodwin release ever. Think about how this set could have gone up against Allen and Ginter if MLB didn't go exclusive. Would have been fun. Yankee vs Yankee, and Chien Ming Wang makes a 2nd appearance in the battle. Well, he can't do much on the mound, but in Repack Wars, he's 2-0, if only because of the final season of Yankee Stadium logo. Oh, and it's a mini too.

Last, but not least, is 2009 Goudey. I prefer the 2008 release, but 09 is nothing to hate upon. Great homage to a great set. And your eyes are not playing tricks on you, Kemp also gets a 2nd appearance in the wars. But unlike Wang, he goes up again Ichiro, and that sure looks like an impossible challenge on paper...er....cardboard. Turns out, it is. Suzuki 勝利!

So let's add up the points. Box #1 had the best card 7 times, which means box #2 had the best card 9 times and was the better purchase (jersey hit aside). Thus ends another repack wars, where the ultimate winners are you guys, as it just pads my trade box and sooner or later, some one will own an card that went through a battle and came out the other side with four sharp corners and no paper loss.

Repack Wars: HEAD TO HEAD!

A good week or 10 days ago, I picked up an 18 pack box of repacks from Walmart. About a week later, I grabbed a similar box of 18 from my local Meijers. When I opened box #2, I realized I had almost an exact duplicate, in regard to packs, of the first box. There were a few differences, but for the most part I ripped all the same stuff. So, instead of a regular repack war, let's put the two boxes in the arena and have them battle it out for the best repack.

So like Keno, but with colorful pictures? I'm in!

Best card in the pack. Walmart repack is the left image - Meijers is the right. And...DODGEBALL!

This was the pack I opened from Meijers where I knew I had a copycat box. This are Upper Deck Red Sox fan packs. Basically, 25 assorted BoSox cards in one pack. I never new the UD Masterpiece cards came glossy. These do not have the matte finish with the texture like the other Masterpiece cards I have. And this was such a tough call, I'm calling it a push.

Walmart - 1 / Meijers - 1

I did the best to match up the couple non-similar packs. Here is a pack of 2012 Chrome vs an '09 T206. Going to have to go with the die cut. T206 just doesn't do it for me.

Walmart - 2 / Meijers - 1

Last battle between different packs until the end of the post. '09 UD Spectrum against a pack of Leaf Pete Rose. I was shocked to get this Rose pack in a repack box. Since you don't see an autograph, you can bet I didn't pull one. And as much as I despise the guy, Rose gets the win.

Walmart - 2 / Meijers -2

2012 Topps Series one. The Walmart pack was a bore. Gotta love Polanco's derp face. Meijers.

Walmart - 2 / Meijers -3

2012 Topps Opening Day. Meijer pack has that stellar ChiSox celebration card, up against the Walmart Prado sporting the zipper front Braves throwbacks. Walmart takes this round.

Walmart - 3 / Meijers - 3

These two packs are close enough to be the same in my book - 12 Bowman Chrome on the left and regular Bowman on the right. All-Stars vs. stirrups. I am not a Bowman fan, so even with the stirrups, I will have to choose the Franchise All Star card as the better piece of paper.

Walmart - 4 / Meijers -3

2010 Upper Deck series one. I so want to love this set. More of the beautiful St. Louis stirrups, with a turn at second too from Meijers. Walmart has a well framed broken bat shot. In a close vote, I have to give this to the sawed off bat barrell.

Walmart - 5 / Meijers - 3

'12 Series 2. Yup - Cut Above inserts in both. A quick side bar - I randomly matched up the packs before I picked the best for each, so this head to head of the same insert is pure chance. So who does it better - Halladay or Linececum? Even with those dreadful flag caps, Roy takes it.

Walmart - 6 / Meijers -3

Two packs of 2007 Topps series 2. Base of second basemen (and personal collection) Iguchi against an insert of Junior. Oh - who to send that Junior card should it survive this fight? Well, I best decide, cuz it's hard to beat a card of the Kid.

Walmart - 6 / Meijers - 4

09 US Documentary. Dig that rookie card on the right. Now, for you non-Cubs fans - who is it? I would tell you, but the reverse of the card doesn't even list his name. Well done, UD. Doesn't matter - Wakefield takes it. I wonder what pitch he is about to throw? HMMMMMMM....

Walmart - 7 / Meijers - 4

Crappy 2009 OPC. Kemp wins. That's enough about these. 

Walmart - 8 / Meijers -4

More 2012 series two. Great concentration from Mike Stanton, but you cannot beat the king of the hot corner, and certainly not when he is wearing those great Baltimore threads.

Walmart - 8 / Meijers - 5

Yeah - I had more packs of '09 Topps T206. The Meijer pack had another Mantle checklist card like above, but it also had this sweet Mize. However, Walmart sported this rookie of McCutchen.

Walmart - 9 / Meijers -5

Topps series 1 from 2012. That Thome is nice. So is the double play card of Aybar. But Thome has the dreaded Twinkie threads on. Gotta go with the DP card.

Walmart - 9 / Meijers - 6

And again with the '10 UD series one. I had never heard of the Celebrity Predictors insert set. Basically, the two celebs are dating, and the idea is will they stay together. The card is perforated so you can split them apart. Cute idea. But come on - Megan Fox or not, can you see that amazing throwback worn by Wuertz?! I just wish you could see it all. Still, Fox or no Fox, throwback wins.

 What if I battled against a throwback?

Errr.....um......Walmart - 10 / Meijers - 6

2010 Topps Update packs. Couple throws across the diamond - one from 2nd and the other from 3rd. I am going to vote yet again for the not DP card. Good framing on the Blum image. I think the Jays logo did in the look of the other card this round.

Walmart - 11 / Meijers - 6

Quick side vote. Both of the packs happened to have these Million Card giveaways in them. So it's Campy up against Schmidt. No brainer - gotta be the Campy. But it doesn't factor into the score.

Walmart - 10 / Meijers - 6

One more time with some 2007 Topps series 2. If not for the crappy black borders, that Shelton card might vie for the card of the post. Amazing image. Then again, he had to go up against a Joltin' Joe streak card. Sorry Chris.

Walmart - 10 / Meijers -7

And we come to the end with two rack packs: 2011 series 2 from Walmart and 2012 Heritage on the right. How creepy are the floating head stickers? Even with the 60 Years of Topps card back, Murray wins simply for the better facial hair.

Walmart - 11 / Meijers -7

So, with all said and done, the numbers don't lie: Walmart takes the first head to head battle in Repack Wars. Now I have 36 packs to go sort. Sigh....