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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces

Today we get artistic here on the Pack Rip Cafe. We have some Masterpieces from Upper Deck circa 2008.

2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces

#65 Jorge Posada (Yankees)
A keeper off the top. Notice the detail of the fans in the background.


#94 Ryne Sandberg (Cubs)
The appearance of a low camera angle is a nice touch.


#18 Alfonso Soriano (Cubs)
The detail on the face really shines on this one.


#81 Ichiro (Mariners)
The sharpness of the arms and uniform make this one sweet. Too bad I messed up the left side by accident. Doh!


BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
4
Teams Represented: 3
Rookie Cards:
0
Sub Sets:
 0
Parallels:
 0
Inserts:
0
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me:
 2 (Posada and Ichiro)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 8 out of 10 Great artwork, nice design, textured like canvas, no team logo.
Back Design:
 8 out of 10 Nice design, team logo, good player info, One year stats and career total, a good write up on a career achievement and that's the year stats they feature.
Player Selection:
 8 out of 10
Very Good

FINAL OVERALL RATING: 2 RBI Single into right field. Two out of four keepers and the fact that this set has really grown on me. I never thought I would miss Upper Deck and they do a lot of stuff that stinks but the Masterpieces sets were great.  


Thanks for Reading!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

2000 Topps Gallery NFL Football Hobby Edition

   Hello all. In honor of opening night of the NFL  football season I have the first football pack here on the Pack Rip Cafe to feature today. I did one of the 2000 Topps Gallery Baseball back in early August and was very pleased with them so when I saw the football version in the Vend-O-Pack machine I had to grab one.

2000 Topps Gallery NFL Hobby Edition


#90 Keyshawn Johnson (Buccaneers)
#83 Steve Young (49'ers)

Steve Young looking like he is hitting Rice in the end zone.



#20 Eddie George (Titans)
#55 Tim Biakabutuka (Panthers)

Eddie George powering forward!



#96 Errict Rhett (Browns)
Apprentices #163 Lavernues Coles (Jets)

A Jets Rookie card, SCORE! 



A couple of the backs.





BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
6
Teams Represented: 6
Rookie Cards:
 1
Sub Sets:
1 (Apprentices)
Parallels:
 0
Inserts:
0
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me:
 1 (Coles)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 8 out of 10 Great pictures, mostly on field action shots, nice design, textured borders like artwork,  no team logo.
Back Design:
 8 out of 10 Nice design, team logo, good player info, gallery notes has interesting player facts, another different factoid related to the picture on front, only 1999 stats (broken down by each month). 
Player Selection:
 8 out of 10
Very good, all stars on their teams, 1 HOFer.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: Extra Point (or a Single in baseball terms) A Jets rookie and great looking cards in general make this pack a hit for me. I am very impressed with this product as I hadn't seen this particular year before just like the baseball I ripped a while back.



Thanks for Reading!

Contest Over At Drew's

Check out an Obak based contest over at Drew's Cards for a chance to win said Obak cards. He also has a great blog so your time will be well spent.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

2009 Bowman Hobby Edition

Today the Pack Rip Cafe presents a pack of 2009 Bowman.

2009 Bowman Hobby Edition

#10 Ichiro (Mariners)
#210 Jonathan Niese (Mets)
#106 Yovani Gallardo (Brewers)
A nice start with 2 keepers off the top.


#BP49 Abraham Almonte (Yankees)
#BP76 Pat McAnaney (D-Backs)
Gold #56 Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox)
Another keeper and a star on a gold parallel.


 
Chrome #BCP83 Seth Garrison (Red Sox)
Chrome #BCP31 Luis Sumoza (Braves)
#83 Justin Duchscherer (A's)
#155 Chris Young (D-Backs)
As usual the chromes look very nice.


Four of the backs.


BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
10
Teams Represented:  8
Rookie Cards:
 1
Sub Sets:
  4 (Prospects and Chrome Prospects)
Parallels:
1 (Gold) 
Inserts:
0
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me:
 3 (Ichiro, Niese, Almonte, the rest except the gold are available)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 7 out of 10 Good pictures, veterans have in game photos and prospects are posed pictures, simple design in Bowman tradition,  no team logo.
Back Design:
 7 out of 10 Nice layout, good player info through the Resume, Skills, and Evolution categories, team logo, only 08 and total stats.
Player Selection:
7 out of 10
Good, a mix of prospects and veterans.

FINAL OVERALL RATING:   Bloop Single  over first base. 3 keepers and a decent mix make this pack a hit.


Thanks for Reading!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

2001 Topps Series 1 Hobby Edition

I'm back after a busy weekend with a pack of 2001 Topps here in the Cafe. This was the 50th anniversary for Topps cards.


2001 Topps Series 1 Hobby Edition
#241 Travis Miller (Twins)
#274 Jeff Brantley (Phillies)
#165 Andy Benes (Cardinals)


#100 Derek Jeter (Yankees)
Gold #222 Hector Carrasco (Twins) sn'd 0586/2001
#230 James Baldwin (White Sox)


#4 Garret Anderson (Angels)
#65 David Cone (Yankees)
#283 Ricky Bottalico (Royals)
#254 Jose Vidro (Expos)


A couple of backs.


BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
10
Teams Represented: 8
Rookie Cards:
0
Sub Sets:
 0
Parallels:
1 (Gold sn'd /2001)
Inserts: 0
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me:
 3 (Jeter, Cone, GOLD)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 8.5 out of 10 Good pictures, all in game action shots, nice design, good border color, nice gold foil for 50 years, team logo.
Back Design:
 8 out of 10 Nice design, full career stats, player photo, nice write ups about player, good player info, no team logo.
Player Selection:
7 out of 10
Good, all players had/have good long careers.
FINAL OVERALL RATING: 2 RBI Single into left field. A great layout on both sides, 3 keepers including a gold makes it a hit. I very much like this set and may have to try and build it down the road. The trend of Yankees and no Mets continues but that's ok.





Thanks for Reading!

Friday, September 3, 2010

2008 Upper Deck X

Welcome to another pack here on The Pack Rip Cafe. This go around will be a 2008 Upper Deck X that I picked up at a dollar store for , you guessed it, a dollar.

2008Upper Deck X

#67 Hideki Matsui (Yankees)
#18 Derrek Lee (Cubs)



Xponential #X-JC Joba Chamberlain (Yankees)
# 46 Lance Berkman (Astros) Die Cut



#17 Carlos Zambrano (Cubs)
#31 Edison Volquez (Reds)



The insert, die cut, and base backs. The Xponential is embossed so the light reflects oddly and creates the appearance of lines that aren't really there.

BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
6
Teams Represented: 4
Rookie Cards:
0
Sub Sets:
0
Parallels:
1 (Die Cut) 
Inserts:
 1 (Expontial) 
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me:
 2 (Matsui and Joba, the others are available except Berkman)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 6.5 out of 10 Good pictures, all standard batting or pitching in game shots, decent design,  no team logo.
Back Design:
 5 out of 10 Plain design, only last 3 years of stats with career totals, has team logo
Player Selection:
7.5 out of 10
Good, all well established stars on their teams.
FINAL OVERALL RATING:Single up the middle. It seems I get many more Yankees then Mets when I do these packs here on the Cafe but thats ok. While I find the base set to be average in design, I love the Xponential inserts and the die cuts are ok too so with the 2 keepers and good players across the board, I have to give this pack a hit.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

1995 Pinacle Zenith

Welcome back Cafe readers. Today I have a pack of 1995 Pinacle Zenith to display for your viewing pleasure.

1995 Pinacle Zenith Edition
#55 John Olerud (Blue Jays)
#75 Mike Mussina (Orioles)
A great start with 2 all stars.


#78 MoisesAlou (Expos)
#108 Wally Joyner (Royals)
One of many teams Alou played for.


Rookie Roll Call #1 of 18 Alex Rodriguez (Mariners)
#105 Travis Fryman (Tigers)
As usual, the camera doesn't to the A-Rod insert justice. These fell at one per 24 packs so I am stoked that it's a player I collect.


A couple backs and the one of the checklists included in every pack.


BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
6
Teams Represented: 6
Rookie Cards:
0
Sub Sets:
0
Parallels:
 0
Inserts:
1 (Rookie Roll Call)
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me:
 2 (A-Rod Insert and Olerud, the rest are available)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 7 out of 10 Good pictures, nice design, I like the yellow brick road look,  no team logo.
Back Design:
  5.5 out of 10  Fair design, average player pictures, interesting concept on the hit location chart but not good enough to carry 75% of the space on the back, no team logo
Player Selection:
7.5 out of 10
Good, 1 sure to be HOFer and a good mix of stars.

FINAL OVERALL RATING:   Single flared over the shortstops head. A sweet looking insert at one per 24 and the Olerud plus a cool front design make this a hit.




Thanks for Reading!