Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com ---------------------------------------------------------- Image Hosting by PictureTrail.com

Saturday, April 30, 2011

1974 Fleer Real Cloth Basketball Patches

     Hello all. Today we have a few firsts for The Pack Rip Cafe. It's the first basketball offering, the  first cloth sticker product, and first 1974 pack.

1974 Fleer Real Cloth Basketball Patches 

Boston Celtics
The Shots #14
Washington Bullets

    As you can see, the gum has really taken its toll on these stickers, the Celtics took the brunt of the damage. The stickers became completely detached from the backing while the Bullets is much better with just a few stains.
The Backs

    The Shots card didn't take any damage.



     The card is 1974 but for some reason the wrapper has 1969 on it. I assume that's when the licence agreement was made but I am not sure. I found a great write up on this set at The Fleer Sticker Project blog that describes the set.




BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards/Stickers:
3
Teams Represented: 2
Rookie Cards:
n/a
Sub Sets:
 n/a
Parallels:
n/a
Inserts:
1
Hits:
 n/a
Keepers for Me:
 2 (Celtics and Bullets) Anybody who wants The Shot card can have it, first comment asking for it gets it from the freebie box.

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 8.5 out of 10  Great team logos.
Back Design:
 5 out of 10 N/A for the stickers, the "Shots" card back is pretty cool.
Player/Team Selection:  9 out of 10 Great, a legendary team and a team that has changed it's name works for me, only thing better would be the Knicks.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: 2 RBI Single up the middle. 2 very cool cards for my team logo collection and being a 1974 product makes a solid hit. The condition keeps it a single.  


Thanks For Reading!

Monday, April 11, 2011

1997 Topps Finest Hobby Series 2

   Hello all. Today we go with a higher end product from the 90's from Topps that has been born, reborn, changed, and is still around today in a premium form.

1997 Topps Finest Hobby Series 2

#180, C45 Walt Weiss (Rockies)
#207, C28 Todd Worrell (Dodgers)
#207, C28 Todd Worrell (Dodgers)
#220, C29 Dan Wilson (Mariners)

   Each card has 2 numbers, the main number first and then the theme number next. A duplicate card is a bummer right off the bat.



#248, C17 Robin Ventura (White Sox)
#231, C36 Kevin Seitzer (Indians)
Refractor #241, A30 Terry Steinbach (Twins)
#196, A35 Orlando Merced (Blue Jays)
   The refractor is nice but it doesn't "refract" nearly as much as today's do but interestingly the back also has a slight refractor finish to it as well.




#271, A20 David Justice (Indians)
#235, A23 Eddie Murray (Angels)
#247, A24 Benito Santiago (Blue Jays)
#253, A14 Matt Williams (Indians)
#240, P27 Albert Belle (White Sox)
 The Acquisitions part of series 2 are players whe were traded during the season. All cards in this pack were commons (bronze).



Some backs.



BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
13
Teams Represented: 8
Rookie Cards:
0
Sub Sets:
 0
Parallels:
1 (Steinbach refractor) 
Inserts:
0
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me
2 (Murray and Steinbach refractor) The rest are available as usual.


MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 6 out of 10 Good in game pictures,  nice chrome like finish when protective film peeled, hard to read players names, bland design, no team logo.
Back Design:
 5.5 out of 10 So-so design, good in game player picture, team logo, good player info but hard to read due to some backgrounds, only previous years and career stats.
Player Selection: 6.5 out of 10 Decent, 1 HOFer and a couple of stars of the day.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: Fly Out to right field. A refractor and Eddie Murray makes contact but not enough keepers, a design that doesn't grab me, and a duplicate gets an out. I really find the protective films annoying and too hard to peel.



Thanks for Reading!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

1991 Fleer

     Hey again all. Today we go back 2 decades to 1991 here on The Pack Rip Cafe with a pack of Fleer Baseball.

1991 Fleer Baseball


#401 Ricky Jordan (Phillies)
#521 Gerald Young (Astros)
#245 Mel Rojas (Expos)
#469 Mike Devereaux (Orioles)



#626 Gary Wayne (Twins)
#32 afael Belliard (Pirates)
#212 Ramon Martinez (Dodgers)
#190 Ken Williams (Blue Jays)



#666 Andy Hawkins (Yankees)
#55 Jack Armstrong (Reds)
#342 Lance McCullers (Tigers)
#251 Tim Wallach (Expos)



#463 Dave Valle (Mariners)
#28 Curt Young (A's)
Team Logo Stickers (Cardinals Stats on back)


I love the old wrappers with the offers for card related stuff.



BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
15
Teams Represented: 15
Rookie Cards:
0
Sub Sets:
0
Parallels:
0
Inserts:
1 (Stickers)
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me:
 2 (Hawkins, Team Logo Stickers) The rest are up for grabs.

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 6out of 10 Good pictures of in game action shots, bland design,   no team logo.
Back Design:
 8 out of 10 Nice design, team logo, good player info, full career stats, player picture. 
Player Selection:
 6 out of 10
Decent mix of players but no big stars.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: Pop Out into shallow right field. Bland design on the front and no big names make an out. A good back design, 15 cards, and 2 keepers put the bat on the ball.



Thanks for Reading!

Friday, April 1, 2011

2011 Topps Opening Day

    Hello all. I am back here on the Pack Rip Cafe after some time away due to being very busy at work and all the activity over on The Buffet but I now return and have a variety of packs to rip here for your viewing pleasure. I start today with the first 2011 product here on the Cafe. I am a big fan of the Opening Day sets and try to build them each year.

2011 Topps Opening Day


#102 Carlos Ruiz (Phillies)
#26 Gaby Sanchez (Marlins)
#194 Delmon Young (Twins)



Mascots #M-23 Rangers Captain (Rangers)
Opening Day Stars #ODS-4 Josh Hamilton (Rangers)



#138 Chris Young (D-Backs)
#212 Vernon Wells (Blue Jays)



BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
7
Teams Represented: 6
Rookie Cards:
0
Sub Sets:
 N/A
Parallels:
 0
Inserts:
2 (Mascots and Opening Day Stars)
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me:
 1 ( Hamilton ODS) The others are available.

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 8 out of 10 Good pictures, nice design, team logo, same as 2011 flagship with opening day logo, no foil.
Back Design:
 7 out of 10 Nice design, no team logo, good player info, full career stats, same as 2011 flagship.
Player Selection: 7 out of 10 Good, all quality players with some stars.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: Single up the middle. A nice affordable pack with 2 inserts (one I needed) gets a hit.

  Don't forget to leave your rating at the bottom of the post.



Thanks for Reading!