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Monday, June 25, 2012

2008 Upper Deck Timeline

    Hello all. Today I continue with the repack box with a 2008 Upper deck Timeline pack. They say "look for 2 inserts cards in each pack, on average" but they should really call them subsets as all the cards are all numbered in one continuous series. Still nice to know you will get 2 specialty cards in a pack.

2008 Upper Deck Timeline

#38 Travis Hafner (Indians)
#8 Chipper Jones (Braves)



#44 Frank Thomas (A's)
Gold Parallel #38 Travis Hafner (Indians)

92 UD Minors #115 Felix Pie (Cubs) RC
UD Timeless Teams #265 Ryan Braun (Brewers)

Some Backs
     It's good when parallel colors are reflected on the backs of the card as well.




BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
6
Teams Represented: 5
Rookie Cards:
 1 (Felix Pie) 
Sub Sets:
 2 (92 UD Minors, UD Timeless Teams)
Parallels:
1 (Gold)
Inserts:
0
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me:
 1 (Frank Thomas) The rest are available

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 6 out of 10 Good action pictures, nice design, good use of team colors, a little bland,  no team logo.
Back Design:
 7out of 10 Nice design, team logo, good player info, different picture than front, good player factoids , only career total stats.
Player Selection:
7 out of 10
Good, stars and good players only.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: 2 out  Single up the middle. A Frank Thomas, a gold parallel, and two inserts (really sub sets) and good overall players scores a single for me.

Don't forget to leave your rating below.



Thanks for Reading!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

2008 Topps Opening Day

    Hello all, today I have the second pack from the repack box to present here on the Cafe. I have a pack of 2008 Topps Opening Day. I believe this is the last year they made the cards look different from the flagship set by changing the border color along with adding the Opening Day logo. I wish they would still do that but since they don't I will no longer build the sets. 

2008 Topps Opening Day


#32 Curtis Granderson (Tigers)
#63 Chris Duncan (Cardinals)



no # Mascot Stomper (A's)
#151 Chris Carpenter (Cardinals)



#218 Joey Votto (Reds) RC
# 1 of 1 Checklist



Some backs, the filler card and some 4 year old gum.



BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
6
Teams Represented: 4
Rookie Cards:
 1
Sub Sets:
1 (Checklist)
Parallels:
 0
Inserts:
1 (Mascot Tattoo)
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me:
 0 (All are up for grabs)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 6.5 out of 10 Good pictures, nice simple design, no team logo, Same as flagship set with different color border.
Back Design:
 7 out of 10 Nice design, good player info, full career stats,  no team logo
Player Selection:
7 out of 10
Good quality players.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: Fly Out to center field. Zero  keepers and a checklist that's counted as a card makes an out for this pack. A good player selection and decent design puts the bat on the ball.

Don't forget to leave your rating below.



Thanks For Reading!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces (plus a preview)

     Hello all. Today I begin a run of ten packs I got from a repack box I picked up on sale for $7.49 at FYE while picking up some CD's. At 75 cents per pack it should surely be a bargain score.

    With the Turkey Red on front and Masterpieces on back I figured it was already a hit.
    Not a bad selection over all with a nice variety. The only pack already featured in The Cafe is the 08 Upper Deck X so the rest will be new.   First pack up...................



2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces


#69 Chien Ming Wang (Yankees)
#56 Hanley Ramirez (Marlins)


#67 Ryan Zimmerman (Nationals)
#54 Yogi Berra / Jackie Robinson (Yankees / Dodgers)



A couple of backs.

BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
4
Teams Represented: 4
Rookie Cards:
0
Sub Sets:
0
Parallels:
 0
Inserts:
0
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me:
 2 (Wang, Berra/Robinson)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 9 out of 10 Great pictures, excellent design, textured like artwork, nice foil accents,  no team logo.
Back Design:
 8 out of 10 Great design, team logo, good player factoid, only last years stats. 
Player Selection:
 8 out of 10
Great, 2 HOFer's plus.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: Single over second base. 50%  keepers, from a great looking set works every time.

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




Thanks For Reading!

Monday, June 4, 2012

1992 Skybox USA Basketball

   Hello all. Today I rip a pack from 1992 Team USA Basketball. I do not really collect basketball (except for a few Knicks relics and sn'd) so this pack I found in the bargain box at the LCS is for The Cafe readers.


1992 Skybox USA Basketball


#85 John Stockton (Team USA / Jazz)
#6 Charles Barkley (Team USA / Sixers)
#12 Larry Bird (Team USA / Celtics)



#47 Karl Malone (Team USA / Jazz)
#80 David Robinson (Team USA / Spurs)
#23 Patrick Ewing (Team USA / Knicks)



#39 Michael Jordan (Team USA / Bulls)
#39 Chris Mullin (Team USA / Warriors)



Some Backs



BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
8
Teams Represented: 7 (All on team USA)
Rookie Cards:
0
Sub Sets:
0
Parallels:
0
Inserts:
0
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me:
 0 (All available)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 7.5 out of 10 Good pictures, all action shots nice design, team USA logo.
Back Design:
 6.75 out of 10 Nice layout, interesting facts/stats, wide variety. 
Player Selection:
 10 out of 10
Awesome, can't go wrong with this group.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: 3 pointer at the halftime buzzer. (Lead off Double. ) All keepers if I collected basketball, a full boatload of talent, stars, and legends. A can't miss pack.


Don't forget to give your rating at the bottom.



Thanks For Reading!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

2012 Topps Archives

   Hello all, back here on The Pack Rip Cafe with my first 2012 product, Topps Archives. I've seen the reviews, both positive and negative so I will throw in my 2 cents and rip a pack here.


2012 Topps Archives
    Even the wrapper gives that 80's flashback.

#178 Adam Lind (Blue Jays)
#43 Wade Bogs (Red Sox)
#93 Matt Harrison (Rangers)
#144 Ike Davis (Mets)



#67S-MR Sticker Mariano Rivera (Yankees)
#21 Jeremy Hellickson (Rays)
#71 Jimmy Rollins (Phillies)
#122 Dustin Pedroia (Red Sox)

Some backs


BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards:
8
Teams Represented: 7
Rookie Cards:
 0

Sub Sets:
 0
Parallels:
0
Inserts:
 1 (Mariano Sticker) 
Hits:
0
Keepers for Me:
 3 (Mariano Sticker, Boggs, Davis). The others are available as I already have them for the set.

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 8 out of 10 Good pictures, nice designs, I happen to be a  fan of 3 out of the for design years chosen.
Back Design:
 7 out of 10 Nice designs, true to their original releases.
Player Selection: 7.5 out of 10 Good, Nice range of young thru veterans with a HOFer..

FINAL OVERALL RATING:   Single into right field. 37.5%   (3 of 8) keepers including the insert gets a hit from me. I like the set and have decided to build it (see my needs on the Buffet side bar). I like the retro thing and hope if they do this set again they will pick 4 different years to represent.

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

Thanks for Reading!