1995 Topps Bazooka

    Hello again all. Today we go back to 1995 with a pack from the Bazooka series from Topps. I actually got this pack in a trade package from The Troll.

1995 Topps Bazooka

#6 David Justice (Braves)

#18 Ryan Klesko (Braves)

#96 Jay Bell (Pirates)

#101 Mickey Tettleton (Tigers)

#51 Tim Wallach (Dodgers)

Game rules card/spinner

BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards: 5

Teams Represented: 4
Rookie Cards: 0
Sub Sets: 0
Parallels: 0
Inserts: 0
Hits: 0
Keepers for Me: 0

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 6.5 out of 10 Decent standard style pictures, no team logo or colors.
Back Design: 3 out of 10  Not good at all, mostly about the game and little about the players, no team logo.  
Player Selection: 4.5 out of 10  Average. The check list for this set is decent but not in this pack.

FINAL OVERALL RATING:  Strike Out swinging. Pretty bland set with more concern for the game on the back then the players. This pack had a boring group of players. I have seen better from this set but not here today.

Thanks for Reading!

2010 Topps Update Jumbo Rack Pack

Hello all. Things around The Cafe and The Buffet have been crazy busy so posts have been sparse but I found a little time to show off this Topps Update Rack Pack I scored last week. To save some time I am not going to type every card out but all cards are pictured so you can click on them to enlarge the images.

2010 Topps Update Jumbo Rack Pack

A Strasburg but I still haven't gotten the stupid #661 out of any of the packs I have opened so far.

 I like the All-Star subset this year, It fits in with the overall set design unlike in some years past.

 Has anybody noticed that they seem to place all the horizontal cards together in the packs? All the base cards above are available for trade.

4 of the inserts. More Tales of the Game Spahn, Attax Dunn, Turkey Red Johnson, and Peak Performance Weaver. It's kind of a bummer when I still need so many of the TR inserts and I pull a double. These 4 are also available.

The keepers for me. A Vlad, Grandy and Ike along with a CYMTO I needed and a MCG for the Mantle collection. The Kearns Gold is great too but he just looks a little funny in a Yankees uniform. I got a 1994 Cliff Floyd with the MCG code.

And now a surprise..........
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 Andrew Bailey 2010 All-Star workout jersey card. (A's)

A Hit!! It's always fun to get a hit from a loose pack but I don't collect this particular player or team so he's up for trade too.

BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards: 35 33 (due to relic)

Teams Represented: 20
Rookie Cards: 4
Sub Sets: 3 (All-Star) 
Parallels: 1 (gold /2010) 
Inserts: 8
Hits: 1 (Baily Jersey) 
Keepers for Me: 6 (3 players, 2 inserts, 1 gold /2010)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 8 out of 10 Good pictures, nice design.
Back Design: 8 out of 10  Nice design, full career stats, good use of team colors, player picture, good factoid about player.

Player Selection: 7.5 out of 10 Good, Nice mix of stars and rookies.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: RBI Triple into the right field corner. A fun pack to open, a hit, some inserts I needed, gotta be a big hit.

Thanks for Reading!



1993 Flair Premier Edition

     Hello again Pack Rip Cafe readers. Today I return with a pack of Flair from the year of it's inception, 1993. This was a high end style card set without the killer high end price.

1993 Flair Premier Edition

These packs were actually shrink wrapped little boxes with a clear sealed pack of 10 cards inside.

#255 Bernie Williams (Yankees)

#243 Dave Winfield (Twins)

#93 Howard Johnson (Mets)

Three keepers off the top! I always forget that Winfield played for the Twins until I get one of those cards.

#300 Checklist

#234 Jim Deshaies (Twins)

#224 Darryl Hamilton (Brewers)

#213 George Brett (Royals)

     Brett is the king of this group and shares the top with Bernie Williams for the pack. I don't like when the checklist cards are included in the numbered set as I would rather have more player cards. This is the last of 3 in the set and may be the fanciest checklist I have ever seen.

#40 Joe Girardi (Rockies)

#138 Barry Bonds (Giants)

#29 Hal Morris (Reds)

    The Bonds is a nice card. I am not the biggest fan of his but his spot in baseball history, good and bad, can't be denied.

A couple of backs.

BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards: 10

Teams Represented: 8
Rookie Cards: 0
Sub Sets: 1 (Checklist)
Parallels: 0
Inserts: 0
Hits: 0
Keepers for Me: 6 (Williams,Winfield, Johnson, checklist, Brett, Bonds)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 7 out of 10 Quality action photos, very glossy, fancy foil work, no team logo.
Back Design: 7 out of 10 Nice design, good action, photos, foil used on the back as well, not complete career but a dozen or so for the veteran players, very glossy, good player factoid, team logo
Player Selection: 8 out of 10 Great. Several legends and a few all-stars added in.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: Bases Loaded 3 RBI  Double down the line. Six of ten keepers (even if one is a checklist) equals 60% in what was in it's day a high end product. While I am not sure if I would want a whole binder of these, they do stand out when mixed in a player collection page with a variety of different cards.



Thanks for Reading!

2007 Upper Deck Future Stars

    Hello all. Tonight I have a pack of 07 Future Stars Baseball.  

2007 Upper Deck Future Stars

#99 Ryan Zimmerman (Nationals)

#65 Johnny Damon (Yankees)

#38 Dontrelle Willis (Marlins)

#89 Chris Duncan (Cardinals)

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 (Willis and Damon, the other 2 are up for grabs)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 7.5 out of 10 Good pictures, cool futuristic design, sharp contrast, no team logo.
Back Design: 6.75 out of 10 Nice design, team logo, only up to 5 years stats, no pictures, some wasted space.
Player Selection: 7 out of 10 Good, all quality players. Ironic that this pack of Future Stars doesn't have one rookie card in it. I am not complaining, just an observation.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: Lead off Single into right field. 2 of 4 keepers and a nice looking cards scores a hit.           

Thanks for Reading!

2009 Goudey

    Hello again all you Pack Rip Cafe readers. Today I present a 2009 Goudey for your viewing pleasure.

2009 Goudey



Notice the 8cards per pack.



20th Anniversary Retrospective #762 Mike Schmidt (Phillies)

4-in 1 (red) #35~83 Span, Jones, Ramirez, Fowler

Blue back mini #22 Jason Bay (Red Sox)

#192 Mike Aviles (Royals)

#151 Cole Hamels (Phillies)

#180 Troy Glaus (Cardinals)

X                                     X

This is where the last two cards in the pack should be but it appears we have been shorted 2 cards in this pack. Bummer!

Some of the backs.

BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards: 8 6 (2 cards missing)

Teams Represented: 8
Rookie Cards: 0
Sub Sets: 1 (4-in 1)
Parallels: 1 (mini blue back)
Inserts: 1 (20th Anniversary Retrospective) 
Hits: 0
Keepers for Me: 1 (Schmidt)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 7 out of 10 Good artwork, decent design, old style design, no backgrounds,  no team logo.
Back Design: 6.5 out of 10 Decent layout, Only up to 5 year stats and career totals, only 1 color printing, cool old school look and feel.
Player Selection: 7 out of 10 Good, 1 HOFer and a good mix on the others.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: Pop  Out to third base.  2 missing cards kills a chance for a hit. Only one keeper from a not so great insert set doesn't help either. The fact that it's Mike Schmidt gets wood on the ball but it isn't enough. I will be contacting Upper deck to see if they will make good on the missing cards.

I really have grown to like this set a lot, this particular pack just falls a little short.

Thanks for Reading!

1995 Topps Stadium Club High Number Series

     Today we go back to 1995 here on the Pack Rip Cafe with a pack of Stadium Club

  1995 Topps Stadium Club High Number Series

#568 Brad Clontz (Braves)

#552 Otis Nixon (Rangers)

#572 Dustin Hermanson (Padres)

#607 Tony Phillips (Angels)

#548 Ray Durham (White Sox)

Extreme Corps #519 Paul O'Neill (Yankees)

Trans Action #623 Vaughn Eshelman (Red Sox)

Extreme Corps #523 Joe Carter (Blue Jays)

Extreme Corps #509 Barry Bonds (Giants)

#563 Edgardo Alfonzo (Mets)

#598 Jim Dougherty RC (Astros)

#599 Jaun Acevedo RC (Rockies)

#565 Andy Pettitte (Yankees)

Some backs

BY THE NUMBERS:
Total Cards: 13

Teams Represented: 12
Rookie Cards: 2 (Acevedo, Dougherty)
Sub Sets: 4 (Extreme Corps x3 and Trans Action)
Parallels: 0
Inserts: 0
Hits: 0
Keepers for Me: 4 (Alfonzo, Pettitte, O'Neill, and Bonds. The rest are available.)

MY RATINGS:
Front Design: 7 out of 10 Good pictures, nice design, good use of foil, borderless, team logo.
Back Design: 4 out of 10 poor design, only one year stats, text goes in all different directions, no team logo, fair player info,
Player Selection: 6.5 out of 10  Average, some good, some so-so.

FINAL OVERALL RATING: Infield Single. The four keepers and a few other good players scores a hit but the backs and other bad players keeps it a small hit.

Thanks for Reading!