Saturday, March 20, 2021

Pre-Opened Packs #6: 1992-93 Upper Deck Basketball

This pack was freakin’ thick.  The previous owner appears to have snuck a few extra cards.  You might call it tampering, but I’m looking the other way.  Basketball cards are famously ripe for appearances by teammates, or, more likely, opposing players.  I’ll make note of any worthwhile cameos here.
P16 Otis Thorpe McDonald’s
Here’s one of the apparent extras, not that I’m complaining. 
Rick Fox cameo.
184 Thurl Bailey
189 Brian Shaw
Michael Jordan cameo, and what looks to be a Scottie Pippen cameo.  This would be enough to sustain me through the darkest of times if I had a picture of me dunking with Jordan wincing in the lane and Pippen swatting and getting nothing but air.  Just glorious.
175 Marcus Liberty
Cameos by Mark Jackson, Patrick Ewing, and Cadillac Anderson.
167 George McCloud
252 Dee Brown
297 Chris Mullin
266 Harvey Grant
201 Brad Lohaus
26 Charles Barkley
Larry Bird cameo.
78 Eric Murdock
55 Johnny Dawkins 76ers Checklist
AW4 Detlef Schrempf Hologram
20 Todd Day
P8 Mark Price McDonald’s
P25 Alvin Robertson McDonald’s
Cameos by Danny Schayes and Milwaukee legend Fred Roberts.
Okay, so by my count that’s 14 of the 15 cards listed on the pack, plus the contents of one McDonald’s pack.  I’ll allow it.

Saturday, March 13, 2021

Pre-Opened Packs #5: 1993 Upper Deck McDonald's NBA Fantasy Packs

Can you even imagine the reaction of the nation's men-children if a promotion like this were to take place today?  Special packs of basketball cards available at McDonald's?  There wouldn't be a franchise left standing.  They'd be reduced to rubble under the sweaty weight of thousands of desperate collectors converging en masse to every location.  Packs would be going for $500 a pop on eBay.  It would make last month's Pokemon Happy Meal frenzy look dignified by comparison.

 Three cards per pack, let's see who we get.

LA4 James Edwards
Edwards was great, but looked old his whole career.  On this card he actually is old, nearing forty.

P47 Walt Williams

P48 Todd Day
Half of the Bucks' "Mayday" draft of 1992 that went over like a ton of bricks.  We got Day with the 8th pick, then Lee Mayberry with the 23rd, both from Arkansas.  Probably not a good idea to do that.  To be fair, the dropoff in talent after the top three (Shaq, Zo, Laettner) was pretty steep.

My favorite thing about these cards is the arch-shaped hologram on the backs.  It warms my heart to think that someone put enough effort into this set to include a detail such as this.  I could see myself chasing down a complete set one day.