Packs That Just Showed Up #5

It's time for another one of these packs, and next on the pile is a pack of 2015 Topps Update Series.  Like my pants after Thanksgiving dinner, it's a good thing this pack is already open to accommodate some extra girth.  You'll see what this means soon enough.

No, I didn't mix up my photo files, these are 2018 Topps Update Series cards emerging from the 2015 pack.  At some point in the past several years, these cards made it into the 2015 wrapper, along with the actual 2015 cards.  It's a cozy fit in there, but they're making it work.  No cards are complaining about anyone hogging the armrest.

US161 Seranthony Dominguez, US117 Kyle Martin, US96 Tyler Clippard, US52 Justin Anderson / Michael Hermosillo

Four horizontal cards to start things off, kind of weird.

PO-18 Mariano Rivera Postseason Preeminence 

It's an educated guess as to the name of this insert, it's really hard to read with the player blending into the text, especially with the pinstripes.

#S-5 Bo Jackson Legendary All-Stars

Bo Jackson just always looks awesome in a Royals uniform.

US64 Mookie Betts, US63 Corey Dickerson, US146 Blake Treinen, US276 Hector Santiago

The Santiago is a stealth Feces Smear parallel (unnumbered).

Now we get to the cards that were actually in the 2015 wrapper.

US340 Fernando Salas, US25 Byron Buxton, US54 Max Muncy / Tyler Ladendorf, US227 Mike Trout Checklist

Since I already have this complete set, maybe I'll put the Buxton and Muncy cards on eBay as a nice little rookie lot.

WW-10 Jim Palmer Whatever Works

I don't remember this insert set, but it's an interesting one, basically a compilation of superstitions held by various players.  Jim Palmer ate pancakes during every Orioles victory in the 1966 World Series, so he kept doing it throughout his career.

US16 John Axford, US346 Brandon Crawford, US66 Neftali Feliz, US211 Tommy Milone, US69 Zach McAllister

Twenty cards, three inserts, and a ton of fun, pretty good stuff for a DIY fat pack.

The $1.99 Goodwill Grab Bag

The other day I was out thrifting and I hit up one of the Goodwill stores in town.  In addition to finding some all-timer hip-hop CDs that never show up at thrift stores (Biggie, Gravediggaz, Brand Nubian), there were several bagged stacks of cards hanging on a rack near the checkout.  The usual suspects were there, none of which were worthy of coming home with me, but there was one bag that had me intrigued.

Initially it was the 1970 Topps Scratch Off that caught my eye, and the reduced price sticker ($1.99, a buck less than usual) was what drove it home.  Let's see if there was anything interesting inside.

First, the Jim Spencer Scratch Off.  Really rough shape, but the presence of the black residue suggests that this was once part of a bigger pile of these, and there might be more inside.

 

That's a big nope.  No more were to be found, and the game had been played to its maximum.

Next up, a pair of 1982 Fleer.  I actually have a list going for this set, but I didn't need either of these guys.

There were exactly four 1982 Topps cards in the bag, two of Ed Romero and two of Randy Lerch.  Some home cooking, I see.  They'll go into the Brewers box next June, where there are likely a few more just like them.

 

We saw Joe Niekro from outside the bag, and there were a bunch more 1981 Topps.  I already have the whole set, and there's nothing special here, but I do like the ink smear on the Sees-toh Brewers card.

For the rest of the package we stay in the early '80s with a pile of 1982 Donruss.  Got some top-tier Diamond Kings, a few more than once.

The only problem with these is a flaw with the upper left corner on the back of most of them.  Probably the result of some improper storage techniques over the last 40-plus years.

Here are the rest of the base cards from the same set.

Not many standouts here, either.  This foursome is probably the best of the bunch.  Gene Tenace is included for absolutely killing it during the 1972 World Series, and Jerry Augustine makes the cut because not only was he a Brewer, he was also the head coach of the UW-Milwaukee baseball team in the late 1990s and early 2000s.  He even got the team into the NCAA tournament, which doesn't happen often in this northern climate.

It was a good grab bag of cards whose status could improve depending on how things shake out once I get the Donruss sorted.  I'm just glad I didn't get Bipped.

But I came pretty damn close.

Packs That Just Showed Up #4

We're digging deep into the category labeled "Stuff I Wouldn't Buy."  My rule of thumb for logo-less sports cards is, if it didn't get cut off a box of Fruit Roll-Ups or from the frozen innards of a package of regionally branded chimichangas, I don't want it.  Or, at the very least, I won't seek it out.  Panini baseball cards, as they are currently sold, just aren't for me.  Let's see what was inside this ten-year-old pack of 2014 Panini Donruss baseball cards.  

195 Johnny Bench

Not a bad start, seeing as the chest protector and backwards helmet obscure the missing stuff.

132 Giancarlo Stanton

The backs mimic the basic blue design of 1986 or 1988 Donruss.

175 Jay Bruce

Bruce retired shortly after the start of the 2021 season, which he started with the New York Yankees.  File that one away for the Immaculate Grid.

70 Troy Tulowitzki

Tulo retired in the the middle of the 2019 season, also with the New York Yankees.

72 Elvis Andrus

Elvis is not currently with any MLB team, but has not yet retired.

40 Tim Beckham Rated Rookie

It's interesting to note that at the back end of the aughts, two players with the same last name were selected as top 10 draft picks.  Tim here was #1 overall in 2008, and in that same draft the White Sox chose Gordon Beckham.  Collectors were left to wonder which Beckham would break through as an eventual superstar.  The answer, sadly, was neither.  That's the way it usually goes.

153 Domonic Brown

Six-year career with the Phillies, All-Star in 2013.

138 Victor Martinez

After Bench, probably the best player in the pack.  Named an American League All-Star five times.

As stated this product is not my cup of tea, but I will file these cards away in a box marked, for the time being, "2013-Present."  Such is the state of my collection of "recent" cards.