Saturday, May 22, 2021

Pre-Opened Packs #9: McDonald's NBA Fantasy Packs

These things are friggin' awesome, as you may have seen in a previous post.  I am psyched about my chances to get some big stars in this pack.
LA10 James Worthy
Giving a teammate the Harrison Ford Point after what I presume to be a great assist is a good look on a basketball card.
P3 Kevin McHale
With NBA cards, you get armpit hair.  It's an unavoidable dichotomy.
P2 Reggie Lewis
I still remember being a Sports Illustrated subscriber and getting the Lewis memorial cover issue in the mail.  Sad story, being cut down so young.  He could have been a major star in the league.
Those were some pretty dang good cards.  It's fun how these take you back to one of the best eras of the league.  They bring back memories of 8th grade dances, cool sneakers, and balling on a garage-mounted hoop until you couldn't see the ball anymore. 

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Pre-Opened Packs #8: 1991 Marvel Universe Series II

 

Lots of comic cards in the pre-opened packs, not really my cup of tea, but we must chug along.

39 Ghost Rider
129 Daredevil’s Billy Club
Probably not the strongest entry in the weapons subset.
24 Union Jack
No interest in this guy.
1990 Marvel #128 Journey Into Mystery #83
This card is from a different set, common this this series of posts.  First appearance of Thor is nice.  The back of the card gives the 1990 Overstreet NM price: $750.  A CGC that earned a mere 3.5 sold for over $11,000 last week.  To have a time machine...
 
81 Kang
3 Thing

There we go!
99 Captain America vs Baron Zemo
42 Rogue
153 X-Men
78 Nebula

Back of the card says she is the granddaughter of Thanos.  Looking up the character I can see that, yeah, my kids did have a Happy Meal toy of her, looking nothing like this, though.
132 Punisher’s Arsenal
Not enough room on the card means they’re doing it right.
1990 Marvel #155 Spider-man Presents: Punisher
The two sharing a moment of levity on the back of this one.
114 Avengers vs Ultron
147 Rage


That’s 14 cards in a 12-card pack, can’t argue with that.

Thursday, May 6, 2021

A Gift From the SMG

 A few weeks ago I got an unexpected package in the mail from Larry the Sewing Machine Guy.  I was about to ask readers to jog their memories about his blog, but it looks like I might not have to do that, as there is a post from a couple of days ago (along with some from 2020) after a long hiatus that began in 2012.  Good to see him back!

Anyway, Larry heard that I was on the lookout for old top loaders, the grungy, tape-stained, nasty kind that you wouldn't dare display your cards in.  I needed some of these because I have been shipping a lot of cards lately and my stock had begun to run low.  (As an aside, I find it funny that COMC has even begun to post notices that they won't be shipping cards in top loaders unless requested because of a worldwide shortage.  Strange dominoes fall following a global pandemic, I guess.)  I opened the package to find a small assortment of the goods I was looking for.  Along with them was a nice bunch of cards I guy like me would probably enjoy.

1993 Beavis and Butt-head
Probably the star card of this lot, this is printed on clear plastic stock.  I wonder if my kids will ever discover these two.  I think they all have the sense of humor for it.
 
2021 Topps 1986 Topps 35th Anniversary Keston Hiura Jersey
Brewer bats need to wake up this season if we want to think about the playoffs.  No matter, it's just another fake season.  When you're playing 7-inning games, the credibility of the sport is pretty much gone.
Bunch of 2021 Topps Brewers
My first base cards of the year.  I've pretty much stopped buying packs of baseball cards.  I opened a box of wrestling cards in January and nothing since.  It comes and it goes, I suppose.

2009 Topps Mayo Arron Rodgers Mini
I don't want to talk about it.  I'll put on the record, though, that I value team over player.  Both are being stupid right now, and in the recent past. 

2009 Topps Mayo Donald Driver
I think it would be hard to find a more universally-beloved Packer than Driver.  A superstar without ever acting like a prima donna, he does commercials for the Wisconsin DoT, and I guarantee you that people are like, "Yeah, I should probably wear my seat belt, and yes, if Donald Driver pulled me over in a state trooper's car, I would pay the ticket on the spot and smile while doing it."  The man is a state treasure with biceps made of meat and steel.

Some Mayo Governors
Wavering on whether to build this insert set or not.  I am actively collecting the base set, but those governors, I don't know...
On the one hand, you need a Rick Santorum card to complete the set, so ew.  On the other hand, I already have the Santorum, pack-pulled, so I don't really have to have such a purchase on my conscience.  I suppose I could consult the checklist to see if I'd have to end up buying a card of someone really reprehensible to finish it.  Wisconsin's governor was Jim Doyle (which I already have), so I don't have to worry about a Scott Walker card.  That would be an absolute non-starter.

Thanks, Larry! Every card is appreciated.

Thursday, April 8, 2021

Trade Me Anything XIV #7

 We've gotten used to shifting sports schedules over the past year, and Trade Me Anything is not immune from the same fate.  This pleasant surprise arrived in the mail from Zpop earlier this week.  Let's check it out.

Giving: 
#CPC-26 Andrew Benintendi 1985 Topps 35th Anniversary Refractor

Getting:
2018 Topps Triple Threads #UAJR-TS Travis Shaw AUTO/Jersey (82/99)

Man, that Shaw sure is a nice card.  And this trade showed how quickly things can change.  When TMA XIV kicked off on November 8 of last year, Shaw hadn't yet been welcomed back to Milwaukee.  He was signed to a minor league contract in February, going on to make the team and hit a game-tying 2-run double in the bottom of the ninth on opening day, arguably the play of the game (which was won in the 10th inning by the Brewers over the Twins).
Contrast that with Benentendi, who was traded from the Red Sox to the Royals in February.  Andrew has yet to make much of an impact for Kansas City, currently batting .190 over the first five games.  It's early, though, things can change.

Thanks, Zpop!  I am actually quite pleased that TMA season can last so long.

Friday, April 2, 2021

Pre-Opened Packs #7: 1994 SkyBox Master Series DC Comics Edition

We've got Lobo on the front of the pack doing a "neener-neener" face and sticking out his tongue, which has A LOT of drool hanging off of it.  Does this portend interesting contents inside?
87 Black Canary
Fun character, but can't really carry a title on her own.  Great in Birds of Prey and when dishing it out at Oliver Queen.
75 Argus
No idea.  Apparently a villain who terrorizes Keystone City with his power to tune in to the full electromagnetic spectrum.  Lame.
60 Dr. Fate
Hmmmm, when I had the Super Powers Dr. Fate action figure when I was a kid, I don't remember him being quite so... shapely?  The iteration of the character shown here is from the period when Inza Nelson wore the helmet of Nabu the Wise.  This is already one of the top five costumes in DC Comics history without the sexxxay butt and calves.
17 Andromeda
Part of the Legionnaires team, I guess.  Never read an issue.
6 Lex Luthor II 
The explanation on the back of this card is just confusing, something about brain swapping and death faking.  They should have devoted some copy to account for the blatant rip-off of Charles Xavier.  
Bald?  Check.
Futuristic wheelchair?  Check.
Blanket on legs?  Check.
C&D letter on its way.
39 Raven
Another one I never heard of.  You can read the back yourself, it's a convoluted mess.  I can't in good conscience show the front of this card.  Raven's body looks like one of those roasts you might see tied up with string at a butcher shop and her costume is a cross between Cenobite swimwear and the getup Sean Connery wore in Zardoz.  I'll leave it to your imagination.

Got some interesting characters here, most of them unfamiliar to me, but I really like the variety of art styles presented.  I'd be interested in seeing more cards in the set, especially the 1:18 foils and the 1:36 Spectra-etch cards.



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.