2008 SP Rookie Edition football

Stopped by Target yesterday (on company time....sssssh!) and picked up a blaster of these. I had been to my local shop last weekend and had seen some of the base cards to this set in a monster box I was digging through. So I figured I'd try a blaster to see how much I liked them.

It's a nice looking set, but they repeated the "rookies in retro designs" concept from UD Timeline baseball. Blaster contained seven packs of six cards and a clear cello pack of six Legends (also in foil retro designs). Got my Bo Jackson for my player collection at least. The base cards are all horizontally oriented photos with the name, position and team info at 90° across one end (or the top depending on your point of view). In about half the packs, the first card had a bashed or layered corner.

For your enjoyment, the packaging and the best pack....

The box panel:


and the uncrumpled wrapper:

The base cards:

#92 Anquan Boldin - will he or won't he be traded?

#42 Derrick Johnson - not Brooks (formerly of Tampa) or Thomas (passed away 2000)

#64 Brian Urlacher - Kinda overrated, at least when I've seen him.

#77 Roddy White (back of card) - Teamed with Matt Ryan, did pretty well for the Falcons (and my fantasy team).

The Rookies:

#109 Jake Long (left) and #116 Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (right). Long is Howie's son, and Dom wins the Jarrod Saltalamacchia Nameplate Stitcher's Wristcramp award (NFL version). These cards are the "New SP design". Gold foil didn't scan so well.

Inserts and Legends appear in the 1993, '94, '95, and '96 SP designs.

Jury's still out on building this set. Even that will probably be only the base cards, since I'm a contrarian and don't care about rookies that much. But the horizontal design almost commits you to storing these in the eight pocket sheets (that they'll fall out of), but since the other info is at a right angle, it makes them a little awkward to really view as a whole. Maybe I'll browse EvilBay for a cheap base lot....

2009 Topps replacement packs

Continuing on the theme of jacked up 2009 Topps packs, I bought a blaster of the Wal-Mart black variations a couple weeks ago and found that they came up a little short. The box only contained nine regular packs and the Commemorative patch card. And the last two packs didn't have a total of eight cards in them. After I seperated the ToppsTown and the Attax cards, there were only four or five cards left. Another pack had a damaged card in it. The patch card was nice, a Ted Williams, but the box was a disappointment.

So I went on to the Topps site, (which is worth a whole seperate rant post elsewhere, but I digress...) and finally found their Customer Service page that said where to write to and what to send them in case of problems. I packed up the wrappers, the box flaps, my receipt (they take copies), the damaged card, and a letter explaining what I had found. I sent it off on the 15th of March.

Around the 24th or so, I got a white puffy envelope with a letter and a bundle inside:

The letter was dated the 19th and thanked me for purchasing their product. It listed several bullet items of information about sending cards for replacement.

Inside the bundle was two packs and a replacement for the damaged card in a toploader.


They were shielded on the outside with what looks to be the raw stock for Masterpieces cards. Pure white textured canvas panels, somewhat oversized. All of this was scotch taped together.


I had already traded for a replacement for the damaged card. So I opened the packs, hoping for a majority of singles I didn't already have. I got a CC and a Halladay among the base cards, and a gold parallel, plus Chipper and Josh Hamilton ToppsTowns. Not spectacular, but it'll do. I ended up with four cards that I needed for my set.


I was most impressed by the turnaround time. Topps Customer Relations may officially award themselves one bonus point for this case. They messed up a box, but made it right in a timely manner. This is the first time I've sent something back like this. I hope the future occasions are rare, and they all go like this one...

Bully for Blasters: 2008 Upper Deck Goudey 8/8

Hopefully, I'll bother cleaning this up with witty remarks before Sunday.

69 Curtis Granderson

199 Ryan Church - I would suggest that he stop getting concussed if he wants to continue playing baseball.

147 Freddy Sanchez

98 Vladimir Guerrero

211 Al Kaline SP - One of two Baltimore natives in the 3,000 hit club. The other one is Cal somebody or other.

104 Prince Fielder

182 Michael Young

130 Graig Nettles - If this were a Studio card, his Pet Peeve would be "People who call me Craig".

78 Jeremy Hermida - AAAUGH! He's comin' right for us!

Bully for Blasters: 2008 Upper Deck Goudey 7/8

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm actually moving today. This entry appears via the magical, mystical magic of scheduled posting. My, what a time to be alive.

63 Todd Helton - With his bushy goatee, shapeless, baggy jersey, and handsful of lumber, Todd looks sort of like Larry, the technical director from my college's theatre.

11 Chipper Jones - I'm hearing Skip Caray say his name, in that way that no one else could.

193 Troy Glaus - Ah, Tony LaRussa and his steroid amnesty.

89 Alex Gordon - Another unflattering portrait of a Royal.

46 Sparky Anderson - Nice! From the days when he was known as "Captain Hook" for his quick decisions to remove starting pitchers.

124 Hideki Matsui - If he's known as "Godzilla", does that mean that the Japanese were relieved to see him leave for America?

272 Albert Pujols Sport Royalty - At least I didn't get Elway. I hate Elway.

303 Wade Boggs Sport Royalty - Wade Boggs...goes down smooth.

Bully for Blasters: 2008 Upper Deck Goudey 6/8

Whew, Friday at last! I'll be packing up all of my belongings and moving for the second time this summer. Not my idea of fun, but at least it's a long holiday weekend. If you're headed somewhere special, travel safe! I'm headed for another pack of Goudey.

37 Aramis Ramirez - Aramis: Not just a crappy cologne.

167 J. J. Putz - Insists that it's pronounced "Puts". Suuuure it is.

115 Carlos Beltran - Heh. Card back shows his stolen base total as 230 for the 2007 season. Woops!

157 Khalil Greene Mini - Now I have his creepy in miniature form as well.

20 Jeremy Guthrie - I cannot describe just how beloved Guts is in Baltimore. If the offense gave him any support in the first half, he'd be a Cy Young candidate.

150 Ralph Kiner - The things he could have done if he hadn't served in World War II and had a back injury. The guy hit 369 home runs in 10 seasons.

98 Andruw Jones - Gee, who says Andruw's put on weight?

YSL 5325 Bernie Williams Yankee Stadium Legacy: 08/31/1991 - If I have to pull these, I'd at least like to see an old-timer like Yogi or Whitey Ford. At least it's another Yankee loss, with Jimmy Key stifling the New York bats two years before joining them. Blue Jays win 5-0.

Bully for Blasters: 2008 Upper Deck Goudey 3/8

Movin' right along...

13 Tom Glavine - He looks suspiciously smooth-faced here. Portraiture must suit the wily old lefty well.

143 Shane Victorino - Mahalo! I hear that Shane was thrilled to see his little buddies from Hawai'i win the Little League World Series on Sunday.

105 Ryan Braun - This is a relic card featuring Thorzul's drool. Just kidding, of course.

1 Eric Byrnes - To complement the Mini-Me I pulled in the first pack.

140 Ryan Howard - What are the chances that the Phils trade him this winter?

36 Kosuke Fukudome RC - Now they're working overtime to make Topps look bad.

166 Felix Hernandez - Ha! The card back mentions his impressive eight shutout innings in Baltimore on April 6 of this year...while neglecting to mention that since-fired Seattle skipper John McLaren pulled him and watched the bullpen blow a 2-0 lead. The winning run was driven in by Luis Hernandez for one of his three RBI in 2008. Not that I'm gloating.

246 James K. Polk - Oh, hooray, the President who championed westward expansion. Give me Taft any day.

Bully for Blasters: 2008 Upper Deck Goudey 2/8

Last time, I hit the jackpot. Will there be a letdown in pack two? Most certainly. But to what extent? To be continued...now.

39 Luis Aparicio - Little Looie won a World Series with the Orioles in 1966, but he's pictured with the White Sox. Everything is as it should be, actually.

169 Raul Ibanez - Is on pace for his third straight 100-RBI season. For serious.

117 David Wright - The most famous D.W. this side of Marc Brown books.

55 Troy Tulowitzki - I have opened three packs of Goudey (including one from last year). I have gotten both Tulo base cards.

100 Chin-Lung Hu RC - His season has been hampered by vision problems, which sounds scary.

48 Joe Morgan - The watchword is "consistency".

178 Carlos Pena - I'd be even happier for the Rays' success if they hadn't just switched to those lame generic-looking uniforms.

YSL5350 Kevin Maas Yankee Stadium Legacy: 04/28/1992 - Hahaha, my first YSL insert is the biggest flash-in-the-pan in Bomber History. Future Yankee free-agent bust Kevin Brown shuts down the home team 1-0, as the Rangers win. For a Yankee hater such as myself, this is a fine card.

Okay, no autographs or short prints, but I'm a sucker for the retired-player cards, and now my dark curiosity about Yankee Stadium Legacy has been satisfied. Not bad.

Bully for Blasters: 2008 Upper Deck Goudey 1/8

It's a testament to the depth and dedication of the bloggers here at APAD that my last post was three weeks ago (vacation followed by a break in my Internet service), and that was some 80 drafts and posts back! It's been a crappy sort of week, so when I found myself near WalMark (as a friend of the family calls it for some unknown reason), I decided to partake in my own brand of comfort food: a blaster. I actually intended to get some Allen and Ginter, but they didn't have any blasters of it. Though I'm still not happy to see Derek Jeter's overrated face smugging back at me from the bottom of the American League cards, I'm not to heartbroken over Topps missing out on my money. I still haven't bought any Topps products since I found out about that card #661 garbage. Let 'em sweat it out.

In the meantime, this is only my second-ever blaster, following the box of 2007 Bowman Heritage that I ripped back in January. I may be losing my mind, as the first thing I did when I popped open this box was to take a nice long whiff. It smelled like cardboard. I was going to give you a scan of the blaster itself, but it's a pain wedging it onto the scanner bed. So here's the pack design:

Whew, what an exhausting stretch of exposition. Pack one is Go!

195 Ryan Zimmerman - As you can see, he's playing volleyball with Jupiter, the largest planet of our solar system.

91 John Lackey

1 Eric Byrnes Mini - The bottom of the card is scuffed. Perhaps Eric's dog did it...

GG-NM Nick Markakis Goudey Graphs - Actual dialogue uttered by me: "Nice, Nick Markakis."
"...."
"Holy crap, it's autographed!"

EPIC WIN!!!!!

74 Andrew Miller

22 David Ortiz - The only Red Sox player I would ever describe as "lovable".

152 Tom Gorzelanny - Eww, Gorzo! Between him and Lackey, there's a WHOLE lotta ugly in this pack.

225 Steve Carlton SP - Lefty closes things out. The card back describes his excellent 1972 season: 27 wins, 1.97 ERA. As an O's fan, I would kill for 17 wins and a 2.97 ERA.

Geez, the rest of this blaster is just gravy now. By comparison, I paid three times as much for a hobby box of 2008 Topps Heritage and got NO auto or relic. I don't care if it's a lucky pull, that's another point for Upper Deck. Back tomorrow with Pack 2: This IS "A Pack A Day", after all.

2008 Goudey Blaster Pack-akkake! #8

Pack #8

Base:
Jack Cust
Rich Hill
Erik Bedard
Akinori Iwamura
Bucky "Bleepin'" Dent
Dan Uggla
Josh Beckett

Parallel:
Blue Back Sport Royalty: Janet Evans

A little tidbit I picked up while watching the Michael Phelps Invitational (a.k.a. the Beijing Olympics). In a sport where world record durations last longer than the attention span of your typical seven year-old, the world record Evans set in the 800 meters in 1989 was just broken.

Let me repeat that: The world record Janet Evans set in the 800 meters STOOD FOR NINETEEN YEARS!

Sport Royalty, indeed.

2008 Goudey Blaster Pack-akkake! #7

Pack #7

Base:
Glen Perkins
Victor Martinez
Jeff Francoeur
Frank Thomas
Chris Duncan
Miguel Cabrera
Adam Dunn
Al Kaline (SP)

Yeah, I pulled an Al Kaline short-print. But all-in-all, this was a pretty boring pack. I guess I gotta write something.

I know what I'll write, I'll plug my "Trade Me Something-A-Ruther" contest. Yeah, that's the ticket.

So here's the deal. You send me 20 cards, I'll send you 20 cards back, and the person who sends me the best cards will win something-a-ruther.

2008 Goudey Blaster Pack-akkake! #6

Pack #6

Base:
Catfish Hunter
Towelie RC
Luke Hochevar RC
Ichiro
Adam LaRoche
Brad Penny
Jim Thome

Mirror:
Yankee Stadium Legacy: Moose Skowron #2930

Yes, I fully realize that this is not an Upper Deck Goudey card of Houston Astros catcher J.R. Towles. But after pulling a Towles in this pack of Goudey, I couldn't resist re-posting my Photoshopped masterpiece: A 2008 Topps Heritage "rookie" card of Towelie.

"Aw man, I have no idea what's going on."

2008 Topps Allen and Ginter

This is part of a $19.99 blaster box break [seven packs plus one extra] from Target - I love these cards, but on a 'budget,' I'll probably be looking for random base cards in bargain bins, common boxes, et al, while busting the occasional pack [if they don't dry up and also remain 'reasonably priced.'].

Pack seven [Six cards listed per pack/six actual]
#223 Roy Oswalt
#38 Andruw Jones
#54 Takashi Saito
#132 Gary Matthews Jr. - simply a horrible signing by the LA Angels of Anaheim
#40 Justin Upton - mini
#109 Joey Chestnut - U.S. hot dog eating champion; USA! USA! USA!

Pack eight [Six cards listed per pack/seven actual]
#129 Joey Votto
#70 Matt Holliday

#313 Harriet Beecher Stowe - short print / Uncle Tom's Cabin
#108 Alex Romero - mini
#US 5 Chase Utley - California State Flags insert
#16 Hiroki Kuroda

#284 Daisuke Matsuzaka - the much hyped Japanese import is having a stellar sophomore season in the U.S.

2008 Goudey Blaster Pack-akkake! #5

Pack #5

Base
Grady Sizemore
Mark Teixeria
Vernon Wells
A-Rod
Eddie! Eddie! Murray
Evan Longoria
Sport Royalty: Albert Pujols (SP)

Parallel
1936: Albert Pujols

The more I stare at this 1936 Albert Pujols red mini, the more I don't like having the '36s in the base set.

The more I stare at this Sport Royalty Albert Pujols, the more I think that SR would have worked better as an insert.

2008 Topps Allen and Ginter

This is part of a $19.99 blaster box break [seven packs plus one extra] from Target - these cards are nice and one thing I like is you never know what you are going to pull. It is possible to find something of value, even if it isn't a game-used/autograph/rookie card/rookie-year parallel card.

Pack five [Six cards listed per pack/seven actual]
#264 Adam Jones
#185 Carlos Pena
#318 Andre Ethier - short print
#WDS 5 Mako shark - mini / World's Deadliest Sharks insert
#US 12 Jason Schmidt - Idaho State Flags insert
Checklist - 4/4

#297 Max Scherzer
#37 Pedro Martinez

Pack six [Six cards listed per pack/six actual]
#255 Cole Hamels
#201 Tim Lincecum
#160 Alfonso Soriano
#281 Joe Nathan
#206 Jeff Francoeur - mini
Crack the Ginter Code - info card
#294 Torii Hunter

2008 Goudey Blaster Pack-akkake! #4

Pack #4

Base:
Aaron Rowand
Alfonso Soriano
Juan Marichal
Delmon Young
Paul Konerko
Scott Rolen
Billy Wagner
Melvin Mora

One of the unintended, albeit positive, consequences of UD losing the CMG contract to Topps, is that it allows other Hall of Fame and HOF-caliber players -- those you don't normally see that much -- into sets like this. Already, I'm only four packs into this blaster and I've pulled cards of Whitey Ashburn, Eddie Mathews, Tom Seaver, Bob Feller, Jack Morris, and now Juan Marichal.

Topps: You can have your Mickey Mantle, I'll take Whitey and Juan Marichal.

Speaking of Marichal, about the only thing missing from this pack was a card of Pedro Martinez to go with it.

A lot of ex-Phightin's in this pack: Rowand, Rolen, and Wagner. Aaron Rowand is a rarity, an athlete who left Philly and is still beloved by the Phans.

Geez, I wonder why.

Rolen and Wagner? Not so much.

2008 Topps Allen and Ginter

This is part of a $19.99 blaster box break [seven packs plus one extra] from Target - I like the cards to get signed randomly in-person/through the mail, but it is such a set builder's product, sometimes it gets boring going through the base cards, inserts, et al.

Pack three [Six cards listed per pack/six actual]
#135 Robinson Cano
#200 David Ortiz
#240 Magglio Ordonez
#31 Ryan Zimmerman
#285 Brandon Phillips
#238 Todd Clever - mini / rugby

Pack four [Six cards listed per pack/six actual]
#65 Victor Martinez
#12 Ian Snell
#2 Juan Pierre
#91 Scott Rolen
#TO 10 Sir Wagonwheel Stevens - mini / Team Orange insert
#8 Brian Bass

2008 Topps Allen and Ginter

This is part of a $19.99 blaster box break [seven packs plus one extra] from Target - I like the cards to get signed randomly in-person/through the mail, but it is such a set builder's product, sometimes it gets boring going through the base cards, inserts, et al.

Pack one [Six cards listed per pack/seven actual]
#164 Jorge Posada
#85 Curtis Granderson
#344 Matt Diaz - short print
#298 Greg Smith - mini
# US 1 Alex Rios - Alabama State Flags insert
#288 Pete Weber - bowler
#293 Pedro Feliz

Pack two [Six cards listed per pack/seven actual]
#100 David Wright
#163 Jeremy Hermida
#348 Justin Masterson - short print
#207 Yuniesky Betancourt - mini
#US 38 Ken Griffey Jr. - Pennsylvania State Flags insert

#144 Grand Canyon - a steep sided gorge

#219 Charles Dickens - novelist

2008 Goudey Blaster Pack-akkake! #1

On the day Donruss informed the world that Brett Favre has nine fingers on his right hand, I'm celebrating with a blaster of 2008 UD Goudey. And I'm gonna rip 'em, one-by-one for APAD.

Yes folks, it's time for another...

Chris Harris Blaster Box Pack-akkake!

Pack #1

Base:
Richie Ashburn
Jered Weaver
Albert Pujols
Corey Hart
Orlando Cabrera
Jake Peavy
Eddie Mathews
U.S. Presidents: Grover Cleveland (SP)

OH, HELLS YEAH! First Goudey card of 2008, and it's Whitey FUCKING Ashburn! Who cares if I also pulled a worthless gimmicked-up Presidents card!

I GOT A CARD OF WHITEY!

2008 Allen & Ginter Blaster and Contest

Just getting set up for the festivities... If you haven't made your guess, you have about 15 more minutes to do so. The prizes are 30 Allen & ginter cards (10 each from '06, '07 and '08) and your choice of one of these original Allen & Ginter cards:

or

They're beat up, but they're OLD.

At 10:00pm I'll start Ripping. I'll post each pack one at a time so hit F5 every few minutes to see the latest pack. I'll also ask three trivia questions. The first person who answers correctly in the comments wins a prize of their choosing. The prizes for the trivia questions are:

A relic card
An autographed card
5 cards of your favorite player (If I have them)
25 cards from your favorite team
All the cards from this box that I already have.

Ok, we're almost to the break, in the meantime check out some amazing photos from the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Bejing.

OKAY - We're ready to go!

Pack 1:
129Joey Votto RC
1 A-Rod
5 Crack the Cod e Jon Lester
114 Trevor Hoffman mini
294 Torii Hunter
16 Hiroki Kuroda RC

Pack 2:

UT OH

RELIC

201 Tim Lincecum
215 Aaron Harang
256 Garret Anderson
309 Ryan Church SP
WL8 Mirek Topolanek Czech republic
ABR-JS John Smoltz Jersey
Checklist 3
37 Pedro Martines

Trivia Question 1: lets be topical...
What was the name of the "sports psychologist" that fixed Smoltzie's head back in the '90s?


Pack 3:
65 Victor MArtinez
12 Ian Snell
265 Brian Roberts
329 JAck Cust SP
278 Kevin Van Dan mini
STATE - MICHIGAN
284 Dice-K

Early lead for Obama,,,

Pack 4:
100 David Wright
135 Robinson Cano
179 Hidecki Matsui
253 Nick Blackburn mni
8 Brian Bass
144Grand Canyon

Sorry McCain fans Grand canyon doesn't count as Arizona

Trivia Question 2:
Topps issued eTopps cards of Barack Obama and John McCain earlier this year. What two teams' logos were also featured on the cards?

Pack 5:
200 David Ortiz
214 Greg Maddux
78 Ivan Rodriguez
341 Ty Wigginton SP
55 Josh Beckett mini A&G
STATE - PENNSYLVANIA
219 Charles Dickens

Another blue state... McCain's in trouble...

Pack 6:
237 Zack Greinke
26 Corey Hart
28 Adam Larocha
226 Rich Hill
197 Bigfoot mini
285 Brandon Phillips


Trivia Question 3:
Name 5 players featured in the 1985 Topps Olympic subset.

Pack 7:
162 Austin KEarns
87 Aaron Rowand
118 Geovany Soto
22 Chin Lung HU RC mini
133Wild Bill Hiccock
212 Pyort ili The dude who wrote swan lake



Pack 8:
104 Orlando Husdon
33 Nick Swisher
312 Brandon wood SP
NO MINI GYP


OH SNAP

LANDSLIDE



BARACK IS TEH WIN


StATE - CALIFORNIA
299 Rafael Furcal
262 MArk Spitz

ptui

Ok, the box is ripped. Whew! give me a few minutes to get settled and I'll check the trivia answers, add up the Electoral votes of Obama's landslide and announce the winners.

THE WINNERS:

Electoral Vote Contest -

Let's check the map.

Michigan - Obama 17 Votes
Pennsylvania - Obama 21 votes
California - Obama 55 Votes

TOTAL - Obama 93 McCain 0

The winner -

cbware said... Obama with 88 electoral votes

Congrats cbware, e-mail me with your choice of vintage A&G card and address and I'll get them out to you ASAP.

Trivia Questions:

Trivia Question 1: lets be topical...
What was the name of the "sports psychologist" that fixed Smoltzie's head back in the '90s?

TheJaw said... Jack Llewelyn

TheJaw, a Cubs fan (but we won't hold that against him) has chosen an autograph card.

Trivia Question 2:
Topps issued eTopps cards of Barack Obama and John McCain earlier this year. What two teams' logos were also featured on the cards?

Captain Canuck said... d backs and white sox

I have a pretty good handle on what Captain Canuck wants.

Trivia Question 3:
Name 5 players featured in the 1985 Topps Olympic subset.

zman40 said... snyder, mcgire, august, hoover, mcdowell

Zman40 has indicated a preference for Royals cards. What is it with all the Royals collectors out there?

Ok guys, pick your prize and shoot me an e-mail. Thanks for playing!