Mystery Packs from the Baseball Card Store

Recently I ordered some hockey, basketball, and football cards from the Baseball Card Store. I didn't have time to search through their baseball cards so I went back a few days later and placed a baseball-heavy order, then requested shipping on the whole lot. The box arrived two days earlier than expected.

 I'm going to stretch out the contents of my box over several posts. Today I'll show off the mystery packs available at BBCS. These are 15-card grab bags at the same dime-a-card price, but the selection is as random as a repack. There's even more of a surprise since you can't see the front-facing card when ordering these.

If you're interested in ordering from BBCS but you find their search option tedious I highly recommend ordering some of these mystery packs. I ordered five.. and I received six:

 

I was very pleased with the front-facing cards. The Jordan is a team set issue. Any MJ for a dime is a nice surprise.

 

I ended up with two Jordan cards. Aside from these and the Drew Brees, everything else fit a set build or PC. Pacioretty and Young are Connecticut guys. 

The hockey pack was a free gift/replacement for one out of stock card. Above and beyond, IMO. Here are the highlights:

Nice mix of stars, HOFers, and fan favorites. Older stuff and newer stuff. A perfectly good repack.

The basketball repacks were exceptional, though that could just be because I don't have as many NBA cards as other sports. You be the judge:

Two inserts and a parallel of '90s stars. I love that Dikembe Rejector. Smits is a need for my Hoops Decade set build. 

 

 Look at all these stars! I had mistakenly ordered two copies of the 1991-92 Upper Deck Drexler and pulled a third copy out of the repack. If anyone is collecting this set or Clyde "The Glide" let me know.

 

The football packs were interesting. I noticed a pattern right away. Here's every card across the three packs:

As you can see., each repack had one card..

..from one of these sets: 1986 Topps, 1991 Pro Set, Topps, Ultra, UD, Wild Card, 1994 Score Gold Zone parallels..

..2006 Topps Chrome (my favorite of the newer sets), 2012 Panini R & S, 2012 Topps...

2014 Bowman Chrome, 2014 Topps Chrome mini, 2014 Topps Play 60, and 2015 Panini Stickers. 

There was only one very slight difference..

.. a very slight difference since all three of these green-bordered cards depict Patriots. I have to admit I was a little disappointed in the football packs, especially compared to the basketball. That was until I cataloged my new cards on TCDB and noticed that the 2012 Topps Kam Chancellor is his rookie card.

I have no idea what the legit value of the Chancellor RC is, but the cheapest copy on COMC is currently listed at over $5

Not a bad pull from a blind pack of dime cards. Perhaps next time I'll order some baseball packs.

Have you had any recent success with mystery packs, grab bags, or repacks? 

Thanks for reading!

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4 Pack Break - 1987 Topps Football

Let's open some 33 year-old wax packs. 

 

I earned enough eBay bucks to shop for some set fillers - but not enough for a vintage card. One seller had packs of 1987 Topps football for $3 apiece, discounted to $2.55/ea if you purchase four or more. After using my eBay bucks this lot cost $4 total, which works out to a buck a pack ($1 + $3 shipping.)

The first football cards I saw on store shelves were 1988 Topps, and I bought several packs at the time. I can't say that this purchase was an attempt at "buying back my childhood" because I never saw '87 Topps anywhere. So this is the first time I've ever opened any football packs older than '88.

Obviously with the Jerry Rice RC in 1986 Topps I couldn't pick up any unopened wax to boost that set build. There aren't any high-value cards in 1987 Topps but there are still some key cards I need including:

• Jim Kelly RC
• Randall Cunningham RC
• Charles Haley RC
• Herschel Walker RC
• Doug Flutie RC
• Walter Payton sunset card*
• Joe Montana
• Jerry Rice 2nd year
• Dan Marino
• Steve Young 2nd year
  

*Payton had a Record Breaker card in 1988 Topps but not a proper base card

Pulling any one of these cards would be a win. I'll also note any Hall of Famers, stars, and Packers.

Let's get 'rippin. Here's pack 1:

Off to a great start here with a second-year Bruce Smith and a Boomer Esiason. Mossy Cade will go in my Packers binder since I already have one in my set. J.T. Smith was one of my favorites as a kid. And I was just telling my wife how much I love the old Falcons uniforms, specifically the red helmet.

There are 16 cards in each pack so I'll have to break these up into two scans. Here's the second half:

I'd forgotten about the 1000 Yard Club glossy cards. Four more chances to pull HOFers like Payton, Rice, Eric Dickerson, and Steve Largent. The Donnie Shell (HOFer) has a dinged edge and the Steve Jordan is wrecked. I knew at least one card would be gum-stained, but I wasn't expecting surface bubbles.

Pack 2, first half:

Here's one of the three HOFer rookie cards in the set: Gary Zimmerman. Charlie Joiner also has a bust in Canton. James Wilder was a childhood favorite because he appeared to be the only decent player on the Bucs and I liked the orange creamsicle uniforms.

Second half:

I remember Joe Morris from his Starting Lineup figure. (I think I had a Marcus Allen, too.) Sadly the Allen card is the bubbled one in this pack and has to be discarded. Mark Lee with Christmas colors is interesting. All the other Packers in the set have a properly yellow background behind their name.

Pack 3, first half:

Doug Flutie RC 😎 That's one I can cross off the Top Ten wantlist. Super Bowl cards kicked off the 1987, '88, and '89 Topps sets. Half a Jerry Rice card is better than none, especially when he shares it with the host of Touchdown Trivia.

Second half...aww, sh!t:

Dave Jennings hot pack. Including the Brian Hansen that's three punter cards. When was the last time it was even possible to pull three punters from a pack? That's not why I'm annoyed. You see that card at the bottom right? That's one of the three HOFer RCs in the set. One of the Top Ten keys...

..and it's wrecked. I don't mind a little gum stain but this card (like the Allen and Jordan) have surface bubbles on the front. They're hard to see in the scan but you can see the gum damage on the front underneath Haley's name:

That's the risk of buying 33 year-old wax packs. Oh well :/

Last pack. Let's see if the third Hall of Famer RC is hiding in here...

Two Hall of Famers in Andre Tippett and Kellen Winslow. Mark Malone took over for Terry Bradshaw in Pittsburgh, but that was before my time. I remember him from ESPN. Which blogger collects cards of players on a phone?

Second half:

Another Joe Morris insert. Figures. No HOFers here, though I do have a bit of a Neil Lomax PC. Also, I'm very relieved that the bubbled/gum stained card in this pack was a checklist. 

Overall this was a fun rip. I got 42 new cards for my set build, plus some glossy inserts and a handful of traders.

Now.. who would like to eat this gum?

Anyone? There's a Charles Haley rookie card in it for ya. 

Oh.. I see we have a volunteer. Jon, do the honors:

 

Thanks for reading!


 

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If heaven exists...

 .. they're building one hell of a baseball team.

Whitey Ford was one of my oldest aunt's favorite players. He must have been a favorite of my little league coach, too. I was given the nickname "Whitey" even though I wasn't a pitcher (or a lefty.)

Until today I didn't know why Ford was called the "Chairman of the Board" other than the fact that that it rhymed. I thought it had something to do with Frank Sinatra, who was also given that nickname.

 

R.I.P. to the last great Yankee of the pre-expansion era. 

 

 

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Quick PWE post

 So it turns out I do have some pink cards. At least a half dozen.

These two were in a fat pack of 2019 Topps Chrome I purchased at Target. I miss purchasing packs. And Target. Tried going there a few weeks ago and the line at the register extended all the way to the back of the store. I don't need mystery flavor Mountain Dew and 2020 Topps Archives badly enough to spend my whole Saturday standing in line.

And why would I spend $20 on a handful of cards when there are so many generous bloggers sending me care packages? Three PWEs arrived in my mailbox today, and I'm keeping my promise to thank the senders via blog post.

 

Adam (Infield Fly Rule) emailed me about a week ago offering help with my 1993 Leaf set build. He sent seven cards-almost all Marlins and White Sox, as you can see. The outlier was Royals shortstop Greg Gagne.

More 1987 Topps football set fillers courtesy of Elliptical Man. I will be busting open some packs of these this weekend :)

 
Jon of the Pennysleeve blog contacted me to ask a couple questions about my Devils collecting. Once I answered his "card related email" he sent these two Adam Henrique Progressions plates from 2013 Panini Fathers Day. These are from the Inked set, and there are just five copies of each. I would not have known any of this info without Jon's note explaining them.

 

Jon, Adam, Brendan... thanks for the great cards!

It has been brought to my attention that I have a talent for predicting sports outcomes. So congratulations to LeBron James and the Lakers on winning the NBA Championship. You're next, Dodgers :)

Thanks for reading!



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A pink Paige and other random scans

I've been trying to get my scan folder organized so that I can keep track of new cards that come in and who sent them to me. Unfortunately I may have made a bigger mess out of them as I've misplaced the scans of cards I received from Tom (The Angels In Order) and Dennis (Too Many Verlanders) Perhaps I forgot to scan the cards in the first place, I'm not sure. 

not a recent arrival, just a tribute

Sometimes I'm in the mood to simply enjoy the cards that come in and place them in my collection without scanning and discussing them. Of course I email the sender a "thank you" but I should be more proactive about posting these care packages on the blog. That's one reason why I need to get organized. 

I really don't have a good excuse as to why I can't find those scans but I can find scans of recent TCDB trades.

I traded 24 dupes from 2017 Topps (plus seven other cards) to TCDB user Lugnut80 in exchange for 17 set fillers. The Chase Utley is my favorite of this group.

This is the fourth Al Toon RC I've had and they're all off-center. I give up trying to upgrade this card, it's good enough. Technically I'm no longer working on the 1988-89 Fleer basketball set, though I'm happy to trade for singles I need - just in case. The Cavs and Mavs logo cards are not part of the regular 1991-92 Upper Deck set; these are from the Spanish version.

These 2015 Panini Prizm cards were the main reason I offered Lugnut a surplus of cards. Hoyer and Edelman had a rough game last night - but my Packers didn't 😎

Tomb on Tcdb sent these eight cards in exchange for a couple Yankees, an Ichiro, and some 1992-93 Fleer Ultra basketball dupes. He mentioned the Aguirre sticker had soft edges but I'm less picky about the condition of the stickers, which always seem to be miscut, off-center, or wax stained. 

The Rookie at the bottom left is UConn alum Donny (not Donyell) Marshall, while the Mark Price and Lee Smith were replacements for cards tomb reported as damaged. The Rick Mirer is kind of random, it was on my wantlist to replace a damaged copy in my collection.

Speaking of random...

Here's a scan of a 'bucket list' card I don't own (and probably never will.) I must have mentioned this on the blog before because it's in my "unsorted" folder of blog topics. It's a great card, but far too expensive for something that doesn't depict a player. I'm adding it here so I can delete it from my folder.

The "Pocket Rocket" Henri Richard, another Hall of Famer we lost this year - almost a dozen by my count. I mentioned this on Commishbob's blog. I don't own this card, though I do collect Canadiens from their dynasty years. Mostly 1970s as they're more affordable.

Here are some cards I do own, thanks to TCDB user Shaggy69:

These 1987 Topps singles are really crisp. I've been adding a bunch of these lately thanks to trades - and the generosity of one Elliptical Man - and I'm about add a bunch more thanks to an eBay purchase I made yesterday. Stay tuned for that..

Two more for my 1989-90 Fleer set build (which is also going to get a major boost soon) and three more 1987s. The Gerald Madkins at the top right brings my 1993-94 Fleer Ultra set build down to just three cards. 

Or two if I decide to crack this open. This was sent to me in a prior TCDB trade without any indication it was encased. I tried selling it at the height of MJ mania earlier this year but didn't get a bite.

I've become much more committed to set building than team or player collecting over the past year or two, as evidenced by my never-ending quest to acquire PSA-graded copies of all 396 cards in the 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee hockey set.

Pat Flatley is my newest addition. I'm down to just 59 needs. If only I could pay $5 for each of them, like I did with "Flats" here.

Since this is a random post I'm going to mention Paige Spiranac for a second. Before wrapping up my final COMC order I considered adding one of her cards to my cart. I decided not to, because.. 

This is the card in question. It's alright I guess. But those grainy colors don't appeal to me at all.

This is Paige Spiranac in color. This would have been a fantastic card, especially this month. Thanks for nothin, Topps. [Perhaps I should have posted this on my 1993 blog based on her birth year. Oh well.]

Now that I've cleared out some random scans and photos I shall endeavor to keep up with all the care packages from fellow bloggers. Tom, Dennis, thanks again for the great cards!

Thanks for reading!



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