Repack Bang or Bust #6

Today's edition of Repack Bang or Bust is, unfortunately a total bust. This was an 11-pack box from MJ Holdings I got at Walmart a few weeks ago. The box brags "Including one hobby pack in every box". 4 of the 11 packs were this.

2012 Triple Play. 

This was just an awful set. I did pull one of the generic relic cards but that hardly makes up for the 28 of the 72 cards this product represented in this box.

As I said, I don't like this set. The original Triple Play in the early 1990s was aimed at kids. I imagine that kids have even less interest in baseball cards today than they did then. And cards like this don't seem like they would draw kids back into the hobby.

Both of these examples would likely cause nightmares in impressionable youngsters. Especially the Strasburg card.

2007 Upper Deck Series 2

I guess Upper Deck was on its last legs in 2007. This dull offering was their flagship set.

Half of the 8 cards were of the horizontal orientation which I think looks worse than the vertical. I'd have been happy to have this pack when it was new, as 3 of the cards were Astros. But by now I already have those cards.

2015 Panini USA Stars & Stripes

It's always interesting to pull from a repack something I've never seen before.

Not a bad looking set. 150 cards of college baseball players. Some of the players I pulled have been drafted by major league teams, although Ober apparently hasn't. Two design problems. The large Stars & Stripes logo on the front makes it look like the player is straddling the logo on many of the cards I got. And why would you design a card back to have a large color photo just to repeat the front photo? As long as I collect cards I don't think I'll ever understand that.

This is a 150-card insert set featuring the same players, in the same order, as the base set, but with a different photograph. The card has the look and feel of Topps Chrome. 

2016 Babe Ruth Collection

I never saw this set live but it's been showing up in repacks since last summer. I've got about half of the 80-cards set now. There were two 5-card packs included in this box but there was only one I didn't have.

There were also two packs of this.

I opened them, looked at them and threw them away.

So, there turned out to be 27 cards of the 72 that I needed (needed being a very relative term when speaking of 2012 Triple Play). I usually like a repack to be around 50% productive to be satisfied. 

Repack Bang or Bust Part 3

There was nothing new in the local target so I bought this.

4 packs, 50 loose cards and a bonus for $7.99. Through the windows on the front and back of the box we can see that 2 of the packs are 2016 Topps Heritage and 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen. 

I didn't buy a whole lot of Topps Heritage last year. There were 9 cards in the pack. I needed 4 of 8 base cards. There was one insert.

This is a Topps Heritage 1967 Stand Up. Presumably the original 1967 card was a punch out thing that made a creepy standing head. This was the only non-relic, non-auto insert from 2016 Topps Heritage I didn't have so along with 4 base cards, this pack is a bang.

I bought even less of 2016 Topps Gypsy Queen. There were 4 base cards in the pack and I needed 3 of them. The 4th card was an Astro I don't mind getting a dup of. There was also a mini card as expected. And then there was this.

An on-card autograph card. I can't say I knew who this guy was even though he played 3 years for the Astros (2011-2013) and finished last season with the Phillies. He appears to be an extra outfielder who doesn't hit. But an autograph is an autograph and I didn't have any of these from 2016 Gypsy Queen. This pack was a total bang.

The two hidden packs were 2015 Series 1 Topps. Not promising since I already have the whole set. These two packs were a total bust. Not even a card I didn't mind having a dup of. There was one insert in each. Both were the Topps Highlight of the Year cards. 

Fernando certainly had a great year in 1981. I remember his 8-game winning streak to start the season. I also remember that his first loss was to the Phillies. I remember listening to the game on the radio. I had to look it up to get the details. The Phillies beat the Dodgers 4-0 in LA that night. Marty Bystrom, of all people, got the win.

Another great pitcher but of whom I have no personal memories.

Of the 50 loose cards I needed 22 of them. I usually figure if I get close to 50% needs on something like this I'm ahead, especially if I get some players I collect that I need. So the loose cards are also a bang. Nothing especially exciting however.

A relatively early A Rod card from 1997 Upper Deck.

1994 SP. Two cards I needed that are on foil board, which I hate. I wonder why Cone is wearing a green hat. Spring training game on St. Patrick's Day perhaps? I know the Phillies have done such a thing.

1994 Bowman's Best. Utilizing Topps' still new 'Chrome' technology, this is way better than foil board.

I guess Greg Luzinski's son seemed like a good bet. The Dodgers made him their #1 draft pick in 1992. He was a catcher in their minor league system at the same time the Dodgers had some guy named Mike Piazza. Ryan played in the minors until 1999 but never was able to crack into the majors.

And the bonus? 

I think this thing is called a Teeny Mate. It's made by Topps. I bought a few and have gotten a few in this type of repack before. I've 8 of them now sitting in front of my computer monitor.

All in all, mainly based on the autograph, I'll call this repack a bang.

Repack - Bang or Bust? Part 1

Last week I teased a repack break. The box had 15 packs containing 212 cards total.  Was the break a bang or bust?

As I've said before, any card I don't have is a card I need. So I'll be sort of happy if the box yields a lot of cards I don't have. Beyond that, I'm happier if I get a card that I can add to my reference book. I'm even happier if I can get a Phillie or post 1994 Astro card I don't have. And just if happy if I can get a player I collect.  I'm going to evaluate the box pack by pack in roughly the order they came out of the box.

1993 Triple Play

I remember buying a lot of 1992 Triple Play even though it was clearly designed for kids. I kind of liked the bold graphics. 1993 Triple Play, although still aimed at kids, was too bland for me and I didn't buy much. Consequently, of the 12 cards in this pack, I 'needed' 10 of them.

This card is a bang on two counts, it's a Phillies card I didn't have and it's a subset card I didn't have. Schilling is apparently beating a new glove into submission. I haven't figured out who that is on the back.

And another subset for the reference book.

There were really no inserts in this set but there was a game card. I already had one featuring Darrin Dalton of the Phillies. But I'd rather have a non-Phillie card in the reference book.

The card folds open to reveal a scratch off game. 

Overall, I'd rate this pack as a 'bang'.

1993 Upper Deck

There was a time that I didn't like 1993 Upper Deck much, but now I like it a lot. 15 cards in the pack and I needed 11, so clearly a bang. No great players in this pack but some good photos.

This kid must be at least 25 years old by now.

1989 Topps

I have this set completed, so I didn't expect anything here. Let's just call it a bust, but interesting to see this package again. 29 cards for  79 cents. Along with the Spring Fever Baseball contest, Topps was selling tee shirts.

I wish I'd have bought that Style E shirt although it would probably be a rag by now.

1988 O-Pee-Chee

I've picked up plenty of O-Pee-Chee cards in repacks over the years, but this is the first pack of this product I've ever seen.

Here's one of the problems of opening up 29 year old baseball cards with gum. The gum took off most of Mike's face.

I didn't have any of the 7 cards in this pack, so rate this a bang. Plus I pulled a few players I collect, including the above Hershiser card and Bret Saberhagen. Although I have nearly the complete 1988 Topps set, I don't have the Topps cards of these two.

1993 Ultra

One of the so-called "Super Premium" sets of the early 1990s. I like this set but it's a frequent find in repacks and I only pulled 3 (of 14 in the pack) that I needed. So this pack was a bust.  Just to remind you of what these cards looked like.

Glossy, full-bleed printing front and back. 2 photos in the back but a scarcity of stats. Just a little gold foil on the front.

1988 Score

Another set that loads up repacks. I have nearly the entire set although I'm pretty sure I never bought a pack when new. Of the 17 cards, I only needed 3, so call this a bust.

This was the first year for Score. As the new kid on the block, they brought a colorful card back, complete with a color photo and full career stats to the table. A bit ahead of their time I think.

1989 Topps

A regular 1989 Topps wax pack. A complete bust.

1991 Stadium Club Series 2

The set that started the "Super Premium" trend. "Produced with Kodak Technology". I needed 11 of the 12 cards from the pack, so a total bang. As with the 1993 Upper Deck, no great players but some good photos.

Stadium Club had two gimmicks. One was a system of stats called BARS. I can't claim I ever paid much attention to it. Every pack had a card to explain the system. The other was a copy of the players Topps rookie card on the back. I always liked that in this set. They did it again in 1992 but it didn't work as well since we'd seen all the rookie cards in 1991. Topps should try this again with a current Stadium Club issue.

I collect George Bell. Unlike a lot of cards the design element works pretty well with vertical and horizontal cards.

An Astros rainbow jersey and a good photo at 3rd base.

I'll get the rest of this box done later in the week.