10 Packs, 12 Dollars, What Could Go Wrong?!?!? (Part 5)

We've hit the home stretch here.  Only two packs from the box are left to list, as review might be too strong of a word. 

Pack 9 - 1991 Fleer Ultra (Pack 2)

12 - John Smoltz
63 - Les Lancaster
94 - Mariano Duncan (With an uncorrected error of Billy Hatcher as the third picture on the back of the card.  I think Billy Hatcher, being a former Astro, improves the card.)
121- Cecil Fielder
144 - George Brett
194 - Junior Ortiz
200 - Delino DeShields
214 - Ron Darling
235 - Roberto Kelly
269 - Terry Mulholland
277 - Doug Drabek
290 - Ray Lankford
Fleer Ultra Team 1 - Barry Bonds (This is the closest I came to scanning a card.)

This pack was far superior to the other pack of Fleer Ultra due to the more recognizable names, the crazy error, which is one of many and the inclusion of an insert, which I believe falls one every five packs.

Pack 10 - 2007 Upper Deck Rack Pack

You realize this set has over 1,000 cards in it.  I looked on eBay to see if there were any for sale and I found 2 complete sets.  I also found that Upper Deck also released an 850 card set the same year in SweetSpot.  I don't understand why.  There is no need for one set this large, let alone two.  Seeing this, it does not make me think, "Boy, wouldn't it be great if Upper Deck ever made licensed baseball cards again?" I would, however, accept a license from Panini, since they seem to make quality cards in reasonably sized sets.

11 - Ryan Sweeney
135 - Howie Kendrick
145 - Joe Saunders
162 - Juan Rincon
173 - Mariano Rivera (I tend to pull Rivera in every set.)
180 - Dan Johnson
226 - Mark DeRosa
274 - Chad Paronto
286 - Sean Marshall
346 - Rafael Furcal
369 - Chris Capuano
449 - Chris Duncan
457 - Ryan Zimmerman
470 - Pedro Astacio (8 teams, 15 seasons, 129 wins, all surprising numbers.  Plus the fact he started his career in 1992.  I would've guessed around 1996.)
484 - Vernon Wells Blue Jays Checklist
529 - Chris Young
568 - Jay Payton
586 - J.D. Drew
653 - David Delucci
668 - Brian Lawrence
696 - Logan Kensing
723 - Mike Lamb
735 - Octavio Dotel (He was only up to seven teams by this point in time, six he played for and the Royals, whose uniform he is wearing on the front of the card.)
784 - Wilson Valdez
790 - Matt Wise
850 - Roger Clemens
859 - Jason Kendall
940 - Jose Vidro
982 - Robinson Tejada
1011 - John Patterson (I've never owned a card which required four digits as a unique identifier.  I was a better man when I had not owned one.)
Triple Play - Albert Pujols
Triple Play - Miguel Tejada


The best news I can provide about this pack is the lack of inserts.  It's quite the opposite of the O-Pee-Chee pack which contained 6 cards, 4 base, one parallel and one basketball insert.  I mean, if it only takes 150 packs or almost five box of perfect collation to complete a set, sign me up!

On the whole, I would not call this an enjoyable product to open.  It's pretty close as to whether there was $20 worth of retail value in packs in the box. 

2009 Goodwin Champions Rack Pack - $5
2007 Upper Deck Rack Pack - $5
2009 O-Pee-Chee - $2 (That was the price tag on the pack)
2012 Topps Series 2 - $2
1991 Fleer Ultra - $2? ($4)
2007 Topps Cello Pack - $1.50
2012 Topps Opening Day - $1 ($2)
1988 Score - $.50

That gets us to $22, though I suspect I may be underestimating the Fleer Ultra and possibly overestimating the 2007 Upper Deck.  It does pass the "Not violating false advertising laws" test.  However, the box totally fails the fun test.  The best cards were damaged, as the lower half of the 2009 Goodwin Champions rack pack was creased and the selection of packs left a lot to be desired.  I suspect I would not purchase one of these boxes in the future and would encourage you to do the same.

10 Packs, 12 Dollars, What Could Go Wrong?!?!? (Part 4)

With only four packs left, I am starting to feel that perhaps this was not the wisest purchase I have ever made at a Target.  Let's look at two more packs that I've opened and sat on for the last two weeks. 

Pack 7 - 1991 Fleer Ultra

Mariners Foil Sticker - Nothing says "premium" cards like the inclusion of a foil sticker.  Actually, nothing says Panini baseball stickers like the inclusion of a foil sticker.  Let's move on.
28 - Tom Bolton
36 - Tim Naehring
49 - Mark Langston
165 - Mike Morgan
179 - Dan Plesac
233 - Mel Hall
240 - Hensley Meulens - I believe this Bam-Bam card is the high point of the pack.  Well, that or discovering they numbered the cards by team in alphabetical order from Atlanta Braves to Toronto Blue Jays.
301 - Andy Benes
312 - Garry Templeton
358 - Roberto Alomar
370 - David Wells (pre-gout)
391 - Barry Bonds (Great Performances)
394 - David Justice (Great Performances)

Aside from the bright colors on the back and the poor man's Leaf look to the cards (and we all know that Leaf is the poor man's Stadium Club), there is little to say about this pack.

Pack 8 - 1988 Score

17 cards, bright colors, no waiting.  I think pulling this pack out of the box was the low water mark of opening the box.  Not the packs, mind you, but the box.  As a child, I opened many boxes of this product at cost.  So, it is hard to get excited about a 50 cent pack in your repack box.

Upon opening the pack, I was struck by two things.  First, Score also made Sportflics or vice versa, which I only put together again when I saw the offer on the back for young superstars and then saw the "Magic Motion"trivia card contained within.  Second, when I opened the pack, I saw the cards were color sorted.  And each 110 card sheet was a different color making it appear that instead of mixing all of the cards, they select a certain number of cards from each sheet and add them into the pack.  Quite the odd method of collation, but I'm sure 24 years ago, this was a revolutionary sorting practice.  Let's break it down by color!

Purple

51 - Doug Drabek (Dented)
69 - Howard Johnson
71 - Keith Moreland

Blue 

184 - Danny Darwin
196 - Dan Pasqua
204 - Garth Iorg

Red 

234 - Greg Brock
246 - Jimmy Jones
254 - Johnny Ray

Green

383 - Buddy Biancalana
397 - Randy St. Claire

Yellow 

450 - Dale Murphy
540 - George Bell
545 - Jack Morris

Orange 

642 - Mackey Sasser
644 - Kevin Romine
647 - Ron Gant

And to think, there are still two more packs from this box filled with mystery left to open.  Well, not open, that's done, but discuss as rational, like-minded individuals.