Sunday, October 20, 2013

Junk Wax Pack Wars

I've read some nice "Pack Wars" posts lately around the blogosphere and they have motivated me to host my own "Pack Wars".

In one corner we have a 1992 Topps Stadium Club Series 1 pack with fifteen cards:

And in the other corner a 1988 Fleer wax pack with fifteen cards and one sticker:

The Stadium Club pack is one picked up for "free" on Listia. Conversely, I purchased this 1988 Fleer wax pack recently for fifty cents at my LCS.  Face value for junk wax!  It's not my fault... you see, I needed some materials for Thorzul's Fear the Fleer Nightmare on Cardboard Contest.


Here's a break down on today's scoring system:
A). Sweet facial hair = +1
B). Play at the Plate = +1
C). Double Play = +1
D). Chicago Cub = +2
E). Hall of Famer = +5
F). St. Louis Cardinal = -1
G). New York Yankee = -2
H). Other Randomness = ??

Here's your Stadium Club in order they were busted:
Cecil Fielder (Tigers) = +2 Love me some Big Cecil!
 Luis Salazar (Cubs) = +2 Cub! +1, because of the caterpillar on his upper lip.
Shane Mack (Twins) = +1 nicely groomed mustache
Rich Gedman (Cardinals) = -1 Cardinal
Kevin Brown (Brewers) = +1 There was another Kevin Brown?  I learned something new today!

Tony Fossas (Red Sox)
Shawn Abner (Angels)
Checklist #299 = -1 Checklists are NOT cool.
Checklist #300 = -1 Seriously?

Chili Davis (Twins) = +1 another nicely groomed mustache, +1 again because I like chilli
Orlando Merced (Pirates)
Dave Cochrane (Mariners)
Bernard Gilkey (Cardinals) = -1 Cardinal, -1 I don't like creepy mustaches.
Brian Holman (Mariners)
Ricky Bones (Padres)


Pack Total: +4
Not a great showing for the '92 Stadium Club pack.  Too many Cardinals and checklists.  Also, what's the deal with the near identical shots of Shane Mack and Chili Davis?


And now the '88 Fleer:
White Sox/Cardinals Stickers = -1 Cardinal stickers... yuck.
Bob James (White Sox) = +1 lumberjack-like facial hair

Mickey Hatcher (Dodgers)
Juan Castillo (Brewers)
Ted Simmons (Braves)
Phil Bradley (Mariners)
Tom Brookens (Tigers) = +1 sweet mustache & glasses combo
Don Aase (Orioles) = +1 awesome flavor savor
Jerry Gleason (Royals)
Nolan Ryan (Astros) = +5 HOF

Jim Lindeman (Cardinals) = -1 Cardinal
Joe Sambito (Red Sox)
Pascual Perez (Expos)
Ozzie Smith (Cardinals) = +5 HOF, -1 Cardinal
John Farrell (Indians) = +1 for being relevant in the 2013 playoffs
Bob Denier (Cubs) = +2 Cub!

Pack Total: +13
Whoa!  Two big names with the Ryan Express and The Wizard of  Oz making an appearance and a couple of sweet mustaches in this pack.  Did you know Nolan Ryan had a 2.76 ERA in 1987, but had a pitching record of 8 and 16.  Crazy Astros.

So, 1988 Fleer kicked some butt.  I didn't see that one coming, but two Hall of Fame players in one pack is always nice. If Fleer is able to ride those horses to a win, then more power to them.

3 comments:

  1. I love that squinty-eyed Nolan Ryan.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hit or miss on good cards from the Stadium Club set. But what was with the double checklists? That pack must have been opened and resealed.

    ReplyDelete