Pack Wars by Jane, Part 2

A couple of days ago I broke the Pack Wars hiatus on this blog by posting a pair of packs sponsored by my sister, Jane. Her mystery pack was stuffed with vintage cardboard and four Hall of Famers who are now resting in my HOF binder.

Um, well, this time around the mystery pack is going with a very different theme. Let's just put it this way . . . she has a sense of humor and an eye for unique cardboard. I think you'll get the idea after the first round.

Jane's pack of mystery and surprise is on the left and the 1986 Topps pack will be on the right for the majority of this post. (Somehow I switched up the order for Rounds 11 & 15. Oops.)

Round 1

 1986 Topps comes out swinging with Steve Balboni and his wonderful mustache dawning the Royals' road powder blues. It's a nice looking card of a guy I randomly followed during my first time through the hobby.

Steve Sharts. Yes, Steve Sharts. Poor Steve should go see his family doctor or something.
Tell me if that's one of the most unfortunate last names you've ever come across!

And so the wackiness begins.

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  1
1986 Topps =  0

Round 2

 The infamous unibrow and mustache combo. It's like Sammy Stewart has two fuzzy caterpillars on his face. Jorge Bell is sporting the cock-eyed hat, bling around the neck and wristbands. Sammy could take a few lessons from Jorge on style. Style points to 1986 Topps!

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  1
1986 Topps =  1

Round 3

  I have multiple copies of this Leo Gomez card and it has always struck me as something cross between a high school yearbook photo and a very nerdy picture. I like how Mike LaCross is eyeing Gomez as appears to be saying, "Man, you're in the Bigs. Get your $#!+ together!" Another win for 1986 Topps.

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  1
1986 Topps =  2

Round 4

  I think we have a battle of spring training photos here. I don't know enough about old Candlestick Park to be sure this isn't the Giant's former home field, but the folding chairs say "Spring Training" to me. Jack does jumping jacks. What a unique photo for a baseball card. This one is going in my Folder of Fun. Very cool.

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  2
1986 Topps =  2

Round 5

  I think Tim Lollar's hair stylings would fit right in with 2019, which makes for a pretty boring 1986 card. Oddibe is about to limbo. That's a win in my book.

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  3
1986 Topps =  2

Round 6

  Now, this is a match-up! In his only season on the north side of Chicago, Goosage saved 13 games with the Cubs in 1988. Goose was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2008. Hendrick was a former #1 draft pick and went to four All-Star games during his eighteen year career. Yet, their career numbers are not what makes this match-up the best yet.

Fantastic facial hair and the bad-a$$ery is so evident! I gotta go with Hendrick, because he wears that hitting jacket so well.

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  3
1986 Topps =  3

Tie ballgame!

Round 7

  Fernando versus Nate Snell. Again, it looks like a couple of spring training shots to me. I've never heard of Snell-mania, but I have heard of Fernando-mania. Fernando takes this round.

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  4
1986 Topps =  3

Round 8

  I really like batting cage shots, but Neon Deion rookie card! Most excellent!

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  5
1986 Topps =  3

Round 9

  Here's an odd turn of events... a miscut football card. Donnie Hill's yellow jersey top is something I would like to see more of in MLB . . . but, Chuck Muncie is wearing glasses under his helmet. That's a lot of goodness on one football card!

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  6
1986 Topps =  3

Round 10

  I was a HUGE Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan back in the day. Andrew Dawson. The Hawk.
Wow. Another great match-up. I gotta go with the TMNT. Crime fighting, fun loving, pizza eating turtles don't happen along everyday, you know?

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  7
1986 Topps =  3

Round 11

  Shoot, I got these flipped. 1986 Topps should be in the right, but at least this way we can see how in awe John Felske is of Huey Lewis. I don't know what your parents listened to around the house when you were growing up. But, I know about every song by Chicago and Huey Lewis and the News. Good times. Here's one of my favorites.

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  8
1986 Topps =   3

Round 12

  Da Coach! Great card of a Chicago legend!

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  9
1986 Topps =  3

Round 13

  I was a big Derrick Thomas fan and I even had a player collection of him when I was younger. He was left paralyzed after a car accident and then died suddenly a couple of weeks later. Sad, sad story.
Charlie Hough was a model of knuckleball consistency. He pitched over 200 innings during his age 45 season. Only eleven pitchers did that in 2018. Wow.
Charlie and his sweet stirrups for the win!

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  9
1986 Topps =  4

Round 14

  Another great-match up! I think you've probably seen this Keith Comstock card before. This Kirby Puckett is probably one of the top five cards in the 1986 set. I'll hang on to both of these. The Comstock will go in the Folder of Fun and the Puckett will find it's way to humble Twins collection.
If I could only bring home one of these from a card show the Puckett would get left behind, but it would be a very tough decision.

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  10
1986 Topps =  4

Round 15

  Do you remember Collector's Edge? You could put these cards in your bicycle spokes, take a couple laps around the block, and they'd still come back a PSA 9 or higher. I wonder why the material used didn't catch on? A point to Jane for reminding me of a set I had forgotten about.

Updated Score:
Jane's Pack =  11
1986 Topps =  4

Round 16

 A Hank Aaron Collect-A-Books "card" versus a defunct contest for spring training. Ha! That's a good one!

FINAL Score:
Jane's Pack =  12
1986 Topps =  4

Wow, what a wide assortment of cardboard within the mystery pack from Jane! No surprise here, but her hand-picked cards dominate the field yet again.

Thanks again for the cards and the blogging material, Jane!