A couple of weeks ago I was in Target and bought one pack each of 2013 Gypsy Queen and Archives. After I opened them I had the same feeling I had about three weeks into my fantasy baseball league. I'd be better off giving my cash to someone who could put it to good use, like a homeless person.
I spent $6 or $8 or whatever it was and the stuff I got wasn't much fun and was instantly forgettable. But when I had been there I saw some of the Fairfield re-packs that folks blog about from time to time. There were a couple of options including one that guaranteed an 'autograph or relic' card. Cost was $12 I think. Pfffft.... I was not about to drop $12 on an autograph of some schmoe I had no interest in, so I passed. I also saw these $3.99 hanging packs of 100 cards. I ended up not buying any because I had the GQ and Archive packs in hand but I kept them in mind.
I was back at Target a few days later and figured I'd pick one up. There were about eight of them on the rack and I picked out the only one that did not have a 1986 Will Clark All Star card showing on the back. For $4, about the cost of a pack of new cards, I'd get 100 cards and they were sure to be, even if worthless, more interesting than the Charlie Hough on an '87 design Archive. And I was right. On both counts. The 100 cards I received are pretty much without any value but they sure were more interesting than those two packs of 2013s.
I busted one side of the blister at a time and went through them slowly. Here's some of what was among the 50 cards the right side.
Yup, three Jose Mesa cards. They were packed consecutively and near the front of the stack, too. Now, while I dig big ol' relievers with intimidating stuff this wasn't promising. It made me wonder about how these things are collated.
I waded through more riff-raff like 2010 Topps, '91 Fleers and minor league shiny cards of guys who never made it. But I got a few cards that I liked immediately.
A 1991 Carlton Fisk All Star that also has the 1990 AL Triples leaders listed on the back.
This card is from a company called Invincible and it's a card of Fernando Seguignol. I looked him up and he played for the Expos and then went to Japan, came back stateside to play for the Yanks before he went back to Japan to continue his career. But the interesting thing was how this card contains some sort of plastic insert. The circle containing the player portrait is semi-transparent and is like a film slide. Never seen that before.
This shiny Upper Deck Matt Kemp card was one of the ones that showed on the outside of the package. It's one of the reasons I selected this particular hanger pack. I have a small Matt Kemp collection. I wish he was so glad he's back helping my fantasy team these days.
The best of the other 50 cards will come in another post.
