Repack Regrets #1

I am currently semi-laid up after tweaking my back a couple days ago and then, after getting back to 80% or so good, re-injuring it yesterday morning.  But I had some scans that would make for an easy post (or three or four) that really just needed editing, so fortunately for you, dear reader, that means you get a blog post today.

I have picked up a few repacks since the beginning of the year, and while all but one had redeeming quallities that grew on me over time, all but maybe one on the opposite still fall firmly in regret territory.  So let’s take a look at some of them, shall we?  Today we’ll take a look at the little basketball cubes, probably the least regrettable of the regrettable repack purchases.

Each cube came with 1 pack of 2008 Press Pass, one rookie from the white border 2007-08 Topps Rookie set, and one random scrub hit.  Normal price these turds are $6.99, but they were on sale for $3, so I grabbed all five Target had at the time.

The Rookies..

Old LeBron Oden is likely bound for the Pacific Northwest, but the rest are available.  Checking their stats, Mike Conley Jr. is a legitimately good player, and Brewer & Hawes are both capable of averaging double figures when they get a chance.  Better bunch than I realized.

The Scrub Hits..

The best I can say about any of these guys is at least three of them are on teams that I have trading partners for.  Well, no that’s not fair.  They’re all pretty worthless hits, but you could fairly claim everyone except Frank Williams, who never got a fair shot, were all serviceable players at various points in their careers.  And of course Livingston got gruesomely injured right as he was starting to come into his own.  But as hits, pretty scrubby.  Childress was also dinged up.

The Packs..

The packs are where it’s at with these things.  That draft was absolutely loaded, and so the set not only looks good, it was also full of stars.

Superstars..

These packs are what made the cubes a only minor regret.  I probably wouldn’t even regret them at all if the D-Rose insert hadn’t been dinged up.  Press Pass inserts have a long history of freakin’ pwnage, and 2008 was no exception.  I guess everything but the D-Roses are available.  I know there’s a UCLA collector out there in the blogosphere.

Well, that’s it for this one.  I don’t know what’s coming up next, or when it’s coming.  Probably either the baseball repack or some stuff from COMC.  But whatever/whenever it happens, you’ll be the first to know.  Thanks for stopping by!

Into the night…

The Trading Post: Marie of A Cardboard Problem

Hey all.  So I guess I’ll start with the most recent trade to arrive and work my way back.  This package arrived sometime between Tuesday and Thursday this past week from Marie of A Cardboard Problem.

Some specific Cubs player collections..

A nice mix of specific Cubbies I collect.  The only one here I might have already is the ’10 Aramis Chrome.  The Attax look great!  Which reminds me… The random coupon generator at Target finally spit out something useful last time I was in there.  It gave me a $2 off an Attax starter set coupon.  I will have to be sure and use that sometime, if only for the novelty of having a coupon for sports cards (and the trade bait, oh the tradebait).

Btw, when is topps going to realize that the flagship set’s base cards look better without the foil and ditch it.  The price-per-card of Opening day and regular is about the same anyway.  Just lose the messy, hard to read foil touches on the name already.  Jeez.

New Hawks and Fukudomes make it worth getting up in the morning. 🙂

And Ryan Dempster is staring into your soul.  He says it’s dark and moist in your soul, like a humid midwestern night, and that it smells like burnt cheese and Hai Karate.  Is that normal?

I don’t even want to talk about the Cubs this year and Soriano being the only guy being an offensive threat and hitting home runs means I can’t blame it on him.  So I’m just going to move on to the big prize.  A prize so rich that it completes my unlikely trifecta of one of the hottest young stars in all of sports!  Behold!

Derr-... Soriano?!

Oh yeah, there were two of these Heritage Fonzies.  Neither one seems to be a variation or anything, so I’ll be sure to send one along to the BigD crew when I get around to trading with them (got a TON of stuff for you guys).

The Big Prize..

That’s more like it!  A jumbo swatch from one of the longstanding favorites of Donruss and now Panini’s stalwart Absolute Memorabilia brand: Tools of the Trade.  The card is #’ed /49 and has a nice-but-not-obnoxiously-overbearing-shine that the scan doesn’t pick up at all.  All in all, it’s an outstanding addition to my collection, and a great way to cap off what may be my first (if not, then still only second completed trifecta.

I do have one gripe, and it’s for Panini.  It would be nice if they said what the swatch was supposed to be.  I just figured it was jersey when I watched it being pulled over on ustream, but the lil white dots you see on the swatch are kinda… shimmery, I guess, and the fabric is softer than any that of any other jersey cards I had on hand.  It also feels slightly thicker/puffier than plain jersey, but not enough to think it’s a shoe or prime/patch.  I really have no clue what it’s supposed to be.  Too hazard an insane guess, I’d say it’s some part of a tuxedo.  It is kinda satiny-feeling, now that I think about it.  None of the obvious choices seem right, so why not?

So yeah, until I find out otherwise, this is Derrick Rose-worn tuxedo.  That classes up my trifecta a bit.  Haha, yeah! 😛  Thanks, Marie!  Will have your stuff out this week.  Bye.

More jumbo swatchy goodness next time...