The Box That Rocks

I decided to reward myself after a hot afternoon of running errands.

After having a bit of good luck with the 100 card repacks they often carry at the local Walgreens, I decided to check to see if they had anything on the shelves on Saturday. This is usually the only baseball-related item they ever carry, and it's always a mystery as to whether or not they'll even have it. I imagine the demand for this stuff is pretty low, as it sits squarely in a toy section at a 24 hour drug store that seems to be designed for people who forgot to get a gift for their significant other's son/daughter/niece/nephew and is trying to save face at the last minute. (Skittles, while great, is not a great gift.)

These are usually the same type of repack that you might see at target, hanging on a hook, encased in a hard plastic that is impossible to open with your bare hands. After some fussing with scissors (or a knife if you dare) and using your steady hands to pull out the cards without damaging them on the jagged plastic edges you just created, they can be a bit of a bear to open. This time around, I noticed that they are now using cardboard packaging (good) but have upped the price tag from $3.99 to $4.99 (not so good.) Nothing eye-popping was showing on the front of the pack, but the packaging promised a "hit" in every fourth box. Whatever that means. Anyway, let's take a gander at some of the more interesting cards I found.

Bowman Chrome is apparently "going live" this week, so in honor of one of the most useless annual sets, I present to you one of the most useless players in the game on a Bowman Chrome card. Okay, fine, Phillips has had a nice career, but he's kind of just a clown these days instead of a clown who can hit.

I have a soft spot for all things '86.

I probably would've gotten detention for saying "Clutterbuck" in class in 1989.

This Gwynn card was beat up and creased, which means there's a good chance I owned it at one time. I was 10 years old when I used to take all of the change I could find in the neighborhood up to the local card shop (also a barber shop for some reason) and get my grubby mitts on as many 1986 cards as possible.

I wouldn't have expected a set named Legacy to be one of the Fleer's most metallic designs.

Here's a random insert card from Upper Deck's last year of licensed MLB cards.

Early Manny being Tribey.

I don't get this design at all. Did Piazza play every position in the game or is this a growth chart incorrectly marked by baseball positions instead of numbers?

Such a classic design. I don't mind at all that there were a few sets that use the same design with different border colors. (Highlights, The Rookies, Opening Day... am I missing anything?)

Hey, there were cards from another country in this box. In good shape! More, please!

I don't remember ever sending in my wrappers and cash for one of these sets, but I'm sure somewhere deep down I have a repressed feeling of deep regret over this.

This is one of those cards from the annual Topps All-Star team set, which looks a lot like the factory team sets produced for each team. This has a metallic stamp for each league and also reminds me that I need to track down any of the Cardinals that ended up in these sets over the past several years.

I might actually need this one!

I don't have any recollection of this 1993 Upper Deck Diamond Gallery set at all, but seeing as it was a factory sealed set with a stated print run, I imagine that it cost a fortune at one time. And now it's a $7.99 Buy It Now with free shipping and no takers.

Not actually the guy from Homeland, Walker was one of the few that existed in the dark Cardinals era where they actually tried out stove tap caps, Pirates style. Hey man, the '70s were crazy, or so I hear.

Leaf! So... exotic!