Four More Topps Series 2

I need to lay off opening packs for a few days, I think I've busted at least one pack each day for over a week now. My wife needed extra time today at work so I had some time to kill this afternoon, what better way than to hit a hobby store? Unlike so many of my past collectibles, there are actually five different card stores that I can get to with relatively ease, ad two are even within walking distance from my apartment.

I still haven't bought any UD Series 2, mostly because I can't enter any of the new codes for UD Kids until 7-1-08 because we're maxed out for the month already. Instead I grabbed four more Series 2 Hobby packs, because at 2 bucks a pop, I can justify that they fall under even my daily cash budget.

2008 Topps Series 2 Hobby

Pack One

• 586 Coco Crisp OF Red Sox
  
• 432 Jason Kendall C Brewers
  
• 368 Michael Bourn OF Astros
  
• 565 A.J. Pierzynski C White Sox
  
• 488 Mike Gonzalez P Braves
  
• 510 Justin Verlander P Tigers
  
• 637 Jose Castillo 2b Marlins Gold Foil Variant
  
• Topps Town Gold
  
• Get Grades Junk
  
• 373 Casey Kotchman 1B ANGELS!
  
• 542 Adam Kennedy 2B Cardinals
  
• 643 Matt Murton OF Cubs
  

A solid pack for me even though my Angel pull is a double (triple?). Topps Town Gold is nice, but doesn't make up for the lack of any significant insert. Good start though.

Pack Two

• 426 Franklin Gutierrez OF Indians
  
• 393 Michael Cuddyer OF Twins
  
• 468 Gregor Blanco OF Braves RC
  
• 658 Kerry Wood P Cubs
  
• 469 Brian Bocock SS Giants RC
  
• 443 Greg Dobbs 3B Phillies
  
• TS02 Magglio Ordonez OF Tigers
  
• ToppsTown Code
  
• 657 John McDonald SS Blue Jays
  
• 648 Ryan Freel OF Reds
  
• 535 Frankie Rodriguez P ANGELS!
  

A second solid pack, with one insert, one Angel, one ToppsTown and two RCs. Hard to get excited about though.

Pack Three

• 641 Marcus Thames OF Tigers
  
• 353 Brendan Ryan SS Cardinals
  
• 509 Alex Gonzalez SS Reds
  
• 481 Manny Parra P Brewers
  
• 428 Jair Jurrjens P Braves
  
• 620 Gary Sheffield OF Tigers
  
• YR118 Jason Isringhousen throws 12 pitches and gets a save
  
• 649 Joe Crede 3B White Sox
  
• 515 A.J. Burnett P Blue Jays
  
• 553 Jo-Jo Reyes P Braves
  

So far, I think that's the worst pack of Series 2 I've opened. Yup, I'm right, that was the worst pack. I didn't really need two Jurrjens cards, and now I have three.

Moving ON....

Pack Four

• 408 Edison Volquez P Reds
  
• 386 Javier Vazquez P White Sox
  
• 533 Kyle McClellan P Cardinals RC
  
• 500 Chipper Jones 3B Braves
  
• TCH51 Victor Martinez C Indians (87 Topps)
  
• 332 Indians Classic Combos
  
• 579 Jesse Litsch P Blue Jays Gold Foil Variation
  
• HCM-1948 Truman d. Dewey
  
• Get Cards Junk
  
• 513 Rick Vandenhurk P Marlins
  
• 480 Matt Cain P Giants
  

Save the best pack for last I guess should be my mantra. Overall a pretty good pack to end on, I like the Topps Card History cards, and would like to perhaps put a set of those together some day. I managed to snake a "starter" pack of five of them the other day, I think though that I sold off the Tim Linecum card that I pulled out of Series 1 already. Maybe I'll just buy a set off of eBay.


So let's break down the numbers on my multi-pack purchase shall we?

Once again, here's my rating scale:

1 star = total junk
2 stars = a couple of stars, RCs, a single Angel or a junk insert.
3 stars = one super-star, Vlad Guerrero or decent insert.
4 stars = any relic or auto.
5 stars = the best of the best.


Pack One = 1 Angel, 1 ToppsTown Gold, 1 Gold Foil. 2.5 stars.
Pack Two = 1 Angel, 1 ToppsTown. 1 decentish insert. 2 stars
Pack Three = Junk. 1 star
Pack Four = 1 good insert, 2 decentish inserts = 3.5 stars
Total stars: 9
Average per Pack: 2.25 Stars

Total Cards: 40
# of Angels: 2
# of 1:6 inserts: 4
# of 1:?? inserts: 2 (the gold foil parallels)

Ratio of Angels/Inserts to commons: 8/40

Total Cost w/Tax: $8.00
Cost per card: $00.20

Overall Notes: I'm actually a lot more pleased about these four packs than it appears according to the statistics. I really like the Presidential Race inserts, and I'm enjoying the TCH inserts more than I should. Two Angels in four packs is pretty good, even if one of them is a double. Plus I beat the odds yet again with four different 1:6 insert cards, and I always like that.

As always, I'll trade away anything I pulled with the exception of the Presidential card and the Angels.