Bad Wax

I know what you are thinking, this is a 2007 pack and I never do “new” packs. Well I got this one from the dollar bin, which mean I actually paid more than it’s worth by a penny. It is refreshing to see packs still selling for a dollar. I don’t quite remember what this set looks like (how sad is that). I do like Topps, they are indeed my favorite trading card company, but I have been trying to decide, is it worth the money and effort to collect the set? With 660 cards, I really don’t think so, there are so many bad players in these sets and it’s just not worth the time or effort, when set like Turkey Red and Allen and Ginter come out. After looking in the price guide, I see that there are a lot of inserts in here so that’s nice, but overall not too many cards worth money off the base set, with the exception of Jeter. Here is a picture of what the pack looks like:

With only 6 cards in this pack, this should be a short reivew but I’m wondering since it only represents about 2% of the series one set, how many 4th outfielders/ utility guys / middle relief pitchers I am going to find. My bad touch is in full effect, let’s rip it:

1. Jeff Conine – OF – Reds – 112 – 4th outfielder number 1. It’s not that Jeff is bad, but he’s kind of a blah card to get as the first card. Hard to believe he’s been playing for 17 years and only has 1900 hits. I don’t have anything bad to say about him, just nothing good.

2. Jay Payton – OF – Orioles – 31 – I saw this guy play in AAA and I could swear he had what it took to be a star in the league. Unfortunately the stars never really aligned for him. Now on his 6th team, I just don’t understand why he never panned out, especailly after his good season in Colorado.

3. Mike Jacobs – 1B – OF – 134 – Speaking of another Met’s uber prospect (3 in 3 cards) Mike I think at some point is going to become an outstanding player. He has to get a little more disciplined at the plate. In 2007 he regressed, let’s hope he can turn it around in 08.

4. Mickey Mantle HR card 218 – MHR218 – Insert city! I like these Mickey Mantle HR cards, I have a couple more of the from various sets. This one came off of Mudcat Grant, I can’t think of a better baseball player’s first name than Mudcat, maybe Jayhawk, but Mudcat is certainly up there.

5. Luke Scott – OF – Astros – 122 – How would you like to be replacing a certain HOFer? Look chances are Scott is not headed to the Hall but he is a solid player and he has a little pop. Let’s see if he can jack up his average and keep the homers coming, now that he is about to become an every day player.

6. Roy Halladay – P – Blue Jays – 180 – How fitting is it that I get another Halladay card? Is he a star? In Toronto, he is. In the world of baseball cards? Nope. One funny thing here though, I’m reading the back of the card and Topps screwed up and put Joe Nathan’s text on the bottom of the card. So I guess technically it’s an error card. How cool!

Overall this pack wasn’t bad, one error card and one insert (the Mick at that). The design of this card once again is bad, no imagination went into this one. Come on Topps come out with a nice base set and I’d collect it. Here are the ratings based out of 5 stars.

Price – $0.99 – 5.0 stars – Dollar packs rock and are what the industry needs to stay in touch with the younger crowd.

Cards in Pack – 6 – 4.0 stars – For 1 dollar, I can’t complain about 6 cards, so we are looking at about 17 cents a piece. Not too horrible considering how many inserts are out there.

Stars in pack – 1 – 1.0 stars – Once again Halladay doesn’t get the nod, only the Mick does.

Card Design - 0.5 stars – Is it me or do the Topps base designs get worse each and every year? Come on guys make this set good again! Below is the Halladay card and back.

Overall the pack received a 2.1 stars rating. Someday Topps will do something about the design, until then, we just have to grin and bear it, but at 1 buck a pack, it’s not too bad. Sometime this week I will be giving away the Halladay error card so be on the lookout.