Bad Wax Review – 2007 Fleer Baseball

My packs are starting to get pretty thin.  I went to the Hobby shop yesterday just to get a couple more before my 1986 boxes start arriving, and he was closed.  I don’t know if this is a permanent thing or not.  I am hoping it’s just a one time only thing, but he told me the shop was in trouble and didn’t see it lasting past February.  So I’m crossing my fingers, but I don’t think it looks good.  This morning in a rush to get out I grabbed a 2007 Fleer Baseball pack (retail), and ran out the door.  It looks promising since it says two rookie cards and one rookie sensation per pack on average.  I hope I’m average.  Here is what the pack looks like:

I have to say that is not a flattering picture of Griffey, he is really starting to look like his old man.  I think they should have gone with a nice profile shot of him instead of this one.  Anyway, this pack has 10 cards and the set has loads of inserts and die cuts so it should be fun to see if I can beat the odds and land more than what’s on the cover.  Here we go:

1. Jake Peavy – P – Padres - 82 – Jake is definitely one of the best pitchers in the NL and he’ll be 27 this year.  He was good heading into his peak years, imagine how he is going to do in his peak years.  He may never win 300 games, but if his health stays good and he stays consistant, he will leave his mark on the strkeout catagory.

2. Vinny Rottino – 3B – Brewers – 334 – Here is the problem with Vinny.  He plays 3B and so does Ryan Braun.  Is there another spot he can take over?  I don’t know, maybe outfield.  It should be interesting where Vinny plays this year, if I had to guess I’d say AAA.

3. Chris Capuano – P – Brewers – 39 – Chris was 5-12 this past year and lost his spot in the rotation.  I am a pesimest and if I had to guess, this might be the begining of the end of his career.  Aren’t I so bright and sunny in the morning?

4. Dan Uggla – Rookie Sensations – RS-DU – Insert card alert! One of my favorite new players.  I don’t think he gets the proper respect because he plays in Miami and because of his last name.  I’m sure he’s a nice guy and probably not bad looking but you know he gt teased a lot as a kid and can you imagine being the girl who marrys him and has to take on the last name Uggla?

5. Doug Slayton – P – Diamondbacks – 343 – Rookie card of a middle reliever (argh..) Why me?  Why do I always get the worthless rookie cards in the packs?  Oh well, just some simple Bad Wax!

6. Jason Bay – OF – Pirates – 89 – This is one of the die cut inserts.  It looks like the regular card without the border, but actually it’s a bit smaller, kind of a mini set I guess.  It’s a pretty neet card here is a scan of it.

7. AJ Burnett – P – Blue Jays – 15 – Remember when he was one of the most sought after free – agents? I do and I was very happy the Yankees didn’t go after him.  He’s nothing more than a 0.500 pitcher, the problem is, most teams feel that if the pitcher is 0.500 on the Marlins, then he’s be a 20 game winner on their teams.  That’s just not the case, just ask the Giants about Zito.

8. Jermaine Dye – Year in Review – YR-JD – This card celebrates Dye’s 44 home runs in 2006.  I think that might have been a jinx though looking at his horrid 2007 numbers.  He has the second most homers in a season, behind only Albert “Joey” Belle.  Let’s see if he can turn this one around.  This card is going to Steve.

9. Ryan Freel – OF – Reds – 6 – It’s nice to see the Reds diversifying their outfield. I always fealt that Kearns and Dunn were the same player.  So here is my question, everyone has heard of Jay Bruce by now, but where is he going to play? Griffey is starting, I would think you’d need Freel at the top of the order, and Dunn is your cleanup guy?  Are they going to move Dunn to another team? Will Freel sit?  I’m curious if anyone has any ideas?

10. Robinson Cano – 2B – Yankees – 125 – You want a sleeper in your fantasy baseball league, look no further than Cano.  I know he’s not much of a sleeper since everyone knows him, but he turn 25 this year and his homerun production has been going up every year.  Look for 25 homers, +100 RBIs, +100 Runs, +0.300 batting average.  The four tool player!

This was a one of the most complete packs I have ever gotten.  I got 2 rookies, 3 inserts and that in only 10 cards.  That is outstanding.  Maybe I am selling Fleer short.  If I were a kid and got that pack, I think I’d be hooked.  I have a feeling this pack is going to rank pretty well.  This may even inspire me to buy a box.  Here are the ratings:

Cost of Pack – $1.99 – 4.0 stars – Nice price for a 10 card pack.  This is how it’s got to be if we want the hobby to survive.

Cards in Pack -10 – 4.0 stars – 10 cards in a pack nowadays is a tricky thing to find.  The fact UD is marketing the Fleer set as an entry level set is good for the hobby, I hope people take note and try this set out.

Stars in Pack – 2 – 1.0 stars – Peavy and Uggla are my only stars.  Cano and Bay are fringe guys, but on different parts of their careers.  Bay may have been a star a few years ago and Cano might be one in the future.

Value of Pack – $3.00 – 4.0 stars – Not too shabby, I got some solid inserts, the rookies sucked but anytime you can score 3 inserts in a pack is nice!

Design of Card – 4.0 stars – You know I always like the look of Fleer, even if it is under the UD guidelines.  The nice thing though is they did away with the foil, which I always felt spoiled the card.  Below is what a typical card looks like:

Overall the pack receive a 3.4 star rating.  It wasn’t thatthe inserts were that great, but it was more that there were so many inserts in a pack.  Very nice indeed.  I will keep the Bay in the prize closet, but everything else is up for release to the public.  Email me at superbadwax@yahoo.com.  Don’t forget to scroll down the blog and sign up for the fantasy baseball league for bloggers, info is in the post.