Repack madness

I haven't bought a repack box in a long, long time, probably since last summer. But I was in a mood to celebrate at Wal-Mart today. Andruw Jones won't be playing for the Dodgers anymore! What better way to celebrate the Dodgers' admission that they blew a stack of cash on old swing-and-miss than blowing five bucks on a bunch of cards I probably already have?

Besides, how can you resist? It's over 80 cards (actually 88) for five dollars! That's less than 6 cents a card. I was a teenager the last time I bought a pack and paid less than 6 cents a card. And you have to love that the packagers apparently thought the gum was the best thing going in this box. Why else would they feature it front and center?

I bought this in hopes that the packs were the three-panel rack packs that in 2006 featured inserted 1980s cards. Those packs in 2006 got me back into collecting current cards. But I should've known better. Instead, these are those almost useless single panel packs in which all of the inserts are weeded out.

Oh, well. Maybe I can open four packs and get nothing but duplicates. Eighty-eight cards and every one a double! That would be something to write home about.

So, let's start with the 2006 cards. I have so many '06 Topps cards that I almost have two complete sets. I think the only non-insert I don't have is the John Koronka Rangers variation (of course, I also don't have an Alex Gordon card, but I'm not Keith Olbermann either).

PACK 1 (if I have it, you're probably not seeing it)

#40 - Jorge Posada, Yankees
#234 - Luis Rivas, Twins
#158 - Mike Timlin, Red Sox
#128 - Mike Cameron, Padres
#145 - Troy Glaus, Diamondbacks
#103 - Junior Spivey, Nationals

#129 - Joe McEwing, Royals. I have this card, but it's one of the 10 that I need to complete my "second 2006 set."
#310 - Hong-Chi Kuo, Dodgers (a night card, by the way, which I'll feature someday).
#308 - Fausto Carmona, Indians

#312 - John Koronka, Rangers! Yes! The base set is now as complete as it's going to get. On to finishing the inserts! This card is worth the 5 bucks alone.

#307 - Walter Young, Orioles
#584 - Jorge Sosa, Braves
#495 - Adrian Beltre, Mariners
#423 - David Ortiz, Red Sox
#483 - Jose Guillen, Nationals
#484 - Aaron Hill, Blue Jays
#563 - Brad Ausmus, Astros
#540 - Gustavo Chacin, Blue Jays
#627 - Matt Capps, Pirates
#413 - Gregg Zaun, Blue Jays
#425 - Joe Kennedy, Athletics (I think I may need this card for the "second set." I'll have to double check)
#479 - Carlos Silva, Twins

PACK 2

#30 - Jon Garland, White Sox
#186 - Vicente Padilla, Rangers
#125 - Carlos Delgado, Mets
#271 - Dusty Baker, Cubs
#162 - Rafael Furcal, Dodgers (Raffy!)
118 - Chad Tracy, Diamondbacks
#128 - Mike Cameron, Padres (again)
#145 - Troy Glaus, Diamondbacks (again)
#308 - Fausto Carmona, Indians (again)

FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!! Why, why, why? Almost two years of looking for this card, and I get it twice in the same package. Ah, the joy of collecting.

#307 - Walter Young, Orioles (again)
#451 - Curt Schilling, Red Sox
#468 - Johan Santana, Twins
#383 - Russ Ortiz, Diamondbacks
#506 - Michael Cuddyer, Twins
#527 - Jose Vidro, Nationals
#511 - Dmitri Young, Tigers
#391 - Casey Blake, Indians
#338 - Livan Hernandez, Nationals
#446 - Dustin Hermanson, White Sox
#550 - Alfonso Soriano, Nationals
#628 - Tim Corcoran, Devil Rays

On to 2007, where I have a better chance of getting something I don't have.

PACK 1

#71 - Jose Lopez, Mariners
#55 - Cole Hamels, Phillies
#57 - Brian Fuentes, Rockies
#9 - Ryan Dempster, Cubs
#284 - Jerry Owens, White Sox
#235 - Reed Johnson, Blue Jays
#169 - Todd Jones, Tigers

#93 - Mike Napoli, Angels. There's one I don't have.

#18 - Orlando Hernandez, Mets

#299 - Orlando Hudson, Diamondbacks, GG

#29 - Pat Neshek, Twins

#131 - Chris Snyder, Diamondbacks

#139 - Prince Fielder, Brewers

#182 - Ramon Ortiz, Nationals

#285 - Stephen Drew, Diamondbacks (too dang many Diamondbacks in this box. A team I do not enjoy).

#269 - Fred Lewis, Giants

#49 - Nook Logan, Nationals

#98 - Marcus Giles, Padres

#83 - Mike Lowell, Red Sox. I traded away my copy of this card, so it's nice to get it back!

#244 - Devil Rays team

#228 - Cardinals team

#232 - Mariners team (phooey, got all the team cards)

PACK 2

#221 - Robinson Tejada, Rangers

#132 - Ray Durham, Giants

#281 - Chris Narveson, Cardinals

#7 - Mickey Mantle, Diamondbacks (ah, you caught me! Nice work).

#170 - Chien-Ming Wang, Yankees

#209 - Jonathan Broxton, Dodgers. In 2007, this was one of two Dodgers that I could never seem to find (Takashi Saito was the other). But thanks to blog trading I now have about 5 or 6 of these.

#224 - Matt Thornton, White Sox. Don't have this card either.

#212 - Richie Sexson, Mariners

#225 - Robinson Cano, Yankees

#167 - Royce Clayton, Blue Jays (I once talked to him. The conversation was all of two sentences. One by me, one by him. Maybe I'll share it someday, but it's not all that exciting).

#158 - Noah Lowry, Giants

#320 - Magglio Ordonez, Tigers

#273 - Miguel Montero, Diamondbacks. Already have this card. I'm showing it because the chest protector always looked photoshopped. Does it look that way to anyone else?

#13 - Miguel Batista, Mariners

#134 - Mike Jacobs, Marlins

#119 - Michael Cuddyer, Twins

#73 - Moises Alou, Mets

#290 - Matt Holliday, Rockies

#187 - Matt Cain, Giants

#222 - Scott Hatteberg, Reds. Also have this one, but this may be the best photo of the entire set. Too bad the border is so thick. It'd look a lot better if the picture was bigger.

#242 - Giants team

#173 - Rob Mackowiak, White Sox

There you go. Only four cards between '06 and '07 that I needed. So if you throw out the doubles, that's $1.25 per card. But, still, for five bucks, I'm not complaining. You can buy a hobby pack of '08 Allen & Ginter for five bucks and come up with nothing.