Ed. note: My parents don't have a flat-bed scanner, as it turns out. So instead of putting the blog on hiatus for another two weeks, I'll be borrowing images (with credit) from around the web. Every picture I post will be a card I've obtained, just not the card.

Why's that? Because I just went to K-Mart and bought some baseball cards.

It took me a while to even find the damn things. For some reason, I had the idea that they might be in the toy section. Well, that was wrong. Then I thought maybe the electronics, since it's always monitored and it'd be really easy to slip a pack in your pocket when nobody's looking. Precious commodity and all that. But no joy there, either.

I was at my wit's end when I hit on the idea of checking the sporting goods section, and there they were at the end of the aisle. Not a great selection, but they did have 2010 Topps Series 2 (which was what I was thinking of getting). Blasters, cereal boxes and jumbo rack packs.

I remembered somebody's post (although I don't remember who) talking about how easy it was to see through the wrapping of the jumbos. Now, I'm not a pack searcher, but I did have a squiz at the cards on the front and back. All base cards (a lot of Mets, weirdly), save two packs, where you couldn't see what was the bottom card on the bottom pack, but there was one of those anti-shoplifting thingies like you see on CDs and DVDs.

Curiousity got the better of me, I must admit, and I bought both of the jumbos that had that anti-theft device. What does it all mean? I have no idea, but I'm about to find out.

Jumbo Pack 1
Top half

463 - Carlos Marmol

599 - Jay Bruce
Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!


421 - Doug Fister
364 - Trevor Hoffman
659 - Nick Blackburn
571 - Brandon Lyon
654 - Collin Balester


632 - Daric Barton
424 - David Herndon (RC) - who?
355 - James Russell (RC)
Another Cincinnati native makes the bigs


455 - Cardinals Team History
Nice picture, even if they are the mortal enemy right now

510 - Checklist (Upton & Reynolds)
640 - Matt Diaz
TMC17 - Roger Maris MCG redemption card
Kung Fu Panda ToppsTown
373 - Clint Barmes
639 - Los Angeles Dodgers
542 - Heath Bell


401 - Chad Billingsley
The Buzzsaw!

Bottom Half
This is the pack with the security bit in it - we'll find out soon enough if that means anything

356 - Angels Franchise History
435 - Nelson Cruz


501 - Jake Peavy
I pulled this card the day before Peavy detached his back muscle, ruling him out for 12 months. Ouch, and sigh.

591 - Fernando Rodney
418 - Aaron Laffey
476 - Yadier Molina
520 - Randy Wells
429 - Seth Smith


CMT99 - 1992 Cal Ripken (non-original back)
HWS8 - Enos Slaughter's Mad Dash
PP88 - Phil Rizzuto Peak Performance


TR91 - Buster Posey
578 - Aaron Rowand
630 - Ben Francisco
568 - Jarrod Saltalamacchia
488 - Delwyn Young


417 - Dallas Braden

No relic but a few inserts, including my first Turkey Red and a Yo Mamma redemption, so not a bad pack. A good start to my Series 2 collection. I find it interesting that the top had 19 cards and the bottom had 17, but maybe that's par for the course, I don't know.

Jumbo Pack 2
Top half



556 - Chicago White Sox
Victory! But how come Ozzie's picture isn't on the back? Did he pull a Barry Bonds and opt out of the licencing agreement? (Turns out none of the team cards in Series 2 have the manager's pictures on the back - ed.)

366 - Hideki Kuroda
393 - Jason Frasor
522 - Jordan Schafer - Not the Braves outfielder I was looking for


353 - Jason Heyward
That was the Braves outfielder I was looking for!

457 - Kanekoa Texeira


563 - Bronson Arroyo


339 - Jose Reyes - Safe!
381 - Miguel Montero
555 - B.J. Upton


1977 Tom Seaver CYMTO Original Back
TMC12 - Gary Carter MCG Redemption Card
B.J. Upton ToppsTown
420 - Shin-Soo Choo
448 - Joakim Soria
529 - Carlos Lee
614 - Kelly Johnson
660 - Brandon McCarthy
585 - Dioner Navarro

Bottom Half
403 - Jimmy Rollins
569 - Jacoby Ellsbury
495 - Carlos Pena
437 - Luke Hochevar
363 - Joba Chamberlain


638 - Paul Konerko
497 - Edgar Renteria


331 - Ryan Braun
Slide Ryan, Slide!

602 - Royals Franchise History


CMY83 - Dennis Eckersley CYTMO non-original back
HWS7 - Mel Ott History of the World Series
PP69 - Ryan Zimmerman


TR65 - Prince Fielder Turkey Red
386 - Dan Haren
608 - Pittsburgh Pirates
594 - Andy LaRoche
346 - Taylor Teagarden

So there we go. My first pack of baseball cards purchased in America in nearly twenty years. Loved getting Jay Bruce, and the Ripken Yo Mamma card. Things will get better, as I've bought a bunch of cards since then.

I've visited two card stores so far and plan on going to a third soon. Each store will get its own "review" in a post soon, as well as the results of my Allen & Ginter vs. Topps 206 comparison. The results may surprise you!

Image Credits:
Jay Bruce, Chad Billingsley, Dallas Braden, Jason Heyward, Bronson Arroyo and Jose Reyes courtesy of Amazon.com
Doug Fister, Daric Barton, Cardinals Franchise History, Jake Peavy, Buster Posey, Chicago White Sox, Paul Konerko and Ryan Braun courtesy of eBay
Cal Ripken and Prince Fielder courtesy of CheckOutMyCards.com
Dennis Eckersley courtesy of BidStart.com
Tom Seaver courtesy of SportsBuy.com