I love post-Christmas markdowns

A little over a month ago, I happened to be walking around K-Mart to do a little browsing.  Most everything Christmas-related had been discounted and sold with the exception of one rolling cart that had a bunch of crap on it marked 75% off, and a stack of candy canes from where they apparently ordered a few thousand too many boxes.  Mixed in with the candy that no one likes, the broken candles, and the occasional cologne/aftershave/deodorant set, was a box just Christmassy enough to make my day.

If you can't make it out from the picture, here is what it says:

20 Factory Sealed Packs
Baseball
Basketball
Football
and More!

Plus! 12 Bonus Cards
Assorted Sports

Includes 2 Game Used Cards
Football and Basketball Players

$14.99 Box Sale Only

Obviously, I was a little skeptical as to whether this would be on sale, too.  The box was definitely green and red with snowflakes, so I took it to the scanny thing in the toy aisle.  $3.75.  "Oh yeah baby, you're my cheap date tonight, " I said, as the kids in the toy section ran away. 

My favorite thing about blind boxes like this (other than the fact that I got it for dirt cheap) are these two phrases: "and More!" and "Assorted Sports".  That is the equivalent of saying, "this box will contain junk packs you had no clue existed".  This usually means that you will get some kind of German soccer cards or Turkish horse racing cards or something of the like.

Let's see the 12 guaranteed cards:

First off, all the junk in this box was just tossed in, with the loose cards floating around between packs.  Sa-weet.

2001 Pacific Dynagon Michael Bennett RC (NCAA/NFL)
>>> eh.

2001 Pacific Dynagon Todd Heap RC (NCAA/NFL)
>>> Whoa, that's like a decent card, of, like, a guy who is good.  Didn't see that coming.

2007-08 Fleer Hot Prospects Shane Doan (NHL)
>>> Standard hockey inclusion

2006 Topps Update Odalis Perez (MLB)
>>> bland baseball card, check.

2004 UD Golf Championship Portfolio Annika Sorenstam (PGA/LPGA)
>>> Ok, this is pretty cool, actually

1996 Skybox Bryant Reeves Lottery Pick (NBA)
>>> Big Country, right on.

2007 Sage Hit "The Write Stuff" John Beck (NCAA/NFL)
>>> Another college football eh.

2007 Sage Hit "The Write Stuff" Adrian Peterson (NCAA/NFL)
>>> Wow, really?!?! This card books for $12. Not that book means anything, but I paid less than $4 for the whole damn box.

2006 Upper Deck Sidney Crosby Phenomenal Beginnings SC1 (NHL)
>>> This thing is big, 3.5"x5", where did this come from? What is like a box topper or something? It's still in it's own wrapper.

2007 Upper Deck NHL Rookies (Matt Carle, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Paul Stastny, Alexander Radulov, Jordan Staal) (NHL)
>>> Another hockey big, 3.5"x5" card, still in the wrapper. 

That makes 10, so the last two must be the big game-used hits:
2006 Upper Deck Leon Washington Future Star Materials Jersey
>>> Not bad.  It's a nice green swatch.  This one's probably going in BA Benny's stack.

2005 Upper Deck SP Game Used Edition Stephon Marbury Authentic Fabrics Jersey
>>> I think Marbury probably shows up a lot in these boxes.  Another guy who was once a star that kinda went nuts.  This card is really nice, though.



















Here's a look at all the box contents:

A few notable packs: 

Top Middle - Random Silver "Bonus Pack".  Hmm, looks like one of the little blaster bonus things.  Maybe some Topps Trading Card History or some Dick Perez cards?

Bottom, third from left - A cut apart 2006 Topps Football rack pack.

Bottom Middle - 1991-92 Pro Set Les Cartes Des Pros Du Hockey Serie I Edition Francaise.  No German soccer cards, but did get French hockey cards.  That's great, too, because I don't speak any French.  Sorry for not including any of the crazy accents and characters, like the "c with a tail" in Francaise, like the one in Pierre Garcon.  In fact, in my insensitive brain, I pronounce Francaise as "Frankis".  Pardon my French, really.

The packs will randomly show up on here in the next few weeks, along with a bunch of other random packs I've picked up lately. 

But, for now, I leave you with this:



Baguette, aw haw haw!