2008 Topps Updates & Highlights - Hobby vs., Retail part 1

Let me first say that I am not buying a hobby box of this stuff. I might not even buy a blaster depending on how ornery I get. 2008 Topps Baseball has just been disappointing to me this year. Thankfully the 2009 design should be leaking any day now so maybe I can get a little glimpse of hope for the future. You all out there aren't interested in my existential angst though. You want to see the cards and I'm gonna let you see them!

So here's the deal: in lieu of my usual multi-post rip of a hobby box starting off with the packaging materials, I've bought five Hobby packs from a fresh box and five retail packs from one of those cardboard hanging things at Wal-Mart. The packs were all neatly placed in two rows inside the box, so either it was just opened or an anal retentive pack searcher had just passed through. It's not a spectacular sample size, but it's a comparison between Hobby and retail at least. Later in the week I'll be reviewing the set. Now is the time for packs. First up, the five Hobby packs.

THE HOBBY PACKS:

5 packs purchased from a freshly opened box at Champion Sports Cards on 10/22/08.

First Pack:

UH217 Willy Aybar
UH7 Josh Anderson
UH19 Johnny Estrada
UH238 Dan Uggla All Star
UH155 BRUUUUUUUUUCE Highlights
UH43 Chip Ambres
UH162 Eric Stults
UH108 Shin-Soo Choo
UH48 Grant Balfour
UH314 Wilson Betemit gold foil
ToppsTown Gold code card

Read all about it on A Pack A Day.

Second Pack:

UH193 Jeremy Affeldt
UH307 Greg Norton
UH169 Eulogio De La Cruz
UH185 Joey Votto Gone, Gone, Gone Highlight
UH214 Carlos Zambrano NL All-Star
UH22 Brian Moehler
UH35 Hanley Ramirez NL All-Star
UH311 Oscar Salazar
UH119 Ken Griffey Jr 600 HRs Highlights gold foil
ToppsTown code card

A couple of All-Stars, a couple of Highlights and a Greg Norton Braves card. My insert was a crummy gold foil card for the second straight pack though.

Third Pack:

UH98 Denny Bautista
UH326 Kevin Mench
UH120 Angel Berroa
UH279 Alex Hinshaw RC
UH153 Armando Galarraga RC
UH12 Trot Nixon
UH318 Kyle Farnsworth
UH276 Corey Hart NL All-Star
WBC20 Johan Santana Venezuela
UH308 Shelley Duncan gold foil
ToppsTown code card

Things I learned from this pack: Angel Berroa is a Dodger. Trot Nixon is a Met. I really, really like the WBC cards. I really, really hate gold foil cards. I am really, really sick of ToppsTown.

Fourth Pack:

UH133 Tadahito Iguchi
UH151 Darin Erstad
UH175 Luis Vizaino
UH1 Kosuke Fukudome RC
UH298 Dan Haren NL All-Star
UH322 Edinson Volquez NL All-Star
UH196 Dan Uggla Home Run Derby
UH269 Robert AndinoUH191 Ian Kinsler
UH83 George Sherrill AL All-Star
UH222 Dave Borkowski lousy gold foil
Die ToppsTown die

Out of 4 packs, I've gotten 4 ToppsTown cards, 4 stupid gold inserts and ONE insert. I couldn't pick 4 worse packs out of a box if I tried, Fukudome card or no.

Fifth Pack:

UH248 Doug Mientkiewicz
UH116 Odalis Perez
UH275 Rich Harden
UH158 Chad Durbin
UH227 Carlos Quentin AL All-Star
UH11 Matt Holliday NL All-Star
AS-CQ Carlos Quentin All-Star Stitches
UH8 Jeff Mathis gold foil
ToppsTown again?!?

I apparently saved all my luck for this one pack. The jersey cards are pretty nice looking although I'd bet this one gets traded eventually. The Rich Harden card shows him in a Cubs uni, I can't tell if it's 'shopped or not. Someone with math skills out there tell me what the odds are for pulling five straight packs with a gold foil parallel and a Topps Town card in them. It has to be astronomical.

Totals from five hobby packs:

41 Base cards (3 RCs)
5 gold foil parallels
1 WBC insert
1 All Star Stitches
5 ToppsTown

Tomorrow I'll post the results from the retail packs.