A Couple of Quick Packs From the Past

Right now many card collectors are opening packs of Topps' revival of Topps Gallery. I, on the other hand, am not, because the product is Wal-Mart exclusive and the Wal-Mart closest to my house doesn't even sell baseball cards (gotta love retail shopping).

Anyway, I still have 2 packs from 2016 Series 2 that I got a week ago, so I thought I'd show these cards because it's probably been a while since some of you have seen the infuriating smoky borders of the set.

Pack 1:

#485 James Paxton

The first card is of James Paxton, a player who just came off a break-out season. He went 12-5 with a 2.98 ERA for Seattle. The Mariners just made the only notable move of the offseason thus far after trading for Ryon Healy a few days ago.

#632 Ramon Cabrera 

#678 Carlos Martinez

Carlos Martinez's 2016 Flagship card was and remains one of my favorite shots from 2016 Topps. It has a pretty simple background which allows for the action shot of Martinez to become more noticeable.

#430 Ariel Pena

#573 Tom Koehler

Another nice photo, though there haven't been any star players in the pack thus far.

Chi Chi Gonzalez is the 4th pitcher card in a row in this pack.

Finally a star player! Masahiro Tanaka may have been dominant in the postseason, but his performance in the regular season not only left something to be desired but left many fans wondering what the future would look like for the 29-year old pitcher.

#KID-8

The insert of the pack may not have fully shown up on the scanned image, but this Tribute to the Kid insert remains one of the best concepts executed by Topps in 2016. Each card itself looks rather similar, but the card backs highlight milestones from the Hall of Famers illustrious career.

#644 Angels Team

These "team" cards have been around for a few years now. They took the place of the standard team cards and remain one of my least favorite parts of card collecting to this day.

#510 Tony Watson

Pack 2:

#444 Jordan Zimmerman

Zimmerman must be sorry he left the Nationals after how well his former teammates Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg, and Max Scherzer pitched this season.

#389 Sam Dyson

#593 Alex Cobb

Here's another example of a good photo choice by Topps. Cobb is a free agent this offseason and has been rumored to go to the Orioles as well as the Cubs.

#375 Jordan Lyles

#664 Mikie Mahtook

#670 Will Smith

Sheesh, this pack has been disappointing.

#667 James McCann

But with another nice card, it could be looking up.

#BB2-1965

Here's the card which is by far the best one out of each of these packs. For those of you who don't know this insert set is called Berger's Best. It commemorates 1 card from each year of Topps that was designed by Sy Berger.

#602 Keith Hessler

#398 Indians Team

We end with another "team card."

Also, sorry for not posting in a few days for the 2nd week in a row. I was away for the weekend, but I'll be getting back into more frequent posting this week.