Normally I buy a few packs of baseball cards at the beginning of the year and then singles the rest of the year, so actually buying entire boxes of cards is new to me, but I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon and post a box break of my own (two, actually). Since I hadn’t seen anyone post these yet, I thought I’d do a box break of a couple of Kellogg’s Pop Tarts baseball card sets.
Kellogg’s has virtually flooded the market with these; besides finding them at Target or Wal-Mart, you can also find them at grocery stores, and even convenience marts. Interestingly enough, they do not (normally) have a hobby outlet.
I like how Kellogg’s has gone against convention with their Pop Tarts sets, and given them names like Strawberry, Blueberry, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, etc., and they have several glossy versions (which they refer to as “frosted”). Product can be purchased in packs of 2, or boxes of 8, 12, or 16 cards.
Kellogg’s Pop Tarts boxes: 16-card glossy Cookies & Creme set; 8-card Brown Sugar Cinnamon set
Packs contain only two baseball cards, and Kelloggs hasn’t been very forthcoming about insert odds (or whether there even ARE inserts). Nor could I find any kind of checklist for their sets, which severely hampers set collectors.
The Brown Sugar Cinnamon box was the first one I tackled:
two of Kelloggs’ Brown Sugar Cinnamon base set cards (players unknown)
I was sorely disappointed. The card design is rather plain, with a sawdust-colored background and a pattern of indentations — and the player is obscured to the point of unrecognizability! The backs are devoid of any stats, photos, or the like. In addition, the collation was HORRIBLE — I apparently got all eight of the same card, although there were slight variations with each card. Not happy.
I decided next to take a look at what I got in the 16-card glossy Cookies & Cream box. While the box gives a cr@pload of information regarding Kellogg’s manufacturing process, again there is no indication of set size, insert odds, or anything else one might REALLY want to know. Actually, I found it pretty unconventional that they didn’t even include a photo of Derek Freakin’ Jeter on the box, like every other brand of baseball card.
back of Pop Tarts Cookies & Cream glossy
Wal-Mart Black Border card (player unknown)These cards are the same oversized dimensions as the Brown Sugar Cinnamon cards. They fit comfortably in an Ultra•Pro four-pocket (see photo below), but as they are very thick, you will find your binders getting full in a hurry.
The background design on the glossy Cookies & Creme set is slightly appealing, but again the players are indistinguishable, and the backs are once more devoid of any stats or photos, and unnumbered. And all 16 cards were the same — FIX YOUR COLLATION, KELLOGG’S!! The fact that they were all Wal-Mart Black Border parallels and all appeared to be variations did not placate me AT ALL.
clockwise, from top left: Pop Tarts glossy Cookies & Creme Wal-Mart black border (player unknown); Pop Tarts glossy Cookies & Creme Wal-Mart black border (player unknown); Pop Tarts Brown Sugar Cinnamon (player unknown); Pop Tarts Brown Sugar Cinnamon (player unknown)
Verdict: While Kellogg’s Pop Tarts sets are different, the product itself is extremely disappointing, especially on a price-per-card basis. In the long run, I doubt I could even trade my cards, so I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I may end up eating these. Oh, and I got NO TWINS.
“Inside Out” – Chick Corea, Inside Out
clockwise, from top left: 2008 Donruss Threads Century Stars #CS-2 Harmon Killebrew; 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #92 Harmon Killebrew – cool 1970 reprint; 2005 Upper Deck Past Time Pennants #72 Rod Carew; 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #105 Rod Carew
“Mr. 9 ‘Till 5” – Premiata Forneria Marconi, Photos of Ghosts
Beginning two years ago, when going through new cards (probably from my Christmas stocking), I came across a 2008 Carlos Gomez Topps Heritage, pre-Twins trade. I decided then and there to set him up against my home office’s printer to be my Twins’ good luck charm.
For 2009, a new future Twin showed up in my Christmas packs, and Joe Crede joined GoGo as the new office mascot. I can’t help but think that his 2009 Topps card show him throwing out Nick Punto on a bunt single attempt, just beating his headfirst slide.
So, who would be my 2010 Twins good luck charm? Well, who else but the Big Guy himself?
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"é rayhahn, rayhahn" 