Double Box Break: Kellogg’s Pop Tarts Cards

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.