I Got A Rip Card!

Yesterday one of the most stupendous trade packages in the history of trade packages arrived at my doorstep. It was sent by fellow card blogger and Gint-A-Cuffs participant Ryan, of the fabulous Card Cache blog. He actually sent me a rip card... an un-ripped rip card... and MUCH more.

When I opened up the package what I saw before me were 4 individually wrapped packs of cards, 1 of which looked very familiar, and 3 that did not. We'll start with the ones that I didn't recognize.

Here is the first one:
Hmm... 1 "decent" Orioles player... doesn't really leave too many options now does it. Damn, that was mean.

Here is what I saw when the pack was flipped over, so I could open it:
Well, there are the odds, stated plain as day. This should mean that "on average" there should be at least one memorabilia card in here. Let's see what was waiting for me inside

2009 Upper Deck SP legendary Cuts #1 Brian Roberts

Looks like this is going to be a pack full o' Roberts. Let's see what else is in here, shall we?

2006 Fleer Ultra #FM-BR Brian Roberts Ultra Fine Fabrics

For a jersey card from a fairly regular set like Ultra, this card is well designed. It definitely looks better than any of the jersey cards from the Upper Deck base sets of the past 2 years.

2007 Fleer Ultra #FG-BR Brian Roberts "Feel The Game"

Another Fleer Ultra Roberts jersey relic, this time with a retro look to it. I've got a bunch of Fleer Ultra cards from both '06 & '07 but have never seen any of their game-used cards before receiving these 2. It almost makes me wish Fleer were still around. That's it for pack one, or at least that's all I scanned from pack 1. Lets see what pack 2 has to offer.

Here is the front:
And the back:
I suggest flipping your monitor 90 degrees counter-clockwise if you are having trouble reading that. I only scanned one card from this pack, because it was totally awesome. The rest were exactly what it said on the front of the pack, all cards of players who are no longer with the Orioles. The one card I did scan didn't seem like much at first glance.

2005 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia #TQ-26 Team Quads

I still thought this was a cool card, even though it features 2 players who were never exactly stars. I always like orange O's swatches as opposed to plain white or gray. It didn't even hit me till this morning that it clearly says "Team Quads" on the front of this card.

Well, I flipped it over, and this is what I found:
I've never owned a double sided card before, at least not one where the back was better than the front. Brooks Robinson! Sweet! No comment on Bedard.

That leaves one more mystery pack to be opened. Was I saving the best for last? You bet your balls I was!

Here's the front:
And the back:
Well, there's only a couple of other "decent" Orioles aside from Roberts, and we all know which one I'm hoping for. If you turned your monitor sideways, you'd know that the chances of pulling an auto out of this pack are 100%! On with the show!

2006 Allen & Ginter's #322 Nick Markakis

SWEET! Looks like a pack o' Markakii

2008 Upper Deck X #10 Nick Markakis Die Cut

The background of my scanner really makes this card look crappy, and the cat hair on the top left corner certainly isn't helping matters much either.

2009 Upper Deck Goudey #18 Nick Markakis

I still think this set is pretty damn ugly, but I like this card. I have to like it right? It's of my favorite player, and at least it actually looks like him.

2009 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts #37 Nick Markakis

Awesome! I definitely don't have this one yet, and was hoping someone would trade it to me at some point. One pack of Legendary Cuts was enough for me to know it wasn't worth wasting money on, so any O's that get sent my way I'm definitely grateful for.

Alright one more card in the pack. Unless Card Cache's pack odds are total lies (like some card companies I know) this last card SHOULD have some ink on it.

2008 Upper Deck Premier #98 Nick Markakis autograph

GREAT GOOGLEY MOOGLEY!! Thanks a TON for this one dude! Another sweet Markakis auto to add to the collection. This one is #'d 19/25. I'm not even going to complain about it being a sticker auto.

Well, that's it for the mystery packs. If you're still reading this, by now you're probably wondering where the damn rip card is that I was talking about. Well you should take comfort in the fact that there is still a pack of Ginter left to open.

Here is what the pack looks like:
For those of you having trouble reading what is scribbled in black marker, that word is DAMAGED, which is exactly what the pack contained.

Inside there were 6 horribly dinged up base cards, and somewhere in the midst of all that damaged cardboard was this bad boy:

Holy crap! It's a rip card! It's #'d to 25! Hand numbered at that! I really had to debate whether or not to actually rip this thing, seeing as it would easily sell for over $100 on eBay right now. In the end, I decided to listed to Bobby, and flipped the card over so it could be ripped, which is where I discovered this:

Holy crap! My Bobby Abreu rip card has an Akinori Iwamura back! This has to be some sort of error by Topps. At this point I am thinking this is probably a one of one super rare error card, and decide I am not going to rip it.

1.5 seconds later the pressure and temptation are too much to take. I ripped this sucker open and guess what was inside?

2009 Allen & Ginter's Burke Kenny Bazooka back mini #'d 7/25

I'm definitely glad I ripped it! The mark on the bottom left side of the back of this card is a little piece of cardboard that is still hanging after this card was cut in the factory. A few of my minis had those same slivers of freeloading cardboard. This card officially puts the Burke Kenny Octo-fecta quest at 5 cards. Not too shabby for a weeks worth of looking. The remaining cards I need are the relic, black framed mini & Ginter backed mini.

Much thanks to Ryan for the interesting and incredible trade package, and if you haven't checked out his blog yet, go there now, and let him know how awesome it is that he posts soccer box breaks.