#PackADailyCircus - #198 -204 - Pinch Hit Grand Finale

Howdy all! It's me dayf again sneaking in on a holiday to pinch hit one last time this season. So this is what had happened: David's vacation (and my week of pinch hitting on the Pack A Daily Circus Thingy) happened to end on July the 4th. I was SUPER busy on July the 4th and didn't have time to do my last post. Now it's another holiday two months later and I've got plenty of time so LET'S BLOW THIS MOTHER OUT.

You guys like Donruss? I hope you like Donruss because I'm going to open

not one

not two 

not three 

not FOUR 

BUT FIVE!!! packs o' Donruss. 1987-1991. Let's do this.

1987 Donruss is GO

Roberto Clemente puzzle - Pirates - Northampton Therapists
Pete Ladd - Mariners - Free agent
Dale Mohorcic - Rangers - Free agent
Andy Hawkins - Padres - BackstopCards
Julio Franco - Indians (Wahoo!) - Arkansas Tribecards
Neal Heaton - Twins - Pennsylvania BC's
Dan Schatzeder - Phillies - Free agent
Ernie Camacho - Indians (Wahoo!) - Free agent
Tom Niedenfuer - Dodgers - Free agent
Willie McGee - Cardinals - Maddings
Rick Leach - Blue Jays - Free agent
Rick Rhoden - Pirates - Free agent
Andres Galarraga - Expos - Kentucky Quarrys
Checklist 558-660 - CaptKirk42s
Bryan Clutterbuck - Brewers - Free agent
Eric Davis - Reds - Northampton Therapists


Fearless Leader got a Julio card! Sweet! BUT WE MUST GO DEEPER - 1988 DONRUSS GO

Stan Musial puzzle - Cardinals - Wilsons
Kirby Puckett MVP - Twins - Pennsylvania BCs
Scott Fletcher Diamond King - Rangers - Free agent
Tim Raines MVP - Expos - Thorzul
Manny Lee - Blue Jays - Kazis
Tom Nieto - Twins - Free agent
Mickey Brantley - Mariners - Free agent
Jack McDowell Rated Rookie - White Sox - Free agent
Mike Brumley - Cubs - CaptKirk42s
John Candelaria - Mets - Free agent
Pedro Guerrero - Dodgers - Wilsons
Harry Spilman - Giants - Free agent
Jim Gott - Pirates - Free agent
Garry Templeton - Padres - Saitama Sushi
Tom Newell - Phillies - Free agent
Tim Tuefel - Mets - Free agent




Lots of Free Agents but Wilsons got the Double. WE HAVE TO PUSH FORWARD - 1989 DONRUSS GOOOOO

Warren Spahn Puzzle - Braves - Pedersejs
Ken Phelps - Yankees - Cobb County SuperChickens
Bill Schroeder - Brewers - Free agent
Oswald Peraza - Orioles - Free agent
Mike Stanley - Rangers - Free agent
Rolando Roomes - Cubs - Ventura County Royals
Daryl Boston - White Sox - Kentucky Quarrys
Mike Krukow - Giants - Arpsmith
Greg Walker - White Sox - Free agent
Randy Kramer - Pirates - Free agent
Bob Welch - A's - GCRLs
Kevin Mitchell - Giants - Arpsmith
Bob Boone - Angels - Arpsmith
Checklist 468-577 - CaptKirk42s
Fred Lynn - Tigers - Dominic FDNY
Todd Benzinger - Red Sox - Ventura County Royals

Arpsmith with the Triple! BUT WE NEED MOARER WAX - 1990 DONRUSS GO!!!!!1

Carl Yastrzemski puzzle - Red Sox - Thoughts and Sox
Wes Gardner - Red Sox - Play at the Plates
Doug Strange - Tigers - Free agent
Jeff Peterek - Brewers - Free agent
Dave Schmidt - Orioles - Eastern Virginia Mutts
John Smoltz Diamond King - Braves - Captain Canucks
Checklist 130-231 - CaptKirk42s
Vince Coleman - Cardinals - Maddings
Mitch Williams - Cubs - RJBreezes
Kirby Puckett - Twins - Pennsylvania BCs
Andres Thomas - Braves - Free agent
Todd Benzinger - Reds - Ventura County Royals
Roger McDowell - Phillies - Night Owls
Garry Templeton - Padres - Saitama Sushi
Rafael Ramirez - Astros - CaptainCanucks
Darryl Strawberry - Mets - Northampton Therapists
 Eric Anthony - Astros - Free agent

Canucks owning the Eyebleed pack! BUT I GOT A FEVER AND THE ONLY CURE IS RIPPING MORE WAAAAAX - 1991 DONRUSS GHGFHKDJFGLGKHSJDFKJHSLDFKH

Willie Stargell puzzle - Pirates - The Balking Dead
Bob Welch Diamond King - A's - GCRLs
Wade Boggs All star - Red Sox - Northampton Therapists
Dan Pasqua - White Sox - Bo Rosnys
Sammy Sosa - White Sox - Illinois Jafronius
Mark Williamson - Orioles - Nachos Grandes
 Tommy Gregg - Braves - Free agent
Jeff M. Robinson - Tigers - Free agent
Spike Owen - Expos - Free agent
Garry Templeton - Padres - Saitama Sushi
Kenny Rogers - Rangers - Idaho Astros
Steve Frey - Expos - Free agent
Joe Carter - Padres - Enamel Rods
Steve Lake - Phillies - Free agent
John Marzano - Red Sox - Free agent
Craig Grebeck - White Sox - Free agent

Yeaaaaaaah that was a mess o' Donruss for sure. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE


In the two months that have passed since I originally planned this post I have somehow managed to acquire 8 sets each of 1987 Burger Kings All-Pro and 1991 Post Cereal oddball sets. SO LET'S ADD ONE SET EACH TO THE CIRCUS! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE BURGER KING

Wade Boggs - Red Sox - Northampton Therapists
Gary Carter - Mets - New Jersey Hadsalls
Will Clark - Giants - Play at the Plates
Roger Clemens - Red Sox - Thoughts and Sox
Steve Garvey - Padres - GCRLs
Ron Darling - Mets -` CaptKirk42s
Pedro Guerrero - Dodgers - Wilsons
Von Hayes - Phillies - Free agent
Rickey Henderson - Yankees - Jacksonville Jobu
Keith Hernandez- Mets - Enamel Rods
Wally Joyner - Angels - Alecs All-Stars
Mike Krukow - Giants - Arpsmith
Don Mattingly - Yankees - Enamel Rods
Ozzie Smith - Cardinals - Maddings
Tony Pena - Pirates - Pedersejs
Jim Rice - Red Sox - Dominic FDNY
Mike Schmidt - Phillies - Eastern Virginia Mutts
Ryne Sandberg - Cubs - Pedersejs
Darryl Strawberry - Mets - Northampton Therapists
Fernando Valenzuela - Dodgers - Enamel Rods
Free Whopper coupon - Burger King - Free agent

This set was originally released in 2 card panels with a coupon but have been separated to more managers can share in the wealth. This didn't keep Enamel Rods from cleaning up though. I have added a Free Whopper coupon card to the pile in case one of you out there wants to go back in time and get a 1987 hamburger. Now time for breakfast! POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTT

David Justice - Braves - Saitama Sushi
Mark McGwire - A's  - Wilsons
Will Clark - Giants - Play at the Plates   
Jose Canseco - A's - Dominic FDNY
Vince Coleman - Cardinals - Maddings
Sandy Alomar, Jr.- Indians (Wahoo!) - Alecs All-Stars
Darryl Strawberry - Mets - Northampton Therapists   
Lenny Dykstra - Phillies - Idaho Astros   
Gregg Jefferies - Mets - New Jersey Hadsalls
Tony Gwynn - Padres - Backstop Cards
Ken Griffey, Jr. - Mariners - Nachos Grandes
Roger Clemens - Red Sox - Thoughts and Sox   
Chris Sabo - Reds - Free agent
Bobby Bonilla - Pirates - Enamel Rods
Gary Sheffield - Brewers - Free agent
Ryne Sandberg - Cubs - Pedersejs
Nolan Ryan - Rangers - Saitama Sushi
Barry Larkin - Reds - Nachos Grandes
Cal Ripken, Jr.    - Orioles - TSHensons
Jim Abbott - Angels - Stealing Home
Barry Bonds - Pirates - Arpsmith
Mark Grace - Cubs - Illinois Jafronius
Cecil Fielder - Tigers - Free agent
Kevin Mitchell - Giants - Arpsmith
Todd Zeile - Cardinals - Kentucky Quarrys
George Brett - Royals - Ventura County Royals
Rickey Henderson - A's - Jacksonville Jobu   
Kirby Puckett - Twins - Pennsylvania BCs
Don Mattingly - Yankees - Enamel Rods   
Kevin Maas - Yankees - Northampton Therapists

The same people keep winning all the cards! This is why the draft is so important. Here's a photo of a sample from each set because it's a holiday and I don't want to scan all that mess.

That's it for me this year! Time for the Circus to head into the home stretch!

2003 Post, Upper Deck, EA Sports, RealOne CDs

Remember when Topps cards appeared on the bottom of Hostess boxes or were included in boxes of cereal?  Well, in 2003, Post teamed up with Upper Deck, RealOne Networks, America Online, and EA Sports to bring collectors a look into the "21st Century Collection."  What did these new-fangled collections come on? CD-ROM, of course!

I recently found a stash of the discs in a pile of other ancient games and CD's, and realized I never completed the set.  Heck, I'm not sure until today I even ever opened a single disc.  I did not have AL Central in my stash, so I found a seller on eBay, bid and bought it. 

There were six discs in all, one for each division.  According to the promo video that plays, if you collected all six discs you could order a real set of cards from UD.  More on that in a moment.

Surprisingly, the CDs still play on a Windows 7 machine, though there are some weird glitches. If you plan to pick these up, I suggest you run them in the Windows XP Mode download from Microsoft.  The install puts RealOne on your computer if you don't already have RealPlayer.  Not sure what it does if you *do* have RealPlayer already.

The promotion was officially called "Three Ways to Score" and featured the title screen below.  One could run a demo of EA Sports MVP 2003 Home Run game where you face off against another player (human or computer) and you have to hit enough home runs to accumulate 5,280 feet (a mile).  I played as Jim Thome against the computer as Sammy Sosa. Let's just say I have to practice on timing.

The other options from the title screen are to watch "Huge Home Runs" - a video collection featuring homers from the teams featured on the particular disc.  You could also view you virtual trading cards.  You may recall my post about CyberAction collectible trading cards.  These were the the-modern day version.  We'll see those in a bit.

Right now, check out the screenshot from the "Huge Home Runs" video of the Indians.  The video can be played full screen, but by today's standards, the quality doesn't even rival YouTube low quality. It's a bit rough to watch outside of the default size (my guess about 320x240 maybe).  You can't see it in my screenshot, but the bottom half of the layout has icons of the teams to choose from.  When you pick one for the first time, the program copies the videos to your computer.

The last option on the title screen is to view your collection.  This actually two parts to it: the virtual cards and a checklist system for UD's MVP series for 2002.  Why?  I have no idea.  The cool thing, though, about the checklist: you get a front and back view of each card.

Next, we get to the virtual cards.  First, we see a checklist of the cards available on THIS disc.  You have to insert the right CD to view the right cards.  That is sooo 2003...  So is telling people to click on the HIGHLIGHTED names.  Because, you know, we were so dumb in '03 we didn't understand hyperlinks and all that fancy web-page stuff.

The cards themselves are actually kinda cool, for digital cards that is.  Again, the resolution of today's computers make reading these a bit rough.  However, you get the general idea:

I will have to see if I can find the actual card that goes along with Thome's virtual one.  I don't think I ever knew they had physical counterparts.  That's actually a very clever idea, Upper Deck.

Since I am only missing #'s 3 and 5, I may hit the 'Bay and snag them up - or a full set, probably cheaper.