EXCLUSIVE Pack Break...

It has been so long since I last posted, I feel the need to ease back into it. What is easier than buying a pack of cards, scanning, copying any interesting facts on the backs, dumping it into a blog post. I'm hoping this mindless exercise will get me back in the flow of regular posting.

Everyone does pack breaks of the latest-and-greatest cards. I'm a little too broke to bust any vintage packs. I need to really wow the readers, so Ben and Mike don't fire me. Since baseball season has come and gone since my last post, I'm thinking I should avoid baseball cards.

Hmmm... This is still The Baseball Card Blog.

I think I have the perfect pack. 2011 Topps Heritage Video Game & Arcade Heroes. My local card shop had a whole mess of these in the bargain bin. At only $.50 a pack, it wasn't much of a risk. I suppose these didn't sell very well when they first came out. The shop owner seemed genuinely surprised when I bought a pack. I haven't seen a single one of these cards on the internet before - even on the blogs that post all kinds of crazy non-sports cards.

I think we have an exclusive here!

Here's what the pack looks like:

From what was in the bin, it looks like there are four different pack designs: Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man, and some guy from a fighting game (Mortal Kombat?) Of course, I went with Mario. I have to admit, I did a little "pack searching". I'm not one of those jerks that bring a scale and weighs packs, or even worse, bends them hoping to "discover" a relic card. However, I'm not opposed to choosing the fattest pack out of a dusty bargain bin.

Okay. Let's check out these bad-boys...

First card out:

 

Card #134 - Left Wall

I dig the 1978-style of the card. WALL? Video Game Hero? Ooooookay... Here's what the back says:

"Left Wall - Historical accounts shows the middle two walls the most favored for hiding beneath, the far left walls proximity to the edge of the field provided an important choke-point in later levels for the spaceship to inflict massive vertical column damage early on in the game."

Maybe the Wall was a hero. Maybe not.

On to the next card:

#73 - Rock

Rock? Are you kidding me? I couldn't get Mr. Dug himself! Those damn rocks killed me more than the stupid, fire-breathing lizards. Nothing but stats on the back. I'm assuming the column with the big numbers (DK) stands for Dugs Killed.

I get the design concept. The card design mimics the baseball cards from the year the game came out. 1978 = Space Invaders. 1982 = Dig Dug.

Moving on:





#100 - Mario!!!

Mis-cut with dinged corners... There goes the value.

 

#215 - Fan Twenty-Two

Lame. From the back:

"Fan #22 -Front row and 5 faces from the right, though not well known, it was this die-hard’s unyielding enthusiasm that helped inspire the shocking victory by Little Mac over King Hippo."

Granted, he's not more than a few dozen pixels, but it sure looks like he is wearing sunglasses. Front row, Tyson fight in '87... definitely a major celebrity. Looks a little like David Hasselhoff.

Next...

#239 - Dot No. Thirteen

 



 

I thought the Rock was lame... The back:

 

"Dot #13 in Pac Man - While most experts give the majority of credit to the power pellets, in level 5, - a white-knuckled moment... as all four ghosts surround Pac Man - this small dot allowed the defeat of the marginally fast ghosts. The last dot allowed Pac Man to advance to a level with marginally faster ghosts."

 

Truly... a hero. Shall we see if we can handle more disappointment:

 

#VGV-12 - Singe

Insert Alert!!! Video Game Villains mini card! Dragon's Lair was a cool game I remember as maddeningly difficult. According to the back of the pack, these odds of pulling one of these inserts were 1:24 packs. The checklist for the insert set is on the back of the card. I only recognize the names of five of the 25 subjects. I need to brush up on video game history.

 

#67 - Square No. 21

 



 

This is getting ridiculous. I'm fairy certain that's a cube. 1982 was a good year for infuriating video games.

 

 

Last card in the pack (finally):

 

 

#139 - Square

Well, at least it is an actual square. I've always thought of the square as a bit of an unsung hero. Let's see what the back has to say:

"Square Block - Tetris: After the long blocks erasure of the field, this square gave a double point score with an assist of two full lines. Though the game was ultimately lost, it was a memorable moment that will live in video game history."

I for one, am shocked that these cards didn't fly off the shelves. If nothing else, they got me back to posting.

Let me know if you have any specific requests for cards from this set. I'll see if I can "find" them for you.

(Thanks to my good buddy, Michael Sherrillo, for help with the card back quotes. If you want to buy these cards, I'm sorry. I made them up. That's quite a compliment. Thank you. You have very good eyesight to be able to read this.)