Flash(p)ack Friday!

Stress.  We all cope with it in different ways.  Some people drink.  Other people smoke.  Me?  I eat Baja Fresh and bust packs.

I've been saving some packs for future A Pack To Be Named Later posts, but last night I couldn't resist temptation and dove head first into the pack stack.  It's actually a small shoe box filled with random packs that are either:

A. duplicates for my non-sport wax pack collection
B. oddball packs I find at card shows and flea markets
C. gifts from fellow bloggers

Out of all the packs, I decided to go with some vintage packs.  Okay so maybe these aren't exactly what you define as vintage, but all of the packs are at least twenty-four years old and were the oldest I found in the box.

As luck would have it... there's a variety of sports and non-sports issues, so hopefully there's a little something for everyone.

I decided to rip open the packs in reverse chronological order...

1990 Topps Heads Up!

First up... a nice oddball set from the early 90's.  Have you ever wanted to stick a blown up cardboard face of your favorite baseball player on your bathroom mirror?  If so, this product is for you.  I busted a box of this stuff last year, so I knew what to expect.  And since the checklist is loaded, I knew I'd probably pull a decent player.

#6 Craig Biggio

Not too shabby.  Biggio just missed the HOF cutoff this year... but the lifelong Houston Astro shouldn't have any issues getting in next year.

1986 Topps Garbage Pail Kids (5th Series)

Next up... a pack of our favorite Cabbage Patch doll parodies.  If you're into busting old packs, you might want to stay away from 80's GPK.  I can't speak for all packs out there, but this pack was severely damaged by the gum.

Most of the cards had this brown residue on one of the edges and all of the cards were warping, which caused some of the stickers to start pulling away from the backing.  On the flipside, this pack was like trip down memory lane.  I loved collecting these cards back in middle school.

1986 Topps 3-D Baseball Stars

Here's another oversized oddball issue from Topps.  And just like the Heads Up! product, they were intended to be hung on something like a poster.

#15 Don Mattingly

However these aren't your everyday posters.  These are embossed plastic cards made from the same material vintage Halloween masks from the 80's were made from.  It's hard to see, but Mattingly is popping off of the card.

1981 Topps Animal Posters

Try to hold off on giggling.  This isn't something I'd normally purchase for my collection.  However I found an eBay dealer with a bunch of older packs at reasonable prices, so I took advantage of combined shipping and grabbed them.

#NNO Lioness and Cub

I was secretly hoping to pull the panda poster, so I could hang it up in my classroom.  Yeah.  I like pandas.  Oh well... maybe I'll find a student who loves lions.

1981 Topps Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Photocards

Now this is more my style.  I have never liked the Cowboys and after they marched into Seattle last weekend and knocked off the Seahawks... I like them even less.

#13 Cheer Up, Judy!

But I'm okay with their cheerleaders.

Last... but certainly not least is the pack I was looking forward to busting the most. 

1975 Topps Wide World of Sports

Although I had no idea this product existed, the show was a childhood staple... as was my obsession with stickers.  Combining the two equates to awesome.

#6 Hockey and #14 Skiing

And I couldn't be happier with the two that I pulled.  Well... let's rephrase that.  I really wanted the Muhammed Ali, but I'm not disappointed with what I got.  Hockey rules and skiing is probably the sport I excelled at the most as a child.  Plus if there's one thing I remember from watching ABC's Wide World of Sports, it's the skier wiping out in the show's opener.

Well that's all folks!

What are your thoughts?  Did any of these products catch your attention?

My next Flashpack Friday post will feature more modern packs, but I'll try to include at least one "vintage" pack.

Happy Friday and sayonara!