"O" NO's 2nd Group Break: Round 1

So it's time for the first round of Group Break #2 here at "O" NO!!! Another Orioles Blog.  I'm going to try and keep the format close to the same as last time since it seemed to work out pretty well.  So lets jump right in and start it off with some Topps Stars.  The Set has 5 tiers.  No Star, 1 star, 2 star, 3 star, and 4 stars.  4 stars is the highest tier.    There is also a foil parallel for each of the tiers which adds another degree of difficulty to collection a master set.  Cards 1 thru 10 have all 5 tiers, Cards 11 thru 20 have 4 tiers, Cards 21 thru 49 have 3 tiers, Cards 51 thru 100 have 2 tiers, and cards 101 thru 180 are not paralleled.  Good thing we're not building a master set!  I'll try my best to figure out what's what!

Topps Stars:
Pack #1
45 - Mark Mulder - A's
5 - Derek Jeter- Yankees

1 - Ken Griffey Jr. - Mariners -  3 Star
92 - Carlos Beltran - Royals - 1 Star
70 Rondell White - Expos - 1 Star
30 Randy Johnson - D-backs - 2 Star

Right off the bat we have a nice 3 star parallel of the Kid, and a 2 star Big Unit. 3 Stars come every 5th pack and 2 stars are 1 in every pack.

Pack #2
1 - Ken Griffey Jr. - Mariners - 4 Star

165 - Todd Helton Luminaries subset - Rockies
137 - Johnny Damon - Royals
74 - Greg Vaughn - Reds - 1 star
52 - John Smoltz - Braves - 1 star
17 - Juan Gonzalez - Rangers - 2 stars

The Griffey 4 star looks the same as the 3 star one the pack before except it has 4 stars on it and gold holographic foil.  The Helton Luminaries is a really nice card for the Toddfather

Pack #3
9 - Sammy Sosa - Cubs
31 - Jose Canseco - Rays
136 - Dean Palmer - Tigers
78 - Paul Konerko - White Sox - 1 Star
100 - John Olerud - Mets - 1 star
49 - AJ Burnett - Marlins - 2 star

Not much of note in that pack

Pack #4
16 - Albert Belle - Orioles

177 - Frank Thomas - Supernovas Subset - White Sox
135 - Eric Milton - Twins
55 - Bernie Williams - Yankees - 1 star
65 - David Wells - Blue Jays - 1 star
38 - Bruce Chen - Braves - 2 star

This pack produces a really swank looking Frank Thomas card!

Onto the the Victory Packs:

2002 Upper Deck Victory
Pack #1
403 - Rey Ordonez - Mets
377 - Livan Hernandez - Giants
95 Freddy Garcia - Mariners

69 Jim Thome - Indians
539 - Alex Rodriguez Big Playmakers subset- Rangers
285 - Jason Isringhausen - Cardinals
506 - Sean Douglass - Orioles
480 - Juan Uribe - Rockies
80 - CC Sabathia - Indians
54 - Russ Johnson - Rays

Pack #2
351 Dodgers Stat Leaders
325 David Delucci - Diamondbacks
43 Darrin Fletcher - Blue Jays
223 Jason Giambi - Yankees
513 Henry Mateo - Expos
487 Denny Neagle - Rockies
454 Gary Matthews Jr. - Pirates

365 Expos Stat Leaders - Gold Parallel
28 Eric Byrnes - A's
543 Jeff Bagwell Big Play Makers subset - Astros

Nothing extraordinary in this pack but we do see our first gold parallel.

Pack #3
206 - Carlos Lee - White Sox
180 - Jeff Weaver - Tigers
209 - Todd Ritchie - White Sox
431 Scott Rolen - Phillies
503 Jason Standridge - Rays
477 Larry Walker - Rockies
365 Expos Stat Leaders
339 Darren Dreifort - Dodgers
20 Jeremy Giambi - A's
526 Carlos Zambrano - Cubs

Pack #4
154 Mike Sweeney - Royals
302 Michael Tucker - Gold Parallel - Cubs
67 Matt Lawton - Indians
379 Rob Nen - Giants
451 Pat Meares - Pirates
425 Trevor Hoffman - Padres
313 Tom Gordon - Cubs
287 Placido Polanco - Cardinals
500 Ken Harvey - Royals
474 Scott Williamson - Reds

Pack #5
299 Luis Saturria - Cardinals
102 David Segui - Orioles
353 Vlad Guererro - Expos
327 Curt Schilling - Diamondbacks
399 Joe McEwing - Mets
224 Jon Vander Wal - Yankees

261 John Smoltz - Braves
235 Lance Berkman - Astros
448 Aramis Ramirez - Pirates
422 Adam Eaton - Padres

Pack #6
518 Josh Fogg - White Sox
492 Mark Teixeira - Rangers
198 Eric Milton - Twins
172 Robert Fick - Tigers
244 Billy Wagner - Astros
218 Bernie Williams - Yankees
82 Bob Wickman - Indians
56 Steve Cox - Rays
332 Brian Anderson - Diamondbacks
306 Eric Young - Cubs

There's not a ton to say about these Victory packs but it seems to me that there are a ton of the Diamondbacks and Rays coming out of them so far!

Here's the first of the 1998 Sports Illustrated World Series Fever Box.  I think these cards have really good photography and they have each player's postseason stats on the back in addition to the regular season stats.  It's a nice touch you don't see that much.

Pack #1
128 Aramis Ramirez - Pirates
57 Andruw Jones - Braves
147 Sammy Sosa - Cubs
120 Brad Radke - Twins
33 Brian Rose - Red Sox

65 Derek Jeter - Yankees
Derek doesn't look happy in this pic.  Maybe he got a little chin music before the photographer snapped the photo.

Pack #2
19 SI WS Covers - Yankees 1996
101 Kevin Appier - Royals

MC-8 Tom Glavine - MVP Collection - Braves
36 Andres Galarragga - Braves
81 Fred McGriff - Rays
92 Moises Alou - Astros

Nice insert hit of Tommy Glavine for Chris Mays.

Pack #3
39 Mark Grudzielanek - Expos
148 Rondell White - Expos
27 Mickey Lolich Magnificent Moments subset - Tigers
137 Matt Stairs - A's
73 Barry Larkin - Reds
82 Javy Lopez - Braves

Pack #4
3 SI WS Covers - Yankees 1958
95 Ken Caminiti - Padres
14 SI WS Covers - Rickey Henderson  - A's 1989
24 Bucky Dent Magnificent Moments - Yankees
70 Eric Karros - Dodgers
69 Brian Hunter - Tigers

That wraps up the 1st round of packs.  The Brewers and Angels were MIA in the first round with the Phillies, Marlins, Red Sox picking up one measly card a piece.  There were a lot of Diamondbacks and Rays in the first round.  There's a long way to go so I'm pretty sure everything will even out in the end.

Card count so far:
Yankees - 9
Mariners - 3
Royals - 5
Expos - 7
Diamondbacks - 4
Rockies - 4
Braves - 6
Rangers - 3
Cubs - 6
Rays - 5
Reds - 3
Tigers - 5
White Sox - 5
Mets -3
Marlins - 1
A's - 5
Orioles - 3
Red Sox - 1
Padres - 3
Blue Jays - 2
Twins - 3
Pirates - 4
Dodgers - 3
Cardinals - 3
Indians - 4
Giants - 2
Phillies - 1
Astros - 4
Brewers - 0
Angels - 0