Thursday, July 25, 2019

Wrestling with Walmart

A couple months ago the big rage was buying packs of baseball cards from Walmart's website.  On my last post I mentioned I ended up joining in on the craze but with a twist.  Instead of baseball cards, I bought some wrestling cards and racing.  Today I thought I'd show the wrestling packs I ended up with.  Since its been a while I believe it was supposed to be 30 packs for either 15 or 20 bucks.  Let's see how I did.


So the majority of these packs came in plastic clamshell packaging, with only the Heritage cards being the outlier.


So after sorting, this is what I came up with.  Uh-oh, a lot of Rumble packs and Ultimate Rivals.  I wasn't a fan of the Ultimate Rivals cards, so from the start I was a little concerned.  The stack of packs on the left is some of the racing I'll show at a later date.  So what was the pack breakdown?  Here it is as I made a list for the TCDB so others could get an idea.

5- 2015 Topps WWE Heritage (3 cards per pack)
1- 2008 Topps WWE Heritage III Chrome (5 cards per pack)
1- 2007 Topps WWE Heritage II Chrome (5 cards per pack)
1- 2009 Topps WWE Heritage IV (5 cards + 1 stick sealed gum)
2- 2010 Topps WWE (7 cards per pack)
1- 2008 Tristar TNA Impact (5 cards per pack)
2- 2007 Topps Action WWE (7 cards per pack)
1- 2010 Topps WWE Dog Tags Pyrotechno (1 dog tag + 1 card)
6- 2008 Topps WWE Ultimate Rivals (7 cards per pack)
1- 2008 Topps WWE Ultimate Rivals (Bonus Pack) (4 cards)
1- 2010 Topps WWE Slam Attax Mayhem (8 cards + instructions)
1- 2010 Topps WWE Slam Attax (8 cards + checklist)
7- 2010 Topps WWE Rumble Pack (6 cards per pack)

The Heritage packs were what kept my interest, so at worst, it wasn't a total bust as I'd get some value, but would the others make up the rest of the value?  Let's look.


Slam Attax doesn't interest me, so unless I got someone I really liked, I didn't care.  Aside from Eli Cottonwood, which I didn't see much of him, and the PPV card, I like the rest.  Ted Dibiase card I liked because he got his training from Harley Race and I probably had a chance to see him before he made it to WWE.  The foil Teddy Long card is my favorite though.  Teddy is going to be at a WLW show next month I think.  WLW is Harley Race's federation.  Mr. Race hasn't been doing well lately, so I hope for a speedy recovery. I guess I'll rate the packs with a +/- rating.  This gets a + just because I like more of them than not.


I like these Attax cards much better, but could have done without the Ring Bell card.  Another pretty good pack actually happy I got a Paul Burchill card, I thought WWE could have done more with him.  My favorite in this pack is Bam Bam Bigelow with Eve being a pretty distant second.  This pack gets a +.


I was a little excited to open this, as I had some of these before.  Once I opened it though was a bit disappointed.  Nothing against Yoshi Tatsu, but I think years ago when these came out, I actually had this one.  Plus, it would have been nice to get a bigger name.  I have to rate this a -.


I actually liked this TNA Impact set, and if I'm not mistaken, may be close to finishing it.  That said, I wasn't a fan of this pack.  I hated the Ink cards, and was never a fan of Homicide.  Brother Ray was okay, but I'm not his biggest fan.  So Jay Lethal was the only card I really liked in this pack and even the photo isn't the best.  But hey, at least its an action card.  Too bad we couldn't see who he was delivering the elbow drop to. This pack gets a -.


I remember these cards, but wasn't too big on them.  I will say before Topps started to make their base sets look like their baseball cards, they had some unique designs, for better or worse.  None of these cards do much for me aside from The Boogeyman card.  He's coming to get you!  At least these cards do provide action.  Its pretty close, but I give this a -.


Here was another pack.  Still not doing anything for me, but I do like these cards just a bit more.  Glad to get a Randy Orton and HBK cards.  Just because I don't hate them as much I'll be nice and give this a + rating.


Now we come to Ultimate Rivals.  These don't look like the ones I remember, but still not a fan of them too much. I don't really remember a lot of these feuds or rivals but maybe I'm just forgetting.  Kane and Undertaker and Cena and Edge stand out though.  Batista and Triple H finished their rivalry earlier this year at Wrestlemania.  CM Punk did not like Elijah Burke so that was an interesting card.  Since I know I'll hate the other Rivals cards, and since these are much better, I'll give this a +.


The reason I didn't care for these cards was the bordering.  I like the brick wall concept, but it doesn't work on just the bottom part of the card on two corners.  That said, pulling two Sgt. Slaughter cards in the same pack wasn't a plus either.  Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair had a great rivalry though, so that's a positive.  Overall though I give this a -.  Btw, nice to see Sgt. Slaughter, Pat Patterson, and Ric Flair on the Raw Reunion episode on Monday along with many other past greats.  Not sure why they didn't book Orton though.


This pack had doubles and the ones that weren't don't appeal to me.  I don't think I ever needed a Matt Striker card.  The motion card at the bottom though changes things.  I can't be negative pulling a card like that, so this somehow gets a + rating.


This pack gets a + rating for no other reason than Terry Funk.  Its crazy to think I've met both Terry Funk and Mick Foley and they are on the same card.  In fact I believe they were wearing almost the same clothes.  Another plus for this pack is the Jericho and Stephanie card.  While I'm not as big of a fan of Jericho in recent years, I loved them two going back and forth. I'm getting sad seeing all these Umaga cards.  I really like him and miss him.


Speaking of missing him, I miss Brian Pillman so much.  I miss him more than most people miss Eddie Guerrero (which I also miss). This pack has some good rivals on it aside from Kelly Kelly and Layla and maybe Cody and Holly.  Though it had another motion card so combining that with the Pillman/Austin card, this gets a huge +.


I like how this pack has some older rivalries like HBK and Bulldog (which I never like their rivalry because HBK always got the upper hand), and even an old WCW feud between Ron Simmons and Vader.  Another Bam Bam card, and happy to get any card with Maria on it so this pack gets a +.


Now its time for Rumble packs.  Targeted towards kids, I'm not the right demographic, but I'll be honest, if I was a kid, I'D LOVE THESE!  It reminds me of the old Topps Kids cards.  I didn't expect much from these, but with as many packs as I got, I could see myself building this set at some point.

This pack is definitely a +.


I really like the Shawn Michaels card. The cartoon cards reminds me of the newer Triple Play cards so I have no use for them, but again, I'm not the target audience.  Another +.

I should point out that even though I'm giving a lot of pluses, that doesn't mean overall it will be a plus.





After opening more than a couple of these, the coolness does seem to fade and you really wish better packs were included.  I have to give - on each of these though the first one with the Edge popout is pretty cool.



A couple more packs and I'm glad I'm done opening these.  I do like the Evan Bourne card on the bottom scan.  I have to give that pack a +.


Forgot I had another Ultimate Rivals pack I didn't show.  This one is a -, but the Mr. Kennedy card is really cool.


Time for the exciting stuff, Heritage!  Even though I'm not a fan of Chrome on any cards, I'm still excited to see what I get.  This pack is pretty solid.  Never disappointed to get a Dusty Rhodes card, nor an Undertaker.  I always liked Helms since I first saw him in WCW as a member of 3 Count, so that was a positive.  Overall, despite being a Chrome pack, this gets a +.


Another Chrome pack, but I'm not liking this one too much.  Not mad I got a Matt Hardy or Kane card, but the starpower isn't there, plus I don't care for the design on Chrome.  I wasn't too big on the design in the first place.  This gets a -.


2010 Topps wasn't a bad set, but I thought it could have been better.  My favorite card in this pack is the USA card of Jack Swagger.  I like The All-American American, and once his MMA career ends, wouldn't be mad to see him come back to wrestling.  Also cool to get the CM Punk card, as I liked him.  The Vance Archer card is interesting since I'm not sure how many cards he actually got.  So overall this pack is a +.


A Legends hot pack!  First and foremost, this pack gets a + just because I pulled a Harley Race card.  Besides that, I also got cards of Doink and the Iron Sheik.  How can I be upset?  The History of Regal card is cool as well as the Big Show.  Also I remember the Dude Busters, so I was not disappointed at all with this pack.  Dare I say, the best pack I opened.  +++++.


I had to laugh quite a bit when I opened this pack.  If it wasn't for the chuckle I might have gave this a minus.  However, the stick of gum on top of the Roddy Piper card makes this a +, ensuring that he never runs out of bubble gum while he's kicking ass.  The Batista magnet was also a plus, as it reminded me that I pulled a few of those cards when these came out, but don't think I ever got the Batista.  Its crazy to think that Zack Ryder is still in WWE after all these years, but I'm glad I got a card of him too.


One of the Heritage packs only had 3 cards, I guess a Dollar Tree pack?  I can't be mad at another Harley Race card as well as maybe my first Rocky Johnson card.  Also good to have a Bray Wyatt card.  Despite only being 3 cards, this gets a + as well.


Actually, maybe more of the packs had 3 cards in them.  Its been a while and I forgot.  If this was two packs or one, they still get a - vote.  I like Christian, but otherwise unless I'm set building, I didn't need any of the other cards.  Nice to get another Legend though even if it is Bob Orton.


Another Bam Bam Bigelow card? YES!  Also happy to get a Natalya card.  She is really hot and cold in WWE anymore, but I hope she beats Becky Lynch at Summerslam.  I really need to sort all my wrestling cards I have, not just these, but ALL and see how close I am on this set.  Maybe I'll work on it at some time.  I still have some COMC credit, but wrestling cards on there aren't too cheap.

So all in all, it was really fun opening packs, but overall I was left a little disappointed.  Don't get me wrong, I think it was a great value, I mean it was 50 cents or so a pack, and combine that with the fact I used gift cards for them, I'm not out anything.  I would recommend this to people that want to build a wrestling collection, or fans with kids that enjoy wrestling.  You can see their enjoyment and also teach them about some of the Legends.  I remember playing wrestling video games with my nephews and telling them all about the Legends on there.  After a while, they were using Kamala to beat up John Cena.  Good times.

If you're wondering if I would purchase this again in the future, the answer is maybe.  It wouldn't be until I finished organizing my wrestling collection I have now and see what I could gain from getting more cards like these.  Maybe if I waited a year or so, some newer packs would be included and that would help build those sets.  However I'm in no rush to buy more of these.

So that wraps it up for today, I had fun writing about this and hope to do the racing one soon.  Soon might be a month, but it should be one of my next blogs.  Thanks everyone for reading and have a great day.

4 comments:

  1. I'm glad you did this. I will know to avoid these, as I opened a box of Rumble Pack years ago and have the whole set. At least you didn't get a bunch of Raw Deal TCG cards, like the Kmart repacks were always full of!

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    1. Yeah they were fun to open, but glad I used gift cards or it wouldn't have been worth it.

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  2. I saw these when they were still for sale, and while I'm not a fan of current wrestling, I have been looking into some of the modern cards that feature guys from the past, so I did actually put some thought into buying one of these lots. It's probably a good thing that I didn't, because there a lot of folks in here that I have never heard of! The Ultimate Rivals looks like it has some of the older guys in it, but the design seems to be a bit lacking. The Heritage cards were pretty nice though, I'm gonna have to see who's on that checklist.

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    1. I think 2015 or 2016 was my favorite design of Heritage. The Rivals cards some even from WCW so that made me happy, but the design is the biggest problem with the set. I've been watching current wrestling more lately than I have the last year or so, but it still not as good as it used to be (but then again, what is). Hopefully if Heyman and Bischoff do have a say in things, it might be getting better.

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