Box Break - - 2008 Topps Baseball Series 2

So in effort to stop buying stuff I don't need, I decided to pick up a box on clearance at Meijer for $24 bucks.  It was labeled as a "Hobby" box with a nice shiny sticker on the front.  I usually assume that anything in a retail store that says hobby is probably lying but for $24 how can you go wrong?  The other giveaway was the fact that I have seen the hobby version and it has an "H" stamped on it and features Big Albert in a stadium, up to bat.  This box was all green with a cropped image of Pujols batting.

The box I am speaking of, by the way, is a 2008 Topps Baseball Series II box.  There are 36 packs with 12 cards per pack (for those of you unable to do math, that's...um...carry the 2...432 cards).  That comes out to roughly 5 1/2 cents per card.  Not bad for a hobby box.  Hell, that's not bad for any box these days.  Most cards fall at half as many per pack for three to four times as much (if not more).  So as I said, how could I resist. 

With 432 cards in the box, there was a good chance at pulling the entire set which features cards from 331-660 (330 cards).  Even if there were 1 insert per pack, that would still leave room for the whole set plus a few extra.  Should we take some bets as to whether or not my box fell that way?  I ended up with 81 doubles, no triples.  That leaves me with 351 chances at finishing a base set.

Speaking of the base set, the cards look exactly like the Series I cards.  They have the white border surrounding a full color action shot of the player.  The team name is framed in a colorful balloon pattern at the top with the Topps logo directly beneath.  They also feature a facsimile signature of the player in the photo.  This is the closest thing you get to an "on-card" autograph in a Topps product, it seems.

Let's see what I pulled...

36 packs/box
12 cards/pack
432 total cards/81 doubles/0 triples
318 base cards (missing 12)
31 inserts: (7) 50th Anniversary All-Star Rookie Team, (2) Mickey Mantle cards, (7) Year In Review, (6) Topps Stars, (6) Presidential Campaigns, (2) Topps Gold
1 Certified Auto
1 Weird Card that I have no idea what it is or why it was in the box

I am going to take the lazy man's way out of this and just post the hits.  You have all seen the base cards before and they have been reviewed out there up one side and down the other.  I figured it would just be easier to scan the inserts in case there is anyone out there that might need something.

 There is also an Adam Dunn that isn't in the picture.

I do not like these, Sam I am.

These cards are kind of nice but I think Topps overdid them a bit.  They should have made the sets smaller, serial numbered them and made them actually look like real Topps cards.  But what do I know?  I'm a hockey collector getting caught up in things I don't understand.

Here are the Topps Stars cards.  These, I like.  They remind me of Topps Finest sets or the old Black Gold sets only shinier.  I also got 2 Topps Gold cards here; Alex Gonzalez and Nick Markakis.

There is also an Ibanez that isn't in the picture.

Here is the one "hit" that was in the box.  A Ryan Roberts autograph.  I will admit, I have no idea who this is.  All I know is he plays for the BJ's and has a pretty wicked tattoo on his neck.  That had to hurt.

I do want to ask everyone out there if they have ever seen this card?

 

I am assuming it is one of the Short Prints that I have seen Topps including in their sets (like the "pie in the face" cards) but I have no idea.  It is a Kosuke Fukudome card.  It isn't numbered but instead has a small symbol that looks like the World Championship logo where the number should be.  Instead of the Cubs as the team it says Japan.   I have found ones on Ebay that say "Preview" card but they all have the World Championship logo stamped on the front.  This one doesn't.  Take a look.


Any input would be appreciated.

I am 12 cards short here.  I need  331, 335, 355, 369, 385,  416, 421, 508, 524, 532, 581, 618.  If anyone has them, I would be interested in trading.  I have 81 doubles and most if not all of the inserts are for trade.