What's New at the Dollar Tree!

I hadn't been into a Dollar Tree in a while, so I though I'd see if they had any new cards. Turns out they had what appeared to be a pretty new stash of mostly basketball. I grabbed a pack of each set they had. Check 'em out.

2008-09 Upper Deck Hot Prospects. I'd never bought a pack of these before, but I like them a lot. If you look closely there is a flame effect in the background using a gloss finish over the matte finish. Pretty sweet look! I wish you got more than 4 cards per pack though. The Larry Johnson Cream of the Crop is an insert set. I actually bought singles of Dirk and Detlef Schrempf from that set a while back.

I'm still working on the flagship 2009-10 Panini set so I grabbed a pack. These are different than most of the retail packs because they only had 5 cards. I already had them all. Bummer.

They also had 2009-10 Panini Rookies & Stars. I've mentioned before that I'm not a huge fan of the Panini stuff. (Though it is, of course, better than nothing) This is a set I've suggested improvements to in the past, but I did pull a Dirk. Too bad I already had it.

Here we have 2009-10 Donruss Elite. I feel this set could use some enhancements as well. You can read about it here. I did get a Dwight Howard for the collection, so all was not lost.

The fifth pack was 2009-10 Panini Prestige and what do you know? The fourth pack in a row of Panini's patented "Cut Off at the Junk" player presentation. All of the Panini packs had 5 cards, but none of them contained an insert. I wonder if these are some sort of dollar store specials or something.

The best pack I picked up was the one pack that always costs a dollar, no matter where you get them. They are also, in my opinion, the best designed base cards that Panini has put out this year. These are, of course, Adrenalyn XL Trading Card Game cards. These come with 6 cards in a pack and the reason this was the best pack I got was because of the 6th card.

Aww yeah! Dirk Nowitzki Ultimate! I've seen these going for around $25 on ebay, so this was definitely a great pull! Nobie and I are trying to build this set and we are getting a ton of doubles. I think it will end up being a tough one to finish. We've just been buying solo packs here and there. I'm not sure if it would have done any good to buy a box, I have a feeling these aren't collated the same as normal trading cards. Pretty much anything you see is available for trade. If you are interested, let me know and don't forget to check out your local Dollar Tree. (No I'm not getting a paid endorsement!) Later.