23 1-dollar packs

So yesterday I went to Baby Stark's table and he said he had a bunch of the $1-packs for me. There were 23 in all so I went ahead and bought them all for $20. I am happy with what I purchased but I realize I'd better scale it down or these packs will add up real quick. The packs are predominantly very new cards - probably 1/3 2014 Bowman, 1/3 2015 & 2016 Topps base, and 1/3 other 2011-present stuff (Donruss, Panini, Stadium Club, A&G, Heritage, etc). While these are almost all cards I need, it's not quite exciting enough to start spending $20 regularly on. So I decided to do a little analysis of each pack to see what kinds I liked best so I'd know which ones to pick out going forward.

Each team bag has about 20-25 cards, with two cards visible, usually the most prominent players in the pack with a heavy NY bias. I decided to put together a little rating system for each pack:
Modern cards (2011-present): 1 point
Older cards I need: 5 points
Vintage cards: 10 points
There was one vintage card as you will see. For the older cards I can often tell at a glance if a card is a dupe that I already have - advantage of having a lot of completed sets.  For the modern cards I assume I need the card. All points are doubled for Yankees and tripled for very shiny cards.

Pack 1

Visible: 2013 Topps Chrome Yoenis Cespedes/1989 Score Traded Rickey Henderson

22 cards (15 modern)

Older cards: 89 Score Traded Henderson (dupe); 09 UD Baseball Heroes Tulowitzki; 09 A&G Ibanez; 98 Fleer Tradition Update Kenny Rogers, Randy Johnson, Freddy Garcia (Garcia is dupe); 00 Metal David Wells (dupe)

Score: 35

Pack 2

Visible: 2004 Donruss World Series Jim Rice/2016 Bowman David Ortiz

22 cards (20 modern, many Red Sox)

Older cards: 05 UD Classics Rick Ferrell; 04 Donruss Rice

Score: 30

Pack 3

Visible: 2002 Fleer Hot Prospects Pedro Martinez/1999 UD Auxiliary Power Pedro Martinez

22 cards (17 modern)

Older cards: 02 Fleer Hot Prospects Pedro; 99 UD Auxiliary Pedro; 88 Topps Clemens All Star (dupe); 07 Fleer Ortiz; 01 UD ‘70s Fisk

Score: 37

Pack 4

Visible: 2013 Topps Alex Gordon/2014 Topps Berger’s Best George Brett

25 cards (23 modern)

Older cards: 92 Score Steve Finley (dupe); 00 Topps Home Team Advantage Wade Boggs 2000^th hit

Score: 28

Pack 5

Visible: 2016 Topps Daniel Murphy/2015 Stadium Club Daniel Murphy

27 cards (11 modern – one very cool shiny/see-thru card – 2014 Topps High Tek Jason Heyward)

Older cards: From 1994 Collectors Choice (all dupes): Sandberg, Bagwell, Bonds, Orosco, Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, Vizquel, Girardi, Dawson, Wetteland, Puckett, Molitor, Brosius, Ryan, Hundley, Chipper)

Score: 13

Pack 6

Visible: 2014 Topps Jose Fernandez/2014 Bowman Jose Fernandez

29 cards (27 modern)

Older cards: 91 Score (dupes): Rickey Henderson All-Star; Cecil Fielder Master Blaster

Score: 27

Pack 7

Visible: 2005 UD Classics Bill Mazeroski; 13 Topps Opening Day Andrew McCutchen

25 cards (22 modern)

Older cards: 05 UD Classics Mazeroski, Schoendienst and Hubbell

Score: 37

Pack 8

Visible: 2006 Topps Update Albert Pujols; 2014 Bowman Albert Pujols

21 cards (16 modern – very shiny 15 Bowman’s Best Kimbrel)

Older cards: 06 Topps Update Pujols; 01 Fleer Tradition Hundley; 05 Sweet Spot Classic Rollie Fingers; 05 SP Legendary Cuts Bob Lemon; 07 Finest Joe Mauer

Score: 43

Pack 9

Visible: 2016 Donruss Steven Matz; 2016 Donruss Jacob DeGrom

29 cards (23 modern)

Older cards: 10 Topps Vintage Legends Johnny Bench; 05 Sweet Spot Johnny Bench; 88 Topps Mark McGwire (dupe); 00 Topps Mark McGwire 70^th Home Run (dupe); 87 Topps Dave Concepcion (dupe)

VINTAGE card: 1970 Topps World Series Game 5 (Koosman Shuts the Door)

Score: 43

Pack 10

Visible: 2016 Panini Diamond Kings Noah Syndergaard; 2016 Topps Heritage Mets Rising

19 cards (15 modern)

Older cards: 10 Bowman Ruben Tejada; 88 Fleer Tim Teufel (dupe); 90 Score Frank Viola (dupe); 81 Topps Roy Lee Jackson (dupe)

Score: 20

Pack 11

Visible: 2014 Bowman Gio Gonzalez; 2016 Topps Heritage Stephen Strasburg

19 cards (18 modern)

Older card: 09 SP Authentic Ryan Zimmerman

Score: 23

Pack 12

Visible: 2016 Topps Albert Pujols; 2014 Bowman Albert Pujols (second one we’ve seen; one to keep, one to trade)

25 cards (23 modern – very shiny: Bowmans Best Justin Upton; 2015 Topps Chrome Refractor Adam Eaton)

Older cards: 1995 Topps D-3 David Justice (dupe); 05 UD Classics Enos Slaughter

Score: 32

Pack 13

Visible: 2008 UD Masterpieces Roberto Clemente; 1982 Topps Dave Parker In Action

22 cards (17 modern)

Older cards: Both visible cards are dupes; 87 Topps Mike Brown (dupe); 92 UD Chili Davis (dupe); 03 Leaf Johnny Damon

Score: 22

Pack 14

Visible: 2014 Topps Andrew McCutchen; 2011 Topps Update Andrew McCutchen

19 cards (11 modern – extra shiny 2015 Topps Chrome Refractor Wil Myers)

Older cards: 94 Collectors Choice (all dupes): Mussina, Trammell, Biggio, Joe Carter; 07 Topps Generation Now Ryan Zimmerman 42^nd Double; 00 UD Black Diamond Carlos Delgado; 05 Zenith Johan Santana; 95 Topps Embossed Chuck Knoblauch (dupe)

Score: 28

Pack 15

Visible: 2016 Allen & Ginter Alex Rodriguez; 1991 Donruss Jim Leyritz

22 cards (18 modern – 3 Yankees)

Older cards: 91 Donruss (dupes): Leyritz & Alan Mills; 86 Fleer Baseball’s Best Reggie Jackson (dupe); 91 Upper Deck Futures Rickey Henderson (dupe)

Score: 21

Pack 16

Visible: 2016 Topps Heritage Aaron Hicks; 2015 Topps Update Mason Williams

22 cards (19 modern – 2 Yankees, one extra shiny 2013 Topps Ted Lilly green sparkly)

Older cards: 92 UD (dupes) – Humphreys & Barfield; 90 Donruss Mike Blowers (dupe)

Score: 23

Pack 17

Visible: 2004 Sweet Spot Classics Thurman Munson; 2015 Stadium Club Buster Posey

23 cards (22 modern – extra shiny Topps High Tek Carlos Gonzalez)

Older card: Just the Munson

Score: 34

Pack 18

Visible: 2016 Topps Masahiro Tanaka; 2016 Topps Michael Pineda

23 cards (19 modern – 3 Yankees)

Older cards: 93 Leaf (dupes) – Kamieniecki & Pat Kelly; 09 Topps Unique Ryan Howard; 06 UD Chris Woodward

Score: 32

Pack 19

Visible: 2015 Topps Didi Gregorious; 2016 Topps MLB Debut Robinson Cano

24 cards (16 modern – 5 Yankees)

Older cards: 04 Fleer Classic Clippings Soriano; 92 Score Clemens Cy Young (dupe); 07 UD First Edition Chipper Jones; 06 Topps All-Rookie Nick Markakis; 90 Score Todd Zeile (dupe); 07 Topps Update Tulowitzki; 04 Donruss Rey Ordonez; 97 Collectors Choice Randy Johnson (dupe)

Score: 46

Pack 20

Visible: 2016 A&G Paul O’Neill; 2014 Topps Archives Carlos Beltran

23 cards (15 modern – 5 Yankees)

Older cards: 88 Topps Paul O’Neill (dupe); 02 Donruss Originals Glavine; 01 UD David Wells; 06 Grandstand Carolina Mudcats Alejandro De Aza; 06 Topps Update Cory Lidle In Memoriam

Score: 45

Pack 21

Visible: 10 National Chicle Thurman Munson; 07 Topps Chrome Jorge Posada

22 cards (19 modern – 4 Yankees)

Older cards: Chrome Posada; 06 Topps Chrome Luis Castillo Gold Glove; 06 Topps Update Sal Fasano

Score: 48

Pack 22

Visible: 2016 Gypsy Queen Mark Teixiera; 2006 Fleer RBI Kings Mark Teixeira

22 cards (12 modern – 2 Yankees)

Older cards: Texieira RBI Kings; 92 UD David Wells (dupe); 92 Score Rickey Henderson (dupe); 06 Diamond Kings: Swisher, Lackey; 10 Turkey Red Felix Hernandez; 93 Ted Williams Bobby Brown (dupe); 04 UD Team USA Jason Giambi; 04 Leaf Teixeria; 08 UD Teixeira

Score: 49

Pack 23

Visible: 2015 Topps Gold Dellin Betances; 2014 Topps Archives Goose Gossage

23 cards (22 modern – 3 Yankees; shiny Freddie Freeman Topps High Tek; Shiny 2014 Bowman Matt Carpenter 1989 design

Older card: 06 Topps Update Johan Santana

Score: 30

 So for 20 dollars - 530 cards (avg 23 per pack). 420 modern cards, probably 95% that I don't have. 52 older cards I probably need. In terms of making generalizations for picking out individual packs, looks like the best ideas are:

I - Yankee packs - they won't be Yankees all the way through but they will have some

II - look for size - not all packs are the same number of cards, so go for the thicker ones

III - every pack is going to have a few 2014 Bowmans, and a few 2015/2016 Topps cards. Whatever else is visible in front or on the side is a good clue to what else is in there setwise (but not team or player wise).

This exercise was mostly for me to develop a personal strategy with these packs going forward, but hopefully it was interesting to you readers as well.