2008 Topps Stadium Club - 3 Retail Packs Review

Like a moth drawn to the flame, the neon lights of my local Wal*Mart drew me in to see what new offerings were lined up in the card aisle... To my surprise, my Wal*Mart had both 2008 Topps Stadium Club AND 2008 Upper Deck Timeline. Since I haven't purchased either of these, I splurged on a box of Timeline and 3 packs of Stadium Club.

I'll post my Timeline box break later in time, but here's my 2008 Topps Heritage 3 pack breakdown.

In my three packs, I got:
4 Todd Helton
11 David Ortiz
29 Delmon Young
58 Jose Reyes - A sad photo for any Reds fan...that's the Reds dugout in the background - notice all the fans are watching the play in the outfield (or else a homerun)...no one is paying attention to Mr. Reyes scoring.
71 Grady Sizemore
73 Greg Maddux
91 Jackie Robinson - Easily my favorite card out of the three packs. It might be photoshopped, but it looks darn good
101 Luke Hochevar (rookie card)
101 Luke Hochevar (rookie card and first day issue stamp) - The two Hochevar cards are identical on the back, but the front picture is different. Did they do this for all the rookies?

104 Gregor Blanco (rookie card)
116 Johnny Cueto (rookie card AND, better yet, a Red)
116 Johnny Cueto (rookie card and first day issue stamp) - At least if I have to get two of the same guy I ended up getting a Red. Most people would be mad about that....but not me!

121 Matt Tolbert (rookie card)
123 J.R. Towles (rookie card and first day issue stamp)
Checklist (the whole set fits on a single checklist card!)

And finally, I got 103 Nick Adenhart (rookie card and Serially numbered 097/999. I have no idea what this card is - besides numbered for some reason...

All in all, I like the set. It's a small set and the photos are nice (though no longer unparalled like Topps Stadium Club of the nineties). I was pleased with my packs, 2 Reds cards, the Jackie Robinson card, and the mysterious numbered card were all interesting pulls.

The Bottom Line:
I give the 2008 MLB Topps Stadium Club set an 80/100.

Pros: I like the photos and the rookie first day cards. I like the two photos per rookie (I think?). I like the inclusion of 10 past legends (Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente are the two that caught my eye when I first saw the checklist).

Cons: If there are first day issue cards for each rookie, then building this set by buying packs is going to be impossible. A few of the included legends have ran their course. Seriously, I don't need another Mantle or Ruth - what about lesser knowns (but still great) players like Johnny Vander Meer, Ernie Banks, or Eddie Mathews to keep it fresh?