2003 Topps 205 Box Break: Packs 1-4
November 27th, 2009 by slangon

Now we’re getting to the good stuff – the cards.

Pack 1 –
#24 Luis Gonzalez
#41 Manny Ramirez
03205ramirezWhaaaat? Who the hell is this guy on Manny Ramirez’ card? Security! Seriously folks, in my mind 2003 is not that long ago, but looking at these cards, I feel like it’s 20 years ago. I mean, is that kid on this card really this dude?
#31 Barry Larkin
#64 Doug Mientkiewicz
#75 Derek Jeter Sovereign Back Mini w/ Gold Trim
03205jeterMiniVarAAll the mini’s in this set have different backs, just like the original. The different backs are American Beauty, Bazooka, Brooklyn, Cycle, Drum, Honest, Piedmont, Polar Bear, Sovereign and Caporal. I’m not 100% sure on the scarcity, but I think American Beauty and Bazooka are the more rare and Polar Bear is the most common. This Jeter mini has a Soverign back. Dayf did a much more in depth look at the different backs from the 206 set, but it’s pretty much the same deal with the 205, so check that out to learn more. (This Jeter is also a front variation because it has gold trim around the diamond, but I’ll get more into front variations in a bit.)
#TF29 Derek Jeter / Eric Chavez Polar Bear Back Triple Folder03205jeter_chavezTFThese triple folder inserts are pretty freaking awesome. Like the original T202 Hassan Triple Folders, the front has a middle panel showing a play from a game, with two side panels showing the two players involved in said play. On the original, the side panels looked almost exactly the T205 Gold Border cards, which I guess was the reasoning on using them as an insert in the 205 set.
#1 Barry Bonds w/ Helmet03205bondsVarAApparently there’s several cards in this set that have two versions, this being one of them. There’s this version, with Barry covering his giant swollen head with a batting helmet, and another with him wearing a regular cap. Normally I’m not a huge fan of a thousand different versions of the same card in a set, but this is better than just having 14 different color borders. Plus, in the original T205 set (as well as the original T206 set), there were different versions of several players, so at least there’s a reason for it, other than just getting people to buy more cards.
#129 B.J. Upton Prospect

Pack 2 –
#98 Aubry Huff
#44 Mark Mulder
#101 Eric Chavez
#3 Albert Pujols Clear Logo
03205pujolsVarAAnother one of the front variations. This time, the St. Louis logo is clear. So far it seems like the front variations are reserved for big star players. We’ll see if that holds up.
#4 Carl Crawford Polar Bear Back Mini
03205crawfordMiniThis mini has the common Polar Bear back. You can the difference between the front design on this and on the Jeter, though. Same concept: Some sort of diamond shape with a bunch of baseball equipment. But there’s just enough subtle differences to make it a different design.
#TF23 Jay Gibbons / Nomar Garciaparra Polar Bear Back Triple Folder
#144 Arnaldo Munoz FY RC
#132 Andy Marte FY RC
03205marteFYHere’s one of the other designs. I think in this set, this particular design is for first year players, but in the original T205 set, this design was reserved for Minor Leaguers.

Pack 3 –
#38 Tim Hudson
#39 Tim Salmon
#53 Craig Biggio
#77 Adam Dunn Open Mouth
03205dunnVarAInitially I was thinking that the fact that they used Adam Dunn as a front variation that disproved my big star player theory. I think that might not be the case though. In 2003, Adam Dunn was coming off an All-Star Season, and the year before he had come in 4th in the Rookie of the Year voting.
#22 Mike Scioscia Polar Bear Back Mini
03205scioscaMiniI’m always down with getting mangers cards. I know it’s weird. I’ve just always liked it for some reason. Again, this design is slightly different from the Jeter and Crawford cards.
#TF32 Bret Boone / Ichiro Suzuki Polar Bear Back Triple Folder
03205boone_ichiroTFThese triple folders inserts come one per pack. I think out of any one per pack insert I can think of, these are defiantly the coolest.
#20 Alfonso Soriano w/ Sunglasses
03205sorianoVarAAgain, thanks to this box being from 2003, I totally forgot that Soriano was on the Yankees. I think the Yankees traded him with someone else for A-Rod in 2004, which is also funny, because I have zero recollection of him ever playing for Texas. Another card that has a front variataion. I think the other card has him with a bat.
#50 Alex Rodriguez Look Away
03205rodriguezVarASpeak of the devil, it’s the $250,000,000.00 man himself. I remember when he first signed that monster contract, there was some website when you would type in how much you made a year and it would tell you how long it took A-Rod to make that amount. I think it took him half an at-bat or something. Also, another different design for the AL cards.

Pack 4 –
#92 Gary Sheffield
03205sheffieldSheff as a Brave? Oh, yeah. I guess that did happen.
#87 Jay Gibbons
#97 Luis Castillio
03205castillioAfter the 2008 season a lot of folks totally wrote Luis off. I was glad to see him get his business together and have a good year, even if the rest of the team blew. If he can put up similar numbers next year with a healthy Reyes in front of him and a healthy Beltran and Wright behind him, I think the Mets will score a lot of runs next year.
#27 Andruw Jones
#18 Miguel Tejada Blue Polar Bear Back Mini
#TF11 Roberto Alomar / Dere Jeter Polar Bear Back Triple Folder
03205alomar_jeterTFThe third Jeter in 4 packs. And my first Met.
#77 Adam Dunn Mouth Closed
03205dunnVarBHere’s the other Adam Dunn variation. As you can see, this particular one is not very different from the other Adam Dunn. I actually don’t think any of the variations are drastically different.
#3 Albert Pujols White Logo
03205pujolsVarBWow. And here we have the other Pujols variation. This one just having a white St. Louis logo. It’s funny how young Albert looks to me here. When you say back in 2003, it doesn’t sound that long ago to me, but when you say 6 years ago, it does.

Stay tuned for the next 4 packs as soon as I can get them scanned and posted.

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