Food-issue cards can be fun. They can be a mother-bleeper to chase and they can cost a pretty penny, too, if you’re forced to go onto the secondary market and pick them up. But all in all, they offer a little variety to your collection and are well-worth the cost if you’re a player or team collector.

Recently I uncovered a slew of 2003 Fleer Pepsi cards for an unbelievable price: about a penny an a half per card.These cards aren’t exactly rare, and to buy one of your favorite player one would not have to break the bank. But alas, they are not as common as base cards and I was ecstatic to find a lot of roughly 150 cards for $1.98.

This set is comprised of 30 cards (one player per team) which were issued one card per specially marked 24-pack of Pepsi cans in 2003. The set contains some of the hobby’s biggest names, including semi-early releases of Albert Pujols and Ichiro.

After sifting through the unorganized cards, I wound up with two full sets (one set is pictured below) and a bunch of extras.

Here is the tally for the extra cards I have available if anyone is seeking them:

Troy Glaus (Angels), No. 1 — 2 avail

Chipper Jones (Braves), No. 2 — 3 avail

Randy Johnson (D-Backs), No. 3 — 4 avail

Tony Bautista (Orioles), No. 4 — 7 avail

Magglio Ordonez (White Sox), No. 5 — 7 avail

Ken Griffey Jr. (Reds), No. 6 — 7 avail

Omar Vizquel (Indians), No. 7 — 2 avail

Todd Helton (Rockies), No. 8 — 2 avail

Bobby Higginson (Tigers), No. 9 — 2 avail

Luis Castillo (Marlins), No. 10 — 3 avail

Jeff Bagwell (Astros), No. 11 — 4 avail

Mike Sweeney (Royals), No. 12 — 4 avail

Shawn Green (Dodgers), No. 13 — 5 avail

Richie Sexson (Brewers), No. 14 — 2 avail

Torii Hunter (Twins), No. 15 — 1 avail

Jason Giambi (Yankees), No. 18 — 1 avail

Pat Burrell (Phillies), No. 20 — 2 avail

Brian Giles (Pirates), No. 21 — 1 avail

Trevor Hoffman (Padres), No. 22 — 2 avail

Barry Bonds (Giants), No. 23 — 1 avail

Ichiro (Mariners), No. 24 — 1 avail

Alex Rodriguez (Rangers), No. 27 — 3 avail

Carlos Delgado (Blue Jays), No. 28 — 4 avail

Kerry Wood (Cubs), No. 29 — 3 avail

Pedro Martinez (Red Sox), No. 30 — 3 avail

This entry was posted on November 19, 2009 at 9:33 am and is filed under Thrift Treasures with tags Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, baseball, baseball cards, Ichiro, Pepsi, Taste of a new Generation, Thrift Treasures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.