There is a saying that really rings true for those of us who are super nostalgic; “Nothing lasts forever on this earth. But whatever is good, comes back every once in a while if you let it.” The key to that statement is “if you let it.” That is what my blog is all about. It’s about remembering those small moments or toys or places or people that were a part of your life at one point or another but are now just footnotes that help make up the early chapters of the grand book we are writing. Sometimes, to write the next chapter, we have to revisit earlier moments to gain perspective and motivation or sometimes to just ground ourselves.
Our past is important and we should certainly embrace the positives that are a part of what has helped build our character. If not for the past, we would just look back to nothingness. We would have no lines on our faces, no scars on our bodies and no laughter in our soul. To be clear, there is a difference between dwelling on the past and honoring the past. I’ve tried to move on from bad memories, upsetting breakups and traumatic experiences but I’ll always hold on to the good times. There are many memories that I would love to go back and relive all over again. I really never wanted to grow up and am trying my best to keep from doing it today.
The closure of Toys R Us has sort of affected me in a way I can’t explain. I’m not depressed or anything but riding by that empty store is just a very weird feeling. Their slogan was, “I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys R Us kid!” What are we supposed to do now that they are closed? Does that mean we have to grow up? I still went in the store quite a bit because I have kids of my own and there was a feeling that you just couldn’t get at other stores, at least locally. Other stores have toy sections but let’s be real; nothing compared to Toys R US, or even Kay-Bee for that matter, which is also gone now.
While I understand that the closure of this store was part of natural selection as we all continue our move to an online world, it is hard to lose something that was a big part of your past and not feel some sort of way. Another quote that hits a nostalgic person right in the feels is attributed to Buddha, who said, “You can only lose what you cling to.” That’s what “we” do. We cling to the tiny fabrics that make up the tapestry of our lives and each one means something to us. If you start pulling threads out of the overall work, things have a tendency to start to fray.
This isn’t just about Toys R Us. There are other stores, companies, or even entire industries that have vanished before our very eyes over the last 20 years. When it comes to true nostalgia, it’s not always about the mainstream like Transformers, Saved by the Bell, and Starter jackets. No, some of it is more personal and can affect special memories we hold in our individual minds far more than it may affect a larger group as a whole. There are a lot of people who are going to miss Toys R Us but the “why” is what is important. This made me start to think about a few other stores that have vanished over time that held unique memories for me. Some of these may still be in existence but are no longer a part of my region so I don’t have the personal link anymore. Some are just dust in the wind.
Sam Goody
I know that these are mostly FYE’s now but I remember a particular Sam Goody in the Albany Mall that was an absolute must visit for me every time I went there. For one, nobody buys CD’s anymore now that we all have digital music but I spent more money on CD’s and “Singles” during the mid 90’s than I have on just about anything else over my entire life except my kids and baseball cards. It is where I bought my first Deftones album and I even picked up some Deftones shirts there. They had it all; music, shirts, posters, games, you name it. They also had a pretty good looking clerk once that I tried to get a phone number from but it never really panned out. The FYE that is in the mall now has OUTRAGEOUS prices and just doesn’t have the same vibe as the old Sam Goody. That is one store that I miss more than any other in the mall, except possibly Babbage’s.
Big “B” Drugs
Going more local, Big “B” was the first chain drug store in Camilla that I remember. This was also the home of the oddball sports card boxes. You could get the mini 30 card box sets of Fleer’s Sluggers vs Pitchers and Topps’ Greatest Players. I spent a lot of time there when I worked at Movie Gallery (spoiler alert) and I never ventured too far into the store as the candy and sports card rack was near the front. That strip center in general used to see heavy traffic with the stores that filled it. The House of Music was the only local music store and of course, Movie Gallery was a nice anchor. The strip center has become a shell of its former self at this point and I don’t know that I have even entered the parking lot in the last 15+ years, though I ride past it all the time.
Piggy Wiggly
I am going local again but there are stories here too. This is a chain that is still surviving but I couldn’t tell you where a store is today. This was the local grocery store in Camilla before Wal-Mart, Winn-Dixie and Harvey’s and was the closest to our house. Wal-Mart is the only store that remains now and it is even in a different location than the original that isn’t as nostalgic for me. Piggly Wiggly is where I turned my brother over in the grocery cart and got one of the worst whoopins of my entire life. He was sitting in the kid’s part of the cart, I took a turn too sharp and we toppled over. It wasn’t good. I also remember playing the “President’s Game” here and actually learning a little about US History in the process. Finally, this was where I picked up my first pack of cards way back in 1988. This was the store where it all started for me and it’s now a furniture store….Such a shame.
Arcades
So this really isn’t a store but they have certainly almost become extinct in 2018. Even the ones that are still around are makeshift arcades added on to amusement sites. When I think of an arcade, I think of a dark room with glow lights and carpet that has glowing squiggly lines on it. The arcade has Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Space Invaders and others like them. The whole setup is a visual smorgasbord. There are beeps and clanks in the machines, there is the sound of quarters dropping into slots and in the distance, there is the sound of an air hockey table banging around. This is where we went to congregate, show off and find chicks. The old-school arcade is one of the greatest creations known to man. You can still find them from time to time and one of the best is Twin Galaxies in Iowa, where they still hold tournaments and crown world records. Kids can have the video games of today; just leave me Mrs. Pac-Man and Paperboy!
Video Stores
There are several stores that could be listed here but Blockbuster and Movie Gallery are the two biggest that come to mind for me. I worked at locally owned “Video Superstore” and it may be the greatest video store in the history of ever! There was also a store called Videos Unlimited that was in the town I live in now but it is gone as well. While Blockbuster and Movie Gallery were the king and queen of selection, the small town video stores had all the character that I miss and if I ever hit the lottery, I will open one just for nostalgia sake. I don’t care if I have 1 customer per week, I just want to smell those VHS and DVD plastic cases again and look across the store at the rows upon rows of mediocre films that we loved to watch as teenagers. Sure, Redbox is convenient and Netflix is right in your home, but you haven’t lived until you spend a Friday night walking the aisles of a video store with your fingers crossed that your movie is in stock.
Upper Deck
Of course, there is a baseball card that is no longer around that was a big part of my youth as well. Upper Deck now has a hockey license and only produces those items, along with a multi sport set called Goodwin Champions. But back in the late 80’s-early 90’s, they were killing it in all sports. The baseball set from 1989 changed the hobby forever and I wrote about it here. But in 1991, the set was almost as strong but had forced the other companies to up their game with products like Stadium Club and Leaf, so they had competition.
The packs were pretty sweet – tamper proof foil like the years before but blue this season with pinstripes.
A staple of Upper Deck was the hologram stickers. These were full size team logos.
Here is the design of 1991 Upper Deck. As you will recall, 1989 had the base line on the right side of the card. 1990 had the base line across the top. This year had the base line running down the left side of the card. Upper Deck always had some unique photos too, like this Bert Blyleven.
There was only one notable catcher but it was one of my favorite ’91 Upper Deck cards when I was a kid. This Sandy Alomar Jr. was so colorful and I loved the photo.
The infield was stacked with young players and grizzled veterans. There were 2 future Bravos here with Fred McGriff and Andres Galarraga. Big Cat is rocking the Expos uni, which is always great. Paul Molitor was such an underrated player. By this point in his career (13 seasons), he had a career .299 average, was averaging double digit home runs and had multiple 40+ stolen base seasons. You can throw Alvin Davis in that underrated category as well.
The outfield is pretty loaded up too. Deion Sanders and Dave Justice were key cogs in the Braves outfield and lineup during the great run of the 90’s. And because this was the high series box, I landed a Bo Jackson in both Kansas City and Chicago. While I didn’t pull a Ken Griffey Jr., he did appear on this card of Ken Sr. And I will always see Kirby in that Twins uni but will never get used to seeing Strawberry in Dodger Blue.
The pitchers were pretty legendary in this set. Randy Johnson was getting started on a Hall of Fame career while Nolan Ryan was wrapping his up. This card of Nolan features a pretty iconic image of the Express. Maddux would soon discover that chicks dig the long ball so this bunt might have been one of his last. And the Braves got their fill of Scott Erickson, Jack Morris and Doug Drabek in the playoffs that year.
These cards are very memorable from the early 90’s junk wax era. Everyone remembers the Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock card, along with the 1917 White Sox throwback.
I only pulled two of the artist checklist. One was a sweet Chris Sabo while the other was a ho-hum Roberto Kelly.
These are some of the rookies and prospects that stood out in 1991. I didn’t pull a Chipper but I did snag a Mo Vaughn and Eric Karros. Steve Decker was a huge prospect for the Giants in ’91 but he didn’t pan out.
I didn’t pull an Aaron autograph but I did load up on the Baseball Heroes cards. Those 70’s Milwaukee uniforms were hot!
These cards deserve their own segment and comment. The first was the Hank Aaron hologram. I searched for this card like a 1/1 Trout back in 1991. This is a sweet insert!
I was a huge fan of Jose Canseco in 1991 so I was blown away by this card of his twin brother, Ozzie. At the time, I had no idea that Ozzie was playing so I thought it was an amazing card.
Though I didn’t pull the Chipper RC, I did pull what was considered THE ROOKIE CARD of the set in 1991. This Todd Van Poppel was on the cover of Beckett and highly sought after in the hobby. I actually think this card is better than any I have pulled so far in 2018 Topps Inception.
This was one of those “retirement cards” from the junk wax era. This was as hot as Gregg Jefferies’ 1989 Future Stars for a while. This would have been a huge box in 1991.
The first of two Hall of Fame RC’s is this Jeff Bagwell. Bags was a hot rookie and he turned out to have a stellar career. I pulled 5 of these in the box!
The other Hall of Fame RC I pulled was this awesome Frank Thomas. Though he and Bagwell both had cards in 1990, this was their first Upper Deck cards. This is a very special card for me and one that I will slide right into my current PC.
1991 Upper Deck is a classic set from the junk wax era and had some great individual cards that are memorable. The Ozzie Canseco, Todd Van Poppel and Kevin Maas cards were so hot when this set came out. Some other players turned out to be the long term guys like Chipper, Bagwell and Big Frank but this set really covered the spectrum of hot rookies and solid veterans. The design was typical Upper Deck and the only change from year to year was the base line on the card. Boxes can be found relatively cheap now with this one costing me $12.95 and regardless of the odds, there is a chance to pull a Hank Aaron autograph if you are extremely lucky. I really like this set better than 1990 but not as good as 1989. I’d give it an overall “4” on the Dub-O-Meter and would lean closer to a “5” than a “3” on the scale. What do you think about 1991 Upper Deck?
J-Dub
Scoring Scale
1.Let me be the sacrificial lamb so you don’t have to buy these cards. Just read the post and thank me later.
2.There is worse but there is much better – not worth the effort though.
3.Middle of the road – I wouldn’t talk you into buying these but I certainly wouldn’t talk you out of them.
4.You should probably go out and buy a box and enjoy the rip – I did! It has some downside but worth the ride.
5.Stop reading and find a box to buy and get to Breaking! What are you waiting on?
I remember playing on Thursday Nights at the middle school gym with the toughest competition in the city and I remember playing one on one at Coop’s House. It didn’t matter if it was a dusty court with a wooden backboard or a nice wood gym floor with breakaway rims. I would play basketball with anybody, anywhere and at anytime. I even skipped lunch in school to play basketball with classmates. I used to practice my jump shot over and over and over in my backyard. I would try to shoot from all over the court but would force myself to make 5 consecutive shots before moving to a new spot.
Basketball is one of the things that I’m holding on to for dear life. I’m 41, 5’11, 225 lbs and am still trying to make moves I made as a 16 year old in the city league I’m playing in. It’s frustrating to know what you want your body to do but not be able to make it do it. I can still see the court like I did as a kid; I’m just not able to shoot lanes and thread passes like I did back then. It doesn’t stop me from trying. I’m really a different person on the court than I am in the rest of my life. Even in softball, I’m usually the quiet guy that just gets down to business when the game starts, trying to avoid the competitive machismo that has taken over the sport.
But when I step on the basketball court, I have a different attitude. My goal is to find your weak spot and exploit it. Many times that involves trash talk and the general pushing of buttons. I like to get under your skin on the basketball court. It has always been a cerebral game for me but now more so than ever, with my first step not being what it used to be. I will still go right at you and attack. Now I just use my size more than speed. But I still absolutely love the game and feel completely at home in a gym. When I step on the court, it almost feels like an out of body experience. It’s zen like in many ways.
It helps that I love the team I play on. It’s the same general squad as my softball team but we also have a player or two from outside of that sport. This year, we have Nate, a player who I coached many years ago as a 2nd Grader, and CJ, 
Most of all, we function well as a team. We learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses and try to put each other in the best position to succeed. We generally love and respect each other like brothers and we always have each other’s back. It’s the classic case of, “I can pick on my brother but you better not say something bad about him.”
And tonight, we find something that connects two of my happy activities; the sorting table and basketball. My love for basketball was white hot in 1991 when this Hoops set hit the scene. The NBA will never be as good as it was then and nobody will ever convince me otherwise. This set was not the first I had in my collection but was very early in my basketball days. Hoops was abundant in my hometown, along with Skybox, and was the set I went looking for on my trips to Wal-Mart. Despite how much I loved it then, this box didn’t age well through 2018. Notice the hats and shirts say “NBA” instead of a team name. What a cheesy photo. Luckily, the contents inside the box got much better!
Hoops was known for its “baggy” style pack, much like Score of the junk wax era.
It doesn’t take long to realize why the NBA was at its best during this time. Starting with the guards, you have legends like Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, John Stockton, Clyde Drexler and Reggie Miller. Richmond and Hardaway were the 91 version of Harden and Paul today. I also believe that today’s collector or NBA fan will never truly understand how good of a player Drazen Petrovic was! What a start to the box review with these guards!
There isn’t a drop off to the forwards either! Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Dominique Wilkins and Shawn Kemp keep the nostalgia train rolling. I was a huge fan of Sean Elliott too and coveted his rookie cards from the year before. I was at a summer camp when Reggie Lewis died and I still remember sitting on the bed seeing that news on ESPN.
Of course there aren’t as many centers to be found because there was only one starter per team. But there are still some headliners like David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing. Manute Bol was always a fan favorite and I remember the game when he drilled six 3 pointers in a single half in 1993! Draymond Green fans would’ve loved Bill Laimbeer.
How about some coaches? Look how young this quartet looks!
I came up pretty empty overall on the East All-Star team. I like Wilkins, Ewing and Barkley of course but I don’t remember clamoring for Ricky Pierce and Alvin Robertson cards.
The West was a little stronger with Drexler, Hardaway, Magic, Mullin, Admiral and Stockton.
Here are the award winners from the previous season. Anybody think MVP wasn’t going to be MJ? Rodman as defensive POY seems like a lock too. The Skiles award surprised me a little.
This subset commemorated rookie seasons of the past. Gotta love the Chief Warriors jersey.
I was happy to add another Bird and Jordan to the stack. These were “milestones” and Jordan was points and Larry was points, rebounds and assists.
Remember the weekly NBA show “Inside Stuff” with Amhad Rashad? Here’s the inserts dedicated to the show.
I remember the big push from the NBA for kids to stay in school. Each set had some cards dedicated to that cause. This is a neat Will Smith card.
The league leaders were cool dual cards with nice designs. I obviously remember Jordan and the Mailman lighting up the scoreboard but I would’ve never guessed that Trent Tucker and Jim Les led the league in 3 Pt Percentage.
The team cards were mostly standard on court photos but there were a couple nice photos like the Lakers and Pacers. The best one was the Hornets card!
Lastly, I truly don’t remember ever pulling this card as a kid. This Centennial Card has a nice silver foil that seems a little ahead of its time.
The NBA was unbelievable in the early 90’s and fans today that didn’t get to experience it will never understand. This set was a prime example of the greatness of 91 basketball. The design is clean, there are a ton of superstars and there are plenty of insert type cards to provide a nice variety. The box was only $6.95 at my LCS so price is almost non-existent. I love early 90’s Hoops and this year is my personal favorite. I also enjoyed Skybox from this year and I’ll probably review it soon as well. I can’t think of any negatives to this set other than the fact that it’s smack dab in the middle of the junk wax era and you can still find them everywhere. Still, this set is a “5” on the Dub-O-Meter and I thoroughly enjoyed this nostalgic rip!
The main Y2K memory I have from that year happened at the New Year’s Eve party I attended. We had been gearing up for months and had been forced into fear by the media and the Y2K paranoia. We really didn’t know what was going to happen. Were the electrical grids going down? Would all of our technology be obsolete? Would computers come to life like in the movie “Maximum Overdrive”? Nobody really knew and I am not convinced that it wasn’t just a big push for everybody to have to buy new stuff.
1999 Topps only has 462 cards in the set and has some special cards that celebrate the home run chase Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa had the year before. The box configuration was 36 packs with 11 cards per pack. This was series 2, which covered card #243-462. There were also some other surprises that could be found in a hobby box, and for 1999, they were highly sought after. The set commemorated Nolan Ryan’s stellar career and had reprints and autographs of some of his Topps cards over the years. An SP of these cards even came in a refractor, which was very young technology for the time. The set also included some Mystery Finest inserts that were chase cards. So there is a lot more here to see than just base cards and standard inserts.
The packs were really odd to me. They were lime green looking and they were see through, which feels out of place for late 90’s cards.
I’ve never been a big gold border guy so that was a bit of a turnoff right off the bat. This design was very similar to ’98 Topps Football if you remember the Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf RC’s from that year. Here are some of the stud catchers playing in ’99.
The infield was loaded with talent in 1999. There were veterans like Cal Ripken and Wade Boggs, who was winding down in Tampa. Then there were hot young players like Nomar in Boston and the A-Rod that everybody still loved in Seattle. There are some huge names here.
Just like the infield, there were some veterans in the outfield that were wrapping up stellar careers, like Rickey Henderson. But there were also some guys that were tearing the cover off the ball, like Barry Bonds, Tim Salmon and Larry Walker, who had plenty left in the tank. Check out this sweet Brian Hunter card!
This was a great time for pitchers but a couple of these guys were not far from destroying their legacies and wiping out any value they had in the hobby. Of course, those pitchers are Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling. Dwight Gooden has already been through his most trying career years. Tom Glavine and John Smoltz were in the middle of the greatest National League run in history. And there were some awesome young arms that were just getting fired up; Mike Hampton, Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter.
While not technically “Rookie Cards” by the formal definition, these were 3 very early cards of players that went on to have great careers. I don’t even remember this Big Papi Card!
While the early cards of Beltre and Papi were very nice, there wasn’t a lot going on in the Draft Pick section of the checklist. The best name in the group was Matt Holliday. Pat Burrell and Brad Lidge had ok careers as well but nothing that makes these cards highly sought after.
The prospects were pretty much misses as well. Carlos Lee and AJ Burnett had good careers and John Rocker had a chance but the rest of these guys were situational players for the most part.
These cards we’re VERY busy with the gold, threads and multiple players. There are some very good players here in the “All Topps” inserts. There aren’t a ton of Big Cat cards in an Atlanta uniform so that was nice.
Strikeout Kings is self explanatory and seeing Kerry Wood here reminds me of how big of a chase this guys rookie cards were at one point. I found collation to be pretty bad in ’99 Topps as every 10th pack or so would have 5 of these cards in them. Same for Prospects, All Topps and Draft Picks.
Record Numbers gave us a non-gold border to collect in the set. The players here were all studs, as most record breakers are. This was the season after Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa brought baseball back to prominence with their unforgettable home run battle. He had a couple of Record Numbers inserts.
Another set that commemorated the home run chase was “HR Parade” which outlined some of the big Homers along the way.
Here are 2 of the Nolan Ryan reprints with the gold stamp. The cards were glossy and carried the backs that would have been found in 1981 and 1983 for these cards. Great throwbacks!
This one was pretty special. Not only was it the RC reprint, it was the SP Refractor. I know this isn’t a big money card but there were a total of ZERO found currently for sale on eBay. That has to be good right?
All Matrix was more technology that was just making a splash in the hobby. This card looks much better in person than the photo appears.
This one was even better. This is truly a beautiful card for 1999. This is even beautiful for 2018!
Finally, no autographs, but I did pull this Mystery Finest Refractor of the All Topps Designated Hitters. It has a black plastic film over the front of the card and I’m not taking it off because I have no idea if I can get it done without messing it up. One day, I suppose.
This set was really one of the tougher ones I’ve had to score so far. I was really leaning on a 4 because of the All Matrix, Ryan reprints, chance at autos and Mystery Finest. Those are all great cards to find in the box. The price was a little on the high end for the checklist, at $40. The gold border ultimately pulled it down to a 3. If the gold border was the only problem, it may have stayed at a 4 but the rookie class was very slim and Series 2 didn’t have Jeter or Griffey. If I ever was going to create a 3.5 Score, this would be it. But I’ll keep it at a 3. With that said, All Matrix and the Ryan Refractor made this box a lot of fun and I actually sleeved those up. What say you about ’99 Topps Baseball?
I have been through several phases of my life to try and fit in with the rest of the world, or sometimes even in the hopes of setting a new trend; and those phases were pretty feeble. Take this photo above. This obviously wasn’t a trend I started or even had much of a choice in but this was me with my 1979 Afro that people thought was soooo cute. I don’t get it. I’m not sure what was going on with my hair but as I saw more photos of hairstyles from back in the day, I realized that the Afro wasn’t the worst I had.
Here is another photo of a trend that I tried hard to push. First, this was a chubby phase, which wasn’t by design. I went through multiple chubby/skinny phases before I just settled on fat as an adult. But this was my airbrush/wristband/tight roll phase. I can’t really explain the hat because I’ve never really been a hat guy but this amazing photo was during a fierce battle of nerf basketball in my bedroom and my brother was the cameraman. I wore wrist bands everywhere and way before John Cena made them popular. I also was the king of the Airbrush T. You can still go to the beach and find airbrush designs with the two palm prints and “U Can’t Touch This.” I got it when it was hot off the presses.
I spun through a lot of looks back in the day. I went with the bicycle shorts, JAMZ, tank tops, tye-dye, Chuck Taylors, acid wash jeans, neon socks. Should I keep going? There were hairstyles too like the afro, the buzz cut, the blonde dye job that lasted one day, the spikes and even the old school 80’s feather do (see above.) Yeah, I morphed from 70’s child to 80’s kid to 90’s punk like a real pro. I was trying to keep up with the times but I was also trying to bring in some flair of my own that would make me unique. That didn’t stop when I became an adult either.
There was my Don Johnson phase. And Nick even turned it into a 92 Bowman!
Then, after I miraculously found someone to marry me, I still made subtle attempts to be aesthetically relevant that look quite humorous today.
Bunched white knee socks anyone?
Here is my awesome flip phone belt loop holder….yeeck….
I don’t really know what this was but I’ve never regretted a celebrity/athlete photo more than this one.
There was a stretch of time where you could not find me wearing any other pant than those of the wind variety.
Well, this trend never really took off.
We have all likely gone through some time in our lives where we just did things because other people were doing them or we wanted to look like the cool kids on TV. But I have found throughout my life that when I have been most comfortable and really probably presented myself in the best way was when I was just myself. It’s ok to occasionally pattern your look after Rick Grimes but don’t change your entire wardrobe for it. We all have our own unique style and we bring something to the table that only we can bring as long as we are true to ourselves. That may not mean that we are ready for a fashion show or a trendy night club hot spot but it is who we are and we should embrace that.
In 1990, a baseball card company decided to try and step out of their comfort zone and “get with the times” and it was as weak of an effort as my backwards hat and white sunglasses that regretful day at Turner Field. The design of 1990 Donruss had great promise in some aspects, as we found out when they experimented with different colors over the years. But that particular year, and that particular red, that white cursive font, those hideous orange wax packs, those busy MVP inserts; they just left so much to be desired for someone who grew up on Donruss Baseball Cards.
Taken in reasonable doses, the red could be somewhat striking. It’s sort of like ’91 Fleer in that I like the design in a small sample size. It’s when you are ripping a full box or multiple packs when you start seeing the cards stack up on top of each other and you realize that the colors are just too cumbersome.
For example, compare the picture above with the stack of cards from the whole box. This is not bad. It almost feels like they would have been perfect as an insert set. What we did get from 1990 Donruss that has become somewhat of a signature for the brand is the speckles on the right and left border. They have used this design some in recent products but the red hasn’t made a return.
The Puzzle was a Donruss staple I the 80’s and early 90’s. Carl Yastrzemski was saddled with being paired with this set.
Another staple of Donruss has always been the Diamond King, except for their inaugural release. While they have always been a little abstract, they really started to get funky in ’90.
Donruss continued use of the MVP subset although this was one of my least favorites. I never liked the grayish backdrop and orange MVP type. It especially clashed with the red border in my opinion. There are some solid names here though.
Perhaps the greatest Donruss MVP ever is this beauty. The John Smoltz/Tom Glavine mix up had us Braves fans scouring packs for both the correct and error version.
Another drawback for me was the relatively thin Rated Rookie class in this set. The most famous was the Juan Gonzalez reverse negative though I didn’t pull that or the correct version.
While the Rated Rookies were slim, there were some real solid Rookies in the set. I pulled 5 of these Justice RC’s in the box I opened for this post. I would have died in 1990!
Here is your National League All-Stars found in this box. Some of these guys were staples while others weren’t highly collectible, ie. Rick Reuschel.
There were some pretty big names in the American League stack as well with Bo Jackson always being a welcome pull. I think a lot of collectors, especially modern day collectors with no junk wax experience, underestimate the skills of Harold Baines. You never hear collectors mention him but he was as steady as they come.
There wasn’t a whole lot happening in the pitcher category in this box but I did pull Nolan Ryan. It didn’t get any better than that in 1990.
Remember when Craig Biggio was a catcher? He made the unusual move from Catcher to Second Baseman early in his career. Catchers almost always move to First Base or DH but he made the jump to middle infield, showing his athleticism early.
Much like the pitchers, I didn’t pull a long list of stud outfielders. Rickey Henderson and Tony Gwynn were the foundation of many collections during these days but Eric Davis may be one of the most underrated players of my youth. Right behind him in the underrated category is Kevin Mitchell.
I’m really not going to just unload on ’90 Donruss like it is an abomination that ruined the hobby. It’s not that. But the design is one that is synonymous with the negative of the junk wax era for me. You can find these boxes for $5 and the set really doesn’t offer anything special outside of a couple of error cards. This was the year before Elite and Upper Deck was the only company experimenting with autographs at the time. So during those days, it was all about design. For me, this one didn’t get it done. But I do think the set is memorable and represented card companies making the effort to be different. Because of the sheer volume of product still out there, the design, and the poor checklist for Rated Rookies and Diamond Kings, I can’t give the set more than a “2” on the Dub-O-Meter. I want to give it a “3” because of the nostalgia and the prevalence it has in collections from my day. I just can’t and I really do feel bad about that. I liked sorting the cards again but it got old pretty quick too. What say you about ’90 Donruss?
Baseball cards in 1988 were at an all time high for production and an all time low for value. Each of the flagship sets from 1988 are some of the cheapest products you can find on the market today. The Topps design was one of their most bland of the 80’s, Score was marking their first release and Donruss was just plain bad that year. But Fleer sort of gets lost in the shuffle in my opinion. I think in terms of Fleer only, the design for ’88 could be called iconic. The classic white border was accented with red and blue stripes that weren’t overbearing but added an appropriate amount of flair. Even the wrappers are some of the better looking wax packs for Fleer. Remember those terrible ’89 wrappers?
I picked up a box at the LCS recently and I realized that these aren’t as readily available as some of the other junk wax staples in my area. This by no means is to indicate that ’88 Fleer is rare but my LCS has a CASE of ’88 Topps and this is the first ’88 Fleer Box I’ve seen since they opened in 2015. Two things were noticeable about the box. (1) The Box was not in the best shape. It looked like it might have been found at the bottom of Crystal Lake when it dried up. (2) And yes, that sticker on the box does read $68! That’s not what I paid for it but at one time, this was the sticker price for a box of ’88 Fleer. I find that pretty amazing!
As I mentioned, the design is really nice for 1988. The white border was always my preference for Fleer, though I did like some of the gray borders and I LOVED the black bordered Pro Vision cards. But the design in ’88 was not psychedelic, overbearing or too busy to enjoy the actual photo. It’s really pretty clean. The team logo is in the top right and isn’t too large and the player name and position blends well at the top.
This Dan Plesac Card was always a fun one for me. This is a pitcher, in the American League, who has eye black and is in a batting pose, with wrist bands and batting gloves. The 80’s version of Shohei Ohtani? Also, I loved the old Brewers logo!
As with other Retro Reviews, the featured catchers are pretty slim. But Tony Pena almost always makes the cut and this Benito Santiago was an easy pick.
I decided to plug in some less featured infielders than I usually post because these guys were quite good in the late 80’s, but often overlooked. Some of the usual suspects are included but that bottom row pictures some new guys for my review. Alvin Davis was the best player on the Mariners roster for many years. And Kevin Seitzer was a fan favorite in KC. Ken Caminiti was a tough out and had a rocket for an arm. Finally, Kelly Gruber wasn’t my favorite player because of what he did to the Braves in ’91 but he was certainly good.
There are a couple of new faces here as well. Ellis Burks is one of the more underrated outfielders from the late 80’s. Vince Coleman was the junk wax version of Billy Hamilton but he got on base a lot more. Mookie Wilson was a speedster too. I wish Andy Van Slyke played for another team because I liked him but I hated the Pirates thanks to those early 90’s playoff rivalries.
Frank Viola was quite a stud with the Twins and he had thankfully moved on before that fateful World Series battle with Atlanta. Chuck Finley was a great pitcher on horrible teams and Jack McDowell made music on the mound in the early 90’s but actually started making music soon thereafter.
A usual subset for Fleer in the 80’s were the multi player star cards. They usually featured multiple players from different teams that specialized in certain areas. The exceptions were the McGwire Rookie Home Run Card, The Ripken’s and the Red Sox Outfielders, which featured another classic underrated star in Mike Greenwell. Donruss is trying to produce these now but the lack of team logos really hurts.
As usual, ’88 Fleer was mostly swinging and missing with their identification of prospects. They hit on Mark Grace though. And I suppose John Burkett was pretty solid for a few years.
The least desirable card in the set from a design perspective was the All-Star card. These were just plain ugly if you ask me. I pulled all American League stars in this box.
Perhaps the biggest knock on 1988 Baseball Cards, beside production numbers, is the rookie class. Aside from a few bonafide stars like Greg Maddux here and Craig Biggio in Score, it was a pretty weak class overall. Edgar Martinez and Matt Williams were very good major leaguers but collectors aren’t clamoring for their rookie cards. Kevin Mitchell was one of my favorites and before we all started setting up retirement plans with the ’89 Gregg Jefferies Future Star, there was this ’88 Fleer. I included Sam Horn because he was a big stick at times but couldn’t quite piece it all together. There is a Ron Gant in the set as well but I didn’t pull one.
Fleer has a lot to like in 1988. The design is truly one of my favorites, the wax pack is a nice keepsake and it is relatively cheap when you are looking for it. I like the multi player cards and like the action shots in most of the photos. There are a couple of things to dislike as well though. The All-Star set is pretty bad and the rookie class is rather thin. But Greg Maddux, Ron Gant and Kevin Mitchell are enough of an offset for me to still chase some of the rookie class. I really like this set and I think it’s about as underrated as Ellis Burks was. I wish the card stock was a little better but if Fleer hadn’t stopped producing cards in 2007, I can see this as being one of their go to “throwbacks” that are so often found in modern products. But much like my summer days at Crystal Lake, Fleer is simply a memory from my youth that is no longer around to enjoy in 2018. I suppose it’s for the best with all the license shenanigans today but I do think that retro Fleer sets get a bit of a bad rap with modern collectors. If you have the opportunity, pick up some ’88 Fleer and I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.
Anytime my cousin Coop stayed over at my house, or we stayed at the lake or his house, the night was typically about video games. Coop was one of the first of my friends/family that had a Nintendo. Up until that point, my only video game experiences had been Atari and a Tandy Computer. The Nintendo changed our lives and we played every game you can imagine. We started out with Mario and then moved to some action games like Contra and Ninja Gaiden. Then we had sports battles like RBI Baseball, Double Dribble, Hoops, Baseball Stars, NES Play Action Football and Black Bass. Then Tecmo came along and we dedicated all our time to Tecmo Super Bowl, Tecmo Basketball and Tecmo Baseball.
There are two vivid memories I have with Coop and those late night video game marathons. The first was RBI Baseball where Coop had a great shot at taking me down with a late inning base hit. He sent his baserunner around third and he would get hosed by one of my outfielders, ending the game. In a fit of exacerbation, Coop tossed the controller into the air and it took down a shelf above the couch, at 3 am, waking my mom. In a similar late game TSB collapse, Reggie White sacked Jim Kelly, stripping him of the football. White recovered the fumble and streaked to the end zone only to be hawked down by Thurman Thomas inside the 5, where he would fumble the ball right back to the Bills, ending the upset bid. That moment was caught on cassette tape, recording Coop’s screams of “Go Reggie!” that quickly morphed into “No Reggie!” More on the cassette recordings in a minute.
Then there was my buddy Munt. We would normally play basketball in his driveway, dubbed “The Parramore Pavilion”, as long as our legs could go. We would have 3 point contests, play trick shot HORSE and argue over whether Miles really made that memorable layup or not, which he didn’t. He also had a pool table that we would play made up games on all night. We had a game called “nick it” where we would fire the ball off the rail and try to make it bounce all over the table and eventually land in a pocket. We played regular pool too but that got boring. Munt’s house was also where the world famous gummy peaches and jalapeño cheese dip snack originated. We used to love vinegar and salt chips with Frito Lay cheese dip. One night I was dared to dip a gummy peach in the cheese and I didn’t back down from dares in those days. I think I ate a whole pack of gummy peaches and cheese dip that night.
Speaking of ping pong, my cousins Corey, Dusty and Jared had a table and when I spent the night there, we would play tournaments against each other until the wee hours of the morning. There are a couple of memories that stick out with this one. The ping pong table was set up in the dining room and when it was in full action, you didn’t even have enough room to walk completely around the table. The walls on both sides of the table were not far from the edge and we used to scratch and mark up the wall multiple times in a game. Also, think about the sound of a ping pong game. You have the paddle and ball making noise, the ball hitting the table and our paddles occasionally smacking the wall. Oh yeah, we laughed and smack talked each other the whole time too. We played until 3 and 4 in the morning and we never woke their mom up; at least to my knowledge.
This brings me to my buddy Brewer and the stay overs we had. Our gatherings were always about horror movies. I was working at the video store by this time and we rented every movie in the horror section during those days. We watched Video Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Silver Bullet, Friday the 13th, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw, Night of the Living Dead, Return of the Living Dead 1 and 2, Puppet Master, Ghoulies, and any other 80’s-90’s thriller you can think of. We actually stayed at several friends houses together over the years and we took the horror movies every where we went. I specifically remember watching Evil Dead and Dead Alive one night back to back at one friends house and being too freaked out to sleep.
There’s really no actual clear odds on the Elite either as you can rip through entire cases and come up empty. It has to be the rarest card numbered to 10,000 ever created! Of course, you can find singles on eBay at very reasonable prices these days but I’m chasing that high of pulling one. Charlie at the LCS sent me a Facebook message last week saying somebody dropped in with a bunch of unopened wax that he bought. He had a box of ’92 Donruss Series 1 and 2 and he was holding it for me. Not only was the Elite a major chase that year but there are 5,000 signed Cal Ripken Jr’s to be found in that set as well!
The first thing I notice about ’92 is the new foil packaging. This was the first year they switched from wax to foil, in an effort to be a little more “premium”. Donruss also went to a white border for the first time in many years, ’84 I believe. These looked more like classic baseball cards than the previous two issues, which I liked in certain ways but always felt they were a little psychedelic. This was also a year in which Diamond Kings got a full makeover from the older looking fun sketches to a new, more distinguished look with gold foil and a little thicker stock. Each box had 36 packs so let’s see what ripping 72 foil wrappers can uncover!
The pitchers featured some big names from the 90’s. Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz would all go on to have Hall of Fame careers with my Bravos and Schilling and Clemens would make big names for themselves in Boston. Two of the biggest K Machines are found in Nolan Ryan and Doc Gooden.
As usual, the list of catchers is thin but these guys were damn good. This was at the very beginning of Pudge Rodriguez’s career and the very end of Pudge Fisk’s.
This is where the studs can be found! The infielders in 1992 may have been the best collection of active players in my lifetime. Look at these names; Ozzie Smith, Ryne Sandberg, Frank Thomas, Donnie Baseball, Cal Ripken,Wade Boggs, Will The Thrill, Big Mac, Crime Dog and The Big Cat! The infield was absolutely loaded!
The outfield wasn’t that far behind the infield. There were veterans like Kirby Puckett, Tony Gwynn, Eric Davis and Jose Canseco and then there were young stars like Ken Griffey Jr., Ron Gant, Dave Justice and Juan Gonzalez. These guys hit a lot of home runs in the 90’s!
These legends were classified as Designated Hitters so they get their own section.
How about some rookies? These were the guys who made some noise during their careers. Thome was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame! While Pat Mahomes may not have had a star studded career, his son has a good shot.
Here are the “Award Winners” from 1991. Bagwell and Knoblauch won their respective Rookie of the Year awards.
The All-Stars are some pretty recognizable names but I was a little surprised to see Ivan Calderon in the mix. I do remember him having an MVP card in one Donruss set but don’t remember his All Star appearance in the early 90’s.
The highlights of ’91 included Otis Nixon and Rickey Henderson’s stolen base records, Nolan Ryan’s 308 wins and the 3 man no-hitter for Atlanta.
Although these aren’t rookie cards, these are all players on my “Dated Rookies” checklist for autographs. These guys had so much promise in ’91-’92 but they just didn’t pan out. A couple of these players have sons that are youngsters in the league now.
Here are the new and improved Diamond Kings for ’92 with Will Clark being the star of the group. The others I pulled weren’t necessarily at the top of the checklist for ’92. But I still love ’92 DK!
Remember the introduction of the Marlins logo in this set? There was a Rockies card too but I didn’t pull that one.
Once again, there was no Elite Card to be found. The Chase continues and I’ll keep searching because I refuse to give up at this point. 1992 was a big improvement for Donruss in my opinion. The switch to foil wrappers, white borders and foil stamped Diamond Kings made it feel more grown up to me, which was perfect for a 15 year old. The number of legendary players that were active in 1992 is really unbelievable and it’s a shame this checklist had to be right in the thick of the junk wax era. I can’t find much wrong with this set other than a little bit of a weak rookie class. Besides Thome, nobody else is a Hall of Famer and really only a few had good, if only serviceable, careers. But that’s the only knock I have with ’92 Donruss. What say you??
I want to be a better person when it comes to this specific human trait. I want to learn how to avoid my problems and help others focus on theirs. I want the strength to carry my baggage and someone else’s at the same time if it means they’ll have an easier couple of moments. I guess, in a way, this IS about selfishness. This is about being self centered but it’s not an intentional act. It is more of a learned behavior or self preservation mechanism. I don’t know what it really is, I just know that I don’t walk around “not caring about other people and their problems.” I walk around too burdened by my own to find the compassion sometimes. Does any of this make sense?
We could get bogged down here in the current situation we are all in globally; with political strife, violence everywhere, differing opinions, hate speech, failure to accept differences in one another, discounting another person’s experiences with various aspects of our society, and the well documented (real or perceived) decaying of our civilization. We could even get into a heated debate over whether Jay Feely was being funny or out of line with the prom photo he shared on social media. We could do all of that but that is not what I’m about. That’s not what my blog has ever been intended for.
The other two cards that everyone will recognize from the set are the Tom Paciorek and Steve Kemp. No? Just me? Yeah, I’m a White Sox fan. OK, so maybe you will recognize the Ozzie Smith and Reggie Jackson cards, showing them in their new digs. Both deals actually happened prior to the 1982 season, but after Topps had already issued its single-series base set. The Topps Traded set was collectors’ first chance to see cards depicting these two future HOFers with their new teams, and they have been favorites for over 35 years.
But what if this set checklist were a tad bit different? What if the industry at the time had dictated a more prospect-driven product? What if this set had included subsets, like those following it eventually included? Ready to have some fun? Let’s have some fun…
When the 1983 sets came out, only one major brand picked up this next guy. He only played in 20 games in 1982, with 32 plate appearances. He batted .241 with one, yes ONE home run. Nobody knew that in 1983 he would play 145 games and hit 35 home runs, on his way to earning the AL Rookie of the Year Award, all while being a very important piece of the lineup during the White Sox run to a Divisional Championship. He’s a great guy, and those of you who have written to him also know him as a TTM legend. What if Topps had included Ron Kittle in their 1982 Traded set?
So, this next dude played 123 games in 1982 with 422 at bats, 125 hits, 24 stolen bases, and batted almost .300. He helped the new addition, Ozzie Smith, lead the Cardinals to a World Series victory with an absolutely sensational catch in Game 3 that robbed a home run. Why didn’t he get a card in the actual Traded set in 1982? No idea. Now he has one. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Willie McGee.
There was a particular “Big 3” of rookie cards when the 1983 sets came out. But things could have been very different had they all appeared in the 1982 Topps Traded set. This first guy actually played 13 games in 1981, so he could have easily appeared in the base 1982 set. Only problem? He wasn’t that good. By the beginning of 1982 he had already been traded to a new team, so there is actually a better chance that this first custom would have appeared in the base set rather than the Traded set. It would have been the only non-insert that pictured this future HOFer on his original team, and we missed out on it. Lucky for us, in 1982 he had almost 700 plate appearances and nearly 200 hits. And since he technically changed teams, I’m going to go ahead and put them both in here, because who knows how it really could have been handled? Maybe one in the base set and one in the Traded set? The Cubs kinda made up for the Lou Brock trade with this one, bringing Ryne Sandberg in as a utility infielder and a throw in on the Larry Bowa trade. Not a bad throw in.
Here’s another guy who should have definitely been included in the 1982 Topps Traded set. He played 104 games for his team that year with 381 plate appearances, batting a measly .349. He would finish his career 18 seasons later, with a lifetime .328 average, 3010 hits, and eventually a bust in the Hall of Fame. Unlike Sandberg, who started out as a utility infielder throw in to a trade, Wade Boggs started strong and finished strong, would have been nice to see him in this set. Now we get to!
This next player wasn’t too far away from having a custom NBA card instead of an MLB card. Lucky for us, he chose baseball. He played in 54 games in 1982 batting .289, the only season in his 20 year Hall of Fame career that would see him bat under .300. With over 3100 career hits and a lifetime average of .338 – all while playing for the same team – Tony Gwynn was a shoe-in HOFer that could have easily been included in this set.
I had no idea that this last player came up at the end of 1982. With only 7 games and 13 plate appearances, he definitely would not have been a candidate for the set. But it’s a good thing that I don’t have a lot of rules. Its also a good thing I really wanted to see an ’82 of this guy! He played 14 years and ended up with a lifetime average of .307. With just over 2100 hits, unfortunately he did not have the length to his career that the others did, or he would have undoubtedly ended up in Cooperstown along with them. And this card of Don Mattingly, would have turned the collecting universe upside down back in the day!
So, there you have it, my updated “What If” version of the 1982 Topps Traded set. Thank you for taking the trip with me and imagining what it would have been like to pull this group from that bright blue box!
5. Mick Foley/Mankind/Dude Love/ Cactus Jack – I really liked all of the incarnations of Mick Foley but Mankind was probably my favorite. He had Sock-o and his “Have a nice day!” was always creepy and got stuck in my head. Foley really abused his body over the years and some of his most memorable matches for me came later in his career. I remember one specific match with Terry Funk that had them wrestling all over the arena; landing on tacks, breaking tables, climbing fences. As solid a #5 as you’ll ever find.
4. Junkyard Dog – JYD was one of the first wrestling action figures I ever owned. I remember having him and Hulk to go with the toy wrestling ring. He was also one of the heroes on the 80’s WWF cartoon that I watched frequently. Dog was famous for his head butt but it wasn’t an ordinary head butt. He would charge around on all fours when his opponent was on the ground and head butt them to keep them flopping around on the mat. They really don’t make wrestling gimmicks like they used to.
3. Undertaker – Taker is really the only recent wrestler on my list. Foley is not too far in the past but Taker was active very recently. My love for horror movies and wrestling made Undertaker a natural favorite of mine. I loved the gimmicks in the cemetery and the coffin matches and buried alive stunts. His “sit up” was also the stuff of legends and I recently found out on the wrestling podcast that it was patterned after the sit-up by Michael Myers in Halloween. Just one more thing to like about Taker.
2. Ric Flair – I know after you saw 5-3 you were probably wondering, “didn’t he say he was a Crockett guy?” Well, the top 2 bring that home. Everybody loves Ric Flair now but I loved The Nature Boy in 1989 when it was more cool to not like him. For my money, nobody beat him on the microphone. He was so entertaining and such a showman (and flopper) in the ring. He was also the owner of the very best robes in the sport, hands down. Ric Flair was the man and there is no denying that!
1. Dusty Rhodes – As much as I liked Flair, and still “Woooo” to this day, my all time favorite wrestler was Dusty Rhodes. And I’m not talking about the Polka Dot Dusty Rhodes of the WWF. I’m talking about “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. I can still see those Ray-Ban sunglasses as he tells Tony Chiavone what’s about to happen to the Four Horsemen. I really loved me some Dusty Rhodes and he would have been on my short list of “athletes I have to meet before I die” if he were still with us. The American Dream was the cream of the crop for me!
5. Ted DiBiase – I hated The Million Dollar Man as a wrestler but I enjoyed him when he was managing Psycho Sid and NWO. I didn’t like him because he was the ultimate heel but he was very entertaining and did his job very well. Sometimes the more you despise a heel, the more you need them around.
4. Captain Lou Albano – Captain Lou was fun to watch. He was more visible in the mainstream by the time I started watching wrestling but he was still making managerial appearances in the ring. He was also starring in Cyndi Lauper videos and the WWF cartoon so he was very visible. I could never figure out the rubber band fetish though.
3. Jim Cornette – If you want a better example of what I said above when discussing DiBiase, here it is. I absolutely could not stand Jim Cornette! But here he is on my list at #3. He made me hate The Midnight Express and I so wanted Hawk or Animal to smash him with his own tennis racket. But again, that’s part of the allure of wrestling. There are baby faces and there are heels. It doesn’t work if you don’t have both. And Jim Cornette was the ultimate heel manager!
2. Paul Bearer – If Undertaker made the list, you knew that Paul Bearer would be here. I could actually include Brother Love here too for his time with Taker. But Bearer was the ultimate creepy mortician that made me relish every Undertaker promo that came on. I would go around mocking his high pitched voice and try to make all those faces he made. What a cool manager!
1. Miss Elizabeth – I’m just going to let the photo speak for itself. She also deserves the #1 spot in the next category too!
5. Stephanie McMahon – I find myself in the minority when I bring up Steph to other wrestling fans as one of my favorites. She played the ultimate heel in the late 90’s with Triple H and from what I do see today, she is still pretty good at that. I don’t care what you say though, I like Stephanie McMahon a lot!
4. Sable – Between the evening gown matches and bikini contests, what’s not to love about Sable? Although I don’t think she would ever beat Luna Vachon in a legitimate match. Who could really?
3. Trish Stratus – There was a time when Trish would be #1 on this list but at this point, she’s settled in at #3. She was a bit of a heel so I had my ups and downs with her but there was no denying her “talent.” Not a fan of the Val Venis days though.
2. Beulah McGillicutty – It’s not often that you’ll find a name like Beulah McGillicutty on one of my lists but this one is an exception. She didn’t do a ton in WWE and was more known for her work in ECW but she was top notch. An absolute knockout!
1. Lita – I fell in love with Lita the first time I saw her and I really didn’t care about her being a heel one bit. Even at her heeliest, I wanted her to win. Maybe I just wanted her on the screen, I don’t really remember. Lita will be hard to unseat as my favorite. The hair, the rocker look, the flips…..a wrestling 10!
That box was the stunning 1991 WCW set. I was 14 years old in 1991 and I watched every match that came on TV back then. It was a great time to be a wrestling fan. The cards themselves are, surprisingly, of very good quality for a non “Big 4” trading card. The stock is pretty good, the gloss is not too much but not too dull and the border just screams WCW in 1991. The box holds 36 packs of 15 cards and one puzzle card. Let’s see what was waiting inside!
The fronts of the cards were very nice but the backs could have been better. I’m sure they were going for gold but it almost looks mustardy. I do like the info on the backs though.
Jim Ross had a bigger wrestling career but Tony Schiavone was the voice of wrestling in my youth!
Missy Hyatt could have easily slid into the top 5 in the valet or ladies section but that means I’d have to take someone out. Maybe DiBiasi.
Michael “P.S.” Hayes and The Fabulous Freebirds!
Geez, I did not like Paul Heyman…..
Butch Reed and Ron Simmons were absolute BEASTS! Teddy Long on the other hand…..
I really loved the Steiner Brothers before Scott Steiner became “Big Poppa Pump” or whatever he called himself. Rick was very entertaining and was almost a poor mans Mick Foley.
Barry Windham was a heel that I couldn’t stand. As a member of The Four Horsemen, he made me want to tag into the match myself!
Sid was just plain scary. I would not have wanted to bump into him in a dark alley. Or a well lit church for that matter.
The dirtiest wrestler of all-time; Arn Anderson! He was ruthless in the ring and was the heart and soul of The Four Horsemen for many years. He kinda looked like a country singer too.
Here they are as a group!
How about Luger? He had the perfect wrestler body, very similar to that of the Ultimate Warrior.
I could’ve put Sting in my Top 6 if I had extended it one more spot. I loved him back during these days but the days where he was dressed like “The Crow” and carried a baseball bat weren’t as fun. He was a stud though!
And here he is! The Nature Boy himself! I know he was a hell and I know he was a part of The Four Horsemen. But damn, Flair was an icon even then! Wrestling was entertainment and there was no one more entertaining in 1991.
As an added bonus, I had to grab one of these Merlin WWF packs when I saw it too. These are a little more rare than most of the wrestling cards out there and are about $10 per pack shipped. These are some great looking cards though. This set is also the home of the Undertaker RC. I may be seeking out more of these!
No Undertaker in this pack but look who I did find! Miss Elizabeth in all her glory!
And then the opposite of Liz, the ever brutal Sensational Sherri. Tremendous heel!
Here are the other 6 I pulled with one being the incomparable Virgil. And who doesn’t remember good ole Irwin R. Schyster? I really like the design of these cards!
I’ll have to give 1991 WCW cards a 4 on the Dub-O-Meter. The design is good, stock is good, the photography is solid. But the collation is really bad. The set is not very big so when you get a box of 540, there are A TON of dupes. It felt like there were dupes in each pack! The price, $39, was a little higher than I think it should be. But those are really the only issues and it still comes in at a solid 4. I need to open more of the Merlin cards but they feel like a 5 to me at the moment. What say you about these old wrestling cards?
Really not much happening on travel day other than what feels like herding cats. Actually leaving the house feels like a tremendous accomplishment; never mind the 5 hour drive that awaits. We all get hungry in intervals and anybody with a wife and multiple daughters also knows that they all have to use the bathroom at different times. This ride was better than last year because G has learned how to occupy herself with a movie and she also slept a little. The wife slept more than a little and Bailey rotated between angel and master complainer.
This was the big day! We rolled out of bed bright and early and headed out for Disney World. This was going to be G’s 2nd trip and Bailey’s 4th. I realized this morning that we have been to Orlando every year since G was born. We were here the year Alicia was pregnant with her too but that trip didn’t go too well if you’ll recall the ups and downs I wrote about in The Strongest Woman I Know. At any rate, when G was 7 months old, we went to Universal and Islands of Adventure. She wasn’t old enough to even remember it. The following year was a trip to Wet n Wild and Sea World. Then last year, Disney and Animal Kingdom with the Collins’, which was a total blast.
We decided that Disney would be the call again this year because G was a little older and she was much more into the Disney scene. Last year was a bit of a letdown when we immediately found out that she was afraid of the castle. We weren’t able to really enjoy any of the shows or castle parties with that being the case. She was much more into the whole castle scene this year and even sat front row for a show. The volume was a little loud but she made it through the whole thing.
We went to another “show” of sorts with a newer attraction featuring Belle of “Beauty and the Beast”. They even asked for the audience to participate and Bailey was chosen to play Mrs. Potts. It was a fun time and Bailey and G both got their photos taken with Belle. Of course, we rode Dumbo and It’s a Small World because that is a bit of a tradition. But we skipped Peter Pan this year because of the wait times and replaced it with The Little Mermaid ride. We also weren’t able to ride the Seven Dwarves roller coaster for the second year in a row because the wait time was never less than 150 minutes.
I finally got Bailey to Thunder Mountain and it was a total blast! We hardly ever go to Frontierland for one reason or another but we made sure that we checked that box this year, even with the daunting 70 minute wait. Alicia and G did the Philharmonic while we road the coaster. Bailey loved it and called it her second favorite ride ever. She has my sense of adventure and she’ll ride all the cool stuff with me. We just can’t ride as much with G not understanding why she can’t go too.
We then met up with Alicia and G to attempt the Haunted Mansion as a family. That was an adventure. G didn’t make it to the elevator before she chickened out so she and Alicia had to take the emergency exit. Bailey and I went through the elevator portion and just as we were about to get in the ride car, Alicia and G appeared out of nowhere because the little one had changed her mind. She and Bailey hopped in the car with me before we could really sort things out and Alicia got stuck riding by herself. We were able to get it done as a family but Alicia got the shaft.
We also found some time to get a ride on the carousel in but we eventually closed out the night with Winnie the Pooh, at G’s request. We sort of owed it to her after the Haunted Mansion ride and then the fireworks scaring her way more than some cheesy spook house effects. I had to take her into a gift shop during the firework show and one of the shop workers even came over to talk with us and offered G some stickers to help her feel better. She took the stickers and put them on her ears! So Winnie the Pooh was a must and she loved it so we were able to end the night on a high note…..almost. It took us over an hour to get on the monorail and then the tram to finally get to the car. G fell asleep on my shoulders with a huge sucker in her hand, which stuck itself to my hair.
All in all, it was one of the better days we’ve had at an amusement park. I’m not saying that any of the days are ever too bad but we tend to experience occasional meltdowns when we get too tired, too hot or have too much fun to choose from. Besides the occasional “I haven’t gotten to ride anything I want” and “I’m hungry”, we had a pretty solid day in that department. We had one particular moment that I’ll cherish for quite a while. We got stuck inside Gaston’s Tavern because of some rain but we all sat and shared popcorn, a cinnamon bun and frozen apple juice and nobody complained, everybody loved the food and we had a good time laughing at each other.
Today started off the right way; ripping! Even though it’s wrestling and not a product I rip a lot, it’s always fun. I’m more of an old school wrestling guy so this isn’t really my speed but I can still get down with it. I’ve got a real nostalgic wrestling post in the works but it will have to wait until after spring break.
The product is Topps Road to WrestleMania and includes two hits with at least one autograph guaranteed. There is a cool tribute to André the Giant so that’s right up my alley!
Of course, the Undertaker is an old school guy too!
Of the modern wrestlers, I like watching Asuka because she is very entertaining. Undefeated too if I recall correctly.
In a modern/throwback combo, here is a nice Charlotte Flair. The Nature Girl?
But my favorite lineage duo has always been The American Dream and Goldust!
As for the hits, I hope Nikki Cross pans out because I’ve opened 2 WWE products in the last few months and I now have 3 of her autos. My 2 hits in this box were the same autos but one is numbered to 50.
After the rip, it was time to hit the pool!! This is really what the kids had been waiting for probably more than Disney. All I’ve heard for the last week is, “I want to swim at Liki Tiki!” We’ve stayed here a few times and the kids are familiar with the slides and the volcano fountain and all the other stuff that gets their attention. Our pool view room didn’t help when we got here either but I’m not complaining about that.
I will say that spring break in late March always has the possibility of being a little on the chilly side. Don’t get me wrong, 75 degrees isn’t exactly chilly but its borderline swimming weather for South Georgians. We have Christmas Days that are warmer than that. The breeze was pretty strong and as long as we stayed in the water, we were good. The minute you got out, you felt like you were at Polar Bear tryouts. The kids didn’t seem to mind so that’s really all that mattered. Even though it was a little chilly, I’ve got red shoulders, Alicia’s neck is red and Bailey has a red face. G dodged the sunburn bullet.