Category: Sports

The game of Basketball has always been a big part of my life.  I have blathered on about my love for the hardwood before in my post, Hoop Dreams.  To get a much more detailed background of my basketball past, I you can check that one out.  My first basketball goal was a smaller hoop of the 5 foot variety that sat at the top of a small metal pole with a four pronged base.  It wasn’t sturdy at all and I had to put fire logs or cinder blocks on it to keep it from toppling over.  I eventually got smart and tied it to one of the lattice columns of the backyard shed my parents used for storage.  Once I had it fastened to the front of that shed, it could withstand all of my amazing dunks and trick shots and never fall over.  And as an added bonus, I was able to get rid of the fire logs that constantly posed a threat to my ankles that were protected only by the thin cloth found in Converse All-Stars.When the weather wasn’t cooperating, I took my game inside to the Nerf hoop that hung on my closet door.  Back then, the balls were literally circular foam sponges that were so light that you had to have laser focus to make a shot from further than 3 feet.  And dunks were tough to finish without smashing into the closet door and prompting a visit from your angry mom.  We also had a little lake place that had a huge screened in porch that had a Nerf hoop screwed into the wood siding that totally mixed indoor and outdoor elements for the perfect game.  My cousin and I would play for hours during the summer while others were swimming or skiing.  We were focused totally on hoops!Eventually, I moved to a full size backyard basketball goal that had the neighborhood kids flocking to my house for mini tournaments and 2 on 2 battles.  From 14-20, I was playing basketball 4-5 times a week either at my house, my cousin’s house, the Westwood Gym or the Mitchell-Baker Gym.  I played RA Basketball with the church, I played some basketball at the school and I played in some city leagues after graduation.  I love all sports but as for playing them, basketball carried the torch for me through my teen years.  I played the others but basketball was a cut above.  I still play it today in a recreational city league that doesn’t require you to run a 4.5/40 or have a 28” vertical leap.  It’s competitive and a mix of young and old but none of us are looking to sign a 10 day deal in the D-League with our play.Being so involved in basketball throughout my youth, it was only natural that I would collect basketball cards.  So in 1989, when I began with baseball cards, I also started picking up ’89 Hoops to add to my collection.  Unfortunately, I started collecting too late to have a bunch of ’86 Fleer lying around my collection but that set remains a part of my Sports Card Bucket List.  The big card I was after in 1989 was the David Robinson RC and other stars like Jordan, Bird, Magic, Dominique and Olajuwan.  I don’t care what players come along in today’s NBA, you will never convince me that the league will ever be better than my teen years from 1987-1997.  There were so many legends in the league at that time.  The game was exciting to watch in November and was super charged when the playoffs arrived.  You have to trust me when I say it was the best of times in the NBA.I think basketball cards in general are the forgotten hobby by sports card enthusiasts and deserve more celebration.  Mid to late 80’s basketball cards hold great value and the sets were LOADED with superstars.  And because everybody and their brother weren’t collecting them, they aren’t as abundant in collections as other sports.  I am not saying they weren’t mass produced but I am saying that there are way more ’89 Topps baseball cards in collector boxes than ’89 Hoops.  I collected heavily from 1989-1995 and probably had as many basketball cards as any other sport.  Unfortunately, my basketball cards didn’t survive my dead period like the other sports did.  I have some star cards left and have since collected newer sets but I lost track of most of the older cards in various moves from my parents’ house to bachelor pads to my current family home.My favorite basketball set is the 1993 Topps Archives Set.  The set is much like Archives Baseball of today as it used some of the current stars (at the time) of the NBA on retro Topps designs.  This was the only set where you could find basketball players on famous designs from Topps years 1981-1991.  Yes, you can find Tim Hardaway on a 1989 Topps design and you can find Brad Daugherty on a 1985.  And as an added bonus, the cards were produced in the same “High Definition” of Stadium Club so they are considered a premium set for 1993.  And before you assume the worst, these don’t stick together like 1991 Stadium Club Baseball does.  These are still in very good condition from the pack and are wonderful for the nostalgic collector.The set is numbered to 150 with the cards from 1981 designs being in the front to 1991 closing it out.  If you have a favorite Topps Baseball design from that time frame, it’s in here.  The box is made up of 24 packs with 14 “Super Premium” cards in each.  The subset for this product was a Special 1981-1991 #1 Draft Picks Set featuring; you guessed it, the #1 picks from those years.  Boxes also featured a Master Photo card that entitled “winners” to 3 master photo cards with $1.00 postage and handling.  These Master Photos were printed on 5X7 photo white stock.  My particular winning group included James Worthy, Ralph Sampson and Patrick Ewing.  Unfortunately, the expiration date on this winning insert was 1/31/94.I ripped through this box and it was almost as fun as watching Spud Webb win the dunk contest.  I was able to build the full Draft Pick subset and also the full base set with the exception of Card #67, Reggie Miller.  Miller turned out to be elusive!  I pulled two Jordan’s and countless Hall of Famers and Superstars.  As you’ll see, the design year matches the players’ draft year.  Let’s take a look at how the box stacked up.1981 Design– Cards 12-22 – Featured players like Danny Ainge, Tom Chambers and the pictured Isiah Thomas.  1981 was not one of my favorite Topps designs but seeing some basketball players on them gave them some pop.1982 – Cards 23-31 – These are very good looking.  The group includes two major names; Dominique Wilkins and James Worthy.1983 – Cards 32-42 – These have the signature small circular photo in the bottom corner.  Clyde “The Glyde” Drexler was the headliner here.1984 – Cards 43-59 – This was the best group of players for a set design and featured the ’84 Draft Class.  This group included Charles Barkley, Akeem (Not Hakeem) Olajuwan, John Stockton and “His Airness”!1985 – Cards 60-76 – 1985 Topps remains a popular set in baseball today.  This group of players featured Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone (maybe my favorite action shot), Chris Mullin and Spud Webb.1986 – Cards 77-88 – This design has historically been either loved or hated over the years.  The players featured in this group were not the best in the set either with Brad Daugherty, Dennis Rodman and Mark Price being the main stars.1987 – Just as you’d imagine, cards 89-100 are in the classic wood grain design of 1987 Topps Baseball.  There were some well liked players in this group but no bona fide superstars outside of Scottie Pippen.  Included were names like Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, Reggie Lewis and Kevin Johnson.1988 – Cards 101-114 – The design used in 1988 was a little uninspiring for my taste but it’s nice as a retro design.  The players in this group included Danny Manning, Rex Chapman, Dan Majerle, Mitch Richmond and Rony Seikaly; all household names in 1993.1989 – Cards 115-130 – This is the wonderfully classy design we all know and love from 1989 Baseball.  The group of players from the ’89 Draft is also top notch with the inclusions of Vlade Divac, Sean Elliott, Tim Hardaway and David Robinson.1990 – The “Saved by the Bell” set of 1990 Baseball was covered with cards 131-139.  The group included a pair of stars from Seattle, Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, as well as Dee Brown and Dennis Scott.1991 – The final design featured in the set was 1991 and included cards 140-148.  Card #149-150 were checklists.  This group included Larry Johnson, Billy Owens, Steve Smith, Dikembe Mutombo and Rick Fox.

As far as basketball sets go, this is one of the best for me.  Sure, sets from 1986 and 1987 are more valuable but they are also out of my price range.  This is a way to own superstar players in retro Topps designs for about $15-$20.  The cards look great, they are still in good condition in the packs, the set is small enough to build easily and they are very affordable.  If you like 80’s-90’s basketball, there is absolutely no reason not to buy a box and build this set.  This is a very firm 5 on the Dub-O-Meter and was a blast to rip.  Just check them out, you won’t regret it.

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?

By 1992, I was starting to drive (learner’s permit) and began hitting the baseball field at high school. I was also still heavily investing in baseball cards. One of the differences for me from ’91 to ’92 was that I was turning my less than average landscaping abilities into weekly cash. I was mowing a couple of church lots from time to time but my weekly gig was at a local insurance company in Camilla. I would pop on my headphones, lose all touch with reality and mow that yard for about an hour and a half. It was a push mower but it was one of those fancy self assist jobbies that did most of the work for you. So it was me, Gin Blossoms and Pearl Jam on those hot summer days just dreaming about the cards I would buy with that $20 I was about to make.My prime target in 1992 was Donruss. I liked the design (still do in relation to other 90’s Donruss) and the price was reasonable for a 15 year old on a lawn mowing budget. But more than that, there was an insert found in ’92 Donruss that was originally introduced in ’91 that made me say a little prayer before opening every pack. If you collected during that time, you likely know the feeling of that chase well. Donruss Elite was like nothing ever before as it related to chase cards. Sure, ’90 Upper Deck introduced the random autograph but there were only 2,500 of those and I knew that was impossible. On the flip side, Elite was printing 10,000 of each player and while that sounds like a lot by today’s serial number standards, that was a drop in the bucket compared to production runs.I remember one of my best friends pulling an Andre Dawson in 1991 and it was the only one I ever saw pulled. I never pulled an Elite card from a pack. I did pull a Legend Series Robin Yount about 4 years ago from an old box of ’92 and that was pretty dang exciting! I can only imagine that I may have passed out from sheer joy if I had pulled a Ken Griffey Jr. or Nolan Ryan back in the early 90’s. Andre Dawson wasn’t even a HUGE name but my friend bounced around his room for about an hour. In 1992, subsets were ramping up in popularity as you’ll see when we get to the pricing section of this post. Fleer Ultra, Stadium Club and Leaf were taking over the premium set domination while Upper Deck was lost in the same basic design from ’89. They were still premium but they had not come very far in my opinion.The cover of the Beckett that I used for this look back to 1992 was listed in my top 12 favorites that I posted a few weeks ago. It had to have been a shot that Topps had in the file from the ’92 Topps collection as it is next to that same batting screen with the same jersey and bat. It’s almost the same pose except he replaced his smile with a stoic look. There was a major player on the back of the magazine too and I’ll save it as my last photo. It’s one of the other reasons this is on my favorite list. So without further ado, let’s take a look at what was happening in the world of baseball cards in 1992.This magazine was from April 1992 and hit store shelves just before opening day. Inside, there were a couple of prediction pieces that were interesting to read and compare to actual results. They hit a couple on the head but also whiffed on a few. That’s pretty standard for all prediction pieces. It’s important to remember that the two leagues had only two divisions each back then as well. The divisions were split up into the East and West and regionally they made no sense. There was also just one playoff round before the World Series. Beckett predicted the final standings as follows, with the actual winners in bold.

• NL West – Atlanta, Cincinnati, LA, San Fran, San Diego and Houston – They got the top 2 right here
• NL East – NY, Pittsburgh, St Louis, Philly, Montreal and Chicago – Most people remember the epic playoff matchup between Atlanta and Pittsburgh. But do you remember that Montreal finished 2nd that year in the division? The Mets finished 24 games out.
• AL West – Chicago, Oakland, KC, Minnesota, Seattle, Texas and California – Oakland pulled out the division with Minnesota finishing 6 games out.
• AL East – Toronto, Boston, Baltimore, Detroit, NY, Milwaukee and Cleveland – They nailed the AL East but the surprise in 1992 was Milwaukee finishing only 4 games out of first place. Their second place prediction finished last, 23 games out.They also predicted the major awards for the upcoming season but that is even tougher than final standings. This is almost impossible when factoring in injuries, trades and other issues that come into play over a 162 game season. But it is interesting to look at what the expectations were at the beginning of the season vs. how the actual players ended up. Beckett’s prediction is listed first (along with how they finished) with the actual winner listed after.

• AL MVP – Cecil Fielder (9th) – Dennis Eckersley – Eck finished with a 7-1 record, 51 saves and a 1.91 ERA
• NL MVP – Bobby Bonilla (NR) – Barry Bonds – Bobby Bo was a bust in ’92 with a .249 average, 19 home runs and 70 RBI
• AL HR – Cecil Fielder (35) – Juan Gonzalez (43) – This helped the price of the ’91 Donruss Reverse Negative
• NL HR – Daryl Strawberry (5) – Fred McGriff (35) – Straw only played in 43 games in ‘92
• AL Batting Champ – Wade Boggs (.259) – Edgar Martinez (.343) – The worst batting average Boggs had in his career
• NL Batting Champ – Hal Morris (.271) – Gary Sheffield (.330) – Also one of Morris’ worst batting averages of his career
• AL Cy Young – Roger Clemens (3rd) – Eckersley – Hard to argue with the numbers above
• NL Cy Young – Ramon Martinez (NR) – Greg Maddux – Martinez was 8-11 with a 4.00 ERA and Maddux was 20-11 with a 2.18 ERA. Tom Glavine finished 2nd.I would be remiss if I didn’t include this beautiful article about my main guy, Ronnie Gant.  The Hot list hadn’t changed at the top much since 1991 but Atlanta Braves were starting to take over with Avery (3rd), Justice (4th), Klesko (13), Gant (20), Glavine (26) and the Braves as a team (22). Meanwhile, Sportsflics just couldn’t catch a break with readers.I also remember full spread ads from card companies like this Fleer ad. Of course, I also remember this Rocket insert as being pretty sweet. “Over 2,000 signed”!On to pricing and we have to start with the 1982 Topps Cal Ripken that was now hovering at$70. Ron Guidry on the other hand was about to see his last month in the price guide.1983 Topps was rolling along as well as Ryno, Gwynn and Boggs were all high value cards.I had to check in on the 1984 Fleer Update set and much to my surprise, it continued to rise. Two cards over $200!1984 Donruss was also a big hit with Darryl Strawberry checking in at $65, Don Mattingly at $60 and Joe Carter at $35. Carter was in store for a huge season and postseason as well!We are beginning to see the downfall of Jose Canseco and his 1986 Donruss. We were only a year away from a baseball bouncing off of his head and into the stands for a homerun. We all should have gotten out right around this time.Fleer was the king in 1987 with Will Clark at $30 and Bo Jackson at $22.And what do we have here? Ron Gant at $7 and rising in ’88 Fleer.The ever popular 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. was still climbing in value.1990 Leaf was otherworldly with Frank Thomas at $70, Dave Justice at $40, Ken Griffey Jr. at $24 and Steve Avery at $20. Totally out of place with other 1990 sets!I had TOTALLY forgotten how in demand 1992 Donruss Diamond King was when it came out. Look at these prices!!Another extremely hot insert set for 1992 was Fleer Rookie Sensations. The 20 card set was checking in at $175!There were a ton of great reader comments from this edition so I had to really think about which ones were pertinent to this post. This one was included because it gives some of the young guys a glimpse at the selling options before eBay, Twitter and all the other online sites. “Place an ad in your local newspaper.”We have a Ron Kittle mention here so I had to include this one.I laughed at how literal this reader took Beckett’s previous advice in this one.Here’s a new feature that wasn’t included in the ’90 or ’91 editions I covered. Cardboard Art has now come to our modern technology with the Twitter follow @bsblcardvandals.The shows were still going strong in ’92 but had decreased from 22 pages to 20. Still a ton and the guests were out of this world. Look at these two ads for card shows in Pittsburgh and California.The last item of note was this sweet interview with Nolan Ryan. He had some pretty fun answers including, “I looked into buying one of my rookie cards one time, but it was so darn expensive, I changed my mind.” He goes on to say that he offered a dealer a free pitching lesson in exchange for a rookie card and was denied.The other reason this is one of my favorite Beckett’s – the back cover!

Baseball cards were still trending in the right direction in 1992. New products were including highly sought after cards and the stars from the 80’s were at the peak of their careers and driving up the value on their early cards. Some of the rookies from ’89 and ’90 were stumbling while some of the others that were mediocre their rookie season were starting to take off. Unfortunately, we were getting close to a crash and didn’t know it. We were flying on wings of cardboard that were getting dangerously close to the sun. But we weren’t quite there yet. We were still living it up at card shows and buying product all over town. We’ll take a look at 1993 next week and we might see some signs starting to surface. But as for 1992, there may be no other year I’d rather go back to and experience again in card collecting!

J-Dub

In 1992, I was as deep in the hobby as I’ve ever been.  I was buying every pack I saw, subscribed to Beckett and was trading cards like the Wolf of Wall Street.  I was 15 years old, playing sports year round and was a master at all the hottest sports video games.  It truly was an amazing time to be alive.  The Braves were coming off of a tough 7 game World Series loss but the future was bright and we were saying it was going to be our year.  Dave Justice was blossoming into a star, Glavine and Smoltz were dominating on the mound and Sid Bream was preparing for the 100 yard dash in the ’92 Olympics.  I’m telling you, it was a good year!

Baseball card sets were multiplying by 1992 as well.  Upper Deck was in its 4th year, Leaf  was in its 3rd and Stadium Club was a second year player.  Another set that got its start in 1991 was Studio, issued by Donruss/Leaf.  The inaugural season for Studio brought a very unique set to the hobby with black and white photos of players in a studio setting.  These were all posed shots but not the kind we were used to on the field.  I remember thinking they were really classy looking and unique.  I also remember picturing players showing up at the mall for their shoot like we did as a family each year at Olan Mills.  There were some great photos in that first set including Steve Lake with his parrot and Doug Drabek with a sultry over the shoulder “come hither” look.

In 1992, Studio made a couple of changes to their design.  The first was the move from a reddish maroon border to a gold border.  It actually works for this type of card as opposed to what Skybox tried in 1990.  They also went from black and white photos to color with a black and white action shot in the background.  I think that ’92 was a very nice upgrade from ’91.  In fact, I think that ’92 was the best Studio set of the series as later issues got away from borders and the whole “in-studio” feel.  I appreciated ’91 but I loved ’92.  They also introduced an insert called “Heritage Series” in ’92 which pictured a current star in a throwback uniform.  These were foil stamped and had a green border.  They were even classier than the base set.  Even the card stock was upgraded in ’92.

 The box offered more cards than was standard in 1992.  There were a whopping 48 packs with 12 cards in each pack.  The set was only 264 cards and the box offered 576 cards so in theory, you could build 2 sets with a box if collation was perfect.  Alas, as with most products in ’92, collation was far from perfect and I didn’t even build 1 set with my box.  I came painfully close but I have a ton of dupes (also trips and some quads).  I did hold out 4 unopened packs to random with this post so it’s possible those hold the remaining cards to complete my set.  The only inserts in the set are the Heritage Series and I pulled 5 of those, with one being a dupe.  Most of the photos in the set are classy poses in uniforms or warm ups but a few of them are wacky like in ’91.  Don’t worry, I’ll lay those out in this post for your viewing pleasure.

Much like the front of Studio cards, the back was unique from most other sets as well.  They did not lay out the season stats over the years with a little tidbit of information.  In contrast, almost the entire back of Studio is information about the player with only a tidbit of stats.  Some of the information is much needed as well.  For instance, Ben McDonald’s hobby was alligator wrestling and Larry Walker’s was magic.  The more you know my friends!  Another interesting piece of the back was the “Loves/Hates To Face” section.  McDonald struggled against Rickey Henderson who was .500 in his career with 2 bombs at print run.  Meanwhile, Walker feasted on Greg Harris with a .643 average and 3 bombs.  If there is one back that I can appreciate that was void of stats, it’s ’92 Studio.

Here is a look at what was hiding in those foil wrappers.

The checklist for ’92 Studio offered a great range of players from first year prospects to future Hall of Famers winding down.  This first photo is a nice group of veteran stars that included some great posed shots.  I wish Ripken hadn’t been wearing the batting helmet in his but you can’t have it all, right?  This set offered an image of players that was not available in most other sets.  There were some inserts that provided studio shots but these were top notch.  This group would come pretty close to an all decade team with a couple of missing pieces found in the next section.

This next group of players were the guys that I loved to collect in the 90’s.  Some are Hall of Famers now but some may never gain that distinction.  Either way, these were the guys that I had in binder pages growing up. Hard to beat that Ken Griffey Jr shot!  Randy Johnson had a nice card too with him holding broken bats, an obvious nod to his overpowering fastball.  And I think Clemens is the only card in the set that doesn’t have a studio photo.  I’m not sure what happened with this one unless he missed his appointment.  I know Olan Mills was a stickler about missed appointments.

Then we have the hot young studs of the early 90’s.  All of these guys were highly touted at some point between 89-92 and most of them never panned out.  A few of them had pretty solid careers like Juan Gonzalez and John Olerud but none of them ever reached the status we thought they would when we were scooping their cards up.  Maybe our expectations were too high.  I know that in 1992, I would’ve been laughing all the way to the bank with this haul.  I even pulled Gregg Jeffries and Todd Zeile in the same pack!

Somewhere along the way when these photos were being shot, I see the photographer saying, “Ok, just let loose.  Be silly and have fun with this!”  Then there was blackmail and demands weren’t met and these cards ended up in the set.  I don’t know any other reason why Charlie Hayes would want to be depicted on a baseball card like this.  And what is Pedro Guerrero thinking?  Clearly, Rob Dibble is embracing the 90’s with his Top Gun pose.  Jose Lind has a samurai and Norm Charlton is giving himself a hug.  What is going on here?

I pulled all of the Braves except Steve Avery and Mark Lemke.  For some reason, John Smoltz wasn’t included in the set and he was coming off a stellar postseason in the ’91 playoffs.  I don’t understand the inclusion of Greg Olson to be honest but it’s not the end of the world.  I pulled 5 Gant’s and I may send one of those off for TTM.

Lastly, we have the Heritage Series.  These are some really sweet cards.  They are pictured in throwback uni’s and they all have gold foil borders and sepia photographs.  Lovely insert set!

So that’s a look at 1992 Studio some 25 years later.  The cards held up in very good condition and the packs had a very nice aroma as compared to other premium sets I’ve revisited recently.  The box offers a staggering 48 packs to sift through and I paid a meager $10 for this box.  Like I said before, I think this is Studio’s best effort and I like these cards a lot.  They are clean, classy, “junk waxy”, cheap and nostalgic.  They are basic too for the old school set builder with only one insert set added to the base.  I’d rip another box of this for $10 and not bat an eye.  The checklist offers Hall of Famers, Stars and Rookie Prospects from the heart of my collecting days.  The only drawback with this set is collation but that can be said about almost all sets from 1992.  I opened one pack that had 3 doubles in the 12 cards.  That’s half the pack for the mathematically challenged.  Even with that drawback, I’m giving this set a 4 on the Dub-O-Meter.  You really can’t beat this set in terms of early 90’s sets.  I think the phrase gets passed around a lot but this set sincerely takes me back to when collecting was fun.  This set is all about the visual aspect of card collecting.  I encourage you to find a box of this and give it a rip!

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?

My post “State Of The Hobby – 1990” was met with positive reviews and even some requests to follow up with more similar posts.  As I am a blogger who aims to please, I felt the urge to do so.  It also helps that I enjoyed browsing that old Beckett and seeing those 1989 Donruss Rated Rookies priced at that moment in time when I was buying them.  If you collected in the late 80’s and early 90’s, I encourage – nay, I demand – you find a Beckett Magazine from that era and just read through it.  There are things that you’ll remember immediately and then there are some that you will have totally forgotten about.  Those forgotten tidbits are the gems that make the $5 investment worth every penny.

The last post covered the time that Jerome Walton, Ricky Jordan and Ben McDonald were vying for young superstar supremacy with Ken Griffey Jr.  By the time this 1991 edition of Beckett was printed, Jr. had left those guys in the dust and a new crop of 2^nd year players were endearing themselves to collectors.  Guys like Kevin Maas and Scott Erickson were outperforming Frank Thomas and John Olerud in value.  Another hot young stud named Phil Plantier was making Jeff Bagwell and Ivan Rodriguez look like chopped liver.  The biggest takeaway from reading this edition was that baseball cards were skyrocketing in value and we were at the very beginning of the bubble that would burst just a few short seasons later.

Perhaps nothing encapsulated card hysteria in 1991 like the card show calendar.  The calendar at the back of the magazine was 22 pages long…..22 PAGES!!!  There was a card show happening in every state including 1 in Hawaii, 3 in Idaho, 1 in Montana and 1 in the Virgin Islands.  There were 143 card shows for November in the state of Texas.  This was the height of the hobby that I remember when I was 14.  Premium cards were another hot item and they were met with hot and cold reactions from collectors as you’ll see when we get to the “Readers Write” section.

Enough rambling, let’s jump into the card collecting world from November, 1991.

Bo graced the cover of this magazine just like he did in the 1990 edition I covered.  However, a lot had happened for Bo since that 1990 Beckett.  This cover has him in a White Sox jersey with a card in the lower left that says, “Bo’s Back!”  He was about 10 months removed from the hip injury that ended his football career and his time in Kansas City.  He was also climbing back up the Hot List as it reveals he was 20^th after being 29^th the month before.

The inside cover is a wonderful artist rendering of Jose Canseco.  I would love to have the actual print of this but I’m sure it’s hanging on Eric Norton’s wall at Beckett at this point.  What a beautiful photo!

The first article I read was this gem titled, “Ho-Jo’s Ris-in”.  It was interesting because I don’t remember Johnson having numbers this impressive.  He had reached the 30-30 club for the third time in 1991 and at the time, was ranked 2^nd in franchise history for home runs and 3^rd for stolen bases.  I don’t remember Ho-Jo being a base stealer but boy, was he ever.  He was a prime candidate for NL MVP in 1991 according to this piece.

The second article was on the superstars from the Mississippi State Bulldogs, beating 30 for 30 to the punch by about 25 years.  Included in the article was a rundown of Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro, Bobby Thigpen and Jeff Brantley.  As usual there was a baseball card spin to the article that made you want to seek out those cards.

Then we have an advertisement for the Ken Griffey Jr. Arena Holograms cards.  This REALLY took me back.  I remember collecting Jr. and Frank Thomas in these cards.  They took out a full page ad to display them too.  This was one of those forgotten gems.

There’s also an interesting article that could get an overhaul since 26 years have passed.  “Most Memorable Mashes” covered a list of memorable home runs over the years.  1988 was the last year featured and it would probably be fun to complete the list with what’s happened since.  Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols are just a few that have had big time home runs since that time.

·         1951 – Bobby Thompson’s “Shot Heard Round the World” Wins Pennant for Giants

·         1953 – Mickey Mantle hits 565 Ft Home Run

·         1960 – Bill Mazeroski HR Beats Yanks in World Series

·         1961 – Maris Breaks Babe’s Season HR Mark

·         1974 – Hank Aaron Breaks Ruth’s All Time HR Record

·         1978 – Bucky Dent Breaks Boston’s Heart

·         1988 – Kirk Gibson Seals Oakland’s Fate

Here’s a nice spread of Bo’s cards from 1986-1991, surprisingly leaving out the ’87 Topps Future Star.

I then found myself at the “Readers Write” section which was fun to read then but is even more of a blast now.  It really gives you a look into what was going through our minds as collectors back then.The first was “Bogged Down” in which a reader blamed dealers for “false increases in newer cards just to pad their pockets.”  I think the response from Beckett set the record straight on this one by breaking down demand of certain new cards vs. older rookies.“Speaking Out” and “Speaking Out II” covered the frustration that collectors were beginning to see as pricing for singles, packs and boxes were starting to rise.  It makes me miss when $4.00 packs were considered highway robbery.The final piece I found interesting was a question about the 1991 Topps Desert Storm cards.  With this being 1991, it seems that no one had a real handle on the production.  We were all even less sure of how value would look in the future.  Hindsight is 20/20 I suppose.

Before we move to pricing, there was the Hot and Cold list.  The Hot List had some familiar names with Frank Thomas (1) and Ken Griffey Jr. (2) but Scott Erickson came in at #3.  This was right after his dominant rookie season and the ’91 World Series for Minnesota.  Meanwhile, Kevin Maas and Todd Van Poppel were dropping like rocks.  It was time to get out of those investments but I held on too long.  The Cold List featured some solid names with Jose Canseco (also on the Hot List), Pete Rose, Don Mattingly (Hot List) and Bo Jackson (Hot List).  But this is the first indication that we are about to see some disappointed Jerome Walton collectors as he checks in at #7.

There is a lot to cover in pricing because we were experiencing some record breaking prices around this time for sports cards.

1982 Topps – Here we are starting to see Cal Ripken’s Rookie Cards start to take off.  It was $52 and climbing as of publication date.

1983 Donruss – Here’s that bump Ho-Jo was experiencing.

1983 Topps – Ryne Sandberg’s Rookies weren’t far behind Cal.

1983 Topps Traded – Holy Cow!  Look at that Daryl Strawberry XRC!

1984 Donruss – I had to check back in on the Kevin McReynolds from my 1990 post.  I found that it was starting to come back down to earth.  Side note – Tony Fernandez RC looked pretty good here.

1984 Donruss – This set was also the home of a $75 Don Mattingly RC.

1984 Fleer Update – This set was still rocking and rolling with a huge $240 Roger Clemens, $185 Kirby and a $120 Doc Gooden.

1986 Donruss – Jose Canseco was hovering at $90 and was Priority #1 on my needs list.  It was worth $60 in my last post.

1987 – Topps has clung to that wood grain design for 30 years now and when you look at prices of the sets from that year, it makes me wonder where Topps would have been with a generic design.

1989 Upper Deck – The world famous Ken Griffey Jr. #1 card was worth $13.50 in “State of the Hobby – 1990”.  One year later, it had risen to $55.00 and wasn’t even half way to its peak.  Hide your eyes Jerome Walton Collectors!

1990 Leaf – For a set from 1990, these prices were astronomical.  Frank Thomas was $60 and rising and Dave Justice was $28.

1991 Fleer Pro Visions – I’m not the only one who liked Pro Visions!

1991 Leaf Gold Bonus – These were as hot as a firecracker in November 1991.

1991 Stadium Club – The “Leaf of ‘91”, Stadium Club was turning the hobby upside down with its UV coating and partnership with Kodak.  We get our first glimpse at Boston Slugger Phil Plantier at $9 and rising.

The last section of note in this edition is the aforementioned Card Show Calendar.  This was pretty unbelievable to see with my 2017 eyes.  The card shows were blowing up all over the country!  Look at this one spread and multiple that for 22 pages.  Totally unreal!!

And what’s a card show section without an example of the autographs you could hit at one of those shows.  At a show in Arizona, you could get autographs of Rickey Henderson, Rafael Palmeiro, Ronnie Lott and Roger Craig for a total of $53!   There were numerous shows in November that were featuring Frank Thomas anywhere from $6-$10.  Do you realize how big of a name Frank Thomas was in November 1991??  He was #1 on the Hot List for a reason!

So as you can see by this revisit to 1991, the sports card industry was reaching unbelievable heights.  Card shows were popping up everywhere, card companies were starting to innovate in new and imaginative ways, some of the most recognized players in baseball history were at or near their peak and Bo was Back!  Hopefully you’ve enjoyed another look back to the heyday of collecting for me.  Maybe you collected at that same time and all of this is refreshing your memory.  Or maybe you’re a younger collector and don’t really understand just how big this hobby was in 1991.  Either way, the examples listed here should give you a pretty good idea.  The fun doesn’t end in 1991 though.  I can’t wait to get to ’92 and see what pricing was doing on Donruss Elite!

J-Dub

I made a cheap eBay purchase a couple of weeks ago purely for some nostalgic fun.  I bought a series of Topps Football packs from 1987-1991; one pack for each year.  This lot intrigued me because I hadn’t opened these particular years of Topps Football in quite some time and there are some pretty solid rookies to be had.  Randall Cunningham is in ’87, Bo and Okoye in ’88, Barry, Aikman and Deion in ’89 and Emmitt in ’90.  I wasn’t too interested in ’91 but it completed the 5 year stretch.  Spoiler alert – I picked up my best rookie card in that ’91 pack.  The other intriguing part of the deal was that it was less than $10 shipped.  

Topps really didn’t change a whole lot from 87-90 and it wasn’t until ’91 that they came close to matching up with the baseball design.  All of the sets have a basic white border and they really only evolved just a tad from year to year.  Each pack comes with a 1,000 Yard Club card showcasing a player that topped the 1,000 yard mark the previous year.  I don’t suppose I really had to explain that.  The packs themselves are almost identical with only color schemes being different.  Each pack from 87-90 are wax packs but changed in ’91 to the new cello type material, just like baseball.  In ’91, the gum was replaced with one more card increasing the pack size from 15 to 16. I was prepared to pull some of the star players because we all remember them.  But there were a few players that I had totally forgotten about until ripping these packs.  I won’t cover every player in every pack but there are a few in each that deserve a comment.

1987 – ’87 has a pretty basic design with dualing flags at the top of the card with the players name and team name opposite each other’s.  Those flags were the two main colors of the team uniform.  The plus for this set was that I did like the 1,000 Yard Club card better than the others but that’s not exactly a huge compliment.

The first time Todd Christensen makes an appearance in my memory is courtesy of original Tecmo Bowl.  That version only had 12 NFL teams and 4 offensive plays but the Raiders were one of the best on offense.  If Bo, Marcus Allen and Tim Brown weren’t enough, Christensen was one of the fastest tight ends on the game.  He became even more memorable for me but I’ll save that for the second card I pulled of him, hint-hint.Anthony in Minnesota was one of two receiving Carter’s and together with Cris, made a formidable duo.  He began his career in the USFL and caught the game winning TD pass from Bobby Hebert in the USFL Championship his rookie season.  He seemed to rise to the occasion come playoff time.  He still holds the NFL record for most all purpose yards in a single postseason with 642.Steve Largent is another Tecmo Bowl Legend.  Largent is a member of the NFL Hall of Fame and is the first WR to catch 100 passes in a career.  He once held the record for consecutive games with a catch at 177 until Jerry Rice obliterated it on the way to 274.  Largent is also the only player I pulled in this lot that went on to be a congressman.Ozzie Newsome is better known in today’s NFL as the General Manager of the Ravens, for better or worse.  But for some of us older guys, he was a helluva tight end too.  He’s historically been ranked around #5 on all time lists from various outlets.  He’s a member of the Hall of Fame and gave the position some punch from an offensive perspective.  And not to mention, never missed a game in 13 seasons.Most packs from the 80’s include an oddball of sorts.  Mark Gastineau is the oddball in this one.  He may be an oddball in this pack but he was a stud on the field.  He still holds all of the major sack records for the Jets and made the Pro Bowl 5 times.  After football though, he spent some time behind bars for various crimes in the late 90’s.  Some people may know his daughter Brittny more than Mark but he was a very good player in his day.

1988 – ’88 was my best pack as a whole.  The ’88 base design is probably my favorite of this group.  The card uses the two primary team colors in the design at the bottom of the card in a very cool visual.

Henry Ellard was a stud with the Rams.  Everett to Ellard was a vastly underrated combo on my opinion.  This 1,000 Yard Club design was not underrated as it was rightfully poorly rated.  Out of the 5 years, this was probably ranked #4.  Lame is all I can say about it.Art Monk – Hall of Famer – 3x World Champion – 3x Pro Bowler – First WR to 900 receptions.  What else do you need to know?I’m sure Jim Kelly asked Topps if this was the best picture they could find in their file. It’s just a terrible shot of a star QB in ’88.  Kelly is another Hall of Famer with impeccable numbers.  But he’ll always have to carry around that 0-4 label in the Super Bowl, which is very unfortunate.Eric Dickerson was indeed an All Pro as this card would indicate.  Dickerson was a 6x Pro Bowler, NFL Rookie of the Year and led the league in rushing 4 times.  He even played for the Falcons for a short period.The only way you can really describe Ronnie Lott is “absolute beast!”  He could strike you, he could pick you off and he could sack you.  Extremely gifted with a combination of speed and hands at safety puts him on my favorites list.The ’88 oddball is the same player as the 1,000 Yard Club member in ’87.  But this is what he looked like the second time he enters my memory bank.  He was a commentator on American Gladiators and rocked the worst Afro/Mustache combo of the late 80’s.

1989 – ’89 had my second favorite 1,000 Yard Club design from this group.  I also like and remember the base designs well.  They come to mind when I think “Topps Football”.

Neal Anderson first got my attention on NES Play Action Football.  In 1990, it was the best attempt at the real thing on Nintendo.  It would only survive one year though as the king of all NES games would hit shelves in 1991.  Anderson was really good and ran for 1,000 plus in 3 consecutive seasons and he’s the #3 all time rusher for the Chicago Bears.  His career was cut short because of injuries.Andre Reed was an absolute beast in the Bills K-Gun offense.  Reed ranks 12th in all time receptions with 942 and was a 7 time Pro Bowler.  While he missed that elusive Super Bowl ring, he did get elected to the Hall of Fame in 2014.  The football stadium at his alma mater, Kutztown University, is even now named André Reed Stadium.  Reed caught 3 second half touchdowns in the great comeback against the Oilers in January 1993.While we are talking about the Bills, we might as well mention Scott Norwood.  I am not going to beat up on Mr. Norwood because I think he has probably taken enough abuse over the years.  True, he did miss the decisive field goal attempt vs the Giants in Super Bowl XXV but he was historically a very steady kicker in Buffalo.  He passed OJ Simpson as the Bills all time leadin scorer while in NY.  He no longer holds that record but it speaks to how many times his field goals were true.I included this card but I don’t really have anything nice to say about Mr. May.  He’s ruined his legacy with me with his college analysis on ESPN.  Oddball!!

1990 – More subtle changes from the previous year.  However, the 1,000 Yard Club design was the worst in the set history for me.  Can you say 1991 Fleer?  These were just horrible.  The ’90 pack was the slimmest on decent pulls but I did get my biggest star QB.

Brian Blades from The U!  He played college ball on the far southeastern tip of the US and pro football in the far northwestern tip.  That’s the farthest jump from college to the NFL if you exclude Hawaii.  Aside from Pro Football, Blades has one of the strangest convictions followed by acquittal you’ll see with an athlete.  He was charged with manslaughter in the death of his cousin.  He was convicted by a jury but the judge overturned the verdict and he walked.  Later, a discovery was made that the judges father employed Blades when he was a player at UM and the defense attorney was a part of the judge’s divorce case.  That is a strange one that probably needs its own 30 for 30.One of the best!  John Elway was a true gunslinger but also had wheels for a big QB.    We won’t rummage through all of his stats and achievements because you probably already know them.  I will say that when the Broncos played the Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII, I pulled for the Falcons but was torn with Elway and Terrell Davis (UGA) on the opposing sideline.  If the Broncos had played ANYONE else that year, I would have been a happy man at the end of that game.

1991 – As I said before, the packs changed for 1991 from wax to cello and gum was no longer included.  There was obviously a shift happening in the hobby towards more progressive packaging and visuals but I miss the wax and gum immensely.

Jerry Rice, the greatest wide receiver of all time!  He was a member of the 1,000 Yard Club 8 times and caught 1,549 passes.  That’s dang near double Steve Largent and he was amazing in his own right.  Happy with this pull.This is the best rookie card I pulled and not even one I was looking for.  But super excited to pull it.  Hamp is sometimes known for his Pro Bowls and Super Bowl ring and 5 consecutive 1,000 yard rushing seasons in NY.  But for me, he’s a Damn Good Dawg that got after it while he was in Athens.  Hamp is 7th on an all time list that includes Hershel Walker, Todd Gurley, Nick Chubb, Garrison Hearst and Knowshon Moreno.  He was a fine tailback at Tailback U and is a beloved player to Bulldawg Nation!

I didn’t pull any of “The Huge” rookies from these classes but I had a great time ripping these packs and seeing the old designs and players.  I had forgotten about guys like Aundray Bruce and Ernest Givens.  For less than $10, I could do this 4-5 times a week and never get tired of it.  When you are sifting through $7 packs, remember that these gems are still out there and very affordable.  If you collected during that time, you’ll love the memories.  If you didn’t, you’ll love looking at what the product was like before gloss and serial numbers.  What is your favorite Topps set from these 5?  Which did you collect most?

J-Dub

With my recent post on my favorite Beckett Covers, I took out a few that I kept over the years.  If you’re my age, you remember Beckett Magazine before there was internet and eBay and Twitter.  We used the magazine as a Bible for collecting and we were able to keep up with who was hot, what products were coming out and where the next show was.  While I had the Bo Beckett out, I decided to give it another read.  I took my time too.  I started at the beginning, worked my way through a couple of articles, the “Readers Write” section, The Hot/Cold List, the price guide portion and then the show list.  I wanted to take the temperature of the hobby in mid 1990, so to speak.I was very much a part of the hobby in 1990 and I have many fond memories from that time but I wanted to see it in black and white again.  Believe me when I say, it didn’t disappoint.  First, let me point out very obviously that our hobby has changed quite a bit since 1990.  Card companies were printing cards with reckless abandon and we were buying them up as fast as they came off the press.  There is even one forboding comment from a reader in the “Readers Write” section that was a couple of years ahead of its time.  There were some hot rookies at the time that were making waves and forcing collectors to grab up their cards that are now only a part of cardboard folklore.  There were some sets that were just plain bad, even by 80’s standards and the market reflected it.  And let’s be clear about that part as well.  These prices we are going to discuss and the hot players were decided by their play and the market.  This was a sign of the times, not an indictment on the hobby by any means.Cards were popping up at drug stores, convenient stores, grocery stores, you name it.  The LCS was just the pricey alternative in those days.  The packs you got at Wal-Mart were the same as what you would get at a hobby shop; you just paid Wal Mart prices for them.  As you’ll see with one article that I particularly enjoyed, cards were popping up on Home Shopping Channels at this point as well.  Everybody was trying to get in on the action but we didn’t see the train wreck coming, or at least I didn’t.  I was 13 years old at the time and I was just trying to get my hands on as many Rickey Jordan RC’s as I could.  I hadn’t reached the point where I knew ’88 Donruss was oozing out of warehouses like a scene from the blob or that Jerome Walton was going to be a flash in the pan.  Maybe if I had a Beckett Almanac from the future back then!  All I knew was that cards had taken over my life and I was 100% sold just like everybody else.

So let’s look at the hobby as it was in June of 1990.

As we begin this trip down memory lane, how many of you remember this advertisement?  I always wanted this entire collection of books but was only able to score the Baseball Price Guide.  You couldn’t pay me to read a textbook in 8th grade but I would study these publications like my grandma at a book club meeting.

The first article I read was “Top Guns”, which covered the best arms at each position.

• C – Benny Santiago
• 1B – Keith Hernandez
• 2B – Jose Oquendo
• SS – Shawon Dunston
• 3B – Ken Caminiti – Dude had a rifle!
• LF – Bo Jackson
• CF – Andy Van Slyke
• RF – Jesse Barfield

They also covered some weaker arms by position.  Some of the names surprised me.

• C – Craig Biggio – Guess the move to 2nd was warranted
• 1B – Dave Magadan
• 2B – Ryne Sandberg – Surprise #1
• SS – Ozzie Smith – Surprise #2
• 3B – Bobby Bonilla – Wild Arm
• LF – Kirk Gibson
• CF – Gary Pettis
• RF – Ivan Calderon

The first article was awesome and gave me information I had either totally forgotten or I never knew!  The names took me back immediately and made me realize I was going to enjoy this adventure.

Next, I moved to the “Readers Write” section.  This is where the readers would write in with a question or observation and get responses from various writers or editors at Beckett.  Let me first say that there were some very arrogant readers back in the day.  There were a couple of comments that made me bristle at the tone they were taking.  While some were cringeworthy, others were pretty interesting in hindsight.

First, the one that made me cringe a bit.  It was a comparison between Jim Abbott and Gregg Olson.  But the response was dead on.  Abbott was a starter and Olson was a reliever.  How many relievers have ever looked good in the price guide?

Then there was a reader who was no fan of Rickey Henderson.  I get that his career had not completely played out yet but he was not interested in Rickey being a member of the All 80’s Team.  The whole thing seems pretty laughable today.

The last one I’ll share is the one that is a bit foreshadowing.  M.V. In California seems to have seen the writing on the wall!

Moving on to the Hot and Cold List, this was what we were after in a big way in mid 1990, or either trying to dump.Canseco, Jefferies and Chris Sabo found themselves on both lists.  Bo was the hottest player in the hobby and his cover photo (’89 Score) was one of the hottest cards.  Todd Zeile was in the Top 5 while Ben McDonald and Eric Anthony were in the Top 10.  Delino DeShields was making his first appearance on the list.  In August of ’89, Pete Rose was placed on Baseball’s Ineligible List and his spot at #1 on the Cold List was reflective of his removal from the game.  Sportsflics was getting hammered too but more on them on a moment.

When I got to the price guide portion, I automatically thumbed to certain cards that I remember being on my want list.  While doing so, I stumbled across some that I never knew were as popular as they were in June, 1990.  Again, this is a great indicator of where the hobby was at the time.  The current market always tells the story.  As I said before, the hobby has changed!

The first out of place card I saw was this 1983 Donruss Howard Johnson.  It was running only $2 less than Ryne Sandberg.

What was going on with Kevin McReynolds in 1990 to make his already $12.00 RC be on the rise?  I can’t figure this one out.

In the 1984 Topps Traded set, two American League pitchers were surprises.  Gooden was the obvious stud in the set but Bret Saberhagen at $24 and Mark Langston at $18 didn’t quite hold up.

All collectors from this era remember the ’85 Topps Mark McGwire.  Your window of purchasing this card at a reasonable price was closing fast by this point.

The window had already closed on getting the Canseco at a low level.  He was a bonafide star by this point and the card would continue to climb.

Here’s a name from the past.  Kevin Mitchell was rocking a $9 Fleer card in 1987.  For a 13 year old, a $9 card was as good as a $50 card.

Not to be outdone, Will Clark popped in with an ’87 Fleer valued at $35.  The last 4 players (McGwire, Canseco, Mitchell and Clark) were fresh off of the “Battle of the Bay” World Series of 1989.  Their cards were hot!

Here is where that Beckett Almanac from the future would’ve paid HUGE dividends!  I could have purchased 20 Barry Bonds ’87 Topps and made $2,000 on them a few years later.  This was a true buying opportunity missed!  But at the time, I would’ve traded Bonds and Frank Viola for the Greg Seinfeld RC!

Remember that Sportsflics mention above? This was ’86 and ’87.  This is what we call abandon ship time!!

This ’88 Score Update Mark Grace totally took me by surprise.  He was a hot young player but this card was huge value for 1988.

Want to know just how much Collectors thought of Jerome Walton?  Look no further than the ’89 Score and Topps Traded Sets.  In June of ’90, he was valued at a mere .50 cents less than Ken Griffey Jr. and was the second highest value in the sets.

Speaking of The Kid, this was one of the last times you could get his ’89 Upper Deck for a decent price for a long time!

Finally, ’90 Score brought us a hot young rookie who was just starting to blossom.  Big Hurt’s rookie card was .90 and would not see a 2 digit value again.

The next section of the mag was the show listings.  Shows in 1990 were abundant to say the least.  I just attended my first show in many years this past weekend and wrote about it HERE.  In 1990, you could take your pick on any given weekend within a 50 mile radius of anywhere in America.What I really found striking in these ads were the players that would be present and how much an autograph would cost.  What a time to be alive!

• Eric Dickerson and Jim Palmer were free with admission
• Barry Sanders – $7
• Whitey Ford – $8
• Willie Stargell – $5
• Brooks Robinson – $7
• Johnny U – $8
• Al Kaline – $7
• Sterling Sharpe – $5

I wrapped up my review with a read of this article titled, “Beware of Mass Media Hucksters”.  This just screams 1990 and is a perfect synopsis of how mainstream the hobby was becoming.  I tried to scan this so you could read it fully.  Great stuff!

This was our hobby in 1990.  No Twitter trading, no eBay sales to effect the market, names that we’ve forgotten were household names, a chance at Hall of Fame autographs for the price of a pack of cards today and no filter on collectors who wrote in to magazines.  As odd as it all may sound to some of the new collectors, I think I speak for a lot of Junk Wax Era hobbyists when I say it was one of the funnest eras ever!  I miss those days and in many ways, never left them.  Those that follow me know that I am a sucker for ’89 Topps, Pro-Vision and washed up prospects of the 80’s. That’s because it’s what I cut my teeth on.  And we never stray too far from our roots.  Even when those roots are made out of wax paper and high fructose sticks of gum.  It’s just a part of me and always will be.

J-Dub

It’s been a really long time since I’ve been to an actual card show.  I remember going to a huge one in the 90’s in Atlanta and being on the budget of a 14 year old.  As in, I got what mom and dad agreed to buy.  I remember the tables and seeing cards I assumed I would never own.  I’ve always wanted to replay that day and take my time and let it soak in.  I’ve been to every card shop in Georgia, or so it seems.  I’ve turned over 100 rocks at antique shops looking for interesting finds.  But none of that searching could bring back the excitement and wonder of that card show.That’s where Charlie Heinisch and Middle Georgia Sports Cards comes in to play.  I’ve mentioned Charlie and his card shop in Warner Robins here before.  It’s the best shop I’ve been to in a long time.  Charlie cares about the hobby and the collectors in it.  He helped jumpstart an area of Georgia that had really fallen behind in collecting.  Along with the card shop, he formed a Facebook page with trading and auction days and general helpful info for collectors interested in the Braves, Hawks, Falcons and UGA.Charlie has also brought back card shows to our area.  He has a card show in McDonough, Ga every month and tries to have one in Macon a couple times a year.  McDonough is still a decent haul for me (about 2 hours) but is a little closer than Atlanta.  But 2 hours is as close as a card show has been to me in the last 15 years.  He’s been having them for a little while now but I’ve never been able to make it.  I have a wife and 2 kids and the weekend is the only time we really have to unwind.  So asking them to take off with me to McDonough to look at cards is not really an option.  And I’ve not been able to take off and just leave them with nothing to do either.  This weekend worked out perfectly as my wife had a women’s retreat (literally a day at the beach) and my girls went to grandma’s for the weekend.  So there was nothing standing between me and that sweet hotel conference room of cardboard this time!

I’ve actually been planning this day all week.  The show started at 10 so I would get up and leave the house around 7, allowing time for a good breakfast and leisurely stroll up I-75 North.  I’d spend half the day planted in front of quarter boxes digging to my hearts content.  Mrs. Dub was leaving at 6:30 so it timed out perfect.  When this morning finally arrived, she asked me for some help around 5:30 and I laid back down to just catch a few winks before having to get up and ready.  After what I thought were a few winks, I woke up and the clock read 9:32.  Bad start.  I jumped up, hopped in the shower and rolled out about as quickly as I’ve ever moved.  I had the truck gassed up, a McGriddle in my hand and was northbound by 10.  Only 3 hours later than I had planned.  

The ride was nice because I had some Beckett Radio and Wax Ecstatic podcasts to listen to.  I made it to the Hilton in McDonough around 12:30 thanks to some heavy traffic for the last few miles and my heart actually started racing when I went to get out of the truck.  I am not kidding when I tell you that I was full on excited like it was Christmas morning!  I was at a card show, had some change in my pocket and had nothing on my schedule for the rest of the day.  Totally unfettered.  So let’s get to the fun!

When I walked in, it was hard not to quickly become overwhelmed.  I had to slow down and realize that I had all afternoon.  I had to pace myself.  The first thing I had to do was find Charlie’s table.  Another thing about Charlie is that he is the king of the sweet hobby boxes!  I have had more luck with his product than any other CS or website.  I went ahead and set aside a couple of boxes and started sifting through his quarter boxes.  Here are the finds.

I picked up a box of 2017 Classics, which is one of my favorite affordable football card sets.  I also picked up my second box of Archives.  Maybe a Jeter Auto in this one, who knows?  I’ll be working on a review post for Classics as soon as I bust it.

I picked up these 2 Fleer Gwynns that I needed for my 80’s collection.

These vintage football cards had my name written all over them for 25 cents!  ’78 White Shoes and Joiner – ’80 William Andrews and ’81 Winslow.

I nabbed this ’80 Largent specifically to try the TTM address that Alex Kent recently shared with me.

How about a couple of ’88 Rookies of Tecmo Super Bowl Legends?  The Boz and The Nightmare!

I couldn’t pass up this sweet Pro Vision!

My last .25 pick up was this Eric Lindros ’90 Score Baseball Rookie.  Always loved this card!  Then I found some autographs at Charlie’s booth!

This would have been the purchase of the day if not for the next Auto that I found!  A Tony Pena autograph in the amazing Yellow Pirates uni!  Unbelievable!

The Pena finished a close second to this beauty.  Yes, your eyes are seeing this!  A 1990 design Kevin Maas autograph.  If you collected baseball cards in 1990, you know how momentous this actually is.  I could have left when I found this and the day would have been complete.  But, there’s more goodness to show.

A couple of booths over, I found another Archives Auto to add to my collection.  Tony Fernandez was a great name from the late 80’s.  Easy call to purchase this.

Then there’s this half naked Willie Gault Pro Line Auto.  I won’t spend too much time looking at the front but if you put a Pro Line Auto in front of me, I’m going to buy it 100% of the time.

I then found the vintage booth and shopped there for quite a while.  I don’t have much to show because a lot of that got packaged up to ship out to some of my friends when I got home.  I did get this ’77 Dave Parker.  I think ’77 will be my 70’s PC since it was my year of birth.

I picked up this ’84 Oriole’s checklist because it had Ripken on the front.  Couldn’t pass it up for .50 cents.

Very proud of this pick up of a 1958 Curt Flood RC for $2.50.  Its vintage and it’s also a very pivotal player in MLB history.  Score!

My best pickup at the vintage table was this 1955 Ernie Banks for $10.  I did not care about condition as I snapped this up the minute I saw it and the price tag.  The price tag was a little higher but the seller cut me a deal when I bought multiple cards.  The rest of the vintage cards will be turning up on Twitter over the next week or so.

The next booth was a “Junk Wax” booth so I picked up this ’90 Pro Set and ’91 Pro Set Platinum for $3 apiece.  He had ’91 Fleer Baseball too but I just couldn’t pull the trigger.

The final piece for the day was this lot of Junk Wax packs that I bought to refill my “When I Was A Kid” box that gets heavy usage for giveaways.  I picked up 15 packs of ’89 Donruss and 5 packs of ’91-’92 Skybox for a total of $4.  No brainer.

Well, this was my day at the card show, for the most part.  Like I said, there are some things that I can’t really show because it would ruin the surprise for those that are getting envelopes this week.  I can’t wait until the next show and I will beg and plead with Mrs. Dub to let me go.  But I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.  For now, I’m going to bask in the glory of what was a truly successful day for me and my card habit!

J-Dub