Category: Memories

My cousin had a house fire when he was a youngster.  The house was destroyed along with all of his youthful possessions.  Among those possessions was his baseball card collection.  He lost a nice vintage Harmon Killebrew in that fire.  Though not the most important issue he had at the time, I’ve always wondered what I’d do if I lost my cards to a fire or flood or some other act of God.  I have a ton of years in this hobby and I have a ton of cards that are worth next to nothing on the open market but are invaluable to me.  There’s no way I can protect all of my cards but I do try and look after some of them.

I have a small fireproof box where I keep my favorite cards.  My hope is that the box would survive a tornado or fire and I’d have my cards.  Kinda sad when I put it in those terms.  They aren’t even my most expensive cards as much as they’re just special.  I have baseball, basketball, football and two autographed baseballs in this magical case.  I also have my newly purchased Cuyler Smith cards in there.  The selection may change from time to time but about 80% of the cards in there will always be in there.  These cards are the PC items that I’d never let go of and hopefully my daughter feels the same about them because they’ll be hers one day.  All of these cards have some sort of story; either the card itself or the player featured.  Let’s take a gander at a few.2012/13 Exquisite Endorsements Michael Jordan/Larry Bird Dual Autograph #d 14/15 – This is one of my prize pieces, top 5 no doubt.  As a child of the 80’s and a teen of the 90’s, it didn’t get better than Bird and Jordan, unless you threw Magic in there too.  I don’t care what today’s fans say about LeBron, he’s not Jordan.  He’s unbelievably talented but there will never be another Jordan.  And Bird was one of the best sharpshooters in basketball history.  Plus, he played defense, rebounded, dove for loose balls and fought for teammates.  Jordan and Bird are the reasons I played basketball in high school.  I wanted to be these guys, just like every other 13 year old that played basketball.  Two legends, on the same card, autographed.  This one stays in the fireproof until I’m dead and gone!2015 Leaf Buyback Bo Jackson Auto #12/40 – Another 80’s legend!  I’m a southern boy and a UGA fan.  But, I can appreciate otherworldly talent when I see it, even if it comes from Auburn.  We did have Herschel though!  But Bo was a beast in baseball and football.  There are so many cool stories I’ve heard about Bo when he was at Auburn.  Bo was so easy to pull for.  He was a terrific athlete and had a great charisma in front of the camera.  Not only did I love Bo Jackson, I also loved 1990 Leaf so when I saw this card, I had to have it.  It’s the only Bo auto I have and it’s another that will never see the outside of the fireproof unless I’m holding it.Panini HOF 75th Anniversary Satchel Paige Emerald #6/10 – I looked at these boxes for months on www.dacardworld.com before I finally pulled the trigger.  I pulled a few nice autos in the box but my favorite card was this Satchel Paige with the Emerald.  I don’t own any Satchel Paige original cards so this is the best I can do.  Paige is in 3 separate Hall of Fames and is remembered by some as possibly the best pitcher ever.  Being numbered to 10 and having a gem in the card makes it a very nice keepsake for me!1989 Upper Deck TTM Nolan Ryan Auto – This is a recent addition to the fireproof.  I sent this off to the Nolan Ryan Foundation back in November and got it back in early February.  The ’89 Upper Deck was my favorite Nolan (that I wanted to mail) but I was a little concerned at how dark the photo was when I mailed it.  I was pleasantly surprised when it came back and he used a nice blue ink for the auto.  It came out great and is the only Ryan auto I have.  There isn’t much I can say about Nolan Ryan that you don’t already know.  You don’t read my blog for me to tell you that Ryan was a good pitcher.  But he was a man’s man and personified the force on the mound that you wanted to be as a pitcher.  I remember during 8th grade, I spent the summer reading his book and following his arm workouts in hopes of picking up some velocity on my fastball.  It definitely helped but I wasn’t really throwing that much harder.  It was cool doing it though.  And who can forget what he did to poor Robin Ventura when he charged the mound that fateful night?  A Ryan Express auto was a huge get for me!!1992 Donruss Elite Ken Griffey Jr PSA 8 – I didn’t buy this card because of the grade.  I bought it to own it, plain and simple.  When Donruss Elite hit the scene, I can remember me and my friends losing our minds trying to pull one of those.  Twenty-five years later and I still have never pulled one.  I did pull a Robin Yount Legend Series card a couple years ago that was very similar to the Elite but no such luck with the original chase card.  I remember one of my best friends pulling an André Dawson.  I’m not being dramatic when I say that it was the equivalent of pulling a Mike Trout auto today for us.  We went nuts!  And then, the jealousy set in.  I wanted one!!  So, when I grew up and started earning an income, I bought one.  It’s not the same as pulling one but I have a Ken Griffey Jr Elite Series and that’s all that matters to me!Nick Chubb Leaf Army AA Patch Auto#20/25 – This one is going to be a bit regional for some but trust me, you’ll be seeing Nick Chubb on Sunday’s very soon.  Nick Chubb is the kind of kid that every fan appreciates and pulls for.  This is a kid who dominates on the field and is a rock star on campus but skips spring break to work out at his old high school.  Instead of partying on the beach, he’s running sprints in Athens alone.  He is humble, speaks highly of his teammates and never blames anyone for a loss.  Plus he’s an absolute stud with a football in his hands.  He’s #2 on the all time rushing list at UGA and isn’t mathematically eliminated from passing the greatest ever, Herschel Walker. You may not like UGA, but it’s hard not to like Nick Chubb!  We love him and he’s a Damn Good Dawg (DGD).2015 Panini Contenders Todd Gurley Auto – Speaking of DGD’s, there’s Herschel Walker and then there’s Todd Gurley and Nick Chubb.  Chubb passed Gurley on the rushing list this past year but Gurley missed quite a bit of collegiate time with a couple of knee injuries.  He could rush for 100, catch 5 for 100 and return a kickoff 100 in the same game.  He was as smooth a runner as I’ve ever seen in person.  Chubb and Herschel run you over, just ask Bill Bates. But Gurley can run you over or run around you and take it to the house.  But more than that, Gurley made a great impression on me and my family when we met him before the draft in 2015.  We went to a meet and greet where we were able to take pictures with him and then we got in line for autographs.  The downfall of getting the picture and auto ticket was that we had to go to the back of the line after the picture as the auto line was filling at the same time.  The auto line took hours.  We even had a chance to grab a bite to eat at the Dave and Busters while we waited.  Even after that loooong wait, when we got up to Gurley for the auto, he remembered my 9 year old daughters name!  He posed for another picture, even though he wasn’t supposed to.  One of the most soft spoken and humble superstars I’ve ever met.  I love Herschel!  I love Nick Chubb!  And I love Todd Gurley!  Please don’t ever ask me to rank them in order because I don’t know if I can.So there are the first 7 items from the fireproof.  There are more where those came from.  I’ll come back for a part 2 when the time is right and I’ll pick 6-7 more to share.  Thanks to @camp2x for the inspiration on this one.  Do you have items locked away that you’ll never consider getting rid of?  I’m sure we all have players and cards that are near and dear to us.  These are mine and I’m doing the best I can to keep them safe!

J-Dub

Revco was a pharmacy that originated in Detroit MI in 1956. They were found through out the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United Sates. In 1986, Revco was the largest drugstore chain in the United States with 2,049 stores in 30 states. I always wondered where the name Revco came from but found out in my research that it was originally Registered Vitamin Company. There was a Revco located about 30 miles from our house so we didn’t go often but I was very familiar with the store. We had a Big B Drugs in my hometown, along with Rite Aid and some local shops. Revco shuttered its doors in 1997.In 1988, Revco joined other retailers such as Rite Aid, Kmart, Woolworth’s and others by teaming up with Topps to create a baseball card set for their store. Revco decided to go with a League Leaders theme and included some very different names for an oddball set at that time. We’ve discussed some of the mainstays in those sets from Wade Boggs, Don Mattingly, Kirby Puckett, Tim Raines and Tony Gwynn. The names we haven’t mentioned though are Kent Tekulve, Juan Samuel, Brian Downing and Mark Eichhorn. I can’t wait to see what they led the league in.As for the set, it was pretty standard for Topps to go with a 33 card set for the oddballs while Fleer went with 44. This set included 18 hitters and 15 pitchers, a much more even breakdown than some others I’ve opened recently. The cards had the same high gloss that KayBee and Kmart sets had and were on reasonably sturdy card stock. The design was a bit funky with the Revco logo taking up 2/3rd of the top border and the Topps League Leaders logo was in bright yellow in the top right. The bright yellow immediately gave me flashbacks to ’91 Fleer a couple of nights ago. The bottom right of the card has a diagonal name banner that includes the team name and the position. Again, there is that yellow! The backs of the cards used two shades of red (pink) and again show the Topps and Revco logos. Only one year of stats (1987) is included along with the career line. The text box center-right of the card provides the league leading stat category for the player.Let’s take a look at a few of the cards and the stats that led the league in 1987.Would you be surprised if I told you that Tony Gwynn led the National League in batting average? He hit a solid .370 in 1987 and also led the league with 218 hits. By 1988, this was his 3rd season leading the league in hits and 2nd season leading in average.In the American League, Wade Boggs led the way with a .363 batting average. He finished with an even 200 hits, his 5th consecutive season of such a feat. He would also do it again in 1988 and 1989.Two players split the AL lead for hits. Kirby Puckett and Kevin Seitzer led the way with 207 hits. Puckett is a Hall of Famer but Seitzer was always a bit underrated to me. He didn’t have a lot of pop (13 was his season high in home runs) but he did hit .295 over a 12 year career and did not strike out much at all.Vince Coleman led the majors in stolen bases with 109. This actually still stands as the 10th best stolen base season in major league history but it’s not even Coleman’s best, as he had 110 in 1985. Rickey Henderson had 93 in ’88 but no one has even come close since then with the best being Marquis Grissom with 78 in 1992.Andre Dawson was the king masher in the NL with 49 home runs. This was a career high for the Hawk, who would finish with 438 home runs over 21 years. He also led the majors with 137 RBI that year, another career high.In the AL, Mark McGwire burst onto the scene as a home run king with 49 home runs as well. Everyone knows that this was not his career high as he would best that 4 times with seasons of 52, 58, 65 and 70. The amazing thing about 1987 was that it was his first full season. He finished with 49 bombs, 118 RBI and a .289 average.George “Taco” Bell led the AL in RBI with 134, 3 off the Hawk’s pace. This was Bell’s career high but he did have 4 seasons (12 total) with 100+ RBI. He finished with 47 home runs, just 2 behind McGwire.Nolan Ryan led the NL with 270 K’s and a 2.76 ERA. I have found that he is not always included in these oddball sets so this was a pleasant surprise. He’s in the Astro’s uniform as well, which is a plus. The amazing stat for Ryan that year was that even after leading the league in K’s and ERA, he would finish with an 8-16 record, the worst win/loss ratio of his career.. Man, the Astros were bad!In the AL, Roger Clemens set the pace with 18 complete games and 7 shutouts. Those numbers are astronomical by today’s standards. I was just having this conversation with Ryan (@basecardhero) on Twitter over the weekend. The MLB leader in complete games in 2016 was Chris Sale (6) so Clemens threw more shutouts than the CG leader in today’s game. I know that the game has changed but complete games are really a forgotten stat. Clemens got a ton more run support than Ryan. His ERA was higher at 2.97 and he finished with a 20-9 record, which also led the AL.And of course, Jack Clark would lead the league in Slugging. Curse him and his deceiving stat line! He had a .597 slugging percentage but also led the league with 136 BB’s. I have nothing else to add here.As for the otherwise random oddball inclusions, Kent “Science Teacher” Tekulve led the league in games pitched. I was curious as to why he was included but this makes sense. He didn’t lead in wins or K’s but he did pitch in the most games so there’s that. Mark Eichhorn led the AL with 89 games pitched.Juan Samuel led the NL in triples with 15. Not a huge season for triples as this was good for 414th all time.Finally, Brian Downing led the AL in BB’s with 106, 30 off the pace of Jack Clark in the NL. This was also his best home run season with 29. Downing had consistent power with 5 consecutive 20+ home run seasons from 1984-1989.

This was a really cool little set that included some players that normally didn’t get the honor of being in a 33 card set. Of course, the argument can be made that the checklist isn’t as strong as others but if you are including all of the leagues leaders, it is pretty representative of that moment in time. The design was classic 80’s and the cards were in good condition. The cost of the set is below $5, so its a very easy add to the PC if oddball’s are your preference. I’ll give this one a solid 4 on the Dub-O-Meter and recommend that you take a look if you’re in the market. Revco may have gone out of business but they did put a good oddball set on the market before they did.

Dub Score – 4

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?

 

In 1990, Fleer was a pretty bland set in a fresh new 90’s world.  Upper Deck continued what they started in 1989 with a continued high quality look.  Donruss and Topps on the other hand, burst onto the 90’s scene like Kelly Kapowski through a Tigers banner at a Bayside pep rally!  Donruss introduced their bright ketchup red with spots and squiggles and Topps broke out vibrant neon yellows, oranges, blues and reds.  Meanwhile, Fleer used a boring white border with team colors sprinkled throughout the set.  That’s not to say that I didn’t like the ’90 Fleer set but my positive memories of it may be more about the time period of my life and certain cards I enjoyed from the set.  Needless to say, Fleer missed an opportunity in 1990 to be flamboyant and get away with it.When 1991 rolled around, they were hell bent on not being the bland set in the group.  No, they turned it up a notch or twelve and broke out what many consider to be one of the loudest, most retinal intrusive designs in cardboard history.  And it seemed to be totally out of the blue (or yellow – waka waka).  If you go back and look through the history of Fleer, there was never any indication before or after 1991 that this design would ever be a consideration.  In movie terms, 1991 Fleer was Halloween 3.  There are a handful of events throughout history that I wish I was present for.  And I am not joking when I say that one of those events is the marketing/design meeting where this was approved.  I have to know if it was a resounding yes or if it won by a single vote or if they just decided to flip a coin and go with a random option.Nevertheless, this was the option chosen and this is the set we were given when Saved By The Bell, Full House and Fresh Prince were giving us all the loud colors and designs we could stand on television.  For 1991, I don’t suppose this set was all that out of place.  Although, Topps had gone back to its more classic white border and Donruss toned it down quite a bit with their new blue border, the opportunity Fleer missed in 1990 was more than made up for in 1991.  A set that will forever be marred by that taxi cab/mustard/Big Bird yellow border in what otherwise would have been a fairly promising set.The set itself is made up of 720 cards, as was the norm for the 80’s and early 90’s sets.  That sounds like sooo many cards now.  The insert sets that year included All-Stars, Team Logo Stickers, World Series cards, box bottoms and my personal favorite, Pro-Visions.  To this day, the Pro-Visions remain one of my favorite inserts of all time.  According to www.tradingcarddb.com, there are also 55 errors or variations.  Though many were uncorrected, it does still allow for somewhat of a chase so many years later.  The wax box came with 36 packs of 14 cards and 1 logo sticker.  Fleer’s box advertised “Full Color Backs”, “2 Player Pictures Per Card” and “Improved Action Shots” which while all factual was very much debatable as well.Base Cards – The checklist does have some strong names that include Nolan Ryan, Ken Griffey Jr., Wade Boggs, Kirby Puckett, Don Mattingly and of course, Ron Gant.  But the checklist is loaded with guys I don’t even remember; Jim Vatcher, Kelvin Torve and Troy Afenir??  720 cards was way too large of a checklist for Major League Baseball in 1991.  I can’t put a positive spin on this, not even with Ronnie Gant in there.  I did choose the Tom Gordon for a reason though.  A friend of mine who played softball with me for many years was in the Royals farm system with Gordon.  He played right field and says that Gordon would turn and look at him almost every time the ball was going to be hit to him.  That’s how good Gordon was in the minors.  He could almost predict where the hitters were going with the pitch he was about to throw.  I thought that was amazing but it’s probably fairly common with major leaguers.Rookie Cards – As was normal with Fleer, they didn’t have any unique designation for a rookie card in the set.  The rookie cards looked just like the veterans.  No Future Star, Rated Rookie, All Star Rookie or even just “Rookie”.  The rookie checklist may be one of the worst I’ve ever seen.  The best rookie in the entire set was Luis Gonzalez and he won by a landslide over such names as Carlos Garcia, Randy Tomlin, Terry Lee, Jeff Gray and Tom Edens.  I didn’t just go through and pick bad names for effect either.  Take a look at the rookie checklist when you have time.  It’s truly abysmal.  One name though that brought back memories was Phil Plantier.  He was Kevin Maas-light in 1991.Inserts – Not much in the way of inserts besides the Pro-Visions which we’ll discuss in a moment.  The main cards in the set that differed from the base cards were “Leader” cards.  These included Home Run leaders, Saves leaders, etc.  There is also a card made just like the leader cards called “Second Generation Stars” that pictures Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds.  I’ll take what I can get at this point.Pro-Vision – Alas, the main reason I wanted to revisit this set.  I pulled three of the Pro-Visions in the 32 packs I opened.  There are 4 packs that are left over that are going to be randomed to a VERY lucky winner!  The Pro-Visions I pulled were Jose Canseco, Ruben Sierra and Don Mattingly, all players I liked in 91.  Canseco is holding a bat that is being struck by lightning under a cloudy night sky.  Ruben is wearing his Sheriff badge and standing in the desert.  Finally, Mattingly is holding 3 bats and standing in front of a full pinstripe backdrop.  These cards were so cool to me.  They are truly the only thing that saved this set from the lowest possible Dub Score.

MiscellaneousSeriously, what is Jeff Treadway doing here?How about mixing up the font mid sentence on the back of the card?I’m guessing this is one of the few times Tony Gwynn got caught looking?Here is Steve Avery on a high school baseball field in front of a crowd of zero!I really want to know what Fleer considers a “Card Accounting System”.And if you needed any more reasons to dislike this set, how about a Jack Clark?

I think you know where I am going with this score.  I can’t give it a 1 simply because of the Pro-Vision cards.  I can’t have a set with one of my favorite inserts be a 1.  I can have it be a 2 though.  The set is honestly worse than I remember and is only held together with nostalgia and Pro-Visions.  The card stock is bad, the photos are bad, the lighting is bad, the checklist is bad and the rookie crop is bad.  I’m really not trying to be too harsh but I really can’t find much to like about this set of than one insert set.  My advice is to look elsewhere when wanting to travel down memory lane in 1991.

Dub Score – 2

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?

Up until a couple of weeks ago, the only thing I knew about Drakes was that Newman loved their coffee cakes on Seinfeld. I assumed they were a baking company and never had any other reason to check them out. Then the discussion on oddball sets happened. Ryan (@basecardhero), Scott (@SBergerBOSTON), Shane (@ShaneKatz73) Donnie (@TheDingoDad) and others started a big discussion that in, Ryan’s terms, “Escalated Quickly.” What we all thought were just random oddball sets turned into a massive list of retail sets that were available from the 80’s that we didn’t even know about. Some of them were regional and we would have had no real reason to know about them. Drakes must have been one of those sets, because I had no idea, but you can believe I ran out and bought me a set for my collection.The set I bought was 1985 but the box shows that it’s the 5th annual edition. A little more research revealed that they produced sets from 1981-1988. The sets were labeled “Big Hitters plus Super Pitchers”; reminiscent to the set I reviewed that started this cluster of a conversation, Fleer’s 1987 “Sluggers vs Pitchers.” The set had a total of 44 cards (no stickers though) and was broken into 33 hitters and 11 pitchers. The checklist is phenomenal in my opinion. There isn’t one player that I think is out of place in the set. One of the reasons I think that may be because Jack Clark was excluded. Another plus is that the cards are from 1985. You can’t buy cards from 1985 as cheaply as you can buy cards from 1989 but this vintage set only cost me $6.49 with free shipping!The cards themselves were set to mirror the ’85 flagship Topps product but have the added Drakes logo and a different bottom banner. The backs of the cards are almost identical with the exception of the color. The ’85 Topps cards were green with red writing and Drakes is red with dark blue writing. They are very similar in style and the card stock is the same as well. The cards were in remarkable condition to be 32 years old, though they had a distinct odor to them. The fronts of the cards had the “5th Annual Collector’s Edition” logo at the top, either in green (National League) or red (American League) and included the card number in the series. At the bottom, there was a Drakes “Big Hitter” or “Super Pitcher” logo next to the banner with the players name, team and position. All of the hitter’s photographs were taken during a swing at the plate. The pitchers were all taken on the mound, most mid delivery. Again, the backs were typical Topps with background info, stats and the occasional trivia question.The Hitters

This checklist is loaded with sluggers from 1985. Listen to some of these stats; Tony Armas (43 bombs), Harold Baines (29/.304), Dwight Evans (32/.295), Tony Gwynn (.351), Don Mattingly (.343), Dale Murphy (36/.290), Eddie Murray (29/.306), Cal Ripken (27/.304), Mike Schmidt (6 consecutive 30+ HR seasons). Again, I have no beef with the selections in this set. I obviously have a personal beef with the inclusion of Kent Hrbek but I’m not going down that road again. His stats were worthy of inclusion so we’ll just leave it at that.The Pitchers

There were only 11 pitchers included but they were all generally stat stuffers and several were future Hall of Famers. Steve Carlton had 313 wins by the time 1985 rolled around, along with a career 3.04 ERA. Doc Gooden was just getting started but his rookie year was 17-9 with a 2.60 ERA and 276 K’s in 218 IP. Tom Seaver was knocking on the door of 300 wins with 288 by 1985. He also had a career sub 3.00 ERA (2.80) with 3,403 K’s. Finally, future Brave, Bruce Sutter was included, wearing his St. Louis Cardinals uniform but his card had the tag at the bottom that said “Now with Braves”. There were a couple of oddball pitchers but nothing too far out there.

The Uniforms

The absolute best part of the set was the uniforms that the players were shown in. Take a look at these gems.Gary Carter – Montreal ExposAlvin Davis – Seattle MarinersSteve Garvey – San Diego PadresTony Gwynn – San Diego PadresKent Turdbek – Minnesota TwinsMike Schmidt – Philadelphia PhilliesTom Seaver – Chicago White Sox

I’ll tell you that this may be the best oddball set I own now. It’s the oldest and the cards are in really good condition. You will not even find many packs from 1985 for this cost and I would put the quality of these cards up against the flagship set. It makes me want to check out the other Drakes sets but I am also worried that I may be disappointed in the next set. I don’t want to be let down after this pleasant surprise! I have to give these a Dub Score of 5 for several reasons. First, the reasonable cost is unbeatable. It’s always a plus to add a set that’s 30+ years old to your collection so vintage value is a winner. The checklist is strong, as mentioned above. Finally, the quality is really good for a set of 1985 baseball cards. I’m actually going to order another so I can random this one to someone else who can enjoy them as well! Collect and keep this hobby strong my friends!

Dub Score – 5

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 started full blown card collecting in 1989.  I was 12 years old and cards and video games were what life was about for me.  The sets that were readily available to me were Topps and Donruss in my hometown.  Every now and then, a box of Fleer would sneak in but I never saw Upper Deck.  I had the chance to grab some UD on a church trip once to a bigger city but Camilla stuck with the basics.  That said, cards were much more widely available then than now.  I could get them at Rite Aid, Big B Drugs, Wal Mart and Piggly Wiggly, along with a few convenience stores.  Now, Wal Mart remains the lone carrier of cards in my hometown and their selection is pitiful.  I went home this past weekend and Wal Mart was stocked full of Magic cards but they had 4 jumbo retail packs of Topps, one football blaster of Optic and one 2017 Heritage blaster.  I took the Heritage blaster and posted those hits Friday night.Back to 1989, Topps was abundant in town so I remember going through a couple of boxes of these during that year.  That was not whole boxes at once but definitely by the pack over the course of the summer.  I don’t know that I’ve opened a pack of ’89 Topps since then, until now.  I really love the design for that year and it’s really the last year Topps had that old school feel to it to me.  1990 brought a definite 90’s design that still remains a popular one with me but is a bit on the extreme side.  I like the ’91 design and it was more of a classic look than ’ 90 but was not ’89.  Of course, the Future Star was a fine subset of ’89 that I have spoken of before, here.  It also held one of the most magical cards of my childhood but more on that later.  I don’t remember them being .45 cents per pack back then but I wasn’t the one doing the buying in those days either.  But looking back,  I don’t understand why I got so much grief for asking for baseball cards when we went to the store.I have a lot of memories of 1989 and collecting cards.  Some good and some not so good.  I may have even already told this one but I remember 1989 Topps getting me in hot water with my dad one time.  We were on our way to the lake for the weekend and we stopped at a grocery store.  Of course, I found the card section and talked him into making a small purchase.  However, I did something else that ticked him off and resulted in him buying the cards but telling me I couldn’t open them until the next day as punishment.  Being the sneaky kid that I was, I pried open the back of one of the wax packs just to take a glimpse.  The only thing I saw was an Orel Hershiser All-Star card.  I was satisfied that my pack was going to be ok and I went back to quietly riding in the car.  Well, dad eventually saw the creased open wax pack and I had them taken from me for a week.  That was a rough one at the time.  Little did I know, a .05 cent card would be my undoing.  Spoiler alert – I did pull it tonight!As I said above, the card is a very classic design with the white border, rounded in the top left and bottom right corners where the Topps logo and name banner are.  My favorite part of the design is the bubble letters used to show the team name in the bottom right corner.  The bubble letters are one of the team colors and it swoops around to provide a spot for the player’s name to be spelled out in a classic wavy banner.  The back of the card had a black border with a pinkish/red background.  Other than the color, it was typical Topps of the previous years with a full career of stats and informational tidbits, unless the career took up the whole back.  The box itself holds 36 packs with 15 cards per pack.  So a total of 540 cards but the set itself was 792 cards in more typical set fashion for the late 80’s.  The wax pack was a great looking blue color that remains my favorite Topps wax pack of my generation.  And of course, gum – lots and lots of dextrose and corn syrup.So with the outline of the set for you, let’s take a look at the vintage gems I uncovered in these packs.  Vintage is technically classified as 25+ years old, right?Base Cards – The set is loaded with stars from the good ole days of Baseball.  The checklist includes Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken Jr., Jose Canseco, Wade Boggs, Doc Gooden, Daryl Strawberry, Kirby Puckett and others.  The card I chose for this piece is Mike Greenwell.  I had a discussion last week with @scottberger on Twitter about how Bostonians felt about Greenwell as I had always considered him vastly underrated.  It seems that Boston agreed with me, as evidenced by the homemade sign that Scott made pushing for Greenwell to get the All-Star vote ahead of Jose Canseco.  Greenwell approved too and signed that bed sheet for Scott.  So consider me an even bigger fan.  Plus, on the field, he hit over .300 for the first four years of his career (up to the ’89 Topps) with years of .323, .314, .328 and .325.  In ’88, he hit .325 with 22 bombs, 119 RBI and 16 SB.  Damn solid!All-Stars – The set also included cards from the National and American League All-Star participants.  These were colorful cards with either a red (American) or blue (National) background with the same bubble letter font used for the “All-Star” logo.Topps All-Star Rookies – Another Topps tradition was naming All-Star Rookies in their sets.  The beauty I’ve posted here is Chris Sabo from the 90’s Big Red Machine.  Sabo was a very good third baseman known for his signature goggles!  Also a beast on RBI 3.Future Stars – Here is where the big money card was in 1989, Gregg Jefferies.  As Ryan (@basecardhero) so aptly reminded me as I was posting cards last night, this card was supposed to be one of those “retirement cards” by now.  Jefferies was a hot rookie for the NY Mets and I think I owned (still own) all of his ’89 cards.  My favorite was the Topps version because of the Future Star logo.  Alas, I did not pull a Jefferies but you have a chance to in the random that’s outlined below.  I did pull the second (maybe third) best option with Sandy Alomar Jr.  The other great option in the set was Gary Sheffield.  I also pulled ’89 rookie Mike Harkey.Draft Picks – I did pull some good draft picks in this box.  I pulled the best one, Robin Ventura, and also Braves phenom, Steve Avery.  There were several other pulls but none that really stuck over the years.  This Ventura was one of my favorites in ’89 as it was taken in his college uniform.Managers – Oh yes, in fine Topps fashion, the manager card was ever present.  There were some legendary managers in ’89, like the pictured Don Zimmer and Tommy Lasorda.  There were also some duds that shall remain nameless.Record Breakers – The first few cards in the set were Record Breaker cards that commemorated some big statistical performances.  The card pictured is George Bell and it outlines his 3 home runs on opening day in 1988, which was a major league record.  Others included Wade Boggs consecutive 200 hit seasons (6 – attributed to an all chicken diet), Andre Dawson and more.Team Leaders – In lieu of a team photo card, the team leaders was a semi-checklist card with a star pictured on the front, in this case Bo Jackson of the Royals.  The back of the card listed the team leaders in the major statistical categories.Turn Back The Clock – The final insert in the set was a small collection of Turn Back the Clock cards featuring stars of yesterday (as in before ’89) and featured a Topps card of a star from the early years.  The card featured here is of Lou Brock and is from 10 years prior to ’89.  It covered major events of the ’79 season on the back of the card.  I also pulled Hank Aaron (15 years ago), Gil Hodges (25 years ago) and Tony Oliva (25 years ago).All in all, a great trip down memory lane even though the Jefferies card eluded me.  This was a set that was very important in cultivating my collecting efforts as a 12 year old beginner.  Another fine example of value being in the mind of the collector.  I won’t be putting these cards up on eBay and making any money but the evening spent thumbing through cards from my youth is priceless but I will be buying another box to try and finish up the set.  The cost of the box is very reasonable and I really did not pull a ton of duplicates so the collation was pretty good.  The gum stains are a drawback for anyone looking for mint cards.  It also left Ken Griffey Jr. for the Traded Set.  This is still one of my favorite Topps sets, for design and sentimental reasons.  Because of these reasons, I will give it a Dub Score of 4.  I think you’ll like the walk down memory lane if you bought these in ’89 and buy another box today.As for the random I mentioned, this has the potential to net you 2 of the best cards from the ’89 set.  I saved the last 4 packs to random off to one winner who follows the instructions below.  I did not pull a Gregg Jefferies or Gary Sheffield so the odds are that one of them is in these final 4 packs.  Who knows, maybe both of them are there.  All you have to do to win these 4 packs is retweet this blog post (which is the pinned post on Twitter) and respond to the post with the year you started collecting cards.  It’s that simple.  Thanks for checking it out!

Dub Score – 4

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?

When I say 1987 Baseball Cards, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? That answer is almost overwhelmingly ’87 Topps with the classic woodgrain border. That design is so iconic, Topps still can’t let it go. I love it too but sometimes too much of a good thing can actually be bad. One set you probably don’t think of when I say 1987 is the Fleer Baseball’s Best set that pits Sluggers vs Pitchers. To be honest, it’s one of those forgettable sets in an otherwise memorable year for baseball cards. But I haven’t forgotten about it. There are some classic players on the checklist that wouldn’t normally land in a small set like this. And you know I never pass up a chance for a trip down memory lane!We’ll start with the design of he set. The front of the card was quite different from the all blue base Fleer set. These were semi-glossy with a little grainier photo than those in the flagship product. They had white outside borders with alternating blue and red at the top and bottom. The top of the card had a classic late 80’s splash banner with “1987 Baseball’s Best” and the Fleer logo. The bottom of the card had the player’s name, their designation as a “slugger” or “pitcher” and a corresponding stat. The sluggers had their batting average and the pitchers had their ERA. I found it odd to put the batting average for the slugger because the two didn’t necessarily correlate.  The backs of the cards were similar to the flagship product in that they were red, white and blue with full stats to see. A look at the back also reveals that the stat on the front is a career stat and not the previous year. For example, Kevin Bass has an average of .274 printed on the front. The back shows this as his career stat but lists his previous year (1986) as a .311 average, which would have been more appealing on the front. Kevin Bass was a good major league ball player but I did not consider him a slugger. And his career .274 average and 40 home runs through 5 major league seasons up until 1987 support that consideration. We’ll talk more on some of the strange selections in the checklist later.I found out quickly that the card stock was a bit flimsy. I had Kevin Bass out for a minute looking at his stats and it had already started bowing. It went quickly back into the box. The set itself provided 44 cards (11 more than the KayBee set) and 6 additional stickers, or at least that’s what was advertised. I actually had 9 stickers in the box. There were 3 multi sticker sheets and then 6 team logo stickers. An odd thing about the stickers was that the back of the sticker card had a completely different team on it, as outlined in this Padres front and Braves back. I will say that the backs of the sticker cards were quite attractive with a black and white drawing of a ball and glove with a color logo above. Was I the only one that actually enjoyed Fleer’s sticker gimmick?Of the 44 players, the sluggers outnumbered the pitchers 29-15. Some of the usual names were included; Boggs, Brett, Canseco, Gwynn, Mattingly, McGwire, Murphy, Gooden, Clemens and Puckett. But there were some odd names too like Incaviglia, Bass, Leonard, Phelps, Tabler and our old friend Jack Clark from the KayBee set. Please don’t think I don’t like Clark. I just don’t know why he was included in all of these additional sets. The year these were printed, he hit .237 with 9 home runs for crying out loud. His career average was .275 and he averaged 15 home runs over a 13 year career to that point. I missed the boat on Mr. Clark. And as an aside, the box had another misprint much like KayBee in that McGwire was spelled McGuire. The card was correct. And yes, Cal Ripken Jr. was in fact included in this set but still no Nolan Ryan.  The Bash Brothers (Canseco/McGwire) were included as they should have been in retrospect. However, at the time this set was generated, McGwire was sitting on a .189 average with 3 bombs in 18 career games. Fleer must’ve had wonderful foresight. Canseco was a tad better with a career .249 average and 38 bombs in 2 seasons. The Canseco does have a great shot on the front of the card though. The true Bash Brothers in this set were Jesse Barfield and George Bell from the Toronto Blue Jays. Barfield hit .289 with 40 home runs in 86 while Bell hit .309 with 31 dingers. Now that is what sluggers look like! And those powder blue uniforms were beautiful even on grainy cards.As for the pitchers, Clemens and Gooden were obvious inclusions based on their stats in ’86. However, there were a few names that had escaped my memory but also deserved their place. Mike Witt was 18-10 with a 2.84 ERA in ’86. Mike Scott was also included with his 18-10 record and 2.22 ERA. They even plugged in a closer in Jeff Reardon with his 35 saves from ’86. Using more of a career lens as opposed to the previous season, they included Bret Saberhagen, who was coming off of a 7-12 season with a 4.15 ERA. And normally steady Rick Sutcliffe had an abysmal season with a 5-14 record and a 4.64 ERA. These are not the type of seasons that usually culminate in inclusion in a “Baseball’s Best” set. Career-wise, yes, very good ball players but 1986 was not so pleasant.That brings me to my biggest head scratcher inclusions. And as I said above, good ball players, just not “Best”. I could never hit .235 in the majors but I also would never be classified as a “Slugger” either.

• Pat Tabler – Career .288 with 29 home runs in 5 full seasons. He did hit .326 in ’86 so that might equal a pass but still not a “slugger”.
• Ken Phelps – Career .235 with 64 home runs in 6 partial seasons. This guy had been bouncing between the majors and minors since 1976 and he’s included in “Baseball’s Best”?
• Jeffrey Leonard – Career .273 with 81 home runs in 11 partial seasons? I don’t know….. Even though Pete Incaviglia hit for a terrible average, he did hit 30 fly balls that left the park.
• Ivan Calderon – He did hit .303 in ’86 but he had played 4 seasons at the major league level and never appeared in more than 67 games and had a career .266 average.

All in all, a neat retro set that can be had for very little cash. You can even find them sealed on Ebay, assuring their minty condition. While neat and retro, it also needed some help saving it from being below a Dub Score of 3. The inclusion of some big superstars like Ripken, Boggs, Puckett and Gooden was nice. And the inclusion of some serious sluggers like Jesse Barfield, George Bell and Dave Parker was a plus too. I liked the stickers included and also wasn’t too disappointed in the design, even by 1987 standards. When 90% of the market is pushing the woodgrain of the ’87 Topps, it was a nice change of pace for nostalgia. I’d pay $5 for the set and in fact just did so I could have one that was sealed. Just enjoy it for what it is – a fun look at baseball players from the late ‘80’s.

Dub Score – 3

You can thank the man, the myth, the legend, Scott Berger (@SBergerBOSTON) for this post. We got to talking about oddball card sets a couple of weeks ago after I included the Jose Canseco KMart card in my Nostalgia Night post. Before I get too far into the post itself, be sure to take a moment and check out Scott’s twitter profile and give him a follow. First, you should follow him because he’s a great member of the Hobby Community. But more importantly Scott is a fighter. He is a 2x Brain Tumor Survivor and has a fundraising page set up for “The Berg and the Burb Phoenix Brain Tumor Walk” that you should check out. If you have some cards or items that you can donate to the cause, you can find a place to do that on his Twitter page. Scott is a good dude and respected member of our awesome group here on Twitter.Back to our conversation. He found the 1990 Unopened Kmart box in his closet and shared a photo with me. That led me to my box of oddballs. I have a lot of unique old stuff like that still in boxes that I peruse from time to time. I found this 1989 Superstars of Baseball Set made by KayBee Toys. Scott had mentioned that he worked at Kaybee at one time during college and remembered sheets of cards that were available. My wife worked at KayBee when she was in college too but that would’ve been after the card heyday so I didn’t get any employee perks. When I found this, I immediately felt like a kid again and wanted to go through the box. So naturally, I did. And the result is this blog post!The set was manufactured by Topps and advertised as 33 “Super Glossy” Photo Cards. Let me tell you, they are still quite glossy some 28 years later. The checklist is really strong and Topps got it right for the most part. I’m not saying that all of the players weren’t stars but there were a couple there that didn’t quite have staying power. Jack Clark was just so-so in my book and Pedro Guerrero was good but not great. You may disagree and that’s fine. That’s one of the fun parts of collecting. Stars are classified differently for each collector. I am not sure where the number 33 came from because it’s not an even distribution among the teams or the leagues. Here’s a photo of the checklist to see for yourself. And yes, I got an “error box” as Carlton Fisk is spelled Carlston Fisk. The card is correct.Boston has the most with four superstars in the set, which is almost legit when you see that they include Mike Greenwell, Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens. If I’m making the checklist, I’m leaving out Dwight Evans. I’m sure this isn’t the case in Boston but I always thought Mike Greenwell was grossly underrated. He should’ve received a lot more love than he did. The same could be said for Ellis Burks in my opinion. The Yankees and Mets each had three superstars. They were Rickey Henderson, Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield, Doc Gooden, Daryl Strawberry and Gary Carter. I’m iffy on Carter to be honest. A great catcher but I think putting more than two superstars on a team really limited the set if they were going to be married to that 33 number.The other multi star teams were Oakland (Canseco/McGwire), San Diego (Gwynn/Clark), Chicago Cubs (Sandberg/Dawson), Expos (Raines/Galarraga), Los Angeles (Hershiser/Gibson), St. Louis (Smith/Guerrero) and Minnesota (Puckett/Viola). No offense to these players, but you could remove Clark and Guerrero to make room for other teams. I’ll get to the notable players left out in a minute. So to recap, I think they could have nixed Evans, Carter, Clark and Guerrero. That’s four players that could be replaced. And as an aside, the Raines card may be my favorite in the set. The photo is awesome and they used the nickname “Rock”.Finally, you have the one star teams and it’s hard to argue against any of these because I think they were legitimate stars for those teams. Those were Kansas City (Brett), San Fran (W Clark), Cincinnati (Davis), Chicago WS (Fisk), Atlanta (Murphy), Baltimore (Murray), Philadelphia (Schmidt), Detroit (Trammell – the one not in the HOF) and Milwaukee (Yount). Those are legitimate stars in my opinion and I’m ok with it.But going back to the checklist of 33 – I don’t understand it when you consider the teams and players left off. In the American League, the Blue Jays were left out. They had Fred McGriff, George Bell and Rance Mulliniks that year. Of course, I’m joking with Rance as I just like bringing him up. Then the Indians were absent. To be honest, they were pretty brutal in ’89 but they did have Joe Carter. Is he not worthy of a spot that Jack Clark gets? The Angels didn’t make the cut which meant Wally Joyner, Chuck Finley and Bert Blyleven were left out. The Texas Rangers were nowhere to be found so Topps must not have thought enough of Nolan Ryan to give him a card. The Mariners weren’t very good either but they had Alvin Davis and a young kid named Ken Griffey Jr., who Upper Deck had the foresight to make #1 in their checklist.  Over in the National League, the Pirates were left off the checklist. They only had Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and Doug Drabek. The Astros were pretty much abysmal like the Indians but they did have Glenn Davis and Craig Biggio. Perhaps the strangest omission from the set altogether was Cal Ripken Jr. Who made that decision? Leaving Bo Jackson, Ruben Sierra and Kevin Mitchell out are one kind of mistake. But leaving Cal Jr. out of a “Superstars of Baseball” set was plain sacrilege. I got off on a tangent there because I really love the set. I just have an issue with the checklist in certain areas.The cards themselves are on pretty good card stock for 1989. As I mentioned above, they were pretty dadgum glossy, but they haven’t stuck together like the UV coatings of the early 90’s. They are in relatively good condition for cards of their age. The fronts of the cards have a white border with a reddish pink inset border. They read “Superstars of Baseball” at the top. The player name is just below the Superstar banner. The Topps logo is visible in the top right or left of each photo. Finally, the KayBee logo is centered at the bottom of the card.The backs of the cards leave a bit to be desired as it relates to design. I do like the information included on the back but the old Padres yellow and brown print is not very easy on the eyes. It does not seem to match up with the front of the card design. There is an inset photo on the back that gives a bit of a profile shot. All of the requisite info is included; team, position, height, weight, draft info, DOB and a little blurb about the player’s career. The stats include 1988 and the career totals. One interesting aspect of the back is that there is a section for their first year in pro ball and their first year in the majors. I found it interesting that Robin Yount played his first professional game 4 years before I was born.In general, these sets are not very valuable and only register on the nostalgia scale. That is what collecting is to me though, as I’ve discussed many times here. I personally like all of these old sets like KayBee and KMart. I am fully aware that these sets are part of what brought the industry down in the early 90’s because everybody had to get involved with card manufacturing. But they also take me back to when collecting was carefree and more about the player on the card than the serial number or the autograph. There were no subtle variations that you had to study when you went through these cards. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, it’s just not what got me hooked in the first place. So while I’ll buy the new product, collect and trade it and enjoy it, I’ll still go back to my roots when I need to slow life down. Those roots are buried at KayBee and Big B Drug and anywhere else you could buy shiny new baseball cards!So let me hear your thoughts. We can talk about the checklist. We can talk about other sets that you remember buying back in the day. We can talk about why you think Jack Clark should be in the Hall of Fame. What say you?

J-Dub 

I believe that basketball cards are a vastly underrated sector of the hobby. As one of the original “big four” sports, it seems to have the smallest following and generates very little buzz in the community. That’s not to say that there isn’t a passionate group of fans that are engaged but the truth is that it’s just not close to Baseball, Football and Hockey. I love basketball and have personally collected basketball cards since the late 80’s but even my collection pales in comparison to Baseball and Football. My hockey collection is almost non-existent thanks to my location in the country. I don’t know the exact reason it lags behind the other sports but it’s clearly not on the same level.Yet, as I sifted through my basketball cards last night, the same great memories I have with baseball and football came rushing back to me. I was taken back to when I spent all of my lawn mowing money grabbing ’89 Hoops at the local Wal-Mart and desperately hoping for the David Robinson rookie. I remembered those Saturdays spent betting basketball cards on actual pick up basketball games. I found names that may not be everyday names now but were huge gets back then flashed before my eyes. I found that memorable Hoops Shawn Kemp Rookie card that I loved so much. Kemp was one of the fiercest dunkers of my generation! I stumbled across the Sean Elliott RC card and I remembered how smooth his jumper was and trying to emulate it in my backyard. And then I found the iconic names! Basketball is still a great sport to watch and there are lots of superstars that litter the league but the game was on a totally different level when I started collecting in the late 80’s.

The Bigs

We’ll save the icon section for the end but there are some huge names to be found in the stack of bigs I have. These four were some of my favorites. Hakeem (Akeem) “The Dream” Olajuwon was an absolute beast that was as smooth a big man as there was. His “Dream Shake” was a thing of beauty. Patrick Ewing was probably the most popular big man of the group during that time thanks in part to the market he played in. He was on some very good Knick teams but they always came up a tad short in the Championship department. One player that did not come up short in that department was “The Admiral”, David Robinson. He was another big man who played the game like a stretch forward. He had a smooth jumper and could bang down low as well. The final on the Mount Rushmore of Dub Centers was the least smooth. He was to smooth, what was rain is to dry. BUT, don’t bring any weak offense towards Dikembe Mutombo because he would send that mess packing. He was a Hawk for many years and was always a fan favorite.  Stadium Club made a BEAUTIFUL basketball card!

The Forwards

Some big names here too but I have my own favorites again. I liked the Fab Four in college but I was actually pulling for UNC because Eric Montross was one of my favorite players. I was, however, devastated that it happened the way it did for Webber. I am probably in a bit of the minority but I really liked Chris Webber. I often wonder what would have happened with the Magic if they had kept him but it’s hard to argue with Penny Hardaway’s production. The Mailman was another personal favorite but he came up short in the championship series’ as well during his career. The “Round Mound of Rebound”, Charles Barkley, played on one of the best teams in the 90’s to take on the Bulls in a championship….Still lost. Finally, I mentioned Shawn Kemp above. Always loved Shawn Kemp!

The Guards

I had some obvious favorites in this group and then maybe a surprise or two. Allen Iverson was the most entertaining player to watch for a stretch of time in the 90’s. The guy could do almost anything, except practice. One of the purest shooters of my generation was Reggie Miller and he stepped up huge in the spotlight many times but could never get over the championship hump either. You may sense a trend with the championships here but it’s important to remember that the Bulls were alive and well during the 90’s. Drexler did get a championship but it was with the Rockets during a year that Michael Jordan was off playing baseball. They beat my Orlando Magic, who we’ll discuss a little more below. Finally, Tim Hardaway was the creator of the “Killer Crossover” and was so much fun to watch. I loved that Golden State team that had Hardaway, Richmond, Mullin and Webber. Now, Tim Jr. plays for my beloved Hawks and he is blossoming into a young star as well.

The Orlando Magic

The Magic were an expansion team that was formed during my early collection years. They slowly built their team through the draft. Their first pick in 1989 was one of my favorite players, Nick Anderson. They followed up in 1990 with the shooter from Georgia Tech, “3-D” Dennis Scott. Then Shaq Diesel came in 1992 with the number 1 overall pick. The Magic won the #1 overall pick again in 1993, despite having very low odds in the lottery. They did a draft and trade of Chris Webber for Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway. At the time of the move, I was disappointed because I could only imagine that Webber and Shaq down low would be the perfect compliment to Scott and Anderson on the wings. But then Penny Hardaway showed me that he may have been the best all around point guard in the league. They eventually made it to the NBA finals in 1995, only to fall to the Rockets with Olajuwon, Drexler, Kenny Smith, Robert Horry and Sam Cassell. In hindsight, that Rockets team was absolutely loaded!

The Charlotte Hornets

Another expansion team from my youth, they also had a solid stretch of picks in the early 90’s. They drafted Larry Johnson in ’91 and Alonzo Mourning in ’92 and they went on to form one of the most formidable front courts in the league. Mourning was an offensive and defensive force and Johnson was a ball of muscle that could shoot and rebound. Mourning would eventually be inducted to the Hall of Fame but that honor has thus far eluded “Grand-mama” for reasons I don’t quite understand yet. Whether you collected cards or not, if you were a basketball fan, odds were high that you were the proud owner of some Hornets Starter gear in the early 90’s.  

The Yugoslavians

I was a big fan of both Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic. Draz could shoot the lights out and Divac was a gentle giant. I did not know their connections at the time I was watching them play but later saw the 30 for 30, “Once Brothers”. If you’ve never seen it, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. It is probably my favorite 30 for 30 episodes but is without a doubt in my top 3. Vlade had a very nice run with the Lakers in the early 90’s while Petrovic struggled to find his home until a move to the New Jersey Nets. Most of you are familiar with the story of Petrovic’s fatal car crash that cut his career short. Again, go watch “Once Brothers”. You’ll thank me for it.

The Star That Faded Too Soon

Speaking of tragic deaths that cut a career short, none were more tragic to me than that of Reggie Lewis. Reggie was well on his way to absolute stardom when he tragically lost his life on the basketball court. He was selected as an All-Star in 1992 and was coming off of back to back 20+ PPG seasons. He had averaged 17.6 over his first 6 seasons with the Celtics. In the first round of the playoffs against Charlotte, on April 29, 1993, Lewis collapsed on the court and was taken to the hospital. He would not return that series. Later, on July 27, 1993, Lewis was practicing at Brandeis University, where he suffered sudden cardiac death, at only 27 years old. I remember seeing the headline on ESPN while I was at a church camp that summer. It was devastating news and one of my first looks at a young healthy person losing their life.  I absolutely LOVED that Skybox Set!

The Icons

Last, but certainly not least, we have the Icons of my generation. Some of the above players deserve consideration but these 4 were the cream of the crop for me. Michael Jordan is the greatest player to ever step on the court, I don’t care what you have to say about LeBron. Magic was the greatest point guard to ever play the game and is probably the 2nd best all around player of all time. Larry Bird is the greatest shooter of all time and played with as much effort and grit as anyone before or after his time. Finally, as a Hawk and UGA fan, “The Human Highlight Film”, Dominique Wilkins is my favorite basketball player of all time. Dunk Champion, Scoring Champion, All-Time First Teamer and absolute stud on the court, Nique still resides in Atlanta and is one of the play by play analysts for the Hawks. I had the good fortune of meeting him at Atlanta Motor Speedway one year for a photo and autograph. It was a great moment for me!So as you can see, basketball collecting definitely belongs on the big stage. There is a largely untapped market out there that is begging to be hobby-fied (new made up word). There are some really fine products on the market today as well but not the quantity that’s available in other sports. I buy some from time to time but a big part of collecting to me is sharing and trading with other collectors. I just haven’t found enough yet to go head first into the sport. I’m ready though!

 J-Dub