Memories – Page 2 – Dub Mentality

Where It All Began

My birthday was this past week and I had a moment as I walked out of the front door on the way to work that I didn’t expect. Because I spend so much time on eBay and trading on Twitter, I have come to expect a fair share of mail days. Most days it’s a Braves lot or an occasional Junk Wax Auto that I add to my “Dated Rookies” (copyright pending) collection.

But on this day, I had a momentary memory of receiving birthday cards from my grandmother “GaGa”, who passed away just a few years ago. I could expect a card on February 13th, like clockwork. It was always a “grandmother” type of card with flowers and heartfelt wishes for a great day; no jokes or cracks on my age. It hit me on this day that I wouldn’t be getting one; and I had a moment.

I say all of this to set up this next piece with a disclaimer. A lot of times, I write for myself. Actually, when it comes to my blog, I’d say it’s about 95% of the time. I am floored that so many others like to take this journey with me. But this blog serves a greater purpose; to document some of the best moments of my life. I love to incorporate cards because that is my passion, but I always tie some event from my life to the cards. It’s what works for me.

My GaGa spent the last several years of her life suffering from Dementia/Alzheimer’s. While it was heartbreaking to witness, I know that it was brutal for my mom and her two sisters. Anyone who has ever experienced it with a loved one knows what I mean.

So that is why documenting my memories is so important to me. I remember various points in my life vividly but others fade in and out depending on where I’m at, what I’m doing, etc. Selfishly, I write my blog to put myself back into those memories. In reality, I know that is not going to change anything for me if I were to ever suffer from the illness my GaGa did; but I’ll always have something to come back to and read. I’ll be able to go back and experience them over and over again. At least that is what I’m telling myself. The blog has a purpose.

So where am I going with all of this? I’m going back to 5th Grade; 1987. This is where the hobby began for me. It began with one card that made a lasting memory. But that is for later in the post. First, I want to lay out 5th Grade for Dub. Again, partially for you, the reader, but mainly to document the journey for me.

I recently went back to my old Middle School, which is no longer open as a school. The building serves as the Board of Education offices and most of the school appears to be empty. The only part of the school that felt like it was separated from the main campus was the 5th Grade Wing. It was a long outdoor hall that stretched away from the main building. And my class was the last class on the wing.

When I think of 5th Grade, the first thing I think of is not my first baseball card, unfortunately. I immediately think of the fluoride mouth rinse we had to do once a week. Each student received a small plastic cup and the teacher would come around and pump a couple squirts of this strange pink liquid for us to swish around in our mouths and then spit out. I don’t really know what the purpose of this was, other than to make students gag and want to puke. Some conspiracy theorists believe it was some sort of government testing. Whatever t was, it was awful.

There were some good parts to 5th Grade that offset the awful fluoride memory though. I remember the book fair and taking my “Troll” Book Flyer home with multiple books circled. It would later be replaced by “Scholastic”; but it was “Troll” when I was in middle school. I would usually wind up having to narrow my list way down but I always came away with something nice.

I also remember note passing becoming the main form of communication during class. Some people had really fancy ways of folding notes but paper footballs were the extent of my paper folding skills. All my notes got the standard folding treatment. Kids text in class now but “back in my day”, if you wanted to get communication to your friend across the classroom, you had to pass a note and risk the teacher catching you and reading it out loud in front of the class. Very few things were more embarrassing than that punishment.

I remember 5th Grade being the last year of actual recess. Every year after that allowed for an afternoon break but it was spent standing around gossiping and scheming up ways to ask a girl to go steady. In 5th Grade; we raced, played marbles, threw footballs, played tag, climbed playground equipment, and traded toys. And this is where the card comes in.

Up until that point, I had a stray card or two laying around from a box of cereal or a package of Purina that landed at the house. But I wasn’t a collector and didn’t seek out cards when we went to the store. I was still building my Transformer and WWF (now WWE) Action Figure collections at the time. But one of those WWF Action Figures would parlay into a now 33 year sports card hobby.

One of my favorite wrestlers in WWF during the 80’s was Junkyard Dog. I liked him on the cartoons and I liked his gimmick in the ring. I had a a few action figures but I’ll always remember that JYD. It was the centerpiece in a trade for my first baseball card. I don’t remember who I traded with but it was definitely one of my inner circle friends. I don’t know what made me pull the trigger other than the card being of a player I really liked.

This is the card that the JYD landed me. A 1979 Topps Ozzie Smith RC in less than mint condition. Condition didn’t really matter because JYD had taken his share of tumbles from the top rope by that time as well. The only thing that mattered to me was that the card seemed “really old” and was of one of my favorite players. As for “really old”, it is 41 years old now but was only 8 years old in 1987. It would be the equivalent of trading for a card from 2012 today. The mind of a 5th Grader works in strange ways.

But this very card led to a 1987 Topps Jose Canseco, 1989 Donruss Ken Griffey Jr., 1990 Leaf Frank Thomas; and now, 33 years later, a guy named Zion Williamson, who wasn’t even born yet. No matter what I ever pull, this card will be the most special card in my collection. It is where my journey through the hobby began and I couldn’t have asked for a better beginning than a Wizard RC.

We all have stories to tell; this one happens to begin in a little brick classroom in 1987. We all have memories, good and bad. They help shape who we are when we grow up; whether you cling to the memories and try to forever hold on to them or whether you take the memories and change the course of where you are heading. I don’t know if I’ll remember all of this when I’m 70, but I remember it now so I’m going to keep putting the memories in writing so I’ll have a way to remind myself of the tiny moments that made my life full. So as you read my posts, you may wonder from time to time why I’m including pieces of information that aren’t central to the story and seem out of place. But everything I write is calculated in some way. And sometimes it’s just for me.

Thank you for reading this blog and interacting with me on social media. We all share similar memories and they help create a bond among strangers that we may never meet face to face. But it reminds us that we have so much in common with our fellow collectors.

“We all live with the objective of being happy. Our lives are all different and yet the same.” Anne Frank

J-Dub

The 30th Annual

I was very fortunate when I was growing up that I had several cousins that were around my same age. In fact, two of them were the exact same age; Corey and Jared. We were in the same grade, played on the same ball teams, and enjoyed most of the same hobbies. We all have to have friends growing up, but when those friends are also family, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Even though we were huge friends, we were ultra-competitive with each other as well. That was never more apparent than on Christmas night, after we opened presents at my grandmother’s house. For the hour or so that followed the gift exchange, we became bitter rivals on a small 15 yard piece of real estate and battled in what would now be the 30th Annual Football Clash, if we were still playing.

That 15 yard long field was only about 10 yards wide, but when we were 12, it felt like a much bigger plot. A 6 play drive when we were kids could now be covered in one short screen pass in 2019. I looked out across that field just a couple of days ago and realized that if 6 or 7 people walked there now, it would look like a mad rush at Wal-Mart on Black Friday. It is tiny.

Corey and Jared were always teammates. They were step-brothers, though much more like real brothers. So even though we were all close, they actually lived together and were two peas in a pod for the most part. My teammate was their older brother (by 2 years or so), my cousin Dusty. Dusty and I had to overcome the familiarity Corey and Jared had with each other to try and outmatch them every year.

Corey and Jared would start practicing plays around Thanksgiving, and the rumor was that they would even practice right before they came over to Granny’s on Christmas. That rumor was propagated by Dusty, who also lived with them. But it never translated into victories. If they ever beat us, I don’t remember it. The running theme as we got older was that Dusty and I were undefeated and to this day, that is the story as I tell it on Christmas.

We are too old to play these days and we all have jobs and family we have to take care of. I don’t think I’m ready to explain an absence at work because Jared tackled me in a wiregrass bush and I threw my back out. Or that I tackled Corey on top of the water meter cover and bruised his shoulder. We are too big not to get hurt these days.

But our competitions stretched far beyond that small field on Christmas night. One of the most memorable times of my childhood was playing RBI Baseball “tournaments” at their house. My Uncle Speedy was an RBI legend and made a point of not taking it easy on us when we played. For some reason, I remember him always playing with the Angels. I don’t know why but I just remember Tony Armas and Doug DeCinces beating me all the time.

Then there were the ping pong tournaments we held during sleepovers. Corey’s mom had a ping pong table set up in her dining room and there was barely enough room to walk around each side when it was set up. We would play almost until morning. Imagine trying to sleep in a house with 14 year olds playing ping pong all night. The sound of the ball hitting the paddles was maddening enough; but because we had no room, we constantly smacked our paddles on the wall of that dining room trying to get to balls that were just out of our reach.

Because Uncle Speedy was our baseball coach, we always had access to the team bat bag and would play baseball in their yard all the time. Jared was the catcher and had all of his equipment; and our pitcher, Jason Lee, lived across the highway from them. We would gather up and Jason would pitch to us while Jared would catch. It was sort of frightening because Jason was the hardest pitcher in our county at that age. I should have been a much better hitter when I got older just because I faced him all summer when we were kids. But it wasn’t so.

There were Tecmo Bowl tournaments, basketball games, bicycle races, make-shift baseball games in my aunt’s living room, and wrestling matches on the trampoline. Everything was a competition. I think that it made me tougher and more of a competitor over the years. And for that I’m thankful. But in general, I am just thankful for those years of growing up with those guys. I am fortunate that my family (on both sides) has always been close and we all grew up hanging out.

Of course, now that the competition is gone, there is still something that I do every day that we all did as kids; collect sports cards. We used to sit in our rooms together and just sort cards and look at pictures and names that we thought were funny. We would rarely trade but we did help each other out sometimes when we had extras. We all had binders of modern (Junk Wax) cards but they always had some vintage laying around because of Uncle Speedy.

I was always in awe of the vintage cards because they were “so old” and rare. They were sometimes in rough condition but it was really cool to see them. My uncle still collects today and we talk often about the hobby and new pick-ups we make. Though I started picking up cards thanks to my mom and dad helping me get started, I also owe a lot to the times when I would hang out with them and further my knowledge on cards. It was truly a family affair.

There are some cards that I still see today that make me think about those days. It is weird that certain cards can take me back to completely different places in my youth. These cards in particular take me back to hanging out with Corey, Jared, and Uncle Speedy.

One of the first cards that comes to mind for me when I think about the old days with Corey and Jared is this Dick Hughes. For some reason, we thought the glasses were hilarious. We were dumb kids but we thought this card was something else.

Then there was this Clay Carroll. I remember thinking that if this was a major league pitcher, maybe I had a chance too!

The first time I ever saw the Mattingly rookie was in their collection. I didn’t own one until I grew up but as a kid, this card always stuck out to me as one of the big ones they owned.

This card was actually mine. This was the first card on the first page of my binder in 7th grade. I remember this card because we would always sit in the floor and reorganize the binder based on how valuable the cards were in Beckett. No matter what, this one always stayed at #1 for me. I didn’t own the ’86 Donruss so this was the next best thing.

This George Brett reminds me of Jared reenacting the “Home Run for George Brett” pine tar incident. He would do the announcers voice perfectly and we would always laugh!

This was the only Tony Armas card I ever remember owning and it makes me think of RBI Baseball every time I see it. Those dadgum Angels!

Uncle Speedy was always a Pete Rose guy if my memory is correct. He always talked to us about hustle as our coach and nobody was a better representative than “Charlie Hustle”. Because of that, we all wanted to get dirty and slide at every base, whether it was needed or not. If we went home with a dirty uniform, we could say we played hard.

Finally, we all idolized Nolan Ryan. I can’t imagine any 12 year old in 1989 who was a baseball fan not being a Nolan Ryan guy. The only one of us who ever came close to Nolan Ryan was Jason Lee but we all still loved him. Nobody would ever be able to pitch like him again in our lifetime. That may still be true!

There are a lot of cards that bring back memories for me. If you have ever read any other blog post on this website, you will know that to be true. But these are memories that always come flooding back at Christmas time. We all gather at my Granny’s and talk about the “30th Annual” and ultimately, that leads to more memories of growing up.

This picture (minus Dusty) was taken in the same exact location as the first photo some 25+ years ago.

The very best part of collecting sports cards is that each small 2.5×3.5 piece of cardboard has a memory that can be unlocked when I see it. They keep me from forgetting the past. We all have those prompts in our lives. For me, it is a picture of a baseball player from 1987 that takes me back to watching Creepshow 2 at my Uncle Speedy’s house. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

J-Dub

Memories in Pictures

I think part of why I enjoy writing so much is because I am a “visual” guy. When I am writing, or even reading, I can usually get a better mental image of something than when I am listening to it on the radio or hearing someone talk. Along those same lines, sometimes an image from a particular point in my life will stick with me and I can write about those memories using only that image in my head. And really that is my favorite thing to writing about; memories. Does that make any sense?

For example, when I think about Pizza Hut today, these images pop in my head almost immediately. When I was a kid, our “going out to eat” restaurant in our small town was a Pizza Hut. I remember going as a family and playing the table top arcade games while we waited for our order to be ready. I was close in age with my cousin (Adam) and we were huge video game guys. The rotation at our Pizza Hut was Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Joust. I hated Joust! And who can forget the cups and those lights?

Taking it a step further, Pizza Hut also used to do collectible glasses and I bought my wife a Care Bears Glass last year for Christmas just because it was so nostalgic. All of that comes to my mind when I just see that glass or an icy looking red cup. The key for me is that the images link me to a particular set of memories that were fun. As an adult, we sometimes have to hold on to memories from our youth because they take us to a time when responsibility and adult burdens weren’t a part of life.

Anytime I see ANY image that relates to a video store, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It could be a random post on Twitter of a membership card or an old Movie Gallery case in my VHS collection from when the store closed. I worked at two video stores when I was a teenager and if it had been a better paying gig, and the industry would’ve remained viable, I would love to still be doing it today. There was something powerful about having any movie at your fingertips. My friends and I watched every new release, every old cheesy horror movie, and every irreverent comedy that trafficked in and out of those stores back in those days. 2019 Dub hasn’t seen a NEW movie in ages. The last movie that I watched from beginning to end was the original Karate Kid about a month ago.

Even though this image comes from another restaurant from my youth, it actually represents some of my first memories of baseball. I started playing T-Ball when I was 4 and have played some form of hard ball every season for the last 38 years. One of my first memories was being sponsored by our local Dairy Queen and getting these helmet sundaes after the game. I think about the field at Centennial Stadium, the dugouts, the concession stand, the teammates, and the coaches. You see a helmet; I see years of summer joy! And because these are a part of the start of my love for baseball, these helmets are partially responsible for my love of baseball cards.

When it comes to basketball, there is no other image that grabs my attention than the original Dream Team. Sure, I was a basketball fan back in the late 80’s when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were battling on my Nintendo. I worshipped basketball during the “Inside Stuff” and “NBA on NBC” days and I am the guy that will argue with you all day about the game being better then than it is now. But the Dream Team was the pinnacle. This was the first time that so many superstars were compiled on the same team to play for the Red, White, & Blue. The guys in this picture were unbelievable and were transcendent in their sport.

When I see the old imagery of the 90’s Dream Team, it takes me back to playing pick-up games at my buddy’s house (The Parramore Pavilion), in my back yard under a utility light, and in dingy gyms all over my area. I spent my youth trying to shoot like Bird, pass like Stockton, rebound like Barkley, and play defense like Pippen. I never really mastered any of those but I made a ton of memories trying!

Perhaps no image conjures up more nostalgia than this Buffalo Bills helmet from Tecmo Super Bowl. I spent 3 years getting to know the Buffalo Bills because of this game. Their Super Bowls helped too but while I was always tempted to play seasons with Bo, Barry Sanders, and QB Eagles during sleepovers with my friends, the Bills offered the full package. The defense was loaded with Bruce Smith, Cornelius Bennett, and Nate Odomes. And on offense, you could run with Thurman, go deep to Andre Reed, or just move the chains with Don Beebe.

But the bigger part of the Tecmo Super Bowl memory was the sleepover part. We played a ton of Tecmo but we also watched corny horror movies, made prank phone calls, and made drink concoctions with mustard, ketchup, syrup, soy sauce, and whatever else we could find and dared each other to drink it. I know, that’s all immature but that’s exactly what we were; immature. We never really got into any trouble or bothered anybody, but we sure did some dumb things to entertain ourselves. But those are all memories and are all tied to these and other images over the years.

The same thing works with baseball cards for me. There are certain cards that make me stop and reminisce when I run across them in my collection; not because they are particularly good looking cards, though many of them are, but because they are associated with some moment in my life that makes me feel good. Take this 1990 Fleer Mark McGwire. I’ve written about this one before. It immediately takes me back to Halloween Night when my grandmother brought me packs of cards instead of candy. I remember sitting on my living room floor opening these while eating the candy I got from other places. What a night!

Then there is this 1990 KMart Jose Canseco. I remember how I would always try to talk my parents into buying me cards at department stores. Before Hobby and Retail were a thing, you could pick up just about anything at a department store, including store specific sets. Seeing this card immediately takes me back to being a kid in those stores. I would hide in clothes racks, moan about trying on clothes, and put on my sincerest charm when it came to getting some packs.

Here is a card of one of the most underrated players among collectors today. Eric Davis was a true superstar during the 80’s-90’s. But this particular card reminds me of when I used to play RBI 3 on the NES with friends. I always liked to used the World Series Champs from 1990, the Reds. Davis, Barry Larkin, Chris Sabo, Jose Rijo, and The Nasty Boys were awesome! I even remember some of the role players like Billy Hatcher, Ron Oester, Hal Morris, and Paul O’Neill. I think RBI 3 is the second greatest sports video game of all time.

I’ve been to many Braves games during my lifetime, even though I live 3 hours away. I went to a lot more as a kid than I do now that I have kids of my own but I still watch them all of TV. At one of those games as a kid in 1992, they gave out these cards. What I specifically remember about the game that year was a Fred McGriff homer as a member of the Padres. I remember thinking that it would be pretty cool if McGriff played for the Braves. He would wind up in Atlanta a couple years later and I was right, it was pretty dang cool!

A lot of people have their favorite Ken Griffey Jr. cards. But I’m willing to bet that I’m rather unique in my choice. I do love the 1989 Upper Deck rookie and I spent most of my life chasing it in packs. But this 1990 Topps was special to me. The first complete set I ever owned was 1990 Topps as a gift from my parents. I was 13 and immediately took all the stars out and put them in my binder. Probably a rookie mistake but I always loved this Jr. and it reminds me of when I used to sit in my bedroom floor putting those cards in my binder. There were some great cards in that set for a 13 year old; Jr., Frank Thomas, Juan Gonzalez, Nolan Ryan, Canseco, McGwire, and so on.

I missed the boat on 1989 Upper Deck when it came out because there wasn’t a local card shop in my small town. I was able to pick up 1990 Upper Deck the following year on a church choir trip. There was a little card shop in the North Georgia Mountains where we spent a week during that summer. The shop was quite a treat for me and while they had all the new stuff from 1990, they also had a couple 1989 packs. A friend of mine grabbed some ‘89 and I went straight for the new packs. He pulled the Jr. and I pulled this Olerud….I’ll never forget that but I was still pretty happy with the Olerud at the time.

This one is a classic for me. I really loved the inserts in the 90’s and this Dream Team set was one of the best. While a Kirby Puckett card would normally be taboo for a Braves fan, I actually really liked him. I remember making a few trades with a buddy to add this Kirby and a few others to my collection. We sat at the lunch table at school and he couldn’t believe I wanted some Twins player. Still glad I have this one!

You won’t find many collectors that like to keep 1991 Fleer sitting around. I have several cards that are memorable from that set for me. But I grew up, like many others, watching the Cubs on WGN. It was a time when you only got to watch your local team and occasional prime time games. The other option was the Cubs. I watched them in the afternoon while I did my homework (wink, wink) and was a big fan of Sandberg and The Hawk. This card was cool when I pulled it and still reminds me of watching those games. I will always remember getting to hear Harry Carey announce baseball games.

There were two things I really loved in the early 90’s; Frank Thomas and art cards. I was always The Big Hurt when we had homerun derby’s in the front yard while everybody else fought over being Canseco, Griffey, and McGwire. When I see this card, I vividly remember those days in my front yard, trying to smash tennis balls over the boxwood bushes that separated our house from the neighbors. It felt like we had to hit the ball a mile back then to clear those shrubs.

While none of these cards carry any real monetary value, that’s not why I still have them. They have real meaning to me. I see more than the small pictures on cardboard. I see hanging out with friends, making trades at school, sitting alone in my room sorting cards, and learning about the game itself. That is worth more to me than what they sell for on eBay. There is certainly a section of the hobby for me that is dedicated to chasing big hits but when I really want to bring order back to my collecting world, I sort through “the good stuff”. And lately, I’ve needed to get back to the basics thanks to the numerous releases we are seeing week after week. No matter what anybody ever says, I’m a firm believer that Junk Wax soothes the soul!

J-Dub

A Holly Jolly Baseball Card!

The beginning of November signifies a few important things around my house. It is really my favorite time of year. Unfortunately, it signifies the end of Baseball Season and Halloween, which are two of my favorite things as well. But those negatives are offset by a lot of the positives that November brings. And Baseball will be back in a few months, right?

First, being from South Georgia, this is the time of year when the weather finally starts to feel like Fall. The temperature on Halloween night was finally low enough to wear a sweatshirt and toboggan. Around here, a toboggan is a ski cap and not a sled. We almost never have a need for a sled around these parts. But I absolutely love the weather when it is hovering in that lower 50 region.

November also means that football season is getting serious. The College Football Playoff rankings are finally released and teams are in the thick of conference play. Nothing beats conference play when it comes to college football. Georgia played Florida on November 2 and has Missouri on the 9th, Auburn on the 16th, Texas A&M on the 23rd, and then closes the season with a non-conference rival, Georgia Tech on the 30th. What a month of football!

As for the NFL, the games really start to matter because the playoff race is shaping up. The teams that are going to compete have separated themselves from the teams that will be vying for the #1 Pick in the upcoming draft; with the exception of those few teams that are hovering around .500 and trying to make some second half magic. But football isn’t football until you reach November. That is truly when the temperatures drop and the match-ups heat up!

For me, I don’t need much else besides cool weather and football to put a spring in my step. But this time of year also means that the Holiday Season is upon us. We are just a couple of weeks away from Thanksgiving, which is a dream holiday for a fellow that likes to eat the way I do. We go to a couple of different houses on Thanksgiving and we eat and watch football all day long!

Then, after Thanksgiving, my family’s favorite holiday is front and center; Christmas! Christmas brings back so many fun memories of childhood for me and I try to relive those with my kids every year. We watch Christmas classics like “A Christmas Story” and “Christmas Vacation”, we go see Christmas lights in surrounding neighborhoods, and we decorate our home while Christmas music plays in the background. And, we watch FOOTBALL!

Even though November signifies the end of the Baseball season, Topps takes the opportunity to release one of the more anticipated releases for my two daughters each year; Topps Holiday Boxes. Both of them enjoy opening packs throughout the year but they get excited with big hits like dad does. They want a card that “a player wrote on” and cards with pieces of a jersey in them. But when it comes to Topps Holiday Boxes, they love every card they pull. And this year, they loved them even more!

Topps Holiday Boxes are found at Wal-Mart and I have seen them at both $19.99 and $22.48. The boxes come with 10 packs of 10 cards each and contain 1 autograph or relic card. There are also Silver Metallic cards that are found 1:2 packs on average, so expect about 5 of those as well.

The set contains 200 cards and this year, there are some new short prints (SP), super short prints (SSP), and super rare super short prints (SSSP) to be found in the set. The SP’s are found 1:7 packs, SSP’s are 1:20, and the SSSP’s are 1:161 on average. Thankfully, as he normally does, Ryan Cracknell has provided collectors with a handy-dandy checklist with photos and codes so your search can be made a little easier. That article can be found HERE.

The set includes all of the top rookies from this year and the variations make some of them pretty valuable. If you are lucky enough to pull a hot rookie super rare variation that is a silver metallic, well, you need to go buy a lottery ticket! Also included in 2019 boxes is the chance to pull Santa Hat player worn relics and even a Santa Claus autograph! Paging 1990 Pro Set!!

The design is what makes this year’s version stand out for me over previous years. I have always been a “border guy” when it comes to sports cards. And 2019 Holiday does not disappoint. Last year, there were just snowflakes around the edges. This year, they brought a nice green border over half of the card that was infused with holly. The rest of the card edge has a snowy finish with more infused holly. Some people may think it’s corny, but I love it and so do the Lil Dub’s!

The variations are where things get super fun for the Lil Dub’s. I had them go through the cards and try to find the hidden objects. Some were pretty easy to find but some are more difficult. Fortunately, I pulled the base Shohei Ohtani here so they spotted the filled stocking pretty quickly.

As for the relics, some of these are still just plain one color swatches; but I still like the “Christmas Present” design they come with. Base relics fall at an average of 1:11 packs. The fun Holiday Relics are tougher and land at 1:638 packs. And while I have never been a “manufactured relic” guy, I think I would be fine with pulling one from this checklist that includes the likes of Ebenezer Scrooge, Santa Claus, and Frosty the Snowman. Those are REALLY difficult with stated odds of 1 in every 4,782 packs.

There are base autographs (1:334 packs), Relics Autographs (1:3,619 packs), and Holiday Relics Autographs (1:6,619 packs), and the autograph pulls are difficulty to say the least. With 10 packs per box, just a base autograph would fall 1 in every 33 boxes. That makes an autograph a really nice pull!

The set “is what it is” for most hardcore collectors; a novelty. But for $20, it is a great way to incorporate pack ripping with the rest of the family during the most festive time of the year. It has a way of making you forget about chasing some super-refractor of a player we’ve never seen play and just helps you focus on the cards. And that is really what made all of us start collecting, isn’t it? I give the 2019 Topps Holiday Box a “5” on the Dub-O-Meter and it is really pretty easy this year. The design is really fun for me in the setting that I am opening with my kids. And anytime you can combine cold weather, Christmas, fun with the family, and baseball cards, what else could you ask for?

J-Dub

From Worst to First!

The MLB playoffs are upon us and the Atlanta Braves find themselves right in the thick of the action. They won their 19th Division Title this year. And while it never gets old, I always harken back to the first one I remember in 1991. They won a couple before that, in 1969 and 1982, but I can’t really talk about either of those from experience.

The division title from 1991, which oddly enough was when the Braves were in the Western Division, was the capper of a worst to first turnaround that almost nobody was expecting. I was 14 years old and had spent most of my baseball youth watching the Braves lose 80+ games every year. I loved the game and loved the team. But I didn’t live and die with every game back then. I didn’t know any better because I didn’t expect to compete with the Darryl Strawberry’s, Ozzie Smith’s, Jose Canseco’s, and George Brett’s of the world.

For many years during my childhood, we only had one legitimate superstar in Dale Murphy. Murph was a fan favorite in Atlanta but was well liked throughout most of the league. A Dale Murphy poster in those baby blue uniforms was a kid from the south’s dream possession! Murphy was the big bat, the player on all the media material, the cover player for 1988 Donruss, and even a star in a milk commercial. He was also the player that we all pretended to be in the front yard in South Georgia.

But beyond Murphy, we relied on players like Gerald Perry, Bob Horner, Glenn Hubbard, Rafael Ramirez, and Bruce Benedict. And while I had my favorites among those players too, they weren’t perennial all-stars. Bob Horner hit four home runs in a game in 1986. Gerald Perry hit .300 and was an all-star in 1988. And Glenn Hubbard has one of the coolest baseball cards ever in 1984. But Dale Murphy was the only consistent star in Atlanta during the 80’s.

Then, things started to slowly change in the late 80’s. We had a couple of players coming up in the farm system that were about to change the course of history. We had a pitcher named Tom Glavine that chose baseball over hockey. There was a second baseman named Ron Gant that had a unique combination of speed and power. There was a left handed slugger named David Justice. And then there was a left handed pitcher drafted in 1988 named Steve Avery.

While our farm system was a big part of the surge that started in 1991, we also made some key trades and free agent signings along the way. We traded Doyle Alexander to the Detroit Tigers in 1987 for a minor leaguer with a 5-10 record named John Smoltz. We signed veterans Terry Pendleton and Sid Bream in December of 1990. We signed Deion Sanders in January of 1991. And we traded for Otis Nixon in April of 1991. It was these moves that would turn a 65-97 team in 1990 into a 94-68 team in 1991. That record was good enough to win the West by 1 game.

That year was full of exciting and memorable moments. Deion Sanders played for both the Braves and Falcons during the season. Otis Nixon stole 72 bases. Ron Gant was a member of the 30/30 club. Tom Glavine won 20 games. Terry Pendleton was the 1991 NL MVP. And three Braves pitchers combined for a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres in a 1-0 game.

But none of those highlights could prepare us for what would happen in the playoffs. First, we faced off against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had the best record in the National League. The Pirates had three All-Stars in the outfield with Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke, and Barry Bonds. Their lineup was scary. The series went 7 games and included three games that finished with scores of 1-0. The Braves won Games 6 and 7 to take the series and send Atlanta to their first World Series appearance. Steve Avery won the NLCS MVP and John Smoltz pitched a shutout in Game 7, capping off a 22 consecutive scoreless inning streak for the Pirates in the series. 1-0 games will even give a 14 year old gray hair! I still remember my mom wearing the shirt with Greg Olson jumping in Smoltz’s arms for years after that.

Of course, we all know what happened in the World Series that year. I’ve written about it here before. That World Series went 7 games and featured FIVE 1 run games and 3 extra inning games. Life was an absolute roller coaster for a a couple weeks at my house. We had 10-15 people over for every game and it was my indoctrination into sports tension. I still believe it is the greatest 7 game series in the history of baseball. It’s too painful to dredge up game by game again; but it still marks the beginning of one of the most epic playoff runs by one team in history.

We had several more unforgettable moments over that stretch of 14 consecutive division titles. The very next year was one of the most memorable moments in Braves history with the Sid Bream slide in Game 7 of the NLCS against those same pesky Pirates from the year before. We finally won our World Series in 1995 against the Cleveland Indians and their tremendous offensive lineup. We welcomed players like Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Javy López, Fred McGriff, Andres Gallaraga, and Andruw Jones over the years. We enjoyed the greatest announcers of my youth; Skip Carey and Pete Van Wieren. We sent Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, Chipper, and Manager Bobby Cox to the Hall of Fame. It was truly an amazing time to be a Braves fan.

And here we are in 2019, about to embark on another playoff appearance. Though the players aren’t the same as they were when I was 14, the excitement from this season reminded me a lot of those glory days. Ronald Acuña and Ozzie Albies are exciting youngsters. Freddie Freeman and Josh Donaldson are the cagey veterans. Mike Soroka, Max Fried, Dallas Kuechel, and Mike Foltynewicz lock down the rotation. Austin Riley provides some rookie pop. Nick Markakis is the calming force. Brian McCann is the fiery catcher. Dansby Swanson is the slick shortstop. Then the bench reminds me of the depth we had with Lonnie Smith, Vinny Castilla, Francisco Cabrera, and Deion Sanders. And lastly, Brian Snitker is channeling his inner Bobby Cox.

I’m hoping for a deep run to the World Series, as is the rest of Braves Country. We have our work cut out for us with a hot St. Louis Cardinals team in the NLDS. If we make it past them, we will either run into the best record in the National League with the Dodgers, Milwaukee, or possibly our old division nemesis, the Washington Nationals. The American League is stacked with the Astros, Yankees, Rays, Athletics, and….wait for it….those old Minnesota Twins that we faced way back in 1991. In a dream scenario, we would get another crack at them and slay the dragon of the past. I could fully heal and move on from one of the biggest heartbreaks of my childhood. And I could finally get @junkwaxtwins off my back!

Let’s Go Braves! Chop On!

J-Dub

Are My Childhood Sports Cards Worth Anything?

For those of us who have been in and around the hobby for many years, it isn’t news to us that sports cards have seen a resurgence. There are a lot of people who are starting to figure this out though; thanks to some high profile publicity over the last several months. This is not where I am going to offer a drawn out opinion on what is going on with Gary Vee promoting the hobby, because I think the situation is fluid and there is no clear cut take that I am comfortable with. I think that ultimately, exposure is good but the right kind of exposure is the key. Exposure will make the people come to the hobby; providing the right kind of exposure once they get here is up to us, the long-time collectors.

There are definitely some sports cards on the market today that are super valuable and could potentially change your life if you are lucky enough to find them. But you have to understand that if you are in the hobby for that reason, it is a big gamble and you are almost guaranteed to burn out quickly. I have been collecting all my life, and if I didn’t love it and it hadn’t been so meaningful to my life, I would’ve left a long time ago. I’m not here to get rich, but if I pull something valuable along the way, I’m not going to be upset about it. This is the way I view this hobby; I’m here to enjoy the cards and collect my favorite players and sets. Whatever else happens can be considered “having my cake and eating it too”.

We can talk more about modern cards of value at some point but for those returning to the hobby after a hiatus; I think the subject of “Junk Wax” is where we need to start. If you ever check the responses or mentions when Gary Vee posts about sports cards, many of them are along the lines of, “Are the cards from when I was a kid worth anything?” As collectors, we get this question quite regularly in our day to day lives. I am pretty sure that the entire world collected sports cards in the 80’s and 90’s, so when people find out that some of us still do it in 2019, the question presents itself in some form or fashion. A lot of people still have a box of cards from when they were a kid or a binder that has been sitting in a closet at their parents for 30 years. And trust me, most of us LOVE looking through those cards with you to see if you have something cool. So with the pumping up of the industry happening all around us, these questions deserve some examination.

First, let me offer an explanation of one of the terms that will be used here regularly. Most collectors know this already but as this might reach somebody new, the term “Junk Wax” refers to the cards we collected during the big boom of the industry from around 1986-1995. The time frame varies from collector to collector but it is referred to as “Junk” because it was so massively overproduced. There are still cases and cases of 1987 Topps sitting in a warehouse somewhere. I prefer to view “Junk Wax” as more of an endearing term that represents cards from my youth. It is sort of like “Dad Bod” being somewhat derogatory but also embraced by society, both men and women alike, as a positive or cool thing.

Also, as it pertains to “value”; we all know that is a designation of relativity. A $5 bill is not the same to someone else as it may be to me. And a $100 bill is not the same for many of us either. So value, in the context of my collecting habits can be broken down as monetary value, social value, and nostalgic value.

Monetary Value – This is the value attached to cards from a cash standpoint that may be identified as buy and sell items.
Social Value – This is value that provides a way for collectors to connect, trade, and build their PC needs.
Nostalgic Value – This is value that is tied to the meaning behind the cards. Perhaps the card meant something to you as a kid or ties a memory to a moment in time. This is the type of value you will find most commonly associated with the “Junk Wax Era”.

With this in mind, when someone asks me if their cards from when they were a kid are worth anything, the answer is generally, “not likely”, but we now know that it is a little more complex than that. The ‘90 Donruss, ’88 Topps, ’91 Fleer, and ’92 Leaf sets of the world really have no tangible monetary value. But long time collectors aren’t just throwing those cards in the garbage either. That 1989 Gregg Jefferies Future Star was once a retirement piece that was set aside by the masses. It is now a .50 cent card that provides more nostalgic value than 90% of the cards on the market. When someone in the hobby mentions Gregg Jefferies, it is synonymous with “cards I collected as a kid.” If I pull one, it still goes in a toploader.

The truth, as it relates to monetary value, is that there are very few cards from that era that carry anything more than a $5 price tag. There are certainly exceptions but the advent of social media, eBay, and other selling sites, combined with what we know now about production numbers from that era, has transformed the 1986 Donruss Jose Canseco, 1985 Topps Mark McGwire, 1990 Pro Set Emmitt Smith, and 1989 Hoops David Robinson cards into collection pieces that can be bought all day long for a few bucks. I won’t even get into an explanation of grading because the odds are; if you are finding the box in your childhood closet, those cards aren’t graded. We’ll save that discussion for another day.

We will touch on condition, however. What makes the vintage cards from the 50’s and 60’s so valuable is tied to scarcity and condition. So many of those cards were tossed away or used as play toys, the basic number of cards still in reasonable condition make those somewhat rare. In any collection, rare is good. By the late ‘80’s, we had learned to keep our cards in better condition because they could be worth something in the future. We used toploaders, binders, and screw-down holders to keep the highly sought after cards in “pretty good” condition. But “pretty good” condition isn’t good enough anymore. And 90% of our collections went into big cardboard boxes for posterity so “pretty good” might be generous.

That fact, combined with the printing errors (miscuts, off-center photos and borders) that are rather commonplace in sets from those days, there is still somewhat of a premium for cards that are in mint or pristine condition. For example, the Ken Griffey Jr. Upper Deck rookie from 1989 sells on eBay for about $30 if you still have it in a toploader or binder. If it is graded by one of the major companies, and certified as mint condition, it sells for about $450. Whatever your understanding of value is, that is a pretty self-explanatory comparison without having to go into the ins and outs of grading.

The average “big box of cards” sitting around the house collecting dust from your childhood likely won’t have the ’89 Upper Deck Griffey or ’86 Donruss Canseco in there. These were the cards we put aside for safekeeping and either sold when we were getting out of the hobby or traded them for other cards we thought were going to be valuable and ultimately wound up in the big box when the players didn’t pan out. I am envisioning those trades that involved the likes of Todd Van Poppel, Kevin Maas, and Phil Plantier. But who knows, you might get lucky and stumble on something you forgot was there.

Let’s make this clear. I love Junk Wax. I love the nostalgia, the players, and most of the sets. There are some real beauties hanging out in that era. You just have to know what you like and know what to look for. With that in mind, here is a handy guide of what I look for when I get the call to look through somebody’s old cards. Spoiler alert; Monetary value is very minimal, Social Value is pretty solid, and Nostalgic Value is through the roof!

Draft Pick Cards
This particular Steve Avery has more sentimental value than most. But I also loved the Robin Ventura, Frank Thomas, and Ty Griffin cards. There was something cool about seeing players in high school and college uniforms.

1989 Upper Deck
The Griffey is the obvious prize but ’89 Upper Deck features a lot of fun cards in a design that is as iconic as you’ll find from the 80’s. Even without the Griffey, you’ll be happy to stumble on something from this set.

Oddballs
I love Kmart, Rite Aid, Purina, and whatever other odd retail cards you can find. They almost always have a checklist of superstars and they are unique designs that you may not remember.

Unique Photos
Upper Deck had a lot of these but you could find plenty in the other sets as well. The triple exposures were a lot of fun!

Pro Vision
One of my all time favorite subset cards. I’ve never met a Pro Vision I didn’t like.

Leaf Gold
These were on a completely different level when they were released. These cards just oozed elegance. I still enjoy finding these in random box searches.

Topps Gold
If you are REALLY lucky, you might find a “Gold Winner” like the Molitor above. But just finding base gold is enough to sit and stare for a while.

Gallery of Stars
Diamond Kings also fit in this category but the early 90’s Gallery of Stars were awesome! They had gold foil and felt like high end inserts. The checklist was solid as well.

All-Star Rookies
Topps has had its share of misses among the Future Stars but “most” of the time; the All-Star Rookies are players that performed well when they first hit the field.

Errors
Some are more obvious than others but during the Junk Wax Era, error cards were mostly unintentional and were always fun to chase. How do you like the condition of this gem? This is what many cards in the big box wind up looking like over time.

Mid-Late 80’s Fleer
Fleer did not make a bad set from 1984 through 1989. We’ll forget that 1991 ever happened for this section. I love all superstar cards from this era of Fleer!

1992 Bowman
This set has some of the biggest rookie cards from the early 90’s, along with some of the greatest photos in the history of sports cards. If you find a rookie from 1992 Bowman, odds are that it will either be a good player or a super cheesy photo.

1987 Topps
Is there really anything to say here other than; 1987 Topps?

1989 Fleer Billy Ripken
This is quite possibly the most infamous card from the 80’s. If you don’t know the story of the ’89 Ripken, you need to read it HERE!

Ken Griffey Jr.
All day, every day! There is no such thing as a bad Ken Griffey Jr. card.

Frank Thomas
Like Griffey, every card that Thomas appears on is a keeper. Some are better than others, like this sweet ’92 Topps.

When you ask the question, “Are my cards from my childhood worth anything”, the short answer is “no”, so long as you were a kid from 1980 to 2000. The longer and more accurate answer will take some sorting, research, and time. And what that really means is that there might be a few specific cards in a box of 5,000 that may be worth a few bucks. But that is only taking monetary value into consideration. When considering social and nostalgic value, you really can’t put a price on “Junk Wax”. There is still a great feeling that comes with finding a Gary Sheffield RC or a Juan Gonzalez Reverse Negative or a Nolan Ryan Triple Exposure card. This is where the value lies for cards in that era. When someone tells you they would take the cards but won’t pay a whole lot for them, they likely aren’t lying. The cards have value; they just aren’t worth a lot of money, if that makes sense.

If you find yourself in a situation where you want to know what your “Junk Wax Era” cards are worth, my recommendation is to go to someone you trust. Ask someone who has nothing to gain, other than assisting you in browsing the collection. But also, expect the discoveries to be more fun than lucrative. There are some gems to be found in the “Junk Wax Era” but we learned a long time ago that we aren’t retiring on sports cards we collected in 1988.

J-Dub

Retro Review – Junk Food Era

I have learned a lot being a parent. Most of that has translated over into everyday life and decision making. I’ve become more compassionate, more aware of my surroundings, and more cognizant of the way I carry myself when I don’t think anyone is watching. Whether I was ready to grow up or not, being a parent has turned me into a full-fledged adult. I used to worry about what I’d be doing after work; playing ball, video games, hanging with the guys? Now I know what I’m doing; homework, cooking supper, and washing clothes. I’ve learned how to do ponytails, pick out matching clothes, and even convince a 4 year old to brush her teeth. Every day presents a new opportunity to learn.

One thing that I have most definitely learned over the last few years is that you can never have enough food in your house. This grocery cart represents the standard, “Daddy, we don’t have anything to eat” trip. G loves her Mac-n-Cheese, Juice, Goldfish, and Diet Dr. Pepper. Bug loves her Totino’s Pizza, Lunchables, Chips, and Mountain Dew. The Oatmeal Pies are Daddy’s treat. This cart of high quality sustenance will last about 3 days. Then I’ll be back for more. This doesn’t even count as part of the trips I make to actually buy legit meal food. I now understand what me and my brother put my parents though; we were boys and I ate everything you could put in front of me that wasn’t a green bean!

This wonderful place is like a fantasy land for me. I live about a half a mile from here and I can take off at a moments notice and my food problems at home are solved. I would estimate that in any given 30 day month, I spend 20 days here. In fact, I spend so much time here, I recently met a parent in FFA and the first thing she said was, “oh yeah, I see you at Publix all the time! Nice to formally meet you.” The cashiers know me by name, some have friended me on FaceBook, and the deli clerks know what I want before I ever order. The meat manager always gives me “the finger guns” when I walk by and the produce manager stops to catch up with me when I’m grazing the Granny Smith apples. I’m flattered at times, but sometimes embarrassed because I spend way too much time there.

Food has always been a very important part of my life. Unfortunately, I’m not as active as I once was, so my body has paid the price for my love of chicken-n-waffles. But while I battle occasionally with being unhappy with my waistline, I enjoy food far too much to turn my back on it and try to live off of salad or some sort of bread free diet. I’m certain that my poor diet choices will take me one day but I think I’d rather live 55 good years than 70 bad ones. I cut where I can but if I’m being honest, there are just some things I’ll never be able to cut; Oreos, Apple Pie, Reese’s, Pizza, to name a few.

A recent topic on Twitter has been the general pulse on non-licensed sports cards. This conversation led to an era in which I was able to enjoy two of my very favorite things together in the form of the Food Issue Baseball Card. During the 80’s and early part of the 90’s, the timeframe wasn’t dubbed “Junk Wax Era” just because of production numbers from Topps, Fleer, and Donruss. Compounding the glut of cards on the market, everybody and their brother was producing them; from Kellogg’s to Purina to KMart to Pepsi. Some of these “oddball sets” were licensed and some weren’t. I don’t remember it being as big of a deal back then but the lack of logos is more than obvious today.

While there are some companies that are wading back into the oddball releases, they are much less common than back in the 80’s. Hanes just released a set of Michael Jordan Fleer cards to celebrate the 30 year anniversary of his partnership with the company. A pack of 5 cards could be found within a package of t-shirts or boxers at participating Wal-Mart’s and a few other big box stores. These cards don’t even feature Jordan in a sporting event and collectors were immediately clamoring for them on eBay; nobody more so than Ivan (@watchthebreaks) on Twitter. Thanks to his enthusiasm for the release, I was able to keep up with the happenings during the early weeks. Maybe this will lead to a few more releases that will be fun to chase.

When I was a kid, Quaker Chewy Granola Bars were a huge afternoon snack for kids. They were easy to handle, tasted pretty decent, and didn’t have to be cooked. As was the case with many other products aimed at kids, they added a new dimension to their desirability when they released a 33 Card Baseball Set in 1986! They weren’t the first on the market but they were certainly my first. I still have a few of these in a binder but I recently picked up the whole set on eBay for a smooth $10.

The design is pretty memorable for a food issue and they had backing from one of the several licensed card manufacturers at the time, Topps, so we got the MLB Logos. It was very different from the flagship design so it had added collectibility with it also looking like a completely separate set. That Quaker Oats Yellow and Red remain very memorable to me. The set featured the collectible stars from that year and even doubled up on a couple of teams.

The backs aren’t too bad either. The red and blue are easy on the eyes and the back of the card has a basic grey stock. I wish there were more seasons outlined but that is the only complaint I have.

Doc was fresh on the scene and would be as dominant as anyone over the late 80’s. This guy was fun to watch!

Tony Gwynn was always one of my favorites but I’m not really in the minority on that. The Pads uniforms were not known as “good looking” but I do miss these old gems.

For many years, Murph was the only reason to tune in to the hapless Braves. I sure wish he had been around in the early 90’s to enjoy the good times.

The exact opposite of the Padres uniforms were those of the Expos. I can’t think of any reason you wouldn’t love these beauties. Raines was a legend on those teams!

Speaking of legends, there are two in this photo; Nolan Ryan and the Astros Jersey! I know he spent a good portion of his career with the Rangers but when it comes to cards, this is how I remember The Express.

The Wizard really was one of my favorites during this time. I’ve told the story many times about his rookie card being the first card I remember owning. I should’ve PC’d Ozzie!

The other Met I really liked was Strawberry. I’m conditioned to dislike the Mets but I made exceptions for Straw and Doc.

Donnie Baseball without the stache is always odd to me.

Speaking of Stache, “Chicken Man” always had a strong one in Boston!

No facial hair could compete with Eddie Murray though. After all these years, THIS is the card that I still vividly remember from this set. I loved this card when I was a kid.

Finally, the other Oriole on the checklist was the Iron Man himself. I’ve never met a Ripken card I didn’t like!

This was a pretty easy score for me. I love this set because it has a good design with fun colors, and the checklist is as solid as green oak. This is what oddball sets were meant to look like and the good folks at Quaker nailed it. I still think of this set when I pick up a box of Apple/Cinnamon Oatmeal or a Granola Bar. This set earns a strong “5”! What say you on the 1986 Quaker Set?

J-Dub

I Love The 80’s – Donruss

I really love the 1980’s! I think I have made that very clear over the last two years on the blog here. I have written numerous pieces on some of the random card sets from the 80’s to go with some of my favorite memories. I have so many memories from those days; and looking at sports cards from those years takes me back and makes those memories as vivid as the cards I am looking at. When I see certain cards, I remember exactly where I was. I am able to piece together parts of my childhood that have otherwise been forgotten. Some of the events are mundane but they are almost always important in the big book of life I have been writing.

What’s so interesting to me about card sets from the 80’s can be broken down into three main thoughts.

First, going back through those sets helps me temper expectations for some of the “big rookies” of today. In other words, I don’t easily fall victim to “recency bias” because I lived through the days of Ron Kittle and Ben McDonald. While that means I have ultimately saved some money by not over investing; it would be fair to say that I have missed on some guys too because I just had a “hunch” they would fall apart. I do collect rookies, but they are usually pack pulled and not purchased singularly. I’ll certainly sell when times are good but I am not always a big buyer unless they are PC items.
Next, the players from the 80’s have all played out their careers. So while the thrill of prospecting isn’t necessarily there, I do know what I’m getting with every pack I am opening. I know the players I am looking for, I know the subsets I like the most, and I know all about SP’s from those days without having to read tiny codes on the back of cards. Some people believe that familiarity breeds contempt. I, on the other hand, believe that familiarity breeds comfort.
Finally, I think every design from the 80’s is a little time capsule by itself. If you lived through those times, you understand why ’86 Donruss reminds people of “Max Headroom”, and why ’90 Topps has a “Saved by the Bell” vibe. In those moments, they were just what was popular and we didn’t expect anything different. Looking back, the designs themselves can be a snapshot of a moment in history; whether rooted in pop culture or otherwise.

That last point is why I am here with the first installment of my new series: “I Love the 80’s!” In this series, I am going to take each of the major card manufacturer releases from the 80’s and rank them by year. I’m going to start with Donruss because it was so available to me back in the day. I grew up a Donruss guy; though I have a lot of attachment to certain Topps and Fleer releases too. I might even slide into the early 90’s when I am done running this gauntlet because there are quite a few memorable, but not necessarily iconic, designs from those years as well.

As you are likely aware, Donruss and Fleer had one less release than Topps in the 80’s because they began producing sets in 1981. I’ll rank the sets from worst to first and give my reasons for the rankings. I am combining multiple factors in ranking these sets. The foremost factor in the ranking will be the design; but I am also considering certain personal memories and memorable cards from each set as well. This is not necessarily about the checklist. It’s more about how fun the set was. I’d love to hear your thoughts and how you see the rankings differently. Let’s dive right in.

#9 – 1981

The set that comes in at #9 on the countdown was the easiest to assess. This was the first year that Donruss manufactured cards and it was nothing short of a train wreck in my opinion. The design itself was plain and boring. The colors were not consistent throughout the checklist and the photos were somewhat amateur. The set was groundbreaking in one aspect as it was the first year that Topps had competition. But overall, the set falls flat. In their defense, they only had about 6 months to put the whole set together and release it due to the timing of the court ruling. The backs of the cards look different from any other release from Donruss for the next 10+ years. I am not a fan. Tim Raines is easily the best card in the set for me, as he wound up being the only major rookie from that season, unless you include Danny Ainge.

#8 – 1982

While Donruss’ follow up release in 1982 was an improvement from the previous year, it is still not as popular as some of the later 80’s issues, as you’ll soon see. The addition of the bat and ball at the bottom of the card was a nice touch and it gave the team and player names a little more flair than in ’81. I also like the font from ’82 better than the previous release. There were better action shots in the set as well, along with a better group of rookies, led by Legendary Cal Ripken, Jr. The backs of the cards transitioned close to what we would become familiar with from Donruss. They only used 5 total seasons and a career line but it was easier on the eyes than the ’81 backs. They would choose some odd colors over the years but the blue backs were nice in ’82. You may find it odd though that I did not choose the Ripken as my favorite card from the set in 1982. From a visual standpoint, I loved this Nolan Ryan! The classic Astro’s jersey was just hard to beat!

#7 – 1983

I promise that I am not going in reverse order for this countdown. But the first 3 years of Donruss were certainly years of growth for the company. 1983 is my favorite of those first 3 years but not a HUGE change from 1982, with a glove replacing the ball, and the Donruss logo going back to the same position from 1981. The photos had become a little more vivid and the use of action shots improved. This was also the first year that they used a variation of the peach colored back that would be used several more times through the 80’s and 90’s. This was a very nice rookie set with Gwynn, Boggs, and Ryne Sandberg. My favorite from the set was this Gwynn. Like the Ryan in ’82, I loved the Padres jersey from the early 80’s. Don’t ask me why!

#6 – 1988

I sort of feel bad about this one because the design isn’t terrible. The set itself just does not evoke warm and fuzzy feelings. 1988 Donruss has received a bit of a bad rap and I suppose I am not helping the cause much with this ranking. I am just not blown away by anything in ’88 Donruss other than the Glavine and Gant rookies. I actually love the 1988 Retro Design in the 2018 Panini Football sets but I think that is more based in nostalgia than fondness of the set itself. The backs were good with Donruss returning to blue again, and they were no longer using the white border on the back, as that had changed by 1985. This is one of my favorite Ron Gant cards because it is a true rookie. I think the jersey matched up with the color scheme of the design well and I have always enjoyed this card.

#5 – 1984

This is really more of a love/hate design because of the competition with ’84 Topps and Fleer. It was the worst design of 1984 between the companies but I rank it 5 because it was the first major change in design for Donruss in their early production years. They removed the multi-color borders and went with a one piece white border, which was as close to a full bleed as you could get in the early 80’s. I like the move of the logo to the bottom of the card and within the team logo “swoosh”. The backs had an odd aqua color and this was the last year there would be a border there. This set hit on 2 key rookies with Darryl Strawberry and Don Mattingly but missed out on Puckett, Clemens, and Gooden, who would be found in either the update or traded sets with Fleer and Topps. Strawberry was a big chase for me in the 80’s as he was a legitimate superstar. This was my favorite card from the ’84 set, beating out the Don Mattingly.

#4 – 1987 Donruss

As you’ll see from the countdown, I really preferred the Donruss sets with the darker design. While they were hard to keep in mint condition, they were just different than anything else that was being produced at the time. I have 1987 lowest on the ranking for dark border design because I didn’t really like the baseballs on the side of the card. The backs were a variation of that peach color I mentioned with 1983 but closer to the color used in 1989, which we’ll see in a moment. One of the most infamous Donruss cards of the 80’s is found in this set; the RJ Reynolds/Barry Bonds error card. But my favorite is this Bo Jackson Rated Rookie. I will never pass up a Bo Jackson RC, no matter who manufactured it.

#2(B) – 1989 Donruss

Ok, so I have a tie in the second spot. I just couldn’t choose one of these over the other. This is one of the first full sets I put together, as I was 12 years old when it was released. It comes in at #2(B) on the countdown for multiple reasons. I really like the design because it has a clean and classy look to it that gets down to business. While the colors didn’t always match up as well as this Ken Griffey Jr., pictured above, many of the card colors complimented the player’s jersey nicely. The backs had that familiar Donruss peach variation, with this one being almost iconic (for Donruss) in my eyes. This is a VERY memorable Donruss set from the 80’s for me, just because of the timing. I was at peak collecting in 1989 and the chase for Ken Griffey, Jr. was unlike anything I had ever been a part of. This card is likely the most important card in my collecting history as it really cemented my love for the hobby.

#2(A) – 1985 Donruss

The other half of the tie for second is a vastly underrated set in collecting lore. The design is spectacular with the black border and red lines. The team logos are nicely done and the player names are clean. I should probably have more ’85 Donruss in my collection but the set is often overlooked with the true rookies of the big guys being found in ’84 Fleer Update and ’84 Topps Traded. Guess what we find on the backs? Why, it’s that familiar peach color with a little lighter tint. The back I’m showing here is actually a Leaf back and has English and French text. The Kirby Puckett card was an easy choice for me as I was a huge fan of Puckett in the 80’s. I do wish he had played with a different team but those Twins uniforms make some of his mid-80’s cards look even better.

#1 – 1986 Donruss

I gave consideration to ’89 Donruss for the top spot just because of how important it was to me and my growth within the hobby. But the 1986 Donruss design is one of the most popular designs of the ‘80s. There was really no way I could not put this set as #1. The front design was very “Max Headroom” and really encapsulates 1986. And while the front is awesome, the back uses that nice soft blue as well, making this design the total package; front and back. While the ’89 Ken Griffey Jr. is legendary, perhaps there is no card during the late 80’s that was more sought after than the Jose Canseco Rated Rookie from ’86. This was one of the first cards from the 80’s that hit triple digits in the Beckett Price Guide and was a MUST HAVE for collectors. The set actually produced two more stud rookies with Fred McGriff and Andres Gallaraga, but they couldn’t compete with Jose. This is such a beautiful and memorable card!

Bonus – 1988 Donruss Baseball’s Best

While ’88 Donruss checks in way down at #6 on the countdown, I had to include the 88 Donruss “variation”, Baseball’s Best. It had the same general design as the base ’88 Donruss, but it used an awesome orange color on the front that gave it some extra pop. This was such a fun design! I still have this set unopened in my stash because of how much I enjoyed it!

Donruss was really fun in the 80’s. 1990 started off rough with the ketchup red set and junk wax really started to take over. The did keep the sets lively with the introduction of “The Elite Series” but 80’s Donruss couldn’t be matched. What are your thoughts on one of the new kids on the block from that era? What do you think about the ranking? Let me hear from you!

J-Dub

What In The Wide World of eBay?

When I was in my collecting infancy in 1989, I had two real options to buy cards. I could go to the store or I could try to get to a card show and that was it. While I did have multiple store options back then, from Wal-Mart to grocery stores to convenience stores, the card shop was about 30 minutes away from my sleepy little town. I remember two brothers having a makeshift shop in their father’s insurance business, but that was it. Shows weren’t big in my city either, though they were booming in various parts of the state like Macon, Valdosta, and Atlanta. Those were the good ole days when there was no difference in “Hobby” and “Retail” and no one was buying all the Hoops from Wal-Mart to run back to their neighborhood and sell them for 3x the original cost.

Life was pretty simple then; you bought cards at the local retail outlet, you looked for inserts and rookies, you scanned the Beckett for the value, and you traded with your friends. The internet was nowhere near being discovered for me and the thought of buying something through the mail was a little scary. Times are completely different now. You can buy packs, boxes, singles, and supplies from a number of online retailers; you can break boxes with groups of friends through video; and you can post your hits on social media to try to find buyers. But the biggest online shop still seems to be eBay for a large group of collectors.

There are great online stops like Blowout, Beckett Marketplace, COMC, Bags Unlimited, Dave & Adam, and Steel City Collectibles, just to name a few, but so many collectors fall back on eBay for comps, pricing, listing, and even occasionally for previewing before they buy a product. If you list a card too high on Twitter, somebody will rush in with an eBay screen shot in their negotiations. I use eBay quite a bit because I have established myself there as a reputable seller and I have connected with a group of sellers that I trust and go back to when I need something. It’s also just fun to browse sometimes.

This is not an endorsement post for eBay so don’t misread my intentions here. I am about to get to the point in all of this. As I mentioned, it is fun to browse eBay sometimes and certain filters add to the enjoyment. I like to type in random years and set names, and then sort them by highest priced listings to see what is out there that I may have missed over the years that might be sitting in an old box somewhere. I read blogs, keep a close eye on Twitter, and talk to a lot of people in the industry but sometimes eBay will still turn up a gem that I didn’t realize was valuable.

Of course, this method also turns up some real head scratchers. Most of you who are reading this post are probably already aware of the 1990 Fleer Jose Uribe craze that is out there but if you don’t, you should check out this post before you list yours and expect big bucks. There have been rumors of the card being used in money laundering schemes and most of the listings all say “RARE” or “VERY SHORT PRINT”. I don’t know about the illegal rumors but I can confirm that the card is not rare and there are no credible sources claiming that anything in 1990 Fleer was a short print. But hey, I did find where one allegedly SOLD for $600 just a couple days ago. Who knows if the sale is arms-length, but there it is. Some wise-acre even listed the factory sealed set for $354,295!

The common thought on this Uribe phenomenon is that somebody has gone and created all of this fake buzz about the card and are profiting by selling their cards for $2-$3, which is still an amazing 5000% markup on the .05 it is likely worth. There are a bunch of them selling for a couple dollars and even several that have sold for $20-$50, which is just absolutely insane. So if that is the scheme, it seems to be working. Whatever the reason is, it isn’t the only wild listing you will find in your browsing. Here are some others I found in my travels.

1989 Donruss Alex Madrid

This is the closest thing to the Jose Uribe card out there right now as there are multiple listings for $15,000+. Alex Madrid was a pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies who wrapped up his 3 year career in the majors with a 2-3 record, a 5.63 ERA, and 1 Complete Game over 46.1 innings pitched. But here is his 3rd year Donruss card, listed for as much as $25,000 on eBay. Some claim that it is an error because it has Leaf 1988 on the back, even though Leaf owned Donruss. Others claim to have one with a period behind Leaf. The fact of the matter is that this is not a rare or valuable card and appears to be another Jose Uribe scam. However, there was $110 sale out there, so somebody took the bait at least a little.

1992 Fleer Steve Sax

Here, someone thinks they have a rare Steve Sax card because it has a yellow circle on the card. You can have this rarity for just under $10,000 if you are a big Sax fan. If you have ever opened a pack of anything from the 80’s and 90’s, you know that printing errors are not rare. Fortunately, there is only one of these listed and there are zero sales on eBay of a 1992 Fleer Steve Sax. The fishing expedition may have just begun on this one.

1989 Topps Dave Smith “Miscut”

The only thing that may appear in packs from the Junk Wax Era more than a printing error is a cutting error. But this astute seller is making us believe that this Dave Smith that is horribly cut is somehow rare and valuable. I honestly can’t tell whether some of these are just jokes or whether these may be a seller just outright taking advantage of people who think their old cards from when they were kids are really valuable. But there are several listed for $5, which is criminally overpriced so there may be a big scheme behind it all. Fortunately, no sales on this one.

1986 Steve Young Topps Rookie

Then there are cards that are actually collectible and hold some value that are listed at astronomical prices like this Steve Young. This is a really cool card and one to have in your collection if you are an old school collector like myself. But you can find these in mint graded condition for less than $1,000 and you can certainly buy one ungraded, like the one listed, for less than $20.

1988 Donruss Tom Glavine

Who wouldn’t spend $500 on a 1988 rookie card of a Hall of Fame Pitcher? I love Tom Glavine and am a huge Braves fan but this is literally a $1.00 card every day of the week. It might be $25 if it is a Grade 10 from one of the big grading companies.

1989 Score Traded Ken Griffey Jr.

By Junk Wax standards, this might actually be considered slightly rarer than some other cards. The fact that it is from a Traded Set lends itself to possibly being in less of a print run than the base set was. But there are still millions of these out there. This is a very nice card that sells for about $35 if it is a Grade 10, which is something that can’t be said for any other card in the entire 1989 Score Catalog. But in no alternate universe would this ungraded version net more than $10.

1990 Donruss Ken Griffey Jr. Diamond King

Speaking of Ken Jr., if you had the bones to pick up his Score Traded Rookie for $970, you could save a tad more and pick up this sweet 1990 Donruss Diamond King! I wrote about this card one time because a classmate of mine was mad at me and took it from my book bag to rip it in half. I found it later in the day and was fuming. I would have been REALLY MAD if I had known it would be worth a grand one day!

VINTAGE 1988-1990’s Topps Score Baseball Cards Lot No Junk All High Value Cards

That is quite a description. And it is quite misleading when you look at the photo. I skimmed through all 10 photos and the cards you are looking at in this one photo are all of the cards in the lot. That’s right; 14 star cards for $450! There are even 4 Edgar Martinez cards thrown in here so it can’t be labeled a Hall of Fame Lot. This is the very reason people who got out of the hobby 20 years ago think their collections are so valuable today. I’ve said it before, value is relative. I love every one of these cards and love having them in my collection. But they are not worth $450 US Dollars!

1990’s Giants and A’s Complete Team Sets Donruss, Fleer, Tops

The first red flag is that the seller spelled Topps, “Tops”. But for a mere $18,000, you can have something that any fan of the Bay Area would love. In this lot, you get the A’s Team Set from 1989 Donruss, Fleer and Topps, along with the Giants Team Set from 1990 Fleer, and 1989 Donruss and Topps. This is a rather unique listing that might get some action in a reasonable price range but the seller REALLY loses me when he says, “never touched by human hands.” That’s just unnecessary and patently false.

Like I mentioned before, I don’t know if some of these are jokes or if these are some part of a more elaborate scheme to bring value back to the Junk Wax Era that is failing miserably. But in either case, these are actual, live listings on the auction site. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. Unfortunately, there appear to be occasional buyers that fall for these deals. They buy them at a much lower price than the listing but way higher than they should have ever shelled out. What are some of the weirdest eBay listings you’ve ever seen?

J-Dub

New Release Review – Memory Preservation

Time certainly does fly by. We can call that a cliché or whatever, but the older I get, the more I realize it to be the absolute truth. I still can’t believe it when I realize I am only 2 months away from being 42 years old. It isn’t because I think that I am somehow supposed to defy time and stay the same age forever. It is just hard to wrap my head around being on this earth for 15,330 days. I’ve reached the age where instead of wondering what I will be when I grow up, the question becomes whether I will live another “X” number of years to match those that I have already lived. If I were to double my life from today, I would be almost 84 years old!

That doesn’t mean I have actually figured out what I want to be when I grow up, because I don’t know that I will ever either figure that out or actually grow up. Growing up and growing old are two different things I want to do those exclusive of each other, if at all possible. That is why this blog is so important to me at this stage of my life. It forces me to stay in touch with a younger version of myself. It forces me to remember why I am where I am today and some of the ways I’ve gotten here. It also forces me to take stock in where I am going and whether or not I want to keep going in that direction.

Is it surprising to you that these seemingly random sports card reviews actually help me take a mental inventory of who I am, where I have been, and where I am going? I say with 100% confidence that I would be writing these whether you were reading them right now or not. I am super thankful that you are; but some of my most important pieces were read by 10 people while some of the most random were read by 1,000. Writing is as much to me about self-motivation, nostalgia, and future growth as it is about what I actually think about 1989 Donruss and Nolan Ryan. I learn from myself when I write; it’s just not learning about cards for me as much as it is learning about how my brain works.

When I sit down to write, it is sort of like turning on the TV in my brain and watching old home movies from growing up. I visualize what I was doing when I focus on the subject I’m writing about. I try to recreate the full experience, even though my mind has slowly started to blur what may have actually happened. I still have the strong concrete pillars and foundation of my childhood; but the paint on the shutters are peeling and the carpet is starting to fray in the high traffic areas. And this blog is the only way I can occasionally spruce things up a bit. The blog is the toolbox that I have laying around the house that I have to pull out when screws need to be tightened and pictures need to be re-hung.

So really, that is why I write these sometimes pointless pieces. It is therapeutic, invigorating, and often just the right cure for what’s ailing me. And the older I get, the more ailments I have. You may sometimes think that my giveaways and constant sharing is all about traffic counts or exposure; and sometimes that is part of it. But the traffic and exposure part is what has put me in touch with likeminded people who share the same stories and many of the same memories along our walk through life. And while there are moments in my life that I will never actually get back, I am not eager to let go of the memories either. I need those memories; regardless of how important or trivial they can sometimes be. So it is important to write about them in an effort to create a dialog with a stranger that may have experienced the same moment as me 25 years ago, some 500 miles away.

I have to try and treat these moments all with the same amount of respect. A memory I have from high school graduation might just have the same amount of importance as a toy that I got from a cereal box when I was 10. Just this past Halloween, I found a box of Boo Berry at the grocery store and right there in the store aisle, I pictured myself sitting on the old shag carpet in front of our console TV, watching Saturday morning cartoons. It was one tiny memory that, for one fleeting second, made me forget about the bills I had to pay or the cholesterol pill I had to take or the calls from work I had to return. And that is what life has become at the age of 42; balancing a day to day life of responsibilities with occasional fleeting seconds of happy-go-lucky nonchalance. Well, it’s obviously more than that, but that is life to me at its most basic; living in the now but never forgetting my past.

That is also what cards do for me at this age. They help me remember when my biggest worry was whether or not I was going to get my neighbor to trade me one of those 1990 Kevin Maas Upper Deck Rookies, and how much it was going to cost me. Sports Cards are an immediate window into the past for me; whether a junk wax set or something newly released. And for the latter, no set has done that for me in baseball this year, quite like 2018 Topps Gallery. I do love Archives and Heritage but Gallery really made an impression on me, pun possibly intended. I picked up some last weekend when I went down to visit my parents and I didn’t realize how much of an impact the set was going to have on me.

First, I have always enjoyed Topps Gallery, but I guess the mood I was in was perfect for the rip this time around. The set itself is a beautiful, artist rendered collection of cards that has a checklist infused with current and former players. Just like 2017, its first year back on the market in a decade, it is a Wal-Mart Exclusive, which carries its own set of pro’s and con’s that I’ll save for a deeper dive into the industry as a whole one day. The border design is mostly a whitish-gray with printed brush strokes around the edges. All of the images are painted by various artists and have a super professional look to them. These are really like classy miniature works of art.

Hobby boxes have 5 cards per pack and 20 packs per box. Blasters have 4 cards per pack, 7 packs per box, plus 1 additional pack with 4 Artist Proof Parallels. Finally, Fat Packs have 12 cards per pack.

Cards 1-150 are considered the base set with the usual influx of variations to be found. They include:

• Artist Proof (4 per blaster)

• Canvas (2 per fat pack)

• Private Issue /250 (1:13 hobby box)

• Green /99 (1:86 hobby, 1:108 blaster, 1:36 fat packs)

• Blue /50 (1:171 hobby, 1:213 blaster, 1:71 fat packs)

• Orange /25 (1:340 hobby, 1 :426 blaster, 1:142 fat packs)

• Printing Plates 1/1 (1:2,133 hobby, 1:2,661 blaster, 1:882 fat packs; each with Black, Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow versions)

• Red 1/1 (1:8,826 hobby, 1:10,733 blaster, 1:3,616 fat packs)

• These numbers provided by Ryan Cracknell at www.beckettnews.com/news/2018-topps-gallery-baseball-cards/

Short prints are found in the checklist from 151-200 and they include a mix of current and legendary players. There are also autographs and inserts to cover, which we will later.

There aren’t many “horizontal” cards but this Mattingly makes me wish there were more!

This Victor Robles is a cool photo with the glasses on the hat to give it a blue tint.

This Big Mac is an Artist Proof. I know I’ve seen this picture before!

The other half of the Bash Brothers is here as well. My Uncle Speedy pulled an autographed version of this card last week!

There are current players in the set, trust me. But I can easily get lost in these veteran player cards! Such a great image here!

There was no chance I would leave Bo out! If he gets pulled, he gets featured on this blog!

I’m not sure why some of the cards feature a colorful background other than artist choice I suppose. But this Ortiz is pretty sweet!

It’s always nice to add a new Chipper to the collection as well. I’d love to have the autographed version of this one!

Here is the first of your MLB Rookies of the Year. Ohtani was the American League representative.

And here is the National League ROY, Ronald Acuña. What a season this guy had!

This Hammerin’ Hank is one of the SP’s in the set. Classic photo!

Another SP is Jackie Robinson. One day, I’ll add some originals of Jackie but for now, this will have to do.

These are the Fat Pack Exclusives.

I’m not completely sold on the Heritage Inserts but I do love this Albies.

Another insert is the Hall of Fame cards. Nice to have a Jackson in the Halos uniform.

Masterpiece is an insert set that includes Black and White Images. These are ok but not my favorite cards.

Here is a Green Parallel numbered to 99. These are nice with a little added color.

The Blue Parallels are also numbered to 99. Eddie Murray is such an underrated player by today’s collectors.

Orange is the lowest numbered parallel I pulled. This Correa is numbered to 25.

Gallery includes box toppers, which can be found in the form of “Original” pieces. No such luck with this one but still a cool piece.

This is the base autograph. It looks just like the base card but with the added autograph sticker, and is not numbered.

This Green Parallel is numbered to 99!

And finally, The Big Hit! I mean, The Big Hurt! This bad boy is numbered 4/5 and is one of the sweetest baseball pulls of the year for me. This is an unbelievable addition to my collection!

So there you have 2018 Topps Gallery. I love the set but I’m afraid future boxes are going to be hard to find. My local Wal-Marts are already out and they don’t usually restock exclusives. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and certainly keep an eye out at other Wal-Marts. These can be found online but they are marked up on the secondary market, as usual. I like the various options you have and the exclusives that are found in each offering. The designs are the best of any set for me in 2018, excluding designs they have recycled from previous years. I found good value in the boxes I opened and this is certainly a base set I can get behind. I give it a “5” on the Dub-O-Meter and will definitely be on the lookout for more!

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?

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