Originality of Junk Wax

People are unique. We all have opinions and outlooks that have been formed by different experiences, individual memories, and factors of our own environments. If you get too bogged down in the world of social media in 2018, which is a daily struggle, that can be something that is easy to forget. We all have the ability to think for ourselves and the freedom to enjoy the things that we like. We just don’t always have the willpower to live that unique life. We have an innate desire to be accepted and, in some cases, even admired. In doing so, we sometimes sacrifice the things that made us unique to begin with.

I think that we are all losing a bit of our originality at this point. By and large, most things in pop culture today are things we have already experienced, right? I’m really looking forward to the Halloween movie release in October; but why? It isn’t because it is going to be a “new take” on horror. It isn’t because I haven’t seen Michael Myers walk the streets of Haddonfield and hide in the shadows on Halloween night 50 times before. I do expect it to have its differences but they even brought back Jamie Lee Curtis again. I am looking forward to it and will watch it because I love Halloween; the holiday and the franchise. But it isn’t a groundbreaking film in 2018.

Halloween isn’t alone. There is a lot of buzz surrounding “Suspiria”, the reboot of the cult classic by Dario Argento (1977) that still sits at a stellar 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. There have been numerous recent re-imaginings of Predator, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and now, even Candyman. I saw Magnum P.I. commercials over the weekend while I was watching college football and I’m pretty sure I saw Murphy Brown come up on Sunday. Roseanne came back last year, Full House has been on Netflix for the past couple of years, and Double Dare has been on my TV at home more in the last month than it was when I was 15. Call them what you want; reboots, revivals, re-imaginings, whatever. The fact is, we are almost solely relying on the entertainment that was popular yesterday for our pleasure today.

Some of you might be saying right now, “wait a minute, aren’t you the RETRO GUY?” Why yes, I am! I love all things 80’s and 90’s and I have no problem with holding on to the good old days. I just prefer the originals over the reboots. I am sure I will love Halloween but I probably won’t be searching for the 20 year anniversary DVD when I am 61. Sidebar – Do you think we will still have DVD’s in 2038? Or will we have gone full circle and be searching Amazon for BetaMax again? Because let’s be honest, if you are really going to enjoy the classics, you have to have some integrity issues with the picture quality. I remember barely being able to see most of the original Halloween film when I first saw it in the 80’s because the lighting was so dark. I was adjusting brightness and tracking and anything else I could think off but it was just made dark.

Here is my point, my thesis statement, five paragraphs too late. If you like retro, find the original and enjoy it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a VHS tape, but if you plan on getting excited about the potential for a Candyman reboot, go watch the one that was released in 1992 and appreciate it for what it was in the early 90’s. Part of being original is appreciating things that are originals. Do you remember how New Coke flamed out and they had to go back to the “Classic” recipe? That was the original and that is what is still popular today. Companies mess around with packaging all the time but they always label it, “New Look, Same Great Taste”, because that is what needs to stay the same. The taste, figuratively and literally speaking, is what we always remember.

That brings me to originality in wax. And let me be clear on one major part of this discussion. “Wax” encompasses cards that were presented to us in wax wrappers. We are not buying “wax” at the LCS that is labeled 2018. We are not picking up “wax” at Target unless we are buying one of those repacks with some actual wax in it. I have been guilty of this before as well so I am not singling anyone out but I think we should start making the clear distinction between “wax” and the current product. Wax is, by its very name, specific to the era where we bought cardboard packaged in wax wrappers. Score threw us off a little when they introduced the little plastic bags and Upper Deck floored us with the foil but they are at least in the same era. That has actually been on my mind a lot lately and I wanted to go ahead and walk up the hill I am willing to die on.

Some of my favorite sets today are Heritage, Archives, and Classics. And some of my favorite inserts are the retro designs like the 1988 Donruss in football and the 1983 Topps in baseball this year. But you can actually go out and buy the real thing much cheaper than you are buying the current re-imagining. Sure, there is no Todd Gurley in 1988 Donruss and we won’t find Mike Trout in 1983 Topps, but we will find their 80’s counterparts, or originals, if you will. There are players like Bo Jackson, Marcus Allen, and Thurman Thomas that are found in many of the 80’s-90’s sets while players like Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr., and Jose Canseco are the cream of the crop for those 80’s wax packs.

I have found myself drowning in 2018 product because something gets released every week and I can’t seem to keep up. I love the rips on Periscope but we are seeing the same things over and over, just slightly repackaged. There is just too much to sort through and it can really drive you mad if you are still trying to collect with an old school mindset like I do. I have about 30 partially filled 500 count boxes in my closet with anything from Unparalleled, Chronicles, Origins, Certified, Chrome, Platinum, Bowman, Optic, Elements, and the list goes on. It has become maddening. I can feel myself losing some of my own originality because I am constantly bombarded with a new design concept but the checklist never changes.

When that happens, I have to go back to the originals. I have to go back to a set that I know I can complete, if I haven’t already, and work on the checklist that I have for it. It is a reboot of my own mind in some ways. So while I have already done an official review, I do think that a revisit of 1989 Fleer can be fun and informative for those that weren’t around for it when it was on the shelves at Wal-Mart. This set is the perfect example of something that pulls me in every time I see it online or at a vintage store. I can’t leave it sitting there because there is too much goodness inside. How many of you feel like that when you see an old blaster of 2016 Topps sitting on the clearance rack? Instead of covering this set, let’s cover some things that you no longer find in baseball cards.

This is Wax! There is a special feel and even a special smell that is only found in wax packs. There is no substitute.

One of the aspects of baseball cards that no longer exists in the current product; learning about baseball history.

For the most part, unique batting stances have faded. There are definitely some left but think about the batting stances from the 80’s and 90’s that are so unforgettable.

Major League Baseball has upped their game on jersey quality. Even Spring Training threads are top notch today.

I can’t remember the last time I saw a baseball helmet with no flaps! Was Olerud the last player? These were even better in the mini version with Dairy Queen Ice Cream in them.

Steve Jeltz could have made this list as well. Maybe it’s a product of global warming but we certainly don’t have enough warm up windbreakers in the game in 2018.

And without the windbreaker, we are also deprived of the windbreaker under the jersey look!

Back to the batting helmets, when was the last time you saw a player wear their cap under the helmet? I remember doing this in Little League and not even knowing it was possible to wear without the cap.

“Back in my day”, nickname cards were special inserts. These were actual player nicknames and they were showcased on their base cards.

These guys were good enough at their craft that they didn’t need contacts to play the game. No player represents the glasses era any better than Kent Tekulve. And I’m pretty sure that Kelly Paris and Ken Phelps are the same person.

I won’t say that this is completely gone from the game but you really don’t see eyeblack like you used to!

We had a Mike Trout in the 80’s too! He may have been medically enhanced but he was so fun to watch. Imagine what sort of stardom this guy would’ve experienced long term if things would’ve work out differently.

You want superstars? Dollars to doughnuts, there are not as many bona fide star players in the league as their used to be. This isn’t even all of the players that make the ’89 superstar list!

Card companies tinker around with box bottoms from time to time but these were common place in the 80’s. These made even the boxes collectible.

Error cards in the 80’s weren’t intentional either. Card companies made legitimate mistakes and then they reprinted cards trying to cover them up, indirectly creating a secondary market for the cards that were printed in error. These are the two famous errors from 89 Fleer, with Billy Ripken being arguably the most famous error ever.

Finally, though these are more readily available, I’ll bet a box of ’89 Bowman that Ken Griffey Jr. finished his career with better stats than any rookie from 2017-2018 will amass in their career. That includes Judge, Ohtani, Acuña, and others. That’s not a knock on those guys, but why wouldn’t you want a Hall of Fame rookie in your collection when it could be had for such a reasonable price?

All of this may seem tongue in cheek, and some of it is for entertainment, but each of these examples are based in truth and are what makes collecting these sets so much fun. Everyone uses the term “junk wax”. I use it too but it’s an endearing term to me more than it is a definition of the product. I know there was a ton of cards printed during the 80’s. I know that the card companies have been innovative over the years. This is not as much about today’s cards as it is about yesterday’s. We owe a lot to these sets. We owe the junk wax era a great deal of respect and we should honor what was the beginning of the hobby for so many of us. Collect your modern day sets and chase your Ohtani’s but all I ask is that every now and again, pick up a box of ’87 Donruss and experience the enjoyment of ripping wax that is the original version and not something that was “Rediscovered”. The price is low, the pressure is nonexistent and the rewards are pure and fun.

J-Dub