Candid, Action, and Posed

Whether or not it's a beautiful sunset, puppies in action, abandoned barns, or vintage sports cards... photography has always brought a smile to my face.  That's why when it comes to favorite cards, one of the first things I consider is the photograph.

1994 Upper Deck All-Star Jumbo #1

In a perfect world, I'd be showing off my favorite cards from the 2020 Stadium Club set... which is loaded with beautiful photography.  But over two years after its release, I still haven't been able to track down a reasonably priced set on eBay.  So the 1994 Upper Deck All-Star Jumbos will be filling in.

The oversized set (3.5" x 5.25") contains 48 cards and came in its very own storage box.  I have no idea where or when I purchased this set, but after taking a quick peek inside (and seeing that Griffey)... I was very pleased with the discovery.

1994 Upper Deck All-Star Jumbo #43

The set is broken down into two parts.  The first 42 player cards utilize Walter Iooss Jr. photography, while the final six cards commemorate historic baseball events dating back to the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings.

The majority of his photographs are zoomed in portrait shots like the Ripken and Bonds:

1994 Upper Deck All-Star Jumbo #15

1994 Upper Deck All-Star Jumbo #35

That's not necessarily a bad thing, because Iooss has a way of making them come off as artistic.  Plus the card backs feature an additional photograph:

I love this "Endor" card of Bonds running to his spot out in left field.  Here's a closer look:

There are also posed shots, like Gwynn sitting in the dugout...

1994 Upper Deck All-Star Jumbo #17

And candid shots like The Big Unit on the phone...

1994 Upper Deck All-Star Jumbo #20

Or Kirby showing off his trademark smile...

1994 Upper Deck All-Star Jumbo #14

There's even a bat rack photograph for the handful of bloggers with mini collections...

1994 Upper Deck All-Star Jumbo #24

Anyone familiar with me... knows my favorite photographs are well-cropped action shots like the David Justice...

1994 Upper Deck All-Star Jumbo #33

But the coolest Iooss photo in this set is on the back of Mike Piazza's card:

1994 Upper Deck All-Star Jumbo #31

Here's a closer look...

Now that's a sensational sunset card if I've ever seen one.  Looking at photography as beautiful as this makes me as giddy as Ramon hanging out with his bro...

1994 Upper Deck All-Star Jumbo #32

So if you enjoy photography as much as me, you might want to consider picking up a copy of this set.  They're way more affordable than 2020 Stadium Club sets.  But just remember... they aren't your standard sized cards (for those who dislike oversized cards).

Happy World Photography Day and sayonara!

Computer Simulated Data

As much as I love collecting baseball cards... I've only been casually following the MLB lockout negotiations.   Maybe that just makes me a casual fan.  Anyways... I hope they can settle their differences and find a place where both sides are at least semi-content... so fans don't miss out on any games this season.

1995 Topps #431

But if things don't get worked out in time and fans are faced with a shortened season, I wonder if Topps will bring back their Cyberstats parallels in 2023.

1995 Topps Cyberstats #228

For those of you who are scratching your heads, Topps created a set of cards in 1995 that paralleled part of the Topps flagship set.  The fronts used the same images.  However each Cyberstats card was given a metallic finish.

The backs were completely different in design and were the key to this set, because they featured "computer simulated data" for the player as if the 1994 season hadn't prematurely ended.  The numbering doesn't match, because Topps did not create a Cyberstats parallel for every player in the set.

For example:  Chipper Jones and John Smoltz have base cards in the 1995 Topps set, but do not have Cyberstats cards.

Anyways... I'm sure there are plenty of collectors who found this set to be "gimmicky".  However... I actually applaud Topps for thinking outside the box with these parallels.

Here are a few more I had sitting in player collections:

1995 Topps Cyberstats #1

1995 Topps Cyberstats #158

1995 Topps Cyberstats #335

I don't remember where I acquired these, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were discovered in dime or quarter bins... since they were inserted into Series 1 and Series 2 packs at a 1:1 ratio.

Last weekend though... I dipped a little further into the wallet and made this the third card in my 3 for $1 flea market purchase:

1995 Topps Cyberstats #360

Now we just need to sit back and wait to see if the 2022 MLB season will be shortened.  If it is... here's just one more way for Topps to live in the past and rehash something they've already done.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

A Glowing Find

The 1991 Topps Glow Backs are like termites.  I know they're out there and there's a good chance they're sitting within my home, but I've never actually seen them in person.

Well this analogy was broken over the summer when Steve over at 1975 Baseball Cards sent me a few to check out.  After failing to convert my iPhone into a black light, I purchased one on Amazon for less than $10.

Since then, whenever I stumble across a 1991 Topps baseball card in my collection, I have to check to see if it's a glow back.  I've actually found a bunch of Athletics... but nobody really cares about them, so I didn't bother to photograph them.

1991 Topps #333

On the other hand, I was pretty excited to find that one of my Chipper Jones rookie cards glowed in the dark:

Here's a look at the card back without the black light:

The other glow back I was pretty happy to find was this Tony Gwynn:

1991 Topps #180

It was actually sitting in my Gwynn binder the entire time.  It took about 20 minutes of digging, but I eventually found a non-glow back to sit next to his cardboard counterpart: 

Based on my personal findings, glow backs seem to be a little tougher to find.  However these findings is based on a very small sample size, so I turn to you...

Are 1991 Topps Glow Backs truly rarer?  

People on eBay seem to think so.  The handful of Chipper glow backs have BIN prices in the $18 to $30 range, while his regular card can be picked up for under $3.

Even if they are rarer... I've read that Topps produced close to four million copies of each 1991 Topps baseball card.  If that's true... than there are plenty of glow backs floating around our hobby to go around.  And if you're a player collector like myself... it's always fun to find a variation you didn't know you had sitting in your collection.

As for discovering termites... I'm not looking forward to that day.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Obviously Not Junk

The term "Junk Wax Era" gets thrown around a lot among collectors and for good reason.  There were so many sports cards produced from the late 80's to the early 90's that 99.7% are practically worthless.

Nevertheless... buried among some of those junk wax products are gems that have maintained collectors' interest and have surprisingly held their value over the years.

1991 Donruss Elite #7

The 1991 Donruss Elite inserts are one of those sets.  They were one of the first mainstream, serial numbered cards inserted into packs.

I was working at my local card shop when 1991 Donruss was released and was blown away by how much money people were willing to spend on singles from this set.

Here's a peek into the September 1991 Beckett:

Let's zoom in on what they had these inserts listed for:

These days there are several different high end products released each year, so it's not that uncommon to see cards worth triple digits pulled from packs.

But back in 1991, there weren't too many current issue cards that commanded that kind of cash right out of the gates.

Why the hype?

Well... they were really, really, really tough to pull.

One look at my Rickey Henderson numbered to 10,000 might have you scratching your head, since that's a figure that seems astronomical by today's standards.  He wasn't alone.  Donruss produced seven other guys who had cards numbered to 10k.  Plus Nolan Ryan had a special Legends card numbered to 7,500.  And there was an autographed Ryne Sandberg card numbered to 5,000.

That's 92,500 insert cards produced in total!  However... you've gotta remember that this was the Junk Wax Era.

One blogger did the math a few years ago and estimated that Donruss produced almost 7,000,000 wax boxes (Series One and Two combined) of baseball.  He based his numbers on an estimation published on BaseballCardPedia that stated that collectors pulled these inserts at a rate of around 1:75 boxes.

If either of these numbers are even remotely true, then you can't deny just how difficult these were to pull.

Today the Rickey no longer commands $200.  But it isn't a $2 insert either.  After a small bidding war, I ended up paying $27 (+ $2.99 shipping) about a month ago on eBay.  I've seen a few go for less, but I paid a premium to finally cross this card off of my wantlist.

You have no idea how good it feels to finally scratch a twenty-seven year itch.

And assuming this post is published on schedule, it'll feel a little bit better knowing that the regular school year ended a few hours ago and my four day weekend (until summer school session) has begun.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

The Good Old Days

Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days...

-Twenty One Pilots

Love it or hate it... the 90's were arguably our beloved hobby's Industrial Revolution.  Card companies had plenty of competition, which forced them to try and outdo each other.  This led to collectors being treated to a new era of sports cards.

Inserts and parallels might have been around for years... but they were now being made out of plastic, wood, and metal.  Manufacturers started serial numbering every other parallel and insert.  Refractors, Mirror Golds, printing plates, 1 of 1's, and memorabilia cards were being inserted into packs of trading cards.

And let's not forget... one of my favorite things to collect... autographed cards.  In 1990 Upper Deck inserted 2,500 Reggie Jackson signed cards into their high series packs.  Star Pics was immediately behind them with their 1990 Draft set... although technically they were inserted into factory sets... not packs.  That opened the floodgates for Donruss, Front Row, Fleer, Pinnacle, Action Packed, Traks, Maxx, Arena, Topps, Press Pass, Classic, Pro Line, Pankhurst, Courtside, Collector's Edge, All World, Score, and just about every other card company out there to follow suit.

Then in 1994 Signature Rookies and Be A Player (Upper Deck) started selling packs that were guaranteed to have at least one autograph in it.  At the time, I was one year away from becoming a die-hard hockey card collector.  But I did bust a bunch of Signature Rookies packs in both baseball and football.  Unfortunately they were draft products, so the athletes weren't featured in their professional uniforms.

1996 Leaf Signature remedied this issue when it became the first MLB set to include at least one autograph per pack.  In fact, the 1996 Leaf Signature Extended packs included two or more autographs per pack and all for the suggested retail price of $9.99.

Sadly... the checklist is filled with lesser known starters and utility players, because Leaf short printed most of the big names.  The good news is that many of these on-card autographs are the only certified MLB pack pulled signatures for these players and most of them can be had for a buck or two.

A few months ago, I was motivated by these two things and decided to build the Oakland A's and San Diego Padres autographed team sets.  I already owned a handful of the signatures from care packages and eBay purchases over the years.  A recent COMC order recently filled in a bunch of the gaps.

Here's what I have so far...

I've used multiple websites to try and narrow down that two team checklists.  Based on my research, I still need seven signatures for my A's set:  29 Mike Bordick, 36 Scott Brosius, 183 Phil Plantier, 56E Mike Gallego, 58E Jason Giambi, 113E Torey Lovullo, and 191E Matt Stairs.

Giambi signed cards for both series and is probably the only card I'll eventually have to pay a premium for.

There weren't as many Padres on their checklist...

Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman are the two biggest names on the checklist.  I already have the Gwynn, but I still need a Hoffman along with these three signatures:  12 Brad Ausmus, 41 Andujar Cedeno, and 53E Bryce Florie.

You probably already figured out that Leaf slightly altered the design for their extended series...

As you can see... the card backs are a little different as well.

Judging by the values of most of these signatures, most collectors aren't really into this set.  However for me... it's a piece of cardboard history.  I miss the days when all pack pulled autographs were on-card.  And seriously... what other MLB set out there features eighteen different San Diego Padres players signatures?

Sometimes I really wish that... I could turn back time, to the good old days.

What about you...

What are some hobby related items that you miss from the 90's?

Look forward to reading your comments.  Happy Friday and sayonara!