1989 Topps Ames 20/20 Club

Year: 1989

Manufacture: Topps

Set: Ames 20/20 Club

Card Number: 33

Next up from the 2018 COMC Black Friday haul is this 1989 Topps Ames 20/20 Club card.  Ames was a chain of department stores headquartered in Connecticut.  At it's height Ames had 700 stores in 20 states (thank you Wikipedia).  Ames teamed up with Topps in 1989 and again in 1990 to produce a couple box sets.  This is another card I swore I already owned.  I know I have multiple copies of Robin's 1990 Ames All-Stars card.  But for a couple quarters I filled another hole.  I guess I didn't realize when I picked this card out that it was so badly mis-cut, but that really doesn't bother me. 

 The 20/20 refers to a player getting 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a single season.  Like all the box sets from around this time it's chalked full of superstars and now HOFers.  Complete box sets can be found for cheaper than what these sold for in 1989.  These cards really do have a nice design and the super glossy fronts were a nice touch compared to the flagship cards of the day.

1987 Fleer Limited Edition

Year: 1987

Manufacturer: Fleer

Set: Limited Edition Box Set

Card Number: 44

Card Type: Base

Another day another box set card.  The 80's were awash in these cheap sets.  I can remember seeing these at my LCS back in the 80's for a buck a piece.  But the nice thing about these sets is you got 44 cards of pretty much the hottest players of the day.  Robin is featured in quite a few of them.  Here we have 1987's Fleer Limited Edition.  You can see the full checklist here. Overall the design is pretty basic, but not unappealing.  Fleer like a lot of the other card companies put out a lot of these kinds of sets.  Sometimes on their own and other times in conjunction with a store, like K-mart or Woolsworth.  Still fun to pick out your players.  Contrary to the name this set was not limited in anyway and like most of these box sets were very overproduced.  You can still find these sets for a buck a piece if you look for them.

1988 K-Mart Memorable Moments

Year: 1988

Manufacturer: Topps

Set: K-Mart Memorable Moments box set

Set Type: Store Box set

Card Number: 33

The late 80's and early 90's were awash in store branded box sets.  The sets came in a pack that was about the size of a deck of cards.  So many of these were made that sets can still be found in the bargain bins of cards shops around the country.  But if you collect a star player that played during that time chances are they were in at least one and more likely multiple sets.  The 1988 K-mart set marked the middle of a 4 year run of consecutive sets put out by the company.  K-Mart put out a 20th Anniversary set in 1982 and then a 25th Anniversary set in 1987, with Memorable Moments in 1988, Dream Team in 1989, and Superstars in 1990.  Like most of the box sets the checklist is arranged in alphabetical order by last name, so Robin gets the last card in the set.  Robin's Memorable Moment was his 1982 AL MVP season.

1990 Ames Department Store Box Set

Year: 1990 

Card Manufacturer: Topps

Set: Ames Department Store Box set

Card Number: 5

Card Type: Base

Set Type: Box set

The late 80's and early 90's saw a ton of these small box sets.  The nice thing about these sets is they featured all the great players at the time.  So even though they were overproduced they were decent quality and were a cheap way to pick up some cards of your favorite players.  

Ames was a department store chain based on the East Coast that officially ceased business in 2002.  But they, like a lot of their competators, got caught up in the box set craze of the time.  Ames put out two sets.  One in 1989 that featured the 20/20 players and this set put out in 1990 featuring the top active career leaders in runs produced.  And luckily we get a nice Robin Yount card out of the deal.  These cards are the stuff of dime boxes and repacks now and could easily set you back a whole nickel if you try.  But not a bad looking card and a great set with a great checklist.

1990 Score Superstars

Year: 1990

Card Manufacturer: Score

Set: Superstars Box Set

Card Number: 92

Card Type: Base

This cards came as part of a 100 card box set.  Much like the update sets put out by Topps, Fleer, and Score.  There are some great stars in the checklist and since this was 1990 this set was majorly overproduced and is still relatively cheap to pick up and so are singles.  This is a pretty typical Score card design from the era.  

Apparently Score didn't hire fact checkers, or they just didn't care.  The back of the card features a nice large head shot of Robin and a small write up.  Too bad Robin was not the starting shortstop for Angels at 18. At least they have him on the right team for this set.

1990 Kay Bee Kings

Card Manufacturer: Topps

Card Set: Kay Bee Kings

Set Type: Boxed

Year: 1990

Card Number: 33

Card Type: Base

Anyone remember Kay Bee Toys? I think they were in just about every mall.  There was even one up here in Alaska years ago.  Kay Bee out of business about in 2009 and Toys 'R Us picked up the scraps of what was left.  

That being said Kay Bee put a out a box set of cards for 5 years starting in 1986 with its last box set being the Kay Bee Kings set produced by Topps in 1990.

A nice looking set with some great stars in it.  Like most sets from that time frame they were produced in mass and you can still find full boxes of these for cheap and the individual players.

While Kay Bee put out 6 sets in 5 years, 2 sets in 1988, Robin was only featured in two of those sets. This one and the 1989 Super Stars of Baseball.

Robin also get the last card of the set again.  When Robin is featured in these box sets he tends to be the last card in the series.  While the cards are numbered, players appear in the checklist alphabetically by last name.

1989 Hills Team MVP's

Card Manufacturer: Topps

Card Set: Hills Team MVP's

Set Type: Box

Year: 1989

Card Number: 33

Card Type: Base

I'm a sucker for those late 80's early 90's box sets.  They were cheap and still are, but filled with stars and Hall of Famers.

Hills Department Stores put out two box sets.  This one and one the next year called The Hitmen. Hills was acquired by Ames in 1998, which also put out a box set this year.  Most of these sets have the players arranged alphabetically and that means Robin has the honor of being last in most of them.  Most of these sets have 33 or 44 players featured in them and that goes for a lot of the food issues too.  This may seem like an odd numbering for a card set, but only for those who don't know the printing process.  On a standard uncut sheet of standard sized baseball cards there are 132 cards per sheet.  That means you can put 4 full sets on a sheet if it's got 33 and 3 full sets if it has 44.  What that means is these sets and cards are plentiful and cheap.  But that's ok too. This is a really nicely done set. The cards are on premium card stock and have a glossy finish.