The Old Autograph Upgrade

I love all of the cards that I have picked up over the years, but I have been working on a little project for the last two or three years with a few of my autographed cards.  As a person who collected cards in the early 2000s, I pulled many autographs that were on sticker autographs.  It's not just the fact that they are sticker autographs, it's the ugly grey/silver autograph stickers.

There are a few thousand autographs in my collection and I am pretty sure that there are a few hundred autographs with the grey stickers like this Andruw Jones autograph.

Truth be told, the Andruw Jones card actually isn't that bad since the card has a bunch of foil on the face.  The really bad sticker autographs are the ones with the grey sticker on a white card.  So many to choose from as an example, but this is a good one....

I love Mike Montgomery and I really enjoyed watching him throw a no-hitter once, but this is not a cool autograph.  The stickers have gotten better in recent years with the advent of the clear sticker, but there are still a few silvers floating around.  Especially players like Johnny Podres and Gary Carter who signed a ton of stickers before dying and Topps is still using them in sets.

So, here is my project.  I am not trying to replace the autographs of all the players in my collection whose signature appears on a grey autograph sticker.  That would take a long time, would be expensive, and in some cases would not really be possible.  However, there are plenty of really good players who are worth my time, effort, and maybe a slight net loss in the old pocketbook.

My latest autographed card to be upgraded belongs to Astros Hall of Famers Craig Biggio.  I originally pulled a Biggio autograph out of a pack of 2001 Donruss Signature way back in the day.  I loved getting this card.  At the time, Biggio was not a huge signer and he was a fun player to watch.  I am saying that as a Cardinals fan whose team lost many games to Craig Biggio...

This isn't a terrible sticker autograph.  Donruss actually did a good job with the grey/green box around the sticker.  Makes it blend into the background of the card a little bit better.  However, my newest Biggio card is really nice and will make parting with this one a little easier in a week or two....

It's bascially the same autograph, Biggio's hasn't changed much over time, but it's actually on the card.  It's from this year's Finest set, which I believe, has all on-card autographs. Plus, can I throw in the fact that it's cool to see Biggio wearing an older Astros uniform?  It's not the 1980s rainbows, but I am not sure that Biggio was on the team at any point when they wore those outside of some throwback jersey day.

Does anyone else ever trade up for more desirable copies of cards?  I know that I do sticker autographs, but I have seen a lot of collectors do similar things with other types of cards over the years from finding better relic pieces on a memorabilia card, to tracking down a card with a cool serial number (Yes, the dreaded Ebay 1/1).

2015 Snorting Bull Awards: Worst Baseball Card

Some days the Gods of Quality Control frown on the card markers.  Other times certain card companies make alarmingly terrible decisions.  I never really have to think too hard on this one.  Two years ago Topps put two players on a baseball cards in their Topps Update product that did not make it to the All-Star game.  Bard was in Triple A by the end of April and Wigginton was released at the beginning of July.  

Last year we had the Ron Gant Cardinals autograph and the Wade Boggs softball jersey from the All-Star game.  Softball jersey is a pretty self explanatory terrible card especially in a high end product like Dynasty.  Making a Ron Gant autograph in a Cardinals uniform, for those not familiar with their history together, would be akin to making a Jonathan Papelbon card in a Nationals jersey.  Maybe not quite that bad, but not far away.  

The winner this year?  I knew it the second I saw the card....

This card is just too terrible not to win.  This Craig Biggio 1/1 autograph comes out of the Topps Archives Signature product.  It's a per pack autograph of a Topps buyback card.  Some of the cards are really cool, most have a low serial number, and there are plenty of 1/1s.  I pulled one last weekend.  The set is actually a pretty cool concept.  Old Topps brand cards, not just Topps base set cards, signed and serial numbered.  Why on Earth is there a Donruss card in this product?

I guess there could have been a shortage of Biggio cards in the nickel bin at the card shows Topps bought back their cards.  It's possible it just got mixed into a stack somewhere along the line, or Craig Biggio thought it would be awesome to see if Topps was actually paying attention.  Whatever, it's just bad quality control.  Not cool Topps.

Throwback Month: 2001 Topps Fusion

I am doing a themed month for August.  Sounds pretty teacherly, but I will still post some cards that go against my theme.  This month I will be doing some posts about some of the older card sets in my collection which I will simple call Throwback Month.  I set pretty generic goals for my blog, but one of them was to spend more time talking about cards that are already in my collection.  I am going to set the bar for these posts at sets that are at least a decade old.  Should be a fun set of posts and I had a pretty good time planning these out and think they should bring back some good memories for my fellow thirties something collectors.

First up on my list for Throwback Month is a one-time release from Topps that came out during the 2001 baseball calendar year Topps Fusion.  The 2001 baseball card calendar was pretty eventful.  It was a good year for rookie cards with the release of the first Albert Pujols and Ichiro cards and also featured the first edition of the Topps Heritage set.  If you go back and try to find old wax to open from 2001 it can be pricey and difficult to find because almost every set had a Pujols or an Ichiro rookie many of which are short printed or serial numbered.  Then there are a few that have no Pujols and no Ichiro.  Fusion is one of them.

I always think of this set as sort of a greatest hits album for baseball cards.  The set does not really do anything new for baseball cards, but here it is in your collection.  How did it get here?  Don't you basically have all of these cards in other sets?  More a less yes, but they are still fun to see all in one place.  For the Fusion set Topps took several of it's brands: Stadium Club, Gallery, Bowman's Best,  Finest, and Gold Label and merged them all into one set.  The designs were changed slightly for their previously released designs, but you could definitely see the resemblance.

Here's a look at the different sets within the set:

Bowman's Best 

Topps Gallery 

Stadium Club 

Gold Label 

Finest

I would have collected any of these sets by themselves and I really overlooked the fact that this set was just a rehash of a bunch of different brands.  In fact, all five brands were released again during the 2001 baseball card calendar.  I actually like some of the designs used in the Fusion set better than the regularly released set.  My only real fault with this set is the fact that Topps included a bunch of rookie cards in this release (Mike Jacobs and Marco Scutaro are the notable names) and placed all of the rookie cards in the Gold Label brand.  Even in 2001 most of the rookie cards were in Bowman products and the Fusion set would have done well to place them with the appropriate brand.  While Gold Label is not around today, it was always a small set with veteran players.

Fusion also had some really nice autographs too.  Like any set there are naturally a few duds.  Jason Hart, Phil Wilson, and Tony Alvarez are all "prospects" who signed for the set, but never quite made it anywhere.  There are also some solid veteran players like Jason Marquis (He has a nice autograph) DerreK Lee, Geoff Jenkins, and Barry Zito.  Then there are some really good autographs.  Several Chipper Jones, A-Rod, Josh Hamilton, Todd Helton, and Warren Spahn to name a few.  The Spahn autograph is shaky, but it's an on card autograph.  My favorite is the Helton...

There are also relics in the set, including some nice looking dual relics, but I never really got into them.  Overall, this is a really nice set from 2001 and is one of the more affordable sets from that calendar year due to the absence of Pujols and Ichiro.  Wax boxes of this product can be found at reasonable prices or you can piece together the set through lots and singles and not spend a fortune.  Yes, this is a rehash in many ways, but it's well done.  

My Top 50 Players On Cardboard-#40 Craig Biggio

My Top 50 Players On Cardboard
#40
Craig Biggio

1988 Score Rookie/Trade Craig Biggio RC

Hobby Impact-
This is one of the most underrated players within the baseball card hobby during my 30 years of collecting.  I will get into the on-field stuff in a couple of minutes, but I am not sure why he's not a little bit more popular and respected around the industry.  I've always thought two things worked against Biggio around the hobby.

1. All of his rookie cards are from late 80s releases which were the junkiest of junk wax.  His 1989 Upper Deck rookie is a pretty nice card, but the rest are easily found for less than $5.  Nice graded versions do not even cost that much in comparison to other rookie cards of Hall of Fame players

2. Biggio played for the Astros.  The team had a great run and were highly competitive throughout much of Biggio's career.  He played with other great talent.  Why do people ignore the Astros?  Show me a good player whose been on the Astros (minus Nolan Ryan) and I will show you someone that baseball card collectors completely undervalue.  Bagwell, Berkman, etc, etc, etc.

Biggio also has not been a bigger certified autograph guy over the course of his career.  He has some autographs floating around, but they are always numbered and always fairly limited.  The Biggio autographs have always held their value well and are usually in pretty high demand around the hobby if you have one you are willing to part with.  In fact, one of my favorite autographs I have ever pulled was a.....

2001 Donruss Signature Craig Biggio Autograph

I am not sure I had ever seen a Biggio autograph before I pulled this from out of a Donruss Signature pack, but I was really happy to see this card.  I am not thrilled its a sticker autograph, but many of the early 2000s Biggio autographs are stickers for Donruss products.  More recently Biggio has started signing for Topps and has signed several on-cards autographs.

On The Field Impact-
Biggio was an All-Star catcher, second baseman, and outfielder.  During his time with the Astros the team went to the postseason five times including the team's only World Series appearance in 2005.  Biggio also reached 3,000 hits, had over 600 career doubles, stole more than 400 bases, and had more than 250 home runs.  Pretty unique skill set.

Biggio seems like a slam dunk Hall of Famer to me with a quick check of Baseball Reference you will find that Biggio's 10 most similar batters include eight Hall of Famers plus Lou Whiatker and Johnnny Damon.  Not bad company.  While the JAWS system ranks him as the fourteenth best second baseman, he spent several years playing other positions which took away from his overall position ranking.

Favorite Card-
I did not have a Biggio card that stuck out in my mind before I did my countdown list and came up with my cards to put into my posts, but after flipping through my stack of Biggio cards I found one that seemed a little bit than the rest.  One thing I always remember about Biggio was his leg kick.  Always had it through his whole career, but for whatever reason MLB does not post videos of Biggio.  Kind of whack.  So, here's my coolest Biggio card-


1997 Upper Deck Craig Biggio

Biggio leg kick and shin guard.  Grass stain.  The bat is a little bit low on pine tar for Biggio and the batting helmet is a little on the clean side, but overall this is a really good picture of Biggio batting.  If you are looking for another cool Biggio card I'd look at a 1989 Donruss or a 1992 Upper Deck card.  Hard to beat Biggio as a catcher.

Complete Set: 2000 Pacific Aurora

I am now a weeks into my reorganization project and I have started to pull together a few complete sets.   Slowly, I am going to get a few posted over the next few weeks, but I am going to not repeat anything that I already put on my 30 Year Top 50 countdown from late last year.  That group of sets is intact and I have generally kept most of those cards separate from the general stash of baseball cards.  So, here's my third complete post set of the year and my first since the reorganization project began.


I actually stumbled into sorting out my 2000 Pacific Aurora cards this weekend while helping a regular trade partner find a copy of a really cool Ken Griffey Jr. card.  More on that card later.  I went ahead and sorted out the whole set while I was looking for that one card.  The late 90s and early 2000s Pacific sets are generally all the same, but each has it's own wrinkle which makes it unique in some way.  Aurora actually started out in 1998 as a retail product which was advertised as a per pack insert.  Most of the inserts were missable, but the set slowly evolved over it's three year run into its final run in 2000.

2000 Pacific Aurora Will Clark

The cards in the 2000 Pacific Aurora set are all horizontal and feature a large player picture with a colored background and a small circular black and white photograph in the top right-hand corner.  Like all Pacific sets the Aurora set was mainly driven by parallel cards and insert cards.  The most common of which was the pinstripe variations which were a one per pack card.

2000 Pacific Aurora Pinstripe Craig Biggio

The rest of the parallels in the set are the typical colored foil parallels with different print runs for the different color of foil.  While this set does not seem to stand out in any way or shape from other Pacific sets the aforementioned Ken Griffey Jr card is one of my favorites and one of the best examples of a card company properly handling a star player changing teams.  Last fall I posted an entry about my thoughts on the common practice of airbrushing.  The executive summary is that I do not like the idea and card companies should find a better way to handle players changing teams.  Which leads me to:

Favorite Card in the Set

2000 Pacific Aurora Ken Griffey Jr. 

2000 Pacific Aurora Ken Griffey Jr.

What team doesn't hold a press conference these days when they trade or sign a new player?  Pacific managed to put out two versions of the Ken Griffey Jr. card (#133) in the 2000 Aurora set by snapping a few pictures of the future Hall of Famer trying on his Reds jersey at the presser introducing him after his trade from the Mariners.  What's not to love about the two cards?  There is no airbrushing on these two cards and Pacific managed to capture Griffey in both his old Mariners uni and also with his brand new Reds digs.  Well played by Pacific and a great idea for a current card company to follow at some point in the near future.  

30 Year Top 50- 1989 Upper Deck

#1- The most important set of the past fifty years is the 1989 Upper Deck set.  At the time of the set's release there were three companies producing baseball cards, the biggest of which was Topps.  Most of the card manufacturers used thin cheap card stock, little or no gloss on the cards, and serious lacked quality control.   Upper Deck's entry into the baseball card marketplace greatly changed the appearance and quality of baseball cards for the better.

1988 Upper Deck Promo Wally Joyner

The work on the Upper Deck set began before 1989 and in a strange twist, the company actually issued their promotional cards for the set in 1988.  The two card promotional set featured two Angels players, Wally Joyner and Dwayne Buice.  The Joyner card is not very difficult to find and can usually be had for around $20.  The Buice is rare and will cost several hundred to add to your collection.  I picked up this Joyner promo card a few years ago for a great price and really have enjoyed having it in my collection.  

1989 Topps Bo Jackson

The innovations on the Upper Deck card were numerous, but the most important features that distinguished these cards from brands like Topps were the glossy finish on all cards, the full color pictures on both sides of the card, and the use of holograms to prevent fraud.  The cards were instantly a huge hit amongst collectors which brings me to the lone flaw of the 1989 Upper Deck set.  Originally, the Upper Deck company had set a cap for the production run of cards around 1,000,000 per card.  That number disappeared once the cards started selling quickly.  

1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr.

The first card in the 1989 Upper Deck set is one of the most important baseball cards ever.  If you look at a checklist on a set of Topps baseball cards you will notice that they tend to load the front half of sets with star players.  Upper Deck decided to take the opposite approach and use the first part of their sets on rookies.  The trend of making the first thirty to fifty cards "Star Rookies" ran all the through the company's last baseball card set which was released in 2010 without a license from Major League Baseball.  Upper Deck gave the first spot in their first set to Seattle Mariners prospect Ken Griffey Jr.  At the time of the cards release, Griffey Jr. was playing for the San Bernadino Spirits and had yet to actually play in a Major League game.  Upper Deck ended up actually taking a picture of Griffey in his minor league uniform and then doctored the photo slightly to make it have the appearance of a Mariners jersey.  The "S" on the hat is slighty off from the 1989 Mariners cap.  

1989 Upper Deck Craig Biggio

While the Ken Griffey Jr. card is regarded as the iconic card of the 1989 Upper Deck, there are at least five other Hall of Famers in the set.  I guess I should say, in my opinion, but in this case I think they are all on solid ground.  Biggio is my favorite non-Griffey rookie card since he is wearing the cool rainbow Astros jersey.  Biggio is also the only important rookie card which is not in the Star Rookies subset at the beginning of the set.  Instead, Biggio is in with the regular Astros cards.  The other three Hall of Famers are pictured below.  

1989 Upper Deck John Smoltz

1989 Upper Deck Gary Sheffield 

1989 Upper Deck Gary Sheffield

Card collecting changed dramatically after the release of the 1989 Upper Deck set.  While Upper Deck set the bar higher for Topps, Fleer, and Donruss, they continued to push the envelope during their twenty-one years in the baseball card business.  At the time of the sets release the Upper Deck cards were considered premium cards.  Soon after the other three card companies would follow suit with their own premier card brands.  Basically, the 1989 Upper Deck set helped all baseball card collectors.  The set put a strong emphasis on innovation and quality which is still pushing card companies to this day to constantly improve their cards and strive for them to be a quality product.  

 

My Hall of Fame Ballot

Don't worry, I really don't get to vote.  Most years people have strong opinions about the players that get voted into the Hall of Fame and this year is no different.  I've seen arguments all over the place debating the credentials of players on the ballot and whether or not players who played in the steriod era should be included in the Hall.  At times this debate could be contentious, so I have generally steered clear of the topic until today.

The Hall of Fame debate this year seems more like a hearing on gun control than a debate about a game.  Everyone has an opinion on the issue of gun control and their is little you can often do to sway someone one way or the other on the topic.  The issue of steroids and the Hall of Fame seems to be a similar debate at this point.  Some people few the crowd of Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Roger Clemens as permanently tainted while others argue that many players cheated and they should be put in since the field was really level.

What do I think?  I am going to give a quick look at my ballot in baseball cards, of course, and I will explain a little bit about each vote.  I will start off by say that as I have gotten older it is much easier for me to have an opinion about the players since I saw all of the people first hand.   I am sure some people are debated out...

Jeff Bagwell- Bagwell was the National League MVP in 1994, won the Rookie of the Year in 1991, and made four All-Star appearances at first base, which is always a hard position to make an All-Star team.  He missed the 500 home run plateau, but still ended up with over 400.  He also stole over 200 bases.  As a Cardinals fan, Jeff Bagwell spent many summers between being one of my most feared opponents.  However, unlike Barry Bonds, there was a level of respect with Bagwell and Biggio.  

Craig Biggio- He was a catcher, 2nd baseman, and an outfielder at different points of his career which is impressive.  Throw in the fact that he had over 3,000 hits, 600 doubles, and stole over 400 bases.  I loved watching Biggio play and could always enjoy Astros games with Biggio at the top of the line up and Bagwell, Berkman, Alou, and others hitting behind him.  One of the best teams I have ever seen in person, not sure how they didn't win the World Series, was the 1998 Astros.  

Edgar Martinez- The DH has now been around for forty years and I am not sure there is a DH in the Hall of Fame.  Not that there needs to be one just to have one, but Edgar Martinez is the best of the lot in my opinion.  He won two batting titles, hit over .300 for his career, and was an All-Star, Silver Slugger, and MVP vote recipient frequently throughout his career.  He was the "protection" in the line-up for Ken Griffey Jr. for the first half, or about 450 home runs, of his career.  

Fred McGriff- One of the true victims of the steriod era was Fred McGriff.  His career started just before the steroid era and ended somewhere near the end.  He almost hit 500 home runs, made multiple All-Star games, and was a key player on the run of 90s Braves playoff teams.  His comparables on Baseball Reference are Willie McCovey and Willie Stargell.  If McGriff had played ten years earlier he'd be in with little fanfare.  

Mike Piazza - Greatest offensive catcher ever and Florida Marlin for a week.  I know there is a lot of "suspicion" around Piazza, but if nothing comes out then put him in the Hall.  I am not sure their is an offensive statistic, besides steals, that he is not the all-time leader at for catchers.  

Tim Raines - Won stolen base titles at the same time as Rickey Henderson and played in Montreal.  He also has almost 3,000 hits to go along with almost 1,500 walks, and 800 stolen bases.  The stolen bases are about 100 short of Lou Brock, but he got caught half the number of times as the Hall of Fame outfielder.  He was also on-base more.  

Curt Schilling- He was similar to Don Drysdale during the regular season with innings pitched and strikeouts and similar to Bob Gibson during the post season with key performances and wins during the postseason.  Three World Series rings and 3000 strikeouts say he is in the Hall.  

30 Year Top 50: 2001 Pacific Private Stock

#36- I have already made a few posts about this set if you want to take a few minutes to read another post or four.  The set was arguable its my one of my favorites and if my countdown were based solely on my dislikes and likes, this set would probably be in the top 10.  The Private Stock release was the swan song for Pacific in the world of baseball cards.  They bent a few rules in the cards that appeared in the set, but the release was an overwhelming success.

The draw of the Private Stock release was the fact that the every pack had one relic card.  While most people recognized it was the easiest way for Pacific to dump it's entire holding of baseball memorabilia, collectors risked drawing a Pokey Reese bat card versus picking up a patch card of Greg Maddux, Tony Gwynn, or other star.  There were also some cards that broke licensing rules that were highly sought after.  The two biggest were the Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.  I own two copies of the McGwire, but the Sosa has an extremely limited print run (I have heard anywhere from 1 to 5).  No, I don't have one.  See the McGwire here.

Private Stock had two basic types of relics cards.  There were jersey cards:

2001 Pacific Private Stock Barry Larkin Jersey Card

and there were also bat cards:

2001 Pacific Private Stock Craig Biggio Bat Card

Some of the players in the set had only a bat card, some had a jersey card, some had a home and a road jersey, while others featured both a bat and a jersey.

2001 Pacific Private Stock Barry Bonds Jersey Card

2001 Pacific Barry Bonds Bat Card

Cooler yet were the patch cards inserted in the set.  The patch cards skipped around throughout the set. Some of the patch cards are really cool and feature really cool players.  Others are not so great.  For example, as a Cardinals fan I was always a little disappointed that Pacific used Garrett Stephenson as the Cardinals player with a patch.  Not really my favorite player, or even a likable player.  Other teams faired better:  

 2001 Pacific Private Stock Todd Helton Patch Card 

As a collector, if you are looking for a collecting challenge this set is a great amount of fun.  The cards are rather plentiful still and can be easily found on Ebay or COMC.  Since the supply of cards is plentiful, collectors will often trade or sell these cards often and for a small price.  I am still missing some of the patch cards, but was able to buy or trade for almost all the other cards in the set for under $5.  The lone exception was the McGwire card.

Like the 2001 Pacific Private Stock set?  Not in my Top 50 countdown is the 2003 Playoff Piece of the Game set.  There were multiple issues of this set, but I have always liked this issue the best.  Similar to the 2001 Pacific Private Stock, the 2003 Playoff Piece of the Game set (POTG) was a relic per pack product.  However, there were some slight difference in the product.  First, the major difference was the inclusion of autographs in the POTG.  Some of the autographs were duds.   I believe I have a Runelyvs Hernandez running around my card collection somewhere, but there were also some great autographs available too.  This is my favorite one that I own:

2003 Playoff Piece of the Game Frank Thomas Jersey/Autograph

The major drawback of the autographs of course was the sticker.  I still love this card.  There jersey/bat/patch cards had the same cards had the same design as the autographs.  The one really cool aspect of the cards was the jersey picture on the back of the cards.  

2003 Playoff Piece of the Game Adrian Beltre Jersey

I always thought it was pretty cool that Playoff put the picture of the actual memorabilia used for the card on the back.  I guess there are varying degrees of game used and given the recent jersey gate scandal.  Not as cool as the Private Stock set in my opinion, but there are definitely cards worth owning in this set.   

30 Year Top 50: 1998 Skybox EX-2001

#39-I fully appreciate vintage baseball cards and have plenty of cards that predate 1983.  The next set on my countdown of cool sets is the antithesis of vintage baseball cards.  I know many vintage collectors who look at some of the modern cards and cringe especially sets like the 1998 Skybox EX-2001.

Before I get rolling on this set: If this were a set name list, this card set would be in the bottom ten.  Easily.  The name is ridiculous and was a follow up to the 1997 Skybox EX-2000 set.  Also a terrible name.  The set line continued through 2003 with equally troubling and ridiculous names.

1998 Skybox EX-2001 Mark McGwire

There were several other plastic like cards issued sometime in the late 90s and early 2000s, but this set was always the best of them in my opinion.  One argument against plastic cards is the fact that you can have any imperfections with plastic cards.  Very true of card sets such as Topps Tek were the picture and design were printed directly onto the card surface.  However, the Skybox EX cards always had a raised surface around the player picture that make it subject to the same imperfections as other cards.  In fact, take a quick scan of secondary sales sites and you will see that there are graded cards from this set there are clearly imperfect.

The set itself was a 100 card set with an exchange card of Kerry Wood available for a total of 101 base cards.  The Wood card might be the best card in this set.  Since it was an exchange card and short printed there are obviously fewer cards available, but it also seems to be one of those cards that was an early release of a player, not a true rookie card, that people treat the same as a rookie card issue.  The set and base cards can be difficult to locate and the boxes that are stilling floating around are often not cheap.

1998 Skybox EX-2001 Kerry Wood Exchange

The Skybox EX-2001 set did have insert sets and even some autographs.  However, the real chase cards in this set were the Essential Credentials cards.  I have had a few write ups about these cards in the past featured in a highlight about my Ray Lankford collection.  The Essential Credentials were a double parallel set.  The Essential Credentials Now and Essential Credentials Futures sets were serial numbered to different numbers with one set having an ascending run with the card numbers and one have a descending run with the card numbers.  Complicated I know.  There are several up on Ebay write now for triple digits, or close.  The last completed sale was a Larry Walker out of 22 for more than $200.

1998 Skybox EX-2001 Craig Biggio Essential Credentials Now

Overall, this set was among the first plastic card sets out on the market and the best of the bunch in my opinion.  The fad surrounding these cards has faded and there hasn't been a similar card release in a very long time.  Since the set is fairly small it is not very difficult to assemble in a short time.  It's a fun set build too.

Like the 1998 Skybox EX-2001 set?  Not in my Top 50 for the past 30 years is the 1999 Skybox EX-Century set.  I had thought long and hard about putting the 2003 Skybox EX set here, but I think the 1999 model edges it out.  The 1999 issue of the Skybox EX set featured a similar design as the 1998 set, but I feel like Skybox did a good job of cleaning up the design a little bit. 

1999 Skybox EX-Century Barry Larkin

Mainly, I like how the player name is written going down the side of the card and the team logo has been incorporated into the side of the card.  Also similar to the 1998 set, the 1999 set was really about the chase for the Essential Credentials cards.  The parallel sets were again set up the same way with the dual sets with varying numbers.

1999 Skybox EX-Century Essential Credentials

The other factor that made the 1999 Skybox EX issue was the insert sets.  The earlier sets featured inserts, but they didn't fit the overall feel of the set at times.  Later sets started to dabble with autographs and jersey pieces.  The 1999 inserts I felt fit the feel of the set very well and were still in the mode of cool 90s inserts too.  One of my favorite inserts was the Favorites for Fenway set which somehow tried to predict the All-Star teams for 1999.  I guess they missed with J.D. Drew.  

1999 Skybox EX-Century J.D. Drew Favorites for Fenway

30 Year Top 50: 1988 Topps Traded

#41-There cannot be any ties on my Top 50 countdown of the past 30 years, but this was by far the set I tossed over in my mind the longest.  Mainly because I am trying not to duplicate sets on the countdown.  So, if you read this write up for this set and like the set below, the 1988 Score Rookie/Traded, better I understand.  A similar thing happened back on #46 with the 2004 and 2005 Bowman Heritage set.  With those two sets I gave the nod to the 2004 set because of style.  Today, I am going with content.  No style involved in this post.

In my opinion the most important rookie card in the 1988 Topps Traded set is the Roberto Alomar.  Despite spitting in the face of an umpire, Alomar is one of the best second baseman of the modern era and was a part of two World Championships in Toronto and a good run of playoff teams in Cleveland. Alomar probably stuck around a few too many years at the end of his career, but still had a great overall career.

1988 Topps Traded Roberto Alomar

Besides the Alomar, there were a few other solid rookies cards in this set that are worth the time and expense to add to your collection.  Especially given that, like other late 80's wax, this set was overproduced and is easy to find on the cheap.  If you pay more than $10 you've probably spent too much.  It also means that if you are a single card collector, these cards are all easy to find and inexpensive.

Now, Alomar is the only Hall of Fame rookie in this set, but the other important rookies in this set were solid Major League players.  Perhaps one of them played a long time for one of your favorite teams.  First up is Tino Martinez.  As a Cardinals fan my memories of Tino are not good, but I also understand that he was apart of a good run of Yankees teams that won multiple championships.  Not a Hall of Famer, but a good player and certainly a favorite target of many collectors.

1988 Topps Traded Tino Martinez

My sleeper card in this set belongs to the current White Sox manager Robin Ventura.  At the time this card was printed Ventura was a pretty hot commodity coming off a great college career at Oklahoma State which included the 1988 Golden Spikes Award for the top college player.  

1988 Topps Traded Robin Ventura

Ventura is another player who is short of Hall of Fame credentials as a player, but certainly had some great moments in his career.  Most famously, his walk off Grand Slam while playing for Mets which was later ruled a single after the Mets players mobbed him and did not allow him to circle the bases.  He also charged the mound against Nolan Ryan.  Turned out poorly.  I put Ventura in my sleeper category because of his potential as a manager.  This year was Ventura's first year in the dugout and most would have to agree that he far exceeded expectations.  Worth watching.

There are a few other solid rookies in the set beyond the three pictured above including: Andy Benes, Charles Nagy, Jim Abbott, and Brady Anderson.  

Like the 1988 Topps Traded set?  Not in my Top 50 countdown in the 1988 Score Rookie Traded set.  This set is similar to the Topps Traded set in many ways, but each set has some unique features.  First, the Topps Traded set has more rookie cards.  Ventura, Martinez, and most of my other key rookies from the list above on the 1988 Topps Traded set are not included in this set.  However, there is still a Roberto Alomar rookie card.

1988 Score Rookie Traded Roberto Alomar

I have seen some collectors put a premium on the Score Alomar rookie, but both the Topps and this card generally sell for the same price currently.  The other attraction to the Score Rookie set is the addition of Craig Biggio to the set who is not included in the 1988 Topps Traded set.

1988 Score Rookie Traded Craig Biggio 

Biggio should get into the Hall of Fame at some point considering he played several seasons as a catcher, a second baseman, and an outfielder.  I believe he was one of a handful of players to make an All-Star team at different positions.  Biggio was also able to reach 3000 hits during his final season in the Majors.  All spent as an Astro.  

Both the Alomar and Biggio are inexpensive rookie cards and, like the 1988 Topps Traded set, the 1988 Score Rookie Traded set is an easy find and shouldn't cost anymore than $10.  The style of the Score cards leaves a lot to be desired, but I was never a big fan of the 1988 Topps set either.  Still, both sets are great additions to any collection.