Nifty 90's Nostalgia #5: Mystery Finest Cards

Last Sunday, after I showed off my 1998 Finest "Mystery Finest Refractor" of Brett Favre... I headed over to Ebay to see if I could find some "unpeeled" versions of this card. As luck would have it, I found a "lot" of three. Two of them were the Young/Marino/Favre/Bledsoe card and the other was the running back card with Martin/Dunn/Levins/Davis. Nobody else bid on them, so I was able to pick them up for $3 (free shipping).

I'm glad the previous owner of these cards decided to keep them "unpeeled". This gave me the chance to be surprised with whatever I peeled and revealed. Actually, I was a little worried that they might have been searched... but after messing around with the first card... I realized that it would be pretty evident if even a corner of the card had been peeled.

Before I get to what I ended up with... here's what I was hoping for:

#1 - Any Refractor

#2 - Brett Favre

#3 - Dorsey Levins

#4 - Dan Marino

#5 - Steve Young

Well... out of three chances... I was able to secure one of the above five. So without further adiew... here's what I got:

The only player I was hoping to pull was the Levins... since he's a Packer. The other three were decent running backs, but nothing I'd want to keep in my personal collection. Well... I didn't get the Levins... so I guess this guy's going into my trade bait:

#M13 Curtis Martin

bv: $5

Curtis Martin is a five time Pro Bowler, who I think will one day become a HOFer. He rushed for 14,101 yards (#4 all-time) and has 90 rushing touchdowns (#12 all-time) during his eleven year career with the Jets and Patriots. He also had a perfect passer rating (158.3) during his career. Both times he passed the ball... he completed them for touchdowns.

This was my first chance to pull the Favre. But I peeled from the bottom right corner and knew right away that I didn't get him. Instead... I got:

#M4 Drew Bledsoe

bv: $8

Drew Bledsoe had a pretty solid career and back in 1998 he was pretty popular. At that point, he had already went to the Pro Bowl three times in his first five seasons. Two years earlier he took the Patriots to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Packers. And when his fourteen year career came to an end, he had thrown for over 44,000 yards and 250 touchdowns.

This was my final shot at pulling a Favre... and unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. Instead, I pulled this:

#M2 Dan Marino

bv: $20

It's not a Favre... but it's about the closest thing to it... since the person Favre had to pass on almost every single passing record was Mr. Marino himself. Marino spent all seventeen seasons of his HOF career with the Miami Dolphins. At the time of his retirement, he had the most completions, passing yards, and touchdown passes in the history of the NFL.

Overall... it was well worth the $3 spent on these cards. The entertainment of peeling and revealing made this investment pay off.

When it comes to the 90's... our hobby sometimes gets a bad rep. Overproduction... too many card issues... and unwanted parallels are what often comes to mind when collectors think of sports cards from that decade.

But hopefully... these cards will get you to think about the good things the 90's brought to the table: innovation and creativity. I just wish Topps would bring this concept back.

What do you think...

Should Topps bring back Mystery Finest cards?

Okay... it's way past my bedtime... I need to go to sleep. I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. Have a great week!