Blog Bat-Around: Junk Wax Favorites

Twenty months ago... way back in June of 2023... Night Owl wrote a post about his favorite baseball sets of the Junk Wax Era.  As a collector who was heavy into collecting for most of that time span, I definitely have favorites.

It seems like every collector has their own definition of this era, so I'll go ahead and make my selections based on the range of years he established:  1987 to 1993.

Night Owl chose his favorite seven... so I went with seven as well.  Let's get it started...

#7:  1993 Pacific

1993 Pacific #257

This set doesn't seem to receive a lot of attention, but if you're a fan of well-cropped action shots... you should give it a shot.  I didn't really take card backs into consideration when making my selections, but I will point out things I like as they pop up.

The extra photo (which is usually well-cropped as well) and Spanish text are nice bonuses. 

#6:  1990 Leaf

1990 Leaf #25

Out of all of the sets I've chosen for this post... this is the only one that is overtly plain and simple.  Back in the early 90's, I was a little obsessed with this set.  The card shop I worked at opened a ton of boxes, so I had access to all the commons I needed for my set build.  The only thing I needed to supply were some of the stars and key rookies.  It wasn't cheap, but I still have the two sets I built back in the day.

The one drawback is the photography.  Most of the pictures Leaf used are too zoomed in for my liking.  But the nostalgic factor... along with the simple, yet clean design made me reserve a spot for it in this post.

#5:  1993 Upper Deck

1993 Upper Deck #136

This was Night Owl's top pick and it's hard to argue with the Blogfather.

It boasts some of the best photography in a flagship set... ever.

#4:  1989 Upper Deck

1989 Upper Deck #300

I started collecting back in the early 80's when white borders were the norm... but Upper Deck's high quality card stock made them brighter.  Toss in the first base line that included the grass, dirt, and runner's lane... and you have one helluva inaugural set design.

The one thing that keeps this set from being in the #3 spot is the fact that I didn't open a lot of this stuff.

#3:  1991 Upper Deck

1991 Upper Deck Final Edition #55F

What can I say?  Upper Deck had something special going on during their first five years in the game.

The designs tend to be a little too similar for some collector's liking (sort of like 1982 and 1983 Donruss), but a nice looking design is a nice looking design.

#2:  1992 Fleer Ultra

1992 Fleer Ultra #485

The best way to describe my feelings towards 1992 Fleer Ultra baseball is love at first sight.  I spent every dollar I made at the LCS (plus a few dollars on my very first credit card) on packs and boxes of this stuff.  And with the help of some generous customers, I was able to build a master set of both series.

This set's design and photography are top notch and it gave off high-end vibes.  How often do you see marble and graph paper integrated into a card's design?

#1:  1987 Topps

1987 Topps #749

I wrote two versions of this post.  One had the 1992 Fleer Ultra set at #1.  This is the other version.

Ultimately the classic wood bordered design prevailed.  When I picture what a stereotypical baseball card looks like... this is one of the designs that comes to mind.  The team logo in the upper left corner and the the team color matched box housing the player's name in the bottom right corner balances each other out.  Honestly... the only downside to the front of the card's design is the lack of the player's position.

The backs aren't anything (remember... I focused mostly on the card fronts), but that just shows how powerful nostalgia is.

1987 Topps has the honor of being the product I have opened the most over the course of my collecting timeline.  It's also a reminder of when I shifted from a full-time collector to a part-time investor.  Don't worry... I have since shifted back to a full-time collector.

Well these are my favorite Junk Wax Era baseball card designs.  Every since I read Night Owl's post, I though this would make a fun Blog Bat-Around.  So if you're looking for some content for your blog, I encourage you to chime in (even if it's twenty months from now).

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

After I finished writing this post, another set popped into my head that would compete with 1993 Pacific for the final spot in my Top 7.  It's the 1993 Flair set.  Unfortunately I discovered my omission while at work, so I don't have access to my sports cards and I couldn't find a personal scan in my cloud from that set.

But I really like the thick and high quality card stock along with the blending of the two photographs on the front.  When you actually see these cards, it's kind of crazy to think that they were produced during something known as the Junk Wax Era.

Honoring the Women In Baseball

Fifty years ago, the United Nations designated March 8th as International Women's Day to recognize women's economic, political, and social achievements.

Let's celebrate it with one of my recent set builds:  2024 Topps Women in Baseball.

Back in October I pulled the Alyssa Nakken from a Target Super Box and two days later I grabbed the other four on COMC for a combined total of $2.86.

2024 Topps Women In Baseball #WIB-1

Veronica has been with the Athletics organization since last season as their Latin America coordinator of player development.

2024 Topps Women In Baseball #WIB-2

Jessica joined ESPN back in 2007 and has been an analyst on Sunday Night Baseball since 2016.  She also became the first female MLB TV analyst in 2015.

2024 Topps Women In Baseball #WIB-3

In 2023... Ronnie became the first female to manage a High-A minor league team.  This season she'll be one of the coaches for the ACL Diamondbacks.

2024 Topps Women In Baseball #WIB-4

Back in January of 2020, Alyssa joined the San Francisco Giants' coaching staff.  Two years later she became the first female to coach on the field in MLB history.  This season she joined the Cleveland Guardians in a player development role.

2024 Topps Women In Baseball #WIB-5

Rachel was hired by the Chicago Cubs in 2019 as their minor league hitting coordinator.  Six years later, she's still with them.  This past January, she was promoted and became the Triple-A Iowa hitting coach.

Kudos to Topps for honoring the women in baseball.  From a personal standpoint, my mom played a huge role in my love for baseball.  She would play catch with me on our front lawn and was the team mom at least twice during my Little League years.  I doubt I would be as big a fan of baseball without her support of the sport.

Hopefully this will be an annual insert in their Series 2 packs, because I'd much rather pull one of these inserts than another Stars of the MLB cards that have been flooding our hobby for a few years now.

What about you?  Women in Baseball or Stars of the MLB?  Which do you prefer?  Leave your thoughts down below.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #169: Cheap Wax, Dime Cards, and A Piece of the Past

Not sure about you, but Mother Nature has been messing with us here in the Bay Area the past week or so.  One week it's freezing.  The next week it's hot.  Yesterday it rained.  Whatever she decides... I just hope it stays cool for another three or four months.  

Temperatures rose into the low 80's last week.  Luckily it cooled off in time for the weekend and the De Anza Flea Market.  When I arrived there on Saturday at around 7:15am... there were already people parked and walking around.  People are catching on to the "early bird catches the worm" philosophy.  The only downside is that half of the vendors aren't completely set up, so you either miss out on some stuff or you have to go back and see what you missed.

All of my purchases took place within the first hour... which is normal.  That being said, one of my best deals was found on the last row of the day.  But let's check out the other stuff first...

Purchase #1:  Japanese Postcards Book  $2

There's a longtime vendor on the first row that sells used books for great prices.  Back when I taught fifth and sixth grade, I filled out my classroom library with their books.  In recent years, I've purchased a Wayne Gretzky signed autobiography and Michael Jordan's first Sport Illustrated cover from them.

This time around... I found this cool book of postcards.  There are twenty-our perforated postcards inside.  Here's my favorite:

Here's a look at the back:

No way I could pass up twenty-four postcards for two bucks.

Purchase #2:  Handful of Matchbooks  $1

A few booths down was a guy who brought a bin filled with matchbooks.  The San Francisco Giants one caught my eye, so I asked him how much he wanted.  He told me I could pick twenty-five for $5.  After I told him, I really only wanted the two Giants matchbooks, he told me I could have them for a buck and I could grab a handful as a bonus (no cherry picking).

I lucked out, because there are a few that are from places I've been to in the past:  Coco's, the Crow's Nest, Alpha Beta, and Harrah's (South Shore Lake Tahoe).

Purchase #3:  Pair of 1990 SI for Kids Magazines  $20

Whenever I hit up De Anza, I always make time to hang out with some of my friends who set up on a regular basis.  I've been waiting to see Tony, because he opens up a lot of blasters and I was hoping he'd sell me an Update Skenes rookie for my set build.  Unfortunately he didn't have one.

But he did have two copies of Sports Illustrated for Kids (October 1990) that he thought I might be interested in.

Here's the 9-card sheet in that month's issue:

Most of you know how much I enjoy collecting SI for Kids cards, but this sheet was actually only the appetizer.  The main thing I wanted from this issue was this four card panel of McDonald's Michael Jordans:

You might notice that the numbering is a little weird.  That's because the other four cards in the set were on another panel.  I had hoped to find it in the other issue, but they were duplicates.

Honestly... I wasn't too disappointed.  I kept one of the magazines intact and I cut the cards out of the other one.

Purchase #4:  1989 Pro Set Football Series 2 Wax Box $22

A few vendors down from my friends was a guy with a bunch of toys, magazines, and movies laid out on a table.  Underneath a stack of comics, I noticed this box.  The guy was asking $25 which I was willing to pay.  However I didn't have a five dollar bill, so I gave him a twenty and a ten.  He didn't have change and I only had 2 one dollar bills, so he took $22 instead.

This product is loaded with some hall of fame rookie cards like Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, and Deion Sanders.  But I'm equally excited at trying to build the announcer set.

Purchase #5:  Auto Relic of a Hall of Famer  $10

2012 Topps Triple Threads #TTAR-206 (#'d 10/18)

I struck out on the next three rows, but as I turned the corner on the final row, I found this shiny card sitting on a table in a penny sleeve next to the box it was pulled from.  I'm no longer actively chasing sticker-graphs, but when they pop up at a flea market for the right price, I'll pick them up.  Not gonna lie... in this era where most vendors think every card they own is worth stupid money... I was pretty shocked to hear him say he only wanted ten bucks.

I pulled out that ten dollar bill I had originally given to the 1989 Pro Set guy immediately before he could change his mind.

Purchase #6:  Dime Cards  $2

A lady who was selling some crafts had given her teenage son part of a table and he put out a few boxes of cards with a sign "10 for a dollar".  I picked out twenty... highlighted by the nine cards above and this card of my favorite football player in the 90's:

2022 Panini Legacy Decade of Dominance #DD-7

That's wraps up another trip to the flea market.  The next one is two Saturdays from now and I'm planning on being out there... as long as Mother Nature cooperates.

Until then...

Happy Thursday and sayonara!