Twenty months ago... way back in July 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
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
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
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
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
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 nineteen 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.
It's a few weeks later after originally publishing this post. I figured I'd add a few links to blogs who joined in on the BBA:
