Eye Candy

One of the fascinating things about collecting sports cards... is the variety of ways to collect.  Some people enjoy collecting specific players, like Bo Jackson:

While others focus on favorite teams, like the very popular Los Angeles Dodgers:

Then there are those who prefer to target cardboard of hall of famers:

Would it really surprise you to find someone out there who collect cards featuring athletes in tuxedos?

Or pitchers at the plate?

But whatever tickles your fancy... I'm sure most of us can agree that quality photography makes things better... most of the time.  And that's exactly what Topps brought to the table back in 1991 when they introduced their Stadium Club line to collectors.

Back in the day, collectors went wild over this product.  I remember everyone chasing Jeff Bagwell and Phil Plantier rookie cards.  Even stars like Nolan Ryan and Frank Thomas fetched top dollar.  If I remember correctly... packs were selling at my LCS in the $2 to $5 range, which was insane for the time.

These days you can find unopened boxes for $10 to $15 on eBay... which in my humble opinion seems like the bargain of the century.  After busting these six packs, I was left with a smile that resembled The Cobra's:

On a side note... if you are interested in busting packs of 1991 Stadium Club... there's one thing you should be wary of.  Whatever Topps used to laminate these cards sometimes causes them to stick together.  And when you pull them apart, it can cause the cards to be damaged.  I knew this fact before I purchased these packs... but figured it was worth the risk at 25¢ per pack.

I ended up opening all twenty packs and pulled a cool hit out of the 1999 Fleer Sports Illustrated packs:

You can't really tell by the scan... but this card is made out of acetate and is embossed.  According to Beckett... the hitters in the set were inserted at a rate of 1 per 180 packs.

Overall... I wasn't really impressed with this product, because it seemed like half of the cards had cluttered subset designs.  However one card really stood out...

This photograph appears to have been taken right after McGwire launched home run #70 in his final at bat of the season against Carl Pavano and the Montreal Expos.  I personally define an amazing baseball card as one you can hold in your hands, stare at in awe, and it takes you back in time to a happy place.  This card fits those parameters.

Off the top of your head...

Are there any specific cards you enjoy staring at every now and then?

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Flash(p)ack Friday #4: 1995 Denny's Baseball

They might not be 70's Kellogg's or Hostess baseball.  What the heck am I talking about?  They're not even in 80's 7-11 Slurpee Discs' league.

But 90's Denny's baseball cards were pretty cool nonetheless... and they made several appearances on my card collecting timeline.  I don't want to even think about how much money I spent on food during college study sessions at America's favorite coffee shop in an effort to get my complimentary pack of cards.  Sadly... I never even came close to completing a set of Denny's cards back in the day.

But everything changed last night when I busted a bunch of packs of 1995 Denny's Baseball produced by Upper Deck.  I picked up a box filled with 135 packs off of eBay for $9.99 (free shipping):

Yup... that's just 7.4¢ per pack.  Each pack contained one card from the twenty-eight card checklist.

My first pack contained one of my favorite players from the 80's and 90's... Mr. Kirby Puckett:

The card design features both a holographic portrait and a photographic action shot, along with the player's name and the team he played for.  It also includes the Upper Deck logo in the upper left corner and the Denny's logo in the upper right corner.

The card back includes a written summary of highlights, as well as 1994 and career statistics.  Collectors were also treated to the player's position, the card number, another photograph, and the team logo.  To top things off... Upper Deck made sure to write "limited edition" on each card, so you know these things are valuable (wink, wink).

Here's a peek at the entire set:

Presently... the set contains only six hall of famers, but Ken Griffey Jr. is a shoe-in and who knows... maybe one day... Bagwell, Clemens, McGwire, Piazza, Sheffield, or Sosa eventually collect enough votes to earn admission to Cooperstown too.

Okay... typically Friday the 13th is a day reserved for bad luck.  But today we're flipping the script.  In other words... today is your lucky day, because if you're here reading my blog, you have the opportunity to WIN some cards and unopened packs.

It's time for my first contest of 2015.  I'm going to give away a starter set of this oddball issue.  Plus I'll throw in a stack of unopened packs to help the winner complete it the old-school way.

What do you need to do?  Just answer the following questions:

1.  How many packs did I need to bust last night to build a complete set?

2.  How many Gwynn holograms did I pull last night?

3.  What was the final card number I needed to complete my set?

4.  How many cards are in the starter set I'll be giving away in this contest?

Example:  10, 11, 12, 13 or 10 packs, 11 Gwynns, #12, and 13 cards

The person who answers the most questions correctly wins the prize.  If there's a tie... I'll randomize the names on Random.org and pick the name on top after five randomizations.  I'll wrap up the contest a week from now on Friday, February 20th at noon PST.  By the way... collectors who support my blog on CCW, please feel free to join in.  However since I don't log into my CCW account on a regular basis, please leave your responses directly on my blog:  http://sanjosefuji.blogspot.com.

Oh..and believe it or not... I'm on my break next week.  What's that mean?  Well... I should have all of my "IOU" care packages in the mail by the 21st.  Thank you to everyone for your patience.

Happy Friday the 13th and sayonara!

Flash(p)ack Friday #3: Tony Gwynn

So... gotta ask...

Did anyone else take advantage of any Black Friday sales?

I bought some stuff off of Dave & Adam's Card World and Steel City Collectibles... but I'll share my purchases when they arrive and are in front of me.  I primarily targeted cheap wax boxes and bargain pack lots to help me scratch that wax pack itch.

One pack that won't be relieving any itches anytime soon is this 1983 Topps rack pack I recently picked up off of eBay:

I've been searching all over for an upside-down Garry Maddox... and now I've officially added one to my collection.  And it doesn't hurt that my favorite all-time favorite manager and player are also sitting on top staring at me.

I'm pretty sure it's the most expensive pack I've ever purchased, but it's well worth it in my book.  It's perfect timing too, because my 1983 Fleer cello pack was starting to get lonely:

Well... that's a wrap.  I hope all of you had a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving.  I look forward to seeing if anyone out there took advantage of the Black Friday sales.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Flash(p)ack Friday #2: 1992 7-11/CITGO Baseball

While sifting through dime boxes back in September, I stumbled across a few singles from the 1992 Fleer 7-11/CITGO set which prompted me to pick up some packs off of eBay:

Last night I decided to bust a few of them in hopes of completing a set while relaxing in front of the television.

Each cellophane wrapped pack contained four to five cards:

And after opening my seventh pack, I finally completed the twenty-four card set:

The set has a loaded checklist of some of the biggest names in the game back in the day.  Fast forward twenty-two years and almost 50% of the players are enshrined in Cooperstown.

By the way if the design seems familiar... that's because it's very similar to the 1992 Fleer baseball base card design.

As you can see there are a few subtle differences in the design's colors, plus Fleer used different photographs and added The Performer Collection at the bottom of the card.

The card backs aren't exactly the same either.  Location of the card number and MLB trademarks, photo selection, and the addition of the 7-11 and CITGO logos are the three obvious differences.  Plus the regular issue base card of Gwynn included his minor league statistics at Walla Walla, however neither card included his Las Vegas Stars numbers.

Overall this set fits in perfectly with the Junk Wax Era.  Singles can be found in dime boxes, while packs can be purchased for around 50¢ each.  It's pretty safe to assume that Fleer produced a ton of this product for the 7-11/CITGO gasoline promotion.

But if you can look past the set's value, it's a pretty cool oddball set loaded with big names to chase.

Best of all... for five bucks, I was able to relax on a work night, bust a few packs, build a set, have a few doubles for my oddball/insert binders, and still have a few packs left over.

Well that's a wrap.  I hope all of you had a great week.  Happy Friday and sayonara!

Flash(p)ack Friday!

Stress.  We all cope with it in different ways.  Some people drink.  Other people smoke.  Me?  I eat Baja Fresh and bust packs.

I've been saving some packs for future A Pack To Be Named Later posts, but last night I couldn't resist temptation and dove head first into the pack stack.  It's actually a small shoe box filled with random packs that are either:

A. duplicates for my non-sport wax pack collection
B. oddball packs I find at card shows and flea markets
C. gifts from fellow bloggers

Out of all the packs, I decided to go with some vintage packs.  Okay so maybe these aren't exactly what you define as vintage, but all of the packs are at least twenty-four years old and were the oldest I found in the box.

As luck would have it... there's a variety of sports and non-sports issues, so hopefully there's a little something for everyone.

I decided to rip open the packs in reverse chronological order...

1990 Topps Heads Up!

First up... a nice oddball set from the early 90's.  Have you ever wanted to stick a blown up cardboard face of your favorite baseball player on your bathroom mirror?  If so, this product is for you.  I busted a box of this stuff last year, so I knew what to expect.  And since the checklist is loaded, I knew I'd probably pull a decent player.

#6 Craig Biggio

Not too shabby.  Biggio just missed the HOF cutoff this year... but the lifelong Houston Astro shouldn't have any issues getting in next year.

1986 Topps Garbage Pail Kids (5th Series)

Next up... a pack of our favorite Cabbage Patch doll parodies.  If you're into busting old packs, you might want to stay away from 80's GPK.  I can't speak for all packs out there, but this pack was severely damaged by the gum.

Most of the cards had this brown residue on one of the edges and all of the cards were warping, which caused some of the stickers to start pulling away from the backing.  On the flipside, this pack was like trip down memory lane.  I loved collecting these cards back in middle school.

1986 Topps 3-D Baseball Stars

Here's another oversized oddball issue from Topps.  And just like the Heads Up! product, they were intended to be hung on something like a poster.

#15 Don Mattingly

However these aren't your everyday posters.  These are embossed plastic cards made from the same material vintage Halloween masks from the 80's were made from.  It's hard to see, but Mattingly is popping off of the card.

1981 Topps Animal Posters

Try to hold off on giggling.  This isn't something I'd normally purchase for my collection.  However I found an eBay dealer with a bunch of older packs at reasonable prices, so I took advantage of combined shipping and grabbed them.

#NNO Lioness and Cub

I was secretly hoping to pull the panda poster, so I could hang it up in my classroom.  Yeah.  I like pandas.  Oh well... maybe I'll find a student who loves lions.

1981 Topps Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Photocards

Now this is more my style.  I have never liked the Cowboys and after they marched into Seattle last weekend and knocked off the Seahawks... I like them even less.

#13 Cheer Up, Judy!

But I'm okay with their cheerleaders.

Last... but certainly not least is the pack I was looking forward to busting the most. 

1975 Topps Wide World of Sports

Although I had no idea this product existed, the show was a childhood staple... as was my obsession with stickers.  Combining the two equates to awesome.

#6 Hockey and #14 Skiing

And I couldn't be happier with the two that I pulled.  Well... let's rephrase that.  I really wanted the Muhammed Ali, but I'm not disappointed with what I got.  Hockey rules and skiing is probably the sport I excelled at the most as a child.  Plus if there's one thing I remember from watching ABC's Wide World of Sports, it's the skier wiping out in the show's opener.

Well that's all folks!

What are your thoughts?  Did any of these products catch your attention?

My next Flashpack Friday post will feature more modern packs, but I'll try to include at least one "vintage" pack.

Happy Friday and sayonara!