Throwback Wax, The Conclusion

Now it's time to put a wrap on my birthday pack break.  I went through all the packs from the '80s last time, and now we move forward to the 1990's.  Let's see how I did...

1990 Fleer

(15 cards & 1 sticker)

4 - Jim Corsi

52 - Jeff Brantley

96 - David Wells

250 - Pedro Guerrero

266 - Marty Barrett

349 - Joe Hesketh

370 - Randy Bush

428 - Luis Quinones

461 - Barry Bonds

466 - Jim Gott

512 - Alvin Davis

520 - Edgar Martinez

533 - Ozzie Guillen

560 - Tom Herr

580 - Mark Eichhorn

612 - Gary Pettis

Sticker -Indians/Tigers/Mets/Phillies

Great pack from a set that I really, really like.  This is my favorite Fleer base set design by a mile.  And not just for the front design, with the wavy colored banner at the bottom displaying the player's name and position (not to mention great photography).  But, the back of the card is pretty cool.  You not only get the player's complete statistics from every year of pro ball, but an  additional box at the bottom titled "Vital Signs", giving you stats that are otherwise non-traditional for baseball cards (i.e. walk ratio, on base % or opposing BA).  As for this particular pack, we're loaded!  Aside from the big hit (Bonds), I also added Edgar, Boomer and Pedro cards to my player collection.

1990 Upper Deck

(15 cards, minimum one 3-D team logo hologram)

83 - Greg Minton

89 - Jim Gott

167 - Barry Larkin

192 - Dave Parker

211 - Doug Dascenzo

218 - Jim Gantner

297 - Mickey Tettleton

356 - Andres Galarraga

377 - John Wetteland

418 - Darren Daulton

450 - Juan Agosto

558 - Mike Fitzgerald

590 - Andy Allanson

634 - Jose Alvarez

685 - Steve Buechele

3-D hologram sticker - Cardinals

Ah, the self-proclaimed "Collector's Choice" finally appears in this break.  With it's fancy tamper-proof foil wrapper and counterfeit-proof cards (that's what the front of the wrapper says anyhow), Upper Deck really changed the hobby forever with it's seminal 1989 edition.  The follow-up was no chopped liver, either.  Still the same top level of photography -- both front and back of the card -- and of course the trademark hologram on the back.  Some really great cards in this pack, including Barry Larkin, Andres Galarraga and one of my all-time faves, Mickey Tettleton.  I also decided to include a scan of Andy Allanson's card, which features a great 'play at the plate' shot.  If you are a fan of that sort of thing (which I am!), then this is a great one.  A couple of trends: I got Gott (as in Jim Gott) for a second straight pack, and I gained a second St. Louis Cardinals sticker (Fleer '87 Star Stickers gave me the first).

1990 Donruss

(3 puzzle pieces & 16 picture cards)

35 - Mike Fetters (Rated Rookie)

40 - Mark Gardner (Rated Rookie)

55 - Rob Deer

59 - Kirt Manwaring

60 - Chet Lemon

65 - Greg Harris

150 - Dave Stewart

280 - Mike Boddicker

306 - Craig Biggio

311 - Dave Righetti

395 - Randy Ready

411 - Charlie Hough

499 - Pete Smith

626 - Paul Sorrento

653 - Ted Power

659 - Nolan Ryan (5,000 K's)

716 - Bart Giamatti

Carl Yastrzemski puzzle pieces card

Man, Donruss sure did use some lightweight card stock back then.  And the design?  Instead of ripping them about the "paint splatter on a red canvas" motif, I will take the high road and again compliment them on a good mix of players in this pack.  Much like the '89 pack I opened, this one is pretty satisfying.  Lots of pitching prowess, with Stewart, Rags, Hough and, of course, Nolan  Ryan.  The Ryan card commemorates his 5,000 career strikeouts, as he surpassed the 5k barrier during the 1989 season.  His complete ML stats are on the back of the card, as well.  Also in this pack, a pair of Rated Rookie cards and a card honoring late commissioner Bart Giamatti, who suffered a massive heart attack late in the '89 season.  Of course, his main claim to fame is the banishment of Pete Rose from Baseball.  Anyhow, it's pretty crazy to put a '90 Donruss next to a '90 Upper Deck and see how vastly different they are in terms of quality and makeup.

1991 Fleer Ultra

(14 cards, 1 logo sticker)

9 - Greg Olson

23 - Bill Ripken

39 - Carlos Quintana

44 - Chuck Finley

64 - Greg Maddux

80 - Melido Perez

87 - Todd Benzinger

93 - Bill Doran

101 - Beau Allred

137 - Jim Deshaies

139 - Rafael Ramirez

166 - Eddie Murray

177 - Tim McIntosh

280 - Jeff King

(Sweet) Logo Sticker - Pirates

This represents the first pack of a super-premium brand I opened.  It also happens to be the first edition of Fleer's "Ultra" product.  Much like Topps did with Stadium Club, Fleer I guess felt the need to create a premium brand to compete with Upper Deck.  I like this set a lot.  I don't recall ever buying any packs of this growing up, probably because it was out of my price range (I could probably get two packs of '91 Topps for the price of one Ultra pack).  For this pack, the Maddux card is the real headliner, while the card of Greg Olson is an action shot that I thought was pretty cool.  In addition, the Melido Perez card means I have pulled a card of each Perez brother during this break (Pascual appeared in '88 Fleer).  Lucky me, right?

1991 Leaf Set, Series 2

(3 puzzle pieces & 15 cards)

282 - Rob Dibble

283 - Mel Hall

290 - Tony Gwynn

297 - Harold Reynolds

304 - Terry Pendleton

311 - Glenallen Hill

318 - Bill Sampen

332 - Sam Horn

333 - Wally Whitehurts

337 - Ed Whitson

338 - Ivan Calderon

343 - Mark Lee

386 - Mike Jeffcoat

393 - Kevin Maas

394 - Devon White

Harmon Killebrew puzzle pieces card

In 1991, Fleer produced their Ultra set and Donruss gave us Leaf Set.  Much like Ultra, Leaf Set has gray (read: drab) bordering and is printed on heavier grade card stock.  This is another one of those brands that I really didn't have a whole lot of growing up.  I have a few '91 Leaf cards floating around my collection, but those came out of dime boxes at card shows.  A nice assortment of cards in this pack such as Tony Gwynn, Terry Pendleton and Devon White.  But I'm the most jazzed for the Maas card.  He's one of those guys I began collecting in recent years because I remember how big of a deal his cards were in 1990 and 1991.  If you were every lucky enough to pull one from a pack in those days, you bragged about it in the dugout at your next Little League game.  Kids today have Bryce Harper and Mike Trout; we had Kevin Maas, baby!

1991 ProCards (x2)

(12 cards)

Pack 1

112 - Ed Martel

113 - Willie Smith

120 - Brad Ausmus

157 - Matt Whiteside

204 - Pete Castellano

226 - Jeff Juden

272 - Heath Haynes

295 - Wes Chamberlain

299 - Cliff Brantley

302 - Mike Lieberthal

339 - Lance Painter

354 - Eric Christopherson

Pack 2

8 - Daryl Moore

56 - Brian Giles

122 - Sam Militello

155 - Donald Harris

201 - Elvin Paulino

238 - Dave Hansen

242 - Jamie McAndrew

286 - Todd Douma

297 - Tony Longmire

333 - Dave Staton

334 - Frank Seminara

355 - Rod Huffman

Hmm, not much I can say about these.  Other than 1989 Score, this is the only duplication of packs that occurred in the 25-pack lot.  I'm not very familiar with ProCards, which touts itself as featuring "Tomorrow's Heroes".  Some familiar names mixed in here, and some who didn't, well, become tomorrow's heroes after all.  Lieberthal and Giles both had very good Major League careers and both played in All-Star games for their respective leagues.  The design of the cards themselves isn't necessarily memorable and the card stock is on par with the weakest output by Donruss.  Overall, I think the idea of minor league cards is a cool idea, if it's executed the right way.  I think Topps is onto something with their Pro Debut product.  But, even that doesn't really get me excited.

1992 Upper Deck

(15 cards)

66 - Mark Smith (Top Prospect)

74 - Rico Brogna (Top Prospect)

151 - Walt Weiss

177 - Ozzie Smith

224 -  Joe Carter

255 - Cecil Fielder

320 - Jeff M. Robinson

366 - Brian Hunter

431 - Lance Parrish

456 - Robin Yount

471 - Steve Chitren

497 - Mike MacFarlane

541 - Scott Cooper

578 - Kevin Brown

637 - Rich DeLucia

By 1992, everyone stopped putting stickers in their packs of cards, I guess.  Just as well, stickers -- like the Donruss puzzles -- never got my blood pumping.  But, Upper Deck was pretty confident their "Exciting New Card Design for 1992" would be enough to offset any disappointment caused by the discontinuation of their 3-D hologram stickers.  Also, the allure of the "Find the Williams" (as in Ted) promotion was something to spice things up.  Alas, no Williams in this pack, but that doesn't mean it was a bummer.  On the contrary, there is a lot to like about this 15-card bundle.  For those keeping score, I netted my second card each of Ozzie, Yount and Joe Carter.  Plus a pretty iconic card of Cecil Fielder (Note to Chicken: RUN!!!) and a Top Prospect card of one of my favorite mid-90's Mets, Rico Brogna.  Overall, a star-studded player assortment in a top-shelf brand equals a happy collector!

1992 Donruss, Series 2

(15 cards)

403 - Pat Maholmes

414 - John Vander Wal

515 - Jim Deshaies

578 - Gerald Alexander

583 - Kevin Mitchell

588 - Bob MacDonald

594 - Kirk Dressendorfer

678 - Cecil Espy

683 - Eric Bullock

689 - Tim Spehr

737 - Gil Heredia

742 - Tim Naehring

748 - Rosario Rodriguez

753 - Braulio Castillo

783 - Bryan Hickerson

What a difference a year makes.  Donruss went through their awkward stages, just like a high schooler would.  But, they applied the zit cream, got the braces off their teeth and hit their growth spurt...and poof!  What a nice looking card they blossomed into!  They didn't reinvent the wheel with this design, but it's clean, classy and unique.  The only problem is you rarely get anything worthwhile in the packs.  I can remember my frustration from buying '92 Donruss as a kid and coming away with a whole lot of nothing.  Take this one for instance.  Kevin Mitchell and...?  Lots of utility players and relief pitchers.  Pat Mahomes gets a nod because he was a key reliever for the Mets on their 2000 NL pennant-winning team.

1992 Score Pinnacle, Series 2

(16 cards)

313 - Tim Teufel

327 - Greg Swindell

333 - David West

396 - Bill Wegman

404 - Bip Roberts

416 - Don Slaught

451 - Bobby Witt

469 - Brent Mayne

471 - Tim Burke

489 - Mike Maddux

491 - Carl Willis

545- Shawn Livsey (Draft Pick)

560 - Monty Fariss (Rookie Prospect)

575 - Willie Banks (Rookie Prospect)

590 - David Cone (The Idols)

605 - Tim Raines (Shades)

Score brand finally got the memo in 1992 that they had to produce a premium set beside their flagship to keep up with the Joneses.  And here we have the premier edition of Pinnacle.  The cards are super glossy, as evidenced by the single brick that one might encounter when opening a 20-year-old pack of this product or something akin (like 1992 Ultra).  The base design is a bit awkward for my taste; they got the recipe right in 1993, though.  And how bout these subsets?  David Cone's idol was apparently Jackie Gleason of Honeymooner's fame.  Hey, is that Tim Raines reflected in the shades of...Tim Raines?  Oh, and earlier I completed the Perez Brothers duo, and now I have done the same for the Maddux boys.  Whew!

1993 Leaf Set, Series 2

(14 cards)

239 - Dave Hollins

250 - David Cone

300 - Dennis Martinez

307 - Gary Sheffield

309 - Craig Lefferts

318 - Greg Myers

318 - Greg Myers

327 - Dave Nilsson

368 - Rich Rodriguez

397 - Arthur Rhodes

408 - Ed Sprague

419 - Scott Sanderson

430 - Julio Valera

439 - Robin Ventura

If you like glossy, foil-stamped cards, this is the set for you.  The player's name and Leaf emblem are both gold stamped on the front, and on the back the team emblem is at the top left in silver holo-foil...or something.  It's impressive, trust me.  Also, on the back a full-sized action photo is photoshopped over a geographically appropriate backdrop.  For instance, Phils' third baseman Dave Hollins is taking a swing with the Liberty Bell in the background.  Specific to this pack, I got doubles of Greg Myers.  It's the first time during this break that I received doubles in the same pack.  Not even 2012 Topps does that!  Good cards in this pack otherwise, including Robin Ventura, Gary Sheffield and Denny Martinez.  It's my second El Presidente card of this break, but I snubbed him from the photo scan last time around ('89 Donruss).  Not this time.

1993 Pacific, Spanish Edition

(5 tarjetas)

138 - Wally Joyner

151 - Eric Karros

164 - Kevin Seitzer

177 - Kirby Puckett

190 - Larry Walker

First of all, check out the price: $0.25!  That's, like, 5 cents per tarjeta!  Yeah, so this is the first edition of Pacific Spanish.  I was pretty excited to open this, more so than any of the other packs.  Can you blame me?   My anticipation was justified; look at all those superstars!  I snag my second Wally Joyner and second Kirby Puckett of the break.  And my Eric Karros jugadore collection gets a badly-needed entry en Espanol.  Viva Pacific!

1995 UD Collector's Choice

(12 high quality cards)

18 - Mark Acre (Rookie Class)

35 - Bill Pulsipher (Future Foundation)

147 - Carlos Delgado (silver signature)

164 - Mark Lemke

167 - John Smoltz

222 - Tom Candiotti

237 - Marquis Grissom

323 - Doug Linton

382 - Paul Wagner

450 - Dante Bichette

477 - John Doherty

529 - Checklist (Joe Carter)

My final pack was a blazer.  Collector's Choice was always a favorite of mine growing up, because it was Upper Deck quality but in a more affordable form.  Remember how exciting it was to get a silver signature parallel of one of your favorite players?  Well that was me last night upon seeing the Carlos Delgado silver foil card!  The Bill Pulsipher card is great, also.  Generation K was a miserable failure, but it's still fun to come across cards of Pulsipher, Jason Isringhausen or Paul Wilson in a Mets uni.  I got my first Smotlz card of the break, and ditto for Dante Bichette.  Joe Carter wins the fruit basket and the gold watch, as the checklist card featuring  his likeness makes it three Joe Carter cards I've gathered from this 25-pack break.  Good job, Joe!

*****

Well, all good things must come to an end, and so it is with this birthday pack break.  Twenty-five packs spanning 1987 to 1995.  I can't think of a better way to spend a day off from work.  I hope you enjoyed taking the journey with me.  Talk to you soon!