Saturday, July 29, 2017

The Joy of Junk Wax - 1991 Upper Deck

You know how the older you get the more you come to appreciate certain things? This is how I feel about some early 90's baseball cards sets. I was new to collecting cards when many of these junk wax sets were released. While I knew of a handful of players, I wasn't watching baseball on TV or following the sport as closely as I do now. In my youthful excitement of opening cards, I would gloss over many of the cards. I didn't appreciate the photography featured on the cards like I do now.


I recently purchased a jumbo box of 1991 Upper Deck. I chose this set for several reasons.

1) I have always loved the base design of the cards
2) It represents a time when first started collecting cards
3) Upper Deck always had some of the best photography
4) Ths jumbo packs contained a Silver Slugger card in every pack
5) "Find the Hank" Baseball Heroes set

As I opened the box the other night, I just started taking pictures of random cards that stood out to me in some way. For this post I decided to try and group them together into different themes. Enjoy.

Rest In Peace


Hall of Famers



Young Talent



Is that a young Sammy Sosa sitting on the bench beside Frank in the background?

I'm Seeing Three


Photography



I love "aerial" action photography.


Card Back Photography



Action in the dirt.


While I don't care for Sosa, I love the Angels players sitting in the bullpen in the background.


Cal kickin' up some dirt sliding into home. General goofiness from Jose Lind w/ Mike LeValliere.


Play at the plate cards are always cool, even if the picture is on the back of the card.

Just Because...


David Justice was the first player that I had poster of on my wall as a kid. There was just something about him that I was drawn too. I have always found this card of his to be iconic in a way. Hershiser was one of my late father's favorite pitchers. Anything that reminds me of my dad is aways special. 


Julio is one of my Player Collections and I don't believe I had this card before the other day. Not sure how Bip showed up...

Team Cards


I could have taken pictures of many more of these as the artwork on many of them are beautiful, but this card of the Tigers bomber, Cecil Fielder was one of the better ones.

Hank Aaron Baseball Heroes





Does this card above not look like Al Roker from The Today Show?! When I was a kid, I thought these Baseball Heroes insert cards were awesome. I still find myself drawn to these and now I can't wait to complete this set for Hank Aaron.


I still have not taken the time to collate the cards and put together a want list. The big stack you see in the bottom right corner is my stack of 700 cards. At first I thought the collation was just really bad (and it was), then I realized the box I bought was a combination of the low and hi series. I may end up buy box of the low series to see if I can round out the set some more...or I may not. Regardless of what I end up doing, it was a blast sitting at the kitchen table opening the packs and looking over each card. Am I the only one that gets a kick out of opening junk wax?

11 comments:

  1. I love opening this kind of stuff, but wouldn't with this product as I already have a monster box full! Let me know your want list (unless you do open a low number box - or even after that) as I can fill most, if not all, of just about any want list from this set.

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    1. Thanks! I haven't had time to collate what I have, but shoot me your email if your don't mind and I'll try to get back with you when I have a want list made.

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  2. Beautiful cards. The high numbers are particularly vibrant. True pieces of art.

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  3. Upper Deck really changed the card industry when they came aboard. The 1991 set was great!

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    1. '91 through '93 are my favorite UD sets, though I'm starting to give '94 a second look.

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  4. 1991 UD was my favorite set from that era. The design was flawless and photograph was better than Stadium Club's in my opinion. Dave Parker's card was probably my favorite from the set. I think he was holding a sledge hammer on the back photo.
    If vrooomed doesn't knock off every card from your wantlist, then give me a shout. mrcoach00 at yahoo dot com

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    1. I appreciate the offer. Because the collation was so horrible in the jumbo box, I kinda dread the time it's going to take to see what I have and what I still lack. I'll get too it soon though as I'd like to fill in the holes.

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  5. I bought the jumbo box specifically for the Silver Slugger cards, but the collation of those was horrible. Still a lot of fun and the box was only like $10 shipped.

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  6. I opened one of these jumbo boxes a few years ago. Great design and some pretty awesome photography makes this a sweet looking set.

    P.S. I mainly busted it for the Silver Slugger inserts at the time.

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  7. 1991 UD was one of my favorite sets as a kid. I hope your inner child was pleased with this break, I know mine has been begging me to buy some Starting Lineup figures or a box of 1993 UD baseball (or football)

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  8. Awesome photography. Simple and pure!

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