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?

Group Break - Loose Packs

For this portion of the group break we'll be opening a selection of 90's packs.  I don't expect anything earth shattering, but opening these older packs of stuff I bought as a kid ought to be at least entertaining.

 
Pack 1:  1991 Fleer Ultra
Baltimore Orioles team sticker
#289 Pedro Guerrero (Cardinals)
#222 Howard Johnson (Mets)
#204 Marquis Grissom (Expos)
#228 Jesse Barfield (Yankees)
#274 Jay Bell (Pirates)
#292 Jose Oquendo (Cardinals)
#263 Charlie Hayes (Phillies)
#356 Ruben Sierra (Rangers)
#197 Dennis Boyd (Expos)

#345 Omar Vizquel (Mariners)
#256 Bob Welch (A's)
#223 Dave Magadan (Mets)
#372 Mookie Wilson (Blue Jays)
#376 Steve Chitren (A's)

I remember these cards being a big deal in 1991 with the multiple pictures on the back of the cards.  Now they are just bland.  The backs would look better without the rainbow of colors used for the backgrounds.


Pack 2:  1991 Upper Deck
#651 Mike Benjamin (Giants)
#702 "Rookie Threats" Luis Gonzalez / Karl Rhodes / Jeff Bagwell (Astros)
#576 Tim Belcher (Dodgers)
#791 Jim Presley (Padres)
#439 Francisco Cabrera (Braves)

#325 Ozzie Guillen (White Sox)
Baseball Heroes title card
#255 Tony Gwynn (Padres)
#717 Steve Farr (Yankees)
#746 Reggie Jefferson (Reds)
#104 Felix Fermin (Indians)
#715 Bob Ojeda (Dodgers)
#775 Fred McGriff (Padres)
#025 Steve Decker RC (Giants)
New York Mets hologram sticker
#151 Mike Gallego (A's)

I still think 1991's design is one of the best Upper Deck used in the early 90's.  It was so head and shoulders above everything else from that time period (esp. the mustard '91 Fleer!).


Pack 3:  1992 Fleer
#543 Wally Ritchie (Phillies)
#556 Bob Kipper (Pirates)
#224 Alvaro Espinoza (Yankees)
#599 Andy Benes (Padres)
#044 Phil Plantier (Red Sox)

#425 Jeff Bagwell (Astros)
#400 Glenn Braggs (Reds)
#588 Mike Perez (Cardinals)
#390 Heathcliff Slocumb (Cubs)
#254 Ron Darling (A's)
#651 Trevor Wilson (Giants)
#008 Leo Gomez (Orioles)
#392 Dwight Smith (Cubs)

#012 "A Man for Every Season" - Roger Clemens Career Highlights (Red Sox)
#251 Mike Bordick (A's)
#483 Chris Haney (Expos)
#350 Mike Bell (Braves)

Even though this is an odd design w/ the fading green borders I kinda dig it.  We'll random off that Roger Clemens card since the Red Sox (surprisingly) weren't claimed.


Pack 4:  1992 Skybox Pre-Rookie
#143 Orlando Miller (Astros)
#124 Darwin Pennye (Expos)
#086 Johnny Ray (Reds)
#019 John Sellick (Cardinals)
#043 Mike Mongiello (White Sox)
#074 Jessie Hollins (Cubs)
#168 Nigel Wilson (Blue Jays)
#173 Lou Frazier (Tigers)
#294 Larry Carter (Giants)
#252 Dennis Springer (Dodgers)
#287 Darrell Sherman (Padres)
#207 Scott Hatteberg (Red Sox)

#242 Billy Ashley (Dodgers)
#221 Pat Meares (Twins)
#240 Mike Williams (Phillies)

I vaguely remember these.  Perhaps I saw them in the Charlotte Knights (then the AA affiliate of the Cubs) team store.


Pack 5 through 11:  1992 Topps Kids
1st pack:
#002 Andre Dawson (Cubs)
#097 Jim Abbott (Angels)
#054 Benny Santiago (Padres)
#035 Otis Nixon (Braves)
#036 Steve Avery (Braves)
#114 Rick Aguilera (Twins)

#081 Paul Molitor (Brewers)

2nd pack:
#072 Greg Swindell (Indians)
#004 Mark Grace (Cubs)
#015 Kevin McReynolds (Mets)
#067 Roger Clemens (Red Sox)
#111 Kent Hrbek (Twins)
#109 Kirby Puckett (Twins)

#058 Will Clark (Giants)

3rd pack:
#034 Tom Glavine (Braves)
#002 Andre Dawson (Cubs)
#097 Jim Abbott (Angels)
#044 Jeff Bagwell (Astros)
#074 Mark Whiten (Indians)
#030 Jose DeLeon (Cardinals)
#054 Benito Santiago (Padres)

4th pack:
#040 Rob Dibble (Reds)
#056 Bip Roberts (Padres)
#031 David Justice (Braves)
#032 Ron Gant (Braves)
#067 Roger Clemens (Red Sox)
#117 Dave Stewart (A's)
#115 Jose Canseco (A's)

5th pack:

#080 Robin Yount (Brewers)
#001 Ryne Sandberg (Cubs)
#010 Dennis Martinez (Expos)
#095 Wally Joyner (Angels)
#053 Tony Gwynn (Padres)
#092 Kelly Gruber (Blue Jays)
#038 Eric Davis (Reds)

6th pack:
#066 Gregg Olson (Orioles)
#056 Bip Roberts (Padres)
#116 Dave Henderson (A's)
#124 Erik Hanson (Mariners)
#082 B.J. Surhoff (Brewers)
Checklist
#049 Brett Butler (Dodgers)

7th pack:
#029 Felix Jose (Cardinals)
#065 Glenn Davis (Orioles)
#062 Dave Righetti (Giants)
#131 Juan Gonzalez (Rangers)

#016 David Cone (Mets)
#042 Jose Rijo (Reds)
#088 Roberto Kelly (Yankees)

My first exposure to these cards oddly enough was maybe around 1994 or 1995 when my brother was in college.  For whatever reason packs of this were being sold in the school's bookstore.  I never had more than a few packs worth.  I still find these cards fascinating.  I was surprised the included stick of gum came individually wrapped like a stick of Juicy Fruit.  Now why couldn't have Topps done that w/ the gum in the regular Topps releases?


Pack 12:  1992 Upper Deck
#661 Mike Moore (A's)
#651 Kenny Rogers (Rangers)
#561 Scott Servais (Astros)
#549 Dave Smith (Cubs)
#413 Donnie Hill (Angels)
#469 John Wehner (Pirates)
#305 Mark Langston (Angels)
#316 David Segui (Orioles)
#237 Danny Tartabull (Royals)
#237 Danny Tartabull (Royals)
#146 Scott Erickson (Twins)

#152 Mike Scioscia (Dodgers)
#058 Dmitri Young RC (Cardinals)
#059 Ryan Hawblitzel RC (Cubs)

#034 Ted Williams - Baseball Heroes

A hit!  Ted will also be randomed off to everyone (excluding myself).


Packs 13 & 14:  1995 Pinnacle UC3
1st pack:
#033 Kirby Puckett (Twins)
#054 Ryan Klesko (Braves)
#082 Ivan Rodriguez (Rangers)

#CS9 Jose Canseco - Cyclone Squad (Red Sox)
#141 Roger Clemens (Red Sox)

2nd pack:

#026 Barry Larkin (Reds)
#058 Albert Belle (Indians)
#081 Tom Glavine (Braves)
#011 Tony Tarasco (Expos)

#124 Ken Griffey, Jr. (Mariners)

You could say these cards were Pinnacle's attempt to jump in on the 3-D card market (was there ever a market?).  They are very similar to Sportflics, but a little better quality in my opinion.  The Canseco insert will again be randomed off.


Pack 15:  Cards One Historical Vintage Collection
1977 Topps #261 Phil Garner (A's)
1995 Classic Proline #333 Darryl Williams (Bengals)
2004 Leaf Rookie & Stars #158 Dontarrious Thomas RC (Vikings)
1992 Pro Set #306 Bill Cowher (Steelers)
1991 Upper Deck #319 Ron Heller (Eagles)
93/94 Topps Stadium Club #235 Darnell Mee RC (Nuggets)
1994 Leaf #328 Doug Strange (Rangers)
1989 Score #622 Bill Brennan (Dodgers)
1996 Leaf Preferred #105 Paul Molitor (Twins)
1995 Upper Deck #18 Brian Anderson - Electric Diamond (Angels)
93/94 Upper Deck #116 Donald Hodge (Mavericks)
1995 Fleer Ultra #424 Al Martin - Gold Medallion (Pirates)
1988 Fleer Matt Nokes (Tigers)
1988 Topps #712 John Moses (Mariners)

1985 Topps #713 Ted Simmons / Reggie Jackson / Craig Nettles (Brewers / Angels / Yankees)

If anyone wants any of the basketball or football cards let me know.  Otherwise I'm just going to spread them across the stacks.  The '85 Topps will go to cynicalbuddha since he claimed both the Brewers and the Angels.

That wraps up this portion of the break.  I've still got a handful of loose packs to open in addition to the 12 packs that Ryan from "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog contributed.  Since I'm waiting for the 1994 UD Collector's Choice jumbo box to arrive in the mail to replace the 1994 Score box I'll either share the inserts from the box of Score or we'll do another round of loose packs.  I'll try to get the sidebar with each team's card count updated soon.

Speaking of the 1994 Score what I plan to do is sort through the cards and distribute the ones in good condition.  Not every card was a total lose.  I won't be doing a pack by pack listing though so you'll have some mystery as to what you're getting.  All of the Boys of the Summer inserts will be scanned in.  I hope everyone is OK with that decision.