1991 Topps Stadium Club Baseball Series 2

Since the National is happening and I'm not there, I decided to open a box of 1991 Stadium Club Series 2.  I completed series one from one box and hope is to do the same again.  This has been reviewed before but it's been awhile.  Most of you that read this love the junk wax era, I am sure.

This was the first year for Stadium Club.  The product was well received despite the high price point.  Photography was a large reason for the positive reaction.  As I opened packs, I was disappointed in the photography.  While series one had some great photos, this series left a bit to be desired.

My guess is that many of the photos were taken during spring training and it caused for a lot of boring photos.  There are a lot of portraits and spring training uniforms to be found.

1991 Stadium Club #472 Charles Nagy

Borderless cards are commonplace now but weren't in 1991.  No borders combined with minimal design on the front made these cards easy on the eyes.

1991 Stadium Club #472 Charles Nagy (back)

I loved seeing the "rookie" cards on the back.  I used quotes because it was of course only the Topps card.  In some cases players had Donruss or Fleer rookies first.  Another of my favorites was when the card pictured on the back was the card you were holding.

As an Indians fan during my teenage years, there was no way that I wasn't moving Charles Nagy to the front and posting him first.

1991 Stadium Club #455 Jose DeLeon

1991 Stadium Club #539 Rob Deer

Rob Deer - the "three outcomes" player of my youth.

1991 Stadium Club #399 Mark McGwire

Is it just me, or does Mark McGwire's bat actually look like it's bent?

1991 Stadium Club #528 Jeff King

Jeff King came to the Pirates just a little too late.  His best days were spent on some bad Pirates teams.

1991 Stadium Club #349 Todd Hundley

1991 Stadium Club #503 Hensley Meulens

I remember how good Hensley Meulens was supposed to be.

1991 Stadium Club #483 Efrain Valdez

1991 Stadium Club #441 Jeff M. Robinson

1991 Stadium Club #334 Bob Kipper

1991 Stadium Club #363 Duane Ward

1991 Stadium Club #316 Sam Horn

Sam Horn is my earliest memory of the northeast/Yankees/Red Sox bias.  After his rookie season he was destined for the Hall of Fame.  Yeah, about that...

You can follow APTBNL on twitter at @namedlater and me at @beansbcardblog.  Please take a look at and follow my personal blog, I Feel Like a Collector Again. Happy collecting!

2017 Allen & Ginter Retail Value Pack

Since I don't collect much modern at all, I've been fighting the temptation to pick up a few packs of Allen & Ginter.  I gave in this morning and stopped by Target.  I picked up a couple of the "value packs" that contain three A&G packs and three gold bordered minis.

I'm only posting the first one here.  If you want to see the second, you will have to check out my personal blog, I Feel Like A Collector Again.

Nothing too special in pack one.  I will keep the Bud Black card just because if I have a baseball team, it's the Indians.

I am excited that the Bobby Bonilla Rediscover card was in this pack.  My blogging and podcast partner Jason collects Bonilla and I doubt that he has this one.

On a side note, I offer my opinion on the Rediscover program.  I know many hate it, but I actually like it.  For collectors of retired players (especially non-stars), this adds something new to search for and add to player collections.  For me, I'd love to some into a Russ Davis, Steve Kline, Darrell Whitmore or Chris Enochs Rediscover card.  It's not likely that any of these guys will be showing up on any new cards.

What I don't like about the program is the inclusion into anything other than flagship.  My personal opinion is that's where they should come from, not that Topps cares what I think.

I can't lie, I thought that my mini card was some sort or blank front error or short print card.  I looked up the checklists and "surprises," only to find nothing.  Upon closer examination I discovered that the "Constellations" cards look like this.  Nothing to see here.

These are the gold bordered minis from the pack.  I love these special parallels that Topps adds to some of their retail product.  Well done, Topps!

You can follow APTBNL on twitter at @namedlater and me at @beansbcardblog.  Please take a look at and follow my personal blog, I Feel Like a Collector Again. Happy collecting!

2011 Allen & Ginter Hobby

I don't actually recall even opening a pack of these ever; not even in 2011. Let's see what we have inside!

Prince Fielder, Travis Hafner (Indians! Wahoo!!), Cheryl Burke (2-Time Champ DWTS):

Ben Zobrist, Coery Hart, Joe Mauer:

Minds That Made the Future - Johannes Kepler:

Huh. That's only 7 and we did not get a relic. We got ripped off, man. Well, that's a bummer!

1995 Fleer Ultra Baseball

A pack of Fleer Ultra baseball series 1 consists of 12 cards. It's 10 base cards with 1 gold medallion and 1 insert card. Let's rip.....

24 - JT Snow - a miscut card. They made good use of photographs. Who remember Allen Watson for JT Snow trade?

11 - Chris Howard

184 - Henry Rodriguez

188 - Wil Cordero - another miscut card

91 - Mike Bordick

79 - Mat Walbeck

64 - Darryl Hamilton

206 - Charlie Lieberthal - did I throw him out?

League Leaders 10 of 10 - league leaders insert card. This one feature John Franco who led the NL in saves that year.

55 - David Cone - the gold medallion card of the 94 Cy Young winner. He would pitch a perfect game years later for the Yankees

8 - Jack Voigt

172 - Steve Finley

1989 Double Bubble Major League Movie Set

Forgive my back-to-back posts. I don't normally do this, but when this set came in the mail today, I just couldn't wait to share the news!

What you see below is the oddly-difficult-to-find 1989 Double Bubble Major League movie card set. The set was given out in Milwaukee during the filming of the movie.

The fronts feature a nod to the 1974 Topps set with the banners at the top and bottom of the card. The top banner features a "Major League" graphic of players playing ball with a huge orange sun behind them. The bottom banner lists the actor's name and the character he portrays in the movie. The center image appears to be staged photos of the actors, and are of surprisingly decent quality given they are from 1989. All of these features are surrounded by a bright blue border.

The cards measure 2-3/4" x 3-1/2", making them slightly wider than standard issue baseball cards. This also means they do not fit in tradition 9-pocket pages. However, that is a sall price to pay for having these babies in your own hands. The backs are blank.

There are two cards with multiple people on them. One is essentially the four "stars" of the movie and the other features the team coaches:

It has become one of the hardest sets to find in the wild. There are a couple reasons for this, I believe.

1. These were baseball cards of actors, not real players, when handed out to movie extras in Milwaukee. I would venture most folks tossed them into trash bins. Remember, this was a movie about the Indians in the 80's. Very few people gave a rip.
2. These were baseball cards being handed out in 1989. We're talking the start of the junk wax era. I would bet that most folks getting these, even if they were collectors, probably junked them figuring they weren't very collectible and that they were being so overly produced, they'd be worthless anyway. Those folks would be wrong on both counts.
3. Word about this set has been making the rounds off and on for nearly a decade or more. The people that own the sets are reluctant to part with them, knowing they are gaining in value. Last I saw, the set was valued at something like $20. No way. Auctions for this set, when they do come up, easily hit $300 or more.
4. I figure a lot of sets were lost, destroyed, junked, especially when Double Bubble became Leaf (or however that all played out). Who would want a bunch of cards of actors!?

Whatever the reason, I knew I would pay a premium for the set if I were to ever own it. It came up for auction, and I pulled the trigger after MANY days of debating. In fact, the set had already been listed and the cut-off had expired the first time. I thought for sure I had seen the last of them. Luckily, the listing reappeared and I couldn't pass it up.

1997 Pinnacle Zenith 8x10

You are looking at the "wrapper" for a pack of 1997 Pinnacle Zenith 8x10's. It is actually a thin cardboard box! The front features logos, an example card of Andruw Jones, and general information about the cards included.

The back features the Zenith 8x10 Checklist:

The first 8x10 out of the box? How about a Cal Ripken Jr Duflex!? WHAT!? Holy smokes!

The front features a black border with the player's name centered at the bottom. The center of the card shows the featured player. The images are wonderful quality. In the case of the Ripken, he is Duflex - a radial foil effect Pinnacle used on cards.

The backs feature another shot of the player plus his hit location stats, just for fun!

Next up, we pull an 8x10 of Albert Belle, former Indians player! Wahoo!!

Included in the box is a small pack of regular sized  cards, done with the same amazing quality photos. The backs look like the one above, only smaller. Oh yeah, we pulled Albert Belle! Yeap - A large and regular baseball card of the same player!

2016-17 Panini Donruss Optic NBA

Panini owns the Donruss brand, and Panini decided to chrome-ify their Donruss line and give it a new name: Optic. It would be easier to call this Donruss Chrome, but we can't because, I don't know... lawyers I guess. It's expensive and slightly unnecessary, and yet I decided I needed to have it.

60 - Kristaps Prozingis - It's not surprising that the talented Prozingis decided to get as far away as humanly possible from the New York Knicks the second the final clock ticked down on this past NBA season. What a mess of a team.

84 - Chris McCullough - Speaking of messes, the Nets franchise managed to move to vaunted Brooklyn and somehow become even worse than their already dismal legacy.

11 - Jimmy Butler Court Kings Prizm - I seem to constantly pull Bulls cards, and Jimmy Butler cards are my specialty. These are probably less attractive to your average Bulls fan now that Butler has gone up north to Minneapolis.

115 - LaMarcus Aldridge - Aldridge had some huge playoff games with the Trail Blazers in his career but has apparently frustrated Spurs fans. At least, this is what I hear.

The back of the card is rather drab, just like the Spurs (sorry.)