1985 Fleer

From grey to more grey, here's a wax pack of one of my favorite sets of all-time, 1985 Fleer. I'm still working on this set, a project I began a few years ago.

- Mets Jersey/Pennant sticker - There are a couple of different stickers for each team. One of the things that I miss about '80s Fleer cards are the stickers. They're just fun, and so much more edible than Topps' gum. There's a great website called The Fleer Sticker Project that can tell you all about 'em.

608 - Atlee Hammaker - Each card is color coded according to the team that is represented. This was my favorite thing about this set growing up, and it really helped me learn all of the teams and their representative colors.

289 - Mike Smithson - Smithson was the type of workhorse that would be appreciated in today's game, but I don't really remember anything about him. He logged 252 innings in 1984 and posted a 3.68 ERA, with a pretty solid K:BB ratio. Whew, look at those empty seats!

362 - Dave Smith

465 - Cecilio Guante - This is an excruciating closeup shot.

317 - Geoff Zahn - As is often the case in these types of sets, there were some curious choices with how team colors were assigned. I always associate the old California Angels with yellow because of this set (and 1986 Fleer as well) and I guess they must have grabbed the color from the halo?

69 - Rick Sutcliffe - After a lousy start to his season with Cleveland, Sutcliffe went 16-1 with the Cubs and became one of the National League's most dominant pitchers. It seemed like he was on WGN every other day back then.

484 - Jim Beattie - Sweet Mariners jacket.

652 - Joe Hesketh / Glenn Davis Major League Prospects - This ended up being the only card I needed for my set in the two packs that I purchased. Hopefully I can upgrade a few cards, though. I remember this being a pretty nice card to have back in the day, as Davis had a couple of All-Star appearances under his belt.

557 - Danny Darwin

620 - Jeff Robinson - Jeff had scarcely a care in the world, having no idea that Fleer would confuse him with another Jeff Robinson just a few years later.

349 - Frank DiPino - Before he became a Cardinal, DiPino would go on to win the first night game at Wrigley Field.

418 - Ray Burris

148 - Gary Allenson

367 - Bob Bailor - More empty seats.

39 - Tim Lollar - And we finally have an action shot.

121 - Don Baylor - Apparently Dodger Blue was the same as Yankees Blue in Fleer's eyes. Not too many players got the DH designation on their cards back then, but Baylor certainly did. These days you could start your own league full of current major leaguers who can't properly field a position.

2000 Topps Series 2

Here's another pack I snagged at a card show recently. I barely have any 2000 Topps cards and have never so much as seen a pack of the stuff on a shelf before. This wasn't really on a shelf, either. It was buried in a pile of dusty junk on a table in a well-past-its-prime mall. And now you get to open it, virtually.

371 - John Thomson - This isn't a bad design, to be honest. Of course, in the days leading up to the year 2000, everyone was in love with saying the number "2000" an awful lot, but the "Topps 2000" designation now looks sort of quaint.

437 - Ron Coomer - In the past 10 years, Topps has used a non-white border design exactly one time, and it was boring old greasy fingers-attractin' black. Topps base cards continue to be the most disappointing thing to me about my return to collecting, so it's nice to go back to a time when they seemed to at least be trying some things.

409 - Dave Mlicki

316 - Ruben Mateo - I'm sure this upset the Topps purists, but this is a seriously nice looking card back, complete with a completely different photo of the player. Aside from this set, you have to go all the way back to 1993 to find cards with a portrait-oriented reverse.

262 - Matt Lawton

465 - Randy Johnson / Pedro Martinez League Leaders - Here's the first problem I've seen. These foilboard two-in-one cards look dated and kind of terrible. I've probably passed over quite a few of these cards that I actually needed in nickel and dime bins because I never bothered to notice someone I collect on the reverse.

429 - Randy Velarde

444 - Julio Zuleta / Dernell Stenson / Jorge Toca Prospects - These fine fellows have a grand total of 141 games logged between them.

414 - Ron Belliard

439 - Tony Batista - Okay, enough about the design. Playerwise, this pack flat out sucked, aside from the League Leaders thing.

 329 - Ray Durham - Not even Ray Durham can help.

2005 Skybox Autographics

Greetings!

Hope everyone had a great weekend, and Happy Mother's Day to any mom who happens to stumble across this little website.

Last week was the 50th anniversary of the James Bond franchise (in America), as Dr. No had it's premiere on May 8, 1963.  I thought I had a Bond-related pack to share with the class, but I think it's in the crawlspace, and I don't like going in there because it's cramped and dark and stuff.  I may have no choice but to get in there soon anyway, so if I do, I'll see if I can find that pack to mark the momentus occasion.

Anyway, a little over 4 years ago, one our earliest contributors posted a pack of 2005 Skybox Autographics.  However, if you were to go there now (it's OK, I'll wait), you'll notice that the pictures are gone (at least it is for me).  This injustice cannot stand, so it's time to right this wrong...it's another pack of 2005 Skybox Autographics!

Just like before, it's a retail pack from the Target discount bin.  Here's the cards:

 

#35 – Mike Piazza

#53 – Rocco Baldelli (back)

The fronts are basically head shots; there's no action shots to be had here.  The backs are lacking in stats but do come with a lot of empty space.

 

#13 – Sammy Sosa

#21 – Ivan Rodriguez

#17 – Ken Griffey, Jr.

Not a bad pack overall.  You got a future Hall of Famer, 2 pretty close to being Hall of Famers, and 1 should have been a Hall of Famer but he went off and enhanced himself illegally.

BONUS CARD:  Since it's Mother's Day, here's one of my pulls from another pack:

#61 – Nolan Ryan (#604/750)

Here's the back for the visual proof that it's out of 750::

It's pretty disappointing that almost half the set are short prints.  Anyway, that's the pack.  More later.  Enjoy the week and thanks for reading!

2003 Topps Chrome Series 2

2003 Topps Chrome is a fantastic looking set. If it was more affordable, I'd probably be collecting it instead of the base 2003 Topps sets. I found this pack at a card show last month for less than $2.

371 - Willis Roberts - Roberts spent 6 seasons in the league, but I've never heard of him.

424 - Evel Bastida-Martinez - The last bit of news about this guy's career mentioned something about him getting suspended (and eventually reinstated) for going after another player with a bat during a game. In 2004. That's probably not good.

Hooray internetcards!

341 - Joe Girardi - The current Yankees manager as a Cardinal.

262 - Mark McLemore - Not the rapper, but he did apparently write a song that was a tribute to the late great Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus. The rapper, did, I mean.

1991 Kelloggs Leyendas Hispanas del Beisbol

Greetings!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.  Chicago sports fans are feeling pretty good, as the Blackhawks are up 2-0 on the Wild, and the Bulls just took Game 7 from the Nets and get to lose to the Heat (I hope I'm wrong, but beating Miami is not realistic...they should give them a good fight though).  As for the Cubs and White Sox, well, 2 out of 4 ain't bad.

I'm too lazy to play with Blogger's schedule / timer / whatever you call it function, so I'm posting this a day early.  In honor of Cinco de Mayo, here's some 1991 Kelloggs Leyendas Hispanas del Beisbol!

Ellos son grandes!

I was not able to find any specific info about this set on the interwebs.  I know it's a 10 card set, and based on the cereal images on the back of the title card (see below), I would imagine we got the cards from either a Frosted Flakes or Froot Loops box (kids don't eat Corn Flakes unless they have no choice).  I also couldn't tell how many cards came in a pack; I'm just going to assume 5 cards came per pack and show you the cards already:

The cards are unnumbered, so typing the names out is pointless.  Notice that these cards are MLB approved, as you can clearly see the team logos on a couple of the cards.  Here's the backs:

The backs are not bad either.  The picture on the back is not a duplicate of the front and there's a brief write-up of the player in Spanish and English (notice the Spanish is in the stats and also gets top billing).  Three of the Legends are wearing Major League Baseball Players Alumni hats; this is the only place I've seen that logo on a card.

Here's a closer look at the Clemente back for those who are even more curious:

Anyway, that's the pack.  It would have been nice to get the Rod Carew card, but obviously Clemente's the winner of the set.  Eso es todo por ahora ... gracias por leer!

2001 Upper Deck Evolution

Baseball cards has evolved, man, and you missed the boat. Ken Griffey Jr. was on that boat. Heck, Griffey was on pretty much every boat that Upper Deck trotted out from the early '90s until 2009. How many pack wrappers have you seen with this face on them? Actually, Griffey looks more and more like a golfer here the more that I look at him.

Apparently, I am to look for cards that "E-Volve" into jersey cards. Is this a Pokemon thing?

57 - Kerry Wood - Say what you will about Kerry Wood's career, but not many people on earth can rightfully claim that they've struck out 20 batters in a major league game.

31 - Doug Mientkiewicz - Posting old packs here means occasionally having to take one for the team and spell out the name "Mienkiewicz".

5 - Jermaine Dye - I'm not wild about the card backs.

67 - Fernando Tatis - Tatis was a bit of a one year wonder, but he had that big year with the Cardinals and I'm okay with that.

41 - Jeff Bagwell - It's just a five card pack, so Astros legend Bagwell will end things here. I do find it strange that the player's stats from his previous season are printed on the front without explanation.

2003 Fleer Ultra

Ah, 2003. This pack comes from the point in time over which 50 Cent once reigned. Steroid monster Barry Bonds won his third consecutive MVP award despite only accumulating 390 ABs, which is in the range of what many platoon players see. Of course, he walked 148 times and was hit by 10 pitches, so there's that.

33 - Ray Durham - This is a weird design. Lots of straight lines and 90 degree angles.

25 - Aaron Boone - 2003 was the year that Aaron Boone burned the Red Sox and then basically wasn't heard from again.

4 - Mike Lowell - This seems weird, but Lowell looks like he's glowing here.

36 - Roger Clemens - I'm usually a Yankees defender, but I can't defend this guy.

138 - A.J. Burnett - It's weird to see Burnett like this. These days he's like a poor man's Jered Weaver.

174 - Cliff Floyd - Let's see what Cliff Floyd has been up to these days...

It would look so much better if I had 10,000 followers lol forget 7k just go for the juggler what the heck!
— cliff floyd (@sleepy30) January 30, 2013

C'mon, guys. Let's get him some followers!

66 - Greg Maddux - Maddux is very popular with the collectors. And the ladies. Especially when he puts on those '90s glasses.

211 - Scott Rolen All-Stars - All-Stars are part of the base set but fall at 1:4 packs according the wrapper. This is my favorite card of the pack by far. I hadn't seen these before and they look nice.

236 - Joe Borchard 2002 Rookie Update - I'm not sure if this design is a throw back to the previous year's set. It might be.

28 - Kazuhisa Ishii Gold Medallion - Fitting with the overall design of the set, these Gold Medallion parallels are die cut in an odd way. Is this the Tetris Set? If you like naming sets, feel free to chime in.