2018 Sportlots purchases: Griffey goodness

It's time for another Sportlots catch-up post!  Let's delve into some cards from one of game's legends:  Ken Griffey Jr.:

Mid-90s-to-mid-aughts collectors represent!  Everything you see here today will fall into that span, a.k.a. my wheelhouse.  The golden age of cardboard creativity today brings us cards from three Fleer brands (plus Update, to be picky), three more from Topps, and a pair courtesy of UD.

The '94 Ultra set was my favorite of Fleer's early foray into premium cards, until the '97 set kicked it up a notch.  That '95 SP base is almost iconic for me when thinking about collecting back then.  I'll always be a fan of the matte Fleer cards from '96 and '97 such as this flagship/Update pair from the former.  Fleer's SI is a brand I continue to admire a couple decades later, especially the magazine cover issues.  And while Topps' '98 version of Finest wasn't my favorite it's still a good reminder of what they could make when they put effort into it.

In this next scan the cards narrow down to a three-year period:  1998-2000.  The Pacific Home Run Heroes insert isn't terribly attractive but it serves as a cool reminder of Griffey's amazing 1998 campaign in which he clubbed 56 homers for the second straight season.  As a matter of fact, many of his counting stats were quite similar to his MVP year in '97, though that season's bWAR was noticeably better than the follow-up.  While we're on the subject SI makes a second appearance while covering those same '97 numbers.

Meanwhile, '99 Bowman's Best had what I thought was a second straight off-year in terms of design, but fortunately the 2000 version, for which I have two examples here, was a return to form.  Finest's effort in 1999 was a similar improvement in my mind.  And since we're talking higher-end Topps products you shouldn't be too surprised that I went back to the Gallery well, in this case 1999's offering, as it always was one of the manufacturer's best products.  And speaking of the base, this scan closes out with my favorite SPx design, the one used on the 2000 set.

In today's last scan first we'll handle some unfinished business:  the year 2000.  That trio you see up top hails from that year's Topps flagship product (back when I enjoyed it), including one of the base set's subset variations (my fourth) and a couple inserts.  UD's Classic Portraits from 2003 was an interesting idea that possibly could have lasted had it done a better job of executing its theme in the design.  2007 Ultra brings another great look at Junior's trademark finish after that sweet swing of his.  And then we finish up with one horizontal card: a checklist from UD's one-and-done Collector's Choice SE from '95.

This fun bunch gets my Griffey PC to a new total of 797 with another exciting milestone within sniffing distance.  I'll work on hitting that soon, but next time it'll be back to the drawing board with Sportlots cards of another major PC guy!