The "OMG what did I get myself into?" lot part 1: I love the 90s

Well I guess it's about damn time I got around to this. "What?" you ask, "Posting for the first time in a couple weeks?" Yeah, that too, I guess. But I'm talking about finally digging into that "OMG what did I get myself into?" lot I picked up on Facebook Marketplace. As a reminder, it looked something like this before and during loading it in my car:

I know I mentioned a number of times that I was putting lots of effort into sorting through everything, and while I'm technically not quite done, I'd say I'm finally in a good place to show off generally what I'm keeping, making available, and dumping.

I may go into a bit more detail as these posts go on about what I found, but basically in terms of what filled those monster boxes in my trunk, it was baseball base and inserts from the late 80s to the mid-to-late 90s. And better yet it skewed much more toward the latter than junk wax crap that I have more than enough of. There was a LOT of cards stored completely randomly for some reason so it took lots of time to arrange them by set, but that ended up proving to be a rewarding enterprise as you'll see in a future post or two.

However, today I'm starting with the easiest items to cover: the base and insert singles I'm keeping for myself, mostly from 1995-97 sets I decided not to collect since there weren't enough in the boxes to justify trying to complete them. I was pleased to hit a number of my favorite PCs from 90s Tigers to the Griffey/Gwynn/Maddux/Ripken quartet to a few Michigan guys. The base portion is pretty solid but I think some of you will be pretty blown away by the inserts I added (which only scratch the surface of what I came away with!).

So please enjoy this bunch of cards I'm adding to my collection from the hobby's best non-vintage decade:

Like I said, lots of former Tigers! Big Daddy and Pudge are from the super busy '95 Fleer, a set I probably wouldn't have put together even if there were enough cards in the boxes to justify it. From '95 Score we have well-known '90s Tiger Fryman, '80s dude and the "Big Wheel" Lance Parrish on his second-to-last team, and Mr. Padre on a typically fun Score subset. Repping that year's Stadium Club are Pudge again plus one of the franchise's best closers in Henneman. And finishing up the year is a trio (continued in the next scan) of Cecil, Junior Griffey, and yet another Pudge. The stacks of Stadium Club and Ultra definitely weren't near enough for a set chase but I'll spoil the fact that I did end up with a complete set of Score Series I, just not the second series that included the trio above.

Most of what you see here is made up of '96 Bowman, a set I hadn't really prioritized. I found a pretty nice chunk of the vets portion of the set in those boxes but there were a lot of prospects missing, and I'm not really interested in the set anyway. Ripken and Maddux make their first appearances in this scan while Pudge, Gwynn, Fielder, and Fryman can be seen once again. One other newcomer is SS Carlos Guillen on one of his RCs. He appears with the Astros but of course was swapped to Seattle in the Randy Johnson deal, then flipped a few years later to Detroit where he was a fun and effective contributor for around eight seasons. And don't be too surprised to see Pudge once more out of '96 Fleer, a set I have a lot of singles from because I love the design. The stack of those from the boxes is one of the smaller ones but maybe someday I'll own all of it.

The last of the vertical base (sort of, you'll see...) are from '96 Select and Upper Deck. That the former are oriented that way is funny since only the checklists were made that way that year; As you'll see below, the rest of the base set is horizontal! It was pretty common for the decade's biggest stars to grace end-of-the-set checklists and that's what we have here in Griffey and Maddux. Big Daddy is the lone representative from another set I have a lot of but would love to own, 1996 Upper Deck. Moving on to the horizontals, corner guys Fryman and Fielder were the two I pulled from a somewhat small bunch of '95 Stadium Club. And Fryman pops up one more time thanks to the credit card-inspired '95 Studio product.

See what I mean about 1996 Select? Relative to the size of the set the pile of cards wasn't bad but once again wasn't enough for me to want to work on it, so here's eight more base cards I pulled for myself. Griffey, Maddux, and Ripken (twice!) get even more additions to their PCs while Pudge and Fielder, who started us off, represent the Tigers once more.

As I looked through the various boxes, most of which were filled with randomly assorted run-of-the-mill 90s products, I was floored to find one stuffed with Finest cards from 1994-97! While I'll have more to say about those in one or more future posts in this series, you'll get to see lots here, with even more exciting items in the next section. Here you're looking at cards from the 1995-97 versions, all of which have one thing in common: protective peels. What's great is that between this purchase and what I already had in my collection, I was able to set aside this group of 29 cards so I would have both unpeeled and peeled copies.

It took a bit for me to get the peels started on each--I mean, they have been in place for around 25 years! It's great having copies in both states since you get the "original" aspect with one and the better looking "freed" version with the other. I thought I'd include the pile of peels in the shot for fun.

And that leaves us with two more scans, which may be the best part of the series already in just the first post. A couple of the boxes had some groups of inserts bundled together, with others found randomly throughout the bunch, and I came away with a few very nice stacks of cards that serve as a great reminder of why I have a tag called "90s inserts rule" here. Just feast your eyes on these:

Sure, the '96 Bowman Foils of Gwynn, Fielder, Fryman, and Tony Clark (his first appearance today!), all of which came out of a pretty large stack of that parallel, aren't much to write home about, but obviously the big draw here is one of the OG must-have parallels: Refractors! Shiny, colorful, and originally much harder to find than the watered down versions of today, the ones you see above are from 1994 and '95, with the former being the second you could find without peels on them. I was more than happy to add a Fielder to my collection from '94, but the PC duo of shortstops Tram and Larkin had me over the moon! What beautiful looking cards. The '95s aren't exactly chopped liver either, and again I was glad to pair a former Tiger in Fryman with another PC I'm having fun building in Froot Loops himself, Mickey Tettleton.

The fun continued with more '96s and some '97s to boot. Though it's technically part of the base set I included Cal's '96 Finest silver card here because those were tougher pulls. '96 Score and its inserts were very, very well represented in these boxes (again, more to come) and I dug out two chase cards of today's star in Pudge: a Dugout Collection Artist's Proof (from the Series 2 set) and a Gold Stars card, whose name I associate more with Leaf.

And lastly we have one of my all-time favorite products in '97 Donruss, which is right up there with the 2001 version for me. I came away with quite a few from some of the inserts you see above and I'm happy to say lots will be available for trade, but more importantly for me I scored six outstanding cards from that product where pretty much every chase card was a winner. Barry's from the numbered Armed and Dangerous set (#0836/5000) and therefore knocks a card off of his wantlist. Maddux is the second PC guy I've found from the color appropriate Dominators set (Larkin is the other). I've been chasing the Cal Ripken Jr. "The Only Way I Know" insert since I bought his book of the same name, and card #9 above (#4439/5000) is my fourth of the 10 I need to acquire, including the one exclusive to the book. Griffey is the front man on possibly my favorite of the available inserts, the double-sided Franchise Features, with Andruw Jones joining him on the other side of this one numbered 1963/3000 (and slightly damaged from having to peel it apart from another, unfortunately). And lastly we have examples of both the Silver (limited to 2000 copies) and die-cut Gold (just 500) Press Proofs: Fryman and Griffey, respectively.

So holy crap, what a great bunch of cards on their own, and that doesn't include the complete and near-finished sets, potential trade bait, and other items that were part of this purchase which, as a reminder, set me back just $30! I look forward to sharing more with you once I can summon the energy to find a way to present and summarize it in a way that makes sense, and that includes letting everyone know what I'll be making available for trades/giveaways.

Before then, expect a show recap if I make it out to my usual monthly haunt tomorrow, plus my latest eBay pickup.

Too many Topps

Although other manufacturers have tried to wriggle around the limitations, let's be honest--Topps has the baseball card monopoly and that's our current reality.  Fortunately, for all my railing against what I consider their declining quality (giveashitness, if you will), they do produce some cool stuff that can appeal to a wide group of collectors, and I think many of your posts bear that out.

So while I think it's overall a negative for the hobby, one that should be righted before long, I've essentially made my peace with Topps' stranglehold on the baseball card market.  Something they CAN do to make things better for someone like me, though, is to consolidate their vast array of products to the point where they can maintain a good level of choice while still trying to provide good value (and not drive collectors insane with 200 cards of their favorite player every year).

While flipping through Beckett's OPG list of Topps sets from the last two years (yes, Beckett still sucks ass), I put together this quick list of Topps Brands (hopefully I didn't miss any):

• A&G
• Archives
• Bowman + Chrome
• Bowman Draft + Chrome
• Bowman Platinum
• Bowman Sterling
• Finest
• Flagship
• Gypsy Queen
• Heritage
• Lineage
• Marquee
• Mini
• Museum Collection
• Opening Day
• Pro Debut
• Tier One
• Topps Chrome
• Topps Update
• Tribute
• Triple Threads

Well that's certainly a lot to choose from, especially when you consider that each is littered with endless inserts, parallels, and in some cases, extraneous non-sports cards (I'm looking at you, A&G, Gypsy Queen, et al).  Like I said, I think choice is great, but there comes a point where giving Topps the monopoly because of collector confusion over too many products looks stupid.  Add to that the fact that Topps produces a lot of cookie-cutter sets, plus way too many high-risk/low-reward offerings (such as anything with "Platinum" or "Sterling" at the end) and in some ways things look WORSE for collectors compared to pre-monopoly times.

But this isn't one of those posts where I bitch about Topps and move on to something else--I'm finally doing what many of you have already done well:  offering my opinion on which sets Topps should produce each year.

1.  A&G + Gypsy Queen:
I think I've made it pretty clear that I'm no fan of either of these sets, but I certainly respect other collectors' excitement for A&G to arrive each year, and as such, I definitely think it belongs.  Actually, I almost think it would be cool if Topps got involved in Gint-a-cuffs as a tip of the cap to one of the cooler innovations of the card blogging world.

Since I don't collect either, I supposed my arguments don't carry as much weight, but I'd respectfully request that A&G limit the non-sports subjects to inserts instead of muddying up the base set with F-listers like Wee Man. I'd also like to see the insert explosion culled a little bit so people don't need to buy eight boxes to get 70% of the set.  And while we're at it, can we ditch GQ's lame non-sport-in-fact-not-really-anything "relics"?

Other than that, this is a good spot for some of Topps' more unorthodox ideas, like the Ginter Code contest.  So combine those two sets into one, with the above modifications, and of course keep the minis in play.

2.  Bowman Chrome:
Notice I didn't say just "Bowman," and why should I?  Everybody knows the Chrome RC is the RC to get when it comes to anyone.  Topps experimented a few times with inserting a couple Chrome cards into base packs, and now it's become the norm, making it more difficult to collect either, and forcing one or the other on collectors that only prefer one.  Well, there's obviously no reason to continue non-Chrome Bowman anymore, so let's ditch it and keep what the people prefer.

The biggest difference here would be making this an entirely rookie and prospect set.  There are other brands that can offer the Chrome-type look for the veterans, and this is a rookie-centric set anyway, so why even maintain the pretense?

In a way, this could even be combined a bit with the Minor League Rookie Debut set, so Topps can stay true to the stupid "RC" rules that now exist.  That or spring training shots, I suppose, since it doesn't really matter to me.  The point is, this is where the high-end RCs should end up, plus potential hidden gems in the form of lesser-known rookies.  That and color--lots and lots of color!

3.  Finest:
Just because I'm keeping Bowman Chrome in the mix doesn't mean we have to kill off Finest!  However, Finest should live up to its name and be a much smaller set that only includes the biggest stars and a very select few rookies, which can then be supplemented by the rookie redemption program.  I'm thinking around 100 cards in the base set including the inserted rookies/prospects, and then a few redemptions that are decided during the season, as is the case right now.

As with Bowman Chrome, we should get a lot of color here, and a few different inserts (with Refractor versions, of course!) to boot.  There's no need to go overboard with hits, but if any relics are included, they should all be Refractor versions and none of them should include plain, white swatches--Finest's design can really make color swatches pop and this set should take advantage of that.  I also like the idea of continuing to insert hits of legends and HOFers because those have resulted in some very cool cards.

4.  Flagship:
Of course I wouldn't do away with many people's favorite release of the year.  This isn't a set that's broken, exactly, but it could definitely use some improvements.

For one thing, it should remain split into three series:  I, II and III (a.k.a. Rookie/Traded).  However, I think we need to cut down on some of the increasingly extraneous subsets, especially anything of the "Classic Combinations" ilk.  Give me one card of each player that deserves one, All-Stars (but not Home Run Derby, etc.) in Series II, then traded players (in updated uniforms) and prospects that didn't get cards in I and II in the Rookie/Traded version (but that's IT!).  The latter should be much smaller than either of the first two as it doesn't need any embellishment.

Price-wise, this needs to get back to reality at closer to $1/pack, with 36-pack boxes running under $45.  No guaranteed hits are necessary, and inserts shouldn't outnumber base cards in packs, meaning you should be given a realistic chance at pulling a base set in each box.  That should be doable as Topps should enforce a minimum five-year moratorium on reprint inserts!  It's time to make this set much more attractive to casual and young collectors who don't want to throw down $75 for 20 triples and a scrub sticker auto--get them hooked on a fun-but-subtle design every year as they look forward to chasing everybody's favorite base set!

5.  Heritage:
Heritage has some good things going for it and should definitely stick around.  Lots of people seem to like to collect a set that celebrates the design of a favorite Topps set of days past.  Considering how nice these usually end up looking, I can't really blame them.  I've always stayed away because the money it takes to build one of these sets is too much for me, especially thanks to the many short prints.  I certainly don't think they should be dropped, though, because that seems to be a favorite aspect of this set as well.

However, Heritage is one of those Topps sets that seems to inspire some imitators...from Topps.  Besides Heritage, you can see some of the same design features in Topps Archives, which is also a great set whose characteristics I do enjoy quite a bit.  Therefore, I think I'd like to see those two combined into one release where a few different classic designs are used for the base set, kind of like Archives is doing now.  I'd leave it up to Topps if they wanted to SP some of the better current stars, legends, or both.  It should then continue inserting hits of current players, some fan favorites, and of course, legends.  All of that could turn this into a set that I would conceivably actually try to collect if the value appeared to be there.

6.  Stadium Club:
As the 90s started turning towards the 2000s, Stadium Club became a set I would look forward to collecting.  While the flagship set was always on my calendar, Stadium Club was a nice treat with its outstanding photography (in my opinion the best Topps had to offer), borderless cards (hooray!), and premium design.  It was also usually a reasonable size, maybe 200 at the most, which meant it largely featured players I actually liked.

Eventually the set bought into the hit craze of the 2000s, especially the final version in 2008, which included autographed base RCs.  For whatever reason, Topps decided to kill it off then, and fans of some of the best shots in the hobby were left hanging.

Well I say it's time to give those collectors what they want.  Bring this gem back in the form of a set in the neighborhood of 150 cards.  Packs should include around eight cards and cost no more than $2.  The set should include a few inserts and the hits should come in the form of autographs only.  The base set can include some rookies, but as with some of the other sets above, just a select few to keep the bust factor to a minimum.  I don't know about other collectors, but if Stadium Club were to rise from the ashes, I'd be willing to throw down good money to once again complete one of my favorite base sets.

7.  Total:
Although I admittedly only worked on the 2002 and 2003 versions, this is a set I think should be resurrected after its untimely demise after the 2005 release, especially in today's economy.  More than flagship Topps, this set is a great way to appeal to young collectors and set-builders alike.

For kids it's a cool way to grab a very cheap pack or two, get a couple guys from your favorite team, and even just end up with a team set through packs or trading.

And set collectors have a blast working on something that totals around 1000 cards but doesn't include ridiculous SPs or variations, plus has a configuration that makes for easy trading with other collectors instead of requiring you to buy 10+ boxes of the product.

First and foremost I'd keep the price of this set as cheap as possible, with as many cards per pack as Topps can manage, because I think this is the set you use to get kids hooked on collecting.  To keep the price down, a couple inserts are fine, but I don't think hits are necessary at all here--that shouldn't be the means you use to introduce a young person or n00b into collecting.  Get them to appreciate the fun of collecting a set and they're more likely to stick around for your other sets.

Also, definitely make this a binder-friendly set with a card count that's a multiple of nine.  I hadn't ever been much of a binder person but now have both of my issues of this collection in a couple albums, where they're perfectly displayed.

8.  Triple Threads:
I'm cool with having one high-risk/??? reward set like this each year, and the one that produces the cards I like the most (once someone else has paid the ridiculous admission fee and usually come out disappointed) is Triple Threads.  Honestly, if Topps needs something akin to a cash grab like this to keep going, as long as we limit it to one, I can deal with it. And really, the high price does result in a small handful of jaw-dropping cards such as huge patch/nameplate autographs and ridiculous booklet cards.

Just a few modifications here.  Mainly, due to the high price (which, again, I wouldn't change because this, more than any other Topps set, is really a lottery) I'd prevent all hits from having both plain relic swatches and a sticker autograph; at most a card could have one of the two.  I mean the Porcello above looks nice, but if you're spending $150+ and ending up with Chris Getz (woo!) and Angel Pagan (d'oh!), would you really be all that happy pulling something like that?  This set shouldn't just be a sticker dump, and neither should buyers be punished with cards that'll bring peanuts in return.  Even crappier players can sell at a small premium when the jersey pieces feature an extra color or two.  There has to be a way to accommodate that and still keep costs reasonable considering the return Topps gets per box.  Make this one pay off just a bit more for collectors and watch more of them throw down a chunk of change for a shot at the jackpot.

In case you weren't counting, that comes to ten different releases (including flagship Series II and III/Update).  I'd have to imagine that's enough choice and variety--especially incorporating many features of duplicate/similar sets--for today's collectors.  Over the course of twelve months that just leaves two without any Topps release, which wouldn't be the end of the world (or could be supplemented by either adding a couple other minor sets or splitting a couple of the above into multiple series).  I'd argue that flagship Series I should kick off the collecting year, with II a few months later (but definitely during the season) and III available after the World Series.  Topps could then mix in the other releases throughout the year to maintain collectors' interest without overwhelming them.  This would hopefully result in an optimal amount of choice without a ridiculous number of useless, valueless sets.

Well, what say you, fellow collectors?  Are there any sets I missed, any you would axe, or is there anything you would change about my proposed release schedule?  Every collector is different and I anticipate a good amount of dissent and debate, which is ideal here since I'm just one collector.  And ultimately, how would YOU change things for the better?