1991 Upper Deck: the Baseball Diamond Comes Home

In my collection: 20+ regular, 2 Ken Griffey, Sr

Griffey looks: zeroed in

Is this a good Griffey Card? Yes.  The last in a series of inter-related Upper Deck designs with some great shots of the Kid and his Dad.

The set: Upper Deck was still riding the crest of the wave they made in '89.  While a lot of other brands were playing catch up, Upper Deck was moving on with their great photography, quality card stock, and dual-sided full-color printing.

Nothing signifies Upper Deck's momentum more than the baseball diamond theme of their first three sets. In '89 you had the first base line, then the run to second in 1990.  Here the go-ahead run rounds third and goes home.

In other words: we're moving on - expect big things from us.

Here's a terrible visualization of the "Upper Deck baseball diamond" I put together:

Some elements carry over to the next year.  The position is always printed on the bags, the dirt tracks at the 1st and 3rd base lines, and we always start at the Upper Deck logo assuming the logo is the on-deck circle on the '89 card (is that pushing it?).

Check these out:

 

That's a Jordan card three years early (pre-rookie?), and an unbelievably young Chipper. 

Now let's take another look at that Griffey:

Junior is zeroed in on that pitcher something fierce.  The blurb on the back tells us that Griffey had had two pinch-hit opportunities in his career up to that point, and both were game-winning home runs.  That's a pretty amazing stat; but with the level of focus demonstrated on this card, it seems as plausible as ever.

And did I mention the tongue/flipped-up shades combo on the back?

Griffey also has a surprise card in '91 Upper Deck:





I suppose it's less surprising to see Junior make a cameo on his Dad's card than that of anyone else in the set, but the definition still applies. 

Looks like Junior may have done something gold glove-worthy on the field, and his dad is giving him a "good hustle" tap.  We also see Senior in what would eventually become Junior's number when he moves to his hometown Reds a decade later.  And not to sound weird, but Ken, Sr. has some nice eyelashes in this picture.  Overall, this is a great photo of the father-son pair in the short time they wore the same uniform.

There is a disparity among holograms in the 1991 Upper Deck base set.  I don't appear to have any of the variations to show you, but you can read about them here.  As a completist I would list them as collection needs, but that is a level of anal I just don't want to touch.

There were few really great sets in 1991, but Upper Deck made it happen.  The cherry on top was their 100-card Final Edition set.  Tune in tomorrow for that bit of tightness.

Another List: All the Griffeys I Need From the Sets I've Covered

This is a list of all the Griffeys I am missing from only the sets I have covered so far in the blog as of 5/15/2013.

If you have any of these you can part with, email me at tjv504 (at) gmail (dot) com.  Let's trade....

Griffey Valentine Teacher Card
1989 Topps Traded #41T Tiffany
1990 Fleer #514 Canadian Version
1990 Leaf #245 Promo
1990 Upper Deck
1991 King B #6
1992 King B #8
1993 Finest #110 Refractor
1994 Pinnacle #100 Museum Collection
1994 Pinnacle #100 Artists Proof
1994 Pinnacle Run Creators #RC3
1994 Pinnacle Team Pinnacle #6
1994 Pinnacle Tribute #TR17
1994 Upper Deck
1994 Upper Deck CL2 Alphabetical
1994 Upper Deck CL4 Inserts
1994 Upper Deck Diamond Collection #W4
1994 Upper Deck #GM1 Griffey/Mantle Dual Auto
1994 Upper Deck #KG1 Griffey/Mantle - Griffey Auto
1994 Upper Deck #MM1 Griffey/Mantle - Mantle Auto
1994 Upper Deck Mickey Mantle's Long Shots #MM10
1994 Upper Deck Mickey Mantle's Long Shots #MM10 Electric Diamond
1994 Upper Deck Next Generation #6
1994 Upper Deck Next Generation #6 Electric Diamond
1994 Upper Deck SP Previews #WR3
1995 Collector's Choice #62 Best of the 90's Gold Signature

1995 Collector's Choice #70 Gold Signature

1995 Collector's Choice #88 What's the Call? Gold Signature

1995 Collector's Choice #P172 Promo

1995 Collector's Choice CG8A You Crash the Game Gold

1995 Collector's Choice CG8B You Crash the Game 8/24 Gold (winner)

1995 Collector's Choice CG8C You Crash the Game 9/15 Silver

1995 Collector's Choice CG8C You Crash the Game 9/15 Gold

1995 King B #11

1995 Leaf Gold Leaf Stars #/10,000
1995 Leaf Statistical Standout #/5,0003
1995 Studio #5 Platinum
1996 Metal Universe #107 Platinum Parallel

1996 Metal Universe Mother Lode #3

1996 Metal Universe Titanium #3

1998 Ultra #1G Gold Medallion
1998 Ultra #1P Platinum Medallion /100
1998 Ultra #1M Masterpiece 1/1
1998 Ultra #215 Season Crowns
1998 Ultra #215G Season Crowns Gold Medallion
1998 Ultra #215P Season Crowns Platinum Medallion /100
1998 Ultra #215M Season Crowns Masterpiece 1/1
1998 Ultra #246G Checklist Gold Medallion
1998 Ultra #246P Checklist Platinum Medallion /100
1998 Ultra #246M Checklist Masterpiece 1/1
1998 Ultra #473M Checklist Masterpiece 1/1
1998 Ultra #476G Pizazz Gold Medallion
1998 Ultra #476P Pizzazz Platinum Medallion /98
1998 Ultra #476M Pizzazz Masterpiece 1/1
1998 Ultra Diamond Immortals #1
1998 Ultra Diamond Producers #1
1998 Ultra Double Trouble #1
1998 Ultra Millenium Men #2
1998 Ultra Notables #2
1998 Ultra Power Plus #1
1998 Ultra Prime Leather #1
1998 Ultra Ticket Studs #7
1998 Ultra Win Now #13
1999 Pacific Invincible #133 Red
1999 Pacific Invincible #133 Platinum Blue #/67
1999 Pacific Invincible #133 Opening Day #/69
1999 Pacific Invincible #133 Players' Choice
1999 Pacific Invincible Sandlot Heroes SportsFest #18
1999 Pacific Invincible Sandlot Heroes SportsFest #18B
1999 Pacific Invincible Seismic Force SportsFest #17
1999 Pacific Invincible Seismic Force SportsFest #17B
1999 Pacific Invincible Diamond Magic #9
1999 Pacific Invincible Giants of the Game #9
1999 Pacific Invincible Thunder Alley #17
1999 Skybox Molten Metal #133 Xplosion
1999 Skybox Molten Metal #133 Fusion
1999 Skybox Molten Metal #133 Fusion Sterling #/500
1999 Skybox Molten Metal #133 Fusion Titanium #/50
1999 Skybox Premium #137 Star Rubies #/50
1999 Skybox Premium #287 Spring Fling
1999 Skybox Premium #287 Spring Fling #/50
1999 Skybox Premium #299 Checklist Star Rubies #/50
1999 Skybox Premium Intimidation Nation #10 #/99
1999 Skybox Premium Show Business #13
1999 Skybox Thunder #292 Rant

1999 Skybox Thunder #292 Rave #/150

1999 Skybox Thunder #292 Super Rave #/25

1999 Skybox Thunder Hip-No-Tized #H4

1999 Skybox Thunder Turbo-Charged  #TC3

1999 Skybox Thunder Dial 1 # D3

1999 Topps Tek #5A P01-P30
1999 Topps Tek #5A P01-P30 Gold #/10
1999 Topps Tek #5B P01-P30 (except P-06 and P-21)
1999 Topps Tek #5B P01-P30 Gold #/10
1999 Topps Tek TEKnicians #T1

2002 Diamond Kings #86 Framed White
2002 Diamond Kings #86 Framed Grey #/400
2002 Diamond Kings #86 Framed Black #/100
2002 Diamond Kings #86 Beckett promo Silver
2002 Diamond Kings #86 Beckett promo Gold
2002 Diamond Kings #86 2002 Hawaii Trade Conference
2002 Diamond Kings #86 2002 Hawaii Trade Conference Parallel #/20
2002 Diamond Kings #86 2002 Hawaii Trade Conference Blue Border (#/1 or #/5)
2002 Diamond Kings #86 2002 Chicago National Sports Collectors Convention #/5
2002 Diamond Kings #86 2002 Chicago National Sports Collectors Convention Framed White Parallel #/5
2002 Diamond Kings T204 #RC25 #/1000

2002 Donruss #79 Career Stat Line Parallel #/296

2002 Donruss #79 Season Stat Line Parallel

2002 Donruss Best of Fan Club #118 Chicago National

2002 Donruss Best of Fan Club #118 Spotlight

2002 Donruss Elite #8 Beckett Sample Silver
2002 Donruss Elite #8 Beckett Sample Gold (about 10% of the production run)
2002 Donruss Elite #8 Status Parallel #/24
2002 Donruss Elite #8 Aspirations Parallel #/76
2002 Donruss Elite #8 2002 National Sports Collector Convention #/5
2002 Donruss Elite #8 2002 National Sports Collector Convention Status Parallel #/5

2002 Donruss Fan Club #118 Credits

2002 Donruss Fan Club #118 Die-Cuts

2002 Donruss Originals #42 Promo
2002 Donruss Originals #42 Aqueous
2002 Donruss Originals #165 Aqueous
2002 Donruss Originals #251 (SP) Aqueous
2002 Donruss Originals #362 Aqueous
2002 Donruss Originals Nifty Fifty Bats #28 BALL #/50
2002 Donruss Originals Nifty Fifty Jerseys #28 BASE #/50
2002 Donruss Originals Nifty Fifty Combo #28 BASE/BALL #/50

2002 Donruss Super Estrellas Posters de Jugadores #9
2003 Victory #30 Orange Parallel

2003 Victory #30 Blue Parallel #/650

2003 Victory #30 Purple Parallel #/50

2003 Victory #30 Red Parallel #/25

2006 Upper Deck #130 Gold #/299
2006 Upper Deck #130 Silver Spectrum #/25
2006 Upper Deck #894 Checklist Gold #/299
2006 Upper Deck #894 Checklist Silver Spectrum #/99
2006 Upper Deck #894 Checklist Printing Plate
2006 Upper Deck #1227 SP TC
2006 Upper Deck #1227 SP TC Gold #/99
2006 Upper Deck All-Upper Deck Team #UD1
2006 Upper Deck Amazing Greats #AG-KG
2006 Upper Deck Diamond Collection #DC-KG
2006 Upper Deck Diamond Debut #DD12
2006 Upper Deck Inaugural Images #II7
2006 Upper Deck Inaugural Images #II23
2006 Upper Deck Player Highlights #PH28
2006 Upper Deck Run Producers #RP6
2006 Upper Deck Season Highlights #SH-2
2006 Upper Deck Star Attractions #SA-KG
2006 Upper Deck Team Pride #KG
2006 Upper Deck INKredible Series 2 #KG
2006 Upper Deck INKredible Update Series #I-KG
2006 Upper Deck Signature Sensations #KG
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials Series 1 #KG
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials Series 1 #KG Patch Parallel
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials Series 2 #KG
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials Series 2 #KG Patch Parallel
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials Amazing Greats Materials #KG
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials Amazing Greats Materials #KG Patch Parallel
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials Diamond Collection Materials #DC-KG
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials Diamond Collection Materials #DC-KG Patch Parallel
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials Star Attractions Swatches #KG
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials Star Attractions Swatches #KG Patch Parallel
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials Team Pride Materials #KG
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials Team Pride Materials #KG Patch Parallel
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials WBC Collection Jerseys #KG
2006 Upper Deck UD Game Materials WBC Collection Jerseys #KG Patch Parallel
2008 SPx #23
2008 SPx SSS-KG - Superstar Signatures
2008 SPx SSS-KG - Superstar Signatures Parallel
2008 SPx WM-KG - Winning Materials - #/150
2008 SPx WM-KG - Winning Materials - Autograph Parallel - #/20
2008 SPx WM-KG - Winning Materials - Die-Cut Parallel - #/150
2008 SPx WM-KG - Winning Materials - 3 Diamond Parallel - #/125
2008 SPx WM-KG - Winning Materials - Jersey # Parallel - #/125
2008 SPx WM-KG - Winning Materials - MLB Logo Parallel - #/99
2008 SPx WM-KG - Winning Materials - 3 Baseball Parallel - #/99
2008 SPx WM-KG - Winning Materials - MLB Team Letters Parallel - #/99
2008 SPx WM-KG - Winning Materials - Position Parallel - #/20
2008 SPx WM-KG - Winning Materials Rare - Patch Parallel 1 - #/99
2008 SPx WM-KG - Winning Materials Rare - Patch Parallel 2 - #/50
2008 SPx WM2-KG - Winning Materials 2 - #/75
2008 SPx WM2-KG - Winning Materials 2 - Jersey # Parallel - #/35
2008 SPx WM2-KG - Winning Materials 2 - Team Letters Parallel - #/25
2008 SPx WM2-KG - Winning Materials 2 - Position parallel - #/20
2008 SPx WM2-KG - Winning Materials 2 - 3 Baseball Parallel - #/20
2008 SPx WM2-KG - Winning Materials 2 Rare - Patch Parallel 1 - #/50
2008 SPx WM2-KG - Winning Materials 2 Rare - Patch Parallel 2 - #/25
2008 SPx WM3-KG - Winning Materials 3 - Parallel - #/99
2008 SPx WM3-KG - Winning Materials 3 - Team Letters - #/15
2008 SPx WM3-KG - Winning Materials 3 - SPx Parallel - #/10
2008 SPx WM3-KG - Winning Materials 3 Rare - Patch Parallel - #/15
2008 SPx WM3-KG - Winning Materials 3 Rare - Autograph Parallel - #/5
2008 SPx WT-GJP - Winning Trios (w/ Jeter & Pujols) - #/75
2008 SPx WT-GJP - Winning Trios (w/ Jeter & Pujols) - Parallel 1 - #/25
2008 SPx WT-GJP - Winning Trios (w/ Jeter & Pujols) - Parallel 2 - #/15
2008 SPx WT-GJP - Winning Trios Rare (w/ Jeter & Pujols) - Patch Parallel - #/25
2008 SPx KG1 through KG100 - Ken Griffey Jr American Hero - #/725 (except those listed)
2008 SPx KG1 through KG100 - Ken Griffey Jr American Hero - Memorabilia Parallel - #/25
2008 SPx KG1 through KG100 - Ken Griffey Jr American Hero - Signature Parallel - #/3
2008 SPx KG1 through KG100 - Ken Griffey Jr American Hero - Boxscore Parallel - #/1
2008 Upper Deck #239 Superstar Parallel
2008 Upper Deck #239 Gold Parallel #/99
2008 Upper Deck #374 Checklist Gold Parallel #/99
2008 Upper Deck Hot Commodities #HC36
2008 Upper Deck Starquest #SQ-4 Un-common
2008 Upper Deck Starquest #SQ-4 Rare
2008 Upper Deck Starquest #SQ-4 Super Rare
2008 Upper Deck Starquest #SQ-4 Ultra Rare
2008 Upper Deck Starquest #SQ-51 Rare
2008 Upper Deck Starquest #SQ-51 Super Rare
2008 Upper Deck Starquest #SQ-51 Ultra Rare
2008 Upper Deck Superstar Scrapbooks #SS-10

If It Fits, It Ships: a Red Cardboard Trade Post

The hits keep coming from Matt at Red Cardboard, and this time he sent a PWE that has to be some kind of record (it certainly is here at Junior Junkie HQ). 

The engineering that went into making these cards sit flat but also remain protected was astounding.  I didn't even disassemble it right away (mostly because I physically couldn't) because it was a masterwork of plastic and tape, and it demanded my respect.

I would also like to mention that we were experiencing torrential rain in New Orleans the day this PWE hit the mailbox.  The envelope was almost entirely translucent with rainwater by the time I got it indoors. 

Opened it up - every card was bone dry.  THAT is how you put together a PWE.



I have very little of this brand in general let alone 2013's.  These look great.



That Piazza is a Card Your Mom Threw Out.  I love that set.  Plus Honor Roll is a pretty
well put-together design.  All awesome cards.

 

Dupes, baby.  I love 'em.



So, final tally: 8 full-size cards plus 3 minis and a letter.  Should I call Guiness?

I've got a Priority Mail box packed solid with hundreds of Reds already en route to you, Matt.  I hope it's got something you need.

Why I'm Quitting Packs: Spoils from eBay and the Card Show

Let's face it: I'm addicted to opening packs.  I love it - it gets me some great trade fodder as well as great cards I didn't know I wanted.  It keeps me up-to-date on the sport and the state of the hobby in general.  Plus it gives me something to gripe about which is an essential part of blogging.

However......

One of my collecting goals of late has been a shift in focus from current packs and repack boxes to more specialized, discerning purchases that will yield more Griffeys.

And the result has been a rousing success. 

I've been spending my cash on specific cards (COMC, for example) and auction lots as opposed to busting packs.  Hence, the last few days have seen a huge influx of fresh Griffeys from multiple sources that included trades, a bit of eBay sniping, and a visit to the monthly local card show. 

Trades get their own post, but here are the card show and eBay spoils.

I skipped it last month in favor of a few big COMC purchases, but this past Saturday between shipping trade packages at the post office and my buddy's bachelor party on Bourbon St., I was able to squeeze in a few hours of card show.

First, I got this for 15 cents:

Psych!

It's not what you think - this is an advertisement card printed to look like the real deal.  The back includes a price list of different baseball card sets from the 70's and 80's.  It looks even less authentic in person, plus it is less sturdy than a real '89 UD card.  I'll cover this more when it makes its way into an oddball card post.



I nabbed a lot of oversize cards at this particular show.  Above is card #1 through 11 of some Upper Deck set showcasing memorable Griffey dingers.  Mr. Murray is there for scale....



A few more giants.  These stretch the abilities of lenticular technology to show Griffey's swing in it's entirety.

Even more big 'uns.  That one on the left is another advertisement oddball, this time for lithographs by the artist that painted that particular card.

This dealer did it right.  He had a few stacks of Griffeys with super cheap price stickers
that I couldn't pass up.  I nabbed every one I thought I may be missing.

Again, he had a ton of oddballs, and that Topps Chrome was a quarter.



He even had some King B jerky cards.  I was taken aback by these - I've never see them for sale like this anywhere, let alone down South where King B wasn't even available.  We proceeded to talk about jerky for 10 minutes.

This is an upgrade.

I already own one of these that someone once sold for 60 cents.  I know this because they stuck a price sticker right on the card front.  Sadists.....

This is my big trophy from the show.  I'd seen it at the same show two months prior but didn't have enough cash to land it.  This time I was ready.  The dealer was shocked I remembered the card two months later.

It wasn't just Griffeys, though.  Here's everything else I found to spend money on:

Vintage!



Ron Swoboda is a minor celebrity in New Orleans.  Apparently he was also a member
of the '69 Mets.  Amazin'.

 
R.I.P. Charles Muncie.  He passed away only 3 days after I bought that card....

That was not the only vintage I picked up, but everything else is slated for specific bloggers, so you'll just have to wait for them to post about it (and me to ship it which will probably take far longer).




A few of my football-minded friends call me "Hooshma-zo"
because of this guy.

 
Moving on, I've also been participating in the occassional eBay auction.  In the past week I've landed 5 smaller auctions and one kinda big one.   Without giving too much away (all of these will eventually be covered in the blog), here are a few highlights from those auction wins:

One auction contained the Finest cards from the first three years of the brand's existence.  Out of these I only had the '93 in my collection, so these were very exciting additions.



I already have this, but it's just an awesome card.  There was an autographed version of this, too - it was among the first autographed Griffeys available in packs.



This is one of those weird oversized Topps cards.  I never bothered to pick one up, but now I'm stuck with it.  You may recognize that close-up picture from another Topps card that would come out years later.....

 

Two rookie reprints, one Scoremasters rookie, and a sweet Star interview card.


Everything else listed here is from the big win which was over 250 cards.  Take a look:



Eddie is working overtime showing scale.





Sadly that PowerDeck jewel case was empty.  Still, it's got Griffey on it, so it gets to stay.





This is a picture of the 250 Griffeys that came with that auction.  The stack on the left is cards I needed - the right is cards I already had.  I was blown away by how many were new to me.  I was expecting a bunch of commons and overproduction cards, but there were tons of inserts and parallels here.  Can you spot the bunny rabbit?



On all six eBay auctions I averaged 25.5 cents per Griffey and ended up with just under 500 Griffeys total.  About 40% were new to me which is a pretty amazing ratio considering how many I have.

Busting packs is fun and exciting; but it doesn't touch eBay, COMC, my LCS, and card shows when it comes to value and average price per card.  I will admit here that I picked up a bunch of packs of '91 Studio and '94 Stadium Club for 25 cents each.  For a quarter I don't even count it as pack busting.

1992 Bowman: 90's Fashion Time Capsule

In my collection:3

Griffey looks: well-insulated

Is this a good Griffey card? Yes.  A unique shot of Griffey at practice in one of the landmark sets of the 90's.  This is a set that falls right into my wheelhouse (baseball reference!).

The set: 1992 Bowman is an otherwise timeless set that somehow got trapped in the 90's.

This is the first year Bowman made all of their cards Tiffany-style: glossy and on higher-quality card stock.  Moreover, it was not overproduced as the previous modern Bowman sets had been.  That scarcity combined with a shift in focus to rookies and prospects made this an alluring set that continues to fetch good prices.

And how about that less is more design?  Bowman has always embraced that concept, but they really pull it off in '92.  The front is clean and simple: player name, Bowman B, nothing else.  The substitution of the brand name with just the B is modest and attractive, and the mildly sylized color bars on opposite corners frame the picture tastefully.  The backs are colorful and engaging with that big, weird team-by-team stat box looking more legible than ever.  Overall, this is just a well put-together baseball card.

The content of the sets is also given the simplicity treatment.  You may have seen some of the cards from this set stamped in gold foil.  Those are actually base cards and should not be confused with parallels.  There is no parallel of '92 Bowman, not even a Tiffany set.  There are also no inserts and no subsets (apart from a few of the cards sporting gold foil).  No gimmicks - just sweet-ass baseball cards, y'all.

'92 Bowman is also loaded with great rookies including Carlos Delgado, Mariano Rivera, and Manny Ramirez

Here's one of my personal favorite rookies from this set:

A dollar at the card show - well spent.

And here's one of the great rookie cards of the modern era:

Not mine - this one is still on my want list.



Luckily they got Mike in his uniform.  I say "luckily" because much to the delight of bloggers who poke fun at the more questionable wardrobe choices of aspiring young ballplayers, Bowman started photographing rookies in street clothes.  And not just any street clothes - 1992 street clothes.  Needless to say, the results are hilarious.

Yikes.  There are dozens upon dozens of cringe-worthy photos of the 90's making fashion victims of us all.  I get to complain because my Mom was still dressing me when this card was made, so it was all her fault I probably looked like a spaz.  Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Let's see that Griffey:

The Kid looks to be practicing catches in the outfield.  I'm thinking it must have been a little nippy out that day because he is well-insulated against the elements.  Good hustle, Junior. 

This is one of those rare sets that only has one Griffey to get; but for those of us who cannot get enough '92 Bowman, there is another.  In 2010 Bowman re-used this popular design for their Bowman Throwbacks insert:

Great card, amazing photograph.  I love how you can't see his eyes.  I'm thinking that if you could, the laserbeam of Griffey-focus would slice your skull in twain.  Best to let that stay between a man and his ball.

This entire set is available at dacardworld.com for $125.00.  For that you get all the great rookies including Piazza, Mariano Rivera, and Carlos Delgado as well as 2nd-year cards for Chipper and Pedro Martinez.  But what is more than that, you get tons of pictures of dudes sincerely sporting Esprit turtlenecks, stonewashed Guess jeans, and Jordache bermuda shorts.  Now that is priceless.

2002 Donruss Elite With a Capital "E"

[Note: for some reason Blogger is not centering all the pictures and it's making the post come out al weird structurally - sorry.  Also, the concert ticket put up for grabs at the end of this post has been claimed.  Thanks for playing!]

 

In my collection: 2 regular

Griffey looks: fancy deuce chunkin'

Is this a good Griffey card? Yes.  Homeboy is chunking a high-end deuce of supreme shininess.

The set: It may not come out in the scan so well, but the finish of this set is relentlessly mirror-like.  I don't usually like the shiny finish but Elite got it right this year - it reflects light tenaciously and without apology.  It also features the player name in that great script font found in several Donruss/Leaf sets of the time including one of my all-time favorites, Leaf '95.

The design here puts a lot of stock into the giant script E, so huge it can't even fit on the card, that we are supposed to associate with this high-end set.  I've never been a fan of brands using self-referencing as design elements.  Indulge me for a moment, gentle reader:

Every Holiday season Lexus runs these commercials of upper-middle class suburbanites giving each other Lexuses (Lexi?) with big red bows as presents - super practical, right?  The commercials always feature the infamous Lexus Holiday jingle, the same one they've been playing for years.  This past December (and November, and probably some of October) the commercials depicted couples finding unique ways to play that song as a clue that they were giving someone a Lexus.  In one a family gives a Mom a jewelry box that plays the jingle at which point she realizes what it is and runs outside because obviously she is getting a new Lexus.  A couple is in the elevator of their apartment building and the song is playing in the elevator, and the wife turns to her husband all excited because obviously this means a new Lex is waiting for her downstairs.  Lexus' ad agency now thinks that we know that song well enough to associate it with a new Lexus, a point completely lost on my sister.

You see, my sister (who is a little older than me) and I were watching one of said commercials this past year, and when the jewelry box recipient mom got excited and ran outside to see her new car, my sister said to me something along the lines of, "Wait - how did she know there was a new car outside?"  I replied, "That was the Lexus Holiday jingle.  She knew from the song."  It was then that I realized that I'd been had.  The campaign had worked.  A self-referencing ad just proved to me that I watch way too much television.  Perhaps I should start using my time more constructively by, say, starting a blog (see what I did there?).

Such self-referencing is happening on the front (and back) of this baseball card, and I'm against it as a design element.  It's not a bad look, but does it have to reference the card brand?  True, Elite had been around for a few years at this point, but are we as collectors supposed to look at it and say "Ah, yes, the great E of the Elite.  Such a fine specimen is this.  It says to the world 'My taste in cards is quite impeccable, is it not?'"  It couldn't be a big G for Griffey or his uniform number or just about anything else?  Is anybody really that enamored with this set?

Rant over.  Let's take a look at that Griffey:



Here we see Griffey doing a little fancy deuce chunkin'.  The shininess of this set accentuates the excellence of said deuce.  Hey, Junior!  What's the candlepower of that deuce?  Two?  Hm - seems like more.

The portrait on the back was taken either an instant before or an instant after that found on the back of Donruss Fan Club cards from the same year:



That's Elite on the left, Best of Fan Club on the right.



This is another 2002 Donruss set that omits Griffey from its inserts.  The only cards Griffey collectors have to chase here are parallels.  Here's all the parallels I don't have from this set:

#8 Beckett Sample Silver
#8 Beckett Sample Gold (about 10% of the production run)
#8 Status Parallel #/24
#8 Aspirations Parallel #/76
#8 2002 National Sports Collector Convention #/5
#8 2002 National Sports Collector Convention Status Parallel #/5

Those Chicago Sports Collector Convention cards keep popping up in early-aught Donruss sets.  They all seem to be #/5.  They're not makin' it easy......

Tonight is Father John Misty live at One Eyed Jacks.  His solid album Fear Fun is one of my favorites of 2012.  I have an extra ticket, so if you're nearby and want to come along, shoot me a comment below....  Because let's face it, if there's anything in this world that says party, its Thursday night and talking about baseball cards.  Woooooooo!



Elite en Español: 2002 Donruss Super Estrellas

 [I opted for French in high school and college, so forgive me if my Spanish is a little off.  Or a lot off.]

2002 Super Estrellas #26



2002 Super Estrellas #26

In my collection: 1 regular

Griffey looks: chunk the deuce!

Is this a good Griffey card? Yes.  I mean, he's chunkin' the deuce, bro!  Mess with that, please.  I dare you.  Plus it's fun to see what certain baseball terms are in Spanish.

The set: This 100-card set was created by Donruss/Playoff as the first entirely spanish-language set (unlike Pacific which had both English and Spanish).  Each box came with a poster also entirely in Spanish.  Sadly it was both the first and last year the set was made.

I suspect that Donruss, having just recently returned to baseball after declaring bankruptcy three years before, was trying to find a niche with this set.  Nobody except maybe Pacific was going after the Spanish-speaking baseball collector, and Pacific wasn't making baseball cards anymore at this point.  I can't say this was a bad strategy.  Then again, perhaps the fate of Pacific was a sign of things to come.

El Griffey esta aqui:

 

 

2002 Super Estrellas #26



I'm willing to admit that Griffey could be celebrating the fact that they have two outs on the opposing team, but I prefer to think that this is shot of Griffey chunkin' the ol' deuce.  Griffey is super cool and up on current urban trends.  Peace in, playa.

They did add a shadow behind Griffey even though he is in front of a far-away backdrop.  It looks kind of ridiculous, and for some reason the effect makes me feel claustrophobic. 

The design itself isn't bad.  It includes the diagonal effect found in the 2001 flagship set and a banner similar to that used in the 2002 flagship set.  Both of these elements are repeated on the back of the card.  As a whole its not bad, but also nothing to write home about. 

The best part of this set is piecing together what all the words mean.  I really like the J after his name - it stands for Jardinero which must mean outfielder.  Apparently his lanza is izquierdo, which I think is saying that he throws left-handed.  This card is an interesting read all over the place.

One issue: the picture is the same as that found in the 2002 Donruss Elite base card:

Pretty lazy, but appropriate when considering the excellent deuceage being thrown.  The card backs look nothing alike:

A Pack to Be Named Later published this post a few years back wherein you get to see this very Griffey just pulled from a pack.  Very exciting - to me, anyway. 

The only thing I'm missing from 2002 Donruss Super Estrellas is the poster:

Posters de Jugadores #9

Besides that, the base card about does it.

Right now I'm going to try to decipher the blurb on the back using only my powers of context, my knowledge of the Romance languages, and what I know of Mr. Griffey's career.  Here goes:

"At 31 years and 261 days old became the youngest player in the major leagues to hit 450 homeruns  against San Francisco's Russ Ortiz on August 9th, 2001.  Griffey was 15 days younger than previous record-holder Jimmie Foxx who is in the Hall of Fame."

How'd I do, Spanish-speakers?  I think I'm pretty darn close.

Vaya con Dios....