The Yard Sale Cards: Baseball Junk Wax

I had planned to have this up a few days ago but in between being crazy busy at work, my five-year-old being sick which led to me subsequently picking it up, I haven't had much time to write the past few days. However, in my last post covering the yard sale find, I documented some of the vintage and early 80s cards I came across. Now, as is the standard with any typical yard sale find, these are typically brimming with junk wax. This was no exception. While sifting through the literal mounds of cards that were contained, I came across tons of 1992 Donruss, 1989 Topps, and the like. I'll spare the details of showing those but I will show of some of the more eclectic and my favorite junk wax finds.

Starting off with these seemingly innocent stickers. I wouldn't normally show stickers like this as they're a dime a dozen for the most part when it comes to junk wax bulk lots but there's one little thing that makes these special ...

If you flip them over and look at the back, they're O-Pee-Chee stickers! How four random O-Pee-Chee stickers showed up in a yard sale in rural southwest Ohio, I'll never know.

Some Topps Big ... I still have yet to find a way to properly store "oversized" cards like this. I've still got a box of 1989 Bowman to rip into that's going to give me a nice glut of cards this size.

Some nice cards from the pile of 1991 Topps, including some pretty awesome horizontal cards. My favorites are the Clemens and Fisk cards but also the Sandy Alomar card where it looks like he's floating in mid-air.

Here's an interesting card, a 1989 Donruss All-Stars Pop Up of Ryne Sandberg. I don't remember ever having one of these when I was a kid. I suppose if I could then I could pop it up and see what it looks like be then where would the fun be in that. The one thing that really made this neat for me is seeing the logo for the 1988 All-Star Game in Cincinnati on the back. I might have to keep my eye out for more of these as I think it'd be cool to get more of these pop-ups from that game.

I was pretty pleased to find this Willie Greene card in amidst the 1990 Bowman. Greene was the primary third baseman for the Reds from 1996-1998 and would also play a bit in the outfield. He was drafted by the Pirates in 1989 but never played a game for them (which makes this a fabulous zero-year card) and was traded to Montreal with Moises Alou and Scott Ruskin for Zane Smith in August of 1990. He never played a game for the Expos either and he and Ruskin were both traded to the Reds in December of 1991 along with current Nationals manager Dave Martinez for John Wetteland. Greene was with the Reds from 1992-1998 and probably had his best season in 1997 with a .253 average, 26 HRs, and 91 RBIs.

I've had the random itch recently to open a box of 1990 Donruss. Why? Not sure. However, if I want to bust something from 1990 though, Fleer might be a better choice. I always enjoyed this design with the ribbon at the bottom and the great photography.

Speaking of great photography, Upper Deck always had great photos (and still does to this day with their hockey cards). Tim Raines and Fred McGriff aren't officially on my player collection list but I will never turn down cards featuring them.

Here's a bunch of Topps Glossy cards. There's three from the 1986 All-Star set and a 1989 Roberto Alomar. I never gave a second though to these when I was a kid and always figured they were some kind of insert card from packs. As I'm older now, I definitely appreciate them more.

With big lots of cards like this, there's always some interesting stuff to be found, like these old school Stadium Club cards. The Robin Yount and George Brett cards are part of the member's choice line. Also, Wade Boggs in a batting cage and another nice card to add to the pile of Eckersley's I already have.

But finally, the star of the show as far as the junk wax goes ... these Collect-A-Book! I never had these as a kid I've seen these here and there online and I've heard people talk about them online but I still never had any until now. The variety here is crazy as well from Cal Ripken and Barry Larkin to Billy Williams and Yogi Berra and everyone in between. I think of all the things from the junk wax pile, these are by far my favorites.