Ripping Some Junk Wax Packs

What to do? What to do?

I've got a handful of junk wax packs laying around from repacks I've opened recently and I'm at a loss on what to do with them. Should I rip them and put them in individual posts? Or should I just tear into them and then show off the findings all in one post.

I know, these are troubling times, right?

I think probably for the better part of my sanity, I'll rip them and share the findings all in one post here. I do have some hockey ones as well but I'll save those for another time, these will be all baseball and, boy, do I have some winners here ... 1991 Fleer Ultra, 1991 Donruss Series 2, and 1988 Donruss.

Let's go from least intriguing to most intriguing and start with 1988 Donruss

I have a supposed complete set of this I picked up at the community yard sales last year for a mere three bucks that I have yet to go through. Not even a Danny Tartabull Diamond Kings card can save this batch of five. The borders and posed shots just make this feel dark. Give me the gaudiness of 1990 Donruss over this any day.

Things improve a little bit here with Mike Witt and Juan Samuel. One positive thing I always liked about this set was the use of the team logo in the bottom right.

And the last six of this pack, probably the most interesting batch. Take a close look at Mickey Tettleton, he's got a hung hunk of chaw in his mouth. This batch was very Brewers heavy with Robin Yount, Bill Wegman, and Dan Plesac. I always like the picture on the Jerry Hairston card, even as a kid.

As you can see, not much to get excited about since it's 1988 Donruss. Moving on, one of my personal favorites of the junk wax era, it's 1991 Donruss!

I've said before that I much prefer the blue border series 1 over the green border series 2. However, I'm slowly warming up to series 2 and I like that Donruss tried something new by giving each series a different border color. The photos are also much improved from 1988. The team logo is still there too, albeit in the bottom left corner. I also feel there is more star power here in general, even if the cards aren't worth the paper they're printed on, case in point Dave Justice and Will Clark as the first two cards out of the gate. 

Oh cool, Ozzie Guillen and Curt Schilling cards! Plus, it's Schilling in a bright orange Orioles uniform. 

The final five of the pack and look, there a Mo Vaughn Rated Rookie plus another cool Orioles card of Randy Milligan. That's some 1991 Donruss series 2. Overall, not a bad pack and I got some pretty neat cards. If I'd had opened this pack in 1991, I think I would've been satisfied.

Now, onto the final break, a pack of a product I've never opened before, that being 1991 Fleer Ultra.

So Fleer tried to get into the "premium offering" game in 1991 by debuting Fleer Ultra and I'll admit, I'm a little underwhelmed. Sure, the design is worlds better than the main set that year but the nameplate at the bottom reminds me of 1991 Fleer football and it still feels a little bland.

So far, Kirby Puckett is the best card of the pack. The Barry Bonds card is part of the ten-card Ultra Team insert set. 

Nothing here to get excited about really.

Again, still nothing to get overly excited about although I guess a Rick Aguilera card is better than nothing. There was also a sticker included in the pack although I forgot to photograph it.

So it turns out that the pack I was most excited about was the pack that yielded some of the least fun. In order of worst to best, I'd put these as 88 Donruss, 91 Ultra, and then 91 Donruss as the best. I guess this could be considered a pack war of sorts but I don't see it that way. I just see it as a excuse to rip some old junk wax packs. This was fun though.

Back Packs: 1991 Donruss Series 1 Jumbo Pack

Oh, 1991 Donruss. This may very well be one of the most overproduced and least valuable sets ever made. However, as I've mentioned before, it's a product that is special to me as it's the first pack of cards I ever opened. I had gotten a rack pack of these as a gift when I was a kid because of good grades on a report card. I remember sitting in a drive-thru of a Hardee's looking at the cards and seeing Hector Villanueva and Scott Chiamparino staring back at me.

I snatched up this particular pack during a flea market trip back in the winter for a mere 25 cents. This is series 1 which I've always been a fan of. Series 2 and the green borders? No thanks. Anyway, here are the highlights of this 40 card behemoth.

A double dose of everyone's favorite curmudgeonly catcher, Carlton Fisk. I've heard stories of Fisk not signing autographs or even taking pictures with people when approached but not exactly sure how accurate those tales are. I'll keep the base card but the highlights card goes into the bin of the expendables.

One of the things I like about 1991 Donruss is the photography and this is a good sampling. It ranges from packed stadiums to spring training. Yes, I know the backgrounds of the photos are blurred out but really, do you want to see an ad for Jerry's Bail Bonds behind Charlie Hough? I'm sure Jerry and his bail bonds business wouldn't mind.

Palmeiro was the sole Diamond King I pulled out of the pack. Does anyone else but me find it a little redundant that Panini puts Diamond Kings in the basic Donruss set but also issues a set called Diamond Kings? I'm showing off the Maddux card just because Palmeiro needed a friend.

Bobby Bonilla was the Grand Slammer insert card that I was promised on the wrapper. Too bad it couldn't have been someone I actually somewhat cared about. I could be wrong but I don't think I have the Gary Carter card, at least until now. I sort of enjoy getting cards of Gary Carter, especially when he's not featured in a Montreal uniform.

I'll wrap this up with a few notable players in Andres Galarraga and Jeff Reardon. I find it interesting that the background isn't blurred out on Reardon's card but it is on every other card I've shown here. I'm guessing probably because it was a posed shot with hardly anyone in the stands?

Anyway, there are the highlights from a jumbo pack of 1991 Donruss Series 1. I'm sure everyone has seen these cards millions of times and so have I, but still it was pretty fun opening a pack from the product that got me into collection the first time around.

Back to the trade packages later this week!

You've Got Mail #24: Infield Fly Rule

From way out west arrived a package from Adam K of Infield Fly Rule, the friendly, mile-high Rockies representative in the Super Traders group. He had dropped a huge priority mail box on me back when the Super Traders group was first launched and sent this as a supplemental package a few weeks later.

Some 89 Donruss starts this off. I always kind of enjoyed this set as it didn't have a bland feel like some of the mid to late 80s Donruss sets. 

Speaking of bland, here's one of my least favorite 80s sets, 1988 Donruss. However, these two cards are definitely acceptable. Getting a Dave Concepcion card from this late in his career is very nice.

Spuds!! Any Chris Sabo cards are good cards!

As much as 1991 Donruss is lauded and ignored by most people, I actually enjoy it. Seeing cards from this set brings me back to being a kid and opening my first pack of cards, which was a rack pack of 1991 Donruss to be exact.

Some 1989 Topps and three big cogs in the 1990 World Champions, Jose Rijo, Barry Larkin, and Tom Browning. Rijo and Browning were the top two starters in the rotation that year.

Adam also remembered that I collect the Expos. I think my favorites here are the Randy Johnson and the Moises Alou cards. It's rare that I come across cards of Johnson as an Expo so I'll gladly take them when available.

Thanks for the cards Adam and thanks everyone for reading. Another trade post coming up in a few days!