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!

2015 Topps Update Holiday Box #2

Just a quick post today as I'm heading over to a friend's house in a bit for some deep dish pizza, salad, icebox cake (which is quite possibly the most amazing dessert on the planet), and perhaps some white russians that The Dude would approve of.

Here we have the second of two of the Topps Update retail boxes. I'm hoping this is a little better than the first box. You should know the drill by now ... 5 update packs and 2 update chrome packs. Let's dig in.

Let's start off with the best of the Chrome packs. All four of these are super nice and I'll be hanging on to these. I was surprised to pull the Fisk insert as a Chrome card as I thought going into this that the only cards that were chromed were the base cards.

The insert cards from the regular Update packs. Pulling out the Josh Gibson card was really cool as I had no clue that stars from that era were even featured on this set. I just realized something ... both the Gibson and the Dunn cards have the same date, September 27th.

Finally, the all-star insert cards I got from the main set. The DeGrom retail insert I think I've already found a good home for, the rest of these will be going into my all-star game set. I really should start a checklist of some kind for these so I know what I have and what I need.

As for the regular base cards, I didn't really get any cards that "wow"-ed me. Would I get another box like this? Maybe if it was on sale or on clearance somewhere. This was certainly better than the first box I opened but it's not something I'll go out of my way to get.