A Mystery Stash of Cards

Supposedly this box held a 1992 Topps factory set. I say supposedly because I got it out to sort it and page it up but as soon as I opened the box, I noticed things weren't on the up and up. There were a decent amount of 1992 cards missing, replaced by some random cards from the early-to-mid 2000s. While I was sad that the set was missing cards, I was happy that I got some mystery cards.

2002 Upper Deck 40-Man? Ok sure. Jay Bell looks like a science teacher with those glasses. Also, I had no clue that Lenny Harris was still in the majors in 2002.

A couple random cards from 2004 Upper Deck Vintage. This was the last year for the Vintage line and the only year where they didn't attempt to rip off an old Topps design.

Some 2004 Opening Day. So far, I'm really digging this hidden stash of cards. Check out the leg kick on the D-Train!

Normally I don't really go for game cards like these but these two from the 2000 MLB Showdown set are super cool. It's not often that I've found a card of Fred McGriff in a Devil Rays uniform, nor do I come across many Jay Buhner late career cards.

Mid 2000's Donruss? Donruss from this time is super tough to find so imagine my excitement when I found these.

More mid-2000's Donruss, this time a pair of Reds from the Team Heroes set. LaRue and Kearns were part of the miserable 2003 Reds team that lost 93 games and went through three managers in the first season of Great American Ballpark. Both these guys would be gone from the Reds by the end of 2006.

A couple of Bowman cards of Johnny Damon and Jim Thome.

Mid 2000's Fleer. I honestly had no idea Fleer Ultra was still being produced at this time. I remember the Fleer Futures cards from seeing a ton of theme when I worked in a card shop in 2003.

And to finish this up, I'll show off a few more cards in rapid fire form. First this Bazooka Chipper Jones. I could be wrong but when Bazooka was produce at this time, didn't in come with bubble gum?

Next, an SI for Kids Jake Peavy. 

Topps Gallery Raul Ibanez from 2003. Apparently this is of the rainbow refractor variety.

And then there was this, the "big hit" if you will of the mystery cards. This is a 2001 Royal Rookies Miguel Cabrera. Now, while Cabrera isn't exactly someone I collect but he is one of the biggest stars of the game and to find an early rookie card of his forgotten in a pile of cards that's been sitting in my garage for two year is pretty awesome. Oh, in case you are wondering what became of the 1992 Topps cards, I picked out a good pile of cards that I knew I didn't have and wanted and the rest went into a Goodwill donation bag. I hadn't really planned on building the set anyway.

Back Packs: 2001 Donruss

I consider my "lost years" of collecting to be in the neighborhood of 1997-2011. During that time, I collected barely any, if at all. Right in the middle of that time period around late 2002 through 2003, I started doing a little more collecting, mainly because I was working two jobs (one of which was at a card shop) and had some disposable income for the first time in my life. So despite this Donruss pack being from 2001, I have no knowledge of this product whatsoever. The pack touts this as being the "20th Anniversary" which technically would be correct, even though this was the first Donruss release since 1998. 

This pack isn't exactly a behemoth, clocking in at only five cards and one "2000 Retro-Active Pack" all contained within one foil wrapper. Speaking of the wrapper, it definitely screams "Texas Rangers" with A-Rod being the cover boy, red as the primary background, a blue star smack in the middle, and small silver stars vertically on each side. 

#1 Alex Rodriguez

Each card has a border around it matching the team's primary color. Also, each card is stamped with a "20th Anniversary" stamp. Something I just noticed as well, each card has stars throughout the background and along the white inner border in each team's secondary color. The logo and nameplate at the bottom have a very similar look to 2000 Fleer Impact. As for this particular card, I'm guessing this was one of A-Rod's early Rangers cards as it's just him against a black background.

#10 Jeff Bagwell

2001 was the first season since 1997 where Bagwell's batting average dipped below .300 and he would finish the season with a .288/.397/.568 slash line along with 39 HRs and 130 RBIs and finished seventh in the MVP voting. The card stock its worth noting feels pretty flimsy. Also, this picture seems a bit off, almost like the image of Bagwell following through on his swing was super-imposed on a background with a Cubs catcher.

#49 Adam Piatt

Perhaps the least notable name I pulled out of this pack of five, Adam Piatt only lasted four years as a back-up outfielder in the majors, the majority of which where with Oakland. The most action he saw in a season was 61 games split between Oakland and Tampa Bay. In the 2001 season, he only logged 36 games and put up a .211/.300/.284 slash line.

#204 Chipper Jones FC

At first I though this was some type of insert card but come to find out, it's actually part of the base set. Cards 201-220 are part of the "Fan Club" subset. The design is quite different in that the photo is cropped to fit inside a home plate. The stars in the background are gone, replaced with vertical lines in the primary background and two stripes with the primary color of the player's team on each side. This particular card has a red 20th anniversary stamp on it unlike the normal base cards that have a silver stamp. I'm not really sure that makes much of a difference though.

#111 Chuck Knoblauch

After orchestrating a trade from the Twins to the Yankees in 1998, Knoblauch was on the downhill side of his career come 2001. Primarily a second baseman, he was moved to left field when his defense started to slide and he developed problems throwing the ball to first base. 2001 would be his last year in the Bronx, hitting a meager .250 with 9 HRs and 44 RBIs in 600 plate appearances. 

Here's the aforementioned "retro active" pack. Since this was a retail pack, it contained one card labeled as Donruss 2000. Hobby packs contained cards labeled as 1999 Donruss. Regardless, there's only one card in here so it's tantamount to opening a one card pack from a cereal box. Anyway, here's what's inside ...

#2 Alex Rodriguez

And wouldn't you know it, another card of A-Rod, this time representing the Mariners. The design on this isn't bad and I like the concept of getting cards from the "lost years" but maybe those could have been insert cards instead of a bonus pack. I'd say this was a nice comeback effort from Donruss but it felt kind of generic and heavy on star power (and I don't mean star players). Donruss would hang on for a few more years, putting out one final release in 2005 before MLB limited their licensing options. Panini would eventually acquire the brand in 2009 and it would stay stagnant until a third relaunch under the Panini banner in 2014. 

For 50 cents, this was a fun rip but I wouldn't really pay any more than that for a pack.