A pack of 1989 Topps baseball cards had 15 cards. Buy a handful and you were still a long way from completing the 792-card set. Even a couple of rack packs barely put a dent in your list and you probably wound up with a few doubles. If you wanted a big jump-start--or maybe scout out some packs that had stars and rookie cards on top--there was one place to … [Read more...] about 1989, 1990 Topps Active Career Batting Leaders Sets are Rare Junk Wax Era Gems
1989
A Look Back at Some of 1989’s Coolest Base and Update Cards
Thirty years ago, lots of things were happening in the baseball card industry. Topps brought the Bowman label back from the dead while Upper Deck entered a market that was starting to become a little crowded. Add it all up, and it was a pretty revolutionary year for the hobby. Inserts are often the cards collectors want the most these days. But lost in the shuffle is that … [Read more...] about A Look Back at Some of 1989’s Coolest Base and Update Cards
Hottest Rookie Cards of 1989 Had Varied Fortunes
1989 marked some pretty significant advances in the sports card industry. Collectors saw the introduction of Upper Deck as well as the return of Bowman. And as I recently wrote, that also marked the year when football traded cards became 'a thing.' Rookie cards also continued their popularity and, as is the case with any year, some were stars and others were busts. While it … [Read more...] about Hottest Rookie Cards of 1989 Had Varied Fortunes
Ramblings: Fun With Busted Prospects
We really enjoyed sharing the memories about the hottest players in baseball as we turned the corner into the 1990’s but that me to thinking about some of the other incredible stories of hot cards that turned cold and never warmed back up. In some ways the overproduction age was like a penny stock market in that if you could buy cards at the right time for pennies and … [Read more...] about Ramblings: Fun With Busted Prospects
Ramblings: The Series Quake on Cardboard
Earlier this year, I was listening to the MLB Tonight program on Sirius/XM and one of the topics discussed was which Bay Area (San Francisco-Oakland) team was going to end up with a better season. Of course, since my mind works better while thinking about the past than about what happened two hours ago I started thinking about the long running history of the A's-Giants World … [Read more...] about Ramblings: The Series Quake on Cardboard
Ramblings: This Card is More Important Than You Think It Is
In reporting, sometimes the real story is buried well beyond the headline. When one looks back at sports cards in the rearview mirror, the original importance of some cards evolves to a whole new meaning. One of these cards which has gone through this type of evolution is the 1989 Hoops David Robinson. When this card was first released in packs, it seemed as is every … [Read more...] about Ramblings: This Card is More Important Than You Think It Is
Ramblings: When Rose Ruled the Hobby
Twenty-five years ago, the first half of the baseball card collecting year was dominated by talk of the Upper Deck Company’s splashy debut with the Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card and the 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken with the now famous obscenity written on the bat knob. It was the Ripken card—and the subsequent correction attempts-- that generated the most media attention. … [Read more...] about Ramblings: When Rose Ruled the Hobby
1990’s Football Card Brands Include Some One-Hit Wonders
The other day, when I re-read my column about the low numbered print runs that began to enter the hobby in the 1990’s, my mind went back to some of the more memorable companies which had only a short run in producing sports cards. Some of them lasted for several years and others had one brief shining moment. One aspect of this you will notice is most of these companies produced … [Read more...] about 1990’s Football Card Brands Include Some One-Hit Wonders
Why Upper Deck Turned Griffey Minor League Photo into its Signature Card
Upper Deck sent out a picture from the original photo shoot for the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. card on Monday, one which gives collectors an idea of the work that was done to the teenager's minor league uniform and cap to make him look like he was wearing the colors of the Major League club. In an interview with The Sporting News last week, Griffey talked about Upper … [Read more...] about Why Upper Deck Turned Griffey Minor League Photo into its Signature Card