Preview – 1991 Score

Beckett Set Notes (verbatim from Beckett set page)

“The 1991 Score set contains 893 standard-size cards issued in two separate series of 441 and 452 cards each. This set marks the fourth consecutive year that Score issued a major set but the first time Score issued the set in two series. Cards were distributed in plastic-wrap packs, blister packs and factory sets. The card fronts feature one of four different solid color borders (black, blue, teal and white) framing the full-color photo of the cards. Subsets include Rookie Prospects (331-379), First Draft Picks (380-391, 671-682), AL All-Stars (392-401), Master Blasters (402-406, 689-693), K-Men (407-411, 684-688), Rifleman (412-416, 694-698), NL All-Stars (661-670), No-Hitters (699-707), Franchise (849-874), Award Winners (875-881) and Dream Team (882-893). An American Flag card (737) was issued to honor the American soldiers involved in Desert Storm. Rookie Cards in the set include Carl Everett, Jeff Conine, Chipper Jones, Mike Mussina and Rondell White. There are a number of pitchers whose card backs show Innings Pitched totals which do not equal the added year-by-year total; the following card numbers were affected, 4, 24, 29, 30, 51, 81, 109, 111, 118, 141, 150, 156, 177, 204, 218, 232, 235, 255, 287, 289, 311, and 328.”

Box Contents

36 packs with 16 cards + 1 Magic Motion trivial card each

Cost

$13.00 both boxes (four-box lot on eBay for a $10.50 bid + $15.50 s/h)

Description

Junk wax glory – 1991 Score.  Here are both the Series 1 box and a poly pack.  Green is the color for Series 1.

Here are the Series 2 box and pack in a lovely purple-pink.

Insert List (taken from Beckett)

Mantle cards – 7 cards – 1:??
Mantle Autographs – 7 cards – 1:??

Comments

I collect serial-numbered autographed and relic inserts from the 90s, and 1991 Score is ground zero for these cards.  (Some might say that 1990 Upper Deck is where it all started, but I don’t collect the early Upper Deck cards for reasons I’ll cover sometime later.)  The fun begins in Series 2.  Series 1 is just another innocent junk product.  Series 2 is where the inserts can be found.

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Break – 1998 Pacific

Stats

base cards: 320 of 450 – 71.1% complete (71 doubles or triples)
Silver parallel set: 36 of 450 – 8.0% complete
Platinum Blue parallel set: 1 of 450 – 0.2% complete
Gold Crown Die-Cuts insert set: 1 of 36 – 2.8% complete
Team Checklists insert set: 1 of 30 – 3.3% complete
Latinos of the Major Leagues insert set: 3 of 36 – 8.3% complete
Home Run Hitters insert set: 0 of 20 – 0% complete
In the Cage insert set: 0 of 20 – 0% complete
Cramer’s Choice insert set: 0 of 10 – 0% complete

Selected Base cards

188 – Randy Johnson (front and back)

262 – Dave Burba (front and back)

Selected insert and parallel cards

14 – Latinos in the Majors – Moises Alou (front and back)

17 – Latinos in the Majors – Edgar Renteria (front and back)

30 – Latinos in the Majors – Joey Cora (front and back)

29 – Gold Crown Die Cuts – Ken Griffey Jr. (front and back)

5 – Team Checklists – Cleveland Indians (front and back)

Comments

• base cards
  These are pretty nice cards.  The second language takes a little getting used to, but the cards themselves are alright.  Among the base cards is a nice mix of vertical and horizontal poses.  One weird thing – the horizontal cards, if held so that the back of the card has the same orientation as a vertical card, has the player name upside down.  Otherwise, these cards are fine.
• subsets
  This set has no subsets, and I really like it.  They are just player cards.  What a great idea.
• parallel cards
  I don’t know why, but when I was scanning these cards, I missed getting the Silver and Platinum Blue parallels.  Since they are parallels, you are not missing much.  The Silver parallels have the player name in silver foil.  The Platinum Blue parallels have the player name in a bluish-silver foil.  (What the hell is Platinum Blue?)  Otherwise, the parallels are identical to the base cards.
• insert cards
  I pulled five inserts from three different insert sets from this box.  That’s pretty much on target based on the published odds.  The Latinos in the Major Leagues cards are pretty cool.  The front of the cards has the player’s national flag as the background.  The background has a texture that feels a big like fabric (plastic-coated fabric).  It’s pretty cool.  The die-cut Home Run cards are OK, although they’re a big gaudy for me.  The Team Checklist cards are pretty plain.  Note that all the cards of a given team are numbered sequentially in the set.

Conclusion

I had no idea what to expect in my first bilingual baseball card box break.  Overall, I was pleased.  There is nothing fancy about this product.  It tries to be glam with all the gold foil, but it’s just a simple product.  Actually, that’s the best part about it.  It’s not so tricked out such that it gets in its own way.

Other blogs’ breaks/rips of 1998 Pacific

To my knowledge, nobody has posted a box break or pack rip of 1998 Pacific.  Don’t I feel special right now?

Preview – 1998 Pacific

Beckett Set Notes (verbatim from Beckett set page)

“The 1998 Pacific set was issued in one series totalling 450 cards and distributed in 12-card packs with a suggested retail price of $2.49. The fronts features borderless color player photos with gold foil highlights. The backs carry player information in both Spanish and English. As is standard with base-brand Pacific, the entire set is devoid of subset cards, instead focusing on a comprehensive selection of major league players.”

Box Contents

36 packs with 12 cards each

Cost

$22.45 ($12.45 bid + $10.00 s/h) on eBay

Description

Here is the box in the bilingual style distinctive of Pacific.

The packs mirror the box.

Insert and Parallel List (taken from the box)

Silver Parallel – 450 cards (1:1)
Platinum Blue Parallel – 450 cards (1:73)
Gold Crown Die-Cuts – ?? cards (1:37)
Team Checklists Laser-Cuts – ?? cards (1:37)
Latinos of the Major Leagues – ?? cards (2:37)
Home Run Hitters – ?? cards (1:73)
In the Cage Laser-Cuts – ?? cards (1:145)
Cramer’s Choice Awards – ?? cards (1:721)

Comments

I was going to break some 1991 Stadium Club, but yesterday I read a post over on Stale Gum with some comments on the most recent National.  One observation was that the convention was light on late 90s wax.  So, in honor of Stale Gum, I’ll break a cheap box from the late 90s – 1998 Pacific.

Sometime back I ripped a pack of 1998 Pacific Online.  That’s as close to a Pacific product as I’ve ever been.  Most products were down to 24 or so packs per box by the late 90s, so this box feels pretty hefty at 36 packs.  This product also has a lot of gold on it.