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?

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Break – 1991 Donruss 2

Stats

base cards: 318 of 384 – 82.8% complete (222 doubles, triples, or quadruples)
Bonus Cards insert set: 11 of 12 – 92% complete (3 doubles)
Elite insert set: 0 of 10 – 0% complete

Selected Base cards

405 – Eddie Murray – MVP (front and back)
Eddie looks particularly surly on this card.

429 – Turner Ward – Rated Rookie (front and back)

437 – Ozzie Smith – NL All-Star (front and back)

451 – Cecil Fielder (front and back)
Cecil is listed at 6’3″ and 230 pounds.  No way.

471 – Barry Larkin (front and back)

744 – Dykstra and Murphy (front and back)

763 – Billy Hatcher – World Series (front and back)

Selected insert cards

BC-18 – Bonus Cards – Eddie Murray (front and back)

Comments

• base cards
  A few things are worth noting here.  First, this series 2 box didn’t give nearly as much of a set (82%) as the series 1 box (96%).  Second, the series 1 cards have blue borders but series 2 is green (weird).  Third, just like series 1, series 2 has middle names and nicknames.  I still dig it.  Case in point – Osbourne (Ozzie) Earl Smith.
• subsets
  There are a few subsets: Award Winners, Rated Rookies, and All-Star (NL only in series 2) cards.  There are some other random subset cards with very stupid themes.  I have shown a card of Dykstra and Murphy (Mr. Dirt and Mr. Clean).  I think this kind of thing is lame.
• insert cards
  I struck out on Elite Series again (no stunner).  The other insert set consists of Bonus Cards.  Just like the series 1 box, I got 14 inserts.  About 1:2.5 packs seems like a good insertion rate for these cards.

Conclusion

My biggest complaint about series 2 of 1991 Donruss is that the cards are a different color from series 1.  That’s weird.  I can’t imagine many collectors liked this design.  Otherwise, I like the set much more than you might expect from a junk wax product.

Other blogs’ breaks/rips of 1991 Donruss 2

pack rip on Pursuit of Red Sox

pack rip on The Pursuit of 80’s(ness)

Break – 1991 Donruss 1

Stats

base cards: 372 of 386 – 96.4% complete (154 doubles or triples)
Bonus Cards insert set: 10 of 10 – 100% complete (4 doubles)
Elite insert set: 0 of 10 – 0% complete

Selected Base cards

1 – Dave Steib – Diamond Kings (front and back)

43 – Ray Lankford – Rated Rookie
1-2-3 – Willie Stargell puzzle

50 – Jose Canseco – American League All-Star (front and back)

84 – Eric Davis (front and back)

96 – Danny Jackson (front and back)

Selected insert cards

BC-8 – Bonus Cards – Gary Carter (front and back)

Comments

• base cards
  This is your typical early 90s cheap product.  There is something that I really like about these cards – middle names and nicknames.  Almost every card lists a player’s middle name and often a nickname as well.  Examples – Raymond (Ray) Lewis Langford and Danny Lynn Jackson.  Canseco, always Mr. Cool, is just plain Jose Canseco.  This box almost gave a complete set.
• subsets
  There are a few subsets: Diamond Kings, Rated Rookies, and All-Star cards.  I cannot stand Diamond Kings.  Those things are ugly.  The Rated Rookies are kind of pointless.  The backs are just like regular cards.  The All-Star cards are kind of cool because the backs give the player’s All-Star Game stats.  (Canseco went 0-for-4 in the 1990 All-Star Game.)  Series 1 only has the AL All-Stars.
• insert cards
  The mother ship insert set for 1991 Donruss is the Elite Series.  With an insertion rate of around 1:2,700 packs, it’s no surprise that I didn’t pull one.  I did get a load of the Bonus Cards, including a full set of 10 from this box.  Beckett doesn’t list an insertion rate for these cards.  I got 14 in the box’s 36 packs.  That works out to close to 1:2.5 packs.
• puzzle cards
  Technically this is an insert set, but it deserves special mention.  Donruss was forced by Topps to include puzzles with its cards.  (I can’t imagine a bunch of serious lawyers drafting an agreement about puzzles.)  The puzzle in 1991 was Willie Stargell.  I got a complete puzzle, but almost every single piece has residue from the wax pack.  Oh well, no great loss.

Conclusion

Nobody is going to consider 1991 Donruss to be a favorite set.  It’s pretty plain, but I really do like the middle names and nicknames on the back.  I also like the fact that the All-Star cards aren’t just the player’s basic card with an All-Star logo splashed on the front.  This box really wasn’t that bad.

Other blogs’ breaks/rips of 1991 Donruss 1

pack rip on A Pack A Day