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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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.

Preview – 1991 Donruss

Beckett Set Notes (verbatim from Beckett set page)

“The 1991 Donruss set was issued in two series of 386 and 384 for a total of 770 standard-size cards. This set marked the first time Donruss issued cards in multiple series. The second series was issued approximately three months after the first series was issued. Cards were issued in wax packs and factory sets. As a separate promotion, wax packs were also given away with six and 12-packs of Coke and Diet Coke. First series cards feature blue borders and second series green borders with some stripes and the players name in white against a red background. Subsets include Diamond Kings (1-27), Rated Rookies (28-47/413-432), AL All-Stars (48-56), MVP’s (387-412) and NL All-Stars (433-441). There were also special cards to honor the award winners and the heroes of the World Series. On cards 60, 70, 127, 182, 239, 294, 355, 368, and 377, the border stripes are red and yellow. There are no notable Rookie Cards in this set.”

Box Contents

36 packs with 15 cards each

Cost

$16.45 total on eBay for both one Donruss 1 and one Donruss 2 box (shipped)

Description

Here is the Donruss 1 box in a beautiful cream color.

Below is the accompanying Donruss 2 box in a lovely green.

The series 1 packs follow the color scheme of the series 1 box.  These are true, old school wax packs.

Finally, the series 2 packs are copies of the series 2 box.

Insert / Parallel List (taken from Beckett)

Donruss Elite – 10 cards (unknown insertion rate)

Comments

This is a double preview of both Donruss 1 and Donruss 2.  This is maybe the least remarkable pair of boxes I could break except for one thing – the debut of Donruss Elite, the first serial-numbered insert set.  Because the production run on both Donruss 1 and 2 was beyond human comprehension, the odds of pulling an Elite card from one of these boxes is PowerBall-esque.  The odds are not published, but they have been estimated on Baseballcardpedia as an astonishing 1:75 boxes.  That’s equivalent to 1:2,700 packs.  I hope that lady luck is on my side when I rip these boxes.  I need all the help I can get.