30-Day Baseball Card Challenge Day 2

Day 2 - A card with more than one player on it.

I had a hard time narrowing this down to one card so I'm going to cheat on the rules here (assuming there are rules) and feature 4 cards.

1993 Score #512

There are a lot of reasons to love this card. For one thing it features a rare play, the unassisted triple play. For another, it was pulled off by a Phillie. And finally, it wasn't just anybody involved, it was Barry Bonds.

1991 Studio

For its pun value alone.

2009 Topps Update #316

I got to see Pence's early years as an Astro and he was fun to watch. He sure enjoyed his first All-Star game in 2009.


Here's the whole challenge list.

The 1990s Baseball Cards Face-Off - Babe Ruth 1st Quartile Finals

Check this post to see my methodology.

Here's were we were last week:

1993 Flair vs. 1996 Studio

1993 Flair Willie Blair #36

1996 Studio Craig Biggio #41

In my opinion, there is little wrong with 1996 Studio. Crisp colors, full bleed printing, head in a porthole. But, also in my opinion, there is everything right with 1993 Flair. I have loved this set since the fist day I saw them in the last local card shop in the southern Houston suburbs. I only have about 20 of them. They were darn expensive for 1993, a 5-card pack went for $5. 

The Result: 1993 Flair

1991 Upper Deck vs. 1994 Topps

1991 Upper Deck Roger Clemens #655

1994 Topps Darren Daulton #380

Man, I like both of these cards as well. Superficially, there's not much difference between them. Both feature good photography, white borders and a color photo on the back. 1994 Topps is higher on the evolutionary scale than 1991 Upper Deck, as it is glossy, but in this case, that doesn't matter much. Nobody was producing glossy cards in 1991 whereas everybody was by 1994. Two things I've always liked about 1991 Upper Deck: the baseball colored photo borders (green for grass, light brown for dirt) and the placement of the photo on the back.

Result: 1991 Upper Deck

Final Round

1993 Flair vs 1991 Upper Deck

1993 Flair Hal Morris #29

1991 Upper Deck Tony Gwynn #255

When I started this I didn't realize how difficult it was going to be to make some choices. I obviously like like 1991 Upper Deck, but I love the overall look and feel of 1993 Flair.

The Result: 1993 Flair

So let's fill out the rest of the bracket.

So where does 1993 Flair fit into the overall scheme of the competition? 1993 Flair has reached the "Sweet Sixteen" level of the Face-off. You're probably going to have to click on this image to understand it.

Next week we'll start the 2nd Quartile of the Babe Ruth Division.

The 1990s Baseball Cards Face-Off - First Seed

Check this post to see my methodology.

Here's where we left off last week.

We've had head-to-head competition among 16 sets from the 1990s and are left with 8 sets to go forward in the 1st Quartile of the Babe Ruth Division. Since we'll be dealing with sets we've already I was going to run the table here and see who is the first seed of the final 16 cards in the overall competition. But this is a lot of cards to look at so we'll get to the Black level with a post next week. I can use that opportunity to explain the competition level from Black on forward.

Red Level head-to-head

1998 E-X-2001 vs. 1993 Flair

1998 E-X 2001 Craig Biggio #34

1993 Flair Willie McGee #145

Both these sets were great. Nice crisp graphics on the E-X 2001. A creamy smooth finish to the Flair. Gold foil, but not to much on the front and back of both cards. I think 1998 E-X 2001 could have beaten many cards and risen hight but it had the misfortune to come against 1993 Flair early on. In the head-to-head I'm giving the nod to Flair because ultimately plastic cards are a dead end design choice. There were a few plastic sets in the 1990s, but not much today. I imagine they were too costly to produce.

Results - 1993 Flair squeaks by. 

1995 Ultra vs. 1996 Studio

1995 Ultra Jim Thome #42

1996 Studio Juan Gonzalez #105

Both cards feature full bleed printing, multiple photographs, a little foil, and great photography.  I like the front of the 1995 Ultra but the back, with the funny shaded photo leaves me a little cold. The smaller color inset photo looks out of place.

The results: 1996 Studio by a back.

1991 Upper Deck vs. 1994 Collector's Choice

1991 Upper Deck Todd Zeile #164

1994 Collector's Choice Bret Saberhagen #250

What a difference a few years makes. In 1991, Upper Deck released another variation in it's 1989 set, but it was still way ahead of it's competitors that year. 1994's main problem is that it look's just like 1993 Upper Deck, with pin-stripes. Both cards feature good designs, but in 1991 Upper Deck's case, the design was still state-of-the-art. 1994 Collector's Choice was a copy of a great set.

Result: 1991 Upper Deck.

1994 Topps vs. 1996 Circa

1994 Topps Ivan Rodriguez #165

1996 Circa Curt Schilling #189

1994 Topps was Topps first glossy set and they did a good job. Good photography with a colorful title block with a good sized color photo on the back with a colorful stats/bio block. I'm afraid that 1996 Circa is just a mess. It only got to this level because it was up against 1994 SP, a card design I really dislike.

The Result: 1994 Topps

1993 Flair, 1996 Studio, 1991 Upper Deck and 1994 Topps survive the Red level.

Random Cards from My Collection #71

Card #33338
1992 Stadium Club #267 Edgar Martinez

Comments on the card/player: Martinez lead the American League in 1992 with a .343 batting average and 46 doubles.
How/When acquired: In June of 2012, I bought a 36-card, unopened box of 1992 Stadium Club for $5.00. What a deal!

Card #30456
2011 Topps Cognac Diamond Anniversary #67 Vladimir Guerrero

Comments on the card/player: I'm not sure that I really liked this foil background but I do like the silver foil shields.
How/When acquired: On October 2011 I bought a hobby box of Topps Update and the seller sent me two boxes. Oops, my mistake, the seller said, just keep the second box. I'm not normally a set collector but I have this whole set.

Card #39014
2009 Topps American Heritage American Presidents #6 John Quincy Adams

Comments on the card/player: Our 6th President. From sets like this I've got a lot of different presidential cards. I may do a post or two. Maybe for the 4th of July.
How/When acquired: I bought just a few packs of this product in 2009. I wish I had bought more.

Card 2207
2003 Fleer Tradition Update #279 Albert Pujols

Comments on the card/player: This was a subset card in the 2003 Fleer Update set. 2003 was one of those monster years Pujols used to have. He led the league in runs scored (137), hits (212), doubles (51), batting average (.351) and total bases (394). And he hit 43 home runs.
How/When acquired: Paid $0.25/card for 5 packs of Fleer Tradition Update in November 2003.

Card 900
1996 Pinnacle #390 Bob Abreu

Comments on the card/player: Abreu was just "Bob" with the Astros in 1996 and 1997 without much playing time. He got drafted by the Devil Rays in the 1997 expansion draft and then traded to the Phillies for Kevin Stocker. Bobby had a breakout year with Philly in 1998 and a fine career.
How/When acquired: Acquired in my 2012 Summer Clearance Trade.

Card 4292
1989 Fleer All-Stars #12 Julio Franco

Comments on the card/player: This was a 12-card insert in 1989 Fleer.
How/When acquired: I bought entire set for $1.83 on eBay in July 2003.

Card #20466
1992 Studio #77 Mickey Morandini

Comments on the card/player: The second year of Studio. If Panini wants to bring back old Donruss ideas, how about a new Studio set?
How/When acquired: Don't know.

Card #25633
2011 Topps Heritage #273 Chris Perez

Comments on the card/player: Based on 1962 Topps. But you knew that.
How/When acquired: Paid $0.32/card for 216-card box of Topps Heritage on eBay in March 2011.

Card #20814
1994 Triple Play #173 Lenny Dykstra

Comments on the card/player: In an interview last year in the New York Times, about a year after he got our of prison for grand theft auto, Dykstra is quoted as saying “My life for the past year has been my sons, community service, and don’t forget, peeing in the cup.”
How/When acquired: Don't know.

Card #43454
2013 Hometown Heroes #85 Yadier Molina

Comments on the card/player: I picked up a handful of packs at a card show in November 2013. I really liked this set but Panini did not repeat for 2014.
How/When acquired: Paid $0.40/card for 3 packs of of Hometown Heroes in November 2013.