1991 Baseball Cards A-Z (Part 2)

As I said in my last post on 1991 cards, this was a transitional year for the hobby. Some design features from the 1980s were still hanging on but new ideas were being seen. The seeds of the excesses of the later 1990s were here but nobody knew what was coming.

The last post ended with Donruss. This one starts with Fleer.

Set #10 Fleer

After several years of drab, uninteresting cards, Fleer really broke out with this set. You may not like 1991 Fleer (and many do not) but you cannot call it drab. In keeping with the transitional nature of 1991, Fleer's flagship entry remained traditional 1980s, no gloss, no foil and a stat list on the back which looked like many others they did. Fleer had featured photos on the back in past years but this year was the first in color, a design element which will be very common for years to come. As with Donruss puzzle pieces, 1991 was the last year that Fleer included logo stickers in the packs. Fleer did not produce a "Tiffany" set this year (a parallel set with a high glossy finish) as they had for the past several years.

Set #11 Fleer All-Stars

As the 1990s progressed, Fleer and all the other manufacturer's started loading up the packs with inserts. Fleer only had 3 in 1991. This as a 10-card set featuring the "'91 Fleer All Star Team" not necessarily players who were all stars in 1990.

Set #12 Fleer Pro Visions

Pro Visions will be an annual insert in Fleer through 1995. In 1991, 8 cards from the 12-card set were available in wax and rack packs. The other 4 came in the factory set. Before the 1990s will end, Fleer would produce a number of cartoon superhero-like baseball card sets, perhaps most notably the Metal sets of the late 1990s. It all started here.

Set #13 Fleer World Series

 The 8-card World Series set was only available in the Fleer factory set. Although Fleer had been producing this set, featuring high lights of the previous year's World Series for several years, this would be the last.

Set #14 Fleer Update

Update sets, available in the fall, were a baseball card tradition established by Topps many years ago. Fleer also produced update sets most years. Donruss was not so big on this. The 1991 Fleer Update set, using the same eye-searing design as the regular set, was only available as a factory set. As update sets went in those days, it was pretty large at 132 cards.

Set #15 Leaf

Upper Deck started the concept of a premium set in 1989. In 1990, Donruss got on the bandwagon in 1990 Leaf.  Fleer and Topps will join the fray with Ultra and Stadium Club respectively in 1991. 1990 Leaf was a highly sought after brand and, as I remember, hard to find. 1991 Leaf was plentiful and not as desirable. Similar in design to the 1990 set it also added the silver borders to the front (1990 had white borders). Although a so-called premium brand it did not have a glossy finish or foil. The set was issued in 2 series and the cards came in foil packs, just like Upper Deck. Leaf was produced by Donruss and featured puzzle pieces. The puzzle pieces had a foil finish and featured Harmon Killebrew.

Set #16 Leaf Previews

 Perhaps these shouldn't count as a separate set but I'm making the rules around here. This was a 25-card "preview" of 1991 Leaf and would have been an incredible difficult set to complete back in the day. 4 cards from the set were available in 1991 Donruss Factory Sets. They are pretty readily available on eBay these days.

Set #17 Leaf Gold Rookies

This 26-card set was inserted randomly in Leaf packs. They featured gold foil on the front but were not glossy.

I think that's enough for now. I'll come back with 1991 Score which will have 7 different sets.

1991 Baseball Cards A-Z (Part 1)

Well, really more like B (Bowman) to U (Upper Deck)

I think 1991 was a transitional year for the hobby. The 5 big producers (Donruss, Fleer, Score, Topps, and Upper Deck) had been in place since 1989. Cards were still a mix of gray and white card stock. The first major sets featuring glossy finishes, full-bleed printing and gold-foil appear this year. The excesses of the later 1990s (like a myriad of sets with multiple inserts) were just starting to appear. It's maybe the last year that it is possible to collect some of each major release.

Set #1 Bowman

In it's third year since Topps reincarnated the set in 1989, Bowman still hadn't found it's "Home of the Rookie Card" niche. They hadn't settled on the Blue-Red (and later Green) standard. The cards were still on gray card stock and no gloss. They did experiment a little with gold foil as several subsets (MVP, Sluggers and a Rod Carew tribute) featured little gold foil icons. Chipper remains the key card in this 704 card set. There were no inserts.

Set #2 Classic I

This 100-card set was sold as a factor set only and features pretty much the same design as previous years.  The cards were printed on white card stock with a plain finish on the front and no finish on the back. Other than the color, there is nothing to distinguish this set from Classic II.

Set #3 Classic II

The dark lines on the front look like flaws but are actually part of the marble-like background design. I only have a few of these and they are all different. Another 100-card factory-only set.

Set #4 Classic III

I just featured this card a few days ago but in case you missed it, Classic III, also 100 cards, had a different back and featured a glossy finish front and back.

Set #5 Donruss

In keeping with the transitional nature of the year, Donruss was a 770-card set issued in 2 series. I believe this was the first year they had 2 series,  but it will become a common in all sets in the next few years. Series 2 was distinguished by having a green background. As they had for the past few years, Donruss continued with the crazy borders and the plain looking backs. Their design will change completely in 1992. For 1991 though, no gloss and no metal foil. The Diamond Kings was still a subset rather than an insert. This will also be the last year that Donruss includes puzzle pieces in the packs. This year's puzzle was Willie Stargell.

Set #6 Donruss Bonus

Similar to previous years, this was a 22-card insert set with highlights of the 1990 season. The Series 2 inserts, like this Ripken card matched the green borders of the Series 2 base set.

Set #7 Donruss Grand Slammers

A 14-card set split between the two series, the set featured Grand Slam Home Runs hit in 1990.

Set #8 Donruss Elite

 This was something new in the hobby which will become very common in the future, a limited insert set with sequentially numbered cards. The Elite Series will continue for a few years. The 1992 set will start with card #9. After all these years, these cards have retained their value. There are currently only 4 of them on sale in eBay, 3 of them not slabbed and all commanding over $25. I paid $10.50 for this one in 2003 at a card store and it was the first one I had ever seen.

Set #9 Donruss Rookies

Like past years, the Rookies set was only available as a factory set. It has 54 cards and I have the whole set. The card design is similar to the Donruss base set but a different color.

This looks like a good place to break. The next post in the series will start with Fleer.

My 1991 Collection is Complete!

So, what do I mean by that?  My stated collection goal is to own at least one card from each set produced in each year. Since it's my goal, I get to set the parameters. I'm pretty much talking about sets of major league players released by the major card producers. Although I like to get odd-ball cards (like those produced by food companies and the like) I don't include them.  It's too much effort to track all that stuff. Plus, it's a hard enough goal. By my count, there were 52 unique types of cards produced in 1991. That includes all the major releases (Bowman, Donruss, Fleer, Leaf, Score, Stadium Club, Studio, Topps, Ultra and Upper Deck) plus inserts included in those releases, update sets (which I count separately) and some other odds and ends.  Last week I acquired the last two cards I needed.

1991 Classic III #52 Greg Maddux

The front of this looks pretty much like Classic I and Classic II from 1991, except for the color. Each was a 100-card set which was only available as a boxed set.  Classic I was blue and Classic II was red. The other visual change was the back.

1991 Classic I #73 Mark McGwire

Classic II and previous years of Classic also had this back. Classic III was a real departure. The other major difference in Classic III that you can't see in the scanned image is the card finish. Unlike all previous issue of Classic, the 1991 Classic III had a nice glossy surface, front and back.

I'm not sure that the Classic sets are much remembered today but they were widely available at the time which is why I've included them in my want list.


1991 Score Mantle #2 Mickey Mantle - Triple Crown

This was a 7-card insert in 1991 Score Series 2. I did not buy a single pack of Score in 1991 as I acquired a boxed set sometime during the year. 1991 was, of course, many years before Topps locked up the right to produce Mantle baseball cards.

I've been concentrating my buying the past few years on new issues. This year, I'm going to cut back on new stuff and start trying to complete my early 1990 releases. I just bought a bunch of 1992 issues on eBay which I'll have posted in a week or so.

I am considering running a series (5-6 posts) to highlight my 1991 collection.

Song of the Week - Walk The Line by The Tallest Man On Earth

I have 4 songs by this singer/songwriter that I acquired on podcasts. His real name is Kristian Matsson and he is from Sweden. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about him.

This live version of this song isn't nearly as good as the album version but it is still a fine song.

Random Cards From My Collection #12

Card #2106
2004 Upper Deck #127 Derek Jeter

It doesn't matter who does it, silver foil on a dark background is a bad idea. What percentage of cards do you think feature the glove hand of a catcher?

Card #29147
2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Mini #127 Francisco Liriano

Ah, the good old days when Goodwin Champions was mostly a baseball card set and Upper Deck still had a license. This was my favorite set of 2009.

Card #18837
2007 Topps Turkey Red #60 Mariano Rivera

I think everyone liked the Topps Turkey Red cards.

Card #21348
1989 Topps #499 Don Heinkel

You're excused if Don Heinkel isn't in your memory banks. He made his debut in April 1988 and was gone by May 1989 having appeared in 28 games and going 1-1 with 1 save.

Card #6596
1990 Donruss #370 Bob Walk

Bob Walk will always hold a special place in my baseball heart. Not only do we share a surname but he won the first game of the 1980 World Series for the Phillies, the first World Series game they ever won.

Card #6837
1988 Topps #312 Joey Meyer

Future star? Nope.

Card #18039
2002 Upper Deck #469 Ivan Rodriguez

Just one of the many sets, inserts and subsets celebrating the international origins of baseball players. This was not an insert but a subset of the 2002 Upper Deck set.

Card #4204
1996 Pinnacle Aficionado #199 Greg Maddux

Pinnacle Aficionado was a weird but attractive set put out in the declining years of Pinnacle when they were just blasting out set after set hoping something would be a hit. The cards featured a chromatic foil close-up on one side. It's strangest feature however was the card's smell. Apparently they tried to make the cards smell like bubblegum. It wasn't an unpleasant or strong odor but it never reminded me of gum.

Card #3485
1992 Donruss Bonus #4 Jeff Bagwell

One of my all-time favorite players.

Card #27443
2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects #39 Aaron Baker

I always wonder what reasoning Topps uses for a player like this. Baker was a 37th round draft pick by the Twins in 2006 then redrafted by the Pirates in the 11th round in 2009. How much of a prospect can this guy be? Considering how long the odds are of making it big in the majors, I wish this guy well.