90's Box Breaks

Whatever you do, do NOT fall vicitim to this scam on eBay, or anywhere else for that matter.

Basically, these so-called “proofs” are nothing more than a boiled-down Finest or Chrome card that has the back of the card completely missing, leaving you with the chromium front of the card.

Mario wrote about this a few days ago, and I came across some auctions on eBay that actually have bids. If you have a bid, retract it because you’re wasting your money.

You can learn how to do this yourself here. Right now, only eBay seller ljbiggestfan2 has these for auction. Just be careful and as always, do research before buying something. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Bowman Chrome "Proof"

Image from WaxHeaven.

Mario posted an interesting article the other day, asking readers when they thought the Bowman brand peaked. Personally, I believe it peaked twice. Once with 1995 Bowman’s Best and again with 1997 Bowman Chrome.

Why? Well, 1995 Bowman’s Best had two key rookies with Andruw Jones and Vladimir Guerrero. Not to mention, their refractor parallels still sell for a pretty penny today. Don’t expect to find a box for less than $200, and don’t expect more than 4 refractors per box, unlike today’s releases.

As for 1997 Bowman Chrome, well since Bowman was already billed as “Home of the Rookie Card”, you now had chrome counterparts of key rookies found in 1997 Bowman, as well as the popular refractor parallel. Not to mention, it was the inaugural edition of Bowman Chrome. And how can you forget the International and International Refractor Parallels? A little chase to the set made it even more exciting.

1995 Bowman's Best and 1997 Bowman Chrome

It seems as if the 1990′s was quite the test decade for card companies. They were trying anything and everything to boost the hobby, from numbered inserts and parallels to die cut cards.

Pinnacle Brands was known for trying just about anything, even including diamond chips in their cards, yet Donruss, who wasn’t part of Pinnacle until 1997, was trying something a bit more…affordable.

Enter 1996 Studio Stained Glass Stars.

Randomly inserted in packs, this 12-card set honors some of the league’s hottest superstars. The cards feature color player images on a genuine-look stained glass background and were printed with a clear plastic, die-cut technology.

1996 Studio Stained Glass Stars

Sure, 2008 Stadium Club had stained-glass inserts, but they definitely weren’t the first of their kind.

After an incredible first year in the hobby, Upper Deck was a name that followed the words premium, unique, and awesome, among others. Not satisfied with a one-hit wonder, UD wanted to follow the success of their debut set to make itself a household name. While the design of the 1990 set wasn’t too far off from the 1989 release, there was the chase of obtaining an autograph card of Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.

The concept was simple: In Series 2 of 1990 Upper Deck (or, as it’s commonly known, Hi Number series) there was a 9-card insert set called Heroes of Baseball. (However, according to Beckett, it’s listed as a 10-card set even though the checklist, pictured below, only lists 9 cards total). 2,500 hand-signed and individually numbered cards were signed by Reggie Jackson himself. As a bonus, any card that was signed and the number ended in 00, the card had the words Mr. October inscribed on them.

You just can’t beat a pack inserted, hand signed card of a then-future Hall of Famer (he retired in 1987 and there’s the 5 year wait before being on the ballot). I don’t know the odds, as I couldn’t find them anywhere online, but 2,500 signed cards in the era of over production could be the equivalent of just 250 signed cards today.

Even today, almost 20 years after release, this card can still get a nice premium. One ended tonight on eBay for $120.89 delivered. Not bad for a card released during the junk wax era.

1990 Upper Deck Reggie Jackson Auto

I was informed this morning that the comments section wasn’t working. I nailed down the problem and removed the requirement that a user had to be logged in before adding a comment. I don’t remember setting that up but in any case, it’s now fixed and readers can now leave comments again.

Special thanks go out to Dave from First & Goal for notifying me of the issue.