After spending quite a few hours this past week rooting through boxes of cards, I can say that the search of my recent junk wax haul is complete.
It was quite an experience, and if I'm honest, I think I should have spread the effort out over a longer span of time. I'm not sure I've ever sorted through such a large amount of cards. This is one tired blogger.
However, I'm forging on, because there were some good finds to share. Let's get to it by providing a reminder of the haul.
I've added a number map, and will describe what I found in number order. I'll also add images of the best cards I found.
Let's go!
1. 800-count box of 1991-92 Upper Deck Hockey
Funny timing, as I just completed this set
a few months ago. The box here contained its share of duplicates, and
far too many cards were missing for me to want to try and complete this
set for a second time. However, there was plenty of star power
throughout.
2. Large Cardboard Box (Baseball and Hockey Cards)
This
box was jam-packed with early '90s baseball and hockey cards. The top
layer didn't show much promise, with 1991 Donruss and 1991 Score
baseball making the largest showing. However, the lower level of cards
was much more interesting. There were plenty of all-stars and
Hall-of-Famers in the baseball section. Ryan, Henderson, Canseco,
McGwire, Boggs, Sandberg, Gwynn, Brett. You name the stars, they
were in there. The same goes for hockey. Gretzky, Lemieux, Yzerman,
Jagr, Hull. All junk wax goodness.
However,
because there weren't really enough cards from any particular set to
inspire me to any set completions, I left the stars in there (okay, I did keep a few of them), and
I might have found a good home for the box already.
3. 660-count Box of 1992-93 Score Hockey
Spoiler
alert on an upcoming blog post: Before I explored the contents of this
box, I was only one card away from completing the 1992-93 Score hockey
set. Thankfully, that one card was in there! I was also able to swap out
a few cards in my set for ones in better condition. Stay tuned for a
"Completed Set" blog post at some future point.
4. Open Cello Box: 1991-92 Topps Hockey (No Image)
About 60% of the cards needed for set completion were present. That's not enough for me, especially because I've already got the O-Pee-Chee counterpart completed, and the Topps version is pretty much identical. What's disappointing is that this box was almost completely devoid of stars. An Olaf Kolzig rookie was maybe the best of the bunch. I'm not even going to show anything from inside the box. That's how picked-through it was.
5. Open Box: 1991-92 Pro Set Hockey
This
box consisted of 1991-92 Pro Set (Series 1), 1990-91 Score, and a
couple of stacks of other early '90s hockey cards like Topps and Bowman.
Not much to write home about at all. But then came a couple of
surprises!
6. Shoe Box (Baseball Cards)
This
box held the most intrigue, based solely on all the dark-colored
cardboard viewable from the top. Finally, a break from '90s cards!
After
a thorough inspection, most of the cards were specifically from the
1978, 1979, and 1980 Topps sets, with a smattering of older baseball
cards accompanying them. In a case like this—where a father was selling
his son's childhood collection because the son gave the OK from a few
hundred miles away—you're hoping for an Eddie Murray, Ozzie Smith, or
Rickey Henderson rookie card. But how often does that ever happen? For
me, the answer is never.
And
despite that streak continuing with this box, there were some minor
stars to be had, plus a big chunk of common cards in decent condition. In
all, the largest number of cards comes from the 1979 set (340). I think I'm going to try and complete it. 340 cards is almost half the set, and I've
already got the Ozzie Smith rookie and some of the other stars.
7. Open Box: 1991-92 Pro Set Hockey (Again)
Unlike
box #5, about 95% of this box did actually consist of 1991-92 Pro Set
hockey (Series 1). There weren't many inserts to chase in the set, aside
from the 10¢ off
coupons and Rink Rat fan club offer cards. And there were plenty of
those inside! Anyhow, after collating, I have all 345 cards needed to
complete Series 1, plus some duplicates. I'm going to keep the completed
set because I didn't have it prior.
8. Open Box: 1992-93 Upper Deck Hockey (Low Numbers)
There
were plenty of stars and Hall-of-Famers here, not to mention some cool
artwork on the box bottom. Although this set just doesn't have the
nostalgic pull that the previous year's Upper Deck hockey set does for me, I
might hold onto these cards for now and mull over the idea of completing
the set. About 75% of the cards needed were in this box.
9. 1990-91 Score Hockey Boxed Set
Although
this box appeared to be quite full with 1990-91 Score hockey cards
(including the Styrofoam spacers), the cards were not sorted by number,
and it wasn't long before I found some duplicates and examples with
dinged corners. This was not the factory set, unfortunately. And for an
extra kick while I was down, not even one of the five exclusive Eric
Lindros cards was there. Boo!
On
the plus side, I did find the Martin Brodeur rookie card, as well as
some stars of the era like Patrick Roy and Ray Bourque. I've already got
this complete set anyhow, so it's fine. Maybe I'll keep the box, and store my completed set inside.
10. Open Box: 1990-91 Score Hockey
The
contents did not match the box in this case. Instead, I found more
1991-92 Pro Set hockey, plus some "modern" hockey (i.e., late 1990s).
There were plenty of stars, like the ones pictured here.
And then there was a big surprise.
Check these out!
1955 Topps baseball, hiding in that box of hockey cards for no reason! The Sandy Amoros rookie card, front and center, is the star of the group. Then from left to right behind him, you've got Dave Hoskins, Dave Jolly, Bob Kennedy, and "Windy" McCall (rookie card). They've got their share of dings, soft corners, and creases, but I'm totally fine with that.
11. Envelope Containing 4 x 5 Black-and-White Photographs of 1970s-era New York Mets
This
was another big surprise. In last week's comment section, Bo from Baseball Cards Come to Life! noted that these photos appear to be from the 1971 New York Mets 4x5 Photo set (facsimile autographs), as well as some similar Mets photo products from other years. And he was right! What's interesting is that the locations of the signatures on mine don't always match up with the ones I've seen online. And the ink sure looks real on some of them. Could I have any actual autographs on my hands? Or could they be produced by autopen? I'm going to have to research this a little more. In the meantime, have a look at the image above for some
of the best examples.
Top row, left to right: Bud Harrelson, Ed Kranepool, Bobby Valentine, Tug McGraw.
Bottom row, left to right: Jim Fregosi, Ken Singleton, Jerry Grote, Tommy Agee.
And
that's Rusty Staub in front. There are 40 photos in all. Pretty good score!
12. Open Box: 1991-92 Score American Hockey
About
half the cards in this box were indeed from the 1991-92 Score American
set, including some stars. The rest of the cards were from the 1991-92
Topps set. Overall, not too bad. I found a nice John Leclair Topps
rookie and a Dominik Hasek Score rookie, plus some super-cool San Jose Sharks team cards. Fuji, if you need them, they're yours!
Bonus Content: Binders!
Blue Binder
The binder itself is toast, and the cards inside were 1990-91 Pro Set hockey (boo!) However, the set was nearly complete. And if you know 1990-91 Pro Set, you know it's loaded with errors and variations. I looked closely through the pages for some of them, including perhaps the biggest one: Quebec Nordiques player Paul Gillis was originally shown with a bloody nose. The blood was airbrushed out pretty early in production, so the bloody nose variation commands a decent price out there.
Unfortunately, the Gillis card in this set was the airbrushed version. Also unfortunately, the nine-pocket pages were pretty crispy. I removed all the cards and stored them in a box. Although I already have this complete set, I might try to complete it for a second time. I'm only a handful of cards away.
Black Binder
This one was in better shape, and I do enjoy a good old-school trading card binder with some foil art and text on the front. So I'm going to keep it.
As for the cards inside, they're 1991-92 Score Hockey American. I'm currently working on completing the Canadian Bilingual version (Series 1 and 2). The American version was issued in just one series, and it's smaller in size: 440 compared with 660. The cards in the binder gave me a nearly complete set, and although they have almost no monetary value, I'm only a couple dozen cards away from completing it, so I might as well go for the low-hanging fruit. All the star cards are there, as are the big rookies like John Leclair and Dominik Hasek.
I was wondering if any of the Bobby Orr inserts would be in the binder. I flipped through all the pages with no hits, but on the very last page . . .
. . .I found one, right in the middle!
More Bonus Content
Check out this piece of history.
Remember when these things were must-have publications for the fan who had any credibility or loyalty to the sport? Almanacs like this one provided a treasure trove of information, player by player and team by team. Just look at one spread:
Read this book cover to cover and you'll be next in line for a General Manager position, my friend!
And that wraps up this rather large lot of junk wax baseball and hockey cards.
Overall, it was about what I expected. There were a few pleasant surprises, which is nice. I'll probably end up keeping a little more than I thought. As for the Mets photos, I have a couple of friends in mind who might really love those.
So, will I do this again?
Not for a while.
That was enough junk wax nostalgia for now. Maybe at some point in the future, if the conditions are just right, and the timing is right, I'll pick up another large lot. However, I'm still very much a quality-over-quantity guy, and certainly don't need boxes and boxes of cards coming in and out of the house.
In any case, for this one time, I think the thrill of the search and the fun experience of flipping through so many cards was worth the $25 price tag. Plus, I might make that price back by selling the large portion of the lot I don't need or want. And I found a few gems, to boot.
So how about you readers and collectors? Do you think I did okay here? Do you have a favorite find of the bunch?
Have you ever purchased a large lot of cards like this and come across any big hits?
Let me know in the comment section, and thanks for reading along!
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