Check this out.
Trust me on this one...you do not want to go there. As my dearly departed father would say, "Go back, it's a TRAP".
I remember those days somewhat fondly now. It's not so much the era as it is that I sometimes feel a little nostalgic as I get older. I don't want to go back to that time, but the bad memories have sort of been glossed over with time. It's sort of like when I went through Boot Camp. I don't seem to remember all the bad parts anymore.
In 1988 I bought a case of this stuff.
I was 17 and Score was the new kid on the block. I thought I would be rich someday by having an unopened case of the very first Score cards ever!!! Is there any doubt about how that worked out for me. It didn't take long to figure out that 1988 Score was not a goldmine. The whole case ended up going in the big garage sale back in 2006. Along with a couple hundred thousand other cards. *Sigh*
Anyway, that big miss, caused me to avoid Upper Deck in 1989. At the height of the Griffey Jr. Rookie hype I didn't open one pack of UD. However, in my infinite wisdom and glorious timing, I probably bought 20,000 cards in 1989-1990. I had a ton of 1989 Pro-Set football and 1990 Fleer, Donruss and Topps baseball. Oh, the good old days. Most of that went the way of the garage sale too.
*Editor's note* As I read back over this post, I realized it was the ramblings of an exhausted person. Too much time awake and too many hours at work will do that to a guy. Oh well, if it saves one person from 1990 Topps, it was all worth it.
I'm a Junk Wax era survivor myself... and I bought a ton of 1988 Score baseball, not quite a case, but a lot. I think the stuff I busted the most of was 1987 Topps, because my local Price Club kept getting that stuff in.
ReplyDeleteYour post documents my youth as a collector too. I totally missed out on 1989 UD... actually I even missed out on 1989 Pro Set FB. Around 10 years ago I sold 99% of my collection... most of it was stuff from the Junk Wax era. Where'd I sell most of the commons? At my garage sale... and the leftovers, I took to the flea market.
However... these days I'm diving back into Junk Wax. I look at it as an opportunity to embrace my childhood at a fraction of the cost.
Great post... and happy holidays.
I wasn't even born for the height of the junk wax era, but I promptly started hating it when I received these worthless cards in grab bags and random 1,000 card boxes I bought through eBay or Amazon. However, I find ripping open a box and collecting a set from this era extremely fun and exciting. Maybe that's why I keep puchasing 12 dollar boxes of Donruss...
ReplyDeleteWord Verification: spittio (Italian for spit; I spittio in your face.)
I also missed out on '89 UD. Not because I felt burned by '88 Score (which I also bought a bunch of), but because in my little town none of the stores ever got those cards to sell.
ReplyDeleteInstead, a few card sellers got the packs and jacked up the prices because nobody else had them. And there was no way I was paying $3 for a stinkin' pack of cards.
So... what you're saying is... you don't want my 3200 ct. box of 1990 Pro Set?
ReplyDeleteIn some ways I miss the junk wax era. Could you imagine in 2008 Masterpieces was say THE 1991 Upper Deck Set?
ReplyDelete