Monday, December 29, 2014

Completely Red: 1989 Donruss/Donruss Traded

Ooooh, boy. The junkiest of junk wax. I didn't even start collecting until 1991 and I still had more 1989 Donruss than anything else. Maybe 1987 Topps was in contention, but I don't think so.

We have purples and greens and reds, all rainbowed and gradiented for our collecting pleasure. Some of the worst card stock of all time, to boot. Lots of white poking through the borders. And the Diamond Kings were a little extra Diamnond Kingy this year. Just. Just. Just amazing. I love this set. Also, whoever cropped the photos seemed to have absolutely no interest in backgrounds. It's either a way-too-close shot, or, if we actually see head-to-toe, everything else is out of focus.

But I still love you, 1989 Donruss.

STATS:

Cards - 27

RC's - 2 (Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton)

All Stars - 11 (Chris Sabo, Rob Dibble, Eric Davis, Danny Jackson, John Franco, Bo Diaz, Barry Larkin, Paul O'Neill, Rob Dibble, Jack Armstrong, Norm Charlton)

Hall of Famers - 1 (Barry Larkin)

Reds Hall of Famers - 6 (Eric Davis, Jose Rijo, Tom Browning, Barry Larkin, Chris Sabo, Ron Oester)

Checklist:

4 Chris Sabo DK
71 Tom Browning
80 Eric Davis
115 Keith Brown
124 Danny Jackson
139 Rob Murphy
189 Nick Esasky
198 Kal Daniels
233 John Franco
242 Bo Diaz
257 Barry Larkin
308 Ron Robinson
317 Chris Sabo RC
351 Jeff Treadway
360 Paul O'Neill
375 Jose Rijo
426 Rob Dibble RC
435 Herm Winningham
469 Jeff Reed
478 Frank Williams
493 Jack Armstrong RC
544 Norm Charlton RC
553 Ron Oester
586 Van Snider
595 Lloyd McClendon 
24T Rick Mahler
47T Todd Benzinger

Go Reds.

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Completely Red: 1994 SP Base and Die-Cut

I guess these were considered high-end at the time, right? Foil meant a premium product back in the throes of the junk era and these babies were caked in foily goodness. I don't recall owning any to speak of as a kid, but they certainly do not look premium anymore.

UD threw in a die-cut parallel, as Topps had shown that parallels were going to be the future of the hobby with their fancy golds. Die-cutting was in its infancy, so the foil + die-cut was surely largely appealing for many. They were one-per-pack, so acquiring them wasn't terribly difficult. Of the 200 cards in the set, my boys got a mere six, with none from the rookie prospect subset. The six included, though, are all fan favorites, so it's a nice little collection.

STATS:

Cards - 6

RC's - 0

All Stars - 4 (Boone, Larkin, Mitchell, R. Sanders)

Hall of Famers - 1 (Larkin)

Reds Hall of Famers - 2 (Rijo, Larkin)

Checklist:

158 Bret Boone
159 Barry Larkin
160 Kevin Mitchell
161 Jose Rijo
162 Deion Sanders
163 Reggie Sanders

Go Reds.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Completely Red: 2001 Stadium Club

The latest resurrection of Stadium Club got the blog world all atwitter with its sweet photography. So today we'll check out an older post-junk-wax-era set from da Club: 2001.

We have a 200 card set with 50 short prints. Six total Reds (no short prints, woot) and a bevy of exceptional photography. Nice shiny nameplate, as well. Let's look through one at a time, eh?

#7 Barry Larkin. "SAFE, bitches!"

#24 Pete Harnisch. I absolutely love this card.

#33 Aaron Boone. Not even close, John Vander Wal.

#43 Sean Casey. This looks like an upside down Bolivian flag. Yeah. What other card blog is referencing South American flags, huh? None other. That's who.

#74 Pokey Reese. The Pokester about to perfectly place a left-field chopper for a base hit.

#125 Ken Griffey Jr. I've heard of him. He's Craig's brother, right?

Go Reds.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

A Repost From St. Nicholas

Yeah, this is a repost from last year. Effing deal with it.

Merry Christmas, you card-collecting bastards.




A Visit from St. Nicholas
by Red Cardboard via Clement Clarke Moore

'Twas the night before
...when all thro' the house

Not a creature was
...not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with
In hopes that
...soon would be there;

The children were nestled all
...beds,

While visions of sugar
...danc'd in their heads,