CUSTOMS BLASTER - PART 2: CAN'T PASS 'EM UP BASEBALL STARS

I'VE BEEN VERY GOOD ABOUT MOSTLY PICKING UP WANTLIST CARDS ON THE SITE EXCEPT WHEN I NAB AN OLD COMIC IMAGES CARD OF A DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS LADY WITH ENORMOUS BOOBLES BUT SOMETIMES I SEE A SUPER DUPER MEGA STAR CARD AND I CAN'T LET IT PASS BY. HERE'S THREE BASEBALL GUYS I KEEP GETTING DESPITE THERE BEING NO WANTLISTS

CATEGORY - SUPERSTARS

FIRST GUY IS SOMEONE I ACTUALLY COLLECT 

1992 SCORE RICKEY HENDERSON

WHEN I WAS FIRST COLLECTING CARDS I TRADED A 1981 TOPPS RICKEY HENDERSON AT SCHOOL FOR SOME NONSENSE. I QUICKLY FIGURED OUT HOW BADLY I GOT CHEATED AND HAVE SPENT 40 YEARS MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME. I ALREADY HAVE A PILE OF BASE CARDS FOR ALL THESE GUYS SO WHEN I PICK UP STAR CARDS LIKE A MAGPIE I TEND TO GRAVITATE TOWARDS HIGH END OR ODDBALL CARDS. BUT SOMETIMES A BASE CARD BEATS OUT THE FANCY STUFF

1998 SPX FINITE RICKEY HENDERSON

HERE'S ONE OF THOSE HIGH END ONES. SPX IS BEST KNOWN FOR THEIR HOLOGRAMS BUT IN 1998 UPPER DECK GOT TIRED OF DEALING WITH THAT MESS AND SPX TURNED FINITE WITH A LITTLE FOIL STAMPED WINDOW FOR A GIMMICK. THIS ONE'S A LITTLE OFF CENTER WHICH HAPPENED QUITE A BIT AND ADDS A BIT OF CHARM TO THE CARD. THAT'S NOT THE ONLY GIMMICK THO

SERIAL NUMBAZ! THAT'S THE ACTUAL FINITE GIMMICK AS EACH CARD WAS FINITED WITH THAT NUMBER PLASTERED ON IT. THIS ONE'S A BASE CARD NUMBERED TO 9000 BUT SUBSETS COULD BE NUMBERED ANYWHERE FROM 2000 TO 7000. YOU CAN SEE ALL THAT MESS FOR YOURSELF. I'M ACTIVELY COLLECTING THE HOLOGRAM VERSIONS OF SPX BUT THIS NUMBERED SET IS MORE A CURIOSITY FOR ME. I'D KINDA LIKE TO PICK UP AT LEAST ONE FROM EACH SUBSET BUT THAT IS WAAAAAAY DOWN THE PRIORITY LIST 

1998 PINNACLE PERFORMERS RICKEY HENDERSON

HERE'S A SOMEWHAT OBSCURE ODDBALL SET IN THAT IT'S A REIMAGINING OF THE PREVIOUS YEAR'S PINNACLE XPRESS SET THAT ALSO CAME OUT AS ONE OF THE LAST RELEASES BEFORE PINNACLE WENT BELLY UP. THE GIMMICK WITH THIS SET IS THERE WAS A SWING FOR THE FENCES CONTEST WHERE YOU COULD MATCH A CARD WITH THE LEAGUE LEADER FOR HOME RUNS WITH A CARD WITH THE NUMBER OF HOME RUNS THEY HIT AND WIN A SPECIAL INSERT SET. UNFORTUNATELY PINNACLE WAS OVER BEFORE THE SEASON WAS SO THE WINNER CARDS ARE OUT THERE BUT NOT TERRIBLY EASY TO FIND. I JUST LIKE THE DESIGN OF THIS ONE, IT'S VERY COLORFUL AND WORKS WELL WITH RICKY SPEEDING THROUGH THE CARD

1998 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED RICKEY HENDERSON

I LOVE THESE SPORTS ILLUSTRATED CARDS BUT THEY'RE NOT A SET I'M EVER GOING TO BOTHER COMPLETING. THERE'S USUALLY SOME GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY ON THEM LIKE RICKEY DOING SOME FIELDING DRILLS HERE

1998 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED THEN AND NOW RICKEY HENDERSON A PLACE IN HISTORY

THIS ONE'S A SUBSET FEATURING RICKEY AT THE TOP OF SOME ALL TIME LEADERBOARDS. RICKEY IS OBVIOUSLY AT THE TOP OF THE STEALS CATEGORY BUT IS ALSO FAR AND ABOVE EVERYONE ELSE ON MOST LEADOFF HOME RUNS. THIS SET IS ANOTHER REASON WHY I DON'T BOTHER WITH FLEER SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, IT'S ONE OF THREE SI SETS RELEASED IN 1998 AND IT'S NOT EASY TO TELL ANY OF THEM APART. POSSIBLE FUTURE FRANKENSET PERHAPS?

1993 FLAIR RICKEY HENDERSON

I DIDN'T APPRECIATE FLAIR AT THE TIME BUT DANG IT'S A BEAUTIFUL LOOKING SET. ELEGANT DESIGN, GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY AND JUST A TOUCH OF FOIL STAMPING. THEY'RE JUST PRETTY! IT'S ANOTHER SET I'LL NEVER COMPLETE BUT THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH HOARDING SOME STARS

THE NEXT GUY I DON'T OFFICIALLY COLLECT BUT I MIGHT AS WELL AT THIS POINT

1996 ZENITH BARRY BONDS

'GOOD OL' BARRY BONDS, HOW I HATE HIM' SEEMS TO BE THE HOBBY'S OPINION ON OUR DEAR HOME RUN KING AT THE MOMENT. THIS IS FINE WITH ME BECAUSE I CAN PICK UP BONDS CARDS EASILY ALMOST ANYWHERE. AND I DO, OH BOY I DO. ZENITH IS A WEIRD BUT ATTRACTIVE SET AND POKES MY 90S NOSTALGIA BUTTON WHEN I SEE IT. OH I MISS THE DAYS WHEN HIGH END CARDS WERE MERELY THREE TIMES AS THICK AS REGULAR CARDS AND DOUSED WITH FOIL AND A THICK GLOSSY CLEAR COAT INSTEAD OF BEING SOLD IN BOXES OF THREE CARDS FOR FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS

1998 FLAIR SHOWCASE BARRY BONDS

FLAIR SHOWCASE IS ONE OF THOSE MULTI-LEVEL FRACTURED SETS WITH SEVERAL TIERS OF PARALLEL CARDS THAT ALL JUMBLE TOGETHER IN MY MIND. I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THE LOWEST LEVEL BASE CARDS BUT WHO KNOWS REALLY. IT'S EXTREMELY SHINY AND THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS

1998 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED THEN AND NOW BARRY BONDS LEGENDS OF TODAY

THIS IS FROM THE SAME SET AS RICKEY ABOVE BUT THERE'S NO WAY OF TELLING THAT. MOST OF THE OTHER CARDS IN THE SET HAVE 'LEGENDS' PLASTERED ON THEM BUT NOT THE PLACE IN HISTORY CARDS! MY POOR BRAIN CAN'T COMPREHEND ALL THIS 90S WEIRDNESS BUT BARRY ABOUT TO MURDER A BASEBALL I UNDERSTAND

1998 FINEST  BARRY BONDS

FINEST! THIS STUFF I DO COLLECT ALTHOUGH I DON'T REALLY HAVE A HANDLE ON WHAT EXACTLY I'M COLLECTING YET. I'VE BEEN PICKING OUT RANDOM FINEST OUT OF DIME BOXES WHEN I SEE IT FOR YEARS AND THERE'S NO NEED TO STOP NOW. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST LOOKING FINEST DESIGNS AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO PEELING THIS CARD ONE OF THESE DAYS

1997 PACIFIC BARRY BONDS

I'M MILDLY OBSESSED WITH PACIFIC CARDS FOR THEIR WILD BASE CARDS AND EVEN WILDER INSERT CARDS. THE 1997 SET HAS A HEALTHY SLAB OF FOIL ACROSS THE LEFT BORDER WHICH IS A TAD AWKWARD ON MOST CARDS BUT LOOKS AMAZING ON THE HORIZONAL ONES. BARRY IS MASHING DINGERS IN A 3D FOIL MATRIX ON THIS CARD. IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE GILDED SOME OLD-SCHOOL COMPUTER GRAPHICS

1997 ULTRA BARRY BONDS

GREAT GOOGLEY MOOGELY CARDS LOOKED SO GOOD IN 1997. A WATER LEAK BRICKED MOST OF MY 97 ULTRA CARDS SO GETTING SOME REPLACEMENTS IS ALWAYS NICE

1996 STADIUM CLUB BARRY BONDS TEAM TSC

I HAVEN'T BEEN FOCUSING ON STADIUM CLUB CARDS RECENTLY BUT SHORT PRINTS ARE ALWAYS ON MY RADAR. THESE TEAM TSC CARDS WERE INSERTED ONE PER PACK AND FEATURE TWO LEVELS OF FANCY FOIL. RAINBOW FOIL FOR THE NAME AND HOLOFOIL FOR THE BORDER. THEY LOOK VERY SNAZZY AND THE RAINBOW FOIL CAN VARY FROM CARD TO CARD 

1997 STADIUM CLUB BARRY BONDS STADIUM SLUGGER

1997 STADIUM CLUB SNUCK IN SOME SHORT PRINTS AS WELL. SERIES ONE HAD A TSC 2000 SUBSET FEATURING SOME YOUNG STARS WHILE SERIES TWO HAD THESE STADIUM SLUGGERS FEATURING THE HOME RUN HITTING USUAL SUSPECTS OF THE MID-90S. THEY DON'T LOOK AS GOOD AS THE TEAM TSC CARDS BUT THEY'RE ONLY A THIRD THE SIZE OF THE 96 SHORT PRINT SET SO IT'S NOT AS HARD A SET TO BUILD

THE LAST GUY NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION

1993 FLAIR KEN GRIFFEY JR. 

IF YOU SEE A GOOD GRIFFEY CARD YOU GRAB IT. PROBLEM IS THE GOOD ONES ARE USUALLY ALREADY PRE-GRABBED. THAT JUST MAKES THE ONES YOU GET ALL THE MORE SPECIAL. HERE'S ANOTHER FLAIR CARD I MANAGED TO GET WHEN A LIST OF THEM WERE POSTED THAT I MANAGED TO GET TO FIRST

1997 PACIFIC PRISM INVINCIBLE KEN GRIFFEY JR. GEMS OF THE DIAMOND

WEIRDO PACIFIC CARD ALERT! THESE WERE INSERTED INTO PRISM INVINCIBLE PACKS SO YOU WOULDN'T KNOW THERE WAS ONLY ONE OF THE WEIRD FOILY ACETATE WINDOW CARDS IN THE PACK. THE WORDS PRISM, INVICIBLE, GEMS AND DIAMOND ARE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND ON THIS CARD SO I HAD A HELL OF A TIME FIGURING OUT WHAT IT WAS FROM FOR THIS POST AND I SHALL GO ON TO IMMEDIATELY FORGET ONCE I HIT PUBLISH. THERE IS A LITTLE GEM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CARD THOUGH. THE ONLY REASON I WAS ABLE TO WIN THIS CARD IS BECAUSE THIS WAS THE SECOND ONE POSTED. GRIFFEYS ARE TOUGH, MAN!

1997 STADIUM CLUB KEN GRIFFEY JR. STADIUM SLUGGER

WE END OUR JOURNEY WITH ANOTHER STADIUM SLUGGER SHORT PRINT. THESE WERE ONE PER THREE PACKS SO THE WHOLE SET WAS POSSIBLE OUT OF A COUPLE HOBBY BOXES WHICH AIN'T BAD AS FAR AS SHORT PRINTS GO. I LOOKED THROUGH MY STADIUM CLUB BOX TO SEE WHICH ONES I ALREADY HAD AND SOMEHOW I HAVE NONE?? WHICH IS ABSURD BECAUSE I KNOW I PULLED SOME FROM PACKS BACK IN THE DAY. SO NOW I HAVE TO FIGURE OUT IF THEY ARE HIDING IN MY INSERT BOX OR A DOUBLES BOX SOMEWHERE. AT LEAST I HAVE TWO OF THE BEST NOW

UP NEXT: OUR FIRST TASTE OF CHAOS