[zeprock]

Yogi Berra was an 18-time All-Star and three-time MVP who has more World Series rings than anyone in history. He has one for each finger and thumb of both hands. Known for his malapropisms he once stated, "I really didn't say everything I said." I currently have 336 different Beckett recognized cards of Yogi in my collection. Here are nine including some vintage, a couple cereal cards and a uniform swatch.

       
1952 Wheaties #BB1B Yogi Berra/Portrait
1957 Topps #2 Yogi Berra
1958 Topps #370 Yogi Berra


1959 Topps #180 Yogi Berra
1960 Topps #480 Yogi Berra
1961 Post #1B Yogi Berra BOX

       
1962 Topps #360 Yogi Berra
1965 Topps #470 Yogi Berra P/CO
2003 Sweet Spot Classics Pinstripes #SPYB Yogi Berra

[zeprock]

Happy New Year everyone!
Another type of card many of us have in our collections is the Pop-up or Stand-up. These mostly die-cut cards were meant to be popped out of their background to give the player more of a 3-D image. For today's oddball post, here are nine such cards from my collection.

       
1989 Donruss Pop-Ups #1 Mark McGwire (This card was an insert in a wax pack of Donruss All-Star cards in 1989.)
1994 Kraft #10 Cal Ripken (This card came in a specially marked package of Kraft cheese slices.)
1994 Fun Pack #190 Barry Bonds STA (Some believe this may be a short print from Upper Deck's second Fun Pack release.)

         
1994 Oscar Mayer Round-Ups #26 Greg Maddux (This pop-up disc was inserted in a specially marked 16 ounce package of Oscar Mayer bologna.)
1995 Stouffer Pop-ups #4 Bob Feller (Pull the tab at the top of this card and Bob Feller pops out of the front. This card was one of five distributed by Stouffer's Frozen Foods.)
2003 Bazooka Stand-Ups Red #2 Albert Pujols (This card was designed similar to the 1964 Topps Stand-Up set.)

       
2011 Topps Lineage Stand-Ups #TS23 Mickey Mantle (This insert from Topps Lineage line was also designed after the 1964 Topps Stand-Up set.)
2012 Panini Golden Age Batter-Up #24 Nolan Ryan (This set mimics the 1934-36 Batter-Up baseball set that was issued by National Chicle.)
2016 Topps Heritage Stand Ups #1 Bryce Harper (An insert from Topps Heritage that was found exclusively in packs sold at Walmart.)

[zeprock]

The last player I featured on this thread was Yogi Berra. Today the randomizer pulled up another Yankees catcher. He's another player that I collect that isn't in the Hall of Fame, Thurman Munson. Whether Thurman would have made it had he been alive to play a few more years and compile more stats, we'll never know. The former Yankee captain was a Rookie of the Year, 6-time All-star and three-time Gold Glove Award winner who also won a MVP Award and two World Championships with the Yankees. His career was cut short after just ten years when at the age of 32 he crashed his airplane in Ohio. I have 138 different Beckett recognized cards of Thurman. Here are nine from my collection.

       
1971 Topps #5 Thurman Munson
1971 Topps Coins #118 Thurman Munson (An insert found in packs of 1971 Topps cards.)
1972 Topps #441 Thurman Munson

       
1973 Topps #142 Thurman Munson
1975 Topps #20 Thurman Munson
1977 Topps #170 Thurman Munson

        
2004 SP Legendary Cuts Historic Swatches #TM Thurman Munson Jsy
2008 Upper Deck Yankee Stadium Legacy Collection Memorabilia #TM Thurman Munson
2014 Classics October Heroes Bats #20 Thurman Munson/99 (I got this one from bamyanks.)

[zeprock]

On to 1995 today. Here are nine cards from my collection that were all released during that year.

       
1995 Ball Park Franks #1 Yogi Berra AU (I paid full price for this at an Antiques shop in Downtown Bangor, Maine but it was a Yogi Berra auto and I wanted it. It has since doubled in value. They also had the Frank Robinson, the other card in that two-card set but I passed on Frank because I already had his auto on a card. The cards were produced by Collector's Edge and could originally be obtained by mailing in 8 UPC codes from any Ball Park product.)
1995 Collector's Choice Gold Signature #15 Derek Jeter (I paid a dollar for this at a shop in Brewer, Maine called Collector's Corner. It was not uncommon to find cards ranging from 50 cents up to $25 bucks in his dollar box and I would stop by most every payday and go through them. He would even call me occasionally to let me know he added more cards to his box.)
1995 Donruss Top of the Order #15 Cal Ripken Jr. R (I bought a couple mini boxes of these at the local K-Mart back in 1995 just to see what they looked like. Cards were issued as Commons, Uncommons and Rare. This Ripken is a Rare.)

       
1995 Donruss Top of the Order #269 Hideo Nomo R (Like the Ripken, this also is a Rare card bought at the same time.)
1995 Finest Flame Throwers #FT2 Roger Clemens (I got this card in trade from a fellow collector in New Brunswick, Canada.)
1995 Major League Players Alumni Autograph #1 Harmon Killebrew (This card came from a collector in Minnesota who contacted me through my website and I swung a deal for this as well as a few other autos. It's the only card I have from a four card set issued by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.)

       
1995 Sportflix Artist's Proofs #83 Mike Piazza (I paid a quarter for this at a little second hand shop in Eddington, Maine. The proprietor had a box of cards at a quarter each and I noticed the Artist's Proof logo on it and bought it along with several other cards.)
1995 Ultra Power Plus Gold Medallion #5 Barry Bonds
1995 Upper Deck Special Edition Gold #46 Cal Ripken (This was pulled from a dollar box at a card show.)

[jack pfiester]

1995 Donruss Top of the Order is one of my favorite oddball sets from the 1990's!

That 1995 UD SE Gold Ripken is a really tough card. Nice work digging it out of a dollar box.

[zeprock]

The next player I'm featuring is Minnesota native Paul Molitor. "The Ignitor" was a seven-time All-star with four Silver Slugger Awards and a World Champiionship with the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays. He was often in the leaders column for hits and runs throughout his career. He was also named Manager of the Year in 2017 while skippering his hometown team. As of this posting, I have 826 unique Beckett recognized cards of "Molly". Here are nine from my collection.

       
1991 Studio #73 Paul Molitor Autographed (In person autograph not obtained by me.)
2002 Fleer Authentix Ballpark Classics Memorabilia Gold #PM Paul Molitor Jsy/Seat
2002 Fleer Fall Classics MVP Collection Game Used #PM Paul Molitor Bat SP/250


2005 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Red #53 Paul Molitor Twins
2011 Topps Tier One Top Shelf Relics #TSR29 Paul Molitor
2012 Topps Golden Moments Relics #PM Paul Molitor

       
2013 Leaf Sports Heroes #BAPM1 Paul Molitor (I acquired this from Beckett member limitedbaseballcards.)
2014 Panini Hall of Fame Signatures #89 Paul Molitor
2016 Prime Cuts #136 Paul Molitor JSY/149 (This beauty also came from someone here on Beckett.)

[zeprock]

Just for fun today I am featuring nine cards from a set. The set literally has "fun" in the title. In 1993 Upper Deck released their debut Fun Pack set targeted primarily toward kids and includes a variety of clever designs and subsets. I had never seen any of the cards from the set until I found packs and packs of them at a Marden's store in Brewer, Maine in 1997. Marden's is a resale store that basically sells a wide variety of goods from overstocks, closeouts, and natural disasters. Their merchandise comes in limited quantities, and once it sells, it’s gone for good. Their saying is, "I should have bought it when I saw it at Marden's." They sell clothing, furniture, mattresses, hardware, food, flooring, footwear, fabric and seasonal stuff. My wife loves to browse there and it was on one of these occasions that I noticed packs of 1997 Score Team Sets and 1993 and 1994 Fun Pack cards for a quarter per pack. Naturally I picked up several packs and took them home and opened them. A few of the cards were stuck together but most of them were just fine and I was surprised at how colorful they were and how many "star" players were in each pack, players that I collect. So, I went back without my wife and bought all of the packs I could find for about $40 and I came to within 10 cards of completing both Fun Pack sets. Here are nine cards from the 1993 Fun Pack set that I pulled that day.

       
1993 Fun Pack #6 Mike Piazza (Key rookies in the set were designated as "Stars of Tomorrow" and pictured over a stadium with a background of stars.)
1993 Fun Pack #11 Barry Bonds HS (The Hot Shots subset are actually heat activated cards. If you press your hand on the dark background for a moment or hold a hair dryer to the card, the dark background disappears leaving a colorful background in it's place. Very unique.)
1993 Fun Pack #35 Ozzie Smith HERO (The Heroes subset features artwork. Here's Ozzie Smith in his bathrobe and nightcap unleashing the power of the Wizard on an unsuspecting baseball.)

        
1993 Fun Pack #111 Ken Griffey Jr. GS (The Glow Stars are stickers that actually glow in the dark. They are meant for kids to peel off and affix to their wall. Mom will not be happy.)
1993 Fun Pack #160 Nolan Ryan (Here's the design of the typical base card this one depicting the King of K's in a throwback uni.)
1993 Fun Pack #212 Rickey Henderson ASA (The All-Star Advice subset teaches you how the pros achieve their success on the ballfield. This card teaches kids how to run and steal bases like Rickey Henderson. R-i-g-h-t.)

       
1993 Fun Pack #218 Cal Ripken FOLD (Foldout cards open up to display a wide action photo of the featured player.)
1993 Fun Pack All-Stars #AS3 M.McGwire/W.Clark (All-Star Scratch-offs feature opposing All-stars and are fold-outs that were randomly inserted into packs. There is a scratch-off game in the center where you and an opponent can select a lineup and play a 9-inning game.)
1993 Fun Pack Mascots #1 Phillie Phanatic (The five Mascot Madness inserts were also randomly inserted into packs and feature two photos of the mascot, one on holographic foil.)

[zeprock]

One of my all-time favorite players to collect is Greg Maddux. I have my huge wantlist posted on my website and at the top of that page is a link to my Wishlist. My Wishlist consists of wantlists of my 16 favorite players to collect. Other than Babe Ruth, Maddux is the only pitcher on that list. Check out this resume. 8 All-star selections, 18 Gold Glove Awards, 4-time ERA leader, 3-time Victory leader, 4 Cy Young Awards and a World Championship to go with his Hall of Fame plaque. Never blessed with phenomenal speed on his pitches, he used craftiness and guile to outsmart batters. Many called him "The Professor" while others simply settled for "Maddog". One of my favorite YouTube videos from the past few years is the one of him pranking Kris Bryant. Look it up. At one point he asks Bryant (who doesn't recognize him) if he can have his bat after batting practice and then later when Bryant asks if he still wants the bat, Greg says, "Nah."  A member of my exclusive 2000 card club, I currently have 2277 unique Beckett recognized cards of him. Here are nine of my favorites from my collection.

       
1997 Braves Score Platinum #12 Greg Maddux (Remember where I mentioned on my last post that I picked up some packs of 1997 Score Team sets at Marden's? This was pulled from one of those packs.)
1998 Finest Mystery Finest 1 Refractors #M30 G.Maddux/G.Maddux
1999 Bowman Gold #10 Greg Maddux

       
1999 Upper Deck Immaculate Perception Double #I15 Greg Maddux
2001 Donruss Baseball's Best Gold #208 Greg Maddux FC
2002 Topps 5-Card Stud Aces Relics #5AGM Greg Maddux Jsy (I just picked this up from a trader in Virginia last week.)


2002 Upper Deck Diamond Connection Bat Around Quads #SJJM Gary Sheffield/Andruw Jones/Chipper Jones/Greg Maddux (Here's Greg pictured with three of his teammates.)
2002 Upper Deck MVP Game Souvenirs Bat #BGM Greg Maddux
2007 Upper Deck Elements Essential Elements #GM Greg Maddux

[zeprock]

Personally 1996 was the year of change for me. I married my current wife who was a school teacher from Bangor, Maine and I adopted her four year-old son and she gave birth to my daughter that year. I also bought my first truck and since my missionary brother was home on leave from Japan that year, he, my Dad, my new father-in-law and I literally tore the roof off my house and added a couple more floors to make room for my new family. Here's a picture of my house taken that year. It sits on the side of a mountain overlooking a lake nestled in the middle of 22 acres of woods. The only neighbors I see are deer, groundhogs, raccoons, foxes, chipmunks and squirrels. We have seen a bear, a bobcat and a moose as well as weasels, porcupines, skunks and mink along with a wide variety of birds from bald eagles, herons, hawks and owls to hummingbirds.



Here are nine cards from my collection that were issued in 1996.

       
1996 Canadian Club Autographs #1 Ernie Banks
1996 Donruss Freeze Frame #3 Cal Ripken
1996 Emotion-XL Legion of Boom #2 Barry Bonds


1996 Finest #G105 Barry Bonds G
1996 Pinnacle Aficionado First Pitch Preview #10 Randy Johnson
1996 Score Dugout Collection Artist's Proofs #A52 Cal Ripken

         
1996 Topps Mantle Redemption #1 Mickey Mantle 1951 Bowman (This is from the same insert set as one of the cards I pictured earlier in this thread when I showed you nine 1952 Mantle Reprints. You could fill out the form on the back and send it in for the chance to win an actual 1951 Bowman Mantle card.)
1996 Ultra Call to the Hall Gold Medallion #7 Cal Ripken
1996 Upper Deck Run Producers #RP12 Mark McGwire

[kerryandbeth]

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