Ranking Baseball Cards: Fleer

 Alright, time to tackle the Worst and Best of Fleer! We kick off discussing the worst of the bunch!

9) 91 Fleer

A complete eye sore to gaze upon. These of some of the ugliest cards I think they ever produced. All yellow and devoid of character. 

8) 89 Fleer

Another dreadful set. Nothing screams plain corporate than a dreary background that these were given. Horrible. 

7) 86 Fleer

I'll just say this, if Dad had bought us boxes of Fleer to open for Christmas, I don't think I would've been in the hobby. BO-RING.

6) 88 Fleer

Like I said in an earlier post, this may have been the best design in its year but that certainly doesn't mean it was the best overall. 

5) 93 Fleer

I remember getting these back in the day. Some of them came with gold borders which added to their value. But overall, they really didn't look that good. 

4) 87 Fleer

Decent looking set. Not bad. We're still at the "ho-hum" version of these cards in my opinion. Fleer, didn't have many "winners" in the time I was collecting.

3) 90 Fleer

This is a step above the rest thanks to the color pallets used around the borders but still is in the "medium" area. Not top tier. 

2) 94 Fleer

Here we go. Top tier card. Leagues above the rest  that were previously mentioned. This is a superb looking set. 

 

1) 92 Fleer

But it still doesn't beat my favorite set of them all. I STILL think this entire set was gorgeous, which is why it's still my #1 fav!

Ranking Baseball Cards: Topps

 Today I wanted to start a new series and rank all my favorite designs of cards from the 9 years I collected.

My brother did this by the decade, but I want to do it differently and within the time I collected in, so only the years 86-94 will be considered. I'll go from worst to first.

9) 90 Topps

By leaps and bounds, this is the worst set they put out during my time in the hobby. I remember looking at these and knowing as a kid they were ugly. This was a no-brainer. 

8) 88 Topps

Just so bland. No style. It's the main reason this one ranks so low. 

7) 87 Topps

The first Topps set I thought looked ugly. I still don't like the looks now but it beats the other two years I mentioned. The only reason this beats the 88 version is because it at least carries the team logo on it while the 88 series doesn't. Overall, another very bland looking set. 

6) 94 Topps

This set just looks wrong to me. Sure it's a huge step above the previous 3 but it's still the lowest of thi new "tier"        

                                                        

5) 93 Topps

Looking similar to the 94 Topps, I gave this one the bump because at least they came up with the original idea first. Not a bad looking set, but certainly middle of the road. 

4) 92 Topps

Another step up from the rest. I remember liking this series a lot. The look and design of the cards all took a bump up from previous years. 

3) 91 Topps

Like I said earlier, my brother considers this one of the best Topps sets out there. I agree, it's good. But for me it lands at #3

2) 89 Topps

This one surprised me in the rankings. I didn't realize how much I really liked it until comparing it to the others just now. Strong looking set and I love the colors!

1) 86 Topps

But nothing beats the first set I ever collected. I agree, total nostalgia here. But the black border with strong colors for each team. A place to show what position they played...it has it out. This set will always be classic to me. I love it so much. 

Basketball Cards

 Though I never collected football cards, there were a few times I got into basketball. 

The first time was when I bought a box of 85-86 Fleer basketball. I don't remember why. I think I just had Christmas money in my pocket that I wanted to spend so I bought a few boxes. I ended up not knowing hardly any of the players. So at school that year I traded someone straight up for all his baseball cards. I thought I'd walked away with the better deal. 

Only to realize that was the same year of Jordan's rookie. Did I have one? I have no idea. But there is a possibility I did. Seeing them go for 20K online now makes me a little sick to my stomach to think I could've given them all away. 

Another time I almost got my hands on this beauty was when I worked at a card store in the mall. At the time he was still playing it was only worth 3K. Still a lot, but I wanted it so bad. I would stare at it in the store all the time. I remember the owner offered to dock 50% of my check over the next few months in exchange for the card but I told him I couldn't do that. Man, I wanted it so bad back then, but I knew I couldn't afford to give up so much. Ugh!

For a brief time while working in the store I did collect some 92-93 Fleer Ultra cards. Shaq was the hot rookie back then and I loved the baseball version of this card so I natural went about buying a few packs of these while at the store. I have no idea what I did with them though. I think I sold them to the store eventually. At least the ones with value and probably threw the others away because I can't find them now in my collection at my parents home. 

I still have this card though. I loved him slam dunking the moon for some reason. I thought that was so cool. And back in the day...it was. 

Another card I've always wanted is this made up one from when he played minor league baseball for a little while. I loved the 86 style but I don't think I have a copy. It's been a while since I've looked through my set, so I need to double check before I get one online. They're still relatively cheap. 

Manon Rheaume

I never collected hockey cards, but the ONE person I did collect who played hockey was her. 

In a publicity stunt, she signed a contract with an NHL but I don't think she ever played. 

Either way, I snatched up every card I could find of her back in the day. I though they'd be worth a lot of money one day. 

Oh yeah, and also I thought she was hot. 

Look at them legs. 

But as far as I know, these cards are barely worth the cardboard they're printed on. But oh well, it was fun while it lasted. 

 

My greatest "pull" from a pack of cards

 My nephews and I had this discussion recently. They collected Magic cards back in the day and could only think of the most expensive card they pulled as being their favorite. But for me, it was about completing my set!

This was mine. 

A refractor card I needed to complete my set. They came one per box so you had to get the right pack to get one and there were 10 different kinds in the set. I had all 9. Either by pulling packs or trading with others. 

But I'd NEVER seen this one anywhere so it was the most rare to me. I remember walking into the store and seeing only one pack remaining. I asked the guy when they were getting more and he said they weren't. I told him I'd been looking for sa hard to find card for the set but he told me they didn't have it. So I went ahead bought the last pack, opened it....and got it. I was so excited! 

Not only did it complete my set but the battle "game" they had on the back was played by my friends at the time. This hologram cards were the most powerful in the set and now I had all ten, making my deck nearly indestructible! I couldn't wait to face them in the next games we played.

But ironically it was at that exact time that everyone moved on to another game and stopped playing this one altogether. 

Broke my heart. 

All these years later, the gang came together over Christmas. We met at a local place where I brought my set and left it in the car...in hopes they'd brought cards too. Instead, we opened packs from another comic set and talked about the good old days. On the inside I was begging to have one more chance to play the game and bring out my power deck. 

But the moment has surely passed. 

Bummer. It wasn't even that great of a card game but I just wanted to pull out my big deck and shove it in their faces, that mine was the hardest to beat, 

...yes.

Anaconda (review)

 They rebooted the movie as a comedy. 

It works. 

Steve Zahn is completely underrated in hollywood, he's one of the best things about the film. It has few LOL moments, but other than that it's a one-and-done type movie. 

You watch it. You enjoy it. You don't love it. But you know you'll never see it again. 

If there's nothing better to watch, you might as well. Not a ringing endorsement I know, but it's the best I can do. 

Have a good weekend folks!

Ghost Blue Raspberry

 After losing the rights with Sour Patch Kids, Ghost went to rename their blue flavor as "Blue Raspberry" and by all accounts....it taste the exact same. 

I kinda thought it would, but since its "New" I had to give it a try. This will be a top seller I'm sure because everyone loves this flavor. For me it's fine. But there's still a handful of flavors I'd place over this one all the same. 

Interesting to see what will replace Redberry. If its already out I haven't checked. Been a busy couple of weeks for me. However, as they keep coming out with new flavors, I'll continue to give them a shot!