Ranking Baseball Cards: Pinnacle

 As always, Score was one step behind the competition and came out with their version of "premium" a year later in 92. Here's my short rankings of their mess. 

3) 92 Pinnacle

The fact that Score had the balls to call this "premium" is laughable. For a base Score set this would look decent. But "premium"? Dreaming!

2) 93 Pinnacle

It's funny but even with the Premium label these cards are far inferior to anything the base cards were showing us in their sets. Pathetic. 

1) 94 Pinnacle

Well look at this! they finally came out with a good looking design. I don't remember these, maybe it's because I never bothered to consider what Pinnacle was coming out with that year but these look ok. So maybe they did learn their lesson as time went on after all. Too bad it wasn't soon enough for me to ever care about collecting them. 
 

Survivor 50 vs Australian Survivor: Redemption

 Now that both seasons have wrapped, I'd like to compare the 2 seasons and see which one did it better. 

Crazy "Chaos" Caleb was the winner of Australian Survivor: Redemption. This season was excellent. All new, never-before-seen challenges and courses. Australian Survivor continues to keep the game fresh each season. 

David was the new host, a former player and one of my personal favorites of all time. But as the host...it felt weird. There's no doubt the Jonathan (the former host) was the heart of the show. He was sorely missed this season. 

However, this season had some excellent moments. It consisted of returning players and even some other players from over shows like Big Brother and Traitor. Other reality shows. I liked that idea. It's a pretty cool way to get interested across all your shows, putting them all on to one show. 

One of the most brilliant moves was when "Dirty" Harry got duped into outing himself as a snake in front of the entire tribe by a rookie player. He knew Harry wouldn't resist a chance to "screw" the tribe, so when he pretended to go along with it, then exposed Harry in front of everyone. When it happened, even Harry had to tip his hat with respect. Brilliant move. 

The show had a great cast of characters as always and the winner ended up being Caleb. A man who tried making big moves but no one took him serious and left him out of the vote the whole time. However, they all underestimated him. And when the contestants started getting voted off, his game started taking form and he ran away with it at the end. 

Sure he was pretty much seen as an idiot, even I thought so at first. But he never once hid his true self from anyone. He came to play the game and make big moves. In the end, he got his way. 

In the states they kicked off season 50. All returning players. Same old challenges. And the "twist" this season sucked. An Billy Eilish Idol that no one used properly and was less exciting since you couldn't play it for anyone else. A Jimmy Fallon challenge which was poorly planned out, yet oddly enough the Mr Beast challenge I enjoyed. Risking it all for big rewards or an ejection from the game. Pretty big stakes. I expect to see Devins in a Mr Beast video soon. 

There were some good moments, but not memorable. The Coach/Ozzie feud fizzled out when neither of them were able to go that deep in the game. Coach rants about honor, and Joe making it to the end "without" honor because he voted Coach off, yet Coach did the exact thing to Colby a few episodes earlier.

During the live show (which was great to see again) the once again slobbered over the most overrated contestant in Survivor history Cirie by bringing her out, handing her a little trophy and showing everyone that they really wished she could've won. Puh-lease! 

Then we have the winner Aubry. What an embarrassment. Someone who was on the outs the whole time. Stayed silent, kept her head down, rode on the coattails and big moves of others, claiming them for her own and getting votes other the other 2 finalist. 

Don't get me wrong, the final 3 weren't my ideal choice. Out of them, Jonathan should've won only because he beat the true winner Rizzo (Riz-god) in a fire making challenge in the end. I swear, that kid annoyed me in season 49, but I came around to like him in 50. He made me change my mind on him. I started rooting for him near the end. Smarter player than I knew. 

Between the 2 shows the clear winner for me was AZ Survivor. I just hope they can get another season greenlit, because I heard it's near canceling. That would be a shame. Because it's actually BETTER than the US one now and not many people outside of the states even know about it. 

Survivor 51? Sure, I'll watch it. But I don't expect it to be memorable at all. Survivor here in the US, sucks.    

Ranking Baseball Cards: Donruss Studio

 And finally in 91 Donruss also began their separate line of premium cards with a twist. The players weren't in action poses on the field but rather given professional looking shots in a studio. It was a unique idea which I loved. 

4) 92 Studio

In my opinion, this was the only set of Studio I thought looked hideous. My brother collected this set but I was turned off by the bland design. 

3) 94 Studio

Nice enough but each card was the exact same. The player's face and in the background a picture of their locker. Nothing else was unique about the cards. 

2) 93 Studio

Beautiful looking set. I should've collected it. I love the signatures with the jersey in the background. So wonderful. 

1) 91 Studio

But nothing beat the original. Man I went nuts when I first saw these cards. It was a low count to collect the whole set so I got them pretty easily. I thought "this is what I'm going to get every year they come out" But when I looked at 92, I realized they weren't always going to be perfect and moved on. Still, if you go online and look at some of these black and white photos they're simply breathtaking. 

Ranking Baseball Cards: Fleer Ultra

 Fleer also began its premium run in 91 like all the others and I collected two sets of them too!

4) 91 Fleer Ultra

This set reminds me of Buzz's girlfriend. WOOF! This set was ugly. I'm shocked they were allowed to print cards after this hideous monstrosity! 

3) 94 Fleer Ultra

Not a bad looking set. I remember seeing them back in the day (because the 2 years earlier I was ga-ga over this brand) but this was one I eventually passed on collecting. 

2) 93 Fleer Ultra

I remember both my brother and I collected these sets. We went nuts over the flaming baseball, which we thought was so cool. The marble look at the bottom was a nice touch too. 

1) 92 Fleer Ultra

This was one of the best looking sets I ever collected. Certainly a top tier card for me. I loved everything about these cards. By far, one of the best of all time in my opinion. 

Ranking Baseball Cards: Stadium Club

 Beginning in 91 Topps upped their game and brought out a premium card to rival Upper Deck. Here is my ranking of it's 4 entries in the years I was collecting. 

4) 94 Stadium Club

Doesn't this one scream 90s to you?? This one was a break away from there previous designs and isn't bad, but all the ones that came prior were better. 

3) 93 Stadium Club

Fun fact. I never collected an entire set of these cards. Not because I didn't like them but that they were a little pricey to get. Some I got more than others, but never could get a complete set. 

2) 92 Stadium Club

As you can see, each design was slightly different from the one that came before it. It highlighted the photo more than the frame, which was fine by me. 

1) 91 Stadium Club

But it just so happens that the first set they ever came out with was the best! I have a lot more of the 91 and 92 cards than anything else. I remember when these came out and I was like "Why can't Topps cards look like this?" Really exquisite sets if you had them in your collection back in the day. 

Ranking Baseball Cards: Score

 Score it the stepchild of baseball cards. For the most part, they were ugly, cheap and no one ever wanted them. This was a hard list to put together only because there was so much ugly. They started in 88 during the craze and tried to find the laziest way to make cards without caring what they looked like. 

7) 91 Score

What a pick right? Sadly the designs on these cards are so ugly they distract from the photos taken within them.

6) 88 Score

Their first year making cards wasn't very impressive either. You can see why I ignored them for so long as a kid. 

5) 89 Score

As you see, they barely improved the next year. Though still ugly, it beats the previous two mentioned on this list. 

4) 92 Score

Mediocre was the goal with this company it appears. I remember the packs of cards always being super cheap and you could tell just by looking at them. Some real stinkers from this company.

3) 94 Score

They moved away from "ugly" and into "irrelevant. With a design so boring it's scream "playing it safe" on every card. 

2) 93 Score

Not a bad look. I can see what they were shooting for here but just didn't quite pull it off. It's like a girl you see a headshot of and think she's pretty only to meet her in person and realize, it was just a really nice pic and she's more middle of the road instead. 

1) 90 Score

Not really that it was a good looking set but it took risk and gave us classic cards like the one of Bo featured here. Believe it or not, out of all the years, this is the one I had the most of in my collection because I thought some of the cards looked unique and stood out. I never completed the set, but even today, I bet I could nab one for cheap online. 

Have a good weekend folks!

Ranking Baseball Cards: Leaf

Leaf was the Canadian version of Donruss that was just the same look with the name "LEAF" on the top. But beginning in 1990 they broke out on there own and began to shine!

5) 92 Leaf

Easily the worst of the bunch. Such a drab look. Their theme for the first few years was gray, but this one had no imagination in its design. 

4) 91 Leaf

Better than the 92 version but still a little lacking in character. I just wish there was a little more to it. 

3) 90 Leaf

This was the card that I first took notice of. I wouldn't collected the entire set in 1990 but back then these cards were hard to find in the states. They were easier to find in 91 because Leaf expanded to the US. But the 90s wee always hard to get and thanks to the Frank Thomas rookie card, the packs were expensive. (I have this card by the way, love me some Frank!)

2) 94 Leaf

Nice looking set. I love when the color on the card matches the team. Always a winning formula for me. 

1) 93 Leaf

A carbon copy of what Fleer Ultra was doing in the same year but with the Leaf stamp on the bottom. I'm not sure if I collected a set of them as I did the Fleer Ultra that same year. But they sure were pretty!

Ranking Baseball Cards: Upper Deck

 Today I'm going through Upper Deck. Which upped the game in the hobby the moment they came out. And really pushed the quality for cards across the market when they came out. They began in 1989, so again this will be a shorter list than before. 

6) 90 Upper Deck

Just blame "blah". As cards went in 1990, this is actually one of the best. But in the overall scheme of things, it ranks last on this list. 

5) 94 Upper Deck

Wow. How ugly. It's like the company as a whole took a giant step backwards in their look over the years. The only redeeming factor about these is the picture. Other than that, blah. 

4) 91 Upper Deck

Really nice looking set. And yes, that's Micheal Jordan. He never made it to the majors, this was his AA team but Upper Deck made cards for every year he was in the sport, because, HEY it's MJ! His cards were going to sell no matter what. 

3) 89 Upper Deck

The original set was always my Dad's favorite. I remember him seeing these cards for the first time after the 1990 version came out and he collected both sets. To him, this was the best looking one of the bunch. I almost agree. 

2) 92 Upper Deck

Though Upper Deck was always good quality, these shown to me like (almost) none of the others did. I also liked the matching color scheme on each card to its own team. Chic. 

1) 93 Upper Deck

Both nothing compares with the masterpiece that was 1992. On it. Again, the color scheme matching the teams colors is excellent. Plus giving the picture room to breath made this one an easy pick for my favorite. Not really sure why I didn't collect this set. It's beautiful! Even better than the Donruss set I was collecting that year. I missed out!