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!

Ranking Baseball Cards: Bowman

This is a shorter list, because Bowman didn't really start making their own unique cards back in my day until 1989. 

6) 89 Bowman

Not a bad looking card. Plain, sure. But I like how they have the fake signature on the card. Only problem is, you may not be able to understand some of the names here and there. But overall, it works. 

5) 91 Bowman

Like the previous one I spoke about. Plain but not ugly. It's amazing that they beat out everyone else in style this year save Topps. 

4) 90 Bowman

I like the rainbow border. Cards look a little more exciting than the previous of former years. 

3) 93 Bowman

A little bit fancier but still these look plain. Which is why they all landed lower on the list. 

2) 92 Bowman

For me, this is where Bowman starting making its mark in the industry. I remember we all loved this set. Dad actually completed a full collection. But due to their being a lot more cards to collect, none of us ever gave the effort to complete one ourselves. I remember never hearing about Bowman until then and going back and looking at some of their former years. But nothing (at the time) compared to the beautiful look of these. 

1) 94 Bowman

Wow! 94 must have been a better year for baseball cards than I remembered! I love this look too! I still think I would choose both Fleer and Donruss over this design, yet once again, Bowman beats Topps for the year as well. 

Ranking Baseball Cards: Donruss

 This one is harder than I thought it would be. So many bad ones. But here goes. 

9) 88 Donruss

Horrible set. Vomit ugly. I hope they fired the person at Donruss who thought this was a good idea. 

8) 86 Donruss

What can I say? 1986 wasn't the best year for baseball card designs I suppose. 

7) 91 Donruss

As I look through these cards I wonder "Did anyone at Donruss even care??"

6) 90 Donruss

These were SO terrible. But thanks to all the other terrible designs, this nightmare actual moved up the list. 

5) 89 Donruss

A massive abomination that at least had a splash of color in them. All of these cards were paper thin and weren't worth the money it took to print. 

4) 87 Donruss

This isn't the best looking set, but it was in 1987. It also turned out to be one of the better sets during my time collecting. Who knew??

3) 92 Donruss

I remember liking this set when it came out. I don't think I got an entire set but maybe one of my brothers did. 

2) 93 Donruss

Beautiful set. I think by this time Donruss was finally realizing who making a good looking card brought up sales. 

1) 94 Donruss

Wow. If it wasn't for Fleer that year, I would've picked this over Topps as well! I didn't realize how Donruss was the crap of the industry until the 90s started picking up. This set look amazing!

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.