[sanjosefuji]

When I woke up this morning, I was faced with quite the dilemma. Should I publish today's post in the Flea Market Finds series, the Nifty 90's Nostalgia series, the Cheap Cool Cards series, or the Set Showcase series.


I purchased the nifty, little oddball set, which was produced in the 90's... at the Delta College Flea Market yesterday in Stockton. These cards sell for a handful of change, and are definitely cool looking. But in the end, I added it to the Set Showcase series, because I wanted to focus on the actual "set" in particular.




Set: 48 Cards (Eight "6" card subsets: each subset has one header card & 5 player cards)

These cards were distributed by the Long John Silver restaurant chain back in 1990 over an 8 week period. Each week, the restaurant would handout a different cello pack that contained 6 cards: a header card plus 5 player cards.

The header card was actually a poster order form and showed collectors a checklist of the 18 players in the set. Fourteen of the players were distributed in two different cello packs, which means that they each have two different cards. Mattingly, Boggs, Grace, and McGwire were given the red carpet treatment... and were included in three series, instead of two... which means they have three cards each.




Hall of Famers: 16.6% (3 players)


Surprisingly, the checklist only includes three people enshrined at Cooperstown: Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, & Nolan Ryan. However... in 1990, the player selection was probably pretty popular... since it had a bunch of names that were prominent on hot lists at the time: Chris Sabo, Bobby Bonilla, Bret Saberhagen, etc.




Beckett Value: $6


This is one of those rare occasions where Beckett is actually pretty accurate in terms of their pricing. They list the complete set for $6, which is pretty close to what I actually paid. Originally the guy at the flea market wanted a buck for each 6 card set, but ended up selling me all 48 cards for $5.




eBay Value: $2.50 (+ $2.99 shipping)


There's currently a eBay seller who has sets of these (still in their cello packs) listed for $5.49 ($2.50 + $2.99 shipping). You can also find singles on eBay and COMC, which will set you back $.25 to $1.00... depending on the player.

Overall... I'm pretty excited to add this to my collection. I've been a huge fan of oddballs since the 90's and this set definitely fits the bill. If you grew up in the 80's and 90's, then there's a chance you're probably familiar with the card's design... since Starline posters were pretty popular back then.

But it's the card backs that really impressed me. They feature a well thought out design that gives collectors the player's basic biography, a few career highlights, a portrait photo, and the player's full career statistics.


I'd take this set over a few packs of 2011 Topps Baseball any day of the week. The only downside is the lack of Hall of Famers. In fact, a bunch of players in this set seem to pop up in debates when their names are mentioned with Cooperstown: Trammell, Mattingly, Raines, Smoltz, and of course McGwire.


Which leads me to this morning's question:

Do you think any of the remaining 15 players on the checklist will make it into Cooperstown? If so, who?

Okay... I'm off to watch some football. Today's a big day for me in terms of fantasy football. I'm sitting in first place in my work league... and Antonio Brown gave me a decent head start on Thursday.


But in my Blogger League... I finished the regular season in 3rd (8-5... after starting off 1-3). Today is the first round of the playoffs and it's a brand new season. If I win, I move on... lose and I'm done. Sadly... I'm already losing by 87 points.


C'mon football gods... show me the way. Happy Sunday everyone... and sayonara!



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