Cards on Cards Rescue

The excellent Stats on the Back blog made a decision to pair down a baseball card collection in the most extreme way. Many cards were given the axe and sentenced to life in a dumpster. Like a good dumpster diver, I had to save the expendable Cardinals. While I was expecting to get about 39 Felix Jose 1991 Donruss cards and a slightly moldy stack of Greg Mathews and Cris (not Chris) Carpenter 1989 Topps cards, I ended up receiving a healthy box of stuff containing quite a few cards that I actually needed. Save the Cardinals, save the world is what I say.

Topps Stadium Club works as a classy, full-bleed set with "sharp action photos" and Kodak quality photography. This "Draft Pick" addition (edition?) did not work, and will not work, ever. Come on, these are Senior Photos from their respective high school yearbooks. I'm fairly certain that two of these guys never even played real baseball.

1995 Topps - Jose Oquendo (This is during the period where the Cubs wore minor league uniforms.)

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice - Ozzie Smith + Ozzie Smith Team Checklist (Nice! Ozzies for the collection. I didn't expect anything above a Tom Brunansky.)

1986 Fleer - Todd Worrell (Nice rookie card of the once and former Cardinal closer. I wish I had spent more of my spare change and squirreled away milk money on 1986 Fleer and less on 1986 Topps and candy. Of course, then I'd have even more beat up Fleer cards.)

1999 Upper Deck - Delino DeShields (I recognize this design from having a Blazers card or two from the NBA set, but this is, as far as I know, the first baseball card that I have from it.)

1987 Fleer Mini - Vince Coleman (I have quite a few Fleer minis - they made them from 1986 through 1988 if I remember correctly
1988 Topps Revco - Vince Coleman (More Vinceness. This looks like it was from one of those small drug store branded boxed sets from the late 80s. Is that what a Revco is?)

1990 Todd Zeile Rainbow o' Donruss

1991 Sporting News Conlon Collection - Charlie Gelbert (I ended up with a number of the Conlon cards. I remember seeing these cards and a bit of hype around them when they first came out when I was working at a card shop in high school and thinking they were silly. I thought any reprints or flashback cards of players beyond my generation were pretty pointless. I am finally starting to enjoy stuff like this now.)

1985 Fleer - Art Howe (I love this set. I need to collect it someday. I probably need at least 90% of it.)

1992 Panini Stickers - Ray Lankford (I just wanted to end this on a positive note. I think this is the first Panini sticker I have ever seen, let alone owned, from 1992. This is a nice design, too. I have quite a few '93 stickers thanks to an oddball eBay auction I won awhile back, but I prefer this look. The '93 stickers are significantly thinner and a bit larger in dimensions.)

Make sure you check out Stats on the Back and maybe one day you too can save cards from an untimely, non-environmentally friendly death.