2000 Aurora Dugout View Net-Fusions

Set size: 20 cards

Front Design: A player photo over a baseball facility background fills most of the card, but the key gimmick here is the real net used in the card to make it look as though you're sitting/standing behind a guard rail. The set's name is along the left side, and the player's name, team and position are in the lower right. The net across the bottom is real and is embedded in a die-cut portion of the card.

Back Design: The net (and it's "railing") are visible on the back, which is aligned veritcally. Another photo background is behind the player's name, team, and position again, followed by a short highlight biography. The cards are numbered in the usual Pacific manner inside a white circle listing the set name.

Parallels and Similars: No other sets look like this, though there are other net-fusion sets issued by Pacific.

Distribution: Cards were inserted one in every 37 packs of Aurora.

Thoughts: I love many of the Pacific gimmick cards around this time, including the net fusion sets. They're tough enough pulls that building a set is a real challenge.

1980-83 Cramer (Pacific) Legends

Set size: 124 cards (issued in five series), standard sized

Front Design: A sepia photo with a thick black border is placed on a light brown wooden slat "sign" design, with the player's name "hanging" on a piece of wood beneath the photo. The borders are a dull yellow.

Back Design: The backs continue the wooden slat design, and are printed in brown. The player's name and basic vital statistics appear at the top. A short biography sits in the middle-left, while his career statistics are set slightly diagonal on the right. The set's name, date of issue, and card number appear across the bottom.

Parallels and Similars: None.

Distribution: This set was issued over four years via wax packs and in complete set version directly from Cramer. Each series was released as 30 cards, and the back of the card identifies which series you have. The final fifth series was a four-card box bottom set.

Thoughts: While the cards are fairly dull overall - plenty of sepia and brown to go around - the set isn't ugly. A modernized version of this set with better graphics would serve for a nice western-themed insert. The set is full of legends, as promised, and a complete set would provide one with a large number of Hall of Famers. Scott Crawford sent me one card from each series, and while they classify as "common" or "semistar" level for the set, they're all high quality players. Any set that has Duke Snider as a common has a good checklist.

Additional Images: Card back: