2004 Mets Post Fleer (200th Post!)

Set Size: 9 cards on an unperforated uncut sheet, plus one bonus card

Design Notes: The player photos appear over a background with the Mets logo and their jersey number. Backs contain statistics, a short write-up, and a blue-tinted head shot.

Parallels and Similars: None.

Distribution: Uncut sheets were inserted into the New York Post. Cards are standard size if cut properly from the sheet. A bonus card of Kazuo Matsui was available from the Mets Clubhouse stores when customers showed the sheet and bought a pack of Fleer cards at the store.

Thoughts: This is a nice oddball to add to my collection. It has a nice design and features several stars. The header makes the sheet taller than a standard binder can hold but I'm sure it will display well in other ways. I found this sheet here in Japan, at a store on the west side of the Tokyo metropolitan area. It was a pretty good deal, too! I'm guessing the original collector got the sheet to get the Matsui card, and returned to Japan with it. Of course, they would have kept the Matsui or sold it for more money.

This is my 200th post! Thank you to all my readers and followers. As of this writing (on November 2nd, as I'll be in Nagoya doing sightseeing and card hunting when this posts) I have 43 loyal followers. Last month (October) I finally broke 1000 page views in a month (1249 total! with only 16 posts last month) and since starting in June last year (with a mostly-stagnant period the first nine months of this year) I have over 11,000 page views. I just realized while looking at my stats and history, I have made only about 25 posts this year, so most of my writing is really old.

My most-read posts (aside from the two posts that were my "last" for the long periods of empty blogness this year) are 1997-98 Score Board Autographed Collection Autographs, my Japanese Menko post, and 1993 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes (one of my favorite sets). Looking at the rest of the "top 10" it seems that the more oddballish the set (and the older it is) the more popular it is. Too bad I don't have tons of old oddball cards sitting around!

Right now I'm clearing out a scan folder from right before I left for Japan, which is why there are going to be a bunch of late-2011 issues in the next week or so. But my Japanese card collection is growing fast, and I have plans for presenting those cards sooner than later. Plus there are plenty of older cards and oddballs in my collection just waiting to be posted. And if I can somehow get the motivation, energy, and time together to sort out all my scans (from the US and Japan) I will have even better posts here for you in the future!

Meanwhile, I want to say thank you again to my readers for stopping by and looking at the most insane collection I think anyone could try to put together.

The card that started it all.

2004 Donruss Production Line OPS Black

Set Size: 10 cards

Design Notes: A diamond shaped logo holds a baseball identifying Giambi as a leader in OPS. The fronts are mostly black other than the player's photo. Unfortunately this means a little bit of my card's image was cut off by my slightly inferior scanner. Backs list the top 25 players in OPS.

Parallels and Similars: This is the black parallel. The regular insert has color to it, and a die-cut version was created as well. There are a few Production Line sets under different categories.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted into packs. The regular Production Line OPS are serial-numbered to the player's 2003 OPS (somewhere between 910 and 1278). Black parallels are numbered to 125, and die-cuts are numbered to 100.

Thoughts: I like sets that recognize leaders in categories and award winners, so the set concept is pretty nice. However, the set doesn't include some of the leaders in this category, and the checklist isn't numbered according to actual OPS. The insert has a nice modern look to it, and the black parallel looks even more sleek. With a few minor tweaks to the checklist, I could have been happier with the set.

2004 Donruss Team Heroes Autographs

Set Size: 256 cards

Design Notes: The 2004 Team Heroes set has white borders with rectangular boxes at the top and bottom containing logos and the player's name and position. The design is almost the opposite of 2005 Donruss (where there's a small box of rectangles inside the photos). It's simple but attractive. A large signed silver sticker is placed over the photo.

Parallels and Similars: This set is a partial parallel of the 2004 Donruss Team Heroes set.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted into packs of Team Heroes. While the checklist is large, each card is available in differing quantities. Many players don't have an announced print run, but these are only commons or local stars. Players like Mike Piazza and Tom Glavine have print runs of only 1 card! Oddly, Nolan Ryan seems to have five cards per team.

Thoughts: Team Heroes is, unfortunately, a forgettable product released at a time when there were way too many releases every week. While it's a nice design, it doesn't stand out as a great design, and most people probably forgot this set even existed! Collecting the entire autographed set is virtually impossible due to so many players (52 by my count) having 1/1 autographs and eight more having print runs less than 5.

Additional Images: card back

2004 Fleer Showcase Grace Game Used

Set Size: 10 cards, mainly with jersey relics (Jeter has a bat card instead)

Design Notes: The fairly simple design has a parchment-style border, a photo, and lots of foil printing - colors change depending on the player's team. A circle contains a relic piece, while the back has a certificate of authenticity.

Parallels and Similars: This card is a parallel of the Grace insert set, which has a team logo where the relic window appears on this card. There are Gold #/150, Reward #/23-55 depending on the player, and Patch #/50 parallels (Jeter doesn't have a patch parallel, since his relic is a bat).

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted into the mid-high range Fleer Showcase packs. One Grace relic card appeared in every two boxes (1:48 packs).

Thoughts: In the mid-2000s parallel/relic craze, the Showcase release is one of many forgotten soon after it hit shelves. The Grace set doesn't break any design grounds, and it hardly stands out, but if your favorite player has a relic in the set, it displays well, with a classy feel.

Additional Images:

2004 Justifiable

Set size: 90 cards

Front Design: A diamond-shaped player photo with a white border sits over a light-black (wouldn't that be grey?) team logo. The bottom of the card has the Just logo, followed by the player's name, position, and team in a wide black-bordered diamond.

Back Design: The front photo and diamond crop is repeated on the back with a gold border; the player's name is in the upper left and card number in the upper right. Just beneath the photo is his biographical information and the only notation as to the set, followed by prior minor league statistics.

Parallels and Similars: There are three colored parallels, four printing plates, and four autograph parallels to this base set.

Distribution: Each set-box of Justifiable included one complete set, while foil packs were also distributed.

Thoughts: The Just Minors products focus on autographs of minor league players, so there isn't too much effort put into base set design, as you can tell. There's plenty of room on the front for the autograph sticker, and space on the back for serial numbering. Like most Donruss issues of 2004-2005, the set is an afterthought to the autograph checklist.

204 UD Diamond All-Star Promo

Set size: 60 cards

Front Design: A player action shot is placed inside a quadruple-matte frame of red and white, with his name at the bottom of the photo and "pick the starting lineup and win!" near the bottom. His position is in a blue flag at the left, and a code for entering the contest is beneath the photo in an oval box.

Back Design: The back has all the details for entering the contest, which involved picking the All-Star team starting lineup. The winner would win tickets to a 2004 World Series game.

Parallels and Similars: There is an e-card version which I believe would have allowed the lucky holder to instantly win a prize.

Distribution: While called "promo" cards, these didn't promote Upper Deck's Diamond Collection All-Star set, as they were inserted into packs of that product. There was also a Diamond Collection "Pro Sigs" issue released in 2004.

Thoughts: For a flimsy game card tossed into packs of Diamond All-Star, the design isn't too bad. Featuring different players on the front make these somewhat collectible in their own right. If only these cards had that red border around the photo done as a die-cut paper frame (similar to Gypsy Queen). Then they would be really cool!

2004 Bazooka Stand-Ups

Set size: 25 cards

Front Design: A color picture of the player is placed over a two-toned background. His name, team, and position are at the bottom, and a facsimile signature is placed over the lower half of the photo. The card is scored and die cut such that the top color portion can be folded to make a pop-up style card.

Back Design: The backs are mostly blank, except for legal information and the card number at the bottom.

Parallels and Similars: This set has no parallels. However, Topps issued stand-ups in 1964, Bazooka issued stand-ups in 2003, and 2011 Lineage included stand-ups. All these issues have the same style, with minor differences in color and design.

Distribution: Cards were inserted 1:8 hobby packs and 1:24 retail packs of 2004 Bazooka.

Thoughts: As with the other issues, the Stand-Ups are a fun way to bring some simple interactivity and displayability to cards. That is, of course, if you decide to "damage" the card by folding it out.

2004 Fleer Greats of the Game Battery Mates

Set size: 10 cards

Front Design: A pitcher and catcher who were battery mates (hence the set name) are shown in photos on the left and right side of the horizontal card. The player's name and position appear beneath each photo with the team logo between the two. There is a large amount of empty space above and between the photos, which is partially filled by a Fleer Greats logo and "Battery Mates" centered on the card.

Back Design: The player's names are repeated in a banner at the top of the card, and the years they were battery mates are beneath the players' names. A highlight fills most of the card; the cards are serial numbered to a year during their combined career at the bottom.

Parallels and Similars: Seven of the cards have a single-signed parallel numbered under 80, and six cards have a dual-signed parallel numbered to 10.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted into packs of Fleer Greats. Cards are serial numbered between 1934 and 1979 depending on the years the two players were teammates.  

Thoughts: I don't care much for cards with multiple players, most of the time. That is partly due to many of the pairings being based solely on the players both playing the same position, having similar statistics or comparisons, or being on the same team (see also: 2011 Topps Diamond Duos). Some multi-player cards get the pairings right, and this set is one of them (see also: ~1993 Upper Deck Teammates subsets solely for the logos, pairings, and generally interesting photos). On the other hand, the design is so basic and there is no real effort to pair the two images together with some pitcher-catcher theming. Something could have been done with all that empty space at the top. So while I applaud the concept, I disapprove of its execution.

2004 Topps Pristine Refractors

Set size: 190 standard-sized cards, issued in "uncirculated" form (in a hard case sealed with a Topps sticker)

Front Design: A player image appears over a background containing his name and a 3D-styled track design.

Back Design: The backs contain a black and white photo, player name and position, prior-year and career statistics, vital stats, and a career biography, integrated with the same 3D track design from the front.

Parallels and Similars: This set is a parallel of the regular Topps Pristine issue, and a gold refractor version also exists. These refractors are labeled as such, and the gold refractors are labeled as well as deckle edge-cut.

Distribution: Pristine was released in an interesting tri-pack configuration. Each tri-pack contains one uncirculated card - this could be a refractor or one of a number of low-numbered relic or autograph parallels. The regular refractors are most-likely pulls, though gold refractors appear one per box. Veteran refractors (cards 1-100) are serial numbered to 49. First year players were more complicated, each with three cards in the set. For instance, Howie Kendrick appears on cards 125 (common), 126 (uncommon), and 127 (rare). Refractors were limited based on the rarity of the card - common refractors numbered to 999, uncommon to 399, and rare to 49.

Thoughts: The Pristine sets came out at the height of the grading craze, and several Topps sets were released with "uncirculated" versions. In the end, the holders protect the card but for collectors who don't want holders it means sacrificing the integrity of the card. I've had cases where the stickers have partially come off, which would allow me to access the card and reseal the sticker. The set is one of the unremarkable upper-tier money makers that most collectors won't remember, and the common/uncommon/rare concept must have been developed to permit a large number of rookie cards to be included in packs while still providing a chance at rarity. I've never been excited about the Pristine concept or its design.

Additional Images: Card back:

2004 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractors

Set size: 165 cards, numbered 166-330

Front Design: Cards follow the 2004 Bowman design, with a blue tinted refractor effect added. The player's photo appears in a black bordered card; horizontal plateau borders appear above and below the photo. A facsimile autograph is printed over the signature. The bottom of the card contains the Bowman logo, player name and position.

Back Design: Card backs are identical to the 2004 Bowman design, while the card number has the words "BLUE REFRACTOR" printed beneath it, and cards are serial numbered to 290 on the left-hand edge. The Bowman design has the player's name, position and team at the top, followed by a player photo, vital statistics, a scouting report, and prior year and career stats.

Parallels and Similars: This set is a parallel of the regular Bowman Chrome set card numbers 166-330 (the First Year cards in the set). As such, these cards are nearly identical to Bowman, Bowman Chrome, and all the other parallels associated with the set.

Distribution: Exchange cards were included one per hobby box-loader pack, and via the pit.com website.

Thoughts: I prefer the refractor parallels when the borders are different colors, instead of refractors just having a tint. This set really doesn't stand out for me, and only player and team collectors really have interest in these cards. The card was delivered encased, which is why the scan is blurry. You can see a hint of the Topps security label at the bottom of the card front image.


Additional Images: Card back.