I Was a Teenage Prospector: Frank Thomas

1990 Best

Frank was one of those guys that looked amazing right out of the gate, as soon as he was drafted, and put his cards pretty much out of reach until the scope of the early 90s overproduction became apparent. That’s part of why I treasured this Best card so much, even back then: so many people had Thomas’ 1990 Score and Topps, fewer had the Leaf, but I never saw this card in anyone else’s collection. I can’t remember exactly where I found packs of these cards, but I know that we found about half a box and, owing to the rarity, I convinced my parents to scoop up all the remaining cards.

The packs also contained some future stars such as Bernie Williams, Javy Lopez, and Luis Gonzalez, among others that I thought would be future stars at the time. The cards seem simplistic, but I think they’re actually pretty nice. Full-bleed shots were unheard of at the time, and while the font is a little low-rent and cheesy, it’s about what you would expect for that time. Better minor league cards were coming, and soon, but for now, this offered what I thought was an underrated look at an undiscovered country: the world of minor league baseball, which still fascinates me to this day.

Card of the Day: 2002 SPx GU Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez

Just a sweetass card today.

Finds and Sales IV

Only one sports-related find last week: a Billy Ripken bobblehead that I’ll eventually show here. Most everything else was video-game related, and has sold well so far. So we’ll delve some more into the past here.

This was an eBay find for $1.00, and while I’ve considered reselling it, I’ve held on to it for awhile because I like it more than it’s probably worth. Having a game-used of Frank Thomas, especially with the stripe, is just awesome. Totally worth it. Maggs is just a bonus. And the design isn’t too bad, which is surprising for a dual-swatch card.

Baseball Stars may well have been the best baseball game on the original NES. Wikipedia explains why it was so awesome:

Baseball Stars was one of the first sports games to have data memory, therefore players could create a team, configure baseball league & play a season, and the game’s memory chip stored cumulative statistics.Baseball Stars was also the first sports game for the NES to have a create a player feature; giving gamers the power to name their players, as well as their teams. The game also introduced a role playing element; as each game played earns the winning team money, and the amount won is directly related to the sum of theprestige ratings of the players from both teams (as prestige determines how many paying fans attend the game). The money can be used to purchase upgrades to the various abilities of players currently on the roster, or it can be used to purchase pre-designed players (available in the Rookie, Veteran, and All-Star categories). Also a first, a hidden feature allows players to purchase female baseball players.

This thing sold FAST, too, and I understand. If I’d had a working NES to play this on, I might have been tempted to save it.

This was part of a previously-mentioned find that included a Wayne Gretzky auto and the 1986 Donruss Rookies set at a thrift store in Maryland. In fact, it was in the pack with the Gretzky auto. Considering the pack with the auto cost me 80 cents and this card alone sold for a couple of bucks, I’d say the investment was worth it.

This was another eBay flip that went from 50 cents to 2.00. Not a huge triumph, but the margin is excellent, and little finds like this add up. I also like the card, but I was a sucker for Igor’s Texas reign.

Last, I haven’t decided if I’m going to unload this or not. So only Clinton is still with the Skins, but at the same time…it IS the Skins. I’m just not sure where I would put it yet, and I’m not sure if it would sell for more than I purchased it for. Still worthwhile to own, either way.

Let’s hope next week is a little more productive, though I’m going to be at The National Saturday, so I’ll have an abbreviated schedule. Perhaps I’ll feature my National finds here? We’ll see.