Fun with 87 Donruss...
 

I can remember how popular and expensive these cards were for a brief moment back in the late 80's...you had Bonds, Bo, Maddux, McGwire, Clark, Palmiero, Larkin, Sierra, ect...just tons of rookies. I haven't even looked at these black cards in years...

...until my local card shop picked up some unopened wax packs. I couldn't resist, and me and my 8 year old son bought two boxes and went diving. He LOVES Nolan Ryan and Ozzie Smith, and we pulled a couple of those. Cal Ripkens, Tom Seavers, Pete Rose...he was in heaven (he helps me put together my 50s-70s sets and loves the old stars). Out of the two boxes, I was amazed at my rookie and star pulls...I NEVER had this kind of luck back in the day when those cards mattered, lol. Here are some facts from my two wax boxes -

5 - Bo Jackson's
5 - Greg Maddux's
5 - Roger Clemens
4 - Jose' Conseco's
4 - Barry Larkins
4 - Rueben Sierra's
4 - Will Clarks
4 - Mark McGwires
3 - Barry Bonds
3 - Fred McGriffs

In 1989 this kind of pull would have been like hitting 21 at Black Jack. We then got bored and decided to coalate the cards and see how close to a full set we have...we ended up with 584/660 needing only 76 cards for a whole set. I was shocked...the shop has two more boxes, I may go down and buy the rest for the fun of it and see if we can't finish the set. At only $14 a box, that is cheap fun. It's funny to think of how much those wax boxes would have sold for in their prime, and I am sure I could probably buy all these cards for cheaper but putting together this set with my son and reliving a fun time in my life has been priceless.

I gotta admit...the Bo cards still look pretty cool. Trying to tell my son how cool Bo was for a moment there has been fun too...

1987 Donruss is a fun break. Brings back memories. Some key rookies from that era. Have a nice little stack of Maddux, Bonds, etc. that I still enjoy looking at. The David Cone card was one of my favorites as a kid. lol

Had some fun with some 1985 and 1986 boxes not too long ago as well. The '84 set is a classic...have 7 of the Mattingly cards in my collection.

Nice to see a recent spike in interest/"value" in some of the 1980's key cards: Ripken rookies, Mattingly rookies, '84 Fleer Updates, '83 Topps traded Strawberry...

Nothing close to what many of us collect as far as vintage cards and "value" - but my 1970-1999 rookie card collection is one that I enjoy just as much. Takes me back! Not too many people will say "I need a $4 1986 Topps Traded Jose Canseco card for my collection." lol

Show him the ESPN 30 for 30 doc on Bo. Very good film on him and the furor at the time. It includes some of the cool Nike commercials and highlights.

I always loved the '87 Donruss set - my favorite from that year for sure.

A couple months ago I came across a dealer at a local show who was clearing out a few cases and I grabbed a wax case of '87 Topps for $80 ($4 per box) and a wax case of '89 Topps for $40 ($2 per box). I couldn't pass em up at those prices!

I took several boxes of each to work and have had fun opening them with some of my co-worker friends. Every afternoon I've had more and more people coming to my office to watch us opening packs. We all share stories and memories about the various players we open up.

It's a great time. I guess I'll eventually make some sets out of the cards we're opening, but it's been some the best fun I've had in a while in this hobby.