Quote:
Originally Posted by mrmopar
Are the cards any different than the regular issue? Maybe there are subtle differences in cropping, numbers (or lack of), promo stamps, etc? It would be better if they were special in some way rather than just a random selection of cards that anyone could assemble (or change).
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I don't have the books in front of me at the moment, as I left them at my office and won't have access to them again until Monday. With the quick inspection I did yesterday, I did not notice a difference in the cards from the normal Topps sets. There is definitely NOT a "Sample" or "Promo" stamp on them. With that said, my Topps knowledge generally tapers off after 1991, so I'm not too familiar with mid-90s stuff.
My guess is that Topps sent out cards from the (probably just-released) 1995 Topps and Stadium Club line, and since 1995 Bowman and Topps Finest probably hadn't been issued yet, they included the '94 versions of those two products.
The cards are in side-load nine-pocket sheets and yes, they could be removed and swapped out. I'm positive that did not happen in the case of these two books, as I've had them stored in a box in my office for 20+ years and I'm not much of a "modern" card collector, so they never really appealed to me very much. I believe they were sent to me or someone at my work, but I just don't remember the specifics.
I would think at this point they would be most interesting to a Topps or modern baseball card "historian." The overall value of the actual cards isn't much I don't think -- I didn't see any major rookie cards -- but the complete books are cool just from the standpoint of being a little snapshot of the hobby in 1995.
Thanks for looking and for the input,
Brad