Good junk wax era sets to build?
 

I took a break from buying new cards and building modern sets starting around 1992 through the early 2000s. So last weekend I was at the LCS looking for a box from a set I missed out on. I ended up buying a box of 1992 Fleer Ultra series 1 and had fun ripping the packs. I got the entire first series, plus a bunch of dupes, plus some of the Tony Gwynn inserts and Gold Glove inserts. I'll pick up a series 2 box in the next week or two to see if I can complete the set.

My question to the forum is what other sets from this 1992-2000 (or so) era are good sets to build by opening packs?

Here are some criteria I am considering:


1) cards that have an attractive design and are visually appealing

2) decent quality (i.e. no bricking, etc.)

3) good checklist of star players and RCs from that era, interesting inserts, etc.

4) affordable - as much as 1993 Upper Deck SP would be great I am not spending $2000+ on a box because there's a chance of finding a Jeter RC. I would say less than $100/box... preferably less than $50/box.

5) good availability... hopefully boxes can be found at the LCS, but at least on eBay or maybe card shows... I don't want to have to hunt to find a box to open


Thanks for recommendations in advance!

Junk Wax Pack Set
 

I actually really like the 1998 Fleer Tradition set(s): http://www.baseballcardpedia.com/ind...leer_Tradition
It meets all of the criteria that you outlined, plus it's got so many small, included subsets that the ways to set build appear really numerous and fun! My particular favorite is the Vintage '63 subset, but there are tons more.

1993 Pinnacle is a decent set. I really like the design with the black borders and it features nice rookies of Jeter and Piazza.

1996 Topps Gallery, and if you want to get exclusive the Players Private Issue cards. I think these are pretty neat, and nobody seems to give the first flip about them. The only cards which might cost something ($10-20) raw are the Griffey and the Jeter.

Super sleeper - 1997 e-x2000

The acetate inlays look great and the inserts are awesome.

Then if you want a fun gimmicky one that is small for a quick project try 1997 Topps Screenplays.

I stopped my non-Topps run with the 1992 offerings.

I always liked 1992 Score, and 1992 Fleer isn't bad either - the inserts are good. You can get a Young Superstars Frank Thomas for a LOT less now than in '92-'93, that's for sure.

Not exactly what you're asking for, but I recently had fun building some Conlon sets from wax boxes.

This thread is of interest to me. I have been thinking about getting back to 80s and 90s collecting. I stopped paying attention to cards for a fairly decent amount of time beginning around 1992 so I missed this set. It looks great! I was 25 then and in graduate school with some interest in vintage, but I was checked out of modern stuff at that point. This set has a lot of variety, and looks like a fun, affordable project.

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I wanted to buy a bulk lot of 1992 Leaf Gold Edition (some call it Black Gold), but seller wouldn't budge from $1/card. He said the set is popular enough and provides good sales to not reduce price. Another seller eventually went to 40 cents per card.

It's an insert/parallel set as far as I know. The Griffey card is butt ugly. Horrible pic.

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Thanks
 

Thanks for the suggestion. I have the entire run of the Conlon set already going. I am missing some cards from the 1994 series so maybe I will try to knock those out as part of this. Thanks!

Nice, I've done just 1991 and 1992 so far. Of course, I put them in binders...which cost more than the cards. I just ordered pages and a binder for the 1980 Topps set I recently purchased on the BST...and they cost like $50!

Another set I like is 1991 Bowman. It has rookies of some HOF players like Chipper Jones, Ivan Rodriguez, and Jeff Bagwell. And I like the portraits.

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I always liked the Topps "Big" set from 1988.

This!

Yes, that's a cool one too.

Personally I like some of the early 90's Upper Deck main issues. Beautiful cards, though I think it was 1994ish when they started with the glossy finish that can brick a stack if you are not careful.

I really liked the 1995 and 1996 Leaf sets. Really nice base cards, and super interesting inserts. The Statistical Standouts inserts from 1995 series 1 hobby are still pretty heavily collected. A raw Griffey from that insert set is a $50-75 card.

You won’t pull anything huge unless you hit a Griffey insert that grades a 10, but it’s not expensive either.

I can’t speak to bricking though. I ripped boxes back in the 90’s.

http://www.baseballcardpedia.com/index.php/1995_Leaf

http://baseballcardpedia.com/index.php/1996_Leaf

Dave and Adam’s currently has the 1995 boxes at $59 and $49 for series 1 and 2 respectively. The 1996 boxes are a bit tougher to find but there’s at least one retailer with hobby boxes for $85.

1990 Leaf is a good one.


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The junk wax era was between 1986-1994, i think a nice set of the era is the 1991 Topps baseball set or the 1991 Topps Desert Shield.

1990 Leaf
 

The 1990 Leaf set is good one, but I am nearly complete it already. I only lack the Griffey Jr. and Ruben Sierra. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Some examples for your viewing pleasure.
RayB