Nostalgic Box Break: 1993 Stadium Club Series 2 (Part 3)

These are the last 1993 Stadium Club packs you will ever see me rip. Also, this is likely the last appearance of the brown carpets in my den. So bear with me as we cut into the last eight packs of this box. Will there be any more appearances by Hall of Famers? We will soon see.

Pack 17-
Doubles: 0/14
Cards I needed: 14/14
Hall of Famers: 1/14
People who will likely be criminally overlooked: 2/14

Three people that were generally big in 1993- Marquis Grissom, Eric Karros and Don Mattingly. A few great sideways shots of these guys.
(I had a picture showcasing Edgar Martinez's card, because they're awesome, but it wasn't taken, because argh)

Pack 18-
Doubles: 12/14
Cards I needed: 2/14
Number of those cards remotely interesting: 0/2.

Pack 19-
Doubles: 1/14
Cards I needed: 13/14
Hall of Famers: 3/14. THREE!
Hall of Fame Ballot Mainstays: 1/14
Rookie Cards/Zero Year Cards of current managers: 1/14 (Mr. Ausmus)

Two darkly lit shots of future expansionist powerhouses. Only difference is that Larry Walker lacks a World Series ring, while Grace won one in 2001.

Tony Gwynn, Ryne Sandberg, and Nolan Ryan. All in the same pack. Keep in mind that Ryan's last season was in 1993, Sandberg would be retired in five years, and Gwynn within ten. Hell of a place to find them all.

Pack 20-
Cards I needed: 2/14
Doubles: 12/14
Hall of Famers: 1/14

That is a Member's Choice of Fred McGriff, and a really, really cool base card of Ozzie Smith. The two highlights to a really crappy pack.

Pack 21-
Cards I needed: 9/15 (!!!)
Doubles: 6/15
Extra Cards: 1/15
Inserts: 1/15
Expos who look like a young Christopher Walken: 1/15 (The ICE...is gonna BREAK!)

John Wander Wal...look, you can TOTALLY see it. Just add any old Walken line. Even a "Bruce Wayne, what are you doing dressed as Batman" or something.
Glenn Davis looks poignantly upon his final season.
Andy Van Slyke slides to remain relevant, doesn't quite.

Jeff Blauser is the box's First Day Issue card, which is pretty nice, as any of those are pretty cool to pull.

Pack 22-
Cards I need: 1/14
Doubles: 13/14
Cards that are my exact expression upon seeing this pack: 1/14 (Grace)

Pack 23-
Doubles: 4/14
Cards I need: 10/14
Hall of Famers: 1/14
Really Awkward Posed Shots: 1/14

Doc Gooden playing catcher...hm. Weird.
Todd Stottlemeyer signs autographs, which is pretty cool.
That Lenny Dykstra is a pretty awesome one, regardless of anything.

ROBBY! A Roberto Alomar Member's Choice card, which is a pretty nice one.

Pack 24-
Doubles: 12/14
Cards I needed: 2/14
Cards I actually wanted to photograph at that point: 0/2

So, that's the box. Wantlists will be up tomorrow.

Nostalgic Box Break: 1993 Stadium Club Series 2 (Part 2)

Out of the three boxes of 1993 Stadium Club I've ripped, this was the only one of the three that didn't include a 'Master Photo' insert, which is really for the better, as it's been invalid for 20 years. I would have liked another to go with my Danny Tartabull and Greg Maddux. Oh well.

On with the middle of the box:

Pack 9-
Doubles: 6/14
Cards I needed- 8/14
Sweet throwbacks- 1/14
Overly vibrant uniforms: 2/14

Our two highlights include a Member's Choice of Carlos Baerga, which means the members must have been smoking something. Who they should have chosen was Curt Schilling, who was about to have a nice season with a pennant-winning team.

Pack 10-
Doubles- 0/14
Cards I needed- 14/14
Hometown heroes: 1/14
Concerning Grins: 1/14
Concerned Expressions: 1/14

Bret Saberhagen and George Bell were pretty huge in the 1980's. After 1993, Saberhagen would have eight years left, and Bell would retire immediately after the season. Duane Ward has the best card here, with a nice artsy horizontal shot.

But nothing can top the overall classiness of Orel Hershiser. One of my favorite non-Hall-players, just fun to root for and watch. Part of that is due to him pitching at my high school.

Pack 11-
Doubles: 2/14
Cards I needed: 12/14
Hall of Famers: 1/14
Soon-to-be-Hall of Famers: 1/14
Will probably make it into their team's Hall of Fame, but beyond that, nothing: 3/14 (Welch, Hrbek, Bernie)

Kent Hrbek's shot is pretty awesome, like the Shane Mack one from the last part. A lot of subdued emotion on there. Bernie's is just all-around Bernie.

Our two huge stars. Kirby is always a pleasure to pull out of a pack, and it's funny, because I feel like I've been pulling a billion of his cards lately. Pudge is similar, because he's also been showing up, but because he's a catcher, his shots are slightly more impressive.

Pack 12-
Doubles: 11/14
Cards I needed: 3/14
Near-Hall-of-Famers: 1/14

The one card in the pack that didn't make me wince. Fred McGriff's pretty awesome. I forgot how good of a hitter he was until people started bringing him up for Hall entry.

Pack 13-
Doubles: 0/14
Cards I needed: 14/14
Future Hall of Famers: 1/14
Steroid Abusers: 1/14
Awesome blurred-lens shots: 1/14

Zane Smith, in the height of his "popularity", seen here in a nice horizontal. But of course it's upstaged by Pat Listasch, in a card that actually means something, where he was actually playing (unlike his equally amazing 1995 release).

Mark McGwire, most likely pre-juicing, was a Member's Choice, which was, in hindsight, a good choice for the time being. Just think-five years after this he'd be a good 50 pounds larger and going for Maris' record. Mike Piazza was also in this pack. He probably also took steroids, but I think he'll end up in the Hall of Fame anyway.

Pack 14-
Doubles: 14/14
Cards I needed: 0/14
Cards that summed up my expression after opening this pack: 2/14 (Blauser and Delgado)

Pack 15-
Doubles: 6/14
Cards I needed: 8/14
Rookies of Future-Hall-of-Famers: 1/14
Great cards of sadly-past-their-prime superstars: 1/14 (sorry, Bo)

Trevor Hoffman's bonafide rookie card is here, decked out in teal, which is pretty nice. Meanwhile, Bo Jackson would have one more season left in him after 1993, which is sad, because he was a great, fun player. Alan Trammell is seen fending off a cool double play.

Pack 16-
Doubles: 8/14
Cards I needed: 6/14
Future Hall of Famers: 1/14
People named Fernandez: 2/14
Grins that are still creeping me out: 1/14

Sid Fernandez is pretty nice in this sideways card.  However, he's upstaged by the sheer awesomeness of Randy Johnson, with a broken bat and punctured ball. That is the look of someone who's mastering their craft.

Tomorrow I post the last bit of this box, then wantlists go up.

Nostalgic Box Break: 1993 Stadium Club Series 2 (Part 1)

I'm nothing if I'm not focused.

This box is the last box of 1993 Stadium Club I need to rip if the possibility of a full set of this is anywhere in my future. And being that I'm trying to complete every Stadium Club set ever made, finishing this one would be a nice start.

1993 Stadium Club is really the last of the "sane" Stadium Club sets. The first three years had a consistency of having similar card fronts, backs, photography, etc. 1994 is where things spiral out of control for a couple years. Once I get this one, I can see if I can work on the rest.

But first, we should thaw this box out. 24 packs. 14 cards for pack. Awful collation.

Let's go.

Pack 1-
Cards I needed: 14/14
Doubles: 0/14
Celebrity Apprentice Contestants: 1/14
Awkwardly posed Indoor shots: 3/14

Highlights include a nice sideways shot of Kevin Gross, a cool action shot of Thomas Howard, a really geeky and awkward shot of Mike LaValliere, and a cooler shot of Terry Pendleton.

If I was ripping this pack in 1993, I'd be ecstatic about pulling  Darryl Strawberry card. Then...the season began. Also, these packs are peppered with Marlins and Rockies, seeing as the team photos were juuuust released before the product came out. Benny Santiago and Walt Weiss...I had no idea either of them were on the Marlins.

Pack 2-
Doubles: 0/14
Cards I needed: 14/14
Rookie cards of future hall of famers: 1/14
Amazing Sideways shots: 2/14

I forgot that Ruben Amaro was a player before he was a GM. Hm. Must not have panned out. Darren Daulton did a bit better, I guess, as he was still a great Phillie catcher by the time this set rolled in. John Franco, seen here while the Topps photographers shooshed away the lawyers for Donruss Studio, looks to be pretty content with being a closer for a then-last-place team. And that Scooter Tucker card is absolutely gorgeous. I want to marry it.

These two cards may represent a fraction of the Hall of Fame Class of 2015, unless people don't like Smoltzie. Pedro's is basically a rookie. Which is awesome.

Pack 3-
Doubles: 4/14
Cards I needed: 10/14
Awkward 1990's poses: 2/14
Future Hall of Famers: 1/14

Highlights include a card of Bien Figueroa, who played 12 games in 1992, so naturally, he deserves a major league baseball card. Bien would never play in the majors again. Also present is a nice autograph signing shot of Rusty Meachem, and a good shot of Ruben Sierra.

Our Member's Choice subset is of Ken Griffey Jr., who was absolutely killing it back then.

Pack 4-
Doubles: 0/14
Cards I needed: 14/14
Hall of Famers: 3/14
Juuuust Missed Hall of Fame-rs: 1/14 (sorry, Jack)

Three awesome photos- a nice, focused pitching shot of Mark Langston,  a crouching shot of a remarkably-young-looking Arthur Rhodes, an a shot of Andres Gallaraga on his new team, the one that would make him famous.

Two excellent players, though only one is in the hall of fame, and it is not Jack Morris. Sorry, buddy. George Brett, the legend of Kansas City, has an excellent posed dugout shot.

The pack (and the box's) insert is absolutely awesome. It is a Second City Sluggers card. On one side, it features Hall of Famer Frank Thomas....

...And on the other side, it features Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg. Hell of a card, even if I'm not a Chicago fan. Begs the question- did they do a New York one with Mattingly and Eddie Murray? Or a Los Angeles one with Mike Piazza and Jim Abbott?

Pack 5-
Doubles: 2/14
Cards I needed: 12/14
Soon to be Hall of Famers: 2/14 (if voters can get their heads out of their asses and realize Jeff Bagwell was actually pretty good)

Ryan Thompson had a career full of awesome Stadium Club poses. I don't care if his career was lackluster. Tom Marsh has a nice shot there, as well as Tom McIntosh.

John Smoltz gets a Members' Choice card, because evidently he was the best of the three back before the other two got really good. And Jeff Bagwell is wearing the old fashioned Astros uniforms, before the rest of the 90's came and made the uniforms look awful.

Pack 6-
Doubles: 0/14
Cards I need: 14/14
Now-ironic shots of empty stadium seats: 1/14
Hall of Famers: 1/14

Mike Stanley is so angry that his mask is popping off. Luis Salazar was still playing in 1993, which was unknown to me before this rip (actually, this was a sunset shot). And GEE, CAL ELDRED, ARE PEOPLE GOING TO BREWERS GAMES? (Here's a hint: guess what year Robin Yount retired)

Dennis Eckersley. What a boss.

Pack 7-
Doubles: 11/14
Cards I needed: 3/14
Cards I needed that were Rockies: 3/3
Cards that exemplified my expression after pulling a mostly double-laden pack 1/14 (looking at you, Stanley)

Pack 8-
Doubles: 0/14
Cards I needed: 14/14
Hall of Famers: 1/14
Near-hall-of-famers: 3/14
Rookies of Near-hall-of-famers: 1/14

That shot of Dave Valle is pretty excellent, as is the Paginozzi. The Blauser one is a bit odd, but it's a great posed one, though I have to give the gold to Shane Mack. I think that one is really neat and original.

That Carlos Delgado card is his actual rookie. Like, it says on the back his rookie card is THIS CARD. So that's pretty nice. Also, the Lee Smith card is a nice one. Barry Larkin wins the pack though, because that is a pretty nice double play shot. You can see the smoke rising.

Well, that's a third of the box. Two left to go. A lot more stars in this set than the other ones, really, which is nice. I will post Part 2 tomorrow, most likely.