The Vintage Binder

I call this my vintage notebook. I have them arranged chronologically. These are mostly cards from the era when I was actively collecting as a kid, 1986-1993, with a few older cards that I have happened to come into possession of.  I stopped collecting for several good reasons; mostly because the old wax pack era was ending, and the new expensive glossy premium cards, with all the inserts and special sets destroyed the hobby.  Also, the baseball strike in 1994 and the injury to Bo Jackson diminished my interest in the sport.  The steroids controversy and irrelevance of my beloved Royals kept me from caring about baseball until 2013.  Now, the combination of moving to San Francisco, a true baseball town, and re-emergence of the Royals has finally gotten me back into baseball.

The Canseco Rated Rookie was a highly coveted card for a few years, selling for up to $100 in the late 80s.  Also note that Julio Franco, seen here on a 1984 card, was still playing professional baseball in Japan in 2015.

I seem to have a soft spot for these '86 Topps cards, the year I started collecting.  I have a separate notebook for all my Royals, so you won't see any Royals in this notebook.

I have the 1987 gold cup collection, the first year they started making 10 gold cup cards.  Not pictured is Andy Allanson, who didn't fit on the page.

I love these future star cards too.  I remember the excitement as a kid of pulling these cards and the gold cups.  In 2015 I bought a few unopened wax boxes of 1987 Topps to re-live that excitement. I liked the wood grain design.  These are just full of nostalgia for me.

Guys who should have been gold cups or future stars.

I liked Donruss back in the day, they seemed to be ahead of Topps in their design, but now that I look back, the Topps designs stayed classic and these cards look rather cheesy.

Score came around in 1988, and they did some cool things with card design and photography. I wonder if they inspired Upper Deck to start making cards a year later.

1989 topps

When Upper Deck came around in 1989, they made a beautiful set, that we were all excited about. But it really ushered in the beginning of the end.

In 1990 a got a box of Upper Deck cards for my birthday.  The John Olerud rookie card jumped in value a few years later when he flirted with hitting .400.

After 25 years of sitting in my old bedroom closet in its factory seal, I finally broke out my 1990 Score set and looked at the cards.  Sad, it probably now sells for 1/4 of what my mom paid for it back then.

I had a lot of Will Clarks then, I thought he would end his career as the next Ted Williams.  Instead he just sort of petered out and was forgotten long before he retired.

Couple of Manny Ramirez rookies in my old collection, woo hoo.

Insert cards beginning to take over. And it's never stopped, I found out as I started buying cards again in 2015.  I really want to want to buy cards, but Topps still ruins the experience with all the dumb inserts.  I don't want a card the commemorates the time Don Mattingly had a 23-game hitting streak in 2015. I just don't.

I did somewhat enjoy these Baseball Heroes cards from Upper Deck.