Collectin' Griffey:1999 Upper Deck Ultimate Victory

 

@Cardpocalypse came through in our most recent trade and helped me knock another Griffey down on my want list in this 1999 Upper Deck Ultimate Victory or as I call it, Victory Chrome.

This was a fun affordable product with some great inserts in it. I don't believe the product lasted very long however.

Griffey is card number 102 in the set.

Collectin' Griffey: 2013 Topps Spring Fever

My Ken Griffey Jr segment makes it's return and this time will showcase some cards I got from the Junior Junkie's Griffey Generosity Project.

Today's card may have been one of my favorite adds from the project. Such a cool design and the card is shiny which is what I am all about.

There is just something about this card that says baseball season is on it's way and it also speaks that summer is as well.

 

The back of the card is even attractive.

 

Thoughts on today's card or if you won one of anyone are welcomed in comments!

Collectin' Griffey:2010 Upper Deck

My Ken Griffey Jr segment makes it's return and this time will showcase some cards I got from the Junior Junkie's Griffey Generosity Project. Today's card I was surprisingly missing even though I busted at least 3 hobby boxes of this stuff back in 2010. Not like this card was an Sp or anything.

It was also possibly the last time we will ever see Upper Deck in baseball card form. It to me was a bit of a sad ending for a company that made the most iconic Griffey cards cause they weren't allowed to use MLB logos since they weren't licensed by them and only by MLBPA.

Even though some images slipped showing some logos causing a stir of trouble. No need to dwell on that however as I want to think as positive as I can of the product.

I think the design for 2010 was as solid as past UD designs showing little border and full of action. Something Upper Deck always strived for.

 

 

Thoughts on today's card are welcomed in comments!

Collectin' Griffey:1998 Topps Flashback

Theme of this insert is simple. one side shows Griffey of the current year....

Other side, shows Griffey of yesteryear.

 

These loaded foil insert, more foil on one side than the other, fell at 1:72 packs in 1998 Topps.

I acquired mine in a yard sale box that was full of oddball stuff. I was impressed this card came in such good shape as these appear to be very fragile. Griffey was card number 2 in the 10 card set.

What do you guys think of today's card?

Collectin' Griffey:2015 Donruss Preferred

In 2015, Panini brought back Donruss Preferred in it's 2015 Donruss product.

However, it didn't have the same appeal as the 1998 version. The cards didn't have MLB logos and they didn't have the "fractured" appeal. This newer version also has many parallels.

I still think the design is pretty solid and the picture of Griffey is a good one. I just miss the original version having been a collector of it. But, it's still a Griffey and still fits in my PC. Now just gotta see if I can chase down the parallels.

 

What do you guys think when companies try to revive a former brand? Is it improved? Or can the original just not be beat?

Collectin' Griffey:2015 Topps Arche-Types

Topps has really upped their insert designs in the last couple of years in Topps baseball. It to me felt they were really slacking just throwing insert designs together just as filler cards just to get a product done.

Arche-Types is a solid looking insert. I especially like Griffey on it with the Mariners blue against the gold background. Griffey was the last in the set and these fell at a rate of 1:6 packs.

 

What do you guys think of these or of Topps insert designs the last few years?

Collectin' Griffey:1994 Donruss 90's Dominators Batting Average

Just think, they were already calling "The Kid" a 90's Dominator in the early 90's, imagine what they would have called him had they waited til the end of the 90's to produce this set or another like it.

I think it would have been 90's Destoryer.

When we think of The Grif, we always remember that sweet swing and how hard the ball was hit with it for Homeruns (I like how the swing is featured on this card). But, what we don't remember is that he also had a great batting average early on in his career hitting for .300+ for the years of 91-94.

Of course later on in his career, the switch to Cincy and the injuries hurt his batting average that is just below .300 for his career at .284.

How many of you own this card or own cards like it? Thoughts on this set?

Collectin' Griffey:2013 Topps Archives

Topps Archives is a fun product that celebrates today’s players on past designs from Topps’ 60-plus year history in the baseball card market.

The 2013 version put Ken back in his throwback uni as well in the 1982 Topps design. The color scheme is matched perfectly from the original design for the Mariners, obviously Griffey wasn't included in the original set but it's fun to see it now.

I think they also chose a great photo to use of Ken as most of those photos in that set were like this.

 

What do you guys think about Topps Archives? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Loathe it? Thoughts in comments are always welcomed!

Collectin' Griffey:SPECIAL EDITION!!

If you didn't know, on this date in 1989,  Ken Griffey Jr. hit his first home run that led to the eventual 630 home runs.

To celebrate this special occasion, let's see which Griffey's I uncovered during a recent card search. These cards I had no idea I had.

I have busted at least four boxes of this Panini USA Champions, but I misplaced this in a pile of base. Ooops! Griffey #784.

 

Up next, a couple of cool Upper Deck Sp Authentic Baseball Heroes I found in a yard sale binder I bought last year and forgot to look through. Great pairing here,

 

And even better, here. When I can find Griffey and Jeter on the same card it's a great day. These are cards number #785,#786 on my Griffey list. Really like the design on these and gives me another reason to miss Upper Deck baseball cards.

 

 

So glad to find these as I close in on 800 Griffeys. Actually, I am pulling off a trade with Project Pedro Blog to help me surpass that. Believe me, you guys will be blown away with what I am taking home in that trade including one nice Griffey. It's such a big trade it's being broken down to a Top 10 list. If you haven't checked out his blog yet, please do so. Great guy and his Cheap Wax Wednesday segments are really cool.

Stay tuned for that and more Collectin' Griffey Segments ahead.

Collectin' Griffey:1995 Collectors Choice A.L. HR Champ

In this new segment, I thought to go along with my Rodney Hampton posts on Sundays, that I would also take apart my Griffey collection (my biggest PC) and get some of my favorite cards from that PC posted up too.

Up first, this has gotta be one of my favorite base cards. The 1995 Collectors Choice. I must also say thank you the biggest Griffey collector I know for this addition a few months ago, The Junior Junkie.

First off, no border full color photography and Upper Deck at its best. Secondly, that is one lucky lady sitting there. She was the winner of the 1994 "You Crash The Game" contest where she not only got to meet Ken Griffey Jr. but also got to be on his base cards with him. If you look closely she is wearing a very "classic" Upper Deck hat and shirt.

The closest I ever got to Griffey, was back in 1998 when the Red Sox played the Mariners. I had the opportunity of going to the game and even though my seats weren't the best (I was in right field), I still got to see my childhood idol play. On that day he went 1-3, 2 walks and the one hit which was a double that hit the wall near me. The Mariners dominated for most of the game leading 7-2 in the 9th only to lose it by giving up 7 runs in that final inning that included a monster game winning Grand Slam HR by Mo Vaughn.

I was also lucky that day too because Randy Johnson was on the mound so I got to see two Hall Of Famers on the field. Let me tell you what, if you haven't ever seen that guy in person, just picture the Green Giant with long hair. Holy moly, he was tall!

Anyways, back to the cardboard.

The back of the card is a great example of how a base card back should be done. Well balanced with player name, photo, stats, and write up. This was a great year design on Colletors Choice as a whole.

 

How many of you got to see Griffey play? Meet him? Thoughts on the base card?