Pack One

This should be fun. Before we start let's see what we get. 36 packs to a box, 12 cards to a pack. I'm not sure what these cost in 1989 and there's no price on the box. I think they were a little more than base Topps, but I can't remember for sure (I think wax packs of '89 Topps were $.65).


Here's the first pack that lets us know that this is the Comeback Edition! Yes, I used my cat to prop the pack up for the picture. She wouldn't move, so I figured I'd put her to work.

According to the back of the pack, I can win "a complete set of 1953 color bowman baseball cards. Approximate Value: $10,000." We;ve also got the ingredients for the gum.

Speaking of the gum...


I think you could build sturdy, low income housing out of this stuff.

And before we get started, here's a scan of the wrapper, and the sweepstakes card.


REPRINT.


I wonder if the offer for the binder pages is still good. They'd probably open an envelope with three old wrappers and think "what the hell..." Does anyone know a good place to get appropriately sized binder pages for this set? I probably should have thought of that first.

Anyhoo, on to the cards. If you're familiar with how I did the '88 Score box, this'll be similar. The pack number followed by how many cards were added to the set, then the cards and a few highlights and lowlights of the pack.

Pack 1 +12
33 Jim Rice
86 Brook Jacoby
356 Andy McGaffigan
175 Mike Pagliarulo
256 George Bell
480 Brett Butler
13 Jim Traber
207 Mike Jackson
426 Barry Bonds
145 Rob Deer
279 Geronimo Berroa
389 Mark Carreon

Pack one is a pretty good one. Right off the bat we get one of the newest Hall of Famers in Jim Rice and a few other guys who were star players in 1989: George Bell and Brett Butler.

The photography in this set, well judging by this first pack and what few surviving cards I have from 1989, is better than Topps used in their flagship release. Maybe because this is the re-introduction of Bowman they tried a little harder. There's a good assortment of action shots, casual shots and classic baseball card posed shots.

Since this is the first pack, for anyone not familiar with this set, I'll put up a scan of the back of one the cards.

Here's Jim Rice:


I didn't like this back in 1989 because I couldn't exactly make sense out of it. Then when I found a few mangled '89 Bowmans going through my cards again last summer for the first time in 14 years, I still didn't like it.

But now that I think about it, I do like it. I still prefer full stat lines. But if you want someone's full stat line, you don't have to look any farther than one of the other '89 releases. This is a nice glimpse of how the player did against other teams in the league.


Funny, this is the second Barry Bonds card I've seen today, and considering I don't particularly like Mr. Bonds, the first one made me very happy. This one ain't half bad either. Bonds has a very nice signature and it's a classic pose. It also shows how skinny Barry used to be in that the P and S are almost under his armpits, leaving him irate...


I don't remember Geronimo Berroa playing for the Braves, at all. Granted I was only 8 years old, but I remember a lot of Braves baseball from the days when they were bottom feeders, but I don't remember Berroa.

When I hear his name, I think Oakland because he put up good numbers in Oakland. After Berroa's retirement, Jason Grimsley accused him of using steroids. Maybe that explains the fact that he hit 88 home runs in three and a half years as an Athletic, and 13 in seven and a half seasons else where (but he did play nearly everyday in Oakland, something he didn't so anywhere else).

So there's pack one. This was a long one, the rest won't be as long.

I hope everyone enjoys reading this site and I know I'll enjoy ripping this box. Come back tomorrow for pack two.