1992 Topps McDonald's Baseball's Best Obligatory Variation post

 I got a message over at the Trading Card Database this afternoon informing me that indexing the two variations of the 1992 Topps McDonald's Baseball's Best set had been complete and that it may effect my collection.  So I went to check it out and then went into the Yount collection to see if I had one or both variations.  For those who don't know the 1992 Topps McDonald's Baseball's Best set is a very handsome, almost before it's time small set of 44 cards.  Distributed in 5 card cello packs available with a meal purchase back in 1992 (or at least that's what the Standard Catalog told me).  I'm not entirely sure what's up with the one asterisk vs the two asterisk variations, but they can be found all over Topps products from around this time frame.  Might have to do with printing plates, printings, or something else.  Regardless the two variations, while small and easily overlooked, do exist.  As for rarity?  Who knows?  While digging though the 1992 cards I found I had more two asterisks than one asterisk, but I only found 4 and quite digging once I realized I had an example of each.  Also it appears the whole 44 card set has the variation.  Check out the images below.  The front of the card is unaffected.

All About the Base - 1992 Topps

Year: 1992

Manufacturer: Topps

Set: Topps Flagship Baseball

Card Number: 90

Card Type: Base

This is the dawn of a new era.  This year Topps upgraded it's card stock to a brilliant white.  Topps also introduced it's first inserted parallel set, Topps Gold, although they were tough pulls.  This set pretty much started the parallel craze as we know it.  Topps really nailed the early nineties in regards to it base set designs.  1992 is another multi-bordered set, but this set had some great photography.  I think everyone remembers the Benito Santiago card from this set.  But Yount's photo is pretty awesome as well.  A nice portrait shot in the dugout with the bat cubby behind him and Robin is leaning on one of his custom made bats with his facsimile auto on the bat strategically placed.

1992 Fleer Provision

Year:1992

Manufacturer: Fleer

Set: Flagship

Card: Base, Sub-set

Card Number: 708

Sub-set: Provisions

Donruss had Dick Perez and in 1991 Fleer entered the art card market with Terry Smith's Provisions.  The '91 set was an insert and Fleer crossed the insert over into their basketball and football sets as well.  I remember the '91 baseball inserts were super easy to find because they had black borders and stood out like a sore thumb in the packs when you pressed the wax paper to the side of the pack.  Yep I was a teenage pack searcher.  

In 1992, Fleer numbered the Provision set into the main checklist. In 1993 the art would get reused in the Barry Colla Diamond Marks Bookmarks - Art card inserts.  

The Provision cards are still some of my favorites from the junk wax era.  And I'm glad Robin got included in the second set.  Plus Fleer added a very nice write up on the back.

1992-93 Pocket Pages

Year: 1992 - 1993

Manufacturer: Pocket Pages Card Show Digest

Card Set: Pocket Pages Card Show Digest Inserts

Card Number: 23

Card Type: Base Magazine Insert

I've had this card in my collection for quite awhile and I always thought it was an insert or bonus card added to packs of 9 pocket pages.  Like a 10 or 25 pack you can pick up at Wal-mart or something like that.  I was curious exactly how they were distributed and there are quite a few cards in the set.  After a little research and checking a little more closely at the copyright on the back of the card I discovered I couldn't have been farther from the truth.  This card was a magazine insert much like the cards that were put into Baseball Card Magazine.   I don't have a personal copy of an issue of Pocket Pages Card Show Digest, but I can assume from the name it was a publication that listed nation wide card shows. I've found a few images to share here and archive for posterity.  In the center of the digest 6 cards were stapled into the middle.  The checklist over at the Trading Card Database looks to be incomplete, but this set alone looks to have over 50 cards in it and there are other Series' as well.  The cards also cover at least all 4 big sports.  Robin was in the November 1992 issue featured below. If you happen to know more about these cards and the magazine/digest they were in feel free to share in the comment and/or post links.

1992 Leaf

Year: 1992

Manufacturer: Donruss/Leaf

Set: Leaf Flagship

Card Number: 64

Card Type: Base

Today we go back to a simpler time in baseball cards.  Back with gray borders were suppose to represent silver and high class.  Fleer Ultra tried this as well.  Had this card been produced a few years later or even today it most likely would be foil board or the boarder would be made completely out of foil with a foil logo.  What we get though a very clean looking baseball card.  While the plain battleship gray is kind of boring it works well showcasing the great color photo on the front of the card.  The name plate below fits well into the card as does the team logo.  The only thing really missing is the team name.

The back of the card has full career stats and a large second photo, although I question Leaf's choice.  It looks like Robin's about to crack his neck, but why put that on a baseball card?

1992 Donruss Triple Play

Year: 1992

Manufacturer: Donruss

Set: Triple Play

Card Number: 81

Card Type: Base

Back to a simpler time.  I've always like the Triple Play brand.  At least the old versions.  Back before low end was a thing, Donruss created this low end set.  Cheaper than the flagship packs and with only one insert set not much to chase.  The design is simple yet colorful and lets be honest they sure didn't waste any effort on the backs.  

1992 Jimmy Dean Living Legend

Year: 1992

Manufacturer: MSA

Card Set: Jimmy Dean Living Legends

Card Type: Mail In/Food Issue

Card Number: 4

If you read this blog or any of my other blogs you know I'm a sucker for food issue cards and oddballs.  I think this set my be the nicest non-licensed baseball card set from the mid-90's.  It's very well done with a  nice layout and foil accents.  These cards were only available through a special mail in offer on specially marked packages of Jimmy Dean sausage.  3 proofs of purchase and a buck and you got the complete set of 6 cards.  A set that now has every member in the Hall of Fame.  Included besides Robin were Cal Ripken Jr, Ozzie Smith, Carton Fisk, George Brett, and Nolan Ryan. 

A pretty exclusive group and considering three of members of the set also became members of the HOF the very same year.

1992 Ace Novelty MVP Pin

Year: 1992

What: Ace Novelty Co MVP Major League Collector Pin  (92130)

I featured Robin's 1990 Ace pin late last year.  I ended up picking his 1992 pin from the latest wfbookman Yount auction on eBay a few weeks ago, the same place I got my 1990 pin.  The 1992 pins come attached to a smaller backing and don't feature a few baseball card.  The pins are about the same size, but this year's pin features an action shot.  The checklist has a nice selection of stars to choose from, although Robin is the only Brewer in the bunch.

1992 Sentry SGA Robin Yount Commemorative 3000th Hit card set - 3000th Hit card

Year: 1992

Set: Sentry Foods Robin Yount Commemorative 3000th Hit SGA

Card Number: NNO - 3000th Hit

Here we are at the end of the road for this great set.  The final card in the commemorative set obviously celebrates the great milestone and the Hall of Fame entry ticket.  As a matter of fact every member of the 3000th Hit club is in the Hall of Fame with the exception of 4.  Pete Rose, because he's ineligible, Raphael Palmeiro, probably because of his alleged PED use, Derek Jeter, because he's not eligible yet, and we all know Jeter will be a first ballot guy, and Alex Rodriguez because he's still playing and may not get in due to PED use.

Robin had tons of other accomplishments that garner his admission into the Hall, but being part of the 3000th hit club is like no other, well maybe the 700 HR club.  Robin wouldn't stop at 3000 either he'd go on to add 142 more before calling it quits.  And his milestone came almost exactly 6 years from reaching 2000.  Robin became the 3rd youngest player to reach the milestone and still is, but Jeter made it to #4 back in 2011.

Over all it's a great 4 card set.  Great design, great photos, nice information on the back.  And they're not that rare.  20,000 were given out on Sept. 25, 1992 which back in the 90's made it rare, today not so much.  The Standard Catalog prices the set, at least back in 2011 at about $15, but I would suspect you can find this set for closer to $5 or cheaper.  Well worth adding to a Yount card collection.

1992 Sentry SGA Robin Yount Comememorative 3000th Hit Card Set - 2000th Hit card

Year: 1992

Set: Sentry Foods Robin Yount Commemorative 3000th Hit SGA

Card Number: NNO - 2000th Hit

Happy Valentines Day!

The third card from this four card set celebrates of course the next milestone in Robin's chase for 3000 hits, his 2000th hit.  Which happened just over 6 years from him reaching 1000 hits and just over 12 years from his first hit.  He would also become the first Brewer in the young franchises history to record that mark.   

Again I love the photo selection for this card.  A crisp photo of Robin in full swing and Brewer's pinstripes.

1992 Sentry SGA Robin Yount 3000th Hit Commemorative Card Set - 1000th Hit card

Year: 1992

Set: Sentry Foods Robin Yount Commemorate 3000th Hit SGA

Card Number: NNO - 1000th Hit

The next card in this great stadium giveaway is Robin's 1000th Hit card.  The hit came in August, 1980.  I little over 6 years from his first and Robin would add an additional 1000 hits just about every 6 years after that too.  For a stadium giveaway the set and the cards are very well done.  I think the backs could have been given a little more attention, but the write up on the back is great and the overall layout on the front is very appealing. I also like the photo selection for the cards.  In the first card we get a classic 1970's Yount and here we get that classic early 80's baby blue uniform and with Robin base running with a well used batting helmet.

1992 Sentry SGA Commemorative Card Set - First Hit card

Year: 1992

Set: Sentry Foods Robin Yount 3000th Hit Commemorative SGA Set

Card Number: NNO - First Hit

Sentry Foods and the Brewers have a long history of sponsored giveaways in the 90's.  There are quite a few stadium giveaways or SGA's from that time that Robin has cards in.  I'm slowly working on getting those sets in the Trading Card Database, but I just recently added my favorite set of the bunch, the one that features only him and celebrates his 3000th hit.  

According to the Standard Catalog these were given out to the first 20,000 through the gate on September 25th, 1992.  Just over two weeks from when Robin got his 3000th hit.  There are 4 cards to the set.  They came in a little envelope, I have scans of it below.  None of the cards are numbered instead each card celebrates a milestone on the road to Robin's 3000th hit.  The first card in the series celebrates Robin's first hit in April of 1974.  I was almost a year old.  

Robin would also go on to get his first career home run in that game.  

1992 Investor's Journal #99 Blue Foil parallel

Year: 1992

Manufacturer: Investor's Journal

Set: Investor's Journal Magazine Inserts

Card Number: 99

Card Type: Color Foil Parallel

Parallel Set: Blue Foil

Print Run: 1750

I love learning new information about my Yount collection.  Recently I noticed an auction that had two of Robin's 1992 Investor's Journal insert cards up for sale, only these weren't the gold foil one's I had seen before and have in my collection, no these were color foil parallels.  And my first thought was what the??!!??   So I started doing some research. If the internet and the sports card blogging community had been around back in the early nineties I'm sure I'd have no problem knowing everything there is to know about these weird magazine inserts.  Unfortunately we were not, but the information is out there. Sort of.

If you're old enough to remember, and I know plenty of us are, the boom of the collectibles market back in the 90's you might remember seeing some of these card investor magazines.  The early 90's were an interesting time in collectibles not just in sports cards, but comic books, beanie babies, and tons of other stuff.  A push that started in the late 80's with a big nostalgia push, remember the comeback of the Monkees, 1960's Batman, and the Beach Boys?  Vintage sports cards really took off and of course people were looking at modern issues as an investment as well.  Something the sports card manufactures were all too happy about and were running their printing presses 24/7.  

This being pre-internet consumers and potential investors were hungry for information and guidance, something that magazines like Investor's Journal, Sports Report, Baesball Card Magazine, Card News, Ballstreet, Beckett, Sports Collector's Daily, and Tuff Stuff rushed to provide.  The 90's are also the era of the magazine insert card as most of these magazines offered insert cards in the form of panels that had to be removed and cut.  

To make this even more interesting publishers offered magazines like Investor's Journal that had limited print runs and/or even serial numbering to make the magazine itself and the cards inside even more desirable.  In the days of the million card or more print runs a card that had a stated print run of only 10000 made it pretty rare.  

A couple of the magazines, including Investor's Journal also offered a rarer parallel limited to 10% of the main magazine print run.  And so here we are with Robin's Blue Foil parallel.  I've found sources saying that this card was found in Issue #6, but I'm unable to verify that.  This card comes from the parallel issue.  Different issues had different colored foil parallels as well.  If you look around you'll find red, blue, silver, and copper.

I was able to pick this card up and Robin's other 1992 Investor's Journal parallel for a great price and the color foil looks great.  A great addition to the collection and I got to learn something.  Anyone remember these magazines back in the day?

1992 3000th Hit certificate and used ticket stub.

Year: 1992

What: Robin Yount's 3000th Hit I was there certificate and used ticket stub.

No I wasn't at the game.  I picked this up years ago for a really good price.  I look around now and people want all sorts of crazy money for these certificates.  I also like that it came with a used ticket stub.  Under the ticket it actually says put your stub here.

It's a cool memento, I wonder how these were distributed, if you had to come back or if the Brewers already had these printed up for multiple days, I mean I'm sure you could ballpark when it was going to happen, but nothing's given for an achievement like this.  You also get some nice facsimile autos for Robin and Bud Selig.  

I've read that these were sold after the event as well and some even have phantom unused tickets.  I can't be sure, but I like believe this was one given out after the game, I mean that's a used ticket right there.  And wow a whole $7 dollars.  Those were the tickets I use to buy on the rare occasions when I was in college and got to go to a game.

1992 Topps Gold

Year: 1992

Manufacturer: Topps

Set: Flagship Baseball

Card Number: 90

Card Type: Base Parallel

Parallel Set: Gold Foil Parallel

If you were to closely study the evolution of baseball cards tracing it back you'd find 1992 was a pivotal point to where we are today.  When you look at all the different color parallels spread out through Topps' and Panini's products their origins can all be traced back to 1992 and more importantly to 1992 Topps Baseball.  This set, or more accurately the gold foil insert parallel set is the locus where that evolution starts.  For better or worse it all started right here. And let's not forget we as collectors ate this up.  The early 90's was also a time the hobby enjoyed huge popularity and card companies were taking notice.  

Robin's 1992 Topps card is great for so many reason without the gold foil embellishment, but Topps uses just a little to make the card pop.  Had this been a few years later the yellow border would have probably also been gold foiled as well.   While I'm all about the great action shots this is a great candid portrait of  Yount the elder statesman sitting in the dugout with the bat cubby behind him.  By this time in Yount's career there's no room on the back for anything but stats.  1992 also marked the year Topps switch it's card stock from the old heritage brown cardboard to the sterling white.  While the basic design of the 1992 set can been seen a little simplistic the gold foil parallels really did add something to spruce the cards up and it's a great looking set in a binder.

1992 McDonald's Baseball's Best

Year: 1992

Manufacturer: Topps

Set: McDonald's Limited Edition Baseball's Best

Card Number: 17

Card Type: Oddball Food Issue

I love food issued cards, and these are pretty top of the line.  Back in 1992 if you bought stuff at McDonalds you got a little cellophane pack with 5 cards, eat enough and you could eventually pick up the whole set. I don't remember this promotion at all, although I most likely was still living overseas when it was going on.  The checklist really was a who's who of baseball's best at the time and if you collect a superstar from the early nineties he's probably got a card in this set.  1992 also marked a time when Topps was starting to use foil to make their cards pop and it's used in this set to highlight the limited edition and the players name and McDonald's logo.

A very nice looking card, but not overly rare, COMC has 7 with the lowest price being about 75 cents.  It's also nice that this was a fully licensed product so we get logos and Robin's full stats on the back.

Baseball America - March 25th, 1992

Year: 1992

Collectible Type: Periodical

Periodical name: Baseball America

Date: March 25- April 9, 1992

If you're a Yount collector like myself and you buy from eBay like I do from time to time, chances are you've run across the seller wfbookman.  He or they sell all sorts of stuff, but specialize in large collections of Robin Yount cards and memorabilia.  They usually have quite a large selection of high quality and high dollar cards and memorabilia, but they also have some lower end stuff.  And while I would love to add low number rare relics and autographs to my collection, I would much rather added a few low cost oddballs.  I ended up picking up a couple oddballs this past go around.  One area that I've decided to start focusing on is my periodical collection.  I have a few magazines and newspapers that I bought way back in the day off the newsstand, but there are quite a few out there I don't have.

One of the things that caught my eye was this March - April 1992 issue of Baseball America.  Baseball America is still around in print form and in digital.  But back before the internet age this was how you got your indepth sports analysis.  Baseball America collected writing from around the country.  Robin's article is written by Brewer's beat writer Tom Haudricourt.  Tom's still the beat writer for the team at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. (My old man voice is yelling, "I can remember when those were separate newspapers")

I ended up picking this up for a whole dollar plus shipping which was combined with my other win I'll feature later.  Although it's not by any means close to pristine I didn't expect it to be.  But it's still fully intact and readable and that's really all I can ask for a newspaper that's almost 25 years old.

1992 Studio

Year: 1992

Manufacturer: Leaf/Donruss

Set: Studio Baseball

Card Number: 200

Card Type Base

I've always liked the Studio brand. Especially as a player collector it was nice to have a studio lit portrait shot of the guy you collect.  Studio got better and better though the years and Panini still uses the brand.  They use it as an insert instead of a full blow card release and I think that works.  There are plenty of set concepts that work better as inserts.  This was the second year of Studio and Donruss would go on to make sets for years. 

I also all the odd facts that they threw on the back of the card.  Hey Robin what's the weirdest job you ever had? Who's your favorite singer?  I'm sure some of these answers might have changed over time.  The back also mentions his wife and 4 kids.  Robin's son Dustin played pro ball for a while too, so did his nephew.

1992 Brewers Police Cards Wisconsin Rapids Police Department

Year: 1992

Manufacturer: ?? Sponsored by Delicious Bakeries

Set: 1992 Milwaukee Brewers Police set

Town Police: Wisconsin Rapids

Card Number: NNO

If you're a Brewers fan there's nothing more iconic or oddball than the Brewer's Police sets.  The program started back in 1982 and they continued the program with a few skips until 2013.  The Packers still put out Police sets though.  The early sets were oversized cards and a pain to store.  Tony L over at Off Hiatus Sportscards was nice enough to forward me a list that may or may not be complete of Robin's Police cards and cities that participated.  I do plan on adding a new stand alone page with that checklist for those who care.  Anyways, in 1992 about 42 cities and town are listed.  There are some variations to this years set.  I have a Milwaukee Police card too that has the Delicious logo on the front of the card.

This card is from the Wisconsin Rapids Police Department.  Wisconsin Rapids is located in central Wisconsin not too far from where I went to college in Stevens Point.  Like most towns along the Wisconsin River there is a very large paper mill right in town and I can remember attending a party in Rapids, that's what the cool kids call it, and the whole town smelt like a fart from the mill.  

The 1992 cards are standard 2 x 3 inches and like always feature a player on the front and some safety message on the back.  This one has "Robin" telling us about babysitter safety.