For the next installment of my virtual Allen & Ginter hobby box I decided to expand my Will Clark player collection. For just over $20, I hand picked more than 125 Clark cards for the personal collection. I tried to focus on odd sets from the junk wax era, but have some newer cards thrown in as well. We've got cards released by the big three manufacturers, retail outlets, fast food joints, and junk food companies in this bunch. I've scanned in a whole slew of them for your viewing pleasure in chronological order, in fact I think this post contains by far the most scans in any single post since I started the blog. So sit back and get ready for a scroll down memory lane, if you're like me you've never seen some of these sets before:
1986 Donruss HighlightsI'll try to keep the commentary to a minimum and let the cards do the talking. This first card is one I've wanted for a while though, as it commemorates the home run that Will hit in his first Major League at bat. I'm sure you already know this, but he hit it off of Nolan Ryan too. Not too shabby a start...
1986 Fleer Baseball's BestI think this is the very last 1986 Clark card I didn't have. I miss the days when it was actually reasonable and possible to accumulate every single card of a player from a given year.
1987 Fleer Exciting Stars
1987 Fleer Limited Edition
1987 Fleer Star Sticker
1987 Toys 'R' Us RookieThis is another one I've wanted for quite a while. You may recognize the photo from Clark's 1986 Topps Traded rookie.
1988 Donruss Baseball's BestNormally I think these cards look hideous but they kind of match the Giants jerseys a bit.
1988 Fleer Award WinnerOne thing that surprised me when picking out my cards was the sheer amount of sets Fleer released in the late 80's. There are plenty more to come...
1988 Fleer League Leader
1988 Fleer Baseball MVP
1988 K-MartLong before their discounted $10 blasters, K-Mart would release their own card sets, produced by Topps.
1988 MSA Jiffy Pop DiscOne of two discs that were part of my order. I'm not sure how one obtained one of these back in the day, anyone know?
1988 O-Pee-Chee
1988 Score Young Superstars
1988 Sportflics
1988 Sportflics Game Winners
1988 Topps UK MinisFirst time I had seen these as well, but I think they have a great design. They're roughly the same size as your standard 80's Topps mini cards (like the League Leaders sets they released).
1989 Classic Travel EditionWhat kid didn't have Classic baseball sets back in the day? I know I did. I think they released somewhere around a dozen baseball cards sets. I never played the game though, has anyone tried it?
1989 Fleer All-Star
1989 Fleer Baseball MVP
1989 Fleer Box PanelLooks like Clark's standard '89 card, but is cut from the bottom of a wax box. It still has a back which is nice, but it's numbered C-6. Whoever cut mine did a pretty decent job.
1989 Fleer Exciting Stars
1989 Fleer Heroes of Baseball
1989 Fleer League Leaders
1989 Fleer SuperstarsSee what I mean about Fleer? Enough already!
1989 K-Mart
1989 Kay-BeeI really liked this one as well. Kay-Bee always seemed like the red-headed stepchild compared to Toys 'R' Us. I remember walking into Toys 'R' Us as a kid and getting the sensation that it stretched on forever. Kay-Bee on the other hand was about the size of my closet. They're still around though as far as I know. The design's not half bad on this card either, seems inspired by various 70's Topps releases.
1989 Cap'n CrunchI loved the cereal but don't ever remember them having cards in the boxes. This one's kind of bland. If you're not licensed and have to air-brush logos out, you may want to choose a photo that's not 50% hat. What's with the mustache?
1989 Topps Glossy All-Star
1989 Topps Mini League Leader
1989 Topps Sticker
1989 Topps Sticker
1989 Topps UK Mini
1990 Bowman InsertThis one's not actually numbered or anything, but has some giveaway instructions on the back. I think most people, including myself, probably threw them out. I definitely dig the early 50's Bowman inspired artwork.
1990 Classic Yellow
1990 Collect-a-BooksAh, Collect-a-Books, I definitely had a few of these way back when. I may have to do a separate post on this where I scan in the entire booklet...
1990 Donruss NL BestI think the '90 Donruss design looks much better in any color other than red.
1990 Donruss Grand Slammers
1990 Fleer All-Star
1990 Fleer World SeriesThis was a card I had never seen before. If anyone knows anything about this set please leave a comment!
1990 Leaf
1990 Mother's Cookies Will Clark
1990 Mother's Cookies Will ClarkThe Mother's Cookie cards are fantastic, and I'm now half-way to completing the 4 card 1990 Will Clark set. Anyone have cards 1 or 2 for trade?
1990 Topps Ames All-StarThere were a few Ames in my area when I was growing up. They were like a step below even K-Mart. I could be wrong but I believe the company went bankrupt or something. Haven't seen one around in years.
1990 Topps Glossy All-Star
1990 US Playing Card All-Star
1990 Wonder Bread Stars
1990 Woolworth Baseball HighlightsWas Woolworth's a department store?
1991 Jimmy Dean
1991 PostI think I grabbed the '91, '92, '93 and '94 Post cards. I'm pretty sure that gives me the complete Post Clark run when combined with what I already had.
1991 Fleer Ultra Gold
1991 Upper Deck Final Edition
1992 Bowman
1992 Donruss McDonald'sFirst of a couple cards endorsed by the fast food giants (yes, I know, and ironic term in this case).
1992 Fleer Citgo/7-11 The Performers
1992 Jimmy Dean
1992 Leaf Black GoldThis is probably one of my favorites. The border and horizontal photo are great. Look at the bend in that bat!
1992 Panini StickersThese are my first two Panini baseball stickers.
1992 Panini Stickers
1992 Post
1992 Score 100 Superstars
1992 Stadium Club DomeOne of these days I need to pick up the Dome set. I always see it for 5 or 6 bucks but for some inexplicable reason have never pulled the trigger.
1992 Studio Heritage
1992 Topps Gold
1992 Topps Gold All-Star
1992 Topps Gold Winner
1992 Topps Gold All-Star Winner
1992 Topps McDonald's
1992 US Playing Cards All-Star
1992 Fleer Ultra All-Star
1992 Upper Deck Fanfest
1992 Upper Deck Team MVP HologramsNothing illustrates how badly you need to clean your scanner like a hologram.
1992 Upper Deck Williams Best
1993 Fleer Atlantic
1993 Hostess
1993 O-Pee-Chee Premier Star Performers
1993 Post
1993 Upper Deck On Deck
1994 Donruss Special EditionI think these were like a 1-per-pack insert or something, they look just like the base cards except all of the info is in obnoxious silver foil.
1994 Flair Infield Power
1994 Pacific
1994 Post
1994 Topps Stadium Club Golden Rainbow1994 Stadium Club is definitely on my list of sets to complete one day.
1994 Stadium Club Team
1994 Topps Gold
1994 Topps Traded
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature
1994 Upper Deck Electric Diamond
1995 Leaf Limited Bat Patrol
1995 Leaf Limited Gold
1995 National PacktimeBased on the other images I saw of National Packtime cards it appears to be a small set consisting of a few cards each from various manufacturers. I'm not sure how or where it was distributed though.
1995 Sportflix Hammer TeamDefinitely remember these from back in the day!
1995 Score Gold Rush
1995 Topps Stadium Club Virtual Reality
1995 Donruss Studio Gold
1995 Upper Deck Electric Diamond1995 Upper Deck is another one that's on my list...
1996 Topps Finest
1996 Leaf Preferred SteelI've never seen these before but was surprised at how heavy this card was. It's really got some weight to it.
1997 Donruss
1997 Donruss Studio
1998 Fleer Tradition
1998 Topps
1999 Topps
2001 Topps
2001 ToppsThis is the first I've seen of 2001 Topps. Doesn't look half bad.
2001 Upper Deck
2004 Fleer Greats of the Game
2005 Donruss GreatsI think this set looks impressive. Tons of great veteran stars in the checklist. I would consider busting a box of this.
2005 Leaf CenturyWell there you have it. I more than doubled the size of my Clark collection and this was more fun than a blaster would've been for about the same price.
Cost: $22
Running Total: $55