Countdown to 1,000 Buybacks - #999 - The Kid

I've selected five single buybacks to showcase one a day over the course of five days in celebration of reaching 1,000 total buybacks in my franken-set project.  Today I've got my 999th buyback, and I can think of few players more deserving to bring me to the precipice of 1,000 than Ken Griffey, Jr.!

1993 Topps (Pre-Production Sample) #179 - Ken Griffey, Jr.

In the early '90s, there were a handful of baseball players it was practically impossible for collectors and fans not to like.  In my opinion I'd put Cal Ripken Jr., maybe Nolan Ryan and certainly Ken Griffey, Jr. firmly into that category.  From his debut in 1989 (and the iconic Upper Deck card that accompanied it), and through the entire decade of the '90s, Junior was arguably the biggest name in baseball.

The Kid is certainly a player I'd been looking to add to my franken-set since its inception almost two years ago now, so when this 2016 buyback of his 1993 Topps release popped up on COMC this past summer I was all over it.  Griffey had a typical fantastic year in '93, his fifth season in the Majors.  It was the season where he truly exploded power-wise as well, with 45 home runs (he had 49 in his previous two seasons combined).  He was named an All-Star for the fourth straight year, won a Gold Glove in center for the fourth straight year, and picked up his second Silver Slugger Award while also finishing 5th in AL MVP voting.  Just an awesome card.

I was so excited to snatch this one when it showed up that I honestly did not even notice until it arrived that it was a "pre-production sample".  This doesn't bother me in the least, in fact it's so '90s it's perfect.  The seller accepted my offer of $3.31, I'd say I got a real steal on this one.

So, does this buyback make the binder in slot 179?

"Not so fast!" exclaims Bill Wegman...

...well, actually, I did make this decision extremely quickly.  Sorry Bill, you simply ran up against a buzz-saw there.

Well, there's buyback number 999 for you.  Like the three that made the binder earlier this week, I don't expect this one to be vacated anytime soon.  I can almost guarantee that if the day ever comes where I finish the franken-set, this card will still be sitting in pocket 179!

Next up, buyback number 1,000 at long last.  It's a real whopper, featuring a guy with better career numbers than even Griffey, Jr.  Oh, and it's from the early '60s as well!  See you then!

Franken-set Progress:  545/792 (68%)
"Rejected" Buybacks:  454
Total Buybacks in Collection: 999