And So It Begins...

Let's start things off right shall we?

A nice clean unopened box of 1997 Metal Universe!




Basic info: Hobby, 24 packs, 8 cards per pack

What we're chasing: "Mother Lode" insert. (1:288 packs)

What we're avoiding: "Emerald Autographs" (1:20 boxes)

Seems strange that we'd want to avoid an Auto set, right? Well not when you take into consideration that all the cards were seeded as "exchange" cards by a company that has since gone bankrupt. Let's keep our fingers crossed!!!


When I was picking out boxes for this, I wanted ones that really had a good solid design for the base cards and inserts alike. Also, boxes form back in the day when pulling an insert was EXCITING as opposed to annoying.

I took some pictures (not very good ones) of some of the "highlights" including all the inserts. I'll provide a complete list sorted by team at the end of the post. Let's get started!




Coming in the first pack we get a Griffey! Nice. Unknown fact, I have more Ken Griffey Jr. cars then I do Mike Piazza cards. True story. I don't even collect the guy! I just happen to pull cards of him left and right. Not complaining though...



Also coming in the first pack, a James Baldwin card. Look closer though. See that? It's a giant spider web with said giant spider creeping in towards the frame. A fucking *giant* spider! Not a good omen...

Next up, we'll look at the inserts.




Derek Jeter and Kenny Lofton "Magnetic Field" (1:12 packs)
This is an insert set that focuses on "Gold Glove" fielders. Super shiny, super trippy, super Awesome!




Vlad and Nomar (not spelling out their names, sorry) "Mining for Gold" (1:9 packs)
Pretty cool set. The cards are cut to *I assume* like gold nuggets. Featuring all young prospects type players, we did good and pulled arguably the two best. Based on the odds though, we lost out on one. Oh, well.

Moving back to the base...


Rey Ordonez. Back in the days when here wore #0. Pretty sure this interests only me so...



Cal Ripkin Jr. repinn' the O's. Notice his pose as he's being held down by that T-Rex. Pretty sure this didn't hurt him, as the man was made of iron. Get it? haha Weeeeee...



Tony Gwynn BATtling off the BATS with his BAT!

zoom zoom zoom

Damn, I'm on a roll. NEXT!



Derek Jeter flying through the air with a bunch of fighter jets. Yup, I got nothing for this...



Julio Franco. Extremely underrated as far as I'm concerned. I don't think he'll be voted into the Hall by the writers, but I can see him getting voted in by the Veterans Committee.



Craig Biggio. Another fucking spider card. Great, awesome, thanks...



Last Met card, I promise. I'm not sure if you can make it out, but that's a Hawk chillin' on his arm. How badass is that!?!?

Gilkey: "Sup Hawk, 'scoin on?
Hawk: "Not much, just being nuts."
Gilkey: "Def. Hey, you know I gotta swing the bat right?"
Hawk: "Sure do, I'm just gonna chill here for a bit. It's what I do it's kindda my thang."



"Laaaaarrrrryyyyyyyyy" "Larrrrryyyyyyyy" Apparently that never bothered him. Oh well.



Brain Jordan. An extremely cool card. The bats in like, a million pieces! I think this might be my favorite we pulled.



Why am I posting a picture of Ricky Otero on my page? Because I can. Next!



OK, let me break this down for you. Barry Larkin is ravaging a nest full of dinosaur eggs while giant pissed off dinosaur is standing not only behind him, but over him. Only in a Metal Universe could something like this happen...

I'm gonna end it there before it gets out of control. I apologize for the late post, but the Met game was on, so yeah. haha Hopefully you guys liked what you got, if not then we stil have 5 more boxes to go!!!

(...Joe)

I'm considering the Brewers to be an NL team. It helps make my brain not catch fire...
NL
East
Mets- Bernard Gilkey
Rey Ordonez
Bobby Jones
Mark Clark
Lance Johnson
John Franco
Todd Hundley
Alex Ochoa

Marlins- Al Leiter
Jim Eisenreich
Kevin Brown
Charles Johnson
Jeff Conine
Greg Colbrunn
Devon White

Phillies- Ricky Otero
Wendell Magee Jr.
Scott Rolen
Mickey Morandini
Benito Santiago

Braves- Chipper Jones
Ryan Klesko
Fred McGriff
Marquis Grissom
Tom Glavine
Greg Maddux
Andruw Jones

Expos- Vladimir Guerrero "Mining for Gold"
Vladimir Guerrero
Mark Grudzielanek x2
Cliff Floyd
Moises Alou
Henry Rodriguez
Darrin Fletcher
Perdro Martinez
Jeff Fassero

Central:
Pirates- Orlando Merced
Francisco Cordova
Jeff King
Jason Kendall
Al Martin

Brewers: Jeff Cirillo
Ben McDonald
Jeff D'Amico
John Jaha x2
Marc Newfield
Scott Karl

Astros:Jeff Bagwell
Craig Biggio
Billy Wagner
Bobby Abreu
Darryl Kile
Brain L Hunter
Shane Reynolds x2
Orlando Miller
Derek Bell

Reds- Eric Davis
Barry Larkin
Reggie Sanders
Jeff Brantly
Hal Morris

Cardinals: Brain Jordan
Todd Stottlemyre
Tom Pagnozzi
Ray Lankford
Ron Gant
Dennis Eckersley
John Mabry
Andy Benes
Alan Benes

Cubs: Ryne Sandberg
Sammy Sosa
Brian McRae
Brant Brown
Steve Trachsel
Amaury Telemaco
Jaime Navarro

West
Rockies: Kevin Ritz
Andres Galarraga
Dante BichetteWalt Weiss
Vinny Castilla
Ellis Burks
Larry Walker

Giants: Barry Bonds
Bill Mueller
Mark Gardner

Dodgers: Raul Mondesi
Wilton Guerrero
Eric Karros
Todd Hollandsworth
Hideo NomoRamon Martinez

Padres: Tony Gwynn
Wally Joyner
Gregg Vaughn x2
Joey Hamilton
Steve Finley
Trevor Hoffman
Ken Caminiti

AL

EAST
Blue Jays: John Olerud
Robert Perez
Joe Carter
Juan Guzman

Orioles: Chris Hoiles
Rocky Coppinger
Rafael Palmero
Mike Mussina
Cal Ripken Jr.
Eddie Murray

Yankees: Derek Jeter "Magnetic Field"
Cecil Fielder
Mariano Rivera
Paul O'Neil
Dwight Gooden
David Cone
John Wetteland
Tino Martinez
Derek Jeter
Andy Pettitte

Red Sox: Nomar Garciaparra "Mining for Gold"
Jose Canseco
Nomar Garciaparra
Roger Clemens
Mike Stanley
John Valentin
Tim Naehring
Tom Gordon

CENTRAL
White sox: Ray Durham
Robin Ventura
Roberto Hernandez
Mike Cameron
Wilson Alvarez
James Baldwin
Alex Fernandez
Harold Baines

Indians: Kenny Lofton "Magentic Field"
Omar Vizquel
Julio Franco
Orel Hershiser
Charles Nagy
Jose Mesa
Kenny Lofton
Jack McDowell
Albert Bell

Tigers: Mark Lewis
Travis Fryman
Bob Higginson
Melvin Nieves


Twins: Terry Steinbach
Chuck Knoblauch
Pat Meares
Paul Molitor

Royals:
Johnny Damon
Craig Paquette
Keith Lockhart
Kevin Appier
Jeff Montgomery
Tom Goodwin

WEST
Rangers:Dean Palmer
Ivan Rodriguez
Roger Pavlik
Rusty Greer
Mark McLemore
Ken Hill
Juan Gonzalez

A's: Scott Brosius
Geronimo Berroa
Jason Giambi
John Wasdin
Terry Steinbach
Mark McGwire x2

Mariners: Edgar Martinez
Paul Sorrento
Alex Rodriguez
Randy Johnson
Sterling Hitchcock
Jay Buhner
Ken Griffey Jr.

Angels: Darin Erstad
Gary DiSarcina
Chuck Finley
Chili Davis
Tim Salmon
J.T Snow