I saw these while I was looking around for the '64 coins and was instantly intrigued. I got 4 tins from 2 different sellers for about $5 each including shipping. Considering what you can pull, not bad at all.
Donruss Preferred was put out for 2 years, '97 and '98, and they are some great looking cards. In '97 the base cards were colored with bronze, silver, gold and platinum foil with each being respectively scarcer , while in '98 the base had a more uniform design. The main attraction for both sets however, was that you could pull cards made from solid silver, gold or platinum instead of card stock!
I was not lucky enough to pull one of those, but these cards are absolutely beautiful, so that was good enough. Let's check it out...
This is from the '97 set, Garett Anderson on the left and David Justice (back) on the right. Great looking cards, super shiny and they're textured, kindda. I'm not sure what to call it or how to explain it, but they're grooved/engraved almost. Very cool and it's evident that more than 2 seconds of fucking thought went behind the set.
This is the "National Treasures" subset featuring Hall of Fame caliber players. I have a knack for pulling Griffey cards. If there's a Griff to be pulled, I will get it. I'm not complaining, never will, but if you're a Griffey collector pass your unopened packs and boxes to me. You won't be let down...
Unfortunately, I seem to have that same knack for A-Roid. One difference: Ken Griffey Jr was a great personality and ambassador for the game. Alex Rodriguez is a piece of shit. I'll end there. This is from the "Staremasters" insert set #/1500. I created a "rule of thumb" for myself that any #d cards from the mid-late '90s, divide by 10 to estimate what the numbering may be today. So a 1,500 turns into 150. A 250 turns into a 25. You guys think this sounds about right?
Now we're looking at the '98 set from Preferred. I like the design better than the previous years, with the borders matching the teams colors. That same "etched" feeling is on these cards too and instead of the bronze silver, gold and platinum theme from the previous year, they switched to grandstand, mezzanine, club level, field box and executive suite.
The insert odds for both years are 1:4 tins, combined. So when I opened the first tin for '98, I pulled a "Preferred Power" of Dick-Wad. Then I opened the 2nd '98 and pulled 2 more PP and thought I really beat the odds for my 4 tins... untill I came to senses and realized they're simply just the subset for the year. Oh well, again great design, catches the eye and is super shiny.
At only 5 cards per tin and costing about $5 per tin (from what I've seen with what I bought and completed listings) it's a quick, cheap fix that has very little risk but a huge Huge HUGE reward potential. Can't really say that for any modern day "High End" shit that consistently costs close to $200 for the same about of cards with a 90% chance you're "hit" being of someone who will be out of baseball by the end of the year. I will definitely be picking more of these up when I get the chance!
(...Joe)
Very cool. I'd like to get some of those now too.
ReplyDelete