Card Show Part Three: the Side Deal

Right around the time I started up the blog, I picked up a couple packs of 1995 Topps Stadium Club.

The vendor tried to sell me the whole box of packs, and offered a really good price - but I passed on the deal.

Fast forward a couple months and I was ready to break up some boxes and do a group trade. I went back to the vendor and asked about the box, hoping to add it in to the break.

Well, of course he didn't bring the box to that show, since no one bought it after bringing it to several shows.

I asked him if he had anything else like it, and he said had a bunch of things and would bring them to the next show.

I ended up missing the next show, didn't see his table the following month... and then I took my road trip after that. I pretty much forgot about the boxes, even though I bought things from the vendor at each show I went to along the way.

The vendor is a Peyton Manning super collector, so I had been picking up a few here and there and set the stack aside.

At the Show on Saturday, I ran into the guy again. He didn't have a table set up,  but he did have some things set aside for me. Amazingly, I had decided to toss the Manning cards into my bag before I left for the show.

Here's the box he saved for me:

Two boxes of 1995 Topps Stadium Club foil packs

one box of 1995 TSC rack packs

one box of 1998 Topps

one box of 1998 UD collector's choice

one box of 1996 Flair

He also included a small stack of Donruss Diamond Kings from the 2000s:

I asked him how much he wanted for the box and I jumped at his offer - always nice when you can find a number that works for both parties!

I'm going to have a blast breaking open these packs -- I might do a slightly modified group trade... if we've traded before and there's a similar gap in your collection, let me know what cards / teams you might be looking for. I'm sure I will have doubles in the 95 stadium Club, and who knows what will happen with the 98 Topps...

Topps Stadium Club 2014 vs. 1995

Here is another probably irregular feature on The Old Arbitrary: comparing one product 19 years apart.

Today I'm looking at Topps Stadium Club. I got a deal on a 2014 minibox at last week's card show in Mounds View. This week at the Valley West show, a vendor had a ton of "vintage" packs, including these 1995 Stadium Club series 1 and 2 for 50 cents each.

Cost:
1995: 14 cards per pack, 4 packs (56 cards) for $2.00

2014: 5 cards per pack, 6 packs (one autograph card, 30 cards total) for $28.00

Not surprisingly, the new product is more expensive. I don't recall how much these packs cost in 1995, but it was definitely more than 50 cents. 2014 has an on card autograph in every box, though.
Advantage: 1995

Base cards:
1995:

2014:

The only thing that can beat Stadium Club photography is more Stadium Club photography. While the gimmicky poses are fun, they are really cheesy and so '90s. 2014 is a cleaner classy look and the photography is top notch.
Advantage: 2014

Card backs:
1995: Very 90s, video game style bar charts (Topps skills rating system), two more player photos, busy busy busy, and yet, no career stat line.

2014: A fairly clean look, with a background image of home plate, reminiscent of the first few editions of the product. Shows 2013 stats for active players and career stats for all.

Advantage: 2014

Inserts:
1995: Virtual Reality, Best Seat in the House, Cover Story, Statistical Extreme

2014: Luminous, On Card Auto, Field Access, Legends

I only listed inserts that were in the packs I opened, I'm sure there are more. What is the difference between the "Virtual Reality" insert and a regular base card? Not much. "Statistical Extreme" is very 1995 Fleer. I kind of hate die-cut cards- I'm always worried they will get dinged up, but I do really like the Rickey Henderson card I pulled.
Advantage: tie, because inserts

Hall of Famers:

1995: Greg Maddux, Ozzie Smith

2014: Ozzie Smith, Rickey Henderson, Duke Snider, Lou Gehrig, Ernie Banks, Bob Feller, George Brett

Really not a fair fight, as 2014 has a ton of retired players from all eras. Projecting the active players I pulled from 2014, probably David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre, Clayton Kershaw are the most likely. The Wizard wins the no-prize for being in packs from both sets.
Advantage: 2014

Twins:

1995: Alex Cole - hit his first career home run in 94 (it was his 1,317th MLB at bat), was a decent speedy CF in 1994. He came up with Cleveland, was an original Rockie, wore turtlenecks and shades, but didn't last much longer after that season and a half with the Twins.

2014: Joe Mauer - That's kind of a stupid looking hat, Joe. Good thing you've won an MVP and three batting titles, because otherwise I was leaning towards the turtle.
Advantage: 2014

Overall:
Have to say that as much fun as it was to open the 1995 packs, I don't miss the '90s that much. The 2014 Stadium Club might be my favorite version of the product since 1992. The first few years of Stadium Club were a revelation. 1994 and 1995 seemed to be starting a slide of the whole hobby into some really unnecessary inserts and parallels.
Winner: 2014

Where would you rank 1995 Stadium Club?