The Dirty Dozen: 1999 Topps Gold Label

Well, that last pack sucked. Let's see if I can get some of that MOJO!!!! back in the second half of the dirty dozen.

Topps Gold Label was a blatant ripoff of Flair Showcase. The 300-card base set was fractured into three 100-card "classes" (sound familiar?), with the Class Two and Class Three cards short-printed and seeded into packs at the rate of 1:2 and 1:4, respectively. There are two parallels: Black and Red, with the C2 and C3 versions rarer than the C1s. All-in-all, there are three different cards of each player, and three different versions of each card for a grand total of nine.

But wait, that's not all! Another way Topps ripped off Flair Showcase was in the use of one-of-one parallels. Like Flair, there are ones-of-one for each Class. But unlike Flair, they also made ones-of-one for all the Blacks and Reds as well.

Base:
The back of each card has a paragraph called "Imprint on the Game."

Roberto Alomar (Class One)
"Roberto and brother Sandy live by the words of their grandma. `Make your mother and father proud.' In 1998, Roberto won MVP honors at the All-Star Game, one year after Sandy took the prize. Mom and Pop beamed with pride."

Todd Walker (C1)
"Batting .194 with the Twins on May 24, 1997, Walker was optioned to Calgary. But instead of sulking, he persevered. Big Time. Todd rapped .345 at Salt Lake to earn a September call-up, then hit .364 the rest of the way."

Wait, wait. I thought he was optioned to Calgary? What's this Salt Lake bullshit?

Pat Da Bat (C1, ROOKIE)

OH HELLS YEAH!!! AN RC OF PAT DA BAT BURRELL!!!!

And it's a "true" rookie no less! I'm better feeling already.

"`Pat the Bat' displayed his incredible maturity as a Miami (FL) freshman batting an NCAA-leading .484 with 23 homers. Unfazed by the pressure of the year's College World Series, he rapped .500 and was named the tourney MVP."

John C-3POlerud

WTF?? ANOTHER C-3POLERUD CARD????

"Months after undergoing brain surgery, Olerud made his pro/MLB debut with Toronto in 1989 -- but he had to wear a helmet even on defense. Overcoming fears of a beaning, John developed into a batting champ in 1993 (.363)"

Parallel:
Class One Black (1:8) Phat Albert Belle
"A former Boy Scout, Belle has spent hundreds of hours talking to kids about the importance of education and having good values. He is also extremely generous to charities. `I feel blessed I can help,' he said."

I am a little better feeling with the Burrell RC, but another C-3POlerud? Jesus H. Christ, how many more C-3POlerud's can a collector stand?

I am feeling a bit of sympathy for the geek who had to write the back of that Albert Belle card.

The Dirty Dozen: 1999 Bowman's Best

Ah yes, Bowman's Best. One of the great products of the 90s; ruined by gimmicks in the 00s. But will a pack of the 1999 edition make me "better feeling?"

The 200 card base set is divided into four color-coordinated subsets: 85 Veterans, 15 Best Performances, 50 Prospects, and 50 "Rookies" which are short-printed and seeded at the rate of one-per-pack.

Being that this is a Bowman brand, there are a shitload of rookie cards and the 1999 class was one of the best in recent years. Amongst the RCs are Cap'n Cheeseburger, Matt Holliday, Alfonso Soriano, Brad Lidge, and Pat Da Bat. Unfortunately, being that this is a Bowman brand, for every CC, Holliday, and Pat Da Bat, there's an equal chance of getting Mike Nannini, Eric Valent, or Masao Kida.

In addition to the usual Refractors (and their inbred cousin the "Atomic Refractor"), you also have an outside shot at an autograph of Michael Jack Schmidt, Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, Pat Da Bat and others.

Let 'er rip!

Base:
Matt Clement
This card is from the sliver-bordered prospect subset. Clement was a third round pick of the Padres in '93 who went on to have a respectable nine-year career. Last seen with the '06 Red Sox.

John C-3POlerud
Each of the gold-bordered veterans has a "Best Against/Career" blurb. From the back of C-3POlerud's card, we find that he was 10-for-13 with a 1.308 SLG against Mark Leiter; 8-for-15 with 2 HR off Darryl Kile; and 6-for-8 against Brian Meadows.



Another C-3POlerud!!!!!
NO!!!!!!!!!!!

I'VE BEEN BIPPED!!!!!

Tom Glavine
Tom was 0-for-16 (with 5 SOs) against Al Martin; and went 1-for-23 against both Rey Sanchez and Brad Ausmus.

Kevin Brown
Mark McGwire: .156, 1 HR, 15 SOs in 45 ABs
Eric Davis: 0-for-11, 5 SOs
Bill Mueller: 1-for-12

Giuseppe Chiaramonte (RC, 1:1)
My one-per-pack "rookie" is a catcher who was drafted in the 5th round of the '97 draft, topped out at AAA Fresno, and never played a game in the Majors. For all you Joe Collectors who bitch and complain about the MLBPA's "Rookie Card" rules, I present Giuseppe Chiaramonte.

God what a shit pack. A "Rookie" of a catcher who never played a game in The Bigs, and two C-3POleruds. This has not made me "better feeling."

The Dirty Dozen: 1999 Topps Stars

Topps Stars was one of those products that, when it was first introduced in 1997, actually seemed to serve a purpose -- which is more than you can say for many of the other products that debuted in '97 (i.e. Pinnacle Inside, UD3, Donruss Preferred, Topps Screenplays). Topps Stars was what The Hobby needed in '97; a moderately priced, Hobby-only, collectible product. (Come to think about it, The Hobby could use a product like 1997 Topps Stars now.)

The problem was, Topps could keep well enough alone and in ensuing years meddled around with it. The 1998 version had every card (base set, parallel, and insert) serial numbered. When that didn't work, they came up with another gimmick for the '99 version.

The 1999 Topps Stars set was 180 cards -- 150 player cards with two subsets. Good enough, right? This is where it gets a little crazy, so bear with me.

There are four pseudo-parallel "Star" inserts; each progressively smaller and scarcer, with each photo cropped closer and closer as you move up the star scale. Then, there's a foil parallel that includes not only the base set, but also the Star cards. And as you would expect, the Foil Stars are also progressively scarce. Got all that? There will be a quiz later on.

Each six-card waxpack contained two base cards, two one-star and one two-star inserts, and either another base card, a foil parallel, a three or four-star insert or a non-star insert.

Base:
Matt Clement
Ray Durham

The backs of each base card lists the player's skills on a zero-to-four star scale.

Parallel:
Foil (1:15, numbered to 299): Ray Lankford

Inserts:
One Star (2:1): Scott Rolen, NOE-MAH!!!
Two Star (1:1): Brad Fullmer

The backs of each One Star card lists the player's career highlights, while the Two Star has a summary of his 1998 season.

Believe it or not, I need the Ray Durham base card for my complete set -- the first card I pulled so far that's actually on my wantlist. So I guess I am "better feeling." Just a bit though.