My Greg Maddux Collection

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1 9 9 9 - 2025

Stories from the Game by MLB writer Richard Justice:

We might have to call an ambulance.

"This one has become part of Maddux folklore, although it’s not clear whether he was pitching for the Braves or Cubs at the

time - As the story goes, Maddux watched a couple of infielder Jose Hernandez’s swings and then noticed he’d made an adjustment in his stance.

“We might have to call an ambulance for the first-base coach,” Maddux said.

On the next pitch, Hernandez ripped a foul ball that hit Dodgers first-base coach John Shelby in the chest.

Years later, Hall of Famer John Smoltz said there were four occasions one season when Maddux, sitting in the dugout, said: “This guy is about to hit a foul ball in here.”

Three times, the hitter did just that.

1 9 9 9

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BOWMAN:

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# 10

# 10 - INTERNATIONAL PARALLEL

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BOWMAN'S BEST:

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# 67

# 93 (Best Performers)

MIRROR IMAGE REFRACTOR # M5 (with Bruce Chen - Braves)

Each Mirror Image insert is also available in a Refractor and Atomic Refractor parallel.

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BOWMAN - CHROME:

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# 10

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FLEER - BRILLIANTS:

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One of my favorite sets, 1999 Fleer Brilliants is a 175-card set issued in June 1999. The last fifty cards make-up a short-printed "Rookie" subset. Each card is printed on a 24-point styrene plastic stock and coated with "mirroring" mylar foil.

# 95

# 95-B BLUE PARALLEL

All 175 cards are available in the following parallels:

Blue
Gold (serial-numbered to 99 copies)
24K Gold (serial-numbered to 24 copies)

SHINING STARS # 12 of 15-SS

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FLEER - FLAIR SHOWCASE:

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1999 Flair Showcase is a 432-card set released by Fleer. Like with previous Flair Showcase sets, each of the 144 players in the set were featured on different levels/"Rows", which each Row featuring a unique front design:

Row 3: "Power" design
Row 2: "Passion" design
Row 1: "Showcase" design

The Row 3 cards were easiest to find, while the Row 1 cards were the toughest.

Each "Row" was then subdivided into

Showpiece: Black and white background, portrait picture, yellow banner
Showtime: Team-colored background, full-body picture, grey banner
Showdown: Team-colored wave background, full-body picture, silver banner

Each of the 144 players in the set had one card in each of the three rows, with a specifically assigned card back design per Row, meaning each player had 3 base cards total. The "Seat" number on the back represented the card number in the set.

ROW - 2 / SEAT - 31 - SHOWCASE - PASSION DESIGN - SHOWDOWN

ROW - 3 / SEAT - 31 - SHOWTIME - POWER DESIGN - SHOWTIME

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FLEER - MYSTIQUE:

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'99 Fleer Mystique was a 160-card set released exclusively to Hobby outlets in August 1999. Each four-card pack included one card covered on both sides with a blue, opaque, sticker which had to be peeled off to reveal what it was (hence the name "Mystique"). Peel off cards were either short-printed super stars from the basic set (#1-#100), a serial-numbered Prospect (#101-#150), a serial-numbered Super Star card (#151-#160), or a serial-numbered insert card. For obvious reasons, the Fresh Ink autographs and Feel the Game game-used cards are not covered.

Mystique is notable for it was the first baseball card set that combined an ample number of "true" rookie cards with the scarcity (by late-90s standards) serial-numbering. While other products of the era had short-printed base cards, many of these sets did not have SPed rookies -- or if they did, the "rookies" were often cards of players whose "true" RC was in a previous year's release. The concept of base sets with serial-numbered RCs would be a feature part of most early 2000s card sets.

# 81 (SP)

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FLEER/SKYBOX - EX CENTURY:

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# 14

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FLEER/SKYBOX - METAL UNIVERSE:

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For the first time since the brand was introduced in '96, base card backgrounds were the same for every player and did not feature a space or fantasy comic book theme (Marvel Entertainment had put its Fleer/Skybox division on the market in late 1998, with the sale closing shortly after this product's release). Instead, card backgrounds all resembled a piece of sheet metal featuring the player's name. All cards are printed on embossed etched foil and were highly susceptible to chipping along the edges and were marked as "condition sensitive" by Beckett, just like the 1996-1998 sets.

In an effort to appeal to a non-traditional demographic, Fleer reoriented all their Skybox brands (E-X, Metal, Molten Metal, Skybox Premium, and Skybox Thunder) toward a younger audience. The language used on card backs has not aged well (pretty goofy, really).

# 215

# 243 (Caught on the Fly)

# 291 (MLPD)

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FLEER/SKYBOX - MOLTEN METAL:

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# 136 (Supernatural)

# 136 - (XPLOSION METAL)

Xplosion is a full parallel of the base set printed on metal with rounded corners

TITANIUM SUPERNATURAL FUSION # 36F - Numbered 19/50

Fusion is a laser-cut set that partially-parallels the base set's last 50 cards. Cards #1-30 parallel the Heavy Metal subset (cards #101-#130), while #31-#50 reprint the Supernatural subset. Like in the base set, the Supernatural cards are short-printed in comparison to the Heavy Metal cards.

Each card is also available in the following serial-numbered parallels.

Fusion Sterling (serial-numbered to 500 copies)
Fusion Titanium (serial-numbered to 50 copies)

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FLEER/SKYBOX - PREMIUM:

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# 140

# 284 (Spring Fling)

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FLEER/SKYBOX - THUNDER:

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# 274

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FLEER - SPORTS ILLUSTRATED:

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This would be the third and final year for this brand.

# 7 (Post Season Review - Braves vs. Cubs)

# 16 (1998 Award Winners: ERA LEADERS with Roger Clemens - Blue Jays)

# 153

HEADLINERS # 19 of 25-HL

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FLEER - TRADITION:

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# 49

# 49 - VINTAGE '61 PARALLEL

DIAMOND MAGIC # 10 of 15 - DM

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FLEER - ULTRA:

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# 1

# 217 - SHORTPRINT (Season Crowns)

DAMAGE INC. # 2 of 15 DI

THE BOOK ON # 14 of 20 - BO

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FROZSNACKS:

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I'm not able to find a lot of information on these - they're round lids from an ice cream product, and were listed as

"GREEN DISC HIGH SCREAMERS" - It features Greg on the front w/bio information, and on the back, I find

"DELICIOUSLY LOW-FAT ICE CREAM DESSERTS - THE OFFICIAL MLBPA BIG LEAGUER COLLECTION SERIES".

The company claims this snack is "The Player's Choice"...and maybe it is. Cool piece of oddball memorabilia!

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HASBRO/STARTING LINEUP FIGURE & CARD:

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NNO

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PACIFIC:

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# 36

# 36 - HEADSHOT VARIATION SHORT PRINT

DYNAGON DIAMOND # 11

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PACIFIC - AURORA:

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# 20

PENNANT FEVER # 2

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PACIFIC CROWN:

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# 28

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PACIFIC CROWN ROYALE:

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Crown Royale is a 144-card, all-die-cut, set released in September 1999.

# 16

MASTER PERFORMERS # 2 of 20

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PACIFIC - INVINCIBLE:

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As with previous years, each base card has a translucent "window" embedded into the card.

All 150 base cards are also available in the following parallels.

Red
Opening Day (serial-numbered to 69 copies)
Platinum Blue (serial-numbered to 67 copies)

# 17 - BASE

SANDLOT HEROES # 3 (Pitching)

There are two versions of each player's Sandlot Heroes insert card -- both are produced in equal quantities.

SEISMIC FORCE # 3 (Headshot Pose)

SEISMIC FORCE # 3 (Pitching)

Like with the Sandlot Heroes, there are two versions of each player's Seismic Force insert card, an portrait and an action photo. Both are produced in equal quantities.

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PACIFIC - OMEGA:

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# 26

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PACIFIC - PARAMOUNT:

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# 28

# 28 - COPPER PARALLEL

# 28 - PACIFIC SPORTSFEST PHILADELPHIA (Stamped)

FIELDER'S CHOICE # 2 of 20

PERSONAL BESTS # 5 of 36

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PACIFIC - PRISM:

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# 16

DIAMOND GLORY # 4

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PACIFIC - PRIVATE STOCK:

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# 11

# 11 - PLATINUM PARALLEL - Numbered 8/199

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PACIFIC REVOLUTION:

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# 15

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TOPPS:

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# 16

# 16 - MVP PROMOTION CARD PARALLEL

MVP is a 416-card partial-parallel to the regular Topps set - The front of the card features the same photo as the basic issue card but is adorned with a bold gold foil MVP Promotion logo. The back features contest guidelines for the Topps MVP Promotion. Note that some MVP Promotion cards did not feature the gold foil MVP Promotion stamp on the front - specifically, some of the Strikeout King and All-Star subsets and the S2 Draft Picks and Prospects subsets are missing the stamp.

Only 100 of each MVP Promotion card was produced.

# 231 (League Leaders)

# 460 ('98 All-Topps Pitchers: Maddux/Clemens/Wood)

ALL-TOPPS MYSTERY FINEST:

# M33 - (1998 All-Topps Pitchers: Maddux/Clemens/Wood)

All-Topps Mystery Finest is a 33-card set featuring 11 three-player positional groupings from the All-Topps subset printed using Finest technology. All three players are printed on the back, but the collector has to peel off the opaque protector to reveal who is on the front - Each card is also available in a Refractor parallel.

ALL-TOPPS MYSTERY FINEST - REFRACTOR:

# M33 (SEE SPEC ABOVE)

LORDS OF THE DIAMOND # LD-15

OVERSIZED PARALLEL:

# 2 (Series-1)

Inserted one per Home Team Advantage and one per Hobby box, these cards feature 16 of the leading players in an oversized parallel version. The photos are the same as the regular Topps cards - Cards were numbered with A and B prefixes to denote series one versus series two distribution as both series are sequentially numbered 1-8. Series Two cards are numbered "X of 8."

PICTURE PERFECT # P-5

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TOPPS - CHROME:

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# 16

# 231 (League Leaders)

# 460 (All-Topps Pitchers with Roger Clemens/Kerry Wood

FORTUNE 15 # FF-9

LORDS OF THE DIAMOND # LD-15

LORDS OF THE DIAMOND REFRACTOR # LD-15

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TOPPS - FINEST:

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# 100 (UER)

# 120 - (GEMS - SP)

# 262 - (STERLING - SP)

PEEL & REVEAL:

All cards in this acetate set came covered with an opaque coating on both sides of the card that must be peeled off. Each card is available in the following parallels.

Sparkle (common)
Hyperplaid (uncommon)
Stadium Star (rare)

SILVER SPARKLE # PR6

SPLIT SCREEN:

This 14-card set features two players paired together on the same card and printed using a "split Refractor" technology. On half the cards, the player on the left is refracting and the player on the right is not - the opposite for the other half. There are no "plain vanilla" non-refracting cards - In addition, there is also a "full Refractor" parallel.

# SS11 - REFRACTOR (with Tom Glavine (Glavine non-refractor side)

# SS11 - (Maddux non-refractor side) - Tom Glavine REFRACTOR

# SS11 REFRACTOR Maddux & Glavine

TEAM FINEST:

BLUE PARALLEL # TF1 - Numbered 276/1500

RED PARALLEL # TF1 - Numbered 459/500

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TOPPS - GALLERY:

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# 9

# 114 - SHORT PRINT

EXHIBITIONS # E3

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TOPPS - GOLD LABEL:

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The checklist for all three Classes is the same; however, only Class 1 cards are considered "true" rookie cards. Also, unlike

the previous year's product, the reverse side of each card indicates the card's Class. To distinguish between the Classes, each Class 1 card has the player's team logo in the background. Class 2 shows the team's hat logo, while Class 3 has the team wordmark. Other than the Class indicator, the back side of each player's cards are identical.

# 72 - CLASS 1 (Team Logo)

# 72 - CLASS 2 (Hat Logo)

# 72 - CLASS 3 (Team Wordmark - Braves)

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TOPPS - OPENING DAY:

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# 11

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TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB:

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# 100

CHROME PARALLEL # SCC-29 (Parallel to # 100)

This 40-card partial-parallel set uses chromium technology which gives the cards the shimmering metallic light of fresh steel. All cards are also available as Refractors.

NEVER COMPROMISE # NC-4

TRIUMVIRATE - LUMINOUS # T-11A

This 48-card set features photos printed on cards made to fit together to form eight different long cards. Cards T1-T8 were in Series One packs, while cards T9-T16 were Series Two.

Each card is available in three versions: Luminous - Luminescent - Illuminator

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TOPPS - STARS:

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# 51 (Base)

# 51 (1-Star Silver)

# 51 - Numbered 214/299 (1 Star Foil)

# 151 (Luminaries)

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TOPPS - STARS N STEEL:

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1999 Topps Stars 'n Steel is a 44-card set printed on .25-gauge metal "cards."

# 38

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TOPPS - TEK:

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1999 Topps TEK (stylized in CAPS) is a massive 2700-card set released exclusively to Hobby stores participating in Topps' Home Team Advantage program.

Each of the 45 players has two cards: Card "A" depicts the player in his home uniform, while card "B" shows him in his "Away" jersey. Each of the 90 cards has 30 patterns (down from 90 in 1998) for a grand total of 2700 unique cards. Each card is sequentially numbered twice: First by card number then by pattern number.

Boy O Boy - Good luck finding all of these!

# 43A - Pattern 05

# 43B - Pattern 08

# 43B - Pattern 30

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UPPER DECK:

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# 308 (All-Star Game)

10th ANNIVERSARY TEAM # X20 of 30

FORTE # F-4 (Blue)

TEXTBOOK EXCELLENCE # T 2

TEXTBOOK EXCELLENCE # T 2 - DOUBLE - Numbered 896/2000

VIEW TO A THRILL # V5 of 30

Each View to a Thrill is also available in the following parallels: Double (serial-numbered to 2000 copies) - Triple (serial-numbered to 100 copies) - Quadruple (serial-numbered to ten)

WONDER YEARS # WY-17 of 30

Each Wonder Years insert is also available in the following parallels - Double (serial-numbered to 2000 copies) - Triple (serial-numbered to 50 copies) - Home Run (one-of-one)

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UPPER DECK - BLACK DIAMOND:

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Each base card is available in one of three "Diamond" parallels: Double, Triple, and Quadruple. Each is serial numbered to the following production figures EXCEPT the cards of Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Mark McGwire.

Double (Red foil): short set, 3000; Debuts, 2500
Triple (Yellow foil): short set, 1500; Debuts, 1000
Quadruple (Green foil): short set, 150; Debuts, 100

# 9 (Base)

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UPPER DECK - CENTURY LEGENDS:

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Century Legends is a skip-numbered 131-card set released in June 1999. One of the more popular and influential products of the era, Century Legends was one of the first products to combine current players with retired Hall of Famers.

# 39 (The Sporting News Top 50 Players of All Time)

# 58 (Top 50 Contemporaries)

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UPPER DECK - CHOICE (UDC) PREVIEW:

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UD Choice Preview is a 55-card, skip-numbered, set. Released 2 months before '99 UD Choice, the sole difference between the two products is the word "PREVIEW" stamped onto the front of each card. There were no inserts, parallels, or other chase cards.

# 56 - PREVIEW

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UPPER DECK - CHOICE (UDC):

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Here's the set previewed above - a 155-card, single-series, set. Even though it is labeled as "Series One" on the packaging, this was the only series as Series Two was never released, as this would be the final Collector's Choice/UD Choice set released by Upper Deck as it was replaced by Upper Deck MVP as their low-price brand.

# 35 (Cover Glory)

# 56 (Parallel to the Preview Card Above)

BLOWUPS - PRIME CHOICE RESERVE BASE PARALLEL # 10

There are two separate ten-card 5" X 7" over-sized partial-parallels - the base parallel & the Cover Glory subset - each was available via a wrapper redemption offer.

OPENING SEASON SUPERSTARS # S-10

STARQUEST SET:

BLUE PARALLEL # SQ11 of 30 (1 Star)

GREEN PARALLEL # SQ11 of 30 (2 Stars)

RED PARALLEL # SQ11 of 30 (3 Stars)

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UPPER DECK - ENCORE:

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# 7

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UPPER DECK - HOLOGrFX:

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# 7

# 7 - AUSOME PARALLEL

FUTURE FAME # F-5

STARVIEW # 6

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UPPER DECK - IONIX:

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# 6

# R 65 - TECNO SUBSET

All cards from the Techno subset are erroneously numbered with an "R" subset, as if they were a Reciprocal parallel. These were all uncorrected errors.

HYPER # H-4

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UPPER DECK - MVP:

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# 17

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UPPER DECK - OVATION:

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Ovation is a 90-card set released in the late-Spring of 1999. The set consists of a 60-card short set designed to look and feel like a baseball - One of my favorite sets!

# 45

CURTAIN CALLS # R 12

MAJOR PRODUCTION # S-14

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UPPER DECK - POWERDECK:

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Power Deck features both digital CD-ROMs as well as more standard "paper" cards.

Each CD-ROM, which is die-cut to the size of a standard 2.5" X 3.5" trading card, has game clips, sounds, photos and career highlights of the featured players and can be played on almost any computer...

The downside is that many "modern" desktops no longer have CD players...

The checklist of CD-ROMs and paper cards (called "Auxiliary") are identical.

# AUX-8 (Card)

# AUX-8 (CD ROM)

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UPPER DECK - RETRO:

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# 7

THROWBACK ATTACK # T-7

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UPPER DECK - SP AUTHENTIC:

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# 8

CHIROGRAPHY AUTOGRAPH # GM

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UPPER DECK - SPx:

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# 17

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UPPER DECK - ULTIMATE VICTORY:

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Ultimate Victory was produced by Upper Deck and released exclusively to The Hobby in late 1999. Ultimate Victory was UD's first attempt at a Topps Chrome-like parallel brand - The base set is 180 cards, all based on the design of that year's Victory set. The first 120 cards make up the short-set, and there are two 30-card, short-printed subsets.

# 12

STAT[URE] # S-6

ULTIMATE COMPETITORS # U-4 of 12

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UPPER DECK - VICTORY:

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# 31

# 455 (Rookie Flashbacks)

1999 STATS: BRAVES

WON-19 // LOST-9 // ERA-3.57

Gold Glove

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2 0 0 0

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BOWMAN:

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# 103

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BOWMAN'S BEST:

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All Base Cards are Refractors...

# 75

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BOWMAN CHROME:

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# 103 - RETRO/FUTURE PARALLEL

METEORIC RISE # MR-9 of 10

METEORIC RISE REFRACTOR # MR-9 of 10

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FLEER - FOCUS:

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# 158

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FLEER - GAMERS:

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# 31

# 31 - EXTRA PARALLEL

Cards feature a gold foil background rather than the silver foil featured in the base set.

DETERMINED # 7 of 15-D

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FLEER - IMPACT:

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# 192

NNO - (Braves Tattoos)

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FLEER - MYSTIQUE:

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# 24

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FLEER - SHOWCASE:

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# 58

CONSUMATE PROSE # CP 9 of 45

CONSUMATE PROSE # CP 9 of 45 (ODDBALL PARALLEL)

(This card is larger than then the normal 2 1/2 x 3 1/2-inch trading card.

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FLEER - SKYBOX:

________________________________

Fleer discontinued the Skybox brand after these 2000 releases...

# 17

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FLEER - SKYBOX DOMINION:

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# 141

DOUBLE PLAY # 6 of 10-DP (with Roger Clemens - Yankees)

Each Double Play is also available in a "Plus" and "Warp Tek" parallel - OF WHICH I HAVE NONE - HELP!

EYE ON OCTOBER # 7 of 15-EO

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FLEER - SKYBOX E-X:

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# 16

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FLEER - SKYBOX METAL:

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Metal (the "Universe" moniker was dropped due to the re-branding effort that started with the '99 product), was a 250-card single-series set produced by Fleer/Skybox and released in March 2000. Notably, this was the final year for the Metal brand in baseball as Fleer discontinued the Skybox brand name.

# 105

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FLEER - TRADITION:

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Fleer Tradition is a 450-card, single-series set, released in February 2000. Printed on a gray cardstock and a design reminiscent of the '54 Topps baseball set, 2000 Fleer Tradition ushered-in the wave of "Retro"-themed products like Topps Heritage and

Allen & Ginter that drove the hobby in the 2000s.

# 16 (League Leaders/Wins with Mike Hampton & Jose Lima - Astros)

# 57

HALL'S WELL # 7 of 15-HW

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FLEER - ULTRA:

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# 230

#230-G GOLD MEDALLION PARALLEL

DIAMOND MINE # 1 of 15 - DM

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MLB SHOWDOWN:

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Released in April 2000 MLB Showdown is a collectible card game made by Wizards of the Coast.

The game simulates authentic Major League Baseball play, with randomness via a 20-sided die, player cards and strategy cards.

The outcome of an at-bat largely depends on the player cards.

The player whose pitcher is pitching that turn rolls a die to determine whether the batting player rolls on the pitcher's chart or the batter's chart. Each of the two charts has a list of possible results from the at-bat.

Cards from the first printing run are labeled 1st Edition, while cards from later print run are called "Unlimited" and do not have the 1st logo on the front. Got all that? Roll dem bones!

# 41 (1st Edition)

# 41 (Not 1st Edition)

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PACIFIC 2000:

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Pacific is a 500-card set released in December 1999. The base set consists of 450 players and 50 "Variation" cards. Unlike "gimmick" cards of future years, the Variations were printed in about the same quantity as any other base card.

A set is considered complete with all 50 Variations. Good luck with that.

# 42 (Action)

# 42 (Portrait)

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PACIFIC - AURORA:

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# 14

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PACIFIC - CROWN COLLECTION:

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All 300 base cards are available in the following parallels.

Holographic Purple (serial-numbered to 199 copies)
Platinum Blue (serial-numbered to 67 copies)
Premiere Date (serial-numbered to 27 copies)

# 25

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PACIFIC - CROWN ROYALE:

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# 16

FEATURE ATTRACTIONS # 5 of 25

PROOFS # 4

Proofs is a 36-card black-and-white partial-parallel. Also available is a parallel which is serial-numbered to 50 copies -- although, other than the serial number on the front, is indistinguishable from the "base" Proof.

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PACIFIC - INVINCIBLE:

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# 15

DIAMOND ACES # 2

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PACIFIC - OMEGA:

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# 15

NL CONTENDERS # 3

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PACIFIC - PARAMOUNT:

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All 250 base cards are available in the following parallels.

Copper (Hobby only)
Gold (retail only)
Green (exclusive to packs sold at 7-Eleven)
Holo Gold (serial-numbered to 199 copies; Retail only)
Holo Silver (serial-numbered to 99 copies; Hobby only)
Hold Green (serial-numbered to 99 copies; exclusive to packs sold at 7-Eleven)
Platinum Blue (serial-numbered to 67 copies)
Premiere Date (serial-numbered to 50 copies; Hobby only)

I NEED SO MANY OF THESE PARALLELS!!!!

# 24

SEASON IN REVIEW # 4

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PACIFIC - PRISM:

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# 14

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PACIFIC - PRIVATE STOCK:

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# 12

ARTIST'S CANVAS # 2

Each Artist's Canvas is also available in a one-of-one Proof parallel.

PS-2000 ACTION MINI # 2

PS-2000s are mini-sized and are made to look like a tobacco-era trading card.

PS-2000 - STARS MINI # 2 - Numbered 220/299

(This rare find was sent to me by Jack Standley from Palmyra, Wisconsin - former pitcher in college, and an all-around nice guy who saw on the 'net that I was a Maddux collector & thought I'd enjoy this - he was RIGHT!

R E S E R V E:

These hobby exclusives were printed on ultra-thin stock, and are devoid of photo or stats on the backs...

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PACIFIC - REVOLUTION:

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# 16

# 16 - SHADOW SERIES PARALLEL - Numbered 40/99

MLB GAME BALL SIGNATURES - Leather # 2 of 25

SEASON OPENER # 5 of 36

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PACIFIC - VANGUARD:

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Vanguard is a 100-card set released by Pacific Trading Cards in May 2000. This would be the only Vanguard set produced as Pacific would surrender their licenses at the end of the year.

# 56

GAME WORN JERSEY # 2

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TOPPS:

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# 425

# 425 - LIMITED EDITION PARALLEL

HANDS OF GOLD # HG-7

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TOPPS - CHROME:

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# 425

ALL TOPPS # AT1 - (All Topps NL Team)

TOPPS COMBOS REFRACTOR # TC2 (Braves Batter Bafflers: Glavine / Smoltz / Maddux / Millwood)

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TOPPS - FINEST:

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# 64

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TOPPS - GALLERY:

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# 84

# 105 (Master of the Game)

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TOPPS - GOLD LABEL:

__________________________________

# 2 - CLASS-1

# 2 - CLASS-2

# 2 - CLASS-3

THE TREASURY# T-14

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TOPPS - HD:

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HD is a 100-card set released in January 2000. Each card is printed on 50-point thick plastic stock.

# 58

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TOPPS - OPENING DAY:

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# 120

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TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB:

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# 150

CAPTURE THE ACTION # CA-5

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TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB CHROME:

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# 150

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TOPPS STARS:

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# 25

# 165 (Spotlights)

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TOPPS - TEK:

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Topps TEK is a 45-card set released in July 2000. This would be the final TEK set for 14 years...

Each card has four different photos with five distinct background patterns per photo for a total of 20.

Patterns #16-#20 are short-printed - Maddux being one of these!

PATTERNS KEY - CARDS # 1 THRU 5:

(1) MLB Logo

(2) Players Inc. Logo

(3) American/National League

(4) Wordmark

(5) Hat Logo

PATTERN # 16-2 - Players Inc. Logo

PATTERNS KEY - CARDS # 6 THRU 10:

(6) Team Logo

(7) Hometown

(8) Signature

(9) Winning/Slugging Percentage

(10) Position

PATTERN # 16-7 - Hometown

PATTERN # 16-8 - Signature

PATTERNS KEY - CARDS # 11 THRU 15:

(11) ERA / BA

(12) Batting Hand

(13) Date of Birth

(14) Roster Status

(15) Topps HTA Logo

PATTERN # 16-14 - Roster Status: Veteran

PATTERNS KEY - CARDS # 16 THRU 20:

(16) Purple Team Name

(17) Red Jersey Number

(18) Yellow Last Name

(19) Green Home Runs / Strikeouts

(20) Blue Topps Tek Logo

_________________________

UPPER DECK:

_________________________

Dubbed by some as "The Blue Monster," Upper Deck Series One was released in December 1999, while the second series (known officially as "Series Two: Jersey Edition") was released in July 2000.

# 44

FACES OF THE GAME # F-13

_____________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - BLACK DIAMOND:

_____________________________________________________

# 9

# 61 ONE-OF-A-KIND ERROR CARD???

NOW, WAIT - HERE'S AN ANOMOLY...

Card # 61 in this set was assigned to Eric Chavez of the A's...

And yet. it has Greg Maddux on the front...

At first glance, it's an EXACT parallel of Maddux's # 9 card in this set - but Chavez's photo & stats are on the reverse.

When I pulled this card, I almost tossed it into a trade pile for other Maddux collectors, since I'd already pulled the # 9 card and didn't want a double - further examination revealed the truth. Can you say ERROR CARD?

DIAMOND GALLERY # G-9

_______________________________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - BLACK DIAMOND ROOKIE EDITION:

________________________________________________________________________________

Rookie Edition is a 154-card set released exclusively to Hobby outlets by Upper Deck in December 2000 -- almost a full year after 2000 Black Diamond -and would be the final Black Diamond baseball set.

# 46

___________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - GOLD RESERVE:

___________________________________________________

Gold Reserve is a 300-card parallel brand released exclusively to mass-market retail outlets in August 2000 - It was the one and only baseball set EVER that actually had real gold flakes embedded in each & every card, making even the base set extremely valuable!

Nope - not really - as the name suggests, the design is almost identical to that of the Upper Deck cards...but with gold borders.

# 133 (Parallel to UD-44)

____________________________________________

UPPER DECK - HOLOGRFX:

____________________________________________

# 14

FUTURE FAME # FF-3

___________________________________

UPPER DECK - IONIX:

___________________________________

# 12

ATOMIC # A-5

BIORHYTHM # B-12

__________________________________________

UPPER DECK - LEGENDS:

__________________________________________

2000 Upper Deck Legends is a 135-card set released in August 2000. The sequel to the previous year's well-received Century Legends, the base set features 90 retired players, 15 short-printed Y2K cards and 30 SPed Century Legends.

# 10

# 122 - SHORTPRINT - (20th Century Legends - 30 cards in this subset)

_________________________________

UPPER DECK - MVP:

_________________________________

# 27

# 27 - SILVER SCRIPT PARALLEL

_________________________________________

UPPER DECK - OVATION:

_________________________________________

# 9

_______________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - PROS AND PROSPECTS:

_______________________________________________________________

# 51 (Short set)

THE BEST IN THE BIGS # B-9

_________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SP AUTHENTIC:

_________________________________________________

# 46

MIDSUMMER CLASSIC # MC-10

________________________________

UPPER DECK - SPx:

________________________________

# 12

SPX - CITEMENT # XC-14

_______________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - ULTIMATE VICTORY:

_______________________________________________________

# 47

________________________________________

UPPER DECK - VICTORY:

________________________________________

# 49 (Parallel to Victory # 47)

# 59 (Stat Leaders Checklist)

2000 STATS: BRAVES

WON-19 // LOST-9 // ERA-3.00

Gold Glove

2 0 0 1

___________________

BOWMAN:

___________________

# 16

_______________________________

BOWMAN'S BEST:

_______________________________

# 60 (All base cards are Refractors)

___________________________________

BOWMAN - CHROME:

___________________________________

# 13 (Parallel to Bowman # 16)

_____________________________________

BOWMAN - HERITAGE:

_____________________________________

2001 Bowman Heritage is a 440-card set released by Topps in late 2001. It was the premiere edition of the Bowman Heritage brand and would become part of Topps' annual product line until 2007.

There are no special subsets or card variations in the base set. The card design is based on the 1948 Bowman set.

A black and white photograph is surrounded by a white border is displayed on the front of the card with no other information, not even the player’s name.

The back of the card features player biographical information but little to no statistics. The main change from the original 1948 Bowman design was a resizing from the original card dimensions (2-1/16” x 2-1/2”) to the standard card dimensions (2-1/2” x 3-1/2”) as well increasing the number of cards in the set from 48 to 440.

# 12

HERITAGE CHROME PARALLEL # BHC-12

_________________________________________________________________________

BRYAN MEATS - BRAVES COLLECTOR CARDS:

_________________________________________________________________________

Bryan (a hot dog maker) released a Braves set of individual cards and a separate Braves set of smaller perforated cards. This is the set of individual cards.

NNO

____________________

DONRUSS:

____________________

WHY DO I ADD THESE NOTES?

For 2 reasons, actually - # 1 is that some might find them helpful (as I do), and # 2 is that every now & then you come across

an interesting story about how a card came to be...as in the case of Donruss 2001.

It's a 220-card set released in May of 2001 - and was the first "Donruss" branded card set since their previous owner,

Pinnacle Brands went bankrupt in the Summer of 1998, and the first product released by Playoff since acquiring an

MLB/MLBPA license in February 2001 - It's important to note that Playoff only began discussing changing their name to

Playoff-Donruss, or Donruss-Playoff in August 2001. This legally did not occur until October 2001 as Donruss-Playoff was chosen by the then owner of Playoff.

In 1998 Pinnacle Brands, the owner of the Donruss and Leaf brand names, filed for bankruptcy protection and went out of business. It appeared that after an eighteen-year run Donruss' flagship baseball set would come to an end. But then an

unlikely savior appeared in the form of football card manufacturer Playoff, who purchased what was left of Pinnacle through

a bankruptcy court. Almost as soon as they bought Pinnacle, speculation immediately began as to Playoff's baseball card intentions. Although Playoff was given a temporary license in 1998 - so that the 1998 Donruss Signature set could be

released - it appeared that Playoff's efforts to get into the baseball card business may not bear fruit.

Shortly after Pacific had its MLB Player's Association license revoked in November 2000 (partially due to the Manny Ramirez corked bat card incident and mostly due to making fake game-used cards in 2001 Private Stock Baseball) rumors of Playoff finally getting the licenses it had long coveted began to fly again. Those rumors came to fruition in February 2001 it was announced that Playoff -- had at last received permission to produce Major League Baseball cards. They quickly announced

that their first baseball card set (2001 Donruss) would be released that April.

With nearly three years of pent-up demand -- not to mention the novelty of it being the first completely original baseball card product from Playoff -- loyal Donruss collectors immediately began to place pre-sell orders with their local hobby dealers.

(Many of those same dealers were disappointed to find out that they would be limited to only one six-box hobby case.) In early April 2001 Donruss Baseball went live. The result: a big "thud", but only to dealers. Collectors were having a field day with the Retail release as the 2000 Retro (pack in a pack) 90-card sets were selling easily for $100.00 a set on eBay making all the

other cards pulled in the retail boxes they were buying free!

In their haste to produce their first real baseball card product, Playoff essentially recycled the same formula that had successfully worked for them in football cards. In fact, the parallels between the 2001 Donruss Baseball and 2000 Donruss Football sets are uncanny to say the least. Both sets have roughly the same number of cards (220 in baseball versus 250 in football), and both had an MSRP of $1.99/pack. However, both products relied heavily on a gimmick that was becoming commonplace in football cards, but had never, ever, before appeared in a base level baseball brand. 2001 Donruss was the

first entry level baseball trading card product to feature short-printed and serial-numbered rookie cards. While short-printing may have appealed to the football card audience, unfortunately, by limiting the production of each "Rated Rookie" to only 2001 copies (not including the Albert Pujols and Ben Sheets exchange cards -- each limited to 500), D-P made the decision, whether they knew it or not (and they probably didn't) to abandon the one segment of the market that traditionally purchases base level baseball card products. The segment that had been the cornerstone of the Donruss brand since 1981: Set builders.

In retrospect, some felt Playoff screwed up the comeback edition of Donruss baseball. As a result, many long-time Donruss baseball collectors, simply gave up on Donruss Baseball. But it opened up a far greater mass of collectors who finally found a product that favored collectors far more than dealers. Even though Ichiro and Pujols RCs were very rarely pulled from Retail boxes, collectors were still loving these retail boxes. This caused dealers to start emptying retail store shelves of 2001 Donruss Retail! What Playoff failed to realize, and never really quite understood, was that football card collectors and baseball card collectors are two completely different breeds of hobbyist. What works in football, may not (and usually does not) necessarily work in baseball. For instance, 70-100 rookies in a football product worked, this failed miserably in baseball and Playoff ignored this no matter how many collectors complained.

# 8 (Short Set)

# 208 - (Fan Club Subset)

Each Fan Club subset card was seeded into packs at the rate of 1:24. Although not serial-numbered, it is believed that 5000 copies of each were produced.

"1999" RETROACTIVE SHORT SET # 20

"2000" RETROACTIVE SHORT SET # 21

"2000" RETROACTIVE DIAMOND KINGS # DK-2 of 5 - Numbered 1136/2500

The "1999" Retro actives were inserted into hobby packs and the "2000s" in retail.

Unfortunately, rather than simply including it with the other 2001 cards, the Retroactive card was wrapped separately in its

own one-card "pack."

These single-card packs were extremely difficult to open, and as a result, many of the Retro actives were damaged coming

out of the pack.

______________________________________________

DONRUSS - CLASS OF 2001:

______________________________________________

# 44

DIAMOND ACES JERSEY # A4 - Numbered 493/750

______________________________________

DONRUSS - CLASSICS:

______________________________________

# 8

______________________________

DONRUSS - ELITE:

_______________________________

# 8

____________________________________________________

DONRUSS -SIGNATURE SERIES:

____________________________________________________

# 8

__________________________________

DONRUSS - STUDIO:

__________________________________

2001 Studio is a 200-card set released by Donruss-Playoff. This was the first Studio set after a two-year absence due to the bankruptcy of the line's previous owner Pinnacle Brands. While the design of the set was in the spirit of 1990s Studio, the $10/pack price tag and the extreme difficulty of collecting a set saddled with 50 "gimmicked" rookies led many collectors

to take a pass on this product.

# 8

DIAMOND COLLECTION # DC 5 - Game Worm Jersey

_________________________________

FLEER AUTHORITY:

_________________________________

# 89

____________________________

FLEER - FOCUS:

_____________________________

# 47

FLEER - FUTURES:

# 105

_________________________________

FLEER - GAME TIME:

__________________________________

# 31

_______________________________

FLEER - GENUINE:

_______________________________

# 95

MATERIAL ISSUE - GAME UNIFORM # NNO

_____________________________

FLEER - LEGACY:

_____________________________

# 13

_________________________________

FLEER - PLATINUM:

_________________________________

2001 Fleer Platinum is a 601-card set produced and distributed by Fleer, as a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the '81 Fleer set. The first series of 301 cards was released in May 2001 and was originally intended to be the sole series. But after the set was so successful, a second series of 300 cards, officially known as "2001 Fleer Platinum Rookie Collection" was quickly produced and released in December.

# 103

# 411 (Platinum RC - Chart Toppers)

GRANDSTAND GREATS # 8 of 20 GG

________________________________

FLEER - PREMIUM:

________________________________

# 126

GRIP IT / RIP IT # 3 of 15 GR (with Andruw Jones)

__________________________________

FLEER - SHOWCASE:

___________________________________

# 58

___________________________________

FLEER/SKYBOX - EX:

____________________________________

# 33

_______________________________________________________

FLEER - SPORTSCARD MAGAZINE:

________________________________________________________

PROMOS:

Beginning with the February 2001 issue of Sports Cards Magazine, (which I bought monthly at a local Walmart), and continuing for the next five months, Fleer included a six-card promo sheet done in the style of the 2000 Greats of the Game set.

It should be noted that, whereas the Greats of the Game brand focused on retired players, all of the players included in this promo set were active at the time of printing.

# 23

_________________________________

FLEER - TRADITION:

__________________________________

# 210

# 403 (ERA League Leaders)

# 421 (Braves Team Leaders)

DIAMOND TRIBUTES # 16 of 30 - DT

GRASS ROOTS # 2 of 15 - GR

_________________________________________

FLEER - TRIPLE CROWN:

__________________________________________

# 158

CROWNING ACHIEVEMENTS # CA-13 of 15

__________________________

FLEER - ULTRA:

___________________________

# 22

# 22-G - GOLD MEDALLION PARALLEL

_________________________________________________

LEAF - CERTIFIED MATERIALS:

__________________________________________________

# 8

___________________________

LEAF - LIMITED:

____________________________

# 94

______________________________________________________________

LEAF - ROOKIES AND STARS (Donruss):

_______________________________________________________________

A number of these cards had uncorrected errors, where the statistical header on the back of the card was swapped between pitchers and hitters. Did you know that Greg Maddux hit 200 doubles in 2000? The boy was on a ROLL!

# 89 (UER)

DRESS FOR SUCCESS - DUAL RELIC # DFS-13

A game used jersey swatch and bat chip from some of the game's biggest stars in 2001.

_______________________________

MLB SHOWDOWN:

________________________________

# 42/462 (Foil - Not 1st Edition)

# S-46/S-55

_________________

PACIFIC:

_________________

A 500-card set released in December 2000. This was the final Pacific Baseball set, and penultimate baseball card product from Pacific Trading Cards as they chose not to renew their MLB Properties license for 2001.

# 41

DECADE'S BEST # N-6 (NL - 1993 NL Cy Young Award Winner)

__________________________________________

PACIFIC - PRIVATE STOCK:

___________________________________________

2001 Private Stock is a 150-card product released by Pacific Trading Cards in late December 2000.

This product is notable for 2 reasons: The Hobby version was the first product to offer a game-used card in every pack, and

this was Pacific's final MLB licensed baseball product issued as they decided to not renew their baseball license as of

January 1st, 2001.

# 14

# 14 - SILVER PARALLEL

PS-206 ACTION MINI # 8

GAME GEAR # 20 (Bat)

__________________________________________________________

PLAYOFF - ABSOLUTE MEMORABILIA:

___________________________________________________________

# 8

_____________

TOPPS:

_____________

2001 marked Topps' 50th Anniversary in the baseball card business and Topps went all out to celebrate by bringing back Manager cards, dual-player prospect cards, and the 2000 season highlight cards.

# 660

GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY # GA-15 (Gold Nuggets)

THROUGH THE YEARS REPRINT # 48 of 50 (1996 Topps card # 318)

TOPPS NOTEWORTHY # TN-17

______________________________

TOPPS - CHROME:

_______________________________

# 374

COMBOS # TC 14 (Mound Masters with Roger Clemens & Cy Young)

PAST TO PRESENT # PTP-2 (with Warren Spahn)

___________________________

TOPPS - FINEST:

____________________________

# 16

____________________________

TOPPS - FUSION:

____________________________

A 250-card set released in March 2001, the product attempted to fuse five of Topps' brand names (Bowman's Best, Finest, Gold Label, Stadium Club, and Gallery) all into one product - Card numbers ending in a 1 or 6 are done in the style of Bowman's Best (refractive chromium stock); 2 and 7 Finest (etched chromium stock); 3 and 8 Topps Gallery (canvas); 4 and 9 Gold Label (thick plastic stock with holographic foil); and 5 and 0 Stadium Club (high-glossy and full bleed).

# 82 (Finest card)

# 86 (Bowman's Best card)

# 103 (Gallery card)

______________________________

TOPPS - GALLERY:

______________________________

# 42

________________________________

TOPPS - HERITAGE:

________________________________

Considered one of the landmark products of the 2000s for its model configuration, "throwback" design, and legendary autograph lineup - In 2009, it was awarded "Product of the Decade" by Beckett Baseball.

Produced to celebrate Topps' 50th anniversary in the baseball card business, the base set had the same look and feel as the legendary '52 Topps set. (Topps opted make all cards in the modern 2 1/2" X 3 1/2" format, and not in the 2 5/8" X 3 3/4" dimensions of the real '52 Topps.) Most of the photographs on the cards were purposefully blurred to give them an early-50s look.

The lasting legacy of 2001 Topps Heritage Baseball cannot be stressed enough. At the turn of the century, set collecting, for decades the traditional way cards were collected, was on the decline. Much of the products produced in the years preceding featured scores of intentionally short-printed base cards that were either too hard to pull out of packs or produced in such low quantities that even attempting to build a complete set was an exercise in futility. With Heritage, Topps found the right combination in making a product that, while challenging to collect, was still realistic for the average collector to put a full set together.

THEN AND NOW # TH 9 of 10 (with Robin Roberts/Phillies - '52 Wins Leader)

____________________________________

TOPPS - GOLD LABEL:

_____________________________________

# 38 - CLASS 1

# 38 - CLASS 1 - GOLD PARALLEL - Numbered 788/999

# 38 - CLASS 3

MLB AWARDS CEREMONY RELIC # GLR-GM (Jersey)

_____________________

TOPPS - HD:

_____________________

# 50

# 103 SP (20-Card Superstars of the Game Subset)

________________________________

TOPPS - HERITAGE:

_________________________________

A 407-card set released right before spring training in February 2001 and considered one of the landmark products of the

2000s for its model configuration, "throwback" design, and legendary autograph lineup. In 2009, 2001 Topps Heritage Baseball was awarded "Product of the Decade" by Beckett Baseball.

Produced to celebrate Topps' 50th anniversary in the baseball card business, the base set had the same look and feel as the legendary 1952 Topps set. (Topps opted make all cards in the modern 2 1/2" X 3 1/2" format, and not in the 2 5/8" X 3 3/4" dimensions of the real '52 Topps.) Most of the photographs on the cards were purposefully blurred to give them an early-50s look - Just like '52 Topps, the 80 lower numbered cards and the 97 higher numbered cards, were short-printed -- but unlike '52 Topps, '01 Topps Heritage was released in a single series. In a nod to history, then Yankee prospect David Parrish's card all but mirrored the picture used on Mickey Mantle's '52 Topps card.

Topps went beyond the call of duty on this set by inserting redemption cards for every original 1952 Topps card including the famed Mickey Mantle. There were also redemptions featuring replica hats. To top things off, 25 original Willie Mays '52 Topps cards were bought, autographed by Willie and randomly inserted as box toppers. A 110-card, serial-numbered, Chrome partial-parallel set was inserted at the rate of one per box and is very popular among Master set builders today, as are the autographs.

The Legacy of 2001 Topps Heritage: The lasting legacy of 2001 Topps Heritage Baseball cannot be stressed enough. At the turn of the century, set collecting, for decades the traditional way cards were collected, was on the decline. Much of the products

produced in the years preceding featured scores of intentionally short-printed base cards that were either too hard to pull out of packs or produced in such low quantities that even attempting to build a complete set was an exercise in futility. With Heritage, Topps found the right combination in making a product that, while challenging to collect, was still realistic for the average collector to put a full set together.

# 49 (SP)

# 49 - BLACK-BACK PARALLEL - SP

NEW AGE PERFORMER # NAP-15

______________________________________

TOPPS - OPENING DAY:

_______________________________________

# 108

______________________________________

TOPPS - POST CEREAL:

_______________________________________

These cards were issued in Post cereal products from April through June 2001. The back of the card reads "Brought to you by Post Cereal", and the front features the "Topps 50 Years" logo.

2001 COLLECTOR'S SERIES # 5 of 18

_______________________________

TOPPS - RESERVE:

________________________________

# 83

________________________________________

TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB:

_________________________________________

# 72

DIAMOND PEARLS # DP-17

__________________________

TOPPS - STARS:

__________________________

# 60

PLAYER'S CHOICE AWARDS # PCA-8 (with Randy Johnson & Tom Glavine)

____________________________________________________

TOPPS - TRADED AND ROOKIES:

_____________________________________________________

THROUGH THE YEARS - T123 Reprint # 24 of 45 (1987 # 70T)

THROUGH THE YEARS CHROME PARALLEL - T123 Reprint # 24 of 45 (1987 # 70-T)

_______________________

UPPER DECK:

________________________

# 156

BIG LEAGUE BEAT # BB-19

MID-SEASON SUPERSTAR SUMMITT # MS-6

THE FRANCHISE # F-6

____________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - BLACK DIAMOND:

_____________________________________________________

# 46

____________________________________________

UPPER DECK - EVOLUTION:

_____________________________________________

Evolution is a one-off, 120-card set released in October 2001 - The product was intended to show off the upperdeckdigital.com website, and features inserts that can "evolve" into game-used cards when a code is entered. This was not received well by collectors, and the upperdeckdigital.com website went dark a year later. Oops!

# 45

______________________________________________

UPPER DECK - GOLD GLOVE:

_______________________________________________

# 46

GOLD GLOVE GAME JERSEY # GG-GM

________________________________________

UPPER DECK - LEGENDS:

_________________________________________

# 49

LEGENDARY GAME JERSEY # J-GM

________________________________

UPPER DECK - MVP:

_________________________________

# 165

________________________________________

UPPER DECK - OVATION:

_________________________________________

# 31

A PIECE OF HISTORY # GM - (GAME USED BAT)

______________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - PROS AND PROSPECTS:

_______________________________________________________________

# 46

GAME-USED DUAL BATS # PP-MJ (with Randy Johnson)

______________________________________________

UPPER DECK - UD RESERVE:

_______________________________________________

# 91

_________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SP AUTHENTIC:

__________________________________________________

# 44

____________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK SP - GAME BAT EDITION:

_____________________________________________________________

2001 SP Game Bat Edition is a 90-card set released by Upper Deck in December 2000.

Each four-card pack contained one game-used bat card -- a novelty for the time.

PIECE OF THE GAME BAT # GM

_________________________________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK SP - GAME BAT - MILESTONE EDITION:

__________________________________________________________________________________

SP Game Bat Milestone Edition is a 96-card set released by Upper Deck in October 2001.

Each pack contained one game-used bat card.

Each pack contains one game-used bat card from the following sets: Milestone, International Connection, or Bound for the Hall. In addition, each card for those three sets is also available in a Gold parallel, which is serial-numbered to 35 copies.

# 48

PIECE OF THE ACTION - BOUND FOR THE HALL BAT # B-GM

_______________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK SP - GAME USED EDITION:

________________________________________________________________

# 34

AUTHENTIC FABRIC # GM DP JERSEY (the DP stands for "Dual Parallels", whatever that is)

Each Authentic Fabric is also available in a gold parallel, which is serial numbered to 25 copies.

_______________________________

UPPER DECK - SPx:

________________________________

# 46

______________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SWEET SPOT:

_______________________________________________

# 33

_______________________________________

UPPER DECK - VICTORY:

________________________________________

# 275

# 618 (Victory's Best)

_______________________________________

UPPER DECK - VINTAGE:

________________________________________

# 174

# 398 - (2000 N.L. ERA LEADERS with Kevin Brown - Dodgers // Randy Johnson - D'Backs // Jeff D'Amico - Brewers

Mike Hampton - Mets)

# 400 - (2000 N.L. WINS LEADERS with Darry Kyle - Cardinals // Randy Johnson - D'Backs // Tom Glavine - Braves

Chan Ho Park - Dodgers)

2001 STATS: BRAVES

WON-17 // LOST-11 // ERA-3.05

Gold Glove

2 0 0 2

This marked a difficult period for us - I'd never fully recovered from quadruple bypass surgery in December 2000, and in my assignment as a Master Sergeant of the cellblock at Louisiana State Penitentiary, I began thinking seriously about my cardiologist's suggestion of taking an early retirement at age 47. The decision was made once my mom needed constant care with Cirrhosis - my wife Teri and I took turns making the hour drive to Louisiana to care for her, so that she wouldn't have to leave home for an assisted living facility. Right to the end, she insisted we'd all go to Atlanta once more to watch our Braves.

She passed that fall. Our finances took a hit for a while, and I eventually backed off from collecting/trading for years, and watched as the trading site we'd worked so hard on THE OLDE CARDBOARD VILLAGE, fail...

___________________

BOWMAN:

___________________

# 35

________________________________

BOWMAN'S - BEST:

_________________________________

# 60

___________________________________

BOWMAN - CHROME:

____________________________________

# 35

_____________________________________

BOWMAN - HERITAGE:

______________________________________

# 165

____________________

DONRUSS:

_____________________

# 142

_____________________________________

DONRUSS - CLASSICS:

______________________________________

# 8

________________________________________________

DONRUSS - DIAMOND KINGS:

_________________________________________________

# 70 (Crowning Moment)

# 70 - BRONZE PARALLEL (Crowning Moment)

______________________________

DONRUSS - ELITE:

_______________________________

# 5

ALL STAR SALUTES # AS 25 - Numbered 058/1994 (not holo-foil)

Each card is serial numbered to the year in which they played in the All-Star Game.

The first 100 copies are printed on a holographic foil.

___________________________________________________

DONRUSS - SUPER ESTRELLAS:

____________________________________________________

Super Estrellas (Super Stars) is a 150-card set released on June 15, 2002.

As the name suggests, the set was printed entirely in Spanish and was distributed primarily to Latin America and those areas in the U.S. with a large Hispanic population.

This was the first all-Spanish baseball card set since Pacific withdrew their license in 2000.

PRECICION DE LANZAMIENTO # PL2

_____________________________________

DONRUSS - FAN CLUB:

______________________________________

Donruss created two versions of Fan Club...

"Fan Club" which was exclusive to retail outlets, and "Best of Fan Club" which was Hobby only.

While the retail Fan Club was printed on regular cardstock, the Hobby Best of Fan Club was printed on foil board.

It is best to think of Best of Fan Club as a Topps Chrome-like parallel-brand of Fan Club.

# 154

# 154 - DIE CUT PARALLEL

# 154 - BEST OF FAN CLUB FOIL PARALLEL

______________________________________

DONRUSS - ORIGINALS:

_______________________________________

Donruss Originals is a 425-card set that paid tribute to Donruss sets of the 80s.

The base set featured cards done in the styles of the 1982, 1984, 1986 and 1988 Donruss sets but featured active 2002 players

1982 DONRUSS:

# 35

1984 DONRUSS:

# 156

1986 DONRUSS:

# 277 - SHORTPRINT

1988 DONRUSS:

# 388

_________________________________

DONRUSS - STUDIO:

__________________________________

Studio is a 275-card set issued in two separate series.

In response to the disappointing sales of the previous year's Studio, the 2002 version was reconfigured and sold at a price point more in-line with the brand's 1990s heyday. The base set's American Flag themed design (which, curiously, also applied to cards from the two Canadian teams) can be seen in retrospect as part of the post-9/11 patriotic symbolism of the era.

# 179

DIAMOND COLLECTION # DC-12

STARS # SS 42

STARS - GOLD PARALLEL # SS 42 - Numbered 65/250

_____________

FLEER:

_____________

Fleer Baseball is a 540-card set released May 29th, 2002.

This brand was an homage to the Fleer Baseball base sets of the 80s and 90s. However, BCP considers 1998-2005 Fleer Tradition to be the continuation of the Fleer brand's lineage and 2002 Fleer to be a one-off product.

# 419

DIAMOND STANDOUTS # 8 of 10 DS - Numbered 1148/1200

GOLDEN MEMORIES # 8 of 15 - GM

__________________________________

FLEER - AUTHENTIX:

___________________________________

There are two versions of each Jersey AuthenTIX card - Ripped and Unripped...

Ripped cards have one perforated edge, while the Unripped cards all have a "tab" attached to the card and are

serial numbered to 50 copies.

# 49

RIPPED - JERSEY AUTHENTIX # JA - GM (Braves vs Phillies - April 1, 2002)

__________________________________

FLEER - BOX SCORE:

___________________________________

# 44

_________________________

FLEER - FLAIR:

__________________________

2002 Flair is a 138-card set released by Fleer in April 2002. The was the first Flair set since '99 Flair but bore little resemblance to the Flair/Flair Showcase sets of the 90s -- especially in the use of thin cardstock.

# 8

___________________________________________________________

FLEER - FOCUS JE (JERSEY EDITION):

____________________________________________________________

# 135

K-CORPS # 7 of 15-KC

______________________________

FLEER - GENUINE:

_______________________________

# 63

__________________________________________

FLEER - HOT PROSPECTS:

__________________________________________

# 50

________________________________

FLEER - MAXIMUM:

________________________________

# 19

_________________________________

FLEER - PLATINUM:

__________________________________

# 61

# 255 - SHORTPRINT (Decade of Dominance)

______________________________

FLEER - PREMIUM:

_______________________________

# 166

_________________________________

FLEER - SHOWCASE:

__________________________________

# 79

_________________________________

FLEER/SKYBOX - EX:

__________________________________

# 75

BEHIND THE NUMBERS # 27

________________________________

FLEER - TRADITION:

_________________________________

In line with the brand's 2000 reboot, the base set is based on the 1934 Goudey set.

# 337

GRASS ROOTS # 4 of 10 - GR

THIS DAY IN HISTORY # 16 of 30-DH

THIS DAY IN HISTORY JERSEY (Print run of 100)

______________________________________________

FLEER - TRADITION UPDATE:

_______________________________________________

# U-291 (Diamond Standouts)

# U-367 (Curtain Call)

GLOSSY PARALLEL # U367 - Numbered 3/200 (Curtain Call)

_______________________________________

FLEER - TRIPLE CROWN:

________________________________________

# 166

# 241 (Scrapbook)

_________________________

FLEER - ULTRA:

_________________________

# 33

# 33 - GOLD MEDALLION PARALLEL

ON THE ROAD - GAME JERSEY # NNO

___________

LEAF:

___________

# 102

# 102 - LINEAGE PARALLEL

Lineage is a 149-card Hobby only partial parallel of the base set and show what the 1999-2001 Leaf Baseball sets might have looked like had they been issued. The set is split up into three sections: Cards numbered 1-50 feature the design of the 1999 Leaf Football set, while cards numbered from 51-100 feature 2000 Leaf Football and cards numbered from 101-150 feature 2001 Leaf Football.

_____________________________

LEAF - CERTIFIED:

______________________________

# 62

ALL-CERTIFIED TEAM # AC-5

______________________________________________

LEAF - ROOKIES AND STARS:

_______________________________________________

Perhaps best known for over 100 base set variations that were not acknowledged until after the product's release, Rookies and Stars might have been a harbinger of "gimmicks" to come - Donruss/Playoff randomly inserted into packs base cards featuring players in their previous team's uniform.

Unfortunately, since these cards look exactly like the player's base card and are not marked otherwise, it is very difficult to identify, much less attempt to collect, the full set. MISTAKE!

# 122 (Braves)

# 275 - (Award Winners - 1995 NL Cy Young)

# 276 - (Award Winners - 1992 NL Cy Young)

# 277 - (Award Winners - 1993 NL Cy Young)

# 278 - (Award Winners - 1994 NL Cy Young)

DRESS FOR SUCCESS # DS8 - Numbered 215/250

Each is serial-numbered to 250 copies and also available in a Prime Cuts parallel, which is serial-numbered to 25 copies.

___________________________________________________________

PLAYOFF - ABSOLUTE MEMORABILIA:

____________________________________________________________

# 11

TEAM TANDEMS # TT 4 (Maddux & Tom Glavine)

TEAM TANDEMS MATERIALS - GAME JERSEYS # TT-4 (Maddux & Tom Glavine)

Team Tandems is a full parallel of the insert. Each Team Tandems Materials card is also available in a Gold Materials parallel which is serial numbered to 50 copies.

___________________________________________________

PLAYOFF - PIECE OF THE GAME:

____________________________________________________

# 10

GAME WORN JERSEY/GAME-USED BAT - BRONZE # POG 97 - Numbered 01/50

_____________

TOPPS:

_____________

# 240

# 359 (United We Stand - Braves vs. Phillies: 9/17/21)

This subset "United We Stand", features highlight of games played September 17th, 2001-the first Major League games played after the 9/11 terrorist attacks...

# 705 - (Award Winners)

OWN THE GAME # OG-23 of 30

RING MASTERS # RM-8 of 10

WELCOME TO THE SHOW # WTTS-5

_____________________

TOPPS - 206:

______________________

This set, issued in three series and done in the general style of the classic T-206 set issued more than 90 years prior.

# 9

GAME WORN JERSEY CARD # TR-GM1 (Series 1 - Light Yellow Frame)

______________________________

TOPPS - CHROME:

_______________________________

# 240

# 240 - REFRACTOR PARALLEL

____________________________

TOPPS - eTOPPS:

_____________________________

REFRACTOR # 46

___________________________

TOPPS - FINEST:

____________________________

# 90

JERSEY RELICS # FRJ-GM

______________________________

TOPPS - GALLERY:

_______________________________

# 126

HERITAGE UNIFORM RELICS # GHR-GM (Group A - Slabbed & Graded "8" by PA Sports)

___________________________________

TOPPS - GOLD LABEL:

____________________________________

Unlike previous year's Gold Label sets, only one card for each player was produced. This would be the final year for the Gold Label brand, until it was revived in 2016.

# 36

# 36 - CLASS 1 GOLD - Numbered 165/500

________________________________

TOPPS - HERITAGE:

_________________________________

Heritage is a 440-card set released in February 2002 and based on the '53 Topps set. The base set includes 90 short-printed base cards. In a sign of things to come, ten unannounced Nighttime "variations" were included.

# 147

______________________________________

TOPPS - OPENING DAY:

_______________________________________

# 19

______________________________

TOPPS - PRISTINE:

_______________________________

PRISTINE PORTIONS JERSEY # PP-GM - Numbered 377/425

______________________________

TOPPS - RESERVE:

_______________________________

# 111

RESERVE JERSEY # TRJ - GM

_______________________________________

TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB:

_______________________________________

# 75

______________________

TOPPS - TEN:

_______________________

# 145 (ERA Leaders)

# 181 (Most Gold Gloves)

RELIC # TTA-GM (Game-Worn Jersey)

__________________________

TOPPS - TOTAL:

__________________________

By far, the most comprehensive baseball card set Topps has ever released, 2002 Total was the largest Topps set ever produced and has retained a cult-like following from collectors.

Unfortunately, Topps also included (at the expense of some actual Major League players) dozens of marginal minor leaguer prospects, some of whom never played a Major League game.

That spells M-I-S-T-A-K-E...

# 895

TOPPS TOTAL # TT-30

________________________

UPPER DECK:

________________________

# 260

CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER # CC6

GAME WORN GEMS # G-GM (Jersey)

RETURN OF THE ACE # RA 2

SUPERSTAR SUMMIT # SS8 of 15

UD PLUS EXTRA:

# UD46 - Numbered 90/1126 (Hobby/White)

UD Plus is a 100-card set randomly inserted into Series Two packs. Each Series Two Hobby box contained a two-card UD Plus pack, packaged as a box topper. In retail packs, UD Plus cards were randomly inserted into packs.

UD Plus cards packed into Hobby boxes have WHITE borders, while retail cards are GOLD. The checklist is identical, and both Hobby and retail cards are serial numbered to 1125 copies.

_____________________________________

UPPER DECK - 40 MAN:

______________________________________

40-Man is a massive 1182 card set that was released in July 2002.

As the name implies, the set includes just about every player who appeared on the 40-man roster of every Major League team during and up to the middle of the 2002 MLB season. Only those players who had served as replacement players during the 1994-95 strike were excluded.

Although the concept was well-received by collectors, the suggested retail price of $3 for a ten-card pack turned off many who instead focused on a similar, but $2/pack cheaper, offering from Topps Total.

Compared to today (2023 as I update my collections & build this website), I find it remarkable that we complained about pack prices back then. If today-Marv could speak to then-Marv, I'd advise him to invest heavily on unopened hobby boxes...store 'em away in a safe, cool, dry place...and think of them like savings bonds that would one day pay dividends.

# 503

# 503 - ELECTRIC PARALLEL

__________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - A PIECE OF HISTORY:

___________________________________________________________

# 50

ERA LEADERS # E-1 (ERA Titles)

ERA LEADERS JERSEY # EL-GM

_____________________________________________

UPPER DECK - AUTHENTICS:

______________________________________________

Both the base set and the packaging were done in the style of the '89 UD Set, set, and the product can be seen as a response to Topps Heritage. However, all similarities between the '89 UD set and this one end there - Each 18-pack Hobby box yields three game jersey cards -- back when three game jerseys in a box still meant something.

# 93

'89 FLASHBACK # F5 - Numbered 1866/4225

REVERSE NEGATIVE JERSEY # R-GM

____________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - BALLPARK IDOLS:

_____________________________________________________

Ballpark Idols is a 245-card set & less remembered for the card set, but the bobblehead included in each box...

There were 2 of each player listed - home & away - Maddux being one of the players...AND I NEED BOTH!

# 99

________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - COLLECTOR'S CLUB:

_________________________________________________________

Upper Deck Collectors Club cards were distributed in May 2002 via mail as part of their Starter Kit.

Each member received a 20-card complete set plus a memorabilia card wrapped in clear plastic cello, an Upper Deck baseball cap and a club membership card. Members received a quarterly newsletter with features on upcoming products and sample cards. In addition, if members attended a card show in which Upper Deck had a corporate presence, they could show their membership card to a UD staffer and receive complimentary items.

# MLB-10

_______________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - DIAMOND CONNECTION:

________________________________________________________________

# 48

_________________________________

UPPER DECK - MVP:

__________________________________

# 151

________________________________________

UPPER DECK - OVATION:

_________________________________________

# 33

OVATION SWATCHES # O-GM

_________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SP AUTHENTIC:

__________________________________________________

# 48

GAME JERSEY # J-GM

________________________________

UPPER DECK - SPx:

_________________________________

This set was notable for featuring the first ever licensed, game-used, nameplate bat barrel cards of active players in an insert set. This landmark innovation of featuring on-card nameplate barrels started with the Bat Barrels insert in '02 Sweet Spot, '02 Sweet Spot Classics, and continued in this set. The game-used memorabilia craze was in full gear at the time and these game-used nameplate barrels were both novel and trendsetting as competing companies began featuring nameplate barrels in subsequent releases in later years and are still featured in modern-day releases (although modern day releases are not explicitly game-used as these were).

# 45

______________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SUPERSTARS:

_______________________________________________

2002-03 UD Superstars is a 300-card multi-sport set released in March 2003. A first-of-a-kind product, Superstars was the first (and to date only) trading card product fully licensed by the then four major North American sports leagues, as well as a number of prominent golfers.

With the advent of exclusive licenses, a product like UD Superstars will probably never be attempted again.

# 16

______________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SWEET SPOT:

_______________________________________________

In my humble opinion, a visually stunning set - one of my all-time favorites! Ok, it doesn't hurt that this particular shade of blue is my favorite, but I really like the cloud-framing too. I distinctly remember NOT being able to find boxes of these around ...

I got the Maddux card in trade...otherwise, I might have tried to put this set together. Oh well.

# 44

_______________________________________

UPPER DECK - VICTORY:

________________________________________

# 260

# 266 (Stat Leaders Checklist - Maddux 17 Wins // Chipper Jones 38 Homeruns)

_______________________________________

UPPER DECK - VINTAGE:

________________________________________

# 136

NIGHT GAMERS # NG-5

_______________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - WORLD SERIES HEROES:

________________________________________________________________

World Series Heroes is a 180-card set released on September 17, 2002.

The set is subdivided into three subsets: 1) Cards #1-#90 are of players who had (as of 2002) played in a World Series.

# 12

_________________________________________________________________

VINTAGE SPORTS CARDS (Conroe. Texas):

_________________________________________________________________

AUTHENTIC JERSEY

Here's a short story about a card I know very, very little about...

In April 2025, on a particularly rough day for me, I found this gem in my PO box, from Staten Island's own Pete Pianelli - he called it an "oddball" and didn't know anything about it himself - it's an oversized card, featuring a framed standard 2002 Bowman Heritage Maddux (# 165), with a piece of uniform on the bottom half.

No identifying numbers (I searched various sites to match the Bowman card with its year & number), and on the back

it explains that the authentic jersey was obtained from the Upper Deck Company. Also on the back is directions on

how to fold the perforated lines so that it'll stand up - like a picture frame, I guess. Pretty cool - wish I knew more...

But this gift from my friend Pete shall NOT be mutilated to become a picture frame or a dust-catcher on a shelf.

2002 STATS: BRAVES

WON-16 // LOST-6 // ERA-2.62

Gold Glove

2 0 0 3

__________________

BAZOOKA:

__________________

# 31

# 31 - MINI PARALLEL

COMIX # 7 of 24

__________________

BOWMAN:

__________________

# 107

# 107 - GOLD PARALLEL

_______________________________

BOWMAN'S - BEST:

________________________________

# BB-GM

___________________________________

BOWMAN - CHROME:

____________________________________

# 107

____________________________

DIAMOND KINGS:

_____________________________

# 79

# 79 - SAMPLE PARALLEL

# 79 - WHITE FRAMED PARALLEL

DK EVOLUTION # DK-10 of 25

DK Evolution is a lenticular set which shows the original Diamond King artwork along with the photograph it was based on.

___________________

DONRUSS:

___________________

For the first time since 1991, the Diamond Kings returned to the base set - The 20-card GOLD set partially-parallels the Diamond Kings subset, which kicked off the base set. Each card has gold borders and is serial numbered to 2500 copies.

# 4 (Diamond Kings)

# DK 4 GOLD DIAMOND KING PARALLEL - Numbered 1018/2500

# 237

# 237 - STAT LINE PARALLEL - Numbered 3/373

ELITE SERIES # ES10 - Numbered 1915/2500

_________________________________________

DONRUSS - CHAMPIONS:

__________________________________________

# 22 - SAMPLE CARD

GRAND CHAMPIONS # GC-9

____________________________________

DONRUSS - CLASSICS:

_____________________________________

# 100

______________________________

DONRUSS - ELITE:

______________________________

# 91

_______________________________________

DONRUSS - ESTRELLAS:

_______________________________________

2003 Donruss Estrellas is a 100-card set entirely in Spanish. I found these at BIG LOTS!

# 10

_________________________________

DONRUSS - STUDIO:

_________________________________

# 104

_____________________________________________

DONRUSS - TEAM HEROES:

_____________________________________________

# 42 (Braves)

# 102 (Cubs)

___________________________________________

DONRUSS - THE ROOKIES:

___________________________________________

GAMERS JERSEY # G4 - Numbered 29/500

GAMERS JERSEY - POSITION # G4 - Numbered 24/100

________________________________________________________

DONRUSS - TIMELESS TREASURES:

_________________________________________________________

# 31 - Numbered 409/900

_________________________________

FLEER - AUTHENTIX:

_________________________________

Each 12-box Hobby case contained one of five specially marked Home Team boxes (Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Braves, and Mariners). Randomly inserted into each Home Team box is a pack containing four Home Team Extended base cards and a game-used card. Dodgers, Red Sox, Braves, and Mariners Home Team cases were distributed to their respective region (West Coast, New England, Southeast, and Pacific Northwest, respectively), while the Yankees were distributed nationally. As such, Yankees Home Team Extended cards are in greater supply than the other four teams.

# 70

TICKET STUDS # 2 of 15 - TS

GAME OF THE WEEK JERSEYS # GM-RJ - Braves vs. D'Backs (Randy Johnson) - May 2, 2003

__________________________

FLEER - AVANT:

__________________________

# 42

_________________________________

FLEER - BOX SCORE:

_________________________________

# 29

__________________________________________

FLEER - DOUBLE HEADER:

___________________________________________

Fleer Double Header is a 240-card set released in January 2003. Each card is undersized, measuring 2" X 3".

The last sixty cards in the base set are "Flip" cards, loosely based on the '55 Topps Double Headers set.

Each Flip card is sequentially numbered twice (i.e. #241-#242), meaning that, while there are only 240 cards in the full set, it is sequentially numbered to 300.

# 31

TWIN BILL # 9 of 10-TB ("B" CARD)

There is actually a # 9 of 10 "A" - Card featuring Randy Johnson that mirrors this one - I NEED IT!

________________________

FLEER - FLAIR:

_________________________

# 57

DIAMOND CUTS JERSEY # DC-GM

___________________________________________________________

FLEER - FOCUS JE (JERSEY EDITION):

____________________________________________________________

# 126

______________________________

FLEER - GENUINE:

______________________________

# 79

________________________________

FLEER - HARDBALL:

_________________________________

Fleer Hardball is a 280 "card" set released in March 2003.

Each card is a 2 1/2"-diameter disc done in the style of similar food issue discs of the 1970s and 80s.

# 15

# 264 (All-Around All-Stars)

_________________________________________________

FLEER - MLB HOT PROSPECTS:

__________________________________________________

# 49

________________________________

FLEER - MYSTIQUE:

________________________________

# 31

_____________________________________

FLEER - PATCHWORKS:

______________________________________

# 59

NATIONAL PATCHTIME - GAME WORN JERSEY TRIM # GMNP - Numbered 47/200

Each National Patchtime Trim card features a piece of jersey trim and is serial numbered to 200 copies.

NATIONAL PATCHTIME - GAME WORN NUMBER PATCH # GMNP - Numbered 54/75

Each National Patchtime Number card features a piece of the player's jersey number and is serial-numbered to 75 copies.

_______________________________

FLEER - PLATINUM:

_______________________________

2003 Fleer Platinum is a 250-card set that was released in February 2003. In a departure for the brand, rather than issue separate wax, jumbo, and rack packs, each Hobby box contained 14, ten-card wax packs; four, 25-card jumbo packs; and a 45-card rack pack. In another departure, rather than recycle the design of a previous Fleer baseball set, 2003 Platinum used an original design, although one that heavily evokes Fleer's boxed sets of the mid-80s.

# 183

______________________________________________

FLEER - ROOKIES & GREATS:

______________________________________________

# 57

_________________________________

FLEER - SHOWCASE:

_________________________________

# 70

HOT GLOVES # 1 of 10-HG

__________________________________

FLEER/SKYBOX - EX:

__________________________________

# 7

________________________________________________

FLEER - SPENDID SPLINTERS:

_________________________________________________

KNOTHOLE GAME JERSEY # GM-KG

________________________________

FLEER - TRADITION:

_________________________________

This 25-card set is based on the design of the '36 Goudey set. Each card measures 2" X 3", was serial-numbered to 1936 copies, and exclusive to Hobby packs. Each card is also available in the following parallels. Red (serial-numbered to 500 copies, retail only), and Gold (serial-numbered to 36 copies, Hobby only)

BLACK AND WHITE GOUDEY # 15 of 25 - Numbered 35/36

JERSEY # 13 of 44

MILESTONES # 24 of 25-MS

______________________________________________

FLEER - TRADITION UPDATE:

______________________________________________

# U-275 (Interleague Play - Braves vs. A's Barry Zito)

__________________________

FLEER - ULTRA:

__________________________

# 66

# 66 - GOLD MEDALLION PARALLEL

PHOTO EFFEX # 8 of 20 PE

Each card is also available in a Photo Effex Gold parallel, which is serial numbered to 25 copies.

__________

LEAF:

__________

# 134

# 261 (Passing through Time - 1993 Leaf)

The Passing Through Time subset features players with a minimum of ten years experience. The reverse side of each card is a reprint of that player's '93 Leaf card.

2003 Leaf Certified Materials Samples:

This 15-card set was issued in Leaf packs to promote the 2003 Leaf Certified Materials set and features the same design of

the base set -- the only difference is the "LC" prefix on each card number. Each card is also available in the following parallels.

Mirror Red (serial-numbered to 150 copies)
Mirror Blue (serial-numbered to 75 copies)
Mirror Gold (serial-numbered to 25 copies)

# LC-2

# LC-2 - MIRROR RED PARALLEL - Numbered 133/150

SLICK LEATHER # 4

_______________________________________________

LEAF - CERTIFIED MATERIALS:

________________________________________________

# 12

# 12 - S A M P L E

# 12 - MIRROR RED MATERIALS PARALLEL JERSEY - Numbered 194/250

____________________________________________________________

PLAYOFF - ABSOLUTE MEMORABILIA:

_____________________________________________________________

# 3

___________________________________________________

PLAYOFF - PIECE OF THE GAME:

____________________________________________________

2003 Playoff Piece of the Game is a 179-card, all game-used memorabilia set released exclusively to Hobby outlets in September 2003. Each pack contained one, and only one, game-used memorabilia card.

The base set is sequentially numbered to 100, and a number of players have multiple game-used variations. Some of the base card variations are serial-numbered, but not all. For each of the numerous parallels, only one version for each card was produced...

# POG 35 - PRIME SILVER - Numbered 72/75

# POG-36 - JERSEY

# POG 36 PLATINUM JERSEY - Numbered 5/25

_____________________________________

PLAYOFF - PORTRAITS:

______________________________________

2003 Playoff Portraits is a 144-card, all painted, set released exclusively to Hobby outlets in September 2003.

The product can be seen as something of a preview of the following year's Diamond Kings with its use of autographs and

game-used memorabilia cards as parallels...

# 38

PORTRAITS PROMO CARD (NNO but is a parallel of # 38 from the set)

Portraits promos were randomly inserted into packs of '03 Absolute Memorabilia. The checklist partially-parallels the first 72 cards in the Portraits base set. Each card has "PROMO" printed on the back.

PORTRAITS PARALLEL - SILVER BAT # 38 - Numbered 38/50

___________________________________

PLAYOFF - PRESTIGE:

___________________________________

# 100

INSIDE THE NUMBERS # IN-2 - Numbered 284/2002

______________

TOPPS:

______________

# 105

# 347 (League Leaders in ERA with Randy Johnson / Tom Glavine)

# 632 (Braves Team Photo)

# 694 (Awards Winner - 2002 NL Gold Glove)

1951 BLUE/RED BACKS - STRIKE

NOTE: Neither the Blue Backs nor the Red Backs are sequentially numbered.

RECORD BREAKERS # RB-GM (Series 2 Green)

_____________________

TOPPS - 205:

______________________

Fresh off the successful Topps 206 release of a year earlier, the first series of 2003 Topps 205 was released in July 2003. The base set consists of 150 cards with 15 (non-short-printed) variations. Each eight-card pack contained one mini-sized parallel, and one "Triple Folder" insert.

# 13

# 13 - POLAR BEAR PARALLEL

______________________________

TOPPS - CHROME:

______________________________

# 21

____________________________

TOPPS - FINEST:

____________________________

# 82

# 82 - REFRACTOR PARALLEL

FINEST RELIC BAT # FRB-GM (Group F: 1 in 23 mini-boxes)

_______________________________

TOPPS - GALLERY:

_______________________________

# 12

________________________________

TOPPS - HERITAGE:

_________________________________

# 330

_____________________________________

TOPPS - OPENING DAY:

______________________________________

# # 95

_______________________________

TOPPS - PRISTINE:

________________________________

# 48

_______________________________________

TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB:

_______________________________________

After this year's set, Topps put Stadium Club on hiatus for five years.

BORN IN THE USA - GAME USED JERSEY # USA-GM

__________________________

TOPPS - TOTAL:

___________________________

TOTAL TOPPS # TT6

_________________________________________________________

TOPPS - TRIBUTE CONTEMPORARY:

__________________________________________________________

2003 Topps Tribute Contemporary was released in August 2003. It was the second of three Topps Tribute products released

in 2003, and the first Tribute set to feature active players.

# 71

_______________________

UPPER DECK:

_______________________

# 386

LINEUP TIME JERSEYS # LT-GM

MASTERS WITH THE LEATHER # L-3 of 12

____________________________________

UPPER DECK - 40 MAN:

_____________________________________

# 397

# 839 (UD Top 40)

______________________________________________

UPPER DECK - AUTHENTICS:

_______________________________________________

# 73

_________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - CLASSIC PORTRAITS:

__________________________________________________________

2003 Upper Deck Classic Portraits is a 232-card set released in October 2003. The product is best known for the 27 collectible 8" Busts each Hobby box was packaged with.

# 81

___________________________________

UPPER DECK - FINITE:

____________________________________

FINITE ELEMENTS - JERSEY # FE-GM

____________________________________________

UPPER DECK - GAME FACE:

_____________________________________________

# 13

# 177 - FACEOFF (With Mike Piazza - Mets)

GAME FACE GEAR # GG-GM2

_______________________________________________

UPPER DECK - HONOR ROLL:

________________________________________________

# 15

# 15 - SILVER HONORS PARALLEL - Numbered 110/150

________________________________

UPPER DECK - MVP:

_________________________________

# 18

SPORTSNUT SCRATCH-OFF # SN-64 (Unscratched)

SportsNut was a 90-card interactive fantasy sports game. Each card had a silver scratch-off bar on the front that concealed a code that, when registered on Upper Deck's website, could be used in the game.

_______________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - UD PATCH COLLECTION:

________________________________________________________________

# 10

O horror of horrors - the fabrication of NOT actual game-used memorabilia.

__________________________________________

UPPER DECK - PLAY BALL:

___________________________________________

The base set was designed to evoke the '41 Play Ball set.

# 8

# 8 - RED BACKS PARALLEL

Inserted into each pack is a Red Back parallel, in which the text on the back is printed in red ink -- as opposed to black on the base cards. The 30 cards that were short-printed in the base set (#74-#103) were also SPed in this set.

1941 SERIES PARALLEL # 8

1941 Series partially-parallels the first 73 cards of the base set, in the 2 1/4" X 3 1/8" size of the original '41 Series set.

______________________________

UPPER DECK - SP:

_______________________________

Each Back to 93 card is done in the style of the '93 SP set and serial-numbered to 1993 copies.

10th ANNIVERSARY - BACK TO '93 - # 128 - Numbered 426/1993

________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SP AUTHENTIC:

_________________________________________________

SUPERSTAR FLASHBACK # SF-7 - Numbered 1009/2003

_______________________________

UPPER DECK - SPx:

________________________________

# 12 - SP

# 12 - SPx SPECTRUM PARALLEL - Numbered 11/31

_______________________________________________

UPPER DECK - STANDING "O":

________________________________________________

Upper Deck Standing O - the new name for the Ovation brand - is a 126-card set released primarily to retail outlets in May 2003. Each pack contained one die-cut parallel.

Compared to previous years' products, Standing O was stripped down to its bare bones with no conventional inserts, and only a two-per-case game jersey set.

# 8

# S-8 - DIE CUT CIRCULAR PARALLEL

______________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SWEET SPOT:

_______________________________________________

SWEET SPOT NUMBER PATCH # GM-1

"Manufactured" Relics?

Huh?!

Yeah, boy - Both number and logo patches...and I honestly do not know what to do with this new twist in collecting...

Just treasure this, I guess. Oh, America...WE ONCE MADE STEEL IN THIS COUNTRY!

_______________________________________

UPPER DECK - VICTORY:

________________________________________

2003 Victory is a 200-card set released, exclusive to retail, in February 2003. After four years as a large but no-frills, insert-less product, Upper Deck dramatically changed Victory into a multi-fractured, multi-paralleled, set with a collectible card game element. The first 100 cards comprise the short set while the last 100 cards were all short printed to various quantities. The corners on all cards are rounded to look like a playing card.

These changes were not well received by collectors, and as a result, Upper Deck discontinued the line after 2003 -- although it remains part of their hockey line.

# 10

# 10 - GREEN PARALLEL

# 135 SHORT PRINT (Clutch Players)

# 197 SHORT PRINT (Winning Formula)

_______________________________________

UPPER DECK - VINTAGE:

________________________________________

# 30

2003 STATS: BRAVES

WON-16 // LOST-11 // ERA-3.96

2 0 0 4

Greg was granted free agency by Atlanta on October 29, 2003...

The following year, on March 23, 2004, he was signed by the Chicago Cubs, returning to the windy city, where it all

began for him.

Baseball, like any other professional sport, where money is the bottom line, is indifferent to the emotions of fans.

After the Cubs fell five outs short of the World Series in 2003, the front office went out and attempted to right a

longstanding wrong by signing the now-38-year-old Maddux.

He brought one of the most impressive resumes in the history of the game to a pitching staff that already boasted

the likes of Mark Prior, Kerry Wood and Carlos Zambrano.

Even at his "advanced age", Maddux showed he still had something left in the tank, winning 16 games in his first season back on the North Side - winning the 300th game of his career in August against the Giants. He racked up a staggering 212 2/3 innings...

Stories from the Game by MLB writer Richard Justice:

"Astros manager Jimy Williams summoned me to his side while he was hitting grounders during his team’s batting practice during the 2003 season.

“When you get a chance, look over in the other dugout and tell me what you see,” he said.

Sitting in the visitors' dugout at Minute Maid Park was that night’s starting pitcher, Greg Maddux, intently watching the Astros take batting practice.

This almost never happens. But Maddux, looking for an edge, any edge, was focused on where the Astros were hitting the ball and checking out who was feeling comfortable at the plate and who wasn’t.

I looked at Williams and smiled.

“There’s a reason he's going to the Hall of Fame,” he said.

NOTE: Due to the late signing of Maddux by the Cubs, many of the card companies still had him in his Braves jersey...

Because of this, I've included the team represented by each in parenthesis.

___________________

BAZOOKA:

___________________

# 93 (Braves)

# 93 - RED CHUNK PARALLEL (Braves)

__________________

BOWMAN:

__________________

# 126 (Cubs)

__________________________________

BOWMAN - CHROME:

___________________________________

# 126 (Cubs)

______________________________________________________________

CUB FOODS GROCERY CHAIN/WGN TV:

_______________________________________________________________

CUB FOODS (1968-2018):

Cub Foods was founded by Minnesota-based Hooleys Supermarkets in 1968 in the riverside city of Stillwater by brothers Charles and Jack Hooley, brother-in-law Robert Thueson, and Culver Davis, Jr. The name “CUB” was Culver Davis Jr’s nickname, and from it, they coined the acronym “Consumers United for Buying”, and Cub Foods was one of the first total discount food stores in the United States.

2004 CHICAGO CUBS SCHEDULE - Featuring Kerry Wood/Greg Maddux (in Cubs uniform)/ Sammy Sosa/Mark Prior

GREG'S FIRST OUTING - OPENING DAY 2004:

"I'm upset I didn't throw the ball the way I want to throw it - at the same time, you feel like you let a lot of people down.

The frustrating part is I felt good. I really did. I enjoyed being out there, and you kind of want to do better than you did

and it didn't work out." - Chicago Cubs Pitcher Greg Maddux on MLB.com (Muskrat, 04/12/2004)

____________________________

DIAMOND KINGS:

_____________________________

# 113 (Crowning Moment - Braves)

# 156 (Crowning Moment - Flashback: 1988 Cubs)

# 156 - SEPIA PARALLEL (Flashback: 1988 Cubs)

# 156 - BRONZE SEPIA PARALLEL - Numbered 43/100 (Flashback: 1988 Cubs)

# 156 - FRAMED BRONZE PARALLEL (Flashback: 1988 Cubs)

DIAMOND CUT COLLECTION - JERSEY # DC33 - Numbered 003/100 (Braves)

________________________________

DOLLAR BILL, YA'LL!

_________________________________

I don't know what to tell you about this, except it's Presidential...

The Father of our country, George Washington, has been comically replaced by Greg Maddux, on a real dollar bill!

I kid you not.

It's a legitimate Federal Reserve Note with Serial # E90976384-C, from Series-2003...

Sadly, I can't remember exactly where I picked this one up, but I LOVE it - unless I find out it's illegal to deface legal tender (even with the greatest pound-for-pound pitcher ever), I'll hang on to this forever!

__________________

DONRUSS:

___________________

Donruss is a 400-card set released in November 2003. After a year in which all base cards were printed in equal quantities, the 2004 edition of Donruss went back to having short-printed base cards. The 25-card (cards #1-25) Diamond Kings, 45-card Rated Rookies (26-70), and the 30 Team Checklists (371-400) are all short-printed -- a fact that most collectors did not realize until after they opened up their first packs as this was not revealed by Donruss-Playoff in their sell sheets.

# 2 - SHORT PRINT (Braves - Diamond King)

# 228 (Braves)

# 386 - SHORT PRINT (Braves Team Checklist)

_____________________________________

DONRUSS - CLASSICS:

______________________________________

# 58 (Braves)

# 213 (Cubs)

______________________________

DONRUSS - ELITE:

_______________________________

# 149 (Braves)

____________________________________________________

DONRUSS - LEATHER & LUMBER:

_____________________________________________________

# 30 (Cubs)

LEATHER IN LEATHER # LEL-34 (Braves)

_________________________________

DONRUSS - STUDIO:

__________________________________

# 44 (Cubs)

__________________________________________________________

DONRUSS - THROWBACK THREADS:

___________________________________________________________

# 41 (Cubs)

________________________________________________________

DONRUSS - TIMELESS TREASURES:

_________________________________________________________

Released by Donruss-Playoff in May 2004, each 4-card tin contained 3 base cards/parallels numbered to 999 copies or less.

# 97 - Numbered 617/999 (Cubs)

_____________________________________

DONRUSS - TIMELINES:

______________________________________

A 50-card set released exclusively to Hobby outlets in January, each pack contained one autograph and one game-used card.

# 17

COMBO BAT & JERSEY # 17 - Numbered 91/125 (Braves)

MATERIAL JERSEY # 17 (Braves)

_____________________________________________

DONRUSS - WORLD SERIES:

_____________________________________________

# WS - 38 (Base - Cubs)

# WS - 39 (Braves)

_________________________________

FLEER - AUTHENTIX:

__________________________________

# 38 (Braves)

BALLPARK CLASSICS # 9 of 10 BC (Braves)

______________________________________________

FLEER - CLASSIC CLIPPINGS:

______________________________________________

# 35 (Cubs)

________________________

FLEER - FLAIR:

________________________

OPEN THE BOMB BAY DOORS!

In a radical departure, Fleer issued the Hobby version of Flair in 12-card boxes with a suggested retail price of $120.

Each Hobby pack contained seven base cards, one "Class of '04" prospect card, three game used cards and an autograph.

A stripped-down version was issued to retail outlets, but the odds of finding anything but base cards were extremely remote.

The new format of Flair was not accepted by collectors. A weak rookie card class and substandard hits (especially among the autographs) led many to take a hard pass on this product - and the set is not much to look at, either.

# 39 (Cubs)

___________________________________________

FLEER - GENUINE INSIDER:

____________________________________________

# 51 (Cubs)

TOOLS OF THE TRADE # 12 of 20-TG (Cubs)

_____________________________________________________

FLEER - HOT PROSPECTS DRAFT:

_____________________________________________________

DRAFT REWIND # 4 of 30-DW (Cubs)

________________________________

FLEER - INSCRIBED:

_________________________________

NAMES OF THE GAME - MADDOG # NG-15 of 30 - Numbered 280/299 (Cubs)

____________________________

FLEER - LEGACY:

____________________________

# 32 (Cubs)

_____________________________________

FLEER - PATCHWORKS:

_____________________________________

# 33 (Cubs)

_______________________________

FLEER - PLATINUM:

________________________________

Fleer Platinum is a 200-card set and was released in February 2004. Like previous Platinum efforts, the base set evokes a classic Fleer Baseball set -- in this case, 1984 Fleer. The set does feature 22 short prints.

# 136 - SHORT PRINT (Wax Exclusive - Braves)

BIG SIGNS # 9 of 15-BS (Braves)

PLATINUM PORTRAITS # 9 of 10-PP (Braves)

__________________________________

FLEER - SHOWCASE:

___________________________________

At last! A set that lives up to its name - even the commons are nice looking cards.

# 87 (Braves)

______________________________________________________

FLEER - SKYBOX AUTOGRAPHICS:

_______________________________________________________

# 47 (Cubs)

________________________________

FLEER - SKYBOX LE:

_________________________________

Skybox LE - the LE stands for Limited Edition - is a 160-card set released in March.

Instead of the "LE", I submit that this UN-remarkable set should be referred to as Skybox PU...

The PU standing for "Pretty Unexceptional"

# 26 (Braves)

__________________________________

FLEER - SWEET SIGS:

___________________________________

# 28 (Cubs)

SWEET STITCHES JERSEY # ST-GM - Numbered 24/156 (Cubs)

________________________________

FLEER - TRADITION:

________________________________

# 41 (Braves)

THIS DAY IN HISTORY # 4 of 15-DH (Braves)

Also has parallel game-used versions...

_________________________

FLEER - ULTRA:

__________________________

The first 220 cards were issued in November 2003; while the last 175 cards were released as the "Update Series" in October 2004 (A pretty big release-gap).

Each series, but especially the Update Series, has a substantial number of short prints.

# 192 (Braves)

# 192 - GOLD MEDALLION DIECUT PARALLEL (Braves)

DIAMOND PRODUCERS (Diecut) # 1 of 10 - DP

K (STRIKEOUT} KINGS # 9 of 10-SK (Braves)

TURN BACK THE CLOCK # 17 of 20-TBC (Braves)

______________________________________

FLEER - ULTRA UPDATE:

_______________________________________

# 228 (Cubs)

___________

LEAF:

___________

2004 Leaf is a 300-card set that was released exclusively to The Hobby in December 2003.

The first 200 cards were printed in higher quantities than the last 100 cards in this set.

Cards numbered 201 through 251 feature 50 of the leading prospects - Cards numbered 252 through 271

feature 20 players in a Passing Through Time subset while the final 30 cards of the set feature team checklists.

SECOND EDITION is the name of the retail version of 2004 Leaf.

All cards are identical to their Hobby counterparts, with the exception of the words "SECOND EDITION" on the front of each

card and am combining both sets here...

# 109 (Braves)

# 109 - SECOND EDITION RETAIL PARALLEL (Braves)

The reverse side of each Passing Through Time is a reprint of that player's '94 Leaf card.

HOME/AWAY # A-1 (Braves)

HOME/AWAY # H-1 (Braves)

LEAF LIMITED PREVIEWS:

These cards are only available in Hobby packs, serial-numbered to 999 copies, and available in the following parallels.

Silver Spotlight (serial-numbered to 100 copies)
Gold Spotlight (serial-numbered to 50 copies)

# 7 - Numbered 73/999 (Braves)

FACTORY ERROR!

A very odd card - Pictures Maddux on the front & back, BUT the writing on the reverse is all about fellow Brave Tom Glavine...

LEAF # PC-30 - PLAYERS COLLECTION JERSEY - GREEN (Braves)

This was a cross-brand promotion series by Donruss-Playoff

A 100-card, cross-brand game-jersey set that was released in four 2004 Donruss-Playoff baseball products:

Leaf - Playoff Honors - Playoff Prestige - Studio...

The same 100-card set was randomly inserted into each product, and each product's set features the same basic design.

The differences between each product's cards are: A) The upper-left corner of each card is foil-stamped with the product the card was inserted into, and B) Some parallels were exclusive to specific brands.

_______________________________________________

LEAF - CERTIFIED MATERIALS:

________________________________________________

# 69 (Braves)

____________________________________

PLAYOFF - ABSOLUTE:

_____________________________________

# 44 (Cubs)

_______________________________

PLAYOFF HONORS:

________________________________

The one - and only - Playoff Honors set was released in July 2004.

# 25 (Cubs)

___________________________________

PLAYOFF - PRESTIGE:

____________________________________

# 18 (Braves)

ACHIEVEMENTS # A-4 (Braves)

CHANGING STRIPES # CS-11 (Braves/Cubs)

______________________________________

PLAYOFF - PRIME CUTS:

_______________________________________

2004 Prime Cuts was released in November 2003 by Donruss-Playoff. Each five-card box includes four base cards (serial-numbered to 949 copies) or base card parallels and one autograph, game-used memorabilia, or autographed game-used card serial-numbered to 50 copies or fewer, slabbed (but not professionally graded) by BGS.

# 5 - Numbered 564/949 (Braves)

______________

TOPPS:

_______________

# 140 (Braves)

_____________________________

TOPPS - CHROME:

______________________________

# 140 (Braves)

# 140 - GOLD REFRACTOR PARALLEL (Braves)

________________________________________

TOPPS - CRACKER JACK:

_________________________________________

Based on the 1914 Cracker Jack set, consists of 250 total cards: 197 base cards, 3 base variations, 40 short prints and 10 short print variations. The design is the same, however the size of the cards has been resized to today's standard format.

# 124 (Cubs)

# 124 - MINI PARALLEL (Cubs)

STICKER # 124 (Cubs)

Each wax pack came with a "Secret Suprise," which would yield either an autograph, relic, or a sticker parallel.

The stickers are virtually identical to the one-per-pack minis in both size and appearance.

___________________________

TOPPS - FINEST:

____________________________

# 72 (Cubs)

_______________________________

TOPPS - HERITAGE:

________________________________

# 214 (Braves)

# THC 46 - CHROME PARALLEL OF BASE # 214 - Numbered 573/1955 (Braves)

_____________________________________

TOPPS - OPENING DAY:

______________________________________

# 60 (Braves)

___________________________

TOPPS TRADED:

____________________________

The Professor goes back to his roots in Chicago...

T-45 (Cubs)

_______________________

UPPER DECK:

________________________

FAMOUS QUOTES # Q-10 (Cubs)

HEADLINERS JERSEY # HL-GM (Braves)

_________________________________________

UPPER DECK - ETCHINGS:

__________________________________________

Upper Deck Etchings is a 150-card set released in August 2004. As the name of the product suggests, each card has elaborated etched foil borders. Cool set!

# 58 (Cubs)

__________________________________________

UPPER DECK - PLAY BALL:

___________________________________________

# 63 (Cubs)

___________________________________________

UPPER DECK - POWER UP:

____________________________________________

# 78 (Braves)

_____________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - PRO SIGS COLLECTION:

______________________________________________________________

# 64 (Cubs)

______________________________________

UPPER DECK - R CLASS:

_______________________________________

Exactly WHERE do they come up with these names???! I think a better one would have been UPPER DECK - S.O.S.

# 67 (Cubs)

_______________________________________________

UPPER DECK - REFLECTIONS:

________________________________________________

Reflections is a 390-card set - the first 340 cards were issued as part of the Reflections product in April 2004.

The final 50 cards were randomly inserted as an Update set into Hobby boxes of '04 UD-Series 2. Every 12th Hobby box contained the Reflections Update set.

# 34 (Cubs)

LEVEL 1 MEMORABILIA - JERSEY # 149 (Cubs)

LEVEL 2 MEMORABILIA - JERSEY # 185 (Cubs)

________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SP AUTHENTIC:

_________________________________________________

# 84 (Cubs)

_________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SP PROSPECTS:

__________________________________________________

# 8 (Cubs)

___________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - UD SUPERSTARS:

____________________________________________________

A first-of-a-kind product, Superstars was the first (and to date ONLY) trading card product fully licensed by the then four major North American sports leagues, as well as a number of prominent golfers.

With the advent of exclusive licenses, a product like UD Superstars will probably never be attempted again.

# 16 (Braves)

_____________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SWEET SPOT:

______________________________________________

# 30 (Cubs)

_______________________________________

UPPER DECK - VINTAGE:

________________________________________

# 60 (Braves)

___________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - VINTAGE UPDATE SET:

____________________________________________________________

# 465 (Cubs)

THE WRAP-UP:

Although his performance this year wasn’t as dominant as during his prime, Greg still contributed to the team.

Here are some key stats from this season:

Win-Loss Record: 16–11 record.
Earned Run Average (ERA): ERA was 4.02.
Strikeouts: 133
Greg was back on the defense with another Gold Glove Award

2 0 0 5

___________________

BAZOOKA:

___________________

COMICS # 11 of 24

__________________

BOWMAN:

__________________

# 84

___________________________________

BOWMAN - CHROME:

____________________________________

# 84 - REFRACTOR PARALLEL

_____________________________________

BOWMAN - HERITAGE:

_____________________________________

# 139

__________________________________

BOWMAN STERLING:

___________________________________

VETERAN RELIC JERSEY # BS-GM

_____________________________

DIAMOND KINGS:

______________________________

2005 Diamond Kings is a 450-card set released in two series of 300 and 150 cards by Donruss-Playoff.

Series One (containing the first 300 cards) was issued in February, while the final 150 cards (#301-450) came out as part of the Diamond Kings Update Series - The Update Series was issued after the announcement that Donruss-Playoff would not have their licenses renewed for 2006. As a result, the product was rushed and reused much of the same artwork from Series One.

The Update Series can be seen as a sticker and relic dump.

As with the '04 product, 2005 Diamond Kings is known for the almost obscene number of parallels - makes you wonder if the folks who would one day come up with the outrageously priced boxes with the thousand-and-one parallels were remembering this recipe for confusion (think Panini Prizm etc.).

# 50 (Crowning Moment - Cubs)

# 50 - FRAMED RED PARALLEL (Crowning Moment/Cubs)

# 277 (Flashback/Braves)

# 277 - DK MATERIALS - BRONZE (Flashback-Crowning Moment/Braves) - Numbered 147/200

# 277 - DK MATERIALS - FRAMED RED (Flashback-Crowning Moment/Braves) - Numbered 11/100

TEAM TIMELINE # TT-6 with Sammy Sosa - Cubs

UPDATE SERIES:

# 330 (Crowning Moment)

___________________

DONRUSS:

____________________

2005 Donruss is a 400-card set released in November 2004. 100 cards from three subsets (Diamond Kings, Rated Rookies, and Team Checklists) are short printed. This would be the final Donruss set for nine years as Donruss-Playoff lost their MLB Properties license after the 2005 season.

# 133

C R A F T S M E N # C-7 - Numbered 0022/2000

MOUND MARVELS # MM-4 - Numbered 99/1,000

Each Mound Marvel is serial-numbered to 1000 copies, and available in a Black parallel which is serial-numbered to 100.

_________________________________________

DONRUSS - CHAMPIONS:

__________________________________________

# 217

_____________________________________

DONRUSS - CLASSICS:

_____________________________________

# 131

______________________________

DONRUSS - ELITE:

_______________________________

# 35

Each of the following "ELITE TEAMS" inserts are numbered to 1500 copies, and available in the following parallels.

Blue (serial-numbered to 1000 copies)
Green (serial-numbered to 750 copies)
Red (serial-numbered to 500 copies)
Black (serial-numbered to 250 copies)
Gold (serial-numbered to 150 copies)

1994 ELITE TEAMS:

BLUE # ET10 - Numbered 161/750 - (BRAVES: Maddux/Tom Glavine/Ryan Klesko/David Justice)

GREEN # ET10 - Numbered 161/750 - (BRAVES: Maddux/Tom Glavine/Ryan Klesko/David Justice)

__________________________________

DONRUSS - GREATS:

__________________________________

2005 Donruss Greats is a 150-card product released in November 2005.

This was one of the last baseball products released by Donruss-Playoff as an MLB Properties licensee, as it was announced that summer that their license would not be renewed.

Early in 2005, Fleer went out of business.

Donruss Greats was marketed as a tribute to Fleer's Greats of the Game line.

# 102 (Cubs)

# 148 (Braves)

___________________________________________________

DONRUSS - LEATHER & LUMBER:

____________________________________________________

# 47

____________________________________________________________________________

DONRUSS/PLAYOFF - ABSOLUTE MEMORABILIA:

_____________________________________________________________________________

# 24

____________________________________________________

DONRUSS/PLAYOFF - PRESTIGE:

_____________________________________________________

JUST IMAGINE:

Buying this product...

Busting packs...

Being AMAZED at how intricately designed and presented these were.

I won't even call them cards - I'll just call them TREASURES!

Ok - enough already - I'm full of sarcasm this morning...

If you've seen 'em, then you know what I'm talking about - the brand name is educational, though...

I never knew PRESTIGE actually meant "nothing special". You live, you learn. Thanks, Playoff.

# 131

__________________________________________________________

DONRUSS/PLAYOFF - PRIME CUTS 3:

___________________________________________________________

TIMELINE: MATERIAL COMBO JERSEY + BAT # T4 - Numbered 20/25 (Braves)

_________________________________

DONRUSS - STUDIO:

__________________________________

This would be the final Studio set as Donruss-Playoff's license was not renewed for 2006.

# 60

_______________________________________________________________________________________

DONRUSS - TEAM HEROES // NATIONAL CONVENTION:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

These cards (5-card pack featuring Cubs), were made available at the National Convention in Chicago, and were also made available through mail-in redemptions - this Maddux is a parallel of the Team Heroes # 71...

# 5 of 6

__________________________________________________________

DONRUSS - THROWBACK THREADS:

___________________________________________________________

# 182

POLO GROUNDS:

STRIKE/LONG FLY # PG-84 - Numbered 55/70

Similar to the '04 Leaf Exhibits, the '05 Leaf Sportscaster's, and the '05 Studio Portraits, Polo Grounds is a bizarrely structured 100-card insert with 45 parallels - each serial-numbered to 85 copies or less.

The 45 different parallels can be identified by two phrases that are printed in the corners. The design is based on the 1914 Polo Grounds Game (WG-4) set.

O boy - I'll have a long climb up this mountain :-(

_________________________________________________________

DONRUSS - TIMELESS TREASURES:

__________________________________________________________

2005 Timeless Treasures is a 100-card set released by Donruss-Playoff exclusively to Hobby outlets in April, 2005. Each four-card tin box will contain two base cards serial-numbered to 799 copies, one insert, and one autograph/game-used card serial-numbered to 100 copies or fewer.

# 88 - Numbered 254/799

_________________________________

DONRUSS - ZENITH:

__________________________________

Conceived as a tribute to the brand released by Pinnacle in the 1990s.

# 61

EPIX is a 96-card tribute to the multi-tier insert from 1998...

Each of the 24 players has four cards: Play - Game - Season - and Moment...

and each is paralleled in one of six different colors:

Orange - Blue - Purple - Red - Emerald - and Black.

GOT ALL THAT?

G A M E:

E 19 - EPIX BLUE - Numbered 337/350

E 19 EPIX PURPLE - Numbered 47/250

***** THIS ONE MAY BE THE ORANGE PARALLEL THAT I MISLABLED (According to BCP the Oranges are numbered to 500: I found a "RED" today - 12/19/25 - that's numbered to 150 and ordered it - here are the specs that arrived today...if the one already in the book DOES turn out to be orange, change this listing...

E 19 - EPIX RED - Numbered 150/150

E 19 - EPIX RED - Numbered 319/500

M O M E N T:

E 19 - EPIX PURPLE - Numbered 71 /100

P L A Y:

E 19 - EPIX BLUE - Numbered 316/500

E 19 - EPIX ORANGE - Numbered 189/750

EPIX PURPLE # E 19 - Numbered 125/350

S E A S O N:

E 19 - EPIX BLUE - Numbered 188/250

E 19 - EPIX ORANGE - Numbered 131/350

SPELLBOUND # S-1("G")

SPELLBOUND # S-2 ("R")

_____________

FLEER:

_____________

# 14

______________________________________________

FLEER - CLASSIC CLIPPINGS:

______________________________________________

# 59

________________________

FLEER - FLAIR:

_________________________

# 27

_______________________________________________

FLEER - NATIONAL PASTTIME:

________________________________________________

National Pastime is a 79-card set released by Fleer in March 2005.

This was Fleer's penultimate product before filing for bankruptcy in May.

# 46

______________________________________

FLEER - PATCHWORKS:

_______________________________________

# 53

__________________________________

FLEER - SHOWCASE:

__________________________________

MEASURE OF GREATNESS # 14 of 20-MG

________________________________

FLEER - TRADITION:

_________________________________

Back in the day, if a local merchant decided to take off, he'd post a sign on the store's door reading "GONE FISHING!"

In the case of Fleer, the sign reads "GONE BANKRUPT"

The 2005 release in February - a 350-card set, was their sign.

Fleer Tradition was intended to be a 750-card set released over three series; however, due to Fleer's bankruptcy, only

Series One was released.

CLUB 300 # 4 of 40 - CLUB

Each Club card is limited to 175-copies but is NOT serial-numbered.

X-TRA NOTE - The set is numbered to 40 cards...and yet, only 20 cards were released in the CLUB set...

It's assumed that cards 21 thru 40 would have been issued in Series Two...but Fleer's bankruptcy derailed that. Oh well.

DIAMOND TRIBUTES # 10 of 25 - DT

DIAMOND TRIBUTES - ODDBALL PARALLEL # 10 of 25 - DT

This oddity has wider than normal white borders, and the writing on the front is done in a fading, whitewash - cool factory error!

DIAMOND TRIBUTES JERSEY # DT - GM (with Blue Stripe)

STAND OUTS JERSEY # SO - GM (with Blue Stripe)

_________________________

FLEER - ULTRA:

_________________________

# 28

FOLLOW THE LEADER # 13 of 15 FL

___________

LEAF:

___________

This would be the final Leaf Baseball set as Donruss-Playoff's MLB license was not renewed for 2006. Donruss-Playoff would allow the rights to the Leaf brand name expire after 2008.

# 41

# PTT - 254 SHORTPRINT (Passing Through Time)

Passing Through Time features ten-year Major League veterans.

The reverse side of card features the player's 1995 (and final) Leaf base card.

For me, it's one cool concept, even if the cards aren't all glittery, shiny, refractory, or even covered in game-used this or that.

I like the simplicity of it - the front has Maddux in his Cubbies uniform, and the reverse (with the sequentially numbered "PTT" prefix), showing him in the Braves uniform that made him most famous.

It's a fitting tribute to Greg's full-circle swing from Chicago to Atlanta and back to Chicago again.

CY YOUNG WINNERS - GOLD # CYW 11 - Numbered 122/350

CY YOUNG WINNERS - GOLD DIECUT # CYW 11 - Numbered 64/100

G A M E R S # G-6 (Cubs)

_________________________________________________

LEAF - CENTURY COLLECTION:

__________________________________________________

2005 Leaf Century was released in January 2005. The gimmick with this product is the use of genuine U.S. Postage stamps

on cards. Now, in 2023, the stamps may actually be worth more than the cards...

# 131

________________________________________________

LEAF - CERTIFIED MATERIALS:

_________________________________________________

# 46 (Cubs)

# 178 (Braves)

# 178 - MIRROR RED PARALLEL - Numbered 73/100 (Braves)

# 178 - MIRROR WHITE PARALLEL

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MERRICK MINT SIGNATURE SERIES - COLORIZED STATEHOOD QUARTERS:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A very unique "oddball" item I came across (LOVE DEM ODDBALLS!), celebrates Maddux's return to where it all began for him It features Greg on this official U.S. state quarter from Illinois + a card. Really cool.

____________________________________

PLAYOFF - ABSOLUTE:

_____________________________________

ABSOLUTE HEROES # AH-56

______________

TOPPS:

_______________

# 155

# 155 - (Stamped 1st Edition)

# 336 (Season Highlights - 300th Win!)

# 704 (2004 NL Rawlings Gold Glove Award Winner - 14 Gold Gloves)

________________________________________

TOPPS - CRACKER JACK:

_________________________________________

# 20

# 20 - MINI Parallel

___________________________________________________________________

TOPPS CHROME - UPDATES & HIGHLIGHTS:

___________________________________________________________________

# UH-217 (Season Highlights)

___________________________

TOPPS - FINEST:

____________________________

# 14 - Numbered 187/199 - GREEN REFRACTOR

______________________________

TOPPS - GALLERY:

______________________________

Topps Gallery is a 195-card set released in January 2005, after a one-year hiatus.

This would turn out to be the last Gallery set for a dozen years.

# 89

________________________________

TOPPS - HERITAGE:

_________________________________

2005 Topps Heritage is a 475-card set released in February 2005.

This was the fifth year for Heritage, and keeping with the theme of the product, the 2005 version honored the '56 Topps set.

# 276

_______________________________________

TOPPS - OPENING DAY:

_______________________________________

# 155

__________________________

TOPPS - TOTAL:

__________________________

# 535

____________________________________

TOPPS - TURKEY RED:

_____________________________________

Turkey Red is a 315-card set released by Topps on August 31st, 2005. The product is done in the style of the

1911 Turkey Red Cabinets (T3)

# 38

_____________________________________________________

TOPPS - UPDATES & HIGHLIGHTS:

______________________________________________________

# UH 112

_______________________

UPPER DECK:

________________________

# 455(Bound for Glory subset)

__________________________________

UPPER DECK - ESPN:

___________________________________

2005 Upper Deck ESPN is a 90-card set released in March 2005, to commemorate the cable network's 25th anniversary (which was actually in 2004).

# 17

ESPY AWARD WINNERS # AW-7 (Outstanding Performers)

__________________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - MINI JERSEY COLLECTION:

___________________________________________________________________

2005 UD Mini Jersey Collection is a 100-card set released in July 2005.

Each pack contained three cards plus one mini-sized replica baseball jersey.

# 16

__________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - MLB ARTIFACTS:

___________________________________________________

# 35

________________________________________

UPPER DECK - ORIGONS:

_________________________________________

Origins is a 286-card set released by Upper Deck in two series.

OLD JUDGE MATERIALS - JERSEY # OJ-GM (With Blue Stripe)

________________________________________

UPPER DECK - PRO SIGS:

_________________________________________

# 19

_________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - PROS & PROSPECTS:

__________________________________________________________

# 21

_______________________________________________

UPPER DECK - REFLECTIONS:

________________________________________________

Reflections is a 286-card set released in two series by Upper Deck. As the name suggests, all cards are printed on foil board.

The first 200 cards were issued as part of the Reflections product - the last 86 cards were seeded at the rate of one-per-pack in packs of '05 UD Update.

# 44

_____________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SWEET SPOT:

______________________________________________

# 32

________________________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - ULTIMATE SIGNATURE EDITION:

_________________________________________________________________________

Ultimate Signature is a 185-card set released in two series by Upper Deck. The first 110 cards were issued as part of the Ultimate Signature product, on June 1, 2005. The first 100 cards are serial-numbered to 825 copies while cards 101-110 were autographed and serial-numbered to 225 copies.

# 69 - Numbered 80/825

_____________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - UPDATE & HIGHLIGHTS:

______________________________________________________________

GOLD PARALLEL # UH 112 - Numbered 140/2005

2005 STATS:

WON-13 // LOST-15 // ERA-4.24

Gold Glove

2 0 0 6

2006 was a year of great change in the baseball card landscape...

Donruss-Playoff had lost its license to produce Major League Baseball cards...

Fleer went bankrupt and had their assets picked up by Upper Deck...

Major League Baseball imposed its "Not a Rookie Til We Say So" policy and created the now-ubiquitous "RC icon."

This forced Topps to move all the minor league players and prospects who could no longer be included in base sets

into Prospect "inserts" in all their Bowman brands.

NEW SETS: As part of the purchase of Fleer, Upper Deck added Fleer, Fleer Tradition, Ultra, Greats of the Game, and Flair Showcase to their product line.

Upper Deck also introduced Epic, Future Stars, Special F/X, and more...

Topps introduced the extremely popular Allen and Ginter's as a new retro set, as well as Topps 52 (a new rookie set featuring the design of the 1952 Topps set), Topps Co-Signers (previously only an insert set in Stadium Club) and two new high-sets: Triple Threads and Topps Sterling - Topps also produced the 2006 Bowman Originals set, a single year release that came with a certified buyback autograph in every pack that proved to be a dud.

__________________

BAZOOKA:

__________________

# 24

__________________

BOWMAN:

__________________

# 66

__________________________________

BOWMAN HERITAGE:

___________________________________

# 255 of 300

_____________

FLEER:

_____________

This was the first Fleer Baseball set released by Upper Deck.

Cards #1-#400 are available in the following parallels.

Glossy Silver
Glossy Gold
Printing Plates (set of four for each card)

# 101

FABRICS # FF-GM

All Fabrics cards feature a swatch from a game jersey

SMOOTH LEATHER # SL-6

________________________________

FLEER - TRADITION:

________________________________

2006 Fleer Tradition is a 200-card set, released in August 2006 by Upper Deck which purchased Fleer's trademarks after their 2005 bankruptcy - This would be the only Fleer Tradition set UD would produce.

# 58

_________________________

FLEER - ULTRA:

_________________________

# 47

# 47 - GOLD MEDALLION PARALLEL

____________________________________________________

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED FOR KIDS:

_____________________________________________________

# 77

This one has Greg in his Cubbie uniform & on the back a rare headshot of the aging wonder, complete with five o'clock shadow...

_____________

TOPPS:

_____________

# 45

# 251 (Gold Glove Award Winner)

# 251 - GOLD PARALLEL Numbered 1072/2006

# 330 (Team Stars with Michael Barrett)

________________________________________

TOPPS - ALLEN & GINTER:

_________________________________________

Considered by many to be the best baseball product of 2006, Ginter was named Beckett Baseball's Product of the Year.

Part of the appeal of Allen & Ginter, was a strong lineup of major league players joined by superstar athletes from other

sports - all in keeping with the spirit of the original Allen & Ginter sets.

The autographs, parallels, and game-used inserts were all outstanding, but the real prize was the controversial Rip Cards.

The Rip Cards, which contained another miniature-sized card embedded inside the main card, were seeded at the rate of one-per-case. In order to get the mini-card, collectors had to "Rip" open (thereby destroying) the Rip Card. Inside the Rip Cards would be either an autographed mini, a special limited mini, a unique Dick Perez sketch or an original 1887 Allen and Ginter N28 card.

# 115

______________________________

TOPPS - CHROME:

______________________________

2006 Topps Chrome is a 354-card parallel brand and was released in July 2006.

For the first time since 1997, Topps released Chrome in a single series.

# 19

# 261 (Award Winners - Gold Glove)

__________________________________

TOPPS CO-SIGNERS:

__________________________________

# 30

___________________________

TOPPS - FINEST:

___________________________

# 54

______________________________________

TOPPS - OPENING DAY:

______________________________________

# 45

___________________________________

TOPPS - TURKEY RED:

____________________________________

RED PARALLEL # 395 (Cubs)

________________________

UPPER DECK:

________________________

A massive 1250-card set released in three series and is widely considered to be one of their finest accomplishments.

# 878 (Cubs Team Checklist)

# 878 - SILVER SPECTRUM PARALLEL - Numbered 42/99 (Cubs Team Checklist)

# 1099 (Dodgers! - Greg is shipped to LA)

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS# SH-29 (Maddux Doesn't Allow a Hit in Dodgers Debut)

STAR ATTRACTIONS SILVER # SA - GM

Each Series One Star Attraction is also available in a gold parallel which is serial-numbered to 699 copies.

___________________________________________

UPPER DECK - ARTIFACTS:

___________________________________________

# 19

_________________________________

UPPER DECK - EPIC:

__________________________________

Released exclusively to Hobby outlets, each base card is printed on rainbow-refractive mirror board and serial-numbered.

EPIC EVENTS # EE-40 - Numbered 592/675 (Maddux Logs Career Win # 300: Cubs vs Giants)

____________________________________________

UPPER DECK - FIRST PITCH:

_____________________________________________

# 33

______________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - FLAIR SHOWCASE:

_______________________________________________________

This was the first (and only) Flair Showcase set issued by Upper Deck after they purchased Fleer's assets in bankruptcy.

As the name suggests, '06 Flair Showcase marked a return in the tiered base set that was common to this brand in the late 90s. Unlike late 90s Flair Showcase, each player had only one card.

# 75

________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SP AUTHENTIC:

_________________________________________________

All 100 short prints are serial numbered to 899 copies.

# 120 - SHORT PRINT - Numbered 79/899

___________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SPECIAL FX:

___________________________________________

2006 Upper Deck Special F/X is a 1007-card stand-alone set that parallels the '06 UD set - this one was actually released

in January 2007:

# 92 - SPECIAL F/X - PURPLE - Numbered 149/150

STAR ATTRACTIONS # SA-GM

_______________________________

UPPER DECK - SPX:

_______________________________

# 16

_____________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SWEET SPOT:

______________________________________________

# 25 (Cubs)

___________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SWEET SPOT UPDATE:

____________________________________________________________

# 16 (Dodgers)

Greg began the season, still in Chicago...

After 22 games, they traded him to the Dodgers...

He finished the 2006 season with a 15-14 record and a 4.20 ERA.

Cubs: WON-9 // LOST-11 // ERA-4.69

Dodgers: Won-6 // Lost-3 // ERA-3.30

Gold Glove

2 0 0 7

ON THE ROAD AGAIN...

After being traded by the Cubs to the Dodgers on July 31, 2006,

Greg cleaned out his locker at Dodger Stadium...went home and

found himself wondering what his future held in The Big Show.

That future was decided on December 5th when the Padres signed him as a free agent.

_________________

BOWMAN:

_________________

# 122 (Padres)

# 122 - GOLD PARALLEL (Padres)

____________________________________

BOWMAN - HERITAGE:

_____________________________________

The base set mimics the design of the '52 Bowman set...

After a seven-year run, this would be the final Bowman Heritage set for twelve years.

# 83 (Padres)

PIECES OF GREATNESS # PG-GM - Bat (Group A = 368 Copies)

_____________________________________

FLEER (By Upper Deck):

_____________________________________

2007 Fleer is a 430-card set released by Upper Deck in two series.

Sadly, this would be the final baseball card set under the Fleer name as Upper Deck, which bought the rights to the name, decided to discontinue the brand.

# 169 (Pictures Greg in Dodger Blue with his new team - the Padres - logo)

CROWNING ACHIEVEMENTS # CA - GM

__________________________________________________

FLEER - ULTRA (By Upper Deck):

___________________________________________________

# 160 (Padres)

FACES OF THE GAME # GF-GM (Cubs)

_______________________________________________________

MULTIAD SPORTS/PEPSI-CIRCLE K:

________________________________________________________

25th Anniversary Season - Peoria Chiefs - 1983-2007:

# 2 of 30

_____________

TOPPS:

_____________

This was the first black-bordered Topps set since 1971 - Unlike the '71 set, this design was not well received by collectors.

The product was also hampered by a series of repetitive "Mirror" inserts.

2007 marked a turning point for Topps and their relationship with The Hobby and card collectors...

It was the first time they resorted to base gimmickry to sell their product.

Derek Jeter's base card (#40) was issued, unannounced, with the images of Mickey Mantle and then-President

George W. Bush Photoshopped into the background.

The card had the intended effect of creating "buzz" for Series One, drawing the curious into The Hobby.

On the surface, this might seem like a good thing - Unfortunately, these uneducated marks thought this was another Billy Ripken-esque error and grossly overpaid for what was an ordinary Derek Jeter base card.

Since 2007, just about every Topps flagship baseball release (and some of the other brands as well) has had some sort of gimmick attached -- becoming progressively stupider by the year.

# 275 (Padres)

# 275 - RED BACK PARALLEL (Padres)

A previously unannounced addition to the set, this Hobby exclusive parallel features each player's name and card number printed in red ink on the reverse side.

# 311 (Dodgers - 2006 NL Rawlings Gold Glove Award)

# 311 - GOLD PARALLEL - Numbered 1849/2007 (Dodgers)

# 311 - RED BACK PARALLEL (Dodgers - 2006 NL Rawlings Gold Glove Award)

TRADING PLACES # TP-24 (Dodgers to Padres)

TRADING PLACES RELIC - BAT # TPR-GM (Dodgers to Padres)

______________________________________________

TOPPS - ALLEN AND GINTER:

______________________________________________

# 310 - SHORTPRINT (Padres)

DICK PEREZ SKETCHES # 23 of 30

NO NUMBER - MINI PARALLEL SHORTPRINT # NNO - (Limited to 50-copies)

_____________________________

TOPPS - CHROME:

_____________________________

# 110

# 110 - REFRACTOR PARALLEL

# 275 (Gold Glove Award Winner)

_______________________________

TOPPS - HERITAGE:

_______________________________

# 120

_______________________________________________________

TOPPS - MOMENTS & MILESTONES:

_______________________________________________________

Moments & Milestones is a 193-card set, released exclusively to Hobby outlets, in April 2007...

It's one of the most bizarrely structured card-sets ever produced...

Each of the 169 veterans has multiple variations based on the player's statistical accomplishments, similar to a mirror insert.

For example, Alex Rodriguez's 2003 AL MVP-winning season is celebrated with 47 different variations (one for each home run he hit that season) of card #27 - Like a mirror, each of the 47 cards is identical to each other, with the exception of a large numeral on the front side of the card. Each individual card is serial-numbered to 150 copies, but when all the different variations of each card are factored in, the production runs are much higher; there are a total of 7050 copies of the aforementioned card.

The highlight of Greg is on strikeouts - Every card is # 13 - it's estimated that there are 199 different cards commemorating this.

Pass me the aspirin - I've got a headache already.

# 13 - 199 STRIKEOUTS:

43 Strikeouts - Numbered 112/150 ('92 NL Cy Young - Cubs)

48 Strikeouts - Numbered 147/150 ('92 NL Cy Young - Cubs)

50 Strikeouts - Numbered 122/150 ('92 NL Cy Young - Cubs)

67 Strikeouts - Numbered 72/150 ('92 NL Cy Young - Cubs)

94 Strikeouts - Numbered 16/150 ('92 NL Cy Young - Cubs)

108 Strikeouts - Numbered 20/150 ('92 NL Cy Young - Cubs)

112 Strikeouts - Numbered 51/150 ('92 NL Cy Young - Cubs)

123 Strikeouts - Numbered 77/150 ('92 NL Cy Young - Cubs)

142 Strikeouts - Numbered 102/150 ('92 NL Cy Young - Cubs)

163 Strikeouts - Numbered 71/150 ('92 NL Cy Young - Cubs)

176 Strikeouts - Numbered 59/150 ('92 NL Cy Young - Cubs)

194 Strikeouts - Numbered 59/150 ('92 NL Cy Young - Cubs)

BLACK PARALLELS:

27 Strikeouts - Numbered 28/29 ('92 NL Cy Young - Cubs)

132 Strikeouts - Numbered 19/29 ('92 Cy Young - Cubs)

# 15 - 197 STRIKEOUTS:

23 Strikeouts - Numbered 3/150 ('93 NL Cy Young - Braves)

78 Strikeouts - Numbered 20/150 ('93 NL Cy Young - Braves)

BLACK PARALLELS:

127 Strikeouts - Numbered 3/29 (NL CY Young - Braves

175 Strikeouts - Numbered 2/29 ('92 Cy Young - Braves)

________________________________

TOPPS - WALMART:

________________________________

# WM-6 (Padres)

_______________________

UPPER DECK:

_______________________

# 356 (Dodgers Uni - Padres Logo)

_________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - FUTURE STARS:

_________________________________________________

# 77 (Padres)

_______________________________________

UPPER DECK - GOUDEY:

_______________________________________

To mimic the look and feel of the original 1930s Goudey's, all cards measure 2 3/8" X 2 7/8" - slightly smaller than the

modern-sized card - Cards numbered 201-223 feature retired greats while 224-240 are short, printed cards of some of today's biggest stars.

# 44 GREEN BACK (Padres)

# 44 RED BACK (Padres)

# 44 - BIG LEAGUE BAT PARALLEL (Padres)

# 234 - SHORTPRINT (Padres)

______________________________________________

UPPER DECK - HOLIDAY INN:

______________________________________________

2007 Upper Deck Holiday Inn is a 60-card set. Members of the Holiday Inn Priority Club who stayed at a participating Holiday Inn hotel between May 31, 2007, and July 30, 2007, would receive one, four-card pack for each night's stay. Each pack contained three base cards and one Cal Ripken, Jr. insert.

# 58 of 60

__________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - MLB ARTIFACTS:

__________________________________________________

DIVISIONAL ARTIFACTS MEMORABILIA # DA-GM - Numbered 175/199 - Padres

________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SP AUTHENTIC:

________________________________________________

# 41

_______________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SP ROOKIE EDITION:

_______________________________________________________

# 41

____________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SPECTRUM:

_____________________________________________

# SR-GM (Season Retro-spectrum - Padres)

_____________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SWEET SPOT:

______________________________________________

# 39 - Numbered 140/850

_____________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - ULTIMATE COLLECTION:

_____________________________________________________________

AMERICA'S PASTIME MEMORABILIA PM-GM - Numbered 18/75 (Cubbies)

2007 STATS: Padres

WON-14 // LOST-11 // ERA-4.14

Gold Glove

2 0 0 8

~ The Professor's 23rd And Final Season ~

__________________

BOWMAN:

__________________

# 130

# 130 - GOLD PARALLEL

__________________________________

BOWMAN - CHROME:

__________________________________

# 124

# 124 - REFRACTOR

_____________

TOPPS:

_____________

# 625

YEAR IN REVIEW # YR 168 (Maddux Goes 59.2 IP Without a Walk - Padres)

_________________________________________

TOPPS - ALLEN & GINTER:

_________________________________________

# 124

____________________________________

TOPPS - CO SIGNERS:

____________________________________

# 28

# 28 - SILVER BLUE PARALLEL - Numbered 44/250

______________________________

TOPPS - CHROME:

______________________________

# 163

# 163 - BLUE REFRACTOR PARALLEL

# 163 - REFRACTOR PARALLEL

___________________________

TOPPS - FINEST:

___________________________

# 103

________________________________

TOPPS - HERITAGE:

________________________________

# 27

________________________________________________________

TOPPS - MOMENTS & MILESTONES:

________________________________________________________

The set follows the same "mirrored" structure of the previous year's product.

Each of the 144 veterans has multiple variations based on the player's statistical accomplishments.

For example, Alex Rodriguez's card #1 has 518 different variations, one for each home run he had hit coming into the 2008 season. Like a mirror, each of the 518 cards is identical to each other, with the exception of a large numeral on the front side

of the card. Each individual card is serial-numbered to 150 copies, but when all the different variations of each card are factored in, the production runs are much higher -- there are a total of 77,700 copies of the aforementioned card #1.

OMYGOSH!

MADDUX IS CARD # 8 - CAREER WINS:

26 - Numbered 14/150

97 - Numbered 82/150

230 - Numbered 89/150

253 - Numbered 6/150

______________________________________

TOPPS - OPENING DAY:

______________________________________

# 171 (Parallel to Topps # 625)

FLAPPER CARD # FC-GM

Flapper Cards are unique four-sided "cards" with "flaps" on that can be opened and folded in different ways to reveal stats, facts and trivia. They were produced by Structural Graphics who also printed the "Boyz with the Wood" inserts in 1999 Metal Universe.

________________________________

TOPPS - HERITAGE:

________________________________

# 27

________________________________________

TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB:

________________________________________

# 73

________________________

UPPER DECK:

________________________

# 182

# 738 (Season Highlights)

__________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - A PIECE OF HISTORY:

__________________________________________________________

# 79

___________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - DOCUMENTARY:

___________________________________________________

MADNESS IN THE DESIGN ROOM:

Documentary was a massive 4890-card set that ambitiously attempted to document every single game played in 2008.

The set was released December 18, 2008.

Unfortunately, due to the quick turn-around time involved, very few of the photographs used match-up to the game date in question - in fact there are many instances of the player depicted on the front not even playing in the game.

Each of the 30 teams has 163 cards -- one for each game plus a season in review card -- meaning that each individual Major League Game played in the 2008 season actually has two cards in this set.

# 824 / SDP-24 - APRIL 25th / GAME-24: D'Backs 5 - Padres 1

# 830 / SDP-30 - MAY 2nd / GAME-30: Marlins 6 - Padres 4

# 1730 / SDP-60 - JUNE 3rd / GAME-60: Cubs 9 - Padres 6

# 2324 / SDP-74 - JUNE 19th / GAME-74: Yankees 2 - Padres 1

# 4124 / LAD-138 - SEPTEMBER 1 / GAME-138: Dodgers 5 - Padres 2

# 4304 / LAD-144 - SEPTEMBER 8 / GAME-144: Padres 4 - Dodgers 0

# 4754 / LAD-159 - SEPTEMBER 25 / GAME-159: Padres 7 - Dodgers 5

# 4844 / LAD-162 - SEPTEMBER 28 / GAME-162: Giants 3 - Dodgers 1

One more reason to HATE this set - Upper Deck seems to be fond of making highlight cards outta the games Greg lost!

________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - FIRST EDITION:

________________________________________________

# 151

_______________________________________

UPPER DECK - HEROES:

________________________________________

Upper Deck Heroes is a 200-card set released August 11th, 2008.

Like the '05 set of the same name, the design of the base set is almost identical to the Baseball Heroes inserts of the early 1990s - the set is best known for the extreme (for its day), number of parallels (10).

# 145

__________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - MASTERPIECES:

__________________________________________________

As with the previous year's set, all cards are original paintings and printed on a canvas-like substrate.

# 76

CAPTURED ON CANVAS GU # CC-GM

_________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SP AUTHENTIC:

_________________________________________________

# 15

AUTHENTIC ACHIEVEMENTS # AA-43 (Earns 350th Career Victory: 5/10/08)

____________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SP LEGENDADY CUTS:

____________________________________________________________

# 8

___________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SPECTRUM:

___________________________________________

# 78 (Padres)

______________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SWEET SPOT:

______________________________________________

# 43 (Dodgers)

_________________________________________

UPPER DECK - TIMELINE:

_________________________________________

# 133 (UD All-Time Heroes)

_____________________________

UPPER DECK - X:

_____________________________

X is a 100-card set released September 16th, 2008. Each pack contains one die-cut parallel and one XPonential insert.

# 83

# 83 - GOLD DIE CUT PARALLEL

~ THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY: AUGUST 19. 2008 ~

Greg Maddux won the 350^th game of a Hall of Fame career in a Padres uniform.

His two-year stay in San Diego came to an end on this date — Aug. 19, 2008, when the Padres shipped him to Los Angeles as the Dodgers sought to boost their playoff hopes.

Padres GM, Kevin Towers had the 42-year-old Maddux’s blessing. “Greg was more than willing to stay,” Towers told the Union-Tribune amid a 99-loss season. “He said if you’re happy with the players you’re getting back, move me. I kind of pushed him. He was willing to stay.”

The post-deadline nonwaiver deal required the Padres to pay a “significant amount” of Maddux’s remaining $2.3 million salary to gain access to higher levels of prospects. Towers originally sought minor leaguers James McDonald and Scott Elbert but had to settle for lower-level prospects - they settled on pitchers Eduardo Perez and Mike Watt after scouting the Dodgers deep into September. Perez never got out of A-ball and Watt stalled at Triple-A Tucson. CAN YOU SAY DUDS?

Overall, Maddux was 20-20 with a 4.07 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP in two years in San Diego.

Greg's return to LA marked a reunion - he'd previously played with the Dodgers for part of the 2006 season - he'd gone 6-3,

with a 3.30 ERA, 3.80 FIP and 1.09 WHIP in 73.2 innings pitched over 12 starts during his first Dodgers stint. He wasn’t quite as effective in a second run with the team, going 2-4 with a 5.09 ERA, 4.21 FIP and 1.16 WHIP across seven starts to close out the 2008 season.

Maddux went on to pitch four innings out of the bullpen in the postseason, which marked his last action on a Major League mound. He retired after the Dodgers were eliminated by the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series, concluding a 23-year career - It wasn’t before Maddux received his 18th Gold Glove Award, the most for any pitcher in MLB history.

The first-ballot Hall of Famer earned eight All-Star Game selections and four Cy Young Awards in his illustrious career.

Still - the card companies continued to pump out his cards in 2009...

Like me, I guess - unwilling to give up a good man.

2008 STATS: PADRES/DODGERS

PADRES: WON-6 // LOST-9 // ERA-3.99

DODGERS: WON-2 // LOST-4 // ERA-5.09

18th and final Gold Glove Award

2 0 0 9

# 31:

Greg had his jersey number 31 retired by

two Major League baseball teams this year!

The Cubs retired the number on May 3, 2009,

in honor of both Maddux and Fergie Jenkins...

The Braves retired it on July 17th.

Stories from the Game by MLB writer Richard Justice:

He appears to remember every pitch he’s ever thrown.

Maddux had two brief stints with the Dodgers - one in 2006 and another in '08.

During one of those, the Dodgers transferred their pitching game charts to a database. One day, Maddux approached a Dodgers front-office executive and held up a printout of his pitching logs.

“I’m not sure these are right,” he said.

Former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said Maddux ran a finger down one of the sheets representing thousands of pitches and points to one pitch in a game years earlier.

“This one right here,” he said, “It says I threw [Tony] Gwynn a fastball. I’m pretty sure it was a changeup.”

Here's another one...

"Have you checked the all-time win list?"

"Maddux, with the Dodgers late in the 2008 season, 42 at the time, wasn’t scheduled to make another start in 2008 as the Dodgers fine-tuned for the postseason. But after what was supposed to be Maddux's final start, he approached Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and asked to make one more.

Maddux didn’t say why he wanted to pitch again, and no one asked. But one day, a member of the front office entered a meeting of coaches and said, “I think I may know why he wants to pitch. Have you checked the all-time win list?”

Maddux and Roger Clemens were tied at 354 wins at the time. So, in Game 161, in what would be the 740th and final start of his career, Maddux allowed the Giants one run in six innings for win No. 355".

_____________

TOPPS:

_____________

LEGENDS OF THE GAME # LG - GM (Braves)

________________________________

TOPPS - HERITAGE:

________________________________

# 62 (Dodgers)

_____________________________

TOPPS - TRIBUTE:

_____________________________

# 57 (Cubs)

_______________________

UPPER DECK:

_______________________

# 165 (Dodgers)

1975 O-PEE-CHEE # OPC-22

In 2008, Upper Deck acquired the rights to the O-Pee-Chee brand name and produced this 50-card insert based on the '75 O-Pee-Chee set (which, of course, is based on the '75 Topps set).

The set is also available in a '75 Topps Mini-sized parallel, which the original '75 OPCs weren't.

UD GAME JERSEY # GJ-GM

_________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - 20TH ANNIVERSARY:

__________________________________________________________

This massive 2,500 card set celebrates 20 years of sports, pop culture, and world events. Upper Deck randomly seeded these cards in every 2009 baseball release.

# 462 (RETROSPECTIVE: Maddux nearly unhittable in '92)

# 463 (RETROSPECTIVE: Maddux in Top Form During 1992)

# 464 (RETROSPECTIVE: Maddux Collects 4 Shutouts and 199 K's enroute to Cy Young Award)

# 873 (RETROSPECTIVE: Opponents hope for rain...)

# 874 (RETROSPECTIVE - Braves)

________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - FIRST EDITION:

_________________________________________________

# 211 (Dodgers)

___________________________________________

UPPER DECK - SPECTRUM:

____________________________________________

# 79 (Dodgers)

2 0 1 0

______________

TOPPS:

______________

HISTORICAL COMMEMORATIVE PATCHES:

1995 World Series Commemorative Patch # MCP-132

NOTE: Each card features a manufactured (not game-used) commemorative patch. These cards were exclusive to Blaster boxes.

***Gifted to me by my Trading Bases compadre & Mississippi neighbor from Corinth, Jerry Robertson - my 1st 2010 card!

2 0 1 1

______________

TOPPS:

_______________

Topps marked the company's 60th anniversary in baseball - a number of "Diamond Anniversary" themed

inserts and promotions were added.

Similar to the Million Card Giveaway promotion of a year before, 2011 Topps featured a Topps 60th Anniversary

Diamond Card Giveaway.

Randomly inserted into packs at the rate of 1:6 are code cards that, when entered, would unlock special one-of-one

parallels embedded with a real diamond...

Added to the Topps 60th Anniversary Diamond Card Giveaway, were redemption cards good for a diamond ring.

I never pulled anything like that - even a cubic zirconium woulda been ok. Then again, I was never the kid who pulled a cool magnifying glass out of a box of Cracker Jacks, either - I usually got the stupid prizes.

60 YEARS OF TOPPS:

Similar to "The Cards Your Mother Threw Out" and "Through The Years" sets of 2010 and 2001, respectively; the 60-year history of Topps chronicled with a reprint of two cards from every year, one card for year in each series.

Each card back narrates the story of that year’s design as well as other interesting minutiae. Cards 1-59 appeared in Series One, while 60-118 appeared in Series Two. An additional 59 cards appeared in the Update Series.

As with The Cards Your Mother Threw Out, all cards are also available in an Original Back parallel.

# 60YOT-37 (# 361 - 1988 Topps)

DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY PARALLELS:

NOTE: For their 60th Anniversary, Topps included these one-time-only "Diamond" parallels.

All 660 base cards, and all 49 Legends variations are available - This insert was found in the

Topps Update release but is considered an SP/Variation of Card # 505 (Tommy Hanson).

# 505-B - SP VARIATION - COGNAC DIAMOND (Braves)

# 505-B - SP VARIATION - PLATINUM DIAMOND

DIAMOND DUOS # DD-MH (Maddux - Cubs - Jeremy Hellickson - D'Rays)

KIMBALL CHAMPIONS # KC-61

A recreation of the 1888 Kimball Champion cards, this 150-card mini-sized (1 15/32" X 2 11/16") set spanned all three series of 2011 Topps baseball.

The first 50 cards highlighted legends of the game and current stars and appeared in Series One. The next 50, which are only cards of retired players and Hall of Famers, appeared in Series Two. The final 50 cards appeared in Topps Update.

For a product designed to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Topps Baseball, the inclusion of a 19th Century reprint set was somewhat curious - Received this awesome card from my neighbor in North Mississippi, Jerry Robertson!

TOPPS 60 # T60-90 (Braves Career Earned Run Average Leaders - Modern Era)

A 100-card set of legends and current stars noting the statistical category in which each places in the top 60 all-time or among active leaders. Cards 1-50 appeared in Series One, while 51-100 appeared in Series Two.

An additional 50 cards appeared in 2011 Topps Update.

______________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - GOODWIN CHAMPIONS:

_______________________________________________________________

# 11

______________________________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - NATIONAL CONVENTION (Chicago):

_______________________________________________________________________________

PROMO CARD # NSCC-9

2 0 1 2

___________

LEAF:

___________

NATIONAL PROMOTION # GM-1

_________________________

PANINI - PRIZM:

__________________________

2012 Panini Prizm Baseball marks the brand’s diamond debut. And while it took some time to really garner a lot of attention, it has emerged as one of the BIG 2012 issues.

# 122

DOMINANCE # D-4 (Braves)

_______________________________________

PLAYOFF - PRIME CUTS:

_______________________________________

HAT'S OFF # 3 - Numbered 40/99 - (Cubs)

_____________________________________________________________

UPPER DECK - GOODWIN CHAMPIONS:

______________________________________________________________

# 22

2 0 1 3

Stories from the Game by MLB writer Richard Justice:

Everything was calculated.

Only after he’d thrown the last pitch of his career did Maddux become a great interview.

Before that, his interviews were a lot of mumbles, broken sentences and partial thoughts.

In the years since, his interviews are nothing short of brilliant, filled with insight and humor and thoughtfulness.

Prior to his Hall of Fame induction, he gave advice every young pitcher should memorize.

“In high school,” Maddux said, “I learned that movement was more important than velocity, and I learned that location was

more important than velocity, and I learned that the ability to change speeds was more important than velocity.

“You gotta have velocity to get drafted, but to get here you have to be able to locate your fastball and change speeds.

If you can do that with movement, it’s more of a bonus.”

As John Smoltz said, “Believe me, everything he did was calculated. Calculated to a T. No one you’ll ever meet is more calculating, whether it’s golf or pitching or cards, whatever.”

_________________________________________________

PANINI - HOMETOWN HEROES:

__________________________________________________

# 134 (Braves)

________________________________

PANINI - PINNACLE:

_________________________________

2013 Pinnacle is a 200-card set released by Panini America on August 15, 2013. This set marks the return of the "Pinnacle" brand name (which was inherited by Panini after their purchase of Donruss-Playoff) to baseball after a 15-year hiatus...

AWAITING THE CALL # AC-2 (Braves)

TEAM PINNACLE # TP-10 (with Stephen Strassburg - Nationals)

TOPPS - UPDATE:

'71 MINI # TM-24 (Braves)

POSTSEASON HEROES # PH-5 (Maddux Gets His Ring)

2 0 1 4

JANUARY 8, 2014 - CHICAGO:

They tried to rectify the mistake in his later years...

They tried to bring it all back full circle...

But Greg Maddux, the man who lived a life on the mound staying down and away, was the one that got up and away from the Cubs, for all the bad poetry written about that dusty trade of Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio, Maddux for Nada beats that deal like a 3-2 changeup on the lower corner.

Even the best pitcher of a generation, maybe any generation, couldn't beat bad management, the true curse of the Cubs.

When the Cubs tried to exorcise the Maddux jinx in 2003 when he became a free agent in Atlanta, they wound up executing a true Cubs collapse in 2004.

Of course, that disappointment of a finish wasn't his fault -- he was the durable one at 38 -- maybe it just wasn't meant to be - he came up as a 20-year-old for the Cubs and left as a 26-year-old Cy Young winner.

It was in Atlanta where he became a Hall of Famer.

Maddux was elected to the Hall of Fame on Wednesday by 97.2 percent of the ballots cast by the Baseball Writers Association

of America. Who knows what the 16 journalists who didn't vote him in on the first ballot were thinking?

_________________________________________________________

BOWMAN - 1989 BOWMAN IS BACK!

__________________________________________________________

This cross-brand insert features cards done in the style of the '89 Bowman set.

Each card measures the standard 2 1/2" X 3 1/2", as opposed to the originals which were a quarter-inch taller.

BOWMAN SET # 89BIB-GM (Braves)

SILVER DIAMOND REFRACTOR # 89BIB-GM

____________________________________________

CUBS VINE LINE MAGAZINE:

_____________________________________________

THE OFFICIAL MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE CHICAGO CUBS!

Like any collector of baseball-related items (or anything else), I have my favorites...and this baby rises to the top of the list!

Many, many thanks to the Illinois fan who parted with this jewel to become a part of this collection...

This is Volume-29 # 3 of the Cubs official magazine - dated March 2014 (and selling for $5.99 at that time).

Maddux graces the cover, and the story inside is called

"ONCE IN A LIFETIME: THE GREAT GREG MADDUX TAKES HIS RIGHTFUL PLACE IN COOPERSTOWN".

_______________________________

PANINI - CLASSICS:

_______________________________

# 57

_______________________________________________________________________

PANINI - HALL OF FAME 75TH ANNIVERSARY:

_______________________________________________________________________

Each Elite Series card is also available in the following parallels.

Gold (serial-numbered to 25 copies)
Black (one-of-one)

NOTE: These cards have the same design as the Elite Series inserts in 2014 Donruss...

Unlike those cards, the Hall of Fame inserts are not serial numbered.

# 17 of 40

____________________________________________________

PANINI - NATIONAL TREASURES:

____________________________________________________

PRIME GAME-USED JERSEY # 90 - Numbered 8/10 (MAD DOG - Braves)

______________

TOPPS:

______________

MANUFACTURED COMMEMORATIVE ROOKIE PATCH (Exclusive to Series-1 Retail Blaster Boxes)

1987 TOPPS ROOKIE CARD # RCP-14

*** Manufactured or not, I LOVE the look of this 1987 Topps Traded rookie card # 70T, with its silky-feel material

framed in black - something I would have balked at just a few years ago...

UPPER CLASS # UC-39 (1987 ROOKIE CLASS - Cubs)

___________________________________________

TOPPS - ALLEN & GINTER'S:

___________________________________________

# 127 - MINI PARALLEL (Braves)

____________________________________________

TOPPS - CHROME UPDATE:

_____________________________________________

WORLD SERIES HEROES # WSC-10

____________________________

TOPPS - FINEST:

____________________________

Each Vintage is available in the following parallels.

Gold Refractor (serial-numbered to 25 copies)
Red Refractor (serial-numbered to ten)
SuperFractor (one-of-one)

FINEST VINTAGE # FV-GS

(Not exactly sure why virtually every card in this 15-card set has a number that corresponds with the player's name...

Hank Aaron, for example, is listed as FV-HA - and yet, Maddux is "GS"? Strange, man...

_______________________________________

TOPPS - GYPSY QUEEN:

_______________________________________

# 75 (Braves)

DEALING ACES # DA-GM (Braves)

_______________________________

TOPPS - HIGH TEK:

_______________________________

Base cards are available in 12 different background patterns -- six of the patterns are exclusive to American League players, while the other six are exclusive to National Leaguers. Unfortunately, unlike in the original Topps TEK sets, Topps did not bother to sequentially-number the patterns. Each of the six pattern "levels" is progressively scarcer, with Level 1 being the most common and Level 6 most rare.

Level 1: Wave & Spiral Brick # HT-GM

_______________________

TOPPS - MINI:

_______________________

2014 Topps Mini, a 660-card set, was released to The Hobby during the 2014 National Sports Collector's Convention which was held from July 30th-Aug 3rd, 2014. Wax boxes were only available for purchase at the Topps booth. One week after the conclusion of the NSCC, Mini was made available on Topps' website.

Unlike previous year's Mini sets, the 2014 edition did not sell all that well, and on January 22nd, 2015, Topps began liquidating 3-box lots for $49.99.

TOPPS MINI # TM-GM

1989 TOPPS MINI DIE CUT # TM-25

____________________________________________________

TOPPS - MUSEUM COLLECTION:

____________________________________________________

# 71

# 71 - BLUE PARALLEL - Numbered 49/99

______________________________________

TOPPS STADIUM CLUB:

______________________________________

# 178

FIELD ACCESS # FA-11

LEGENDS DIE CUT # LDC-2 (Braves)

__________________________________

TOPPS - TRIBUTE:

__________________________________

# 98 - BLUE PARALLEL - Numbered 54/99

__________________________________________

TOPPS - TRIPLE THREADS:

___________________________________________

# 81

2 0 1 5

____________________

DONRUSS:

____________________

ALL-TIME DIAMOND KINGS # 5

_______________________

PANINI ELITE:

_______________________

This marks the first standalone Donruss/Panini Elite product in ten years.

GOLD STARS # 17 (Braves)

THROWBACK THREADS # 10 (Cubs)

______________

TOPPS:

______________

ARCHETYPES # A-20 (Braves)

BASEBALL ROYALTY # BR-11 of 25 (Braves)

FIRST HOME RUN # FHR-24 (June 16, 1991 - Cubs)

FREE AGENT 40 # F40-8 (Cubs to Braves)

HIGHLIGHT # H-58 (July 26, 2005: 3,000th Career Strikeout)

____________________________

TOPPS - FINEST:

____________________________

FINEST GENERATIONS # FG 35

_______________________________________

TOPPS - GYPSY QUEEN:

________________________________________

# 138 (Braves)

________________________________________

TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB:

_________________________________________

# 259 (Braves)

2 0 1 6

_____________________________

BOWMAN DRAFT:

______________________________

MLB DRAFT HISTORY - CHROME REFRACTOR # MLBD GM (Cubs)

_____________________________

DIAMOND KINGS:

_____________________________

# 206 - DK MINI (Braves)

HERITAGE COLLECTION # HC-10 (Braves)

______________

TOPPS:

______________

100 YEARS OF WRIGLEY # WRIG-3

100 YEARS OF WRIGLEY # WRIG-38 (Series 2)

HALLOWED HIGHLIGHTS # HH-15

__________________________________________

TOPPS - ALLEN & GINTER:

___________________________________________

THE NUMBERS GAME # NG-80

_______________________________

TOPPS - HIGH TEK:

_______________________________

There are 15 different background patterns (that I know of) in 2016 Topps High Tek with eight patterns (designated with
an "A" exclusive to half the set, and the other half ("B") with their own set of seven background patterns.
Each pattern level is tiered with the most common patterns (which we've designated as patterns 1A and 1B) coming at the rate of two-per-box, and the scarcest (pattern 6) seeded every other case.
The "B" players do not have a pattern 6.
Patterns 7 and 8 are known as the SpeckTEKular and Black Galactic Diffractors. Each SpecTEKular is serial-numbered to three copies while each Black Galactic Diffractor is a one-of-one.
All players are depicted in Away or Alternate uniforms.
O boy - Can anyone say "COMPLICATED"?

# HT-GM

2 0 1 7

______________

TOPPS:

______________

ALL-TIME-ALL STARS # ATAS-37 (Braves)

Each All-Time All Stars is also available in the following parallels:

Red
Blue

_________________________________________

TOPPS - ALLEN & GINTER:

__________________________________________

# 78

WHAT A DAY # WAD-61 (July 22, 1997 - Maddux Makes Quick Work of Cubs)

_______________________________

TOPPS - GALLERY:

________________________________

MASTERPIECE # MP-27 (Braves)

____________________________________

TOPPS - GOLD LABEL:

_____________________________________

2017 Topps Gold Label is a 300-card set released September 20th. As with the Gold Label sets of the late-90s, the set features 100 different players on three different "Class" cards: 1, 2, and 3. Unfortunately, the holo-foil plastic cardstock the brand was known for in the 90s was not used -- regular paper stock was used instead.

# 88 - CLASS 1

________________________________________

TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB:

________________________________________

# 9

___________________________

TOPPS UPDATE:

___________________________

UNTOUCHABLES # U-28 (Cubs)

2 0 1 8

____________________________

DIAMOND KINGS:

____________________________

JERSEY KINGS - JERSEY # JK-GM

___________________

DONRUSS:

________________________________________________________________ J

# 202 (Aces in Atlanta with Tom Glavine)

_____________

TOPPS:

_____________

1983 ALL-STAR SET # 83AS-54 (Great All-Star Moments)

_________________________________________

TOPPS - ALLEN & GINTER:

_________________________________________

# 131

FANTASY GOLDMINE # FG-15

________________________________

TOPPS - ARCHIVES:

________________________________

# 35 (1959 Design)

_________________________

TOPPS - BUNT:

__________________________

# 169

____________________________________

TOPPS - GOLD LABEL:

____________________________________

Class-1 # 7

Class-2 - # 7

_______________________________________

TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB:

_______________________________________

# 208

# 208 - BLACK FOIL PARALLEL

2 0 1 9

_____________________________

DIAMOND KINGS:

_____________________________

Diamond Kings was released by Panini April 9th. The base set is 150 cards with the last 50 short-printed, and twenty variations.

DK FLASHBACKS # DKF-GM - (Cubs)

THE 300 # 300-4

________________________

HERO DECKS:

_________________________

GO BRAVES!

The inside flap of this box of regulation-sized US playing cards says: www.HeroDecks.com - Hero Decks and Baseball Heroes are trademarks of Parody Productions LLC."

"The Atlanta Baseball Hero Deck playing cards for Atlanta Braves fans feature fifty-two of the greatest players by position and era in Atlanta Braves baseball history. Thoughtfully organized by position using baseball numerology, the face of each playing card is colorfully illustrated with a different hero ... this deck is sure to be a HOME RUN with Braves fans of all ages!"

I ran across this box of 52 cards while searching for Braves memorabilia one afternoon. Cool!

The box contains charactered cards of all of my Braves heroes and will remain one of my all-time favorite collectibles. My only complaint? They've put my boy Maddog on the Queen of Hearts. What's THAT about???!

I hope it indicates the heartbreaking anxiety batters felt when they tried to figure out where his pitches were going...

QUEEN OF HEARTS - Greg "Mad Dog" Maddux: 1993-2003

_______________________________________________

PANINI - LEATHER & LUMBER:

________________________________________________

LIFE ON THE EDGE # LOE-5 (Braves)

2 0 2 0

_________________________________

PANINI - ABSOLUTE:

__________________________________

ABSOLUTE HEROES' MATERIALS # AHM GM - Numbered 17/49

_______________________________________

PANINI - CONTENDERS:

________________________________________

LEGACY # L-2

LEGACY GOLD # L-2 - Numbered 70/99

_____________________________

PANINI - SELECT:

_____________________________

JERSEY RELIC PRIZM # 93 - Numbered 5/75 (Braves)

________________________________

TOPPS - ARCHIVES:

________________________________

# 86 (Braves)

______________________

TOPPS - 206:

______________________

2020 Topps 206 is a 250-card set done in the style of the early 20th Century T-206 set. The set was distributed in five, 50-card "waves" on Topps.com beginning in May 2020, with a new wave available each month for five months. Unlike the Topps 206 revival sets of '02, '09, and 2010 - all cards are in the "mini" format.

As with most Topps.com exclusive products, each wave is printed to order.

# 31 (WAVE 5)

_____________________________________

TOPPS X - STEVE AOKI:

______________________________________

2020 Topps x Steve Aoki is a 100-card set released in four 25-card "waves," each available for one week beginning November 12th. Each box - which retailed for $24.99 - contained all 25 base cards for that wave, plus one parallel.

Wave 1 - # 14 (15,566 sets were produced)

RAINBOW PARALLEL - Wave 1 - # 14 "Curated"

2 0 2 1

____________________

DONRUSS:

____________________

# 261 (Retro 1987 Subset)

# 261 - ORANGE PARALLEL (Retro 1987 Subset)

_____________________________

DIAMOND KINGS:

_____________________________

THE CLUB # TC-12 (Braves)

_____________________________

PANINI - MOSAIC:

______________________________

FIELD VISION # FV4 (Braves)

FIELD VISION - WHITE PARALLEL # FV4 - Numbered 19/25

_____________

TOPPS:

_____________

Similar to previous year's promotions, 1986 Topps Baseball Chrome Refractors is a 50-card set distributed as premiums at participating Hobby stores. Each card is a Chrome "Tire Tread" Refractor done in the style of the 1986 Topps set, but it is NOT a parallel of the 1986 inserts seeded in packs. Collectors who purchase a full Hobby box will receive a four-card pack and those buying a Jumbo box will receive two packs. Randomly seeded in packs are "colored" Refractors and autographs, also done in the "Tire Tread" pattern.

1986 TOPPS BASEBALL - BLUE PARALLEL # 86B-25

1986 CHROME - SILVER PACK MOJO REFRACTOR # 86BC-25 (Braves)

_________________________________________

TOPPS - ALLEN & GINTER:

_________________________________________

# 7 (Braves)

# 7 - MINI A&G BACK PARALLEL

________________________________

TOPPS - ARCHIVES:

________________________________

MOVIE POSTER CARDS # MPC-4 (The Big Three: Maddux/Smoltz/Glavine)

______________________________

TOPPS - CHROME:

______________________________

# 496

______________________________________________________________________

TOPPS CHROME - PLATINUM ANNIVERSARY:

_______________________________________________________________________

# 496 - AQUA WAVE REFRACTOR PARALLEL

___________________________________

TOPPS OPENING DAY:

____________________________________

LEGENDS OF BASEBALL # LOB-9 (Braves)

___________________________

TOPPS UPDATE:

___________________________

# US 134 - TIER ONE GIMMICK (SP Variation)

1986 TOPPS BASEBALL # 86B-41

70 YEARS OF TOPPS # 70YT-1 (Strike)

2 0 2 2

___________________________

PANINI MOSAIC:

___________________________

HOLOFAME # HF - 1

HOLOFAME - GREEN PARALLEL # HF - 1

HOLOFAME - SILVER PARALLEL # HF-1

________________________________

SPORT KINGS GUM:

________________________________

# 104 (The Professor)

_____________

TOPPS:

_____________

# T87-20 - 1987 TOPPS BASEBALL

# T87-20 - 1987 TOPPS BASEBALL - BLUE PARALLEL

# T87C-83 - 1987 TOPPS BASEBALL - CHROME REFRACTOR

Similar to previous year's promotions, Topps Baseball Chrome Refractors is a 100-card set distributed as premiums at participating Hobby stores. Each card is a Chrome "Tire Tread" Refractor done in the style of the 1987 Topps set, but it is NOT a parallel of the 1987 inserts seeded in packs. Collectors who purchase a full Hobby box will receive a four-card pack and those buying a Jumbo box will receive two packs. Randomly seeded in packs are "colored" Refractors and autographs, also done in the "Tire Tread" pattern

DIAMOND GREATS DIE CUT # DGDC-2

________________________________________

TOPPS ALLEN & GINTER:

________________________________________

# 40 (Cubs)

BANNER SEASON # BS-26 (1995 NL Cy Young Award)

PITCHING A GEM # PAG-1 (May 2, 2001, vs. Brewers)

An estimated 34,750 copies of each Pitching a Gem were produced.

________________________________________________________

TOPPS - ALLEN & GINTER CHROME:

_________________________________________________________

# 40

MINI REFRACTOR PARALLEL # 40

REFRACTOR PARALLEL # 40

________________________________

TOPPS - ARCHIVES:

________________________________

# 86

1988 TOPPS BIG FOIL # 88BF-46

NEED THE PARALLELS BELOW (11/29/25)

Each 1988 Topps Big Foil is done in the style of the '88 Topps Big set and is exclusive to retail packs.

Each card is also available in the following parallels:

Sky Blue
Mini (limited to 200 copies)

NOTES

Each Big Mini is sequentially numbered with a "88BM-" prefix.
We estimate approximately 16,100 copies of each 1988 Topps Big Foil were produced.

______________________________

TOPPS - CHROME:

_______________________________

DIAMOND GREATS # DGC-2

______________________________________________________________________

TOPPS CHROME - PLATINUM ANNIVERSARY:

_______________________________________________________________________

# 64

# 64 - R E F R A C T O R

# 64 - Rose Gold R E F R A C T O R - Numbered 11/75

_________________________________________________

TOPPS - FINEST FLASHBACKS:

_________________________________________________

FLAME THROWERS # FT-6 (Braves)

_______________________________

TOPPS - GALLERY:

_______________________________

# 167

___________________________________________________

TOPPS - MUSEUM COLLECTION:

___________________________________________________

# 30 - SAPPHIRE PARALLEL - Numbered 108/150

_______________________________________

TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB:

________________________________________

# 210 (Braves)

# 210 - RED FOIL PARALLEL (Braves)

______________________________________________________

TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB CHROME:

_______________________________________________________

# 210 (Cubs)

RED FOIL Parallel # 210

TROPHY HUNTERS # RL-27 (Braves)

Trophy Hunters is meant to evoke the Ring Leaders insert from the '95 Stadium Club set - whereas, the 1995 Ring Leaders were printed on matrix foil, the Trophy Hunters are on chromium stock.

It's estimated that 7075 copies of each Trophy Hunters and 375 of each Trophy Hunters Wave Refractor were produced.

2 0 2 3

___________________

DONRUSS:

___________________

# 154

# 154 - CAROLINA BLUE HOLO PARALLEL

# 154 - ORANGE HOLO PARALLEL

# 154 - PRESIDENTIAL COLLECTION PARALLEL - Numbered 11/46

MARVELS - RAPTURE PARALLEL # M-6 (Braves)

_________________________________________________________

EAST COAST TROPHIES & AWARDS:

__________________________________________________________

BASEBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION POSTCARDS PLAQUE:

An unusual item for a cardboard page? Yep!

This is a plaque commemorating the 3 stellar Braves pitchers of the awesome 90's:

- Gregory Alan Maddux - Thomas Michael Glavine - John Andrew Smoltz -

Featuring their inductions into the National Baseball Hall of Fame

A BEAUTIFUL ITEM THAT NOW HANGS PROUDLY AMONG THE MANY BRAVES MEMORABILIA IN MY OFFICE!

_________________________________________________________

LEAF - IN THE GAME USED SPORTS:

__________________________________________________________

LEGENDARY LOCKER ROOM JERSEYS # LR-7 - Numbered 41/45

This is such a beautiful card that features game-used memorabilia from these classic hurlers:

Greg Maddux

Randy Johnson

Pedro Martinez

Roger Clemens

Tom Glavine

Dwight Gooden

_____________

PRIZM:

_____________

# 287 (Braves)

# 287 - BLUE ICE PRIZM PARALLEL

______________

TOPPS:

______________

ACES # AA3

ONE-TWO PUNCH # 12P-20 (Maddux/John Smoltz - Braves)

1988 ALL-STAR SET # 88AS - 6

1988 BASEBALL # T88-57

_______________________________________

TOPPS - ALLEN & GINTER:

_______________________________________

# 160 (Cubs)

# 160 - FOIL FILIGREE PARALLEL (Cubs)

# 160 - MINI PARALLEL (Cubs)

SPOTLESS SPANS # SS-16 (Braves)

________________________________

TOPPS - ARCHIVES:

________________________________

# 6 (Braves)

1989 DOUBLEHEADERS # DH-24 - (Greg Maddux/John Smoltz - Braves)

________________________________________________________

TOPPS - PLATINUM ANNIVERSARY:

_________________________________________________________

# 43

_______________________________

TOPPS - PRISTINE:

_______________________________

# 167

# 167 - REFRACTOR PARALLEL

_______________________________________

TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB:

_______________________________________

# 100

# 100 - BLACK FOIL PARALLEL

# 100 - RED FOIL PARALLEL

_____________________________

TOPPS - TRIBUTE:

_____________________________

Estimated 2050 copies of each base card were produced.

# 76 (Cubs)

GREEN TRIPLE RELICS:

# TR-GM - Numbered 77/99 (Braves)

ORANGE TRIPLE RELICS:

# TR-GM - Numbered 16/25 (Braves)

_____________________________

TOPPS - UPDATE:

_____________________________

# 88US-14 (35th Anniversary - Cubs)

2 0 2 4

___________________

DONRUSS:

___________________

# 50

# 50 - STATUE OF LIBERTY PARALLEL (Mega Box)

RETRO 1984 MATERIALS # 14

______________________________________________________________________

HISTORIC AUTOGRAPHS & CARD COMPANY:

_______________________________________________________________________

ALL-TIME GREATS:

# 102 - TIER 2 - Numbered to 800

# 102 - TIER 3 (SILVER SPARKLE) - Numbered to 1/400

# 102 - TIER 5 - Numbered to 150

________________________________________________________________________________

PANINI NATIONAL CONVENTION - VIP GOLD PACKS:

_________________________________________________________________________________

# 48 - PURPLE SPARKLE - CRACKED ICE PRIZM - Numbered 1/49

# 48 - RED SPARKLE - CRACKED ICE PRIZM - Numbered 122/149

__________________________

PANINI - PRIZM:

__________________________

# 195

_____________

TOPPS:

_____________

Similar to previous year's promotions, 1989 Topps Baseball Chrome Refractors is a 100-card set distributed as premiums at participating Hobby stores. Each card is a Chrome "Tire Tread" Refractor done in the style of the 1988 Topps set, but it is NOT a parallel of the 1988 inserts seeded in packs.

1989 TOPPS # 89B-86 (Braves)

# 2T89C-10 - SILVER PACK MOJO R E F R A C T O R

GRAND GAMERS # GOG-7

_______________________________________

TOPPS ALLEN & GINTER:

_______________________________________

# 220

# 220 - HOT BOX SILVER PARALLEL

MINI FRAMED RELIC # MFR-GM

________________________________

TOPPS - ARCHIVES:

_________________________________

# 93 (1961 Design)

________________________________________

TOPPS - BLACK & WHITE:

________________________________________

This was a 110-card set released exclusively to topps.com.

# 41

_______________________________

TOPPS - PRISTINE:

_______________________________

# 59

__________________________________

TOPPS - SPOTLIGHT:

__________________________________

# 53

# 53 - GRAYSCALE FILTER PARALLEL - Numbered 47/49

_______________________________________

TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB:

_______________________________________

# 85

# 85 - RED PARALLEL

______________________________________________________

TOPPS - STADIUM CLUB CHROME:

______________________________________________________

# 85

_____________________________

TOPPS - TRIBUTE:

______________________________

# 59

_________________________________________

TOPPS - UPDATE SERIES:

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1989 TOPPS BASEBALL # 89US-34

1989 TOPPS BASEBALL # 89US-34 - BLACK PARALLEL - Numbered 175/299

2 0 2 5

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DONRUSS:

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BASE SET:

# 9

# 9 - RED & BLUE PARALLEL

OPTIC SET:

# 9

# 9 - CIRCLES PARALLEL

# 9 - LIME PARALLEL - Numbered 13/149

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LEAF 15th ANNIVERSARY:

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LEAF 15th ANNIVERSARY - NATIONAL SPORTS CARD CONVENTION:

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The 2025 Leaf 15th Anniversary National Convention checklist features a variety of collectible cards, including autographs

and special parallels, available exclusively at the NSCC event in Chicago.

The event celebrated the brand's heritage, and included multi-sport offerings, including various designs and parallels that paid homage to Leaf sets from the past - blah, blah, blah - just show me the Maddux.

1948 LEAF - PATTERN # 48B - 64

PURPLE LAVA FOIL - Numbered 4 of 8 Made

SILVER WAVE FOIL - Numbered 11 of 15 Made

1990 LEAF - PATTERN # 90B - 64

BLACK LAVA FOIL - Numbered 2 of 2 Made

1991 LEAF - PATTERN # 91B - 64

BLUE SHIMMER FOIL - Numbered 1 of 5 Made

GREEN LAVA FOIL - Numbered 2 of 6 Made

ORANGE LAVA FOIL - Numbered 3 of 4 Made

ORANGE SHIMMER FOIL - Numbered 2 of 4 Made

ORANGE SPARKLES FOIL- Numbered 3 of 4 Made

PINK LAZER FOIL - Numbered 5 of 8 Made

PINK SPARKLES FOIL - Numbered 4 of 8 Made

PURPLE LAVA FOIL - Numbered 3 of 7 Made

PURPLE LAZER FOIL - Numbered 1 of 7 Made

SILVER LAZER FOIL - Numbered 4 of 15 Made

SILVER SHIMMER FOIL - Numbered 3 of 15 Made

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LEAF - METAL:

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PRISMATIC # 84 - Numbered 30/49

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PANINI CRUSADE:

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# 87 (Gold Letter - Cubs)

BLUE PRIZM # 19

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PANINI - PRIZM:

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GREEN SCOPE PARALLEL # 67 - Numbered 65/75

PRIZM HOLO PARALLEL # 67 (Braves)

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TOPPS - ALL STAR GAME:

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HH 2

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TOPPS - SHOEBOX TREASURES:

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(From Beckett): Art and baseball cards have more than a century of history together, and collectors now have the chance to scoop up cards from the next chapter of the relationship with the 2025 Topps Shoebox Treasures Baseball Collection, the fourth full Topps set in five years to feature the work of artist Andy Friedman - Friedman uses original Topps cards as inspiration for watercolor artwork that Topps transforms into standard-size baseball cards. For the first time on baseball cards, Friedman also used gouache, which is essentially an opaque watercolor paint.

The New York City-based artist has reimagined 100 cards for the base set, going as far back as the 1952 Topps Duke Snider card and as recent as 2024 cards featuring Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Paul Skenes, and Gunnar Henderson.

In between, collectors can find a little bit of everything – Hall of Famers, current stars, and solid retired veterans. Most of the cards are inspired by flagship Topps base cards, but other sets represented include Topps Mini, Topps Kids, Topps Allen & Ginter, Topps Chrome, Topps Pristine, and Topps Now.

Not every card is a player’s most coveted or most popular card, either - That ties together the set name, as in cards you may find in a random shoebox of cards and also plays on Friedman’s personal baseball fandom of not always focusing on the biggest

and brightest. “I have long been fascinated by the regular player, not the stars,” Friedman said a few years ago, “and it is what I grew up drawing, as early on I was making my own baseball cards.”

# 83 - (1997 Topps #130)

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TOPPS - TRIBUTE:

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# 68

# 68 - GREEN PARALLEL - Numbered 64/99

# 68 - GOLD PARALLEL

# 68 - PURPLE PARALLEL - Numbered 14/50

# 68 - REFRACTOR PARALLEL