A Griffey here, a Griffey there, Griffeys everywhere

A few weeks ago, I showed that incredible package TJ, from The Junior Junkie, sent overseas. I won't get into details, but money was exchanged, the post-office got much richer, and my Griffey collection took a major giant leap (I basically doubled it). There was no way i could find anything to send TJ in exchange for some of the Griffey doubles he was looking to move, which is why I offered to buy some off him. And of course, he cut me an amazing deal, and sent 450 different, hand-picked, penny-sleeved Griffeys just for me.

The ones I'll be showing here are the ones that were new to me and that made their way to my Griffey binder (this is already the fourth "Griffey" in that blog post). If there are any GRiffey (5) collectors out there, don't hesitate to contact me, I have a lot of Griffey (6) duplicates to trade.

This here is an exception. I already own this card. But this just may be my favorite insert set of all time, so it's a pleasure to scan and show it again !

But before I get to Griffey (7), TJ being one of the greatest trade partners out there, he also included some extras.

Papoys ! Yeah, because of the movie, we're all sick of Minions, granted. But they're still very funny.

TJ knows how much I love holograms ! I'll never have enough of them. Any sport. Any player. I'm pretty sure that holograms secretly hold the real meaning of life, if we look at them long enough.

Archives autos are the best , followed closely by in person autos. I do wonder where it came from though.

2015 Stadium Club, including this great shot of Donaldson (I can't believe this is September and the Blue Jays are very well in contention).

And now, back to our regular programm...I'll show them by brand. Just because that's what I decided. TJ only sent me inserts, subsets, parallels, oddballs and otherwise tougher to find base cards of unconventional brands. Enjoy !

BOWMAN

Shiny bowmans. And yeah, same outfit, but a few more pounds separate those mid-90s from that sunset card.

DONRUSS

There was something about those Dominator cards that really appealed to me back in the days. I already had the other one from that set (and a couple Blue Jays), and wouldn't mind completing the set.

FLEER

Fleer has sure always loved box sets and checklists

And inserts. I really loved opening packs of 94 Fleer because I knew there'd be a ton of inserts in them. I wonder if you can still call them inserts, at that point... The All star one, with the American flag in the background was one I especially liked.

Ultras !

That EX on the right side looks kind of tacky, but it's actually real cool in person. And nothing beats the Metal weirdness.

I wasn't around to witness Sports Illustrated cards, but the few I've come across really seem interesting. Or is it just me ? Skybox, Circa, Thunder etc were bad ideas.

And then, all of a sudden, Fleer became a very, very confusing brand. I'm still trying to make sense of what they were trying to do at the beginning of the millennium. Survive, I suppose. And they failed.

LEAF

"The Leaf set". How cool is that ? Very.

I'm also a big fan of what they did in 97 and 98.

I had the Blue Jays ones from that metal (literally) collection. I like those a lot, even though they probably aren't good for my 9 pocket pages, considering how heavy they are. Ah well.

Is it me, or did Leaf kind of lose it after 98 ? That 3 year hiatus didn't help, I suppose, and Playoff isn't Pinnacle...Speaking of which :

PINNACLE
.

The Team 2000 insert is a very well designed one

Maybe Pïnnacle experimented just a little too much...(that Zenith card is awesome)

SCORE

Those 92 Score All Star cards sure are something. Something ugly, of course, but still something

I've always had a soft spot for those Gold Rush cards. Can't explain why. Especially considering how parallel cards annoy the heck out of me these days.

And finally, some Select Griffeys (8)

So there you go for the first part...next up : Topps, Upper Deck, and an incredible bunch of oddballs !