The Massive Box Part Three: The Search For Sox

Part three of this gigantic haul of White Sox cards will focus on the nineties. This has the potential to be the biggest cache of Sox cards in the entire box. I bought my last pack of cards of the nineties in 1994 and never looked back until 2007. With the oversaturation of the nineties releases and parallels, collecting cards between 1994 and 1999 has become next to impossible.

The nineties are full of releases that I am still discovering. Parallels that I never knew existed. Rookie prospects that somehow escaped my radar. It's a world of baseball that was right under my nose and I never paid much attention to it. Let's call it post-strike blues.

The box started off with a slew of cards from 1990. All of which I had. I have almost every major card set White Sox card from 1990, so it doesn't surprise me that there are none here. Leaf and Sportflics are the only main releases that I really need from 1990. The rest are a bunch of regional, oddball or insert cards.

1991 is a bit different. I have the majority of the White Sox cards from the major set releases, but there are a few pesky holes that have eluded me. There were more sets released in 1991, so I got slightly behind as my resources were spreading thinner.

1991 Bowman #355 - Charlie Hough
1991 Bowman #364 - Wayne Edwards
1991 Classic Four Sport #71 - Scott Ruffcorn
1991 Donruss Grand Slammer (blue and green cards) #12 - Ron Karkovice
1991 Score #66 - Wayne Edwards
1991 Score #254 - Ivan Calderon
1991 Ultra #86 - Robin Ventura

1992 saw more cards releases and parallels in the hobby. My buck is not going as far by this point. I am missing out on a lot of cards because of the increased size of sets and releases. I am still under the delusion that I can collect every card, regardless of team or player. See, my every card of the White Sox goal doesn't seem so lofty, when you realize my original collecting goal.

1992 Baseball Card Price Guide Monthly #5 - Frank Thomas
1992 Fleer #76 - Joey Cora
1992 Fleer #77 - Brian Drahman
1992 Fleer #81 - Craig Grebeck
1992 Fleer #82 - Ozzie Guillen
1992 Fleer #83 - Greg Hibbard
1992 Fleer #87 - Lance Johnson
1992 Fleer #88 - Ron Karkovice
1992 Fleer #91 - Warren Newson
1992 Fleer #92 - Donn Pall
1992 Fleer #93 - Dan Pasqua
1992 Fleer #95 - Melido Perez
1992 Fleer #97 - Tim Raines
1992 Fleer #701 - Tiger Tandems (Bo Jackson, Frank Thomas)
1992 Fleer #712 - Frank Thomas PV
1992 Leaf #349 - Frank Thomas
1992 Leaf #422 - Jack McDowell
1992 Score #146 - Lance Johnson
1992 Score #237 - Dan Pasqua
1992 Score #302 - Charlie Hough
1992 Score #367 - Matt Merullo
1992 Score #484 - Donn Pall
1992 Score #766 - Esteban Beltre
1992 Stadium Club #116 - Scott Fletcher
1992 Stadium Club #289 - Ken Patterson
1992 Stadium Club #329 - Mike Huff
1992 Stadium Club #404 - Matt Merullo
1992 Stadium Club #444 - Lance Johnson
1992 Stadium Club #467 - Alex Fernandez
1992 Stadium Club #635 - Steve Sax
1992 Stadium Club #674 - Wayne Edwards
1992 Stadium Club #688 - Kirk McCaskill
1992 Stadium Club #778 - Terry Leach
1992 Stadium Club #794 - Dan Pasqua
1992 Stadium Club #840 - George Bell
1992 Stadium Club #894 - Charlie Hough
1992 Studio #152 - Alex Fernandez
1992 Triple Play #107 - Tim Raines
1992 Triple Play #121 - Awesome Action! (Matt Merullo)
1992 Triple Play #206 - Frank Thomas
1992 Triple Play #261 - Greg Hibbard
1992 Ultra #338 - Kirk McCaskill
1992 Ultra #342 - Bobby Thigpen

In 1993, my collecting started to wane slightly. I was starting my slow progression towards team collecting, but I still wanted cards of every player. Prices were going up on packs and there were new choices popping up that I had no clue about.

1993 Fleer #716 - Hot Corner Hammers (Robin Ventura)
1993 Fun Pack #27 - Frank Thomas - Kid Stars
1993 Fun Pack #201 - Tim Raines
1993 Fun Pack #225 - Frank Thomas CL
1993 Leaf #373 - Lance Johnson
1993 Leaf #439 - Robin Ventura
1993 Post #14 - Frank Thomas
1993 Score #41 - Robin Ventura
1993 Score #126 - Craig Grebeck
1993 Score #152 - Ron Karkovice
1993 Score #182 - Scott Radinsky
1993 Score #210 - Dan Pasqua
1993 Score #387 - George Bell
1993 Score #437 - Shawn Abner
1993 Score #479 - Terry Leach
1993 Score #541 - Frank Thomas DT
1993 Score #622 - Greg Hibbard
1993 Select #128 - Ozzie Guillen
1993 Select #216 - Greg Hibbard
1993 Select #236 - Tim Raines
1993 Select Stat Leaders #3 - Frank Thomas
1993 Select Stat Leaders #33 - Frank Thomas
1993 Stadium Club #43 - Tim Raines
1993 Stadium Club #136 - Craig Grebeck
1993 Stadium Club #387 - Robin Ventura
1993 Topps #675 - Tim Raines
1993 Triple Play #158 - Jack McDowell
1993 U.S. Playing Cards #8D - Frank Thomas
1993 Upper Deck #597 - Tim Raines
1993 Upper Deck #838 - Robin Ventura CL
1993 Upper Deck Reggie Jackson Clutch Performers #R20 - Frank Thomas
1993 Upper Deck Teammates #51 - Robin Ventura, Frank Thomas

I can clearly remember the three things that led to not purchasing any more pack in 1994. The first thing was that my local drug store put all the packs of cards behind glass. I had a certain feeling when I picked up the right pack. I couldn't pick and study my pack and getting the employees to open the glass case for baseball cards was a pain.

Secondly, I bought Collector's Choice thinking that it was Upper Deck. When I found out that I had purchased the wrong cards, I was pissed and felt betrayed by Upper Deck. They had slowly been integrating that catchphrase into their product, so I thought the name was just more prominent. I was wrong.

The last straw was the strike. I have a feeling I would have gone back to cards by the end of the 1994 season if it wasn't for that. I'm still shocked when I see cards from 1994 in my collection that I didn't obtain in the past few years. I didn't remember that I bought a pack of that. I must have been picking up a stray pack here and there for longer than I recall.

1994 Collector's Choice #50 - Jason Bere
1994 Collector's Choice #134 - Roberto Hernandez
1994 Collector's Choice #235 - Scott Radinsky
1994 Collector's Choice #247 - Scott Ruffcorn
1994 Collector's Choice #354 - Frank Thomas CL
1994 Collector's Choice #385 - Tim Raines
1994 Collector's Choice #415 - Julio Franco
1994 Collector's Choice #445 - Jack McDowell
1994 Collector's Choice #500 - Frank Thomas
1994 Collector's Choicce #640 - Frank Thomas - Up Close
1994 Collector's Choice #652 - James Baldwin
1994 Collector's Choice Crash The Deck - Roberto Alomar vs. Frank Thomas
1994 Donruss #220 - Tim Raines CL
1994 Donruss #258 - Tim Raines
1994 Fleer #86 - Ron Karkovice
1994 Leaf #116 - Tim Raines
1994 Pinnacle #57 - Jack McDowell
1994 Pinnacle #86 - Lance Johnson
1994 Pinnacle #164 - Roberto Hernandez
1994 Pinnacle #255 - Scott Ruffcorn
1994 Pinnacle #462 - Tim Raines
1994 Score #153 - Alex Fernandez
1994 Score #181 - Mike LaValliere
1994 Score #611 - Scott Ruffcorn
1994 Stadium Club #255 - Tim Belcher
1994 Topps #5 - Ozzie Guillen
1994 Topps #62 - Tim Belcher
1994 Topps #90 - Robin Ventura
1994 Topps #176 - Craig Grebeck
1994 Topps #452 - Lance Johnson
1994 Topps #515 - Jack McDowell
1994 Topps #527 - Norberto Martin (Prospects)
1994 Topps #572 - Roberto Hernandez
1994 Topps #599 - Alex Fernandez
1994 Topps #662 - Steve Sax
1994 Topps #684 - Ron Karkovice
1994 Topps #724 - Kirk McCaskill
1994 Topps #758 - Greg Norton
1994 Topps Gold #478 - Joey Cora
1994 Triple Play #268 - Tim Raines
1994 Ultra #35 - Lance Johnson
1994 Ultra #36 - Ron Karkovice
1994 Ultra #37 - Kirk McCaskill
1994 Ultra Award Winners #4 - Robin Ventura
1994 Upper Deck Minors #146 - James Baldwin

I am still discovering the wonders of 1995, post strike baseball cards. There's even a card set that projects what the players would have ended up with had a full season been played. That would have made me super mega pissed in 1995. It's like rubbing salt in a wound, then chopping it off.

1995 Score #168 - Mike LaValliere
1995 Score #481 - Ron Karkovice
1995 Topps #77 - Tim Raines
1995 Topps #135 - Julio Franco
1995 Topps #384 - AS First Basemen - Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell
1995 Topps Cyberstats #83 - Julio Franco

That ends the nineties. Tomorrow will be cards from the current decade. What treats will be in store for my collection? You'll just have to stay tuned tomorrow. Same Sox time. Same Sox channel.