Collective Troll: Ventura Blvd.

Imagine my shock, when I picked up a large, heavy box from yesterday's mail. I couldn't possibly know what was inside the mystery box. A great adventure lies ahead.

The banged up mystery box turned out to be from Collective Troll. Inside were delights that only a true White Sox fan would appreciate. There was so much great stuff that was crammed into that box, that this will have to be a multi-part series of posts. You think I'm joking, but you will soon see the sheer magnitude of the contents.

From cards to magazines to photos, this box had it all! There were even a few other surprises in store. Included, at the bottom of the box, were Ultra Pro pages filled with cards. There were a bunch of them filled with Robin Ventura cards, so we'll start with those.

1989 Fleer Update #U-23
1989 Star #101
1989 Topps Major League Debut #129

1990 Leaf #167
1990 Score #595
1990 Topps #121
1990 Upper Deck #21

1991 Donruss #315
1991 Stadium Club #274

1992 Fleer All-Stars #19
1992 Pinnacle #286
1992 Pinnacle Team 2000 #43
1992 Studio #160
1992 Topps Black Gold #43

1993 Donruss #535
1993 Leaf Gold Leaf Stars #6
1993 SP #261
1993 Topps Gold #770
1993 Ultra #537
1993 Ultra Award Winners #14

1994 Donruss SE #23
1994 Leaf #26
1994 Pinnacle #29
1994 Stadium Club #315
1994 Ultra Award Winners #4
1994 Upper Deck Electric Diamond #263

1995 Bazooka #26
1995 Bowman’s Best #45
1995 Collector’s Choice #361 CL
1995 Collector’s Choice #505
1995 Donruss #378
1995 Donruss Dominators #5 (with Fryman & Williams)
1995 Flair #28
1995 Leaf #215
1995 Pinnacle #257
1995 Select Certified Edition #52
1995 SP #138
1995 Stadium Club #367
1995 Studio Gold #38
1995 Summit Nth Degree #24
1995 Topps Embossed #123
1995 Upper Deck #201

1996 Aficionado #100
1996 Bowman’s Best #55
1996 Circa #30
1996 Donruss Press Proof #535
1996 Finest #67
1996 Finest #280
1996 Flair #61
1996 Fleer #79
1996 Leaf Limited #52
1996 Leaf Preferred Steel #23
1996 Leaf Signature Series #53
1996 Pacific #279
1996 Select Certified Edition #46
1996 Studio #40
1996 Ultra #339
1996 Upper Deck #44

1997 Collector’s Choice Team #CW1
1997 Donruss #22
1997 E-X 2000 #16
1997 Finest #120 (with film)
1997 Finest #120 (without film)
1997 Leaf Limited Counterparts #23 (with Chipper Jones)
1997 Metal #62
1997 Studio #14
1997 UD3 #23

1998 Bowman #14
1998 Donruss Preferred #82
1998 Leaf Factual Foundation #68 (0633/3999)
1998 Pacific Paramount #33
1998 Pacific Paramount Copper #33
1998 Skybox Thunder #23
1998 Topps Stars #70 (6892/9799)

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I can't believe how many Ventura cards were in those pages! Most of them came from a period where my collecting was dormant, so most of these I needed. A great number of mid nineties cards blinded me beyond comprehension. It's a good thing that I'm getting new glasses this week.

The card that baffled me the most was the card made out of steel. Steel?! Now I think I've seen everything that can be made into a card. Awesome, truly awesome. Look for part two, coming soon.