1990 Kay-Bee

In the fifth set release from the toy chain store Kay-Bee, the store went back to the drawing board. The old design was out. The "superstar" name was out. In came a bold red border and the "kings" name.

Apparently, Kay-Bee had gone as far as they could with changing the color on the same design. The result is eye-catching, experimental and gaudy, all at the same time. There is something both refreshing and off-putting to this design. It's almost as the designers meant to rip odd 1990 Donruss without the grounding black paint splatters or the elementary school penmanship practice lines.

Kay-Bee chose wisely with Fisk, but also chose safely. Jack McDowell, Bobby Thigpen, Robin Ventura and Frank Thomas would be the buzz names. Even Sammy Sosa created his own little buzz with his speed, not his bat.

The White Sox have one card in this set.

12 - Carlton Fisk

This set marked the last set for Kay-Bee. For whatever reason, the company chose not to continue releasing 33 card sets. It is odd that a company that started in 1922, only produced 5 sets. As of early 2009, Kay-Bee closed it's last remaining stores, after two bankruptcies and a final liquidation. In September 2009, Toys R Us, acquired the Kay-Bee name, logo and website.

Toys R Us is no stranger to producing baseball card sets. Could the recent resurgence of cards produce more Kay-Bee sets through Toys R Us stores? It's doubtful, but anything is possible.