The Search For 1991 Classic Game

I really have a soft spot for Classic. The 1991 Classic Game set has eluded me every step of the way, until today. Arriving in my mailbox, for the grand total of 99 cents, was the entire 200 card set of 1991 Classic Game, still in it's original cellophane wrapped blocks.

I can find almost every other Classic release from 1991 at decent prices, but this was was different. I could find complete games for $20, which I was not going to pay for essentially 10 White Sox cards from the overproduction era that were readily available in 1991.

I did find a seller on eBay that had a good chunk of the cards individually for sale, but prices of nearly $5 a card seemed way too steep for my tastes. I'm a collector, but there was no way I was paying those inflated prices.

So I waited. And I waited. I waited some more. A few years went by and I saw a set for about $15 with free shipping. That would be my last refuge. If I didn't find anything, I was eventually going to pull the trigger on a purchase.

Then I saw the entire set without the game board and other bulky items that I would just throw away anyway. I put it in my watch list. I timed everything out. I waited for six days. When I went to place a bid, I had missed the set by 30 seconds.

I was mad at myself for not putting an earlier bid in. Then I saw that no one bid on it. I noticed that the seller was re-listing his unsold items a little later that evening. I checked and didn't see the Classic set.

Finally, I e-mailed the seller to re-list the set. It turned out that the seller did include it in a mass re-listing, but a glitch in the system left it out. The seller quickly re-listed the '91 Classic Game set and I put in a bid.

Usually, when I bid on something that has been re-listed, I lose out. This time, luck was on my side and I can finally scratch off this set for my White Sox collection. As a bonus, I gained a Baines card for my player collection. All I have left is one extra Fisk card to find, for that player collection. I think that should be a bit more manageable.

Screaming Yellow Theater

There is a tradition in Chicago with low budget, tacky (yet funny) things. For those of you who saw the title of the post and thought it was something different, you must have grown up in or around Chicago and are probably at least forty years old.

While that Screaming Yellow Theater exists in some form today, the same cannot be said for Fleer baseball cards. Fleer has had many ups and downs since its inception. Is it our fault that it has been mostly downs? No!

When I think of Fleer, I think of poorly executed design, with a few gems scattered throughout the years. I thought that 1988's confetti motif was bad, then they topped it in 1989 with the bland pinstriped gangster suit look. 1990 got a little better, then they unleashed the unholy monster that is Screaming Yellow Theater upon the world.

It's not interesting. It's not unique. (1990 Donruss did the design much better. Thanks, Mario!) It's just yellow! I would refer to this set as Screaming Yellow Theater for many years. I still do on occasion. It's yellow. It's blinding. It features ACTION and cheesy posed portraits which cause painful memories of chain reaction vomiting during elementary school Christmas plays.

Sadly, 1991 Fleer is not one low budget thing that this Chicago born guy is ready to embrace. 1991 Fleer is like the drunk relative at a wedding. You have to put up with it because it's technically family, but given the choice, you'd rather it just went away.

I put up with 1991 Fleer because of the White Sox cards. I almost wish that the White Sox were skipped in this set. Almost. I'm glad of this sets existence. It shows the entire world what not to do with a card set.

After enduring the torture that is 1991 Fleer, I'll leave you with a picture of the host of Screaming Yellow Theater. The original Svengoolie!
Is it wrong to think that Jerry G. Bishop looks like he'd be right at home playing a fictional Rob Zombie in one of the director's movies?

So Elite, It's Nonexistent

If Donruss came out with this card in the 1991 Donruss Elite series, I would have definitely bought more Donruss back in the day! At the very least, I'd be tracking it down as we speak. Alas, it is a fine example of a Goose Joak Tribute.

Nice job!

Attic Insulation?

OK, I agree that releases like 1991 Donruss would be more economical as kitty litter or attic insulation. Before you do these cost saving measures to your home, check to see if card number 534 is in your collection before you shred (or shoot).

That card would be Barry Jones. Barry is the last card I need to complete the White Sox team set. I'm sure that I've had my chances at this card, but completing early nineties overproduced team sets are usually way down on the priority list. I will not pay $1.00 plus shipping costs for a 5 cent card, on eBay.

After I get this one card, I would encourage everyone to shred their doubles of 1991 Donruss. Use them around the house. Here's a list of things to do with your old cards.

Maybe, if we destroy all but the essential copies of these cards, the value will skyrocket! Maybe, I'll get that SNL writing gig that I've always dreamed about. Maybe, I'll be lucky enough to win the lottery, even though I don't play.

Come to think of it, I don't think that any amount of cards that were destroyed would increase this set at all. I think that even if there were 10 copies of each card left, the entire set would still top out at $8.

Things I Never Knew About 1991 Donruss

You would think that being smack dab in the middle of my second wave of collecting in 1991, I would have instantly knew that this variation existed. Alas, this series color variation has escaped my watchful eye until last week. Sure, it's seventeen years too late, but at least I caught it.

If there needs to be any further proof that cards were waaaaaay overproduced in the early nineties, then this has to be it. With this color scheme, I think the blue has more pop, but green is my favorite color. If Donruss would have put just a little more effort in the second series variation, we could have seen a green border with a blue background.

Those days are long gone and can't be changed. It's fun to look back though and wonder what might have been.

I think that the blue background works well against the green border, but apparently Donruss didn't think so. Oh well, at least I can create computer simulated cards of the way cards could have been.

1991 Classic Game

Now we get to the big release, Classic Game. This was the premier release for 1991 Classic. The Series sets were supposed to be add-ons for this set. You know, for those who actually played the game. I still have never found anyone who has done that.

The game release was beefed up to 200 cards. It was the same design as the Series sets, but the color was purple. I know, it gives my spine tingles too. I have no clue as to what was released first, but I would assume that the game was released first.

The White Sox had a grand total of 10 cards in the game release. Many of the same players here would season the series sets, but not all. When you put all the Classic releases together for a year, they represent variety and conformity. It's an odd combination, but it works for them.

• 51 - Carlton Fisk
• 52 - Robin Ventura
• 53 - Ozzie Guillen
• 60 - Sammy Sosa
• 140 - Bobby Thigpen
• 174 - Tim Raines
• 181 - Frank Thomas
• 184 - Alex Fernandez
• 186 - Bo Jackson
• 188 - Cory Snyder

Another solid release for Classic in 1991. Familiar, yet different. A good choice of player selection for the time of its release is the main reason this set flew off the shelves back then. The gimmick cards were always secondary.

1991 Classic Series Three: Green

Continuing on down the line for 191 Classic releases is Series 3. The exact same design as the first two releases. The only differences being the player selection and the color scheme. This choice of green is a bit underwhelming considering the pop of the blue and red from 1991.

All three series in 1991 had 100 cards each. I'll be honest with you, I never knew the third set existed until I started to track the information down. Any Classic release in 1991 never made it to a toy store near me, which is where they usually popped up.

The only cards I had really seen were from series two back then. By process of deduction, I assumed there must be a series one. Series three never made it onto my radar back then. But this was a time where the closest contact I had with a computer was the Apple II that I worked on in class, somewhere around 1987. There wasn't an Internet that I was aware of at that time. The computer was nothing more to me than an expensive typewriter, where it was easier to correct mistakes, and something that you could play Oregon Trail on.

Same type of photos, same varied player mix, same results as previous releases. Out of 100 cards, the White Sox had two cards in this set. The difference was that both players were skipped in the previous two series.

• 21 - Carlton Fisk
• 66 - Jack McDowell

Carlton look pissed off on this card. Could it be that he's not happy that only one of his teammates are with him in this set? Could be. At least the other card is of ace Jack McDowell. Jack's card shows him pitching. There's not much else you can really say about that. At least it's not an Upper Deck gimmick card showing Jack batting.

Overall, this is a nice set. It goes well with the other series. If you put the collection in an album, the transition from series to series would look nice. I'm a bit disappointed with the number of White Sox cards, but at least there are some. A few earlier Classic sets had no White Sox cards to speak of.

1991 Clasic Series Two: Red

I reviewed 1991 Series One a few posts ago. My stance still holds true. I like these cards. The set is pleasing to the eye. The color palette looks like raspberry sorbet. Like me, I'm sure the Prince song of a similar title just popped into your head. You're welcome.

Not much more can be said about these sets from Classic in 1991. They are the same basic design, just with different colors for each set. Simplicity works for me with these cards. There's not a lot of clutter around the cards. The player selection was probably the best out of any set that year.

Classic always had unique photos. You never saw something from the same play on another card. It always seemed fresh and exciting. I can't recall ever seeing Cory Snyder running in a White Sox uniform on a card, but here he is, a running fool. I know there are only so many ways you can shoot baseball and its players. When all you see of one player is either a close-up shot or a batting shot or a posed fielding shot, you appreciate a good action shot to break up the monotony.

There are four White Sox cards in this set.

• T7 - Alex Fernandez
• T8 - Cory Snyder
• T9 - Tim Raines
• T28 - Frank Thomas

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, Frank Thomas is a required component in almost every set of 1991. I'm sure if one of the companies would have thought of it, they would've invited Frank to a hockey game, gave him a jersey to wear and talked him into being photographed with Wayne Gretzky. He would've had a ten card subset in a hockey release.

Alex Fernandez was the young stud that everyone thought was going to be the next ace. He didn't disappoint for a few years, but never had that long successful career like experts were predicting when he was drafted. He was well above average for most of his career.

Tim Raines got lost in the wake of Strawberry signing with the Dodgers. It looks like Tim got the last laugh though. Tim is one of the top considerations for the upcoming Hall of Fame ballot and Darryl Strawberry is not. Tim Raines was a big catch for the White Sox that year. He was also a big reason why the Sox were in contention mostly during his tenure on the South Side.

What can I say about Cory Snyder that I haven't already said. Not much, but I've always liked Cory. I was really excited when I heard he was coming to the White Sox. I enjoyed watching him in Cleveland. It might have stemmed from his 1985 Topps Olympic card. I always liked that card for some reason.

All in all, this is a solid set. Especially for being a "ahem" trivia game card.

1991 Classic Series One: Blue

Writing about and reading about Classic cards so much in the past couple of weeks, made me try and fill in on what I'm missing. So, I scoured eBay and found a few sets from 1991. That year I wasn't able to find any sets for sale. All the hype surrounding the 1990 sets, made this set fly off the shelves.

The only cards I have of the 1991 sets would be from the second series. I know I had a Frank Thomas and I'm pretty sure I had a Sandy Alomar Jr. or two hanging around. I wasn't sick of these cards yet because I barely saw them. They seem almost new and exciting.

Sets like this are hit and miss for White Sox fans. Some sets don't have a single White Sox player in them. This set has three.

• T30 - Matt Stark
• T31 - Bobby Thigpen
• T32 - Frank Thomas

Every set from this time had to have Frank Thomas in it. I think it was written into his contract. That was good and bad news for me. Good because there would be more cards for me to collect. Bad because there would be more cards for me to collect. Card collecting is a double edged sword. If there aren't enough of whatever it is you collect, you feel gypped. If there's too many choices, you feel overwhelmed and disappointed. I fell somewhere in the middle most of the time, but I've always liked a challenge.

This set reminds me of the 1990 Classic cards, only better. Gone are the bold stock colors of primary blue, deep pink and tweety bird yellow. Gone are the annoying squiggles that ran across the card that were less artistic than the 1990 Donruss paint dribbles. Replacing that design was a few steps above pastel with a streaky, distressed look. Very much improved and much easier on the eyes!

Every 1991 set also had to have Bobby Thigpen in one of the releases. He did set a single season save record. Say that five times fast. Bobby had his year in card history and dropped off the collecting radar back from where he came. 1991 was Thigpen's year to bask in his success. How do I know? I had a Thigpen shirt with a caricature of him on it that said "Savemaster" or something like that.

Matt Stark is also included. If you have no idea who he is, then you are probably in the majority. I remember who he was. He was supposed to unseat Fisk if he got injured. Back then the Sox had a penchant for carrying a third catcher, just in case. It definitely was an insurance policy on Fisk because I can't see Karkovice needing a backup at that point. I think this was the last memorable set that Classic turned out that was just focused on major league baseball. 1992 was the last I really heard about Classic. I was a bit underwhelmed with that set, but that's for another review.

I think Classic hit the right notes with their 1991 releases. The were familiar enough to their most popular sets, but vastly improved the contents of the recycled design. Whoever was in their art department for this release was a genius. Seriously. It reminded collectors enough of the 1990 set, while still pulling off a feeling of being a completely different set. That's hard to do. Topps does that all the time with usually bad results. That's what makes this a good set.