Today’s bad wax review comes from 2002. I actually never heard for this series from Fleer, called Platinum. This pack was a hobby pack that I got from my hobby shop dollar bin. Let’s see if it’s worth at least a dollar in Tuff Stuff, nope the only card worth anything is the autographed Barry Bonds cards that are the chasers. Here is a look at the pack:
There are a healthy amount of inserts; actually I don’t know why this pack is only a dollar. Memorabilia and autographs are in this set so it should be a fun pack to look at. Of course knowing how bad my luck is with these packs, I’m sure that it won’t be good, which means we should have a fun review. There are 10 cards in this pack so lets see where this leads us:
1. Matt Lawton – OF – Indians – 146 – Another one of my pet peeves when it comes to card production, is listing the current team of the player and the photo has the player in his last team’s jersey. That is just unacceptable. Are you telling me they couldn’t get one press conference shot or publicity shot from the Indians? In this photo, Matt is in a Mets jersey but he is really on the Indians.
2. Fred McGriff – 1B – Cubs – One of the saddest things I’ve ever seen in baseball was watching McGriff at the age of 40 look foolish as a Devil Ray trying desperately to become a 500 HR club member. He looked so overmatched and every strikeout, and ground out just ate him up. It was sad to see him actually give up and retire knowing that it meant no ticket to the HOF. He had a very good career, almost 2500 hits and 493 HRs. I just don’t think it’s going to be enough.
3. Corey Koskie – OF – Twins – 73 – Corey is such a ham, posing like a scarecrow with the bat behind his neck and arms stretched out. Looking so cocky, if he only knew then what I know now, he’d probably be in the batting cages getting more reps.
4. Travis Fryman – 3B – Indians – 181 – 2002 was his 12th and final year. He could have played longer, stretching his career out, and saw his stats decline further to add to his stats. But he retired when he knew his skills were clearly diminishing. Last year he was on the HOF ballot, he shouldn’t have been, but I guess when you are as nice a person as Travis was, you give him that one final thrill, of being nominated.
5. Jason Kendall – C – Pirates – 224 – This was the beginning of the current Kendall, the one who doesn’t steal as much, or hit as many homeruns. Still gets his hits, but no longer a fantasy baseball must have. He’s sold, but his days in the league are coming to an end.
6. Chipper Jones – 3B – I can’t believe Chipper has been playing since 1993, he’s 36 years old. How do you think the Braves feel they did in that draft? Chipper over Todd Van Popel? I think they did a good job. I’ve always hated him, simply because he was so good, but I wouldn’t kick him off my fantasy team. He always looks so cool in his card pictures, this one with Oakley sunglasses.
7. Ivan Rodriguez – Wheelhouse Insert – 5 – It’s always cool to get an insert card, and how can you not like I-Rod? Even if he did steroids according to Canseco. Everyone thought he was washed up a few years ago and what did he do? Win a title for the Marlins!
8. Jeff Kent – 2B – Giants – 24 – The most recognizable ‘stache this side of Mattingly. Another guy, I loved to hate. Putting him on a team with Bonds only makes sense since many people and players hate both of them. Solid hitter, lots of homers and RBIs, but also a solid number of hate mail.
9. Tim Hudson – P – A’s – 135 – One of my favorite pitchers even if he’s on the Braves now. He’s kind of gotten forgotten, but still is a solid pitcher and has quite a few years left in the tank. My favorite Huddy story though was he was one of the first players to eBay off hair shavings for charity. Good guy for sure!
10. Randall Simon – 1B – Tigers – 10 – I at one point had some high hopes for Randall, but he never quite panned out. It looks like he is out of baseball forever at this point, too many teams have given up on him.
Overall a decent pack, I even got an insert. I like the look of the card, a glossy throw back to the 1987 Fleer set. Definitely would consider getting this set, looks like I could get the whole set for $25 on eBay. So let’s go and rate these guys.
Cost of pack – $1 – 3.0 stars – I am basing this off of the one dollar I paid, instead of the $2.50+ it probably cost.
Cards in Pack – 10 – 2.5 stars – average amount of cards in the pack so an average rating, had it been 15 I would have given it a 5 star review.
Stars in pack – 2 – 1.0 star – Chipper and Rodriguez I call stars, McGriff and Fryman are about one step down.
Value of pack – 2.0 stars – It only cost a dollar so, at 10 cents a card, I probably made my money back.
Design of card – 4.0 stars – love the design of this card. Like I said earlier, it looks like the 1987 Fleer set, which has always been one of my favorite designs.
Looking at the above ratings, this is going to be a good pack. The overall rating is 2.5 stars which is good considering I opened them. Once again if there are any cards you would like in this set, please let me know at superbadwax@yahoo.com.
