Another Sportlots order - Part 1: Some Mets and pre-move Browns

Wanting to finish off the opening day starting lineup for the 2018 Mets, I decided to go look on Sportlots and see if I could find a seller that had the five players that I was missing.

Top (l-r): 2018 Topps Heritage #591; 2018 Topps #670

Middle (l-r): 2018 Topps Update - 1983 Topps 35th #83-21; 2018 Topps Chrome #172

Bottom: 2018 Topps #575

Looking at various sellers, I eventually found one that had cards for all five of these players, and picked these up from him for eighteen cents each.

I saw the Frazier card on somebody's blog, and knew that I wanted to look for that card, and I was happy to see that there was an Adrian Gonzalez card for me to purchase since his stint with the team was so short.

After buying these Mets cards, I then looked to see what Browns cards the seller might have that I needed. I managed to find quite a few. Here are some cards that I was missing from before the Browns moved to Baltimore.

L-R: 1992 Wild Card - 5 Stripe #239; 1993 Wild Card - 10 Stripe #41

Two posts in a row with Wild Card stripes!

I can honestly say that I was shocked to find these stripe cards as cheap as they were - one for $0.35, and the other for $0.30. I remember searching for these when they came out, and any stripes that I saw were definitely not that cheap back then.

L-R: 1994 Stadium Club - Bowman's Best Members Only #2; - Bowman's Best Members Only #11

Okay, I'll admit that when these came to me it took me a while to figure out how they were Members Only. Finally, I spotted the black writing printed on the cards. I would say that they barely show up in the scan, but really they are almost as hard to see in hand. The printing is vertical, on the silver stripe on the left of the card. On the Alexander card, it is on the top left of the card. On the Langham card, it is right under his left wrist.

I wonder if I have missed any of these in the past when I've looked through boxes of cards.

L-R: 1993 Pro Set Power - Gold #101; 1995 Classic Five Sport #70; 1995 Collector's Edge - Die Cut #46

I've always liked the base version of this Pro Set Power Michael Jackson card, so I was happy to get the gold parallel. I just love the way that he seems to be watching the ball come down into his arms. I know some people like having their players centered on the card, but I think this works having the ball drop in.

Ohio State linebacker Craig Powell was the Browns final first round draft pick before the team moved to Baltimore. I was surprised that I needed this base card, as I recognized it instantly when I saw it. As it turned out, I already owned a die cut version of the card.

And speaking of die cuts, here's a Collector's Edge one of Andre Rison on a Browns card, in a Falcons uniform. I love the old Collector's Edge cards that were made out of plastic.

Top: 1995 Pacific Prisms - Gold #18

Middle: 1995 Playoff Prime - Minis #19

Bottom: 1995 Playoff Prime - Minis #33

These are parallels that I don't mind. First of all, they are easily recognizable compared to the original cards, and second they are the only parallels for each of their sets. I like how bright and shiny the Playoff Prime Minis look in the scans, and don't even mind that they replaced the card backgrounds with those blue windows, or whatever they are.

Top: 1995 Pacific Gridiron #61

Bottom (l-r): 1995 Pro Line - Printer's Proofs #300; 1995 SP Championship - Die Cuts #86

Okay, it is rare that I am surprised by cards that I order, but the Pacific Gridiron card did just that. I was familiar with the Gridiron name, as it has been re-used over time, but I had never seen one from 1995, and had no idea that they were oversized cards. They are awesome!

Here is a scan of the back of the Gridiron card:

How great is that back? Identifying the game, and giving a game summary? I've wanted to see that for a long time, and there was a set that did it from 1995, and I didn't know about it! And the card credits the photographer too! So nice to see that.

I loved this card so much that I found and bought a complete 100 card red foil set on eBay. I can't wait to receive it.

Top: 1995 Ultra - Second Year Standouts - Gold Medallion #1

Bottom: 1996 SPx - Gold #9

The Gold Medallion cards for the base cards from 1995 Ultra have complete gold backgrounds. The inserts just have the gold stamp. I understand why given the multiple photos, and the background of this card, but I think the base card parallels are more distinct.

I really like the 1996 SPx cards, and their holograms. The gold sides are what makes it the gold parallel.

I'm very happy adding this many 1990s Browns cards to my collection with one order. I'll show the cards from 1999 on in that were also part of this order in a future post.