Two of the cooler cards I own

During another frustrating Yankees game last night (frustrating for me, joyous for all of you), I found myself looking through a box of Yankee cards. I find each card in this box to be top-loader worthy, even if they aren't the most valuable of cards. I've always enjoyed both clear cut cards as well as die cuts, so both of these are personal favorites.

The first card is a 1997 Donruss Studio Hard Hats Bernie Williams. The card is both clear cut AND die cut. Too cool. I remember wishing Tino was in the set, but unfortunately he wasn't included. Bernie was a good choice though. The card is fairly small because of the shape, as it outlines the helmet on top, but is straight along the bottom. The card is also numbered to 5,000, which was actually a pretty big deal in 1997.

The second card is a 1997 Pacific Sizzling Lumber Wade Boggs. Now, let's not make a mistake, Boggs' lumber wasn't quite sizzling at this point, but the card certainly is. I miss Pacific for this reason. They took chances. Some of the cooler cards I own are Pacific brand. One of my all-time favorite inserts sets is their In The Cage set that ran from 1998-2000. The Boggs is a great looking card. The only problem is that the flamed edges of the cards get caught easily on top loaders and penny sleeves. It's a great card though.

The mid to late 90's were a great time to collect. We saw inordinate amounts of product hit shelves and it became harder and harder to keep up, but there was also great innovation as companies tried to distinguish themselves from the competition.