While I continue to hammer out the list of 100 Greatest Players Not In the Hall of Fame (and await the arrival of some additions for a 70 Cards From the 1970s post) here's a quick show-and-tell to kick off the Starting Lineup Showcase series.
Here's a trio of loose figures from the inaugural 1988 series. All three feature the same follow-through pose.
Atlanta Braves superstar Dale Murphy was popular with baseball fans across the country. This piece was likely distributed nationwide in the National League All-Star assortment. I think I saw this Murphy figure on a display rack at Ames back in '88.. but that could be the Mandela effect.
Hall of Famer Eddie Murray wasn't as media friendly or popular with young out-of-market fans. Just a guy that focused on his craft and excelled. I was always a fan of the bright orange Baltimore Orioles uniforms as a kid. I had a puffy hat with this logo and cried when our dog chewed it to bits.
I bought these two figures, sealed, for about $10 each. It must have been at least 15 years ago because I don't have an email receipt for the purchase. Wally Joyner was in that lot as well, but that figure is long gone.
Here's Murray taking some cuts alongside Rafael Palmeiro. I found this piece, and two others, in the crawl space of my childhood home when I cleaned it out a couple years ago.
Wait a second... didn't Raffy play for the Cubs in '88?
So, then, who was that mustachioed slugger swinging a phantom bat in a Ranger jersey?
I was puzzled when I unearthed it from the attic insulation. A lot of paint has worn off, but there are enough letters left to reveal the mystery man:
Pete Incaviglia?!?I have no recollection of purchasing or playing with this piece. I barely remember Inky's career - aside from that nickname. It's not a total surprise to me as I always had a fondness for random, out-of-market players. Can only guess how I came to own this one though - catalog? Card show?
There were several other swinging follow-through poses in the 1988 series. I'm not looking to add another one - need some variety on my display shelf - but if I were, I'd want to retrieve the Mike Schmidt piece that was in my collection a couple decades ago.
Kirby Puckett, Jose Canseco, and Eric Davis share this pose as well. Less common but more interesting to me would be the Joe Carter piece.
Or if I want to go wayyy off the board, how about Chris Brown?
No, not that one!
The 100 Greatest Non-HOFers list is coming next week. At least one of these guys will be ranked. (It won't be Chris Brown.)
Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!
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Nice start to the series! I can't wait to see more of these.
ReplyDeletekeep em' coming
ReplyDeleteI'll always be fond of SLUs. And the cards are awesome.
ReplyDeleteThere was a brief moment in my life where I thought the San Francisco Giants infield of Will Clark, Robby Thompson, Jose Uribe, and Chris Brown were gonna be the next Garvey, Cey, Russell, and Lopes. Then Kevin Mitchell and Matt Williams come along and squashed that prediction.
ReplyDeleteI always liked SLU, but never got around to collecting them. I still have a rather yellowed Roger Clemens, plus a Mike Greenwell I picked up at a thrift store a few years back.
ReplyDeleteI only had maybe 7-8 SLU's as a kid, and none of them had the same pose. I guess since there were hundreds made over the years, it makes sense that some would share the same pose, I just never thought about it before.
ReplyDelete