Beckett Baseball Card Monthly November 1998 - Page 5

Today we're going to take a look at page 5 of the November 1998 Beckett Baseball Card Monthly magazine.

First, we'll finish off Product Preview of 1998 Upper Deck Retro. On this page we get a look at the rest of the packaging, which is a metal lunchbox.

There were six different lunchboxes available. The one pictured features Ken Griffey Jr. Here is the list.

Lunchboxes

1 Nomar Garciaparra

2 Ken Griffey Jr.

3 Chipper Jones

4 Travis Lee

5 Mark McGwire

6 Cal Ripken Jr.

It isn't mentioned in the Product Review, but 1998 Upper Deck Retro also included one of the first examples of a cut signature. Upper Deck obtained an autograph album with not one, not two, but three Babe Ruth signatures. They cut the signatures out of the album and created three Babe Ruth cut signature cards for 1998 Upper Deck Retro. I did some searching, but was unable to locate a picture of one of the cards. If I had to guess, they have probably been tucked away in a safety deposit box for nearly 20 years.

As I've mentioned previously, this particular issue of Beckett features a heavy dose of Ken Griffey Jr. and no where is it more evident then on this page. There are four different mini articles/features and all focus on Griffey.

Cybersports - Griffey Siting

The web site listed http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/50377 in the article is not is service anymore, but it was apparently dedicated to all things Griffey.

With how popular Griffey is, I fully expected there to be something in it's place, but I couldn't find anything similar to what the article described. I do want to give a shout out to all Griffey collectors out there and in particular, The Junior Junkie and his amazing Griffey collection.

By The Box - 1998 Upper Deck SP Authentic

I always liked this feature because it gave you an idea of what you could expect if you purchased a box of that particular product. 

Ken Griffey Jr. is pictured on the box, just as he was with almost every Upper Deck product during this time period.

I don't remember ever buying a box of this, but I have some singles in my collection.

Here is a Sheer Dominance Silver card of Mike Piazza that I have in my collection. This is one of the cards that was pulled during this particular box break.

Here's a Griffey from the same insert set.

The autographs for this set are called Chirography. 

I have one Chirography card in my collection from 1998 SP Authentic. Travis Lee was a big deal back in 1998. These days his autographs can be picked up for just a couple bucks.

Vintage Card - 1998 Fleer Vintage '63 Griffey Jr. #55

Beckett made an exception for this issue in regards to its Vintage Card feature and included a current card on a vintage design with, you guessed it, Ken Griffey Jr.

I checked, but I don't have this card. It's pretty sweet looking. I need to add it to my collection.