Conlon Collection Series 2 Box Break - Pack 1

I went out to the LCS today in support of Small Business Saturday and they had a box of 1992 Series 2 Conlon Collection on the sale wall for 20% off.  I have gotten a few of these cards in trades recently and was excited to see this box. For less than a price of a blaster and a half this box was mine.  I typically have no patience when it comes to ripping packs so I decided to test myself with this box and open it one pack at a time.  I thought I could share the set and some of my favorites things about it with the readers of this blog and practice some self restraint.

Before I get to the first pack, here is what the box and packs look like.

The box has a nice, somewhat silly picture and announces the ALL NEW 1992 Edition.  It shows that there are 36 packs and a 330 card set with over 100 HOFers spotlighted in the set.  It also states that there are 20,000 randomly inserted autographed cards - wouldn't it be crazy to pull one of those?

Here is the first pack I will be opening.  As you can see the wrapper is clear and the front card can be easily seen.  Each pack contains 15 cards so some quick math will show that I should get 540 cards so hopefully I can put together a full set.  I would love to double up on the Giants as well and I should have plenty of tradebait once the break is complete.

The back gives a little background on Martin Conlon and that these pictures were selected from the 8000 negatives that comprise the Conlon Collection. It also shows that this is the second series of 330 cards.  The Instant Winner autographed cards are highlighted as well.

Here is pack 1:

 There appear to be cards that focus on Trivia, Everyday Heroes, Triple Crown Winners HOFers, Great Stories, Two Sports and No-Hitters.  There are also two cards that show Cardinals 1892-1992, this appears to be a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Cardinals, not sure if they are the only team such honored. 

I will just share the fronts of every card since the photos are the focus of the set.  Boy did I do a bad job of scanning the second half of the pack.

Series completion - 15/330
Duplicates - 0
Giants in this Pack - 1 (Melton)
Total Giants - 1
HOFers in this Pack - 6 (Speaker, Hafey, Dean, Cobb, Bresnahan, Goslin)
Total HOFers - 6

Favorite Card Front:

I love the way he has choked up on the bat so far and the cockeyed hat on his head.  He has a nice big smile and looks as if he loves to play the game.   I had heard his name but wasn't too familiar with Graney, according to the card back he "was a speedy lead-off man and a dependable hitter."  He also "became the first former Major Leaguer to do radio play-by-play."

I characterize myself as someone who knows a ton about baseball history and trivia but I can tell from Pack 1 there will be lots to learn from this set.  I will highlight my favorites in these pack breaks.

Favorite New Facts Learned:

Ernie Koob card back:

I had never heard about this controversial no-hitter.  I wonder if something like this could/would happen today.

Evar Swanson card back:

I am embarrassed to say that I had never heard of Evan Swanson.  Circling the bases in 13.3 seconds seems amazingly fast to me.



Not sure if I will hit a pack a day in posts but hopefully you enjoy the opening of this box as I make my way through it.