The junk wax kings

Sometimes I feel a little sorry for the players whose careers spanned the so-called Junk Wax Era.

I don't hold any particular allegiance to that period. Unlike what seems like 75 percent of collectors writing blogs and on Twitter, I did not grow up with cards during this period. The late '80s/early '90s was actually my first return to the hobby. I had collected for 10 whole years before the JWE hit the big-time around '86, '87.

But still, my heart goes out to those players whose cards are deemed a mere pittance because card companies couldn't control themselves and issued obscene quantities of cardboard. How would you like it if you put a decade of sweat and toil into a career and decades later your cards are still worth 10 cents apiece? That never happened to dudes from the '50s and '60s. Heck, not even the '70s! People still want their cards and they're willing to put down real live dollars!

Simply through bad-timing, these Junk Wax Era players don't receive their cardboard due, unless it's some coveted error or a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie.

These players should get some kind of credit. They were kings of their era! At the time, you could pull a whole bunch of their cards and were actually pleased to get them!

So, I thought I'd figure out who these Junk Wax Kings of yore are.

This is how I did it:

I went to my collection and searched for the players for which I had the most cards between 1987-93, what many consider the prime junk wax period (OK, OK, "overproduction era," but I'm not going to stop saying "junk wax").

Secondly, I limited the list of candidates for Junk Wax King to players whose cards appeared strictly within that 1987-93 time frame. You can't be king of that period if you're reigning during some other period. I didn't penalize players if they also had cards in 1986 or 1994, the years book-ending the junk wax era. But if the player's cards traveled farther out, say 1985 or 1995, I started subtracting from their total cards. If they ventured even deeper, say 1983 or 1997 or 1998, I eliminated them as contenders.

So this is why you won't see players like Ruben Sierra or Kevin Mitchell in my list of Junk Wax Kings, even though each features plenty of cards from that period in my collection. And you definitely won't see players like Tony Gwynn or Frank Thomas, players who dominated during the JWE but also ventured far into other eras.

Finally, I eliminated all Dodgers from contention. My goal is to see which players naturally accumulated in my collection. Outside of Topps and a little Score, I didn't intentionally buy any other sets during the junk wax era. Most of them just reproduced in my collection as junk wax cards do. But I intentionally collect Dodgers and that would skew everything. I'll list the JWE Kings for the Dodgers at the end of the post.

OK, apologies to players like Brook Jacoby and Zane Smith who just missed out.

Here are the Junk Wax Kings, in reverse order:

12. Gene Larkin

Card range in my collection: 1988-93
Total cards in the junk wax era:  20

I remember Gene Larkin for two things: getting the game-winning hit in the 10th inning of Game 7 of the 1991 World Series and for looking vaguely like George W. Bush. I have no idea how I ended up with so many of his cards.

11. Kelly Gruber 

Card range in my collection: 1985-93
Total cards in the junk wax era (one card subtracted for not being within range): 20

As you will see in this list, many of these Junk Wax Kings burned brightly for a short period and then disappeared. Players like Gruber competed in multiple World Series and then they were gone, leaving behind a pile of cards that might be able to buy you a sandwich.

10. Teddy Higuera

Card range in my collection: 1985-94
Total cards in the junk wax era (2 cards subtracted): 21

It seems like nobody except Brewers fans talk about Teddy Higuera anymore. But his first four seasons were pretty unreal.

9. Ivan Calderon

Card range in my collection: 1985-93
Total cards in the junk wax era (1 card subtracted): 22

There are some players that you automatically associate with the Junk Wax Era and Ivan Calderon is one of those for me. I can imagine what his cards went for after that 1987 season.

Calderon was shot and killed in 2003. Sadly, he is not the only deceased player on this list.

8. Dan Gladden

Card range in my collection: 1985-94
Total cards in the junk wax era (3 cards subtracted): 22

Another player who made his name in the postseason, appearing with both Twins World Series winners in 1987 and 1991. He was gone by 1994. Maybe they figured he had enough cards already.

7. Billy Hatcher

Card range in my collection: 1986-95
Total cards in the junk wax era (2 cards subtracted): 22

Notice a theme? Yet another World Series hero, this time for constantly getting on base in the 1990 World Series. But his playing time was sporadic for the rest of his career.

This theme will continue.

6. Chris Sabo

Card range in my collection: 1989-93
Total cards in the junk wax era: 22

Spuds!

You know you're a Junk Wax King when you're named after a famous commercial from the late 1980s that would never air today. Some people probably don't even know what "Spuds" refers to. Their loss.

Sabo is one of the few players who fell neatly into the junk wax parameters without any penalties and still managed to accumulate a slew of cards.

Of course, Sabo is another member of the Reds' 1990 World Series team on this list.

And ...

5. Tom Browning

Card range in my collection: 1985-93
Total cards in the junk wax era (2 cards subtracted): 23

Wow, those 1990 Reds sure had a lot of players whose careers fizzled fast. Norm Charlton also was briefly a candidate for this list.

4. Rob Deer

Card range in my collection: 1985-93
Total cards in the junk wax era (one card subtracted): 24

If anyone's cards deserve more credit than they've received it's Rob Deer. The man was considered a running joke during his time for striking out so much. But in the current baseball world of endless Three True Outcome Players, Deer would have fit right in and nobody would say boo about his strikeouts.

Here's to ya, Rob. You were ahead of your time and are now a Junk Wax King.

3. Bobby Thigpen

Card range in my collection: 1987-93
Total cards in the junk wax era: 27

Another player whose cards occurred strictly within the junk wax era (at least for me, he does have a couple of 1994 cards).

Thigpen was your typical closer in that the position's peak period never lasts very long. But Thigpen made the most out of the few years he had by setting the saves-per-season record and card companies noticed. Twenty-seven cards in six years when I was only actively collecting in 2 or 3 of them is pretty impressive.

2. Bo Jackson

Card range in my collection: 1987-94
Total cards in the junk wax era: 31

OK, I don't really feel sorry for Bo in terms of not getting enough card respect. He's received plenty despite his abbreviated career, even if his cards aren't worth all that much. Out of any player on this list, he has far more retro card tributes and inserts from recent years than anyone else.

It goes to show you how far you can go if you climb the outfield wall with your feet ... and play in the NFL ... and appear on commercials relentlessly.

Plus, the dude never made a bad baseball card.

1. Kirby Puckett

Card range in my collection: 1985-96
Total cards in the junk wax era (6 cards subtracted): 37

The saddest story of them all.

Puckett's career was cut short in 1996 due to glaucoma and he passed away in 2006. He surely would have never qualified for this list if he was allowed to play a full career instead of retiring at age 35.

But during that junk wax time, he racked up two World Series rings, records, awards, a Hall of Fame induction, and a whole bunch of cards -- including a rookie card that's not worth only a dime! (Of course, I subtracted that one out).

His exploits means his card total blows away the other players on this list. Maybe he doesn't exactly fit into the intent of this list -- players of that era who don't get their cardboard due all these years later -- but I'm not going to kick Puckett off the list.

Those are your Junk Wax Kings.

Here are some of the players who fell just short of the list: Brook Jacoby, Chris James, Ernest Riles, Billy Ripken, John Smiley, Zane Smith, Jim Deshaies.

None of them worth more than change -- unless you write an obscenity on your bat -- but every one of them could produce cards in numbers that someone from another era of equal or better talent, say Ralph Garr, could never match.

As for the Dodgers that fall into the junk wax era, here are the top five:

5. Dave Anderson - 25
4. Jeff Hamilton - 28
3. Todd Benzinger - 35
2. Tim Crews - 38 (RIP)
1. Franklin Stubbs - 43

Lot more cards of those guys, of course.

Hope you enjoyed!