1995 Mother's Cookies #7

Card Review: 7.9  Of the four Mother's Cookies cards to feature Wallach from '93-'96 this is probably my 2nd favorite.  I have vivid memories of Wallach using that bat when he switched to it.  I thought, and still think, it was an unusual color for a bat.  I'm not much into game used bats, but I'd like to have one of these amber (or whatever color it is) colored ones in my collection at some point.  As of yet, I've never seen one for sale.

Number of this card in my collection: 2

1995 Topps Finest #62 Refractor

Card Review 2.4  I find this card to be every bit as bland as it's '95 Finest base card counterpart.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't think some of the Topps Refractors were cool, some of them are very cool (though I'll never stop believing they're unnecessary gimmicks).  This just isn't one of the "cool" ones.  In '95 Topps covered all of these cards with a protective film, that consumers were to peel off once they bought the cards.  Pretty much nobody did, so everyone ended up with black lettering on the front of their cards.  You can see where the film on this one has started to bubble around Wallach's shoulder and neck.  I suspect if I peeled it off the card would look nicer, but I'm not inclined to do so.

*Update* It is believed that there were 550 copies printed of each refractor

Number of this card in my collection: 1

2014 update: n/a

2015 update: n/a

2016 update: n/a

2017 update: n/a

2018 update: n/a

2019 update: n/a

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: n/a

2023 update: 8

1995 LAPD D.A.R.E. #29

Card Review: 0.3  To my knowledge this is the last of the 3 LAPD DARE Wallach cards there are for me to post.  After a slight change in style from 1993 to 1994, they recycled the '94 design and used it again in '95.  They did change the "say no to drugs" pep talk on the back though, which had been the same the previous two years.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

1995 Pinnacle #384 Artist's Proof

Card Review: 8.1  I like the '95 Pinnacle set.  The baseball stitching gold stamping at the bottom of the card has always looked good to me, and the photo quality is well above average.  The Wallach photo is also unique.  It's the only card I can think of that (1) shows him in a Dodger windbreaker, and (2) shows him wearing a flap less helmet.  This is the 3rd variation of the Wallach Pinnacle put out in '95 and it's my least favorite of the three.  It's not just the scan that makes the gold stamping at the bottom of the card appear dark, it looks that way in person too.  Lined up side by side, this Artist Proof is much darker than the base card and museum collection variant.

Fun Facts:
*In 1983 MLB made it mandatory that batting helmets have at least one ear flap.  Current players were grandfathered in and could continue to use a flap less helmet.  Wallach is often listed as one of the last players to wear a flap less helmet along with Ozzie Smith, Gary Gaetti, and Tim Raines.  He's even listed in the wikipedia article on the subject.

I don't ever recall watching Wallach bat with a flap less helmet. This 1995 Pinnacle is the only card or picture I've ever seen of him wearing a flap less helmet.  I suspect that this picture is from batting practice and not a game.  It doesn't even look like Wallach is wearing a jersey under the windbreaker.  I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Wallach was never a regular user of the flap less helmet, or that he ever used one in a game at all.

Number of this card in my collection: 1
2013 update: 2

1995 Stadium Club #259 Member's Only

Card Review: N/A  This is the 7th and final variation of the '95 Stadium Club card.  Seven variations, all rather subtle, and all completely unnecessary.  It's an otherwise cool card.  One I think Stadium Club got right the first time.  Yet they did six more to be safe.  This one features the "Members Only" gold stamp on the side of the card.

You might notice that glove looks pretty worn in.  I have it on good authority that Tim Wallach used the same glove for the last 15 years or so of his career.  The Hall of Fame even asked for it when he retired, which Wallach reluctantly declined.  It may be a "dishrag," but it's his dishrag.  It's a sentiment you don't have to be a 17 year MLB vet to share.  I think a good number of people who played through High School (or not even that far) have a strong attachment to the leather they wore on their hand.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

Here's a look at the seven variations of '95 Stadium Club:

regular base card

 The Division Series Stamp









1st Day Issue







Member's Only

Virtual Reality







Virtual Reality w/Members Only

World Series Stamp

1995 Donruss #539 Press Proof

Card Review: 5.9  This is more or less identical to the regular '95 Donruss. Just the "Press Proof" atop the front and "1st 2000 Printed" atop the back make it different.  As the banner states, allegedly there were "only" 2,000 of these.  This is sort of the "bigfoot" or missing link between the first inserts and today's individually numbered inserts.  Only it's not really missing.  They're readily available for those who want them (but for the most part nobody does).

Once again Donruss is using photos from Wrigley Field, a common trait for Donruss Wallachs.  They must of had an office in Chicago, or contracted with a photographer out of there.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

1995 Stadium Club #127 Virtual Reality Member's Only

Card Review: 0.0  Somebody at Stadium Club was a real jerk.  Rather, some people at Stadium Club were some real jerks.  Some jerk said, I think we should do a lot variations of our cards so collector's will buy a ton a packs.  "We can't have collector's simply buying enough packs to compete the set, no small task in and of itself."  I'm guessing this was one the last of the seven variations for this card.  They had a bunch of variations per the demand of some jerk, then some other jerk said, "Hey, what if we started combing variations?" Then yet another jerk said; "That's a great idea."  Then a bunch of suckers went out and bought this crap by the case.  Today it's so worthless, and so unwanted, that when somebody like me actually wants a few of them, no one is willing to take the time to sort through it to sell it (assuming they haven't already thrown it out).

So we got this.  A "Virtual Reality Variation" merged with a "Member's Only Variation."  Bunch of jerks.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

1995 Panini Stickers #52

Card Review: 3.4  I had no idea Panini was still pumping out these sticker books as late as 1995.  Granted I know they popped up on shelves again, I just thought there had been a hiatus.  Guess not.  As young kid I loved them.  Not just the baseball ones either.  I can recall having He-Man, E.T., Return of the Jedi, and feel like their were a lot more that I'm forgetting.  Baseball was what I had every year though, until probably around 1990.  In any event, I kind have a soft spot for these Panini baseball stickers, even from the sets I didn't buy at the time.

Number of this card in my collection: 4

2017 update: 5

2018 update: n/a

2019 update: n/a

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: n/a

2023 update: n/a

2024 update: n/a

2025 update: n/a

2026 update: 6

1995 Stadium Club #259 Division Series

Card Review: Fail
Oh wow, another 1995 Stadium Club variation.  I'm just sick of this card.  This is now the 7th (I've still got two more to feature), and I believe final variation of this card.  The card itself was a pretty nice card.  But nobody needs seven slightly different versions of it.  It'd be one thing if they all had different brightly colored back grounds or something.  But minor differences in the gold stamping don't warrant this kind of repetition.  This one gets a "fail" not because it's any worse than the others, but just because I'm sick of finding new variations.  When I finish listing every known Wallach I'm going to actually rank every single one and go back and amend grades accordingly.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

1995 Stadium Club #259 1st Day Issue

Card Review: 7.5  This is the 4th of what is currently 6 different variations of this card in my collection.  This one features a stamp that says "1st Day Issue."  Can't say I'm all that excited.  I don't have a problem with variations, but you shouldn't have to look so hard to figure out what makes them different.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

2014 update: n/a

2015 update: n/a

2016 update: n/a

2017 update: n/a

2018 update: n/a

2019 update: n/a

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: 2

2023 update: n/a

2024 update: 3

1995 Collector's Choice SE #94 Gold Signature

Card Review: 9.1 This is the gold variation of the '95 SE card.  This was actually sent to me by a reader, unsolicitated no less.  It's the first time I've picked up a card I didn't already have in that manner, hopefully it won't be the last.  In 1995 I would have gladly traded a finger for a gold variation.  Internet shopping didn't exist, and card shops weren't wasting shelf space of junk wax commons, not even the gold ones.  Today, it's a welcome addition and one less card I need to track down, though I'm keeping all my fingers.  I like the Silver, Blue and Gold variations all about the same.  The gold does have a sort of vintage look that I like, but they're all pretty nice cards.

Number of this card in my collection: 1  (feel free to send me more)

1995 Topps Finest #62

Card Review: 2.4  This card kind of epitomizes everything that went wrong with baseball cards.  Over priced, over produced, over slicked, and just phony.  Did Topps really think that collector's would sit around peeling the completely unnecessary protective coating off the front of these cards.  Some disgusting comic book guy peeling away saying; "Gee, I'm sure glad this coating was here to keep the card from getting dirty in it's vacuum sealed pack."  No, it was just another dirty ploy to drive up the prices.

Number of this card in my collection: 1
2013 update: 7
2015 update: 10
2016 update: n/a
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: 13
2019 update: n/a
2020 update: 15

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: 17

2023 update: n/a

2024 update: 19

2025 update: n/a

2026 update: 20

1995 Fleer Ultra #401 Gold Medallion

Card Review: 6.1  I slightly prefer this to the standard '95 Fleer Ultra.  There really isn't all that much difference.  It doesn't show, but in right light the center of the "Medallion" in the upper left gives off a sort of prism effect.

Number of this card in my collection: 1
2013 update: 5
2014 update: n/a
2015 update: n/a
2016 update: 6
2017 update: n/a

2018 update: n/a

2019 update: n/a

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: n/a

2023 update: n/a

2024 update: 7

1995 Score Platinum Diamond Silver Team

Card Review: 7.4  This is the 3rd variation of '95 Score I've come across.  One would have been enough.  I'm not sure if these were sold as team sets, complete sets, or randomly stuck in packs.  At first I assumed they were inserted into packs, but there are a lot of team sets for sale on ebay, so that gives me some pause.

Number of this card in my collection: 1
2013 update: n/a
2014 update: n/a
2015 update: n/a
2016 update: n/a
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: 2

1995 Pacific #227

Card Review: 8.1  This is a surprisingly strong card from a somewhat obscure company.  I bought a good amount of Pacific College Basketball cards in 1995 chasing cards of The Great Lawrence Moten, but I don't remember ever seeing Pacific Baseball cards.

I can't certain, and I'm not going to try to talk myself out of it, but it looks to me like Wallach is in a home run trot mode in this card.  Either his own homer, or he was on base when someone else hit one.  I went back and looked at boxscores from the Dodgers games at Wrigley in 1994 (I'm assuming this photo is from '94 and not '95) and walked away feeling even more confident that this is a picture of Wallach in a home run trot one he hit.  I just don't know what game.  The Dodgers played just three games in Wrigley during the strike shortened '94 season, and Wallach homered in two of them (he didn't score any other runs).

On June 10, 1994, Wallach hit a 2-run homer off of Steve Trachsel in the 6th inning in a 2-1 Dodgers win (do you get bonus points in WAR calculations when you actually help your team win, or just 5/5 performances in 6 run loses?)

Two days later on June 12, 1994, Wallach again hit a 2-run homer in another 2-1 Dodgers win.  This time off of Anthony Young in the 2nd inning.  That game was a 1pm Sunday start, so I'm going with that one as for when the picture on this card is from.  Wallach, ever the professional, doesn't seem too fired up about a 2nd inning homer.  Again, I'm assuming there is no bonus WAR points for actually effecting on-field results (such a ridiculous "stat").

Number of this card in my collection: 1
2016 update: 2
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: n/a
2019 update: n/a
2020 update: 3
2021 update: n/a

2022 update: 4

1995 Pinnacle #384 Museum Collection

Card Review: 8.7  These Museum Collection variations have held up pretty sell.  Twenty years later, they still look pretty cool.  I prefer them to the the generic colored border variations that are more or less the norm today.  '95 Pinnacle was a nice looking set to begin with as well, which lends itself to these Museum Collection cards.  I'm not sure if the name is supposed to imply that this effect is meant to look like a painting, but I don't think it's too much of a reach to think it does.

Number of this card in my collection: 1
2013 update: 2
2014 update: n/a
2015 update: n/a
2016 update: n/a
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: 3

2019 update: n/a

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: 4

1995 Upper Deck Electric Diamond Gold #71

Card Review: 7.2  A 3rd, and completely unnecessary variation of the 1995 Upper Deck card.  This one has a gold stamp! "Oh be still my beating heart."  Grown men actually bought copious amounts of this crap in the mid-90's chasing things like these stupid gold stamps.  I've never heard anyone say, "1971 Topps is a great set, but, I really which they had included a few more parallel sets."

Number of this card in my collection: 1
2013 update: n/a
2014 update: n/a
2015 update: n/a
2016 update: n/a
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: n/a
2019 update: 2

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: n/a

2023 update: 3

1995 Stadium Club Super Team World Series #259

Card Review: 8.1  I couldn't tell you a thing about this card as far as where it came from, how it was sold, how many there are.  I can you this though, the world would not be any worse off if Stadium Club had chosen not to put out this set.  We'd all be just fine with there other 1995 offerings.

Number of this card in my collection: 1
2012 update: 3
2013 update: 4

2014 update: n/a

2015 update: n/a

2016 update: n/a

2017 update: n/a

2018 update: n/a

2019 update: n/a

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: 5

2022 update: n/a

2023 update: 6

1995 Stadium Club Virtual Reality #127

Card Review:  8.1  Card is pretty much identical to the '95 Stadium Club but for the "Virtual Reality" stamp on the front and the numbers and summary on the back.  The numbers are supposed to be what they would have been if it wasn't for the Selig tantrum that canceled the end of the '94 season.  They're the same numbers Topps used for the '95 Cyber Stats with the Topps set.  Only difference is Stadium Club did a new write-up too.  Again Topps failed to mention that Wallach would have been World Series MVP.  Not everyone got this treatment apparently as this card is numbered 127, and his base card is #259.

Number of this card in my collection: 2
2015 update: 3
2016 update: n/a
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: n/a
2019 update: 5
2020 update: 6

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: 8

2023 update: n/a

2024 update: 9

1995 Donruss Top of the Order

Card Review: 0.4  I've always assumed this was some sort of playing card.  I have no idea how it was sold, how the game was played, and what else was needed to play the game.

As a kid I had a baseball game that involved a lot of dice, and had a card (no picture, just black ink on blue and pink lines) for every player in the league.  I think I played it maybe once before losing interest.  What was cool though was the box it came in looked like a stadium.  You could flip the bottom for grass or turf, and it had a panoramic lining for every stadium in baseball that you could pop into place in the box.  I have no idea what is what was called.

Number of this card in my collection: 1
2012 update: 3

2013 update: n/a

2014 update: n/a

2015 update: n/a

2016 update: n/a

2017 update: n/a

2018 update: n/a

2019 update: n/a

2020 update: 8

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: n/a

2023 update: 11