Card Review:  3.1  This is more or less identical to the '87 O-Pee-Chee Stickers.  I prefer the OPC red back to the blue, even though I can't read any of the French on the OPC.  Once again that's Steve Buechele on the card with Wallach.

Number of this card in my collection: 1
2013 update: 4
2014 update: n/a
2015 update: 5
2016 update: 6
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: n/a
2019 update: 5 (must have stuck one somewhere)

 


















Card Review: 4.8  I believe this was cut out of some sort of mini comic book type thing.  That's Bryn Smith on the back.  The stock is extrmely thin, like the page of a magazine.

It's also the same picture as used on the 1986 Topps All-Star card of Wallach, just re-croped with the logo airbrushed out.

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: n/a
2019 update: 3

Card Review: 1.0  Ok, I don't know what Red Foley is/was or how these were sold.  All I know is that they exists, so I'll go ahead and try to track them down.

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

Card Review: 3.2 Wallach is playing a little in here.  It's either infield practice or someone is showing bunt.  That's Steve Buechele on the other half.

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

Card Review: 4.2 I'm not really sure what this card is or how they were obtained.  It's very similar to the "Indian Blue Sox" card, but I can't say for certain if the company's are related.  I did a google map search of the address and it doesn't look like anything baseball related is located there anymore.  Lemeke's catalog of vintage baseball cards makes reference to unlicensed sets in it's preface, and I figure this is an example of one of those.  It says most were obtained via mail-order ads in trade magazines, and that sounds like as good of a theory as any for where this 20 card "The Press Box" set came from.

It's actually a pretty decent photo, and would have been an improvement over the photos used on '87 Fleer or Donruss, and would have looked really good on '87 Topps as well.  But '87 Topps is one of my all-time favorite Wallach cards and regardless of how good this photo would have looked inside the wood grain border, I wouldn't want to change it.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

Card Review: 9.7  I grade this just a little bit lower than the '87 Topps card.  I love the '87 design.  The OPC is nearly identical, the logo on the front looks a little weird though, and I don't like the blue and yellow on white as much as I do on the gray.  Also, the #55 in the upper left is in a different font and just looks weird.

Number of this card in my collection: 3
2013 update: 9
2014 update: 10
2015 update: 14 
2016 update: 15
2017 update: 18
2018 update: n/a
2019 update: 20
2020 update: 22

Card Review: 3.5  They don't get much plainer than this.  This card is from a perforated sheet that presumably came with some sort of Stuart food product.  I'm thinking donuts or bread.  That said, I like stuff like this.  Food product cards have always been a favorite of mine.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

Card Review: 9.1  I like this card better than the '87 Donruss base card, though in general, I like the black better than the maroon.  This photo is just a lot nicer.  It would look great with the black border.  For my money the 1987 Donruss design was the best one they ever put out. It translates well to this maroon color well.

I'm pretty sure these were sold as a set, though that's just a guess, and I have no idea how many cards were in the set.  The back of the card says the Cardinals offered 3 players for Wallach, I'd really like to know which 3.

Number of this card in my collection: 2

2012 update: 9
2013 update: 14
2014 update: 20
2015 update: 26 
2016 update: 33
2017 update: 34
2018 update: 35
2019 update: 55
2020 update: 59

Card Review: 4.6 In retrospect, Sportsflics made some terrible looking cards.  The novelty of them hasn't aged very well.  However that doesn't change the fact that as a seven year old I thought they were one coolest things ever produced.

Fun Facts: On May 4, 1987 Tim Wallach hit 3 home-runs and drove in 6 runs in a 10-7 loss in Atlanta.
Number of this card in my collection: 11
2012 update: 19
2014 update: 37
2015 update: 42 
2016 update: 45
2017 update: 46
2018 update: 49
2019 update: 47 (audit showed fewer)

Card Review: 8.3 Even though the different logo is more or less a minor variation, it makes a huge difference.  I much prefer the Donruss counter-part to this Leaf version.  They should have gone with just the "leaf picture" instead of the letters, and an attempt should have been made to match the yellow Leaf logo with the yellow on the sides of the card.

Number of this card in my collection: 4
2013 update: 15
2014 update: 37
2015 update: 41 
2016 update: 43
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: 50
2019 update: 55

Card Review: 3.2 This card gets a lower rating than the regular '87 Fleer because Fleer actually meant for it to be special.  You really have to look hard to tell that this card is any different from the non-glossy.  Fleer's inaguaral attempt at copying Topps Tiffany is nothing short of a complete failure.
Number of this card in my collection: 1
2012 update: 3
2013 update: 4
2014 update: 6
2015 update: 9 
2016 update: 24
2017 update: 26
2018 update: 30
2019 update: 36

Card Review: 4.9 I was never a fan of this set.  I'm pretty sure I never bought so much as a single pack of it.  That was due in large part to '87 Topps being one of my all-time favorite designs, and '87 Donruss also being a great looking set (as far as I'm concerned anyway).  By comparison this Fleer set really suffers.  The way the different shades of blue on the front and back clash has always bothered me.  This set just has the look and feel of one the many small boxed sets Fleer was producing for stores at the time.

Number of this card in my collection: 6
2012 update: 54
2013 update: 88
2014 update: 138
2015 update: 163 
2016 update: 194
2017 update: 201
2018 update: 223
2019 update: 230

Card Review: 9.8  Count me among those that considers the '87 Topps designs one of the all-time greats.  I prefer the base set to the Tiffany, but I still think this is a great looking card.  The "Tiffany" bothered me a lot less (as in not at all) when it was just a quirky alternative to the base set, rather than the base set it more or less is today.
Number of this card in my collection: 5


2011 update: 6
2012 update: 8
2013 update: 14
2014 update: 15 
2015 update: n/a
2016 update: n/a
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: 19
2019 update: 21

Card Review: 9.9  This is on the short list for my all-time favorite Tim Wallach card.  Ultimately, I don't think it walks away with that title, but it's certainly top 5, if not top 3.

1987 Topps wasn't the first set I actively collected, but it's the first year I remember the majority of my friends collecting.  For the few years prior to '87, my trading expierences consisted of getting ripped off by the older kids in the neighborhood, by trading away super stars for Wallach's and anyone else in an Expos uniform.  1987 was my first chance to get ripped off by kids my own age.  That's a bit of a stretch I guess, because even back then I was already gaining a bit of a reputation as a stat and trivia savant, at least amongst my peers.  So the Yount for Wallach trades weren't being made out of ignorance, I just would rather of had the Wallach.

In any event, I'm of the age that I consider 1987 Topps one of the all-time great sets.  I have nothing bad to say about this card.  If forced to, I'll offer this, the "On This Date" blurb on the back should be tied into the Expos or Wallach.

Fun Facts: *Tim led the NL in doubles and game-winning RBI's in '87
*Tim was 2nd in the NL with 123 RBI's in '87
*Wallach gave up 1 hit and no-runs in one inning of pitching for the Expos in '87
Number of this card in my collection: 288
2012 update: 408
2013 update: 510
2014 update: 588
2015 update: 701 
2016 update: 786
2017 update: 818
2018 update: 918
2019 update: 961
2020 update: 1,025

Card Review: 8.8  I love the front design of '87 Donruss, but it's not a great photo, and it's not cropped well on the card either.  The back is the standard horrific Donruss back of the 1980's, with incomplete career stats.


Fun Facts:  *This was the 4th Donruss card to show Wallach fielding.
*As of 1987 Fleer and Topps had yet to depict Wallach in the field.
* Tim finished 4th in MVP voting in 1987
* Tim was the Sporting News MLB Player of the Year in '87
* Was an All-Star and won a Silver Slugger in 1987

Number of this card in my collection: 73
2011 update: 76
2012 update: 164
2013 update: 256
2014 update: 338
2015 update: 367
2016 udpate: 394
2017 update: 400
2018 update: 426
2019 update: 445
2020 update: 468