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Delivery Time! Heeeerrrreeee's Johnny! (More Pacific Sets Reviewed!)

I'm back with the fourth (and final) post detailing a recent trade with John from Johnny's Trading Spot.  John sent me a bunch of Reds - and a bunch of turn-of-the-century Pacific cards.  As you may recall, I've decided to go after a bunch of Pacific sets in the near future and so I asked John to send me any cards that he had (from any team).  In the second post of this trade, I opened up a big batch of Pacific and made a list where I decided which sets were of high priority to me.

For the record, here is that list:

Initial Pacific set rankings ( in order of desire - subject to change though!)
Definitely want to collect:
1999 Pacific Invincible
2000 Pacific Aurora
1999 Pacific
2000 Pacific Vanguard
Probably want to collect:
2001 Pacific Private Stock
2000 Pacific Prism
1998 Pacific Crown Collection
1998 Pacific Paramount
Take 'em or Leave 'em:
1998 Pacific Aurora
1998 Pacific Online
1998 Pacific Omega

Now, I want to go through the final brown paper wrapped packet of cards (which are all Pacific goodies) and see what other sets I might add to the list (and possible move sets up or down as I find new cards to look at)!

Our tour through the final stack of Pacific cards begins with a 1996 Pacific card.

I think this year is probably a bit too early for me to try and collect the set - I'm guessing it'd be nearly impossible to track down potential trade partners.  That said, based on the John Smiley it is a rather good looking set.  Since this is a  Reds card (one of the few Reds Pacific cards that John sent), it's a keeper whether or not I try for the 1996 set.  For now, I'll put this set at the top of the Take 'em or Leave 'em category.

Next up, a 1997 Pacific card (again only one copy to look at).

Unlike the 1996 set which I like, this one does nothing for me.  Sometimes Pacific got the foil effect right, other times it looks more like a fairy threw up on the side of a card (this is a case of a puking fairy for sure).  This set manages to rank one spot higher than the 1998 Pacific Omega set and that's it.

Not all of the Pacific cards in the final stack were from different sets (as compared to the first stack of Pacific).  In fact, the next set chronologically in the pack was another big stack of 1998 Pacific Crown Collection.  I had this set in the "probably want to collect" category and now thanks to John I have about 25 different cards from the set (though I still have to figure out the gold/silver foil issue).

Back to new sets (to me), here's a 1998 Pacific Revolution.

I guess the Revolution brand was full of sparkle and glitter!  However, unlike the 1997 Pacific set which looked like a fairy puked on it, I like the sparkle of this set well enough.  I do wonder if that is supposed to be some sort of ninja star design in the background though.  This set will make it into the "probably want to collect" list.

This stack of cards also held seven different 1999 Pacific Revolution cards.

To be fair, if I'm going to get seven of one year and only one of the other year, I'm glad I got seven 1999 cards!  I like this design a lot better - the gold as the key color with silver sparkle accents works much better for me.  I also like the slightly larger team logo bubble at the bottom - and the player name is MUCH easier to read.  This set makes the "definitely want to collect list."

The next set to make an appearance in the stack (and that didn't show up in the previous stack) is the 1999 Pacific Paramount set.

The 1998 Pacific Paramount set is ok but that 1999 Paramount set is much, much better!  I love the clean, classy design with the white borders.  I don't love the foil names but thanks to Topps, I'm at least used to it (and you can read the names quite easily).  This set shoots up to the bottom of my "definitely collect" list.

Continuing through the package, we next come across a pair of 1999 Pacific Prism cards.

I put the 2000 Prism set fairly high up in the middle tier - but I don't think this set is quite as good (which is weird because the 2000 set doesn't feature large team logos which I usually prefer).  I guess it's the all foil background design being loud, yet boring, that ruins the 1999 set for me.

Another new 2000 set, the Pacific flagship set.

I like this set a lot.  Sure, it's simple but sometimes that is quite alright.  This set looks quite a bit like the 1999 Pacific flagship, though I like the 2000 set much, much more.  This set moves into the second spot on my list of sets to collect (it's also a set that I did buy some of as a kid so that will help when the time comes to see how many cards I actually need from the set)!

You would think by now that there couldn't possibly be any more Pacific sets that I have yet to show between the two posts.  You might think that, but you'd be wrong!

Here's the 2000 Pacific Paramount set.

This is another relatively simple, relatively class design that I happen to dig.  I don't really know if I prefer it more or less than the 1999 Paramount set...for now I guess I'll say more since it's the "newer" of the two set.

Unbelievable as it may seem, there's yet more Pacific sets in the trade box from John.  Here's the 2000 Pacific Crown Collection.

This is a pretty set too (basically a hybrid of the 1999 and 2000 Pacific Paramount sets really).  I think for the '99 & '00 Paramount and this set, it will really come down to which set has better photography.  For now, I'm going to slot this set in between the two Paramounts but that is definitely subject to change.

Finally, we end with one more set - 2000 Pacific Revolution.

While I liked the 1999 Pacific Revolution set, the 2000 set is back to a fairy vomiting all over the cards.  In fact, this looks like a fairy being electrocuted threw up on the cards.  It's a tremendous mishmash of sparkle, weird designs, and the number 2000.  There are no team logos but there is the word revolution embossed on the left side of each base card for no apparent reason.  I can't see myself chasing this one anytime soon...

Current Pacific set rankings ( in order of desire - subject to change though!)
Definitely want to collect:
1999 Pacific Invincible
2000 Pacific
2000 Pacific Aurora
1999 Pacific
1999 Pacific Revolution
2000 Pacific Vanguard
2000 Pacific Paramount
2000 Pacific Crown Collection
1999 Pacific Paramount
Probably want to collect:
2001 Pacific Private Stock
2000 Pacific Prism
1998 Pacific Crown Collection
1998 Pacific Paramount
1997 Pacific Revolution
Take 'em or Leave 'em:
1996 Pacific
2000 Pacific Revolution
1999 Pacific Prism
1998 Pacific Aurora
1998 Pacific Online
1997 Pacific
1998 Pacific Omega

Wow, thanks for the great trade John!  By my count, that package had at least one card from twenty-one different Pacific sets!  That's an awesome way to sample a lot of sets without having to resort to opening hundreds of packs!  I must admit that it's a little daunting how many sets I put in the two upper tiers of sets that I would like to collect...but at least now I have a start in terms of figuring out the various Pacific sets!

As for anyone else, if you'd like to trade be sure to check out my want list and make an offer (and now you know what Pacific sets I'm also looking for - and I'd trade for almost any Pacific inserts as well since I don't have many of those yet)!

PS:  I bought myself a box of Pacific cards not too terrible long ago...and it's from a set that isn't listed above (and one that I don't know how much I'll like/love/hate)!  You'll have to stay tuned to my blog to see what that box is though...it's sitting on my shelf unopened at the moment but I have a feeling that will change before too long!

Comments

  1. I'd say Pacific in general was responsible for some terrible designs, but I really enjoyed 99 Paramount. The set design looks nice, and when I landed a box on the cheap years and years ago, I did great with the inserts, including a Fielder's Choice of Jeter and a #d Griffey. Looks like BBCExchange has them for $30, not bad.

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  2. I have a 1998 Pacific Invincible Brady Anderson for ya. I don't see '98 on your list.

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