Flashback Friday: A Box Break from the 90s (1997 Donruss/Leaf Limited)

Awhile back, I bought a box of 1997 Donruss Limited thinking that it would make for a fun box for a future group break.  Unfortunately, I didn't actually do any research on the set...and once I got the box in hand and did actually look up the set information, I learned that virtually every card in the set features two players (one per side) with each player playing for a different team.  That scenario is a nightmare for a group break idea - either I'm flipping a coin for every single card or else I have to define something like "card goes to team on the front" and I didn't like either of those ideas.

Thus, I'm now the (proud?) owner of a box of 1997 Donruss/Leaf Limited for myself!

There are six Barry Larkin cards from this set that I still need, three base cards:

• 61  Barry Larkin / Deion Sanders DT
• 131  Neifi Perez / Barry Larkin UT  
• 153  Barry Larkin SF

and three Limited Exposure parallels:

• 61  Barry Larkin / Deion Sanders DT
• 131  Neifi Perez / Barry Larkin UT  
• 153  Barry Larkin SF

Barry actually has four cards in the set but I happen to own both version of card #10 (where Larkin is paired with Rey Ordonez of the Mets).

Admittedly, it's probably kind of foolish to open this box for myself when I really only need/want six total cards (of which half are parallels) BUT I've been itching to rip some wax for myself for awhile now so I might as well go for it.  Plus, I figure any cards that I pull that I don't end up wanting will make for decent trade bait over on TCDB, after all, this set is the "most limited Major League Baseball base set in the Hobby" according to the front of the hobby box!

Plus, there's the outside chance I could pull one of the super rare "Limited Exposure parallels" which are numbered out of only 40 and still sell for pretty big bucks over on eBay.

Each box of Limited contains 24 packs (with 5 cards per pack) and over the next few days, I plan to rip through my entire box.  I do hope that there will be enough here to keep all of us (including myself) entertained through a series of blog posts...so let's find out right now!

Pack 1:

91.  Tony Gwynn / Brett Butler

118.  Juan Gonzalez / Brant Brown

119.  Juan Guzman / Francisco Cordova

123.  Barry Bonds / Quinton McCracken

143.  Kevin Brown / Matt Morris

The "Counterparts" cards are the standard base card in this set (and, to date, the only Barry Larkin cards I own out of the set).  Each card features two players that play the same position (but for different teams).  For the most part, the front player is the "star" of the card while the player on the back seems to be more of a second-tier or prospect type player.

Pack 2:

1.  Ken Griffey, Jr. / Rondell White

30.  Ryne Sandberg / Julio Franco

The final three cards from this pack were so badly miscut that I couldn't even read off the card numbers with any certainty:

Yikes!  The Jeff Blauser card features Pokey Reese on the other side, Johnson is paired with Kenny Lofton, and Alvarez is matched up with Esteban Loaiza.

Pack 3:

15.  Todd Hollandsworth / Bob Abreu

41.  Todd Greene / Chris Widger

174.  Todd Dunwoody / Brian Giles

182.  Ryan Klesko / Paul O'Neil

Limited Exposure parallel:  175.  Javier Lopez / Scott Hatteberg

Donruss didn't give the odds for the various inserts/parallels in the set so I can't be sure of how rare this particular parallel is.  I can say that it is basically Donruss' version of the the Topps Refractor parallel.  It's certainly nice and shiny (and hopefully good trade bait for me to be able to swing a deal for one of the missing Larkin Limited Exposure cards I need)!

Pack 4:

32.  Wade Boggs / Russ Davis

58.  Ron Coomer / Dave Hollins

155.  Mike Mussina / Ken Hill

168.  Jason Giambi / Jose Canseco

170.  Jay Buhner / Geronimo Berroa

The Giambi / Canseco card is part of the "Double Team" subset (which according to Baseballcardpedia are seeded 1:6 packs).  Barry has a Double Team card that I need so I've still got three more chances to land that one out of my box!

Overall, this is a neat little set.  It's terrible for a group break since all of the common base cards feature two teams but it's definitely a fun box to open (at least so far).  I wasn't happy with the three miscut cards but otherwise things have gone okay so far.