my favorite cards of the year - y2k edition

last month i introduced my mini collection focusing on my favorite cards from each year that i've been a collector. you can see the first post here, and i am also tracking this collection at my want list site (along with my other mini collections). the basic jist is that i wanted to create a space for the cards that i most appreciated having in my collection in the year that they were released. these were cards that i acquired in the year that they were issued, and that i considered to be my favorites at the time. i have disallowed (most) cards that are already in other mini collections in order to avoid having a mini collection consisting of more steve garvey, double plays, and dodger stadium cards.

having said all of that, in the year 2000 i don't believe there was a garvey card, or a double play card, or a dodger stadium card that surpassed these next two in terms of my favoritism.

favorite non-dodger card: pacific invincible ken griffey jr

i first saw an ad for 2000 pacific invincible in a beckett that year, and i immediately went to ebay to pre-order a box. there was a delay in the production, and so it took a while, but the box eventually arrived and it was probably one of the most enjoyable breaks i've ever had. the inserts were varied and great (i've put together the kings and aces of the diamond insert sets), and the base cards were these incredibly blue acetate/aztec ruins masterpieces.

the griffey was one of the cards found in my box, and was one of the first cards of his that i owned showing him as a red. that, along with the way that his red jersey pops on the card, made this an instant favorite.  i suppose this card could also be included in my now official 'name/number on the back' mini collection (and i may track down another copy for that purpose), but it truly was my favorite non-dodger card that i pulled in 2000, so it will stay here, too.

favorite dodger card: upper deck legends sandy koufax

yes kids, there was a time when finding a sandy koufax card in a new release was a treat. a year after upper deck was forced to leave koufax out of their seminal 1999 century legends release, they were able to include him in their follow up 2000 legends issue. sandy had signed with upper deck, making his debut with that company and appearing in a major manufacturer release for the first time in a non-auto, non-reprint capacity since his retirement, really. he had shown up in various tcma sets over the years, plus the great 1980 cramer legends set, but all we had of him from topps were the 1975 mvp card, the 1982 kmart card, and the 1990 turn back the clock card. donruss was able to have him sign some cards in their 1998 signature series set, but i didn't know about that at the time, and those cards were beyond my reach anyway.

the aforementioned 1999 century legends set pretty much kept me from abandoning card collecting, and i was sorely disappointed that koufax (along with pete rose and joe dimaggio) were missing from the set. when i read that koufax cards would be appearing in the 2000 legends release, i ordered a box. i was so happy when i opened a pack and found this card! for the record, my box guaranteed autographed card was that of rollie fingers, but my favorite card from the box was sandy koufax's.

i am having fun with this mini collection as it is bringing back some great collecting memories. stay tuned for more...