I had already broken open (or busted if you prefer that hobby terminology) a case of 1994 Score Series 2 baseball cards and was disappointed with the outcome. However, this did not stop my eyes from wandering over to an unopened hobby box of 1996 Score Series 2 baseball cards. A fresher year, what could be inside!
The 1996 Score Series 2 hobby box of baseball cards was packed full with 36 packs of cards with there being ten cards per pack. A more exciting round of insert cards to discover was promised on the outside of the box, what they called a 5-Tier Chase Program. Aside from the 1996 Score base cards one could hope to find cards called the Dugout Collection which is basically the same as the 1994 series of Gold Rush cards. Then there are Titanic Taters, which is a series of cards chronicling some of the longest homeruns hit out of parks. Then there are Future Franchise cards and Gold Stars cards, as well as Artist’s Proof cards which are the Dugout Collection cards only with the words Artist’s Proof stamped on the front.
In comparison to the 1994 series of cards I was happy to find that the 1996 Score cards did not feature the same dark borders that work best for showing off damage as opposed to being pretty. That’s not to say they are an exciting design at all though, but then again sometimes simplicity is best: white borders and a picture of the ball player. The cards in the 1996 series were mostly stuck together and needing to be peeled apart, but this time the results involved less damage as the cards are seemingly made with better protective coating. Less does not mean they were all damage free though.
The 1996 Score Series 2 hobby baseball card box gave me a handful more luck than the 1994 series. The most valuable card I pulled was one of the Artist’s Proofs of Mr. Corked Bat: Sammy Sosa. At the time of this writing the card is worth $12. If you spent your money right that should be at least half of what you spent on the entire box if not more. I would not recommend investing a big chunk on one of these boxes.
Other insert cards I nabbed were two Titanic Tater cards. The first featured Jay Buhner of Mariners fame and the other that gigantic Detroit tater himself Cecil Fielder. These cards made for a fun insert premise for sure. Out of the golden foil Dugout Collection I kept only three of my pulls. A Robin Ventura just because I thought it looked cool. A Jose Canseco and the most valuable Dugout of the three a Derek Jeter.
I even saw fit to keep twelve of the base cards from out of the series. The most valuable one belonging to Barry Bonds, which I got doubles of. I also kept a Greg Maddux, Ken Griffey Jr., and Mark McGuire. Then there were the base cards that featured a design stating “Star Struck” on the card and of those I kept a Cal Ripken Jr., Frank Thomas, Tony Gwynn, Kirby Puckett, Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly, and Randy Johnson. The last two cards tossed into the collection were checklists featuring Randy Johnson and Tom Glavine.
Overall I would say buying and opening up a box of 1996 Score Series 2 baseball cards was fun. If you come across a box and it is under $20, it could prove to be fruitful. I wouldn’t recommend paying too much for a box of them though, only over $25 if you just ache to rip open packs and this year and card series has some special meaning to you.
