1995 Signature Rookies Preview #P-2

Kind of a boring card in my opinion.  Similar photo that we have seen before on other Signature Rookies cards.

The back uses cropped versions of the same photo.  The last line of the text on the back could have been formatted a bit differently to line up with the rest of the story.

This is one of the few cards I only have 1 of.  I've had this one for many years and have never seen another one since I found it.

Current total = 1

1995 Select Certified Mirror Gold #103

Up next is the Mirror Gold version of the 1995 Select Certified card.  The only difference is the chrome color of the card front is now gold!  Gold!

On the back they have the Mirror Gold designation.

Current Total = 8

1995 Select Certified #103

Behold, the 1995 Select Certified #103!  I'm not a huge fan of this card because of the goofy face he is making but I do like the thickness and glossy aspect of it.

The back could use some work too.  No stats and another goofy picture.  It's pretty good for a candid photo but with no stats they could have made it a little bigger at least.

Current Total = 24

My First Mail Day!

I sent some Tim Wallach cards over to the fellow at http://timwallach.blogspot.com/ to help him with his quest to own every Tim Wallach card ever printed.  He was my inspiration to start this blog and he sent me a nice package with some Hawk cards not too long ago.

Thanks for the great cards!  I am still keeping my eye out for some more Wallach cards to send your way.  Sorry the picture is sideways, I couldn't figure out how to turn it the right way.  Check out his blog if you can and send some Wallach cards his way.  http://timwallach.blogspot.com/

1995 Fleer #204

1995 Fleer.  Card number 204.  Not a huge fan of this one.  Too much happening on the front.  The yellow outline around the photo is pretty cool but I think the rest of the stuff on there should be on the back of the card.

The back is not a whole lot better.  If they would have condensed the spacing on the stats and added the odd stuff from the front this would be a much better looking card I think.

Current total = 33

1995 Flair #280

I like this card because it is a little thicker than most cards and with the shiny gold and silver on it it looks fancy!  I'm not usually a fan of sideways cards but this one looks pretty good.  They went with the tough guy photos, no smiling.  Gotta make sure he keeps up that street cred.

A full photo on the back which is pretty cool along with full minor league stats.

Current total = 24

1995 Collector's Choice SE Gold, Silver #7

Next up we have the two parallel cards for the 1995 Collector's Choice SE.  These feature a Gold and Silver signature and SE logo on the front.  The gold version is a little tougher to find than the silver but that's ok, I think the silver one looks cooler anyways!

Nothing special on the back, same as the standard card.

Current totals: Gold = 2
                      Silver = 12

1995 Collector's Choice SE #7

This is one of my favorite cards.  I like the posed/candid photo and he has a good smile but what I really like is his hat.  He wrote, "Hawk, Top Dawg" on the underside of the bill.  I think it's pretty cool to show how a player has customized their equipment.

A nice little story of his Minor's career so far and some combined stats round out the back.

Current total = 70

1995 Bowman's Best Refractor #53

Nearly identical card as yesterday but this one has a rainbow sheen to it.

It also says Refractor on the back to the left of the card number.

Current total = 7

1995 Bowman's Best #53

Chrome cards are some of my favorites and this one is a good one.  It has a nice action photo with the team logo in the background with the vertical lines behind that.  I like how that have just enough of the field in the middle to offset all of the silver on the front.

On the back they have a different photo potentially taken just before the one on the front.  Super Skills is a feature that you don't usually see on the back of a card now days.

Current total = 30

1995 Bowman Gold #256

This is the Gold parallel version of yesterdays Bowman card.  The same loosey-goosey goodness in a golden version.

Kind of hard to tell in my poor photo but I swear it is gold.  Not real gold though.  Just golden in color.

Current total = 9

1995 Bowman #256

I like the shiny and sparkly cards and this one is in my list of favorites.  It seems like such a random photo too, like he is looking for someone who wants to play catch.

Under skills they list his loosey-goosey body and arm as the first key point.  I haven't seen that term on too many baseball cards.

Current total = 24

1995 Split Second Arizona Fall League

This is a pretty neat card in my opinion, it’s cool to see the AFL represented in a card set.  Pretty decent picture and design with the mountains along the bottom.

Another mountain scene on the back along with some stats.  When I first found this card I had thought that it was card number 36, but they also have No. 36 listed on the front next to the position so I am guessing that was his jersey number.  I still list this card as number 36 in my master list even if that is his jersey number.

Current total = 11

1995 Action Packed Franchise Gem 24K Gold #15G

Same card as yesterday only this variation has a little bit of gold leaf on it and has a new card number.

Gold!  Not much more to say about this one.

Total = 2

1995 Action Packed Franchise Gem #76

This card reminds me a lot of a couple of previous cards I have posted about.  It's a pretty good photo so I guess they wanted to use it as many times as possible.  Again putting the Buzz logo on this card but showing him with the Miracle.  But, there is a huge baseball right behind him which makes the top of the card look pretty cool.

A large photo on the back.  I like that they really used the full size of the card on the back.  A combined abbreviated stat line on the back works well with the big photo.

Total = 19

1995 Action Packed #28

Action Packed!  Not a card full of action but rather a fat puffy card that needs to make a comeback.  I always liked these cards because they were different and much thicker and fancier than the standard cards from other companies.  They used a nice action shot with the ball just leaving his hand.

Lots of good info on the back.  The first bullet point under the stats is probably my favorite.  It's odd that they have the Buzz logo on the back of this card but picture him with the Miracle.  But I guess since he started the season with the Miracle it's all good.

Total = 25

94-95 Fleer Excel League Leader #8

League Leader insert card from the 94-95 Fleer Excel set.  I like the blurry background, gives more focus to the player.  The photo though looks pretty familiar, kind of like the 1994 Signature Rookies cards.  Take a look back at that post and tell me what you think.

The back is fairly plain with just a recap of his season and what made him a league leader.

Current total = 17

94-95 Fleer Excel #86

94-95 Fleer Excel.  A nice looking design with the cropped out background and the basebll stitches on the side.  It's kind of cool that they let the photo overlap into the border of the card.  Not sure I would have went with this photo as it kind of looks like he is staring off into space.

Same photo on the back which I am never a fan of.  I like to see different photos front and rear but I guess that adds to the complexity of designing a card.  Kind of a different way to display the stats, the column headers are way up at the top and then each team is split off on its own.

Current Total = 17

1994 Signature Rookies Panel

I forgot that I had this item until I was rearranging some of my baseball stuff and this was in a stack of magazines.  I got this on eBay a few years ago and it is the only one I have come across since.  It is numbered out of 900 on the right side above Scott Ruffcorn's name.

A pretty neat oddball item I think.  Someday I will figure out how to display this so it doesn't get lost in a stack of magazines again.

1994 Upper Deck Minors Player Of The Year #PY26

Player of the Year insert card form the 1994 UD Minors set.  Cool blue background with bronze lettering, and if you look really closely you can see a Minnesota Twins logo hiding back there too.  Very similar photo to the previous two cards.

Kind of boring on the back.  Small photo from the same photo shoot again, bio, star hologram.

Current total = 8

1994 Upper Deck Minors #248

I like the angle of the photos on this card, looking up at him showing the concentration on his face.  Looks like the photos could have come from the same photo shoot as the previous card.  The scrunched up little photo on the let is a little weird.  They should have left that a solid color and put the "Twins Top Prospect" from the right side in there.

Similar photo on the back only this time a blue undershirt and a different jersey with a patch on the left shoulder.  The star Upper Deck hologram is cool as they usually use a baseball field shaped hologram.  Only one line of stats but they added a rating scale for his pitches which is different but pretty cool.

Current total = 103

1994 Upper Deck Next In Line #6

Card number 6 out of 20 in the Next In Line insert set.  I like the close up photo with his glove up and the serious stare he has going on.  They had to put a happy photo on there so they got one of him smiling to put in the corner to even it out.  1 of 2500 it says, I have not seen many of these cards so it is a bit more scarce.

A nice wind up photo on the back with a little bio and the short version of his stats.  Overall a nice card, I hope to find more of these over the years.

Current total = 2

1994 Upper Deck #548

With the angle of the photo and the clouds in the background this photo is pretty cool.  I like when they get creative with card photos, it adds more fun to collecting!  The card has a shine to it which makes it stand out among other cards.

The back has a similar photo but this time he rolled up his sleeve so we can see the gun show.  And the tattoo, don't forget that.  A nice bio and full career stats round out the back of this card.

Current total = 183

There is also an Electric Diamond version of this card which merely has the extra words stamped among the right side under the Upper Deck logo.  The added lettering is very sparkly like a diamond.  Not sure it is electric but what can you do.

Electric Diamond total = 44

1994 Fleer Ultra #389

I like the full picture with minimal border on the bottom.  The gold diamond in the Fleer Ultra logo makes it a bit difficult to read but I like the Rookie designation and otherwise it's a good looking card.  Now, the picture itself, I am not a big fan of.  I always thought his face in this picture looked a bit washed out but the high leg kick is cool.

The back has a three part photo that shows different angles of his delivery.  Only one year worth of stats on the card and no bio but the nice photos make up for it.

Current total = 57

1994 SP Die-Cut #8

Nearly identical to the last card posted, the only difference being the cutout at the top of the card.  I would have preferred a gold version over the die-cut but that's just me.

I think it would have been cool if they did the same die-cut at the bottom of the card too.

Current total = 45

1994 SP #8

Today's card is the one I currently have the most of.  1994 SP, #8.  Not sure how I ended up with so many of these as it is not really my favorite card.  I like the star-burst almost holographic background that they used but the edges are so delicate that little chunks will flake off if handled wrong.  I like the photo as it shows him in a #26 jersey, not sure if that is from the GCL Twins or the Elizabethton team.

The other oddity about this card is that the background on the front is not always the same color.  It ranges from a grayish silver to a darker steel blueThe back has a nice floating head photo and nice little bio.

Current total = 531

1994 Signature Rookies Autograph #T4 and #T9

Today's card is pretty much the same as yesterdays only this one has an autograph and an added sticker on the back.  Hand numbered to 2100 copies.  I wonder how long it takes to sign that many cards and if they break it up into multiple days or just hammer it out in one marathon session.

Just like yesterdays card this one has two different card numbers.  They added the Authentic Signatures gold seal so you know it's a legit autograph.

T4 total = 13
T9 total = 15

I just bought a couple of these on ebay so those totals will go up in the next few days when they arrive.

1994 Signature Rookies #T4, #T9

Today's post is sort of a 2 for 1.  One card with two different card numbers.  As far as I can tell the cards are identical other than the card number on the back.  The photo is from his days with the Ft. Myers Miracle but they don't want you to know that since they airbrushed the "M" off of his cap.  1 of only 20,000.  I wonder how many are card number 4 and how many are number 9.

The back uses the same photo as the front in the exact same spot which is kind of weird and cool at the same time.  A closeup of his face from that same photo is used as the large head shot on the back.  Add some stats and a bio and there you go.

T4 total = 2
T9 total = 22

1994 Fleer ProCards #1163

1994 Fleer ProCards #1163.  Very simple design on the front with the classic white border and name and logo in one strip across the bottom.  I like the ProCards logo this year with the baseball diamond incorporated into the bottom.  I like the pose they used for the card but the background could have been more exciting.  Have the outfield or the backstop be the background instead of a section of bleachers.  I guess minor league cards in the 90's weren't the biggest market so I can understand the lack of imagination.

I like the stripes on the back, makes it look classy!  They had some extra room on there for a bio but that section must have not made the cut.

Current total = 8

1994 Classic Fort Myers Miracle #1

1994 Classic Fort Myers Miracle card #1.  Pretty cool that he is card 1 in the set!  This is one of my favorite card photos.  The crossed broken bat pieces shows you just how deadly his fastball is!

Nothing too exciting on the back, stats, logos, and of course the card number.  Card number 1!  I have a couple of these sets still sealed in the factory plastic wrap with LaTroy's card on the top.

The first one of these cards that I had was from a set that I broke open.

Current total including team sets = 9

1994 Classic Tri Cards #T46

Today we look at the 1994 Classic Tri Card.  When I first decided to try and find every LaTroy card made this was one of the tougher ones for me to find.  It was on my short list of needed cards for quite a while before I found one.  Then all of a sudden I found a few of them and haven't seen another one for sale in a few years.  This card features 3 different players and each mini card is perforated in the middle so you could tear them apart if you wanted to.  They used good pictures that fill up the space very nicely in my opinion.

The back has a little bio about each players 1993 season.  No stats which is a little different but I suppose with the size of the card they were a bit limited on what they could put on there.  1 of 8000 made, I wonder how many of them were torn apart into individual cards.

The last time I saw one of these at a card show was a few years ago.  A local dealer had an autographed copy where all three players had signed the card.  Of course I had to buy it.

I'm generally not interested in autographs that I didn't get myself but I made an exception for this one.  I figured the odds of me finding these 3 guys and getting them to sign the card was pretty slim.

Grand total with the auto = 4

1994 Classic #54

1994 Classic, card #54.  This was one of the first few LaTroy cards that I ever had.  I remember buying it at Shinder's along with a couple other LaTroy cards and some other Twins cards.  They used to have a box of random Twins cards that I would sit and look through and pull out the 25 cent cards of the guys that I liked.  At the time I liked this card because it was a minor league card and it had a big photo on the back.

I just think this card has a nice design overall.  Good picture on the front with all the logo's and names tucked into one section on the bottom.  Big picture on the back with the stats and bio over the top.  I like that you can still see the photo under the stats.

Current total = 80

1994 Bowman's Best Refractor #65

Well folks, today's card is going to look very similar to yesterdays.  That's because it is the Refractor version of the 1994 Bowman's Best card.  The picture doesn't show the rainbow affect very well but enough to tell the difference.

It doesn't say on the back anywhere that it is the Refractor version so you have to hold it in the light to be sure.

Current total = 4

1994 Bowman's Best #65

Today we take a look at the 1994 Bowman's Best card #65.  I am a fan of chrome type cards so this one is a favorite of mine.  It has a nice close up photo on the front with an interesting blue frosted glass background.

The back has kind of the reverse photo of the front with LaTroy looking in the other direction.  The cool thing that I never noticed before is the design along the edge line up from the front to the back.  Not sure it was planned that way but it's a cool side note I think.  This has also been rumored to be LaTroy's favorite card and the only one that he will not autograph.

Current total = 112

1995 Holsum Bread Full Sheet

Today's post is a continuation of sorts from yesterday.  Today we are featuring an uncut sheet of 1995 Holsum bread cards.  The sheet features 12 cards from the Holsum bread series.  I don't know if this was the complete set or just a part of it.  I got this a number of years ago before I had found the individual card.

I remember a couple of the guys on there but most I had never heard of.  Beside the LaTroy card I like that they included Torii Hunter in the set.  He was always a fan favorite with the Twins and one of my favorite Twins players.  I like the angle of his photo and the concentration you see on his face.

And here's the back side.  Not too exciting but fun to read the short player bios on each card.  I'd like to find a nice frame for this sometime so I can hang it up and enjoy it.

1995 Holsum Bread

We are going to jump ahead here a little bit for this next card. I thought we would stay with the Wizards cards for a bit longer.  This is what I call the 1995 Holsum Bread card. I do not know exactly what year this card came out but it has stats on the back from the 1994 season, so my guess is this came out in 1995 or maybe late 1994.  The front has a nice action photo of LaTroy along with the team logo and the Holsum logo.

The back of the card has his full minor league stats, some career highlights, and the logos again.  No card number though which I find to be odd.

I have only seen one of these cards over the years.  My guess is that this was only available in the Ft. Wayne area in packages of bread or possible was a stadium giveaway.  If anyone has any more info on this card or the card set I would love to hear from you.

93-94 Fleer Excel League Leaders #9

Next on the docket is the 93-94 Fleer Excel League Leader, card number 9.  Although this is a lovely photo it would have been nice if they didn't reuse the photo from the 1993 Fleer ProCards card.  They did zoom in a little bit which is a nice touch.

What lacks on the front the back makes up for. A nice little story about his season and why he was considered to be a league leader for the season.

Running total for this card, 22.

93-94 Fleer Excel #95

In our third installment we take a look at the 93-94 Fleer Excel card # 95.  This is one of my favorite photos on any of LaTroy's cards.  Not sure if he was going for the intimidating tough guy look or if the photographer just caught him in between poses.  Either way, I like it!

The back of the card is just as nice as the front.  A large photo, team logo, and some stats.  All it needs is some fun facts and this would be perfect!  For the longest time I thought it was a necklace he was wearing that said 'Hawk", but after looking closer at it just days ago I realized it is on his shirt.  The other thing I noticed was that to the left of the stat box you can see he is holding up right hand.  I wonder if he was holding something or pointing or...?  I'd love to see the original photo sometime and see what it is.

58 of these beauties currently reside in my collection.

1993 Fleer ProCards #1963

Next up is another Ft. Wayne Wizards card, the 1993 Fleer ProCards #1963. This photo was also taken at the Wizards stadium like the previous card but no posed action shot this time, just a stare down from the Hawk.

The back has a lovely drawing of a pitcher from the old days with the high leg kick and tall socks. A little too much blank space on the back for my liking but they got the team logo on there, if you squint and get real close you can see the wizard.

Lucky number 13 is my current total for this card.

1993 Classic Best #10

First up in the long list of LaTroy cards is the 1993 Classic Best, card number 10 in the set.  After 2 years of playing in the minors with the GCL Twins in 1991 and splitting the 1992 season with the GCL Twins and the Elizabethton Twins he finally has some cards with the Ft. Wayne Wizards.

It has a pretty good posed action shot for the main photo, taken at the Ft. Wayne Wizards stadium in Indiana.  Nothing too exciting on the back, a nice team logo and some fun facts.

Current total in my collection = 8

Welcome!

Welcome to the LaTroy Hawkins baseball card blog!  I created this blog to share my Hawkins collection with the world, and hopefully increase my collection with the help of the readers!  It's not just baseball cards, but jerseys, hats, bobble-heads, and other collectibles I have found over the years.  Check back often and let me know what you think!  Go Rockies!