Score!

I was looking for a complete set run to add to my collection.

My Topps complete set collection covers 1969 to 2011. Until I win the lottery, I won't be adding any older Topps sets. No chance to complete that run!

I've got the complete run of Fleer, from 1981 - 2005, plus all but two (Clemens and Puckett) of the traded/rookie cards. And I'm fine with those two holes, so I consider Fleer done.

After I finished the Fleer run, I looked into doing the same thing with Donruss. But towards the end, Donruss went crazy with the dreaded short prints, which has put some complete set prices too high.

The same is true with Upper Deck. I've got their sets from 1989 -1993, and they go for a reasonable prices. But some of their later sets also have the stupid SPs, so Upper Deck is out.

Then I looked into Score. And I scored! They only had an 11 year run, from 1988-1998, and no short prints. And the hunt was on.

For many of the sets, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Factory sealed sets of early Score can be grabbed for no more than $10 each. Now we're talking! By the time I finished, I picked up a total of 8081 cards from the base and rookie/traded sets.

Today, I'll take a look at Score's first three base sets, from 1988-1990.







The first two sets were very similar, They had the same number of cards, 660, and the same box design, with only the color changed. They also came with 56 magic motion trivia cards. In 1990 the set got bumped to 704 cards, plus the 56 magic motion cards and the factory box had a new design, too.

I suppose the signature feature for Score cards was the varied use of colors on the cards.

Here's the Score color chart:

1988



Purple - #1-110
Blue - #111-220
Red - #221-330
Green - #331-440
Yellow - #441-550
Orange - #551-660

1989



Green - #1-110
Light Blue - #111-220
Purple - #221-330
Orange - #331-440
Red - #441-550
Dark Blue - #551-660

1990 Though the set grew buy 44 cards, the rainbow shrunk to only three colors:



Green - #1-220
Red - #221-440
Blue - #441-660
Green - #661-682...these are 1st round draft pick cards and they had a different design
The rest of the set was a variety of cards: Dream Team, Season and World Series Highlights...



and Bo!