Buzz Break: 1989 Pro Set Series 2 football cards

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The lot: 1989 Pro Set Series 2 football cards (two packs)
Where to buy: Will take some looking ... hit BlowoutCards.com for newer football cards

Keep reading for a breakdown and gallery for what was in this one.

Cards per pack: 15
Cards in this lot: 30
Base set completion: 27 of 540 (5 percent)
Duplicates: 1

Notables on base cards – John Elway, Chuck Noll, Vinny Testaverde and others who were more-notable players of the past ... all cards are in the gallery.

Rookie Cards (10) – Don Majkowski, Jack Del Rio, Louis Oliver, Erik Affholter, Terry McDaniel, Darryl Ingram, Sam Clancy, Derrick Burroughs, Rufus Porter, Paul Gruber

Insert/short-prints cards: 2
Announcer Collectibles (2) – Pete Axthelm (ESPN), Mike Patrick (ESPN)

Note: I don't count Pro Set Playbook scratch-offs as inserts ... but this was a decent pair on that front with eight points. (They were points toward a lot of discounted merchandise from the company.)

Autographs/Memorabilia: Nothing in this release.

What's Buzz-worthy: It's the NFL time of year, so I present a Flashback Friday kind of break -- it was too busy to be Throwback Thursday yesterday -- and it's a set that really sparked my interest in collecting football cards years ago ... so much so I was more into the cards before the game itself. My earliest football memories were the 1985 Super Bowl with The Fridge and the Chicago Bears thanks in part to MTV playing "The Super Bowl Shuffle" and then some wrestling and G.I. Joe crossovers -- if you know, you know (if you're old enough) -- but that was all short-lived and never translated to cards. Up until 1989, NFL cards were mostly a Topps domain with few competitors since decades before. (Fleer made some 1980s sets but they were more action-highlight cards than those of specific players.) The results were colorful and simple on the fronts with card backs that were drab, dark cardboard. But, in 1989, the NFL allowed Score and Pro Set into the mix and this Dallas-based company was one that really changed the game in a few ways before its overabundance of licensing and printing (to the moon ... before to the moon was a good thing) helped derail things. How was it improved? Action photography with crisp, variety-packed photos, full-color backs with player mugshots and full info and stats. These are cards that are encyclopedic compared to today's "better" cards that barely say a thing. The 1989 Pro Set release -- Series 1, Series 2 and a tiny third-series set that was essentially a pack on its own but was, in a small volume of boxes, also seeded into packs -- was a game-changer with one thing as a philosophy. Pro Set would always be updating its cards and adding to itself in the year -- a "living set" unlike the Living Set of today. Series 1 arrived with quirks -- and errors -- that got fixed. Perry's card wasn't supposed to be in there, so it was pulled and another card was put in. When errors were noticed, errors were fixed and put into packs. (It's all do-able because of a long, massive print run.) Sometimes that was in the next series or merely next wave of boxes ... and that was easily done as Series 2 boxes and these packs include mostly Series 1 cards with a few of the brighter orange Series 2 cards mixed in. (The third series is a bright blue.) The errors and variations can be the home to big cash at times -- they're just not easy finds in some cases -- and grading here can be tough on anything ... but the overall quality of the cardboard is arguably the best of the year. (If printing/cutting and packing has been cleaner it would be simply the best ... Score is clean, too and probably more consistent but perhaps duller at times. Pro Set wins on the depth and variety front and the advantage of multiple series in packs.) In short, it's a favorite of mine from roughly 1989-1991 with 1990 arguably the best. The wheels started to fall off after that.

As for these packs, I didn't land any of the big rookies here -- Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders, Troy Aikman, Derrick Thomas, Andre Rison, Thurman Thomas, Michael Irvin for starters -- but with two packs that wasn't really a massive expectation. (And you can find anything here, save for errors, on the cheap unless you want high-grade copies.) There was not much found here on the error/variation front ... and what I did land were corrections on Elway (that seems to be a tougher error) and Noll, who isn't that hard to find on either version. I have a few two-pack breaks planned for coming weeks/months but this batch tells me maybe I should do a few more each time ... this pair shows some of the energy in this one but doesn't do it justice. Yes, you had to be there ... but good cardboard is good cardboard no matter what it's worth.

Product Grade: A
Lot Grade: B- (Elway is a nice card but I whiffed on notable newcomers)
Fun Grade: B- (announcers are the only inserts)

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