Oh Bernie, Where Art Thou? (update)

My three new boxes of 1993 Lime Rock Winter Baseball arrived today, so I rushed home at lunch to rip into a box. Wouldn't you know it? I'm now 0 for 4 on picking up that Bernie Brito Diamond Star!

Interestingly, there are a couple of errors I've now seen repeated in the set. Of course, there's card #3 of Victor Silverio which is actually a photo of Miguel Batista, but there is also at least one consistent wrong-back error with Jose Lima on front and Raul Mondesi on the back. In this box, I actually got the Diamond Star version of that same misprint! I think there's at least one more wrong-back, which may also be Mondesi/Lima, but I'll have to double check. I also encountered one Diamond Star with what appears to be a sort of inverse version of the Lime Rock logo with the gold in the exact opposite of how it was normally applied to the card. I'll get a scan up later.


In any case, expect to see my stock of these cards replenished on Sportlots this evening.

---------UPDATE---------

Ok, make that 0 for 5! (but I picked up three more of those Lima/Mondesi errors and even another Diamond Star of the same error! AAARRRHHHHH!!)

********UPDATE - 2*********

The way these packs are collated, from the bottom, there is a base card, the offer card (there are offers for magazine subscriptions for Inside Sports, Card Collector's Price Guide, Sports Card Trader and Baseball Digest or the a 1994 Raiderettes calendar) and then the Diamond Star insert. Just to add insult to injury, every so often, that last card (the one I see first as I rip open the foil pack from the seam on the back) is a base card of Bernie Brito. Mocking me. Because you KNOW, if I get a base card of Brito, I won't be getting a Diamond Star of Brito in the same pack. These Lime Rock monsters were diabolical.

/////////UPDATE - 3\\\\\\\\\\

Found yet another misprint....a Diamond Star with no gold foil at all. The impression of the logo is clearly visible where it was stamped, there's just no foil over it. Halfway through box 6. Still no Golden Bernie.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ UPDATE 4 /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Well, as it turns out, there are two version of the box:

However, all the packs and cards are still the same.

But, as is my curse, box #7 refused to yield  the much sought after Bernie Brito Diamond Star. In the next week or so, if all goes well, I should have another 5 boxes arriving. The adventure continues!

Do not abandon home!  The Bernie Hunt continues in Part 3: I'm Coming to Get You Bernie

Venezuelan Baseball (non)Stickers

   Since the early 1970s, Venezuela has been the venue of many sets of cards and/or stickers that go all but unnoticed to the wider collecting world.  As a result, sets like this can be very frustrating to player collectors, as they can be very poorly documented.  Case in point:

1991-92

     Thankfully, my Karl/Tuffy Rhodes saved search on eBay caught this one, or I wouldn't have known there was a set of Venezuelan stickers for the 1991-92 winter league season.  I definitely wouldn't have known to look for a Karl Rhodes card in the set as neither Beckett, nor the Standard Catalog include them.  But thanks to the wonders of the Internet, it now sits safely in my Tuffy collection between his 1991 Upper Deck Rookie Threats card and his 1992 Stadium Club card.  A little digging turned up the checklist, which tops out at 244 stickers.  Topping the list of well known players are, Galarraga, Vizquel and Franco, but also Eric Karros and another"Big in Japan" name, Roberto Petagine.  Distributed by Genesis S.A.
  
     Until this card showed up on eBay, I had no idea this set existed.  Between Beckett and Sports Collectors Digest's Standard Catalog, sets of Venezuelan "stickers" (some are actual cards with information on the backs, some completely blank, but none with any sort of adhesive backing, I guess Venezuelans go for the DIY approach) have been documented for these years:

1972

     The Standard Catalog lists these as "Venezuelan Baseball Stamps".  They feature the same photography as Topps 1972 cards, only somewhat less focused and more grainy.  Almost like someone took photos of the Topps cards and then used those photos as the basis for these stickers.  As a result this was a completely MLB-oriented set.  Beckett lists the set as "Venezuelan Topps Stamps".  The Nolan Ryan sticker stands out as the most valued.  Distributed by Digallo C.A.

Beckett lists these as "1972-73 Venezuelan Winter League Stickers" and SCD as "1972 Venezuelan League Stickers".  These covered the teams and players of Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional.  Obviously styled  after the 1972 Topps set, though perhaps a bit less flashy.  The Standard Catalog lists 249 stickers in the set, Beckett only includes 96.  Distributed by Digallo C.A.














 1973

     Same set naming as the prior year and an original design.  The Standard Catalog puts this set at 275 stickers, but, as of the 2006 edition, lists a few as "Unknown".  Beckett lists only 210.  The most notable inclusion is that of a very young Jim Rice, two years before his Topps rookie.  Distributed by Digallo C.A.

1974

     Borrowing the (in my opinion) ugly burlap design from the 1968 Topps set, again, Beckett and SCD follow the naming of the previous two years, covering the 1974-75 winter season.  While Beckett acknowledges the set contains 275 cards, they only bother to include 206 in their listings.  The Standard Catalog includes the complete set.  No notable rookies, though there is a Dave Parker following his 1974 rookie year.  Distributed by Digallo C.A.

1976

     After skipping a season, Venezuelan collectors were treated to this familiar looking set, styled after the 1975 Topps entry.  This series, covering the 1976-77 season, was expanded out to 330 stickers (Beckett lists 330 and the album).  Stickers above 217 are mostly comprised of team action shots, group photos, logos and puzzles.  Distributed by Divepress C.A.

1977

     1977 was a little different.  This time around, in a larger 402 piece set, Major League and winter league players were combined into a single set.  The Major League players were presented in the design of the 1977 Topps set, while the winter leaguers were presented in a unique design.  Beckett makes a bit of a mess with this set,  listing it as "1977 Venezuelan Topps Stickers", even though only about 50 of the cards reflect the Topps design, and only includes 326 stickers, but also listing it again as "1977-78 Venezuelan League Stickers", with 402.  The Standard Catalog lists them as "1977 Venezuelan Baseball Stickers".  Distributed by Divepress C.A.





1980-81

     After 1977, no sets show up until the 1980-81 Venezuelan League Stickers set.  SCD doesn't cover this one, but Beckett lists 288 stickers, sorted by team.  Says Beckett, "Andres Galarraga first ever card is in this set."  Distributed by Digallo C.A.

The next three sets haven't been catalogued by either of the big two books.

1981-82 (-83)

     This is actually sort of a two part set.  Stickers 1-288 comprise the 1981-82 set, fortunately for me, including Hendu in the Pre-Smile phase of his career.  For the 1982-83 winter season, the set was expanded with several cards being issued per team with letters suffixed to the card numbers.  Distributed by Digallo C.A.

1987-88

     After a gap of a few years, the stickers returned in 1987, bringing this brightly colored set of some 240 stickers.  A few of the big names here include Omar Vizquel, Andres Galarraga, David Justice, Cecil Fielder, David Wells, Julio Franco and one Gregory Maddux.  Distributed by Digallo C.A.

1988-89


     Big names again include Andres Galarraga, Omar Vizquel, Julio Franco and Joe Girardi (ok, so he wasn't exactly a "big name" as a player).  This set shrank a bit more to 216 stickers.   Distributed by Digallo C.A.  As far as I can determine, there were no sets for the 1989-90 or 1990-91 seasons.









     Starting in 1993, Line Up issued several sets of actual baseball cards, in actual packs, covering the winter leagues, both for contemporary players as well as historical sets documenting the past 50 or so years of professional baseball in Venezuela.  Panini issued a few sets, some specifically for the Venezuelan market, and some that just happened to be distributed there, along with the US.  As recent as 2010, a set of stickers featuring caricatures of popular Major Leaguers in their Venezuelan team uniforms was issued.

      All of these images (except for the Rhodes) come from listings by venezuelancards on eBay.  I've ordered a few cards from him for my Tuffy Rhodes and Dave Henderson collections in the last couple of years.  At first glance, some of the prices can seem steep, but he has pretty much cornered the market on selling these rare Venezuelan jewels to the U.S.  I've sent him a few questions about the nature and origins of these sets and hope to post any details he provides.  The checklists for all of the above sets are now available via the Inventory Manager over at SportsCardForum.com.

---UPDATE---

     I got some responses from Gilberto, the gentleman who sells as venezuelancards.  The stickers were usually issued in packs or envelopes of 4 at a time, and most of the time, the manufacturers did not release any sort of formal album, collectors were expected to create their own.  Also, there were multiple companies that produced the cards over the years.  I'll go back and amend the set listings to include the distributors mentioned in the eBay listings.

Oh Bernie, Where Art Thou?

 

1993 Lime Rock Dominican Winter Baseball

In 1993, Lime Rock, a company known mostly for it's non-sports and cheerleader cards, issued this set of 165 cards featuring 20-something cards per team for the 1993-94 Dominican Winter League season. As with any set of the winter leagues, it was littered with local Dominican talent, up-and-coming minor leaguers as well as a smattering of major leaguers who either just couldn't sit still over the winter or needed to refine something in preparation for the upcoming season (does that ever actually work?). In any case, the set happened to contain cards of two players I collect, Hensley Meulens and Bernardo Brito (seen here with the Licey Tigres), so naturally, I had to go dig them up!

In addition to the regular set, inserted one per pack was one Diamond Star insert which was exactly the same as the base set cards, but with a gold foil "Lime Rock" logo stamped on the back. In my first box, I managed to pick up couple of Brito, a couple Meulens and a Diamond star insert of Meulens. That left me looking for the Brito Diamond Star. So I hunted around and picked up a second box. More Meulens, more Sosa and Polonias and all the Wilfredo Tejadas you could hope for, but no Brito Diamond Star.

So I did what any completely irrational player collector would do....I picked up a third box. One box later and STILL no Brito Diamond Star! In the meantime, I'd gotten in contact with minor league baseball card guru, Dave Weber, and learned that he dealt in the occasional oddball set, and just happened to have a stock of this set. But as it turns out, he had pretty much every single card EXCEPT the Brito Diamond Star! Flash forward 18 months later, and after making around $45 in Sportlots sales (which seemed to be mostly from selling Red Foleys, Panini stickers and random, no-name minor league singles....sorry Dave!) and one of the sellers I'd picked up two of my earlier boxes from has re-appeared on eBay with another 10 boxes! Keep in mind, I'm still only looking for a single insert card. 36 packs in a box, so 36 chances. I just dropped the PayPal for three more boxes. For one card. Of Bernardo Brito!

And what's really weird about this set is, though I'd seen him called Bernie in magazine and newspaper articles, this little oddball set targeted at the Latino market is the ONLY one where he is listed as Bernie Brito on card. Yet in the same set, they list Sammy Sosa as Samuel, and Sil Campusano as Silvestre and one of the Mota boys (it looks like Jose) as Manolo. Weird.

You can view most of the set over at The Trading Card Database. I'll probably be able to finish filling out the scans once my new boxes show up.

At the moment, the want list for my Bernardo Brito collection is comprised of exactly two cards:

1987 Team Issue Cleveland Indians b&w photo card (3-1/2"x5-1/2")
1993 Lime Rock Dominican Winter Baseball Diamond Star #79

Continue the adventure in Bernie Hunt Part 2: Oh Bernie, Where Art Thou?