My all-time Top 100 cheap azz keepers collection - 36-28

As far as my Top 100 collection goes, I wanted cards that are generally recognizable that teases some notoriety or nostaglia - that's probably not a case for every single card, but I want to see where it makes sense to have certain cards in my Top 100 collection, even for more esoteric reasons.

36. 1989 Upper Deck Kirk Gibson #666 - a card I wanted to get into my Top 100 since it captures part of an iconic moment in World Series history.

35. 1990 Leaf Frank Thomas #300 - I had to add his most popular mainstream rookie card, where it would have a centerpiece to my Big Hurt collection during the junk wax era, if I'd veen lucky enough to get a copy.

34. 1990 Score Bo Jackson #697 - Bo was the biggest phenomenon during the junk wax era, until he got hurt in an NFL game.

He gradually started to lose relevance as he came back and tried to play only baseball through the mid 1990s - but his legacy as a two sport star has been revived at various points as part of Gen X nostalgia, foisted upon a new generation.

33. 1991 Score Jose Canseco #441 - the year this card came out, I might have wanted it so badly and resorted to ripping loose packs from the supermarket to pull a copy of this card.

32. 1999 Bowman Chrome Josh Hamilton #431 - in my Top 100, I was playing around to match a spot in my Top 100 according to a subject's uniform number.

I don't have good memories about the former big leaguer's ending with the Angels and some of the off-field stuff that has come out in the past 10 years - but when he was on that straight and narrow path at intermittent points of his big league career, he was an undeniable force.

31. 1988 Classic Update Blue Travel Edition Eric Davis #213 - whenever I come across a notable gum card like this one, I just shake my head.

When 'easy,' maybe I've resorted to buying another copy of a card I've had, just to add to my Top 100 outright - maybe I don't particularly like the idea of having to dig a card up from another collection to put in another.

30. 1997 Score Ken Griffey Jr. #14 - this one is from the Randy Johnson inspired inserts where he took the pictures for the cards.

FWIW, in 2023, Topps revived the idea of The Big Unit taking photos for cards with a 1992 Bowman inspired insert - mostly with younger MLB players posed in civilIan clothing.

29. 1999 Fleer Sports Illustrated Greats of the Game Joe Rudi #52 - the image was taken from the 1972 World Series, where Rudi makes an awesome outfield action catch against the wall in Cincinnati.

28. 2013 Topps Opening Day Buster Posey #ODS-4 - I was doing the numbers thing where Posey was No. 28 and wanted to give the longtime San Francisco Giants star a micro-mini tribute.

This card ends up being a random addition where I see if it works within a Top 100 collection - the lenticular 3D nature of the card makes it stand out just a bit more than just another insert.