1998 Skybox EX Fernando Tatis Essential Credentials Now

I have mentioned the Essential Credential parallels in several past posts and am happy to say that I was able to track down another card from this parallel set featuring a player with Cardinals connection.  Today's card comes from the second issue of the EX sets launched in 1998 as the EX-2001 set.  The cards are basically half plastic and half cardboard.  Kind of an interesting look.  Anyway, the parallel cards for these sets, Essential Credentials, can be tough cards to find.

1998 Skybox EX-2001 Fernando Tatis Essential Credentials Now

I have actually seen a few copies of this Fernando Tatis which has one of the higher print runs in the set, checking in at 98 copies.  The copies of the Tatis card however have always seemed to drift towards, and north of, $20 which is a little bit steep for this card.  A few weeks ago this copy popped up on Ebay and I was able to talk the seller down to a little bit more than $10.  Tatis is not a Cardinal on the card, but spent the second half of the 1998 season with the Cardinals after he was traded with Darren Oliver for Todd Stottlemyre and Royce Clayton.

2003 Fleer EX Essential Credentials Future Larry Walker

It's opening day, so I am trying to spend most of my day watching baseball.  With that goal in mind today's post will be a little bit shorter than normal.  I picked up a new Larry Walker card a few weeks back and haven't had a chance to post yet on this space.  It would fall into the category of Ebay purchases made for less than $5 which is surprising given that the card comes from a really good chase set and features a pretty good player.

2003 Fleer EX Essential Credentials Future Larry Walker

I have featured a few other Essential Credential cards over the past year in this space and highly recommend collectors taking a look at the EX sets to see if their favorite player or favorite teams have players in these sets.  The Essential Credential cards are actually a dual parallel set, there is a Futures and a Now parallel, with one usually being a high number and one being a lower number.  With this Walker, who played his final two seasons with the Cardinals, I would assume that this card is the higher print run of the two Essential Credential cards in this set.  

New Ray Lankford Cards

I've got to drop a Ray Lankford update in every once in awhile.  The last time I made a post with a new Ray Lankford card a Twitter follower asked me when I was going to post the cards that I normally post again.  I will answer the question early this morning and say: later today.  Every collector needs an interesting player or niche for their collection.  For me, I enjoy finding my Ray Lankford cards.  They are generally inexpensive and has been retired long enough that the cards are a good challenge to track down.  This past week I was actually able to add two more cards to my Ray Lankford collection.

1999 Bowman Chrome International Refractor Ray Lankford 

First up this morning is the 1999 Bowman Chrome International Refractor Ray Lankford.  The International Refractors are limited to a print run of 100 and differ from the normal refractor in the background of the card.  The normal Bowman Chrome card has the same picture of Lankford, but there is a dugout in the background of the regular card.  The International Cards have pictures or flags in the backgrounds depending on the year of the card.  I rather like the flags, but this is still a nice new card to add to the Lankford collection.

1997 Skybox EX-2000 Ray Lankford Essential Credentials 

I have picked up several of the Essential Credential cards for Ray Lankford over the years and posted them in my space here.  However, I had never picked up a copy of the 1997 version until this past week.  Skybox ran the Essential Credentials set as a straight parallel the first year they ran this set.  Meaning that this card is serial numbered 299 along with all the other Essential Credential cards.  The 1998 set began the leveled print runs.

1998 Skybox EX-2001 Ray Lankford Essential Credentials Now

My super collection of Ray Lankford took a big step forward this week with the addition of a 1998 Skybox EX-2001 Ray Lankford Essential Credentials Now.  There are very few Ray Lankford printing plates floating around in the world, so low print parallel cards are the next best thing in my world.  In fact, if Beckett would care to price accurately, they would find that parallel sets such as the Essential Credentials, Circa Rave, and Upper Deck Exclusives cards often draw premium prices.  Even on minor stars such as Ray Lankford.  

1998 Skybox EX-2001 Essential Credentials Now Ray Lankford 22/49

The Essential Credentials cards were featured in all the releases of the Skybox EX sets starting in 1996 and running all the way through 2003.  The print run for each card Essential Credential varies, but they are tough finds and have an attached premium on them after ten plus years on the market.  Every set also features a Now and Future version of the cards.  The 1998 set is my personal favorite.  The cards are everything to love about a set from the 90s.  

I found this card on Ebay about a week ago and probably paid a little bit more than I would have liked to, but I haven't even seen one of these cards in three or four years.  It seemed like a good idea to put one into the collection while one was available and floating around.  It adds to my two other Essential Credential cards of Lankford.  

1998 Skybox EX-2001 Essential Credentials Future Ray Lankford 50/52 

1999 Skybox EX-Century Essential Credentials 38/75