1993 Upper Deck, to be integrated into my collection:

1. #267 Wes Chamberlain
2. #296 Eddie Taubensee
3. #298 Scott Radinsky
4. #299 Thomas Howard
5. #330 Rich Rodriguez
6. #337 Pat Mahomes
7. #363 John Smoltz
8. #375 Cal Eldred
9. #379 Ryan Klesko
10. #377 Damion Easley
11. #383 Sam Militello
12. #384 Arthur Rhodes
13. #386 Rico Brogna
14. #396 Mo Vaughn
15. #410 Steve Farr
16. #411 Henry Cotto
17. #422 Pete Janicki (Top Prospect)
18. #437 Brad Pennington (Top Prospect)
19. #442 Frank Rodriguez (Top Prospect)
20. #458 Dave Hollins (Inside the Numbers)
21. #476 Will Clark/Barry Bonds/Matt Williams (Team Stars)
22. #497 Juan Gonzalez (Award Winners)
23. #513 Jose Lind

1992 Upper Deck Homerun Heroes, to be integrated into my collection:

1. #HR2 Cecil Fielder
2. #HR5 Matt Williams *x2
3. #HR25 Jeff Bagwell

1994 Topps Series 1:

1. #386 Wade Boggs/Matt Williams (All-Stars)
2. #53 Billy Ashley (Future Star)
3. #315 Ken Hill
4. #349 Carlos Quintana
5. #128 George Tsamis
6. Gold #120 Jimmy Key
7. #76 Luis Aquino
8. #255 Bobby Witt
9. #219 Pat Borders
10. #308 Mike Trombley
11. #111 Greg Litton
12. #43 Pat Mahomes

The baffling thing about this card is that Matt Williams was not selected for the 1993 All-Star Game.  The All-Star 3rd baseman for the National League in 1993 was actually Gary Sheffield, with Dave Hollins as the backup.

I guess that’s why they call them “Topps All Stars” and not just “All-Stars”.

After 1990 and 1991, Topps decided to stop issuing their Traded sets in wax pack form.  Maybe they weren’t selling well.  In 1995, they gave it another shot, issuing a sleek modern-looking box with shiny red packs called Topps Traded and Rookies.  My guess is that 1995 Topps Traded didn’t work either, because 1995 was the last year they issued the Traded wax boxes until 2001.

Notable rookies in 1995 Topps Traded include Carlos Beltran, Hideo Nomo, Bronson Arroyo, and Richie Sexson.  Each hobby box includes one Power Booster insert card, of which Cal Ripken and Barry Bonds are the best cards to look for.

A hobby box comes with 36 packs with 11 cards each.  Here’s what I got in the inaugural pack:

1. #140T Charlie Hayes
2. #82T Chad Fonville (Rookie)
3. #90T Dave Gallagher
4. Power Boosters #10 Matt Williams (At the Break)
5. #9 Mo Vaughn (At the Break)
6. #14T Kevin Gross
7. #93T Kevin Jarvis
8. #46T Dave Mlicki
9. #147T Roberto Petagine
10. #102T Mark Whiten

Hey look, it’s the one-per-box Power Booster!  It’s not Barry Bonds or Cal Ripken, but Matt Williams is pretty good.  It’s hard to see from the scan, but it’s got some refraction action going.  From the back:

“For the second straight year, Williams’ assault on the HR record books was interrupted.  A broken foot kept him out of half of the pre-All Star action in 1995, but not before he chalked up some gaudy numbers.  In 36 games, he batted .381 with 13 HR’s and 35 RBI.  His longball rate projected to a Maris-menacing 59 over 162 games.“