Things to keep in mind when hunting down unopened boxes from 1990.

1. I have only seen three companies that sealed their boxes in plastic directly from the factory: Upper Deck, Leaf, and Donruss (Hobby boxes only).  It has recently been brought to my attention (by another ebay seller) that Donruss hobby boxes were sealed and retail boxes were not sealed in plastic.  Basketball is a different matter.  Skybox and Hoops issued their unopened boxes in tight fitting plastic coating.  In fact, it's annoying in one way because they tend to distort the box ever so slightly.  Fleer is the only basketball issue from this year which I have never seen wrapped in plastic.

2. The Leaf baseball cards from this year were really tough to obtain!  I remember, at one point, paying $100.00 each for either Series 1 or 2 from this year in 1990!  That was considerable for a box then compared to the market today.  With the advent of Ebay, prices have thankfully become more reasonable.  Still, if you're looking for a good or representative box from this year, go for the Leaf!!!

3. Beware the 1990 and 1991 Topps and Bowman baseball!!!  1991 was the last year Topps/Bowman put GUM in their packs, so, accept that there is a good chance each pack might contain some cards not worth keeping.  Really stinks when you pull a Sosa or Thomas rookie only to see that the gum has destroyed the card.  Don't forget the impossible to find Frank Thomas NO NAME error card in the 1990 Topps edition.  Extremely hard to find, Topps accidentally left his entire name off of the front of the card.  No matter how bad Frank Thomas might play, this will always be a valuable card.  Also, don't eat the gum.  It doesn't last as long as twinkies!

4. 1990 Bowman would be my second choice for a good buy from this particular year.  Bowman was still being looked at as a kind of lesser choice for collectors at the time.  Bowman had been purchased by Topps back in the day and for what ever reason, they decided to start producing Bowman baseball cards again in 1989.  No one really took notice until 1992 when not only the quality rose in production but the print run went down.  Many collectors just didn't see them as worth collecting that year.

5. 1990 Upper Deck (2nd year), Leaf, Hoops, and Skybox are by far the safest choices for unopened material since you'll be able to tell immediately if the packs have been tampered with.  The technology was new then and is still in use today.

6. Top Baseball Rookies for 1990:  Sammy Sosa (Appears in every major baseball manufacturer from this year),  Frank Thomas, Larry Walker, John Olerud, Bernie Williams, Juan Gonzalez, David Justice, Mo Vaughn

7. Top Basketball Rookies for 1990: Gary Payton, Tim Hardaway, Shawn Kemp, Glen Rice, Derrick Coleman

8. Many cards were over-produced between 1987-1993 by all manufacturers.  Take your time buying these cards cause there are plenty of them!  I am still in shock at what people are paying for a PSA 10 Sosa Rookie.  It should be one of the most easily obtained cards out there! 

10. Look for the best deal in terms of shipping cost and freebies when it comes to these years of card production.  I usually give a lot of unopened packs away in my auctions even though I never advertise it and always offer a shipping discount on multiple boxes.  The US postal service has flat rate priority shipping for $8.10 no matter the weight! 

Just some random thoughts.  Contact me for any errors and I will gladly correct them.  Hope this is helpful to someone!  Thanks!