30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

"Look, you don't understand. There was shrinkage."

Who says "bigger is better"?  I mean seriously... sometimes the best things really do come in small packages.  Today's post covers a handful of my favorite miniature baseball cards.

We'll kick things off with a little piece of metal:

1.25" x 1.75"

Eight years after Han Solo's capture... Benito was been encapsulated in carbonite.


Next up is my 1986 Fleer Miniature Jose Canseco:

1.81" x 2.56"

These cards were distributed in 120 card factory sets that included miniature stickers as well.


Are you attracted to tiny, shiny cardboard?  Then you might enjoy the 1993 Topps Micro Prisms:

1" x 1.38"

Try not to stare too long, or you'll go blind.


Parallels aren't your thing?  How about a tiny oddball issue?  In 1989 Topps tested the market with miniature cards encapsulated in plastic.  The set featured all-stars and paired their Topps base card with the player's rookie card.  Here's my Kirby Puckett:




Speaking of rookie cards... here are a pair of Allen & Ginter mini's:

1.47" x 2.69"


Allen & Ginter, Gypsy Queen, Kimball Champions each have mini's... and they all fall under the same category:  Awesome!


Let's wrap things up with possibly the coolest test issue ever produced... the 1975 Topps Minis:

2.25" x 3.13"

I purchased the Robin Yount rookie card from this set in the early 80's and for years it had been sitting in a box inside of a desk drawer.  It's one of my "untouchables".  I never plan on selling it or trading it.

I could go on and on... because there are plenty of cards that are smaller than your standard 2.5" x 3.5" piece of cardboard and each of them need to feel loved too.  So think twice before you "point" and "giggle" at their size.

What are some of your favorite miniature pieces of cardboard?

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

19 comments:

night owl said...

MINNNNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

(Guess which mini set I like the best)

Anonymous said...

If I owned the Honus Wagner T206 it would be my favorite mini...

(...Joe) said...

I like the '75 Topps sized minis the best. '75 Topps, Lineage, Bazooka etc. The A&G style minis are just too small, I always feel like they're gonna get lost in my hand or something.

arpsmith said...

I like quite a few mini sets too. I have the Rickey Henderson Doubleheader card which I really like. I really like the Ginter, 206, Kimball minis now that I have pages to display them in. The 1975s have to top the charts however, they are just so iconic.

I am not a fan of the early 90s Topps micro cards, just way too small for my fingers to manage.

Fuji said...

Hmmm... I'm willing to bet that we're on the same page.

Fuji said...

Lol... me too!

Fuji said...

I agree... the 75 minis are in a league of their own.

Fuji said...

Yeah... those 90's micro cards are pretty tiny and are a pain in the butt to manage. But they still have a special place in my collection.

Anonymous said...

Was there a complete set of those '93's, or were they just done for a few select players? Same question for the '88 Benito.

I kind of hate mini cards. They look sloppy in 9 page sleeves and don't fit in boxes well either. Not sure if they count as "mini" but I do really like the '51 Bowman set.

Chuck's Used Cards said...

I have a love for the diminutive sized cards. This goes part and parcel with tobacco cards. I would like it if all my collection was "honey I shrunk the cards" to save room.

No pictures of the mini Cracker Jack / Topps ... ? (warning - choking hazard)

cheers

Fuji said...

Yes, there was a complete 825 card micro set back in 1993. Topps actually issued these factory sets three years in a row (1991, 1992, and 1993).

In addition to the regular cards added bonuses to the 1992 & 1993 sets:

1992 - 12 Gold Parallels
1993 - 12 Prisms

As for storage issues... I agree. But I can't help it, they're so damn cute.

Fuji said...

I actually have a 1991 Cracker Jack set somewhere... completely forgot about that. I'll check the office to see if I have it in my possession. If I have it, I'll add it to this post.

Fuji said...

The Benito is part of the Topps Gallery of Champions sets, which were 12 card metal sets that honored award winners and league leaders. I believe they were issued from 1984 to 1991, but I could be mistaken.

AdamE said...

I like the early 50s Bowman cards. No one year in particular, they kind of all blend together except for the really small one.

I also like the 1951 Ringside Boxing cards.

Jason Presley said...

Interesting fact about the Topps Micro sets...they often came with extra cards (and I don't mean the special inserts). While they are the most annoying set in the world to sort into numerical order, while doing so with the 1992 & 1993 sets I own, in order to list them on Sportlots and actually be able to FIND the cards I sold, I discovered several duplicate base cards. I think I ended up with 5 or 6 extra cards in both sets.

As for my favorite minis, probably the cards that came in Cracker Jack in 1991 & 1992. Not TOO small, and they gave me an excuse to buy enormous amounts of junk food! I still think it is a travesty that there are so few Cracker Jack sets. They should have some 80 years worth by now, not just a handful. I'd be happy even if they went the MLBPA license route with no logos, just so long as they were still producing cards.

sg488 said...

Gotta love the 75 minis,was lucky they were sold in my part of the country in 1975.

Fuji said...

The Jake LaMotta from the 51 Ringside set is high on my wantlist... Great set!

Fuji said...

I sure hope there's an extra Jeter in my 1993 micro set ;-) and I totally agree with you on the Cracker Jack sets. I know I'd go out and buy some right now if they had cards for prizes again.

Fuji said...

I'm pretty sure they were sold in my area too. Unfortunately, I was only three years old and a few years away from my collecting years.