According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, Americans are expected to consume around 150 million hot dogs tomorrow in celebration of America's birthday. Considering Oscar Mayer is one of the best selling hot dog brands, I figured I'd take the time to share a baseball card set the company produced back in 1994 to honor some American and National League baseball's superstars.
However before we start breaking down the set, I wanted to quickly thank Peter over at Baseball Every Night. Last Friday he wrote about the John Kruk in this set... which inspired me to head over to eBay and purchase the complete 30 card set.
1994 Oscar Mayer #14
Based on what I read in the Sports Collectors Digest 2008 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, Oscar Mayer included one of these discs (2.5" in diameter) into specially marked packages of bologna.
I originally fell in love with this set, because it's an oddball food issue with a nice design and well-cropped photographs. Plus there's a creative action feature built into the card that I'll share in a little bit. Before we check it out, let's look at the two boxes this set came in:
Oscar Mayer also offered collectors the opportunity to purchase American League and National League boxes which contained 15 cards (half the set) each.
Based on the order form included in each of these boxes, collectors could send in 3 UPC's and $1.95 for a box with a limit of 5 boxes of each league for every household or address. Attached to the order form were a list of the players included in each box as well as directions for the previously mentioned action feature:
The same information was included on the back of the boxes:
Although each league was given their own box, the checklist is numbered as one set of thirty discs. The first fifteen discs feature American League players and the National League players make up the final fifteen discs.
Here's a look at the set in its entirety:
Although all thirty players on the checklist were indeed familiar names in the league... only ten of these guys went on to be inducted into Cooperstown: Ken Griffey Jr., Paul Molitor, Kirby Puckett, Cal Ripken Jr., Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell, Tony Gwynn, Greg Maddux, Mike Piazza, and Ryne Sandberg.
If you're a player or team collector... singles are pretty affordable on COMC. Personally I wanted the complete set, so I opened my wallet and pulled out $10.45 ($4.90 + $5.10 shipping + 45¢ tax).
One of the cards I picked up from the 8 for $1 card show box was an extra Frank Thomas... which allowed me to do this:
This is the pop-up feature that's built into each card. As you can see, in addition to the card becoming three dimensional... statistics and player trivia are also revealed.
I didn't photograph it, but the answer to the trivia question appears on the back of the question.
In case you're wondering... once you decide to utilize the pop-up feature, the card will never be the same. The other major flaw is the lack of team logos on the player's photographs. But personally, I think the pros outweigh the cons and was very happy to add this 90's oddball set to my collection.
What about you?
Any thoughts on these cards? Anyone planning on eating hot dogs tomorrow?
I'm more of a burger guy myself. Have a safe and fun 4th of July! Happy Saturday and sayonara!
16 comments:
I want to be on the National Hot Dog Council! I have no idea what they do but new life goal.
No hotdogs here for today, but pizza is on the agenda!
These are peak oddball. They just don't do ridiculous things like this anymore.
Has life become too "expensive" that companies don't care or can't afford to run these types of promos any more? It made good sense for Utz to do it because their chips were awful so those cards were the reason i actually bought some, and after tasting the cards would be the only reason i would buy them, come to think of it the cards would probably taste better than the chips. Happy 4th everyone!
I definitely appreciate the effort that went into this set, from the pop-up feature to the stats and trivia to the photos, which, like you nicely pointed out, are well cropped action shots. Also, thanks for posting what the Thomas card looks like when popped up! I'd been wondering about that since I saw that John Kruk card on Peter's blog.
I did a post about these where I pulled the patents for a bunch of the different 1990s pop-up cards. https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2020/01/13/mid-90s-pop-ups/
Cool set! Happy Independence Day. Probably no hot dogs for me today. I also prefer burgers!
These are great looking cards. I am not sure how I have missed these before today. I am going to have to go find a few of these for my collection.
I love those late 80s/early 90s oddball food sets. I wasn't even aware this one existed until reading your post but it looks so fantastic. If I had known about it back in the day I likely would have spent the summer of 1994 eating a lot of hot dogs (or maybe not, I got out of cards that year, partly due to the strike. If these had come out in 1993 though I would have been all over them)!
I had already ate hot dogs (rather chilli dogs), hamburgers, and barbecue this week, so I had to wing it today. As for bologna....sounds good, add some ketchup, maybe some Ruffles, good to go...or fry it (we call that Georgia round steak).
Jessica L. Smith is referring to a different type of Weiner! Not a Fan of these Oscar Meyer Discs as they are all Sorts of Atypical in terms of Traditional Cardboard iconography. In terms of Hot diggity Dogs I am a fan of the red onions & or hot mustard. Hot Dogs, 4th o' July & Baseball are as Synonymous as America & Apple Pie.
"I got a Long Salami & that's no Bologna!"
The Pop Ups are neat. I don’t remember seeing those.
Legit oddball stuff!! Very cool!
These are great oddballs. The pop up feature is remarkable and it's cool to see one that has been "popped up".
In a semi-related incident, I went to the grocery store yesterday and asked for half a pound of bologna. The guy have me a whole pound...
billy kingsley - if you secure your position on the council, maybe you can get me in
matt - i'd probably pick pizza over hot dogs too. although... the exception to that rule would be at a baseball game
jacobmrley - i know. it's a shame, because maybe it would draw new collectors to our hobby
baseballcardstore.ca - i wish i had access to those chips/cards. i would have bought a bunch too. not sure why companies don't do these promotions more often. i know there are a bunch of us who would buy up their product if they did
gregory - no problem. i bought two copies at the card show just so i could see what it looks like.
nick vossbrink - great post. my simple thinking never considered pulling the patents.
jeff b - i'm a burger guy too. the only time i'd choose a hot dog over a burger would be at a ball game.
the snorting bull - should be easy... and affordable. best of luck
jessica l. smith - thanks for your advice, but i don't need a wizard in my life right now
sean - i'd like to think i'd buy a bunch of those bologna packages, but back in 1994 i was in college and still living on my parent's dime. don't think they'd be willing to buy 30+ packages for me ;D
johnnys trading spot - wings sound amazing. and you changed my thinking by bringing up chili dogs. i could definitely eat one of those in the near future. as for bologna... if i never eat it again, i'd be okay with that
xavier higgins - she lost me at spell caster. but if you wanted her number, i hope you copied it down earlier, because i deleted her comment. when i eat hot dogs (usually at games), i always add onions (and relish + ketchup).
the lost collector - shame they didn't make one for tino.
sumomenkoman - such a great era for oddballs. i'll still take 70's kellogg's over any 90's oddball though
jongudmund - i wish i had an extra gwynn, because i'd love to read the trivia question
gca - that's a lot of bologna. enjoy.
Post a Comment