30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, July 8, 2019

Cool and Creative

When it comes to card collecting... the 90's were the Golden Age of InnovationCard companies competed against each other to create the latest and greatest cards year in and year out.  The result?  Collectors were given some of the coolest cards ever created.

The 1994 SP Baseball Holoviews are a prime example.  If you've never seen them, they're absolutely stunning (in my humble opinion) and pretty affordable.  I'll pick up singles whenever I see them in bargain bins at card shows.  But recently I dug deep into my wallet and grabbed a card I've wanted for several years

1994 SP Holoview Blue #33

I've never been a huge Alex Rodriguez fan.  However the guy was one of the best hitters of his generation (yeah... I know he used PED's)... and the combination of beauty and nostalgia kept this card on my radar over the years.

It wasn't cheap.  I'm pretty sure it's the most I've ever spent on a card that wasn't a vintage hall of famer, a graded rookie card, or a high-end autograph.  I'm not really sure what even possessed me to bid as much as I did.  But that's okay.  I love this card and it's officially crossed off my wantlist.

Okay... it's your turn:

What are some of your favorite 90's insert sets?


By the way... today marks the 25th anniversary of A-Rod's MLB debutWho doesn't love a little baseball trivia every now and then.

Have a great week!  Happy Monday and sayonara!

16 comments:

The Lost Collector said...

Oh man, I don't even know where to begin. I do agree that the '90s gave us some of the greatest insert sets ever, and is the main reason I can't get excited for current inserts. A few of my favorites:

- 1998 Donruss Crusade - the originals! So great, and now quite hard to find.
- 1997 Leaf Leagues of the Nation - highlighted interleague play
- 1995 Collector's Choice You Crash The Game
- So many from Pacific...In the Cage is probably my favorite
- Flair Hot Gloves
- Circa Thunder Boomers
- 1998 Pinnacle/Score Epix

I'm sure I'm missing a ton, but there are just too many.

Jeremy said...

Flair Hot Gloves. Those were just fantastic cards.

Nick said...

Off the top of my head, I really love the 1994 & '95 Fleer Pro-Vision inserts. They're wild and goofy in the same way Fleer was during the mid '90s.

gregory said...

Upper Deck put out a "Game Film" insert in the late-90s that was rather unique and cool. I think I still have a Paul Kariya version.

GCA said...

I don't even know, since I stopped in '85 and resumed in '03. I don't have a good frame of reference besides the few I've seen in the wild (singles boxes)

defgav said...

I stopped collecting in '93, but I sure loved 1993 Topps Black Gold inserts.

Bulldog said...

I don't remember these. Nice looking card.

Big Tone said...

Even the cards were juiced In that 90s era ;)

Chris said...

Love him or hate him, that is a killer A-Rod card! I bought a SGC graded copy of his SP RC (the base version, not die cut) and that was about as much as I was willing to spend on one of his cards.

Hot Gloves and Hard Hats were among my favorite 90s inserts. Early '90s Fleer Team Leaders, 1993 Score Franchise, Donruss Elite (the inserts that were numbered to 10,000 yet were impossible to pull) Select Aces were neat (but I peeled mine when I was 12!) Pacific had some really neat ones, with Glove Side and In The Cage.

One that I didn't even know about until recently is Topps Hall Bound. I would have bought a lot more 1997 Topps FB if I'd seen them at the time.

night owl said...

It's difficult to focus on '90s cards, too much being thrown at you. Plus I didn't collect for most of the decade.

Only because I just looked at this card when I was sorting my Dodgers: I like the 1994 Leaf Slideshow cards that looked like individual slides from back-in-the-day.

gcrl said...

I've got a soft spot for fleer ultra inserts from the latter part of the decade (So many inserts!)

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

I loved all of the 90's inserts. I tried to collect every single one of them, and finally gave up that quest in 2004. (Not my choice: it was the now ex-wife #3's) I wish I hadn't listened to her then, it would only last another 18 months.

Nick Vossbrink said...

94 Black Gold was fun but pretty much all of Upper Deck's hologram inserts were pretty cool too. I also like the Instavision animated cards.

Fuji said...

the lost collector - great list. crusades and hot gloves were definitely up there in popularity. and i really enjoy playing you crash the game. kudos to topps for bringing back the interaction between cards and collectors

jeremy - yup. those diecut inserts were awesome!

nick - lol. yeah those were cool (and weird). can still picture tim salmon with salmon in the background.

gregory - those are awesome! great use of acetate. i'm not sure if i own any hockey versions,but i do have a michael jordan

gca - oh man, i'm kinda jealous. it's kinda like you've never tasted chocolate before. if you ever come across some stuff, your mind will be blown.

defgav - the cool thing about those is they're super affordable. it'd be fun to put the entire set together and throw them into 9-pocket pages

bulldog - no company did holograms as good as upper deck

chris - i still don't have his sp rookie card. when i checked prices a while back they were out of my price range. maybe one day i'll stumble across a low grade copy in a bargain bin, but i doubt it. great list of inserts. hard hats are fantastic!

night owl - nice call on the leaf slideshow. you might also like the upper deck game film inserts that gregory commented on. the two inserts were similar.

gcrl - i'm drawing a blank. my mind is flooded with 90's inserts right now. but i don't doubt it. fleer had their moments just like all of the other companies back in the day

johnnys trading spot - ex-wife #3? did #1 or #2 support your collecting?

nick vossbrink - i was happy to find a set of the instavisions at the flea market awhile back. maybe one day i'll review it.

AdamE said...

My favorite is the Pinnacle Museum Collection parallels. (called Trophy Collection for football)

Fuji said...

Dufex technology rules!