Six Pack Sunday

Summer if officially in full swing.  We're past the halfway mark in the 2025 MLB season.  The Midsummer Classic is in two days.  And Mother Nature has cranked up the heat around here.

If I was a beer guy, today would be a perfect day for a six pack.  But I'm not... so instead I'll be cracking open six packs of 1996 Pinnacle Denny's baseball cards.

Each pack contains one "full motion" hologram and a card explaining how to view them:

Before we get into the pack break, there is one specific card I am hoping to pull.  This is also the perfect time to explain the different types of holograms inserted into these packs.

The main set contains twenty-eight players... one from each of the twenty-eight teams in the league (at the time).  The base card features a nice design consisting of the player's photo and name, along with a holographic "action shot":

1996 Pinnacle Denny's Holograms #15

In addition to the twenty-eight base cards, Pinnacle also produced ten Grand Slam inserts that were inserted into packs at a rate of 1:56 packs.

Even though he only had one career grand slam leading up to the release of this product, Pinnacle decided to include Tony Gwynn in this set.  Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of this card.  That's why back in October of last year, I purchase forty packs in hopes of eventually pulling one.

If I do, it'll go nicely next to this card:

1996 Pinnacle Denny's Grand Slam Artist Proof #4

Pinnacle created a parallel set of Grand Slam inserts.  The only difference is the tiny yellow "artist proof" stamp in the bottom lefthand corner of the card.

Okay... let's tear into my six packs:

Well... I didn't pull that insert of Gwynn.  But considering they're pretty tough to pull, that's not a big surprise.  I'm a little surprised that I pulled duplicates of Jay Bell.  Now that's beating the odds.

The only hall of famer I pulled was Jeff Bagwell.  There are a total of eleven hall of famers on this set's checklist, so I fell a little short of the average.

Switching gears... but trying to stay with the six pack theme... I wanted to show off some cool PC stuff I received in a care package from Reader X a couple months ago.

Let's start off with my beloved A's:

This is a solid six pack featuring two Reggies, two Soderstrom rookie cards, and the Bash Brothers.

Next up, my favorite National League team:

A very shiny Gwynn highlights this six pack that also contains a Jackson Merrill rookie card, two Tatis Jr. cards, and a pair of Joe Musgrove cards.  

Xavier also knows that I collect Los Angeles Lakers cards:

He has become my biggest source of Lebron James Lakers cards.  In addition to these three new Lebron cards, he also included a shiny D'Angelo Russell and a pair of Sparks.

There were a ton of Japanese baseball players in his care package.  It wasn't easy, but I narrowed it down to these six:

I could have filled this entire six pack with Ohtani's, but I wanted to spread the love around to guys like Kodai Senga, Shota Imanaga, and of course Ichiro Suzuki.

Xavier also knows I enjoy collecting guys like Clayton Kershaw, Greg Maddux, and Jose Altuve... along with inserts and parallels of hall of famers:

His care package included a nice stack of A&G minis.  Maybe one of these days I'll start my own Frankenset.

The last two six packs feature two Bay Area teams that I don't really go out of my way to collect... but some of my students do:

Whenever anyone sends me Giants, I usually stop to see if there's anything I want for my own personal collection.  This time around, I grabbed two.  I didn't have a copy of that Mays insert in my binder.  The other card I pulled was the Matt Chapman refractor.  He might be pictured as a Giant, but he'll always be an Oakland Athletic to this collector.

He also usually sends me a nice stack of Golden State Warriors, who I started collecting back in the early 2010's (until they started winning titles).  I ended up pulling the two Steph inserts and sliding them into my binder, but don't worry... he sent me a few other Curry cards for my students.

The final six pack of the day contains my favorite six from Xavier's care package (in no particular order):

2024 Topps Cosmic Chrome Galactic Greatness #GG-17

I have never seen this insert set before, but when I held this Rickey in my hand... I was in awe of its beauty.  

2024 Topps Allen & Ginter #224

I had never heard of John John Florence until reading the back of this card, but it's the newest addition to my collection of surfers.  Technically, he also fits into my collection of athletes born in Hawaii.

2024 Topps Chrome Update #153

Merrill started off his sophomore season smoking hot, but the past month or so he's struggled a lot.  I'm not worried though.  He's young, athletic, and will hopefully be the future of this Padres organization.

Speaking of Padres... how about a card of Mr. Padre:

2024 Topps Allen & Ginter #283

I almost swapped out the shiny Prizm Gwynn for this Ginter base card, but in the end... I liked the appearance of the doughnut and personalized wristband.

2024 Stadium Club Chief Fantasy Professionals #CFPRO-5

I haven't played fantasy baseball in years, but I gotta imagine Ohtani is the number one pick in almost every draft.  This guy is truly amazing in the batter's box and on the mound.

2024 Topps Update 1989 Baseball #89US-41

I'll wrap up this six pack and post with another Rickey Henderson.  This card represents more than just the all-time stolen base leader... it represents the 1989 Oakland Athletics... who won the World Series that season with the help of the mid-season addition of the Man of Steal.

Thank you Reader X for another thoughtful care package and thank you to everyone who took the time to read this post.

I'll be opening up more of these Denny's packs in hopes of pulling that Gwynn.  If any of you are building that set or are seeking specific singles, let me know down below in the comments and maybe I can help you out.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!