Insert Cards : Where every pack is "Find the Reggie"

 

Opinions are like assholes

            Everyone has one and they all stink. That’s the old adage, if I’m correct. Or it could be a philosophy, a way of life, if you will. I’ll admit that I’m not much for the opinion of others, especially in regards to the aspects of this world which enrage and/or invigorate me. Unless you’re a rock critic. I’m not even much of a fan of opinions that concur with my own opinion on matters close to my heart. I find most people’s opinions to be intrusive and the musings of dullards. I’d be sadden to think that people didn’t feel the same way about my opinions.

My opinion on opinions is probably why I don’t have many friends, and explains why my social calendar really didn’t change that much during this never-ending pandemic. Another adage that I like, given to me by a character on TV show my old man keeps begging me to watch: If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you’re the asshole. This may or may not be true. But I do run into A LOT of assholes during the course of my day.

This essay is, sadly, about opinions.

            Back in October I wrote an essay about returning to card collection in 2019. You can read it HERE. In the essay I briefly go into opinions on base cards vs. insert cards. Essentially, I stated that the desire for insert cards in packs, the ones of intentional scarcity, rendered the base cards second-class citizen cards. I called base cards the gum of modern era packs.

My opinion probably stank to some. Some people probably thought I was an asshole. But that was my opinion at the time. It was how I felt looking around online at what other collectors were accentuating from their pack finds, or from the purchases they made online. Unless it was a rookie card or an older card, junk wax or vintage, most collectors seemed to be showing off or most excited about the insert cards that they pulled. I didn’t feel the same way.

There might be a little bit of history as to why I wasn’t so excited about insert cards as my fellow collectors. There’s always a history somewhere, isn’t there? The truth is, I didn’t really understand the attraction to inserts. During my initial collecting years (1980-1992), we didn’t have much in the way of inserts, until the end of that era. Sure, Fleer put in a small all-star set or two, but it was easy to collect all of those. And they never mattered much to me.

By the early 1990s I was moving away from collecting. I didn’t buy much Upper Deck so I never really tried to “Find the Reggie.” The Topps Gold cards 1992, were more an annoyance than anything I searched packs to find. 

And I’d stopped buying Donruss cards before the Diamond Kings cards became something that you hunted. Diamond Kings cards, for me, were always just there.

I missed most of the ENITRE 1990s-2000s inserts boom:

Opinions might be like assholes. Assholes might have opinions. But opinions are also a form of evolution. Opinions are evolution. God, at least, I hope. Opinions should be ever-changing. Case in point, I used to say this about the poetry of Charles Bukowski: if you’ve read one Bukowski poem, you’ve read them all. Then I got out of college and started working a series of bullshit jobs in both the white- and blue-collar fields, and my opinion on Bukowski began to change.

Yes, I know there’s a lot of tough guy bravado in Bukowski’s poems, and a good amount of misogyny, but I began reading Hank because of the way he wrote about work, about desperation, and about being alone. In essence, Bukowski’s poetry got me through a lot of shitty jobs. If I saw that college punk today who said, if you’ve read one Bukowski poem you’ve read them all…I’d punch him in the face. But I can’t. Because he is me.

So, with no further ado, I offer up this essay, a reexamination, if you will, of insert cards and other bells and whistles that come in modern packs of cards. Maybe I’ll still sound like an asshole by the end. Maybe we’ll be able to agree that my opinions on this topic have evolved.

 Parallel cards:

I wanted to start with parallels because this is where I’m going to have the toughest time showing you all how much more enlightened of a collector I have become. Parallels are an area where I don’t have much of an evolved opinion. I still don’t understand the majesty of false scarcity in regards to baseball cards. A card used to be rare because it was in error cards or a high number card in old pack, or because the cards were very old. Cards were scarce because Cy Berger went and dumped a bunch of them in the ocean (looking at you ’52 Mantle).

They weren’t rare because the card manufacturer decided to make them so. In Topps flagship series 1, there are eleven types of parallel cards alone, ranging from those inserts appearing in 1 of every 10 packs to, if you are very lucky, only 1/1 of the card exists. Now that’s some intentional scarcity for you right there.

I’m not a fan of parallel cards. Maybe I just haven’t pulled a parallel card for a player that I care about enough to get excited (I’m discounting the black hole of parallel cards with autos etc…we’ll get to that). Maybe I don’t like a modern player enough to chase their parallel cards. And I’m certainly not wasting my cash to buy any current Pirates players or collect a team set in parallel cards…okay, maybe Ke’Bryan Hayes. But I do have a greater understanding what attracts people to this stuff.

If you’re a player collector or a team collector, it can be a cool to chase the various cards in packs, but more likely buying them on the secondary market. I get that. Sports card collectors, an avid collector of anything, has a small bit of OCD built into their DNA. Collect ‘em all! And some of the designs on parallel cards are attractive looking. I’ve been sucked into them a time or two myself. But ultimately, I’ve just always been a base man and I’m stuck in my ways. And I still can’t get over the fact that parallel cards are intentional scarcity. I…just…can’t…let…it…go.

My evolution of opinion has failed me on basic parallel cards. But there’s still hope.

I did pull this and I kind of like it:

Autograph cards:

Autograph cards were another area that I was wary about when I got back into collecting. When I was a kid (a cursed saying that immediately makes one feel old), if you wanted an autograph on a card you either hung around the ballpark before (or after) a game, or you threw down some cash to get a card signed at a baseball card show. Like I said above, I never tried to “Find the Reggie” in a pack of 1990 Upper Deck.

I also wasn’t big into getting autographs. I was shy and overweight. I didn’t like approaching a player, especially after a game. Also, growing up in my home, my conspicuous consumption was always circumspect with my parents. And because of that, I really dropped any serious cash for many autographs by players at card shows. I did for Willie Mays…on a baseball…that I can’t fucking find. But I got Willie Stargell’s autograph at the mall for free.

Also, my first so many months back into collecting, I wasn’t really pulling autos out of any of the hobby packs that I was purchasing. I was pulling relic cards (which I’ll get to next). The very first autograph card that I pulled was a 2019 Topps Heritage High Number Keston Hiura (second baseman, Brewers).

Not mine but this is what it looked like:

Not too shabby, but not exactly thrilling. I gave it to my brother to sell on the secondary market. I pulled a few other autos of players that were okay, but nothing to make me love autos as an insert. They too went to my brother. BUT…then Christmas of 2020 happened. A simple Topps Stadium Club blaster box (not Stadium Club Chrome) gifted to me by my lovely wife yielded this:

Yeah.

My first awesome auto. My first parallel auto. My first 1/1 all in one card. I shook putting it into a one-touch. Despite his injury-plagued 2020, I’m a Yordan man.

Then a few weeks later, in another Stadium Club blaster box (purchased for me by my lovely wife) I pulled this (not my actual card which will be explained):

Then my brother sent me these:

Bucco autos

And because he was afraid, he’d go and sell it, my brother sent me this:

I think I get it now about the whole autograph card thing. But here’s the thing, I keep thinking of the money I could get for the auto cards of the current players. Full disclosure, I don’t sell. I give my brother some cards mostly for him to sell for himself and keep the cash. Sometimes, if it’s a big card, I give him a percentage. The Randy Arrozarena is already in his possession to sell. Obviously, I’m keeping the Pirates and the Kiner cards because they were gifts and I’m not a total asshole.

But then there’s the Yordan. The autographed, superfractor, Stadium Club Chrome 1/1 Yordan. I do PC him. Like Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Yordan Alvarez was the big thing when I got back into watching baseball and collecting in the summer of. 2019. I will always equate the two of them with that time, and I PC both because of that. That said, I’m not keeping this Yordan Alvarez card. As much as I love this card, I’d like Yordan Alvarez to bounce back with a vengeance this season, so that I can sell this card off….and maybe buy some of these:

 

 

Relic Cards:

Relic Cards…sigh. What is there to say about the Relic Card? I find them to be dull and uninspiring, ubiquitous presence in nearly every hobby box/pack that I open. I see absolutely no purpose to the standard, hobby-issued relic card. The higher end stuff, with an auto attached, sure. Something like this:

But I’ll never be in the market for high-end relic cards, so I’m stuck with what I’m stuck with. And what I’m stuck with is a snippet of a uniform or a bat placed in a decent looking card. Yeah, It’s Pete Alonso’s bat, but its one of hundreds of his bats. It’s not like he went up to the plate each time with Wonder Boy, during his record-breaking season, and I’ve been given a piece of that. He could’ve used the damned thing for a game of pepper. Same with the “game worn” jersey snippet. I have a few relics in my collection and they’re the least impressive cards I own. Honestly that’s the most, prose-wise, I can even devote to relic cards.

Throwback inserts:

Now…THESE I LIKE. Since I’ve been back into collecting one of my favorite inserts to pull are the ones in Topps packs showing a player in a card design from the past. Whether it’s celebrating a 35^th anniversary of old Topps designs, or the Turkey Red cards, or one of those 70 years of baseball or 1952 Redux cards in this year’s set. 

I LOVE to see current and players who didn’t play during that era on those card designs. A Vlady Jr. on a 1984 Topps design? 

I’ll pay for that. 

Jackie Robinson in a 1984 too? Sure. 

Luis Robert (not Lou Bob…never fucking Lou Bob) looking dope on a 1952 redux insert. 

Yes, please. 

A Clemente Turkey Red? 

Call me Mr. Excited. 

And Henry Aaron can make any Topps design look awesome.

But there’s a caveat to my love and enjoyment of these types of inserts. I don’t like getting throwback cards with players on them who actually played during that card design era. I don’t care if it’s a different picture of them, it’s still sort of a bummer to get them in packs. Why in the world would I want a Ryne Sandberg card in the 35^th anniversary 1986 design when he ALREADY HAD a card from that era. Or Cal Ripken Jr. on a 35^th anniversary 1985 style insert? If you want to give me one of those 1980s stars, put him on a 1976 Topps design insert. That would be sweet. I feel the same way about how Topps goes about their Archives series checklists as well. Willie Stargell HAD a 1974 Topps card.

I didn’t need this. 

But I PC Stargell…so I guess I’ll take it.

 Short Print cards:

            I’m rather meh on short print cards or super short print cards. I’ll admit that the selection of players on them is better. They just don’t do anything for me. Honestly when I began collecting again, I wasn’t aware of the codes on the back, so I was initially confused about what in the hell they were. Why did I have two Starling Marte cards with different photos. My younger brother quickly cleared that up, and now my aging eyes check any card out of a pack that looks suspect.

regular:

short print:

    If I didn’t have issues with cash, and how much I spend on pleasure items, I probably would get me a short-print of a current player that I PC. I haven’t thus far. But I have paid a few dollars to get short print cards of retired players in the current Topps design. There was no way I passing on This:

or this:

And I did pull this:

    Opinions are like assholes. I’m probably an asshole. But I think I’ve learned to like insert cards a little bit more than I used to. And I find myself generally excited when I pull certain ones. I’m also starting to buy more insert cards on the secondary market for players that I PC. In a way, I guess, I’ve found a niche for myself in the insert game.

But am I going to be jacked by pulling  /70 Platinum Braves team card? No. But I will mail it to someone who will be excited about it. And that’s the thing I’ve started doing with inserts that I couldn’t care less about. I’m giving them to someone who will enjoy them more than I ever will or could. I’m not even asking for anything in return…unless you have a bunch of Bobby Bonilla cards laying around. You feel free to mail those to me. I’ll give them a good home.

One last opinion…league leader cards featuring players that I collect. I have never and will never consider them a standard base issue card for a player. They are a separate entity into and of themselves. That’s my opinion. It might make me seem like an asshole to you. But I’m sticking with it

Oh...and I don't like Die Cut Cards either:

Thanks for reading. Happy collecting.

If you want to learn more about 2021 Topps Series 1 and what's in it, you can do so thanks to Ryan Cracknell right  HERE

If you want to see what's in store for 2021 Topps Series 2...Well, Ryan already did the work for you right HERE

Next Friday:  We're going back to 1991, a year in which I was going through a lot of changes, and a year where, at least Topps, was thinking about going through some changes too.

 

--JG