Bringing Back Old Favorites

If you haven't already noticed from Chris' blog post, UD is making a case for product of the year on the basketball side by bringing back much loved '90s inserts and using it's Fleer brand:

Such as:

Precious Metal Gems - Jordans are available - [phil]170907172512[/phil] and [phil]320979668155[/phil]

Jambalaya - guys like Lebron [phil]170907175836[/phil] and Drexler [phil]261094299765[/phil] and Erving [phil]261094300577[/phil]

Big Men on Court - Magic [phil]390466024977[/phil] and Penny [phil]261095299197[/phil]

A Cut Above - Grant Hill [phil]290772023922[/phil] and Jordan [phil]110948623606[/phil] and lebron [phil]280961227934[/phil]

So the question to you is, if something similar happened in baseball, which sets would you want to see re-done?

Fleer Greats of the Game ON CARD autos. And I liked the Genuine Ink stuff from the early 2000s.

1993 Finest.

Jaypers said:

1993 Finest.

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Those still sell for a nice chunk [phil]170882582179[/phil]

D-Lite said:

Fleer Greats of the Game ON CARD autos. And I liked the Genuine Ink stuff from the early 2000s.

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Oh man, those are beauties like this Mays - [phil]200802915629[/phil]

Anything UD could do would be a pale shadow and basterdization of the former Fleer cards without team logos or team names. If they had licensing, then maybe an updated EX Essential Credentials, Fleer Brilliants 24K Gold, Greats of the Game Nickname Greats or Flair Legacy insert set might interest me.

gracecollector said:

Anything UD could do would be a pale shadow and basterdization of the former Fleer cards without team logos or team names. If they had licensing, then maybe an updated EX Essential Credentials, Fleer Brilliants 24K Gold, Greats of the Game Nickname Greats or Flair Legacy insert set might interest me.

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Oh you mean like they did with this new basketball product?

alexs64 said:

Oh you mean like they did with this new basketball product?

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They have NCAA licencing

Believe it or not, there are people who follow college sports.

ok, well maybe not college baseball. But that basketball stuff with NCAA logos looks really really good.

cgilmo said:

They have NCAA licencing

Believe it or not, there are people who follow college sports.

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What college did LeBron attend?

alexs64 said:

What college did LeBron attend?

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Yes, one of these cards is not like the other. It's still a NCAA product.

College basketball unis are much more accepted than college baseball unis.

Its funny how people clamor for innovation and for something new... but so readily go back to the past anyway.

cgilmo said:

Yes, one of these cards is not like the other. It's still a NCAA product.

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LOL..... I don't hate it, don't get me wrong. Injustice is the word that comes to mind. I have always wanted a David Robinson "Navy" auto. Well not really.

uniquebaseballcards said:

Its funny how people clamor for innovation and for something new... but so readily go back to the past anyway.

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You can have both, nostalgia and innovation are both loved and accepted.

Some seem to be ok with Lebron in a H.S. Jersey - [phil]160879294135[/phil]

I'm not a fan of companies copying old designs for new products but have to make an exception for these. Many collectors go back 15 years in order to find cards like these and there really has been a void in the hobby for cards that are simply eye appealing. I hope UD doesn't use the same design year after year (like Topps w/ the 1952 design) but it's nice to see them doing what they've always done best in their way of appealing to collectors. And I do experience the nostalgia factor in seeing these cards.

In baseball, I'd really like for someone other than Topps to revive what made the 90s inserts so great. Topps has produced some very eye appealing cards the last couple years but their creativity has always been limited. I've always seen their cards as the cheapest, blandest and inferior and they've always been my least favorite manufacturer as a result. However, the Leaf Valiants from last year are butt ugly to me. They simply don't "shine" like the Crusades they were attempting to copy. As for now, I'll stick to the older stuff and enjoy what I've amassed. I would really like to see UD back in baseball again.

bear0555 said:

In baseball, I'd really like for someone other than Topps to revive what made the 90s inserts so great. Topps has produced some very eye appealing cards the last couple years but their creativity has always been limited. I've always seen their cards as the cheapest, blandest and inferior and they've always been my least favorite manufacturer as a result. However, the Leaf Valiants from last year are butt ugly to me. They simply don't "shine" like the Crusades they were attempting to copy. As for now, I'll stick to the older stuff and enjoy what I've amassed. I would really like to see UD back in baseball again.

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What are you referring to exactly? I mean to your point Leaf did make an attempt last year but you weren't a fan..

It seems like in baseball the big sets are Finest Refractors, Mirror Parallels, Crusades, Atomic and Bowman Refractors of differing varieties and a handful of others. Obviously the refractors are still in production but the Leaf related items aren't.

As a random point, I did an eBay search for the highest selling '90s baseball insert, it was this Griffey:

Essential Credentials - [phil]120952468209[/phil]

masonphillip said:

What are you referring to exactly? I mean to your point Leaf did make an attempt last year but you weren't a fan..

It seems like in baseball the big sets are Finest Refractors, Mirror Parallels, Crusades, Atomic and Bowman Refractors of differing varieties and a handful of others. Obviously the refractors are still in production but the Leaf related items aren't.

As a random point, I did an eBay search for the highest selling '90s baseball insert, it was this Griffey:

Essential Credentials - [phil]120952468209[/phil]

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I'm not really sure what you're referring to either. If it's my point about Topps' limited creativity, they created some nice Atomic Refractors in Topps Chrome last year yet the pattern this year is the same. Triple Threads looks the same every year. Sterling looks the same every year. It seems like I'm always seeing ~3 pieces of mystery material and a sticker auto and I just don't see why collectors don't get tired of such cards. Whereas if you look at a company like Pinnacle, their Totally Certified designs from 1997 to 1998 varied in the way the background "moves" yet are similar enough that the product is recognizable. There's something new to get excited about, rather than the same design from the previous year. Topps has also created some appealing die cuts recently, but I don't see them taking it to the next level like manufactures have in the past (Molten Metal Fusions, Pro Bowl die cuts w/ a different aspect of Hawaii every year), at least not without any competition. What I'm saying is that while Topps is capable of producing appealing cards, they're never the one who is driving innovation, and it is the innovation in the 90s that made cards so enjoyable.

Last year, I was thrilled about the idea of Leaf bringing back the Crusade design. The problem is that the execution was poor from a card appearance standpoint. The Leaf Valiants look like a layer of black soot is on the front of the cards and therefore, the cards don't shine bright. And it's this bright shine that make Refractors and Crusades come to life for me. The main reason I'm not a fan of the Leaf Valiants is a poor resemblance between the cards compared to what I love about the Crusades.

SPORTFLICS

with magic motion

im just glad that Topps puts out Heritage annually

Topps Tek, Topps Pristine and EX are 3 i'd like to see brought back