Recently, I've received some collectible tins from a couple fellow bloggers. These come directly from the period when I wasn't collecting, and so, like anything from that period, I look at it quizzically as if I'm a dog and someone has just placed a piece of lettuce in front of me ("What is this? I can't eat this and I can't play with it!").
The first tin was a Sweet Spot version that came from Max at Starting Nine.
I apologize for the horrible stolen images, but the World Series game is almost on, I've got a story to write for work and there is no time to fool around with a camera.
Trust me, this is what the tin I received looks like. Without the muddled blurriness.
This is from 2007 and I was collecting a little in '07, but mostly just base Topps and I had no clue that there was a thing called Sweet Spot.
Now let's go to an era in which I had no knowledge of 99 percent of the cards that were produced then:
More ganked images. Sorry. But my camera pictures would be even worse.
These came from Mark at Mark's Ephemera and they're the second attempt by Donruss Preferred to feature cards in a tin. Those are two of my favorite Dodgers from that period featured there and the tins themselves are quite nifty.
The reverse side of the tins displays the Donruss Preferred "Tin Lineup" checklist (a "tin lineup" doesn't seem like a compliment) along with the "Preferred Honors" checklist, whatever that is.
I enjoyed the fine print so much, I'm going to regurgitate it here:
"Reserve your seat now for this year's edition of Donruss Preferred Baseball, the product that combines tradition and innovation within the friendly confines of a collectible tin. 1998 Donruss Preferred Baseball marks the return of our popular Precious Metals inserts featuring cards made of real silver, gold and platinum. Donruss Preferred also showcases Preferred Seating -- single parallel featuring five innovative die-cut shapes, Great X-Pectations -- sequentially numbered to 3,000 with the 1st 300 die-cut and Title Waves -- sequentially numbered to player's specific year their titles were won. The approximate odds of finding an insert card are 1 in 4 tins. Stated odds are based on an entire production run, not based on content of any individual box or case."
Thoughts:
1. That is about the most '90s thing that was ever written. Can we use the word "innovative" one more time?
2. I have a thing about enclosed spaces, so I would not describe the confines of a collectible tin as "friendly." My word would probably be "coffin-like."
3. I can't possibly figure out the parallel situation from that description and I get the feeling the person who wrote it doesn't know either.
4. Writing that out just gave me a headache.
The best thing about these tins, though, is that Mark included cards in them, just like they had originally.
And, of course, there were Nomos!
That Pristine card on the right has always been one of my favorites. And I don't even like that color of green.
Mark also sent a card that didn't fit in one of the tins.
Yay! A 1970 Topps Super!
This Claude Osteen is phenomenal because of the eye black. It also completes the team set of '70 Topps Supers for me. (I had no idea that Osteen and Willie Davis were short-prints in this set). Yay again!
It still cracks me up how thick these cards are. You could actually use them as a paddle.
Of course, since my collecting choices are so specific, whenever I get some non-cardish items, like a tin, I go into panic mode trying to figure out what to do with it.
You know the routine: limited storage space, other people in the house, a dog that eats things. WHAT WILL I DO WITH THESE?
And then it occurred to me. Duh! Cards came out of them, cards can go back into them!
Of course! It's so simple!
Well, I'm glad I've got that solved. What a load off my mind. Now I can get going with the zillion other tasks I have to do. Cross one thing off the list. Moving on!
What was that?
Which cards are going to go into them?
Oh, no ...
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