Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Holographic memory

In the beginning there was darkness. Then came light. And then, of course, came....HOLOGRAMS !

yeah, sometimes I obsess over things.

When Upper Deck stormed onto the card scene in 1989, it brought this little hologram counterfeit-proof diamond with it. Along with hologram team logos of various sizes, just so we'd go ooooh and aaaaah when tilting them just right under the light. And then, there were the inserts.

For obvious reasons, those will not scan well, but you know what ? I don't care. My love for holograms goes beyond technical difficulties. You'll just have to imagine the depth and colorfulness of these cards. Or you can tilt your computer screen (or Ipad or smartphone) towards the light. And oooh and aaaah with me.


My very first. Pulled from a pack of 91-92 Upper Deck. The surface is so scratched, it shows it had a good life and saw the light a lot.



I do not collect football cards.  Ok, some Giants and Warren Moon cards, but absolutely no Bills. Yet, somehow, that card ended up in my collection.


The one major sport I collect even less than football, is hockey...I have absolutely no recollection of where that card is from. Maybe I picked it up at a card shop 20 years ago, I dunno.


The first Then and Now I was talking about yesterday. That set is sooooo perfect.


One of the more colorful I know : 1994 Denny's. I feel I could just jump into that card.


One of my all time favorite cards. Well, if you can still call that a card, considering it's a jumbo one. It felt like that holographic Griffey would look at me from any angle. It made me feel special.
Yes, I was a very lonely kid.

 Then again, those 3D portraits were kind of creepy.



I've cherished that boxed set for over 20 years. Bought it for $12 (yes, I remember the price, it was steep for me at the time) only because it contained 36 holograms. It's even serial numbered to....hmmm...138 000. Gotta love the 90s.



Probably comes from the same type of boxed set, but this time with baseball. I need more of these.


Showed it already, but come on, HOLOGRAPHIC MASCOT !


Great looking Griffey card.


One of the last holograms I pulled, a few months ago. Maybe one of the last made, too, as it's from 96.


Why they'd show a hologram of Shawn Kemp on a Ward card, I don't know...


French holograms ! They also exist in the US version, of course, but they were easier to find in our pcks.


Nobody remembers Terry Mills, but he doesn't care, he was featured on a HOLOGRAM CARD !


So there you go, most of my hologram collection, minus those I've showed off already on the blog. I don't know what happened, but they all but disappeared after 96/97.

They are the Keyser Sözes of sportscards. And like that....they're gone.

9 comments:

  1. I swear I just had an idea to do a post about holograms the other day. I love the ones I have in my binders. Those odd-shaped SPx ones are among my favorites. The fact that you covered all four major sports makes this post better than any I could ever write.

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    1. now that's one very nice compliment, but we can all agree that you'd definitely write a better post than me ! yeah, I love the Spx, though I'm not really sure why they did a gold variation of them

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  2. I love the Ripken! Then and Now is completely responsible for my collecting addiction. I have a couple of extra cards though not sure which players at the moment. Let me know if you're doing a set. Maybe I can help with it. :)

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    1. thanks Julie ! I was missing 8 players to complete the set, so I just got them off Comc. I feel so much better now

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  3. I will give you 1 million dollars for that BJ Birdy. It is that awesome!

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    1. Over my dead body ! (I'll send a copy your way if I ever get another double !)

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  4. I love holograms. Always have, always will. To me they are still the best inserts ever made. (Of course, with SPx, they made their way to base cards too).

    Kemp's hologram is on the Charlie Ward card because Kemp either wrote the backs or selected the players in the insert...or possibly both. I have not seen mine in a few years so I don't remember, and I have not gotten them scanned yet.

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    1. By the way, the last ones I can think of came from 1997-98 SPx.

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    2. Yeah, maybe Kemp chose the players, it's strange because his name isn't mentioned anywhre ! (he didn't write the backs, though...because...well...because it's Kemp we're talking about). I agree with you : best inserts ever !

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