So, this is what a 1993 Donruss Elite Series insert and a 1998 Bowman’s Best Atomic Refractor parallel looks like when they get together and make cardboard babies.

Aren’t they stunning?

The 2012 Bowman set has been out for almost two weeks and these Ice parallel cards have not been lost on me.  Hell, they might be my favorite cards of the last five years.

Parallel cards are not often lauded among collectors, partly because they are usually just slight variations of the base card.  These, however, have a nice high-end feel to them without a gaudy price tag.

If these Ice cards were an automobile they’d be  Lexus.

And I applaud Topps for not making them too easy to pull.  The Silver Ice cards are seeded 1 in every 24 packs, so there is a less-likely chance that they will be subject to overkill like the 2011 Diamond Anniversary parallels.

Anyway, over the last two weeks I’ve had some pretty good luck and have unearthed 8 of these gems. Have a look at the ones I’ve pulled:

2012 Bowman Silver Ice Anibal Sanchez #30

2012 Bowman Silver Ice Taylor Green RC #199

2012 Bowman Silver Ice Nick Swisher #2

2012 Bowman Silver Ice Ichiro #176

2012 Bowman Silver Ice Jarrod Parker RC #213

2012 Bowman Prospects Silver ice Andrew Susac #BP97

2012 Bowman Prospects Silver Ice Bryce Harper #BP10

2012 Bowman Red Ice Eric Surkamp RC #208 /25

All things being equal, which early Barry Bonds card do you prefer: 1987 Fleer Rookie Card or 1987 Fleer Update Extended Rookie Card?

An argument can be made for both, which is why I pose this question to you.

You can reply here in the moments section below or on twitter @cardboardicons.

Your response to this question will impact a future project.

1982 Topps Kevin Hickey rookie card

When I was 13, I was fortunate enough to pull one of these seemingly impossible hits from a pack of Donruss at my local Target.

I remember picking three packs and handing them to my mother. After the cashier rang them up, I grabbed them back from her and started  ripping into them as my mother completed her transaction.

Seconds later, the neon lights struck the prismatic foil border of an Eddie Murray Elite card and the greatest sensation of a 13-year-old card collector came over me.  I yelled an expletive, one that caused multiple people to look at me.  I didn’t care. I was on top of the collecting world.

It may not be the best looking card in the set — actually, it might be the ugliest — but it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen to this point that didn’t have long hair, two legs and two … well, you get the point.

The Murray stayed with me for about a month or so.  I was offered $75 for it at a card show a week later but the deal never came to fruition.  I think the prospective buyer was reluctant to give me the cash.  I later traded it for a bunch of other nonsense.  Worst decision ever.

In recent years, I have my it my collecting goal — as if I really needed another — to acquire the 1992 and 1993 Elite Series sets.  I may chase the other years later.

If you’ve yet to see the most recent Beckett Sports Card Monthly (Pages 22-24 — that’s me!), you’ll notice that I listed this insert set as my favorite from the ’90s.  And while it goes against common knowledge to hype a set (which could drive up interest and prices) that I am still working on, it’d be a great disservice to everyone to forget the greatness of The Elite Series.

It is here that I will document my progress.  I’ve already acquired about two dozen from this legendary set.  And here they are. Remember, these rare inserts were limited to 10,000 copies of each. Way over-produced by today’s standards; super rare by those standards of the early 1990s.

1992

1992 Donruss Elite Series Ken Griffey Jr.

1992 Donruss Elite Series Frank Thomas

1992 Donruss Elite Series Kirby Puckett

1992 Donruss Elite Series Tony Gwynn

1992 Donruss Elite Series Will Clark

1992 Donruss Elite Series Dwight Gooden

1992 Donruss Elite Series Howard Johnson

1993

1993 Donruss Elite Series Ryne Sandberg

1993 Donruss Elite Series Eddie Murray

1993 Donruss Elite Series Paul Molitor

1993 Donruss Elite Series Barry Larkin

1993 Donruss Elite Series Don Mattingly

1993 Donruss Elite Series Dennis Eckersley

1993 Donruss Elite Series Roberto Alomar

1993 Donruss Elite Series Edgar Martinez

1993 Donruss Elite Series Darren Daulton

1993 Donruss Elite Series Larry Walker

1993 Donruss Elite Series Mark McGwire

1993 Donruss Elite Series Cecil Fielder

1993 Donruss Elite Series Dave Winfield

1993 Donruss Elite Series Juan Gonzalez

1993 Donruss Elite Series Legends Robin Yount

]]> http://cardboardicons.com/2012/05/16/project-prism-the-quest-for-the-elite-series-set/feed/ 1 Newspaperman 1993EliteSeriesEddieMurray 1992EliteSeriesKenGriffeyjr 1992EliteSeriesFrankThomas 1992EliteSeriesKirbyPuckett 1992EliteSeriesTonyGwynn 1992EliteSeriesWillClark 1992EliteSeriesDwightGooden 1992EliteSeriesHowardJohnson 1993EliteSeriesRyneSandberg 1993EliteSeriesEddieMurray 1993EliteSeriesPaulMolitor 1993EliteSeriesBarryLarkin 1993EliteSeriesDonMattingly 1993EliteSeriesDennicEckersley 1993EliteSeriesRobertoAlomar 1993EliteSeriesEdgarMartinez 1993EliteSeriesDarrenDaulton 1993EliteSeriesLarryWalker 1993EliteSeriesMarkMcGwire 1993EliteSeriesCecilFielder 1993EliteSeriesDaveWinfield 1993EliteSeriesJuanGonzalez 1993EliteSeriesLegendsRobinYount http://cardboardicons.com/2012/05/15/thrift-treasures-xlvi-giants-giveaway-cards-in-custody/ http://cardboardicons.com/2012/05/15/thrift-treasures-xlvi-giants-giveaway-cards-in-custody/#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 02:13:42 +0000 Cardboard Icons http://cardboardicons.com/?p=8291 ]]> Greetings.  I am back with an all new Thrift Treasures post, only this time there are no scans … just this video.

Let me know what you guys think of seeing these on video.  Certainly makes it easier on my mind not having to scan everything.

Enjoy.

Lots of autos.

*And pardon me as I misspoke a few times, still new to video stuff.

Whether you’re talking about the Los Angeles or Brooklyn squad, the legacy of the Dodgers runs deep.  And on cardboard there is no shortage of options when searching for the greatest Dodgers picture card of all time.

But in my mind, they don’t get much better than this:

We see a lot of great photography on modern cards.  And we rarely stop and think about it when we imaged of infielders with a glove in their hand emblazoned on our collectibles.  But this 1953 Bowman Color Pee Wee Reese is quite amazing given the technology of the time.

Think about it.  The photographer caught Reese in mid air making the throw from second base to first.

Was it staged?  Absolutely.

But the photographer still had to capture Reese several feet in the air with a camera that is antiquated by today’s standards.

Simply amazing.

Take a good look.

Rounded corners and moderate edge wear, enough blemishes to make a collector of all things modern baseball cards cringe.

But THIS is what cards that are 79 years old should look like.

For a mere $15 and change, this 1933 Goudey Frank Frisch became the newest Hall of Fame rookie card to be added to the Cardboard Icons rookie collection.

The Frisch joins other Hall of Fame rookies of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Sam Rice from the same set that are part of my growing collection.

2012 Bowman Yoenis Cespedes rookie card #193

I saw a slew of 2012 Bowman baseball opened this week and it instantly came to my attention that Bowman is not only “Home of the Rookie Card,” but more specifically home of the Oakland A’s rookie cards.

The Bowman set features a whopping seven legitimate rookie cards of Oakland Athletics players, and this does not take into account the multiple prospect cards that some people sometimes consider rookies.

We all knew that one of the big draws of the Bowman set was the first pack-seeded rookie card of Yoenis Cespedes wearing a Major League Baseball uniform.  But what I didn’t realize, and likely many others, is that there are a half-dozen other Oakland players who call the 2012 Bowman set the home of their first “official” rookie card.

Guys like Tom Milone and Brad Peacock were in 2012 Topps, but they were pictured as members of the Washington Nationals.

Take a look at this:

2012 Bowman Tom Milone rookie card #196

2012 Bowman Brad Peacock rookie card #216

2012 Bowman Jarrod Parker rookie card #213

2012 Bowman Jemile Weeks rookie card #61

2012 Bowman Michael Taylor rookie card #206

2012 Bowman Collin Cowgill rookie card #201

It should be noted that while these seven cards are considered rookie cards, four of these other players have appeared on Bowman branded baseball cards in recent years.

*Michael Taylor appeared in 2007 Bowman as a prospect card when he was with the Phillies. (2007 Bowman products)

*Jarrod Parker also appeared in 2007 Bowman as a prospect when he was in the Diamond Backs organization. (2007 Bowman products)

*Brad Peacock was in 2008 Bowman products as a Washington National.  (2008 Bowman products)

*Collin Cowgill appeared in 2011 Bowman Sterling as an autographed prospect card while featured in a Diamond Backs unform.  (2011 Bowman Sterling)

]]> http://cardboardicons.com/2012/05/09/2012-bowman-baseball-home-of-the-oakland-as-rookie-cards/feed/ 0 Newspaperman RC2012BowmanYoenisCespedes RC2012BowmanTomMilone RC2012BowmanBradPeacock RC2012BowmanJarrodParker RC2012BowmanJemileWeeks RC2012BowmanMichaelTaylor RC2012BowmanCollinCowgill http://cardboardicons.com/2012/05/08/2012-bowman-international-mariano-rivera-is-going-to-be-a-fan-favorite/ http://cardboardicons.com/2012/05/08/2012-bowman-international-mariano-rivera-is-going-to-be-a-fan-favorite/#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 23:25:31 +0000 Cardboard Icons http://cardboardicons.com/?p=8253 ]]> 2012 Bowman Baseball just hit shelves this week and in the product are “International” parallels of the player cards.  They resemble the basic cards only they have the flag of the player’s country of origin emblazoned in the background.  We’ve seen this before, but these are gorgeous.  They remind me of the 1997 release, my personal favorite set.

Last week, Yankees legend and perhaps the games’ greatest closer of all-time Mariano Rivera suffered a torn ACL, an injury that could end his career.  He’s been on record as saying that he doesn’t want to go out like that.

But if it is the end of the line of “Mo,” then this 2012 Bowman “International” card could be one of the best Rivera cards we’ve ever seen given the context.  It’s almost like a farewell shot posed in front of the flag of Panama.

This card immediately jumps into the discussion for one of my five favorite Mariano cards to pass through my collection.

Hats off to Topps for the design, and hats off to The Sandman for a stellar career.