General Forum

So as some of you know, I try to go through my old baseball sets periodically, so they don't just sit in the binders for decades. When I completed my 1968 Topps set some months ago, I looked through it and then started going through all the sets that followed. I finished going through 1983 a few days ago and yesterday started on 1984. And I'm certainly enjoying the nostalgia of the semi-forgotten players, but I was thrilled when I got to "Super Veterans" in 1983. I alphabetize by team and had put "Super Veterans" after Seattle, so it was totally unexpected. Something like two dozen cards with two pictures on each card of contemporary veteran players -- one when they came into the league (in black and white -- nice touch), one from 1983. The backs contain career highlights and all-time rankings. I really enjoyed them. Then I started to look through 1984, and immediately encountered a set of "Active Leaders" cards, showing the active leaders from each league, with a list of the all-time leaders on the back. 

I had totally forgotten that these cards existed. They are, of course, both lovely little subsets within the sets. They are not rookies, future stars, prospects, or any of the other attempts to get in on the ground floor for some future great player. They are fun. And informative. Like the "Boyhood Photos of the Stars" and "Father/Son" and "All-time Leaders" cards. Or the Hank Aaron specials. Or the full set of post-season cards. Or any other myriad subsets that used to regularly appear. 

And I'd gladly trade all the glossy, gold bordered, green-tinted special effects for a few more fun subsets. 

Ok, old man rant over. 

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Some old subsets were great. And a lot of them look better than many inserts I've seen. I remember being enamored with the Hot Gun and Ground Force subsets in 1990 Score football when I was a kid.

There are quite a few subsets that I really like.  1983 SVs, which you mention, 1975 MVPs, and several subsets from 1993 UD, which escape me at the moment among others. 

I enjoy the Topps All-Star subsets, in fact that's what expanded my collection from Astros team sets.

Love subsets and the 1983 Super Vets in particular.

Yeah, back in the day when the inserts were basically the "hits." I remember buying a pack of 1992 Fleer baseball from my local comic shop because I *really* wanted that Frank Thomas Rookie Sensation insert. And when I got one out of a pack, I got chills and couldn't speak for a minute. That was like a $60 card at the time. I'm not sure I have ever felt quite that excited by a pack pull since. 
The black & white Bo Jackson from 1990 Score was another one. They became iconic. Heck, there are regular base cards that have become iconic. That doesn't seem to really happen anymore. Base cards are just in the way of finding a hit. A SN99 can sometimes be a disappointment. When Classic started doing those prospect/draft pick autos that numbered into the thousands, that was a massive thrill to hit one.

I miss that feeling, when you would feel happy if you got a base card of a player or team you liked and then the subset was just icing on the cake.

"Base cards are just in the way of finding a hit."

That statement really nails it. In today's hobby, are base cards the new "junk"? As a base set collector, am I collecting a bunch of junk? I personally don't think they are junk and enjoy having them, sorting them, putting the teams together, etc...

One of my favorite subsets is the 1960 Topps set "Sport Magazine '60 All-Star Selection". Those are some great looking cards!

Agreed on the 1975 MVP subset.....to this day when involved in trivia battles, I can picture each card and recite the winners in each league back to '51.  Couldn't get very many from 1976 on, though!

I am mainly just interested in base "junk" too.  I guess this situation is great for us because we can get the cards we want for very little.  The only fear I have is they will stop making them.  My main interest is Topps Flagship.  I'd really like that set to include as many players on current MLB rosters as possible, especially utility players and bullpen guys, as it traditionally has.  However, I fear the will to keep it going may be waning.