The First Rainbow Ever? ACQUIRED!!!

[OhioLawyerF5]

Yesterday was a major mailday for me. I received what many consider the single best 90s card to own for a player collector. The 1996 Select Certified Mirror Gold. For me, personally, it is #2 on my list as the 1998 Donruss Crusade set is my all time favorite, and therefore I rank the Red Crusade above the Mirror Gold. And there are certainly some other sets in consideration depending on your preference. But there is no denying the 96 Mirror Gold is a huge card for a player collector. So I thought I would share the card, along with the story of the significance of the set.

Here she is in all her glory!



According to baseballcardpedia.com, 1996 Select Certified was a 144-card hobby-only set released by Pinnacle Brands in the summer of 1996. This set contained a staggering (for the time) six levels of parallels and was one of the first sets that allowed individual player collectors to "chase the rainbow".

'96 Select Certified also redefined the standard for rarity for subsequent baseball card sets - up to the time this set was released, only a handful of inserts/parallels had either announced print runs or serial-numbering, which ranged from the high hundreds to high thousands. However, '96 Select Certified pushed the envelope by limiting the number of boxes distributed and drastically limiting the availability of all parallels, especially its Mirror parallels, which successfully contributed to establishment of the brand as a super-premium one, as intended a year prior. As a result, this set could be viewed as the impetus for the low serial numbering/print run craze that soon followed and harmoniously coincided with the "Insert Mania" wave of the mid-to-late 1990s that gave rise to cards numbered to ten, five, or one (e.g., Flair Masterpieces).

The announced print runs for the various parallels is as follows:

Certified Red (limited to 1800 copies)
Artist's Proof (limited to 500 copies)
Certified Blue (limited to 180 copies)
Mirror Red (limited to 90 copies)
Mirror Blue (limited to 45 copies)
Mirror Gold (limited to 30 copies)

These were stated print runs from the manufacturer as the cards were not serial numbered. Although the cards are not serial-numbered, many collectors believe that the announced production figures are accurate. This is based on sales data over the years and availability on the market. It also matches relatively closely to the stated odds for each parallel, considering a calculated print run of 64,800 total boxes produced, a figure that also appears accurate based on market data.

To my knowledge, there have only been 2 prior public sales of the Barry Larkin Mirror Gold, one in 2005 and one in 2019. Otherwise, this card is extremely scarce and I'm fortunate to have it. Big shoutout to Rodney Vallejo and Ben Schneider for thinking of me and helping me acquire this great card.

So many consider this to be the first real rainbow in the hobby. Here is it (please note that included is a picture of the base card as I don't currently have a copy of the artist proof. however, the artist proof looks identical to the base card but with a gold stamp in the lower left corner of the card that says Artist's Proof).

[fulltritty]

That is gorgeous!

[MiamiMarlinsFan]

Nice stuff. That red is particularly gorgeous.

[Stifle]

We don’t always agree but I’ll make an exception, congrats. It’s good to see collectors reach a goal because the odds are not good. What’s next ?

[hermanotarjeta]

Congrats! That’s a great set!

[daveyc1]

Congrats!! very nice rainbow there. Mirror Gold's are so beautiful in hand.

[IAMNOTACAT]

THE card to own. 1996 mirror gold! Congrats! I just wish they scanned better (not a shot at you, but in general - these things are GORGEOUS in hand and scans don’t do them justice). Is the peel still on?

Question for you on print run. Pop reports state: two Larkin golds PSA graded and two with Beckett. What do you think is in circulation?

I am of the opinion it is less than 30. PSA has 18 as the max for anyone and limited to three players - Gwynn, McGwire, A-Rod. Jeter is next with 17, but I have to imagine some of those are also re-grades due to the huge value associated with that iconic card.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by fulltritty

That is gorgeous!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by MiamiMarlinsFan

Nice stuff. That red is particularly gorgeous.

Thanks! It's like your kids, I can't really love one more than the others. Of course, the color match of the Red is nice. The gold is still still new (and obviously much more expensive) so there are reasons why I am loving it the most right now. The golds also don't photograph nearly as well as the others, so it's hard to capture just how gorgeous they are in person. But the blue to me looks the best in photographs. It always seems to capture the light just right.

Originally Posted by Stifle

We don’t always agree but I’ll make an exception, congrats. It’s good to see collectors reach a goal because the odds are not good. What’s next ?

That's what's nice about this community. We may not agree all the time, but at the end of the day, we all just love to collect cards.

As for what's next? Frankly, nothing much will change. I honestly did not expect to have a chance to get this card anytime soon, and it was actually #2 on my want list. What it did do was put me in a position where I am likely only targeting cards on the top 10 of my want list for the near future. I am currently focused on my 90s Larkin collection, so I probably won't buy any more vintage for a while, nor will I buy many Reds rookies and prospects for a while. I also cleared out my ebay watchlist of the hundreds of low-mid tier Larkin inserts/parallels from the 90s. I'm just going to go after the big cards I want because they just never come available often, but when they do, I need to be ready to pounce. Just like this one. It came available so I felt like I had no choice but to buy it, or risk not seeing it again for many years. The top 10 list is down to 9 though, so there's that.

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

Congrats! That’s a great set!

Thanks1

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by IAMNOTACAT

THE card to own. 1996 mirror gold! Congrats! I just wish they scanned better (not a shot at you, but in general - these things are GORGEOUS in hand and scans don’t do them justice). Is the peel still on?

Question for you on print run. Pop reports state: two Larkin golds PSA graded and two with Beckett. What do you think is in circulation?

I am of the opinion it is less than 30. PSA has 18 as the max for anyone and limited to three players - Gwynn, McGwire, A-Rod. Jeter is next with 17, but I have to imagine some of those are also re-grades due to the huge value associated with that iconic card.

That's an interesting discussion. It certainly seems they just don't pop up for sale often. I guess that could be the result of some being tossed aside back in the day, or sitting in boxes. But you're right. The pop report on this card is insanely low. And as I mentioned, I'm only aware of 2 prior sales. Of course, many of these kinds of cards are moved privately as well.

But your question about the peel might open the door on the discussion. Mine is peeled. I can't be 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure my particular card came from the personal collection of the former Pinnacle CEO. He had a whole set of peeled mirror golds. This tells me that some of those cards definitely never made it into packs and ended up in the hands of Pinnacle execs. How many? We'll never know. But it's possible the low pop reports can be attributed to these being locked up in collections from day 1.

[r338]

Congrats! The 1986 Select Mirrors are so nice.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by r338

Congrats! The 1986 Select Mirrors are so nice.

Thanks! They look so much shinier in hand. Nearly impossible to capture in a photo.

[DynaEtch]

Very nice! One of the prettiest rainbows in baseball cards, easily. That mirror gold is a thing to behold.

Im partial to 90s rainbows like this with a history, over modern ones.

For me rainbows go back a lot further, but I probably have an atypical view of them. For example 91 Topps could be 'rainbowed' with the regular, tiffany, desert shield, micro, cracker jack mini, and even the 'glow blacks' under UV and bold logo backs. But not in the true sense like of colors like this.

You almost have to add the AP now given all these! Going by those print run numbers, should be quite a bit easier than most.

[Skipscards]

Congrats!!

[fabiani12333]

Wow -- that's great. Thanks for the background info.

[cardsin47]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Very nice! One of the prettiest rainbows in baseball cards, easily. That mirror gold is a thing to behold.



Im partial to 90s rainbows like this with a history, over modern ones.



For me rainbows go back a lot further, but I probably have an atypical view of them. For example 91 Topps could be 'rainbowed' with the regular, tiffany, desert shield, micro, cracker jack mini, and even the 'glow blacks' under UV and bold logo backs. But not in the true sense like of colors like this.



You almost have to add the AP now given all these! Going by those print run numbers, should be quite a bit easier than most.

Yeah, next time I see an Artist's Proof I'm going to buy it. Last 3 sales were under $10, so it's not like it's a big purchase. There are 500 of each AP, so they should pop up every now and then. If anyone has one they want to sell, I'm your guy.

[NYRE2PECT]

, congrats on the completion!

[CardBoredom]

I haven’t been this happy for another collector in a long time. Congratulations!

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by NYRE2PECT

, congrats on the completion!

Originally Posted by CardBoredom

I haven’t been this happy for another collector in a long time. Congratulations!

Thank you!

[OhioLawyerF5]

Well, I finally snagged an Artist's Proof. It always seemed to elude me. The family is finally complete.

[RiceBondsMT2Yng]

Stunning, what an accomplishment.

[JustRachel]

That is god***n beautiful.

Well done! I am in awe.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by RiceBondsMT2Yng

Stunning, what an accomplishment.

Thanks. It's funny how the one /500 was the one I was never able to snag. Although the Mirror Gold has only a couple sales ever, so that was more happenstance than anything.

[TheFrenzy]

It’s always nice to see that opinionated members have good hobby taste.

Well done!

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by JustRachel

That is god***n beautiful.

Well done! I am in awe.

Appreciate it!