Show Off Your Rare 2000’s Inserts Thread

[Mephisto]

I love the 90’s version thread. I often see inserts and variations I didn’t know existed. Some people are pretty much exclusive to the 90’s but I do like to collect based on players and many of the top 90’s players I grew up on had their careers end in the 2000’s with just a handful going into the 2010’s.

Even though I watch a lot of baseball today on MLB.TV there aren’t a lot of more recent players I enjoy collecting and there are just a handful of card variations I focus on past 2009 with most of the players I grew up watching having retired by that point.

Fan favorites Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn would hang around until 2001. Even the Man of Steal Rickey Henderson played through 2003.

Unlike many collector’s I do love me some pitchers and many of the 90’s top pitchers would say goodbye in the 2000’s including Clemens, Cone, Maddux, Glavine, Mussina, with Pedro, Smoltz, and Big Unit hanging it up following the 2009 season.

Most of the 90’s power hitters bid adieu by the close of the 2000’s including McGwire, Canseco, Gonzalez, Piazza, Palmeiro, Bonds, Bagwell, Kent, Sosa, Sheffield, McGriff, Delgado and Thomas. Even though the top collector power hitter of the 90’s Ken Griffey Jr. would wrap things up in 2010, his final career home run would come in 2009.
Power and speed players of the 90’s such as 1995 MVP award winner Barry Larkin and 3,000 hit club member Craig Biggio wouldn’t hang up their cleats until well into the 2000s.

What else is more 90’s than prehumidor Rockies studs? Walker, Galarraga, Bichette and Castilla all retired in the 2000’s.

The 2000’s also saw the baseball deaths of officiallyMLB licensed lines from Fleer and Donruss. Upper Deck who was a major disrupter starting in 1989 just in time for the 90’s, would lose its MLB license in 2009 as well. Upper Deck tried to “sneak” some product out in 2010 but no where near the level it once was and a lawsuit would put a final end to it.

Aside from the great 90’s player that saw their careers end in the 2000’s this decade also brought about the early MLB careers of Pujols, Cabrera, Ichiro and pitchers such Verlander, Scherzer, Kershaw and Grineke,

While the 90’s brought about Topps’ introduction of Refractors, the 2000’s introduced the popular Superfractors.

I had long avoided Superfractors as I didn’t want to deal with the FOMO of chasing 1/1s but when I saw the 2005 Topps Chrome Palmeiro come up for sale I had to make an offer on it. It happened to be the first year of the Superfractor and Palmeiro’s final year as an active player. There is nothing like taking B12 and Viagra before hitting the field.




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[PuddleMonkey]

First!

[OhioLawyerF5]

I collect Larkin, whose career went into the 2000s, ending in 2004. Whlie I only collect playing days cards, my collection virtually stops after 1999. I just can't seem to get excited about 2000s cards, no matter how much I try. That said, I do pick up a few when something catches my eye.

I'll eventually put together these rainbows:













And I'll throw in some Essential Credentials for good measure.

[ThoseBackPages]

These are incredible looking

[bbteamw]

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

These are incredible looking

Well, looks like I'm going to extend my finest refractor run into the 2000s, because that is gorgeous!

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Well, looks like I'm going to extend my finest refractor run into the 2000s, because that is gorgeous!

Nice!

i dont think you will be disappointed with the Larkin

[Mephisto]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Well, looks like I'm going to extend my finest refractor run into the 2000s, because that is gorgeous!

Haha. That’s why I made this thread. Not so much showing off and more seeing what I didn’t even know existed.

[Mephisto]

These aren’t very expensive but when I saw one I thought they were kind of cool looking and the Reds are serial numbered to 50.


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[corockies]

[al3xmac10]

I have some 2001 Ichiros to share...

[Mephisto]

It never ceases to amaze me how many different 2001 Ichiro cards there are. (Pujols has quite a lot more than I had originally thought, and I am not even talking about variations with the same image).

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Mephisto

It never ceases to amaze me how many different 2001 Ichiro cards there are. (Pujols has quite a lot more than I had originally thought, and I am not even talking about variations with the same image).

2001 was such a fun year to collect. Card companies had exploded their product lines and more brands were being pumped out than ever. Couple that with the Ichiro/Pujols craze, and it was a recipe for insanity. By 2001, most rookie cards were printed years before the prospect ever made the majors. It was what ultimately led to the rookie logo in 2006. But 2001 was a perfect storm where neither Pujols, nor Ichiro had rookie cards prior to their major league debut. And they both came out the gates as superstars. The mad rush for their rookie cards was nuts. I had so much fun back then. It was a time like no other in the hobby. I would say I opened more wax in 2001 than any other year of my life.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

Nice!

i dont think you will be disappointed with the Larkin

Well, I am disappointed. No wonder I'd never seen it. Larkin wasn't in 2002, 2003, or 2004 Finest. So I don't have any x-fractors to chase.

[Mephisto]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

2001 was such a fun year to collect. Card companies had exploded their product lines and more brands were being pumped out than ever. Couple that with the Ichiro/Pujols craze, and it was a recipe for insanity. By 2001, most rookie cards were printed years before the prospect ever made the majors. It was what ultimately led to the rookie logo in 2006. But 2001 was a perfect storm where neither Pujols, nor Ichiro had rookie cards prior to their major league debut. And they both came out the gates as superstars. The mad rush for their rookie cards was nuts. I had so much fun back then. It was a time like no other in the hobby. I would say I opened more wax in 2001 than any other year of my life.

I love the 2001 Topps Chrome Retrofractors. They aren’t rare but tough in high grade. I’ve come close to pulling the trigger on the Ichiro Pujols dual card.



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[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Well, I am disappointed. No wonder I'd never seen it. Larkin wasn't in 2002, 2003, or 2004 Finest. So I don't have any x-fractors to chase.

ahhh crap

[ScooterD]

#41/57



#5/5



Not numbered, but only 7 of this parallel set produced


Never seen another - unused redemption for an oversized vintage card inserted in 2001 Topps for the 50th anniversary



2002 Topps series 2 corrected error - thought to be uncorrected for 20+ years


2001 Donruss Silver /499 redemption set - not sure how many were redeemed and/or remained sealed



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[Mephisto]

Originally Posted by ScooterD

#41/57


IMG]


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I’m not big on XFractors but do collect 2003-2005 Topps Chrome ones along with the 2005 Finest Gold XFractors.

[Gordon Bombay]

I'm not wild about X-Fractors, but I don't mind this one. I'm on the hunt for a replacement for my 2004 Chrome Red X-Fractor, which could not be more off-centered if it tried.



I agree with the person who said that there's something about 2001 Retrofractors.

[Mephisto]

Originally Posted by Gordon Bombay

The 2000 Skybox Star Rubies are my favorites. Super nostalgic set for me. I remember buying tons of packs right as my senior year of high school was starting. I never hit one of those but given their rarity I have been trying to pick them up. There have definitely a few instances I should have went harder after them. I’m pretty sure the hologram design is the same as the broader hologram on the 1997 Essential Credentials.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Mephisto

The 2000 Skybox Star Rubies are my favorites. Super nostalgic set for me. I remember buying tons of packs right as my senior year of high school was starting. I never hit one of those but given their rarity I have been trying to pick them up. There have definitely a few instances I should have went harder after them. I’m pretty sure the hologram design is the same as the broader hologram on the 1997 Essential Credentials.

I'm a big fan of the 1999 Star Rubies, myself. But I am kicking myself for passing on a 2000 Star Rubies Extreme Larkin about a year and a half ago. Now, if one pops up, it will be 3 times as much.

[Mephisto]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

I'm a big fan of the 1999 Star Rubies, myself. But I am kicking myself for passing on a 2000 Star Rubies Extreme Larkin about a year and a half ago. Now, if one pops up, it will be 3 times as much.

Yeah the 1999’s are cooler looking and seem to be quite a bit condition sensitive compared other cards from that era outside of things like PMGs. The nostalgia is really just the pull on these 2000 ones for me.

[NYBBFAN]

We had a similar thread the other day but I’ll repost these.





Back:

Front:

[Bleeckerstreet2]

Hell ya I love this thread idea. Such a slept on decade of card innovation from 2000-2010 and as my generation who was ripping 2001-2006 packs as kids gets more spending money, this segment will get its due.

Excited to see others posts and follow along.







































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[Mephisto]

Originally Posted by NYBBFAN

We had a similar thread the other day but I’ll repost these.

I love these. If only I had not had such a long break collecting and had the foresight to buy Pujols and Ichiro 10 years ago. 😂
I know some people don’t like the design but due to the Ichiro and Pujols rookies this design is iconic and the print run being 50 makes adding players I collect a bit funner and challenging.