Thursday, January 21, 2021

subset collecting - pinnacle idols

back in 1992, i wasn't buying anything other than topps, really. i had seen some upper deck packs in one of the convenience stores on my university campus and bought one or two, but i was still in a topps-only mode.  so, i missed out on quite a few cards in real time.  i didn't learn about the pinnacle idols subsets that pinnacle put out in 1992 and 1993 until quite a bit later.

in fact, i owe my awareness of these cards to the blogosphere, as i believe i saw one of them for the first time on a blog in 2007 or 2008.  anyway, once i became aware, i quickly tracked down the complete subsets.  here are the 1992 cards:
the concept was simple and effective - take a present-day star and match them up with their idol from their youth.  here's the rundown of the players and their idols:

jim abbott - nolan ryan
wade boggs - george brett
ken griffey jr - rickey henderson
wally joyner - dale murphy
chuck knoblauch - ozzie smith
robin ventura - lou gehrig
don mattingly - rod carew
steve avery - jack morris
roberto alomar - sandy alomar
scott sanderson - jim hunter
david justice - willie stargell
rex hudler - roger staubach
david cone - jackie gleason
tony gwynn - willie davis

i appreciate the fact that ken griffey jr wasn't paired with his dad but roberto alomar was, and that pinnacle didn't limit the cards to baseball players, as you can see there is a football player and a comedian in there, too. 

it's worth mentioning that 1992 pinnacle had an insert set of "rookie idols" which paired rookies of the day with their idols. there were some repeats in that set, as nolan ryan, rickey henderson, and george brett showed up as idols, as did jim abbott. i only have a couple of those cards in my collection - the ones that feature dodgers darryl strawberry and eric davis.

in 1993, pinnacle again included an idols subset with (mostly) new subjects:
here's the list of those pairings:

jeff bagwell - carl yastrzemski
john smoltz - jack morris
larry walker - mike bossy
gary sheffield - barry larkin
ivan rodriguez - carlton fisk
delino deshields - malcolm x
tim salmon - dwight evans
lenny dykstra - ken stabler
danny tartabull - jose tartabull
jeff conine - dale murphy
gregg jefferies - ron cey
paul molitor - harmon killebrew
john valentin - dave concepcion
alex arias - dave winfield

again, kudos to pinnacle for including the likes of bossy, malcolm x, and ken stabler in the set. very cool. 

several years ago, i posted a custom card i made showing what one of these cards would look like if pinnacle had asked me who my idol was. 
of course, i interpreted this in the "favorite player" sense, unlike deshields who certainly had a more literal sense of the term "idol". it would be interesting to know/see who other bloggers might choose for a similar card.  what say you?

9 comments:

  1. I picked up some of the 1992 cards at a show about two years ago. Man that seems a long time ago. It's a good idea for a subset.

    Never saw the 1992 version before, but kudos to DeShields for choosing Malcolm X and Pinnacle for being willing to put him in the set.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe this was shortly after the Malcolm X movie, he was quite popular at that time. You used to see the X baseball caps everywhere.

      Delete
    2. brett alan - it would be interesting to see who current players would match up with if panini were to revisit this topic.

      bo - i never did see the malcolm x movie, but i do have his autobiography on my list to read.

      Delete
  2. I'd pull a Gregg Jefferies.

    I still love that Cone-Gleason card.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i am thankful that cey and davis were included. made me think more highly of gregg jeffries for sure.

      Delete
  3. Very cool subset... especially the ones featuring non-baseball guys. I remember pulling some of the 1992 cards from packs when they came out but don't think I've ever seen any of the 1993 ones in person before.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i also think it is a good idea for a subset, and i am surprised that pinnacle abandoned the topic after just 2 years.

      Delete
  4. The Cone-Gleason card is one of the great underrated cards of the era!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it is certainly different, and the photo selection of gleason is great.

      Delete