Title says it all. See you in August after a month of travel, family and Disneyland.

1997 Score Baseball The Franchise
6 of 9. Albert Belle

For as plentiful as they are, 1990 and 1991 Score Baseball laid a lot of the groundwork for the future of the brand. In these sets, Dream Team and The Franchise subsets arguably garnered more attention than the rest of the set.

The Franchise went on to become a separate insert set. The 1997 incarnation shown here takes something of a minimalist approach, at least on the surface. The large borders mimic a baseball – they’re all white and the “ball stitching” is embossed to give it a nice feel. The small photo has been given a sepia tone. The only foil on the card comes from the set’s name.

The basic version of the set contained nine cards and were inserted in 1:72 1997 Score Series One packs. A glow-in-the-dark version (yes, there’s glow-in-the-dark baseball cards out there somewhere) paralleled at a rate of 1:240 packs.

1996 Ultra Baseball Call to the Hall
10 of 10. Frank Thomas

It’s funny looking back at the cards that claim to have future Hall of Fame inductees. During the mid-1990s there were your sure-fire candidates like Griffey, Maddux, Ripken and Gwynn. There were also the then sure-fire names that have since been defamed by alleged steroid use like Clemens and Bonds. Then there’s the Albert Belle and Mo Vaughn group – the guys who started out strong and fizzled early due to injuries and getting fat.

Although his career is clearly in decline, Frank Thomas is still a sure-fire first-ballot inductee. Don’t believe me? Check out the career numbers.

There have been several insert sets based on Hall of Fame predictions. This is probably my favorite. Call to the Hall comes from 1996 Ultra Baseball Series 2. Inserted at a rate of 1:24 packs, the checklist is a good one with half the checklist having already made it and the other half just playing the waiting game. What I like about this Thomas card isn’t so much in the technology. Other than foil lettering, there’s no fancy printing techniques. Rather, I like the old school feel of the painted illustration. It’s unfortunate the artist isn’t named. They do a great job capturing the fun-loving appeal Thomas had at this point in his career. He might not have been “The Kid” that Griffey was, but at his peak Thomas mixed youth, power, fun and focus into one scarily dominant package.

1996 Pinnacle Baseball Christie Brinkley Collection
3 of 16. Dave Justice

From the looks of this card, I suspect he would have made an excellent heel pro wrestler or manager. Just look at his smug look as the little kiddies boo him and cuss him out. Either he’s got a canary hiding in his mouth or he likes getting jeered – not to mention at home judging by the logo on the wall in the background.

Seeing as how I just posted a card from the same set yesterday, there’s not much else to add. For the info buffs, Christie Brinkley Collection cards inserted 1:23 hobby and 1:32 retail in 1996 Pinnacle Series 2. Sixteen cards in the set (all Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians).

1996 Pinnacle Baseball Christie Brinkley Collection
6 of 16. Fred McGriff

Some of the coolest photos on cards are the ones that are posed, not action shots. A couple of cards I’ll never forget are the overhead shot of Benito Santiago unmasking in 1991 Topps and Doug Jones holding the flaming baseball in 1991 Score. There’s a bunch of others that are similar too.

In 1996 Pinnacle added a bit of celebrity to their set with the inclusion of the Christie Brinkley Collection. The way the inserts are presented, it looks as though the supermodel was brought in and did photo shoots with players on the Braves and Indians (the previous year’s World Series participants) and getting them to do silly things.

Here’s one of my original baseball heroes Fred McGriff getting goofy and pretending to take a bite out of a baseball. Although a little corny (okay, a lot corny), it’s still a fun card.

Christie Brinkley Collection cards were inserted in 1996 Pinnacle Series Two at a rate of 1:23 hobby packs or 1:32 retail packs.

1994 SP Baseball Holoview Blue
37 of 38. Sammy Sosa

Growing up, I loved holograms. They always carried a certain “wow” factor about them. I mean, it’s a two dimensional picture, but there’s three dimensions! So when Upper Deck came out with the team logo holograms, let’s just say that I had many a notebook covered in the things. But after a couple of years of your basic team logos, I got a little bored. Little did I know a hologram revolution was just around the corner.

Looking at the top half of this card, it’s nothing overly fancy. You’ve got a yet-to-be-superstar Sammy Sosa blocking the sun. But then you look down to the bottom and you get your gimmick: a holographic Sammy with his head in the clouds. But not only was it shiny, but Sammy’s head moves. And he blinks! My freaking baseball card blinks at me. Needless to say, the “wow” factor returned.

The 1994 SP Baseball set is famous for having the most sought-after Alex Rodriguez rookie. If that one card wasn’t holding up prices of wax, I’d consider going into the eBay vaults and picking up a box or two just to get me some blinking holograms. There’s 38 cards in the set (inserted 1:5 packs) with a much rarer die-cut parallel featuring red borders.

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Autographs
NECA, 2001
Tim Burton

I’ll take a break from 1990s baseball inserts for a day or two to bring a random sample of one sweet non-sport autograph.

Tim Burton is one of Hollywood’s last originals. With films like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ed Wood, Big Fish, Edward Scissorhands, the inferior but better than it’s given credit for Planet of the Apes remake and Sweeney Todd amongst his credits, Burton brings the macabre to a mainstream crowd. He’s both creepy and funny, dark and lighthearted.

This card comes from NECA’s 2001 set based on animation classic The Nightmare Before Christmas. Although it doesn’t feature a picture of the signee, it’s a nice design for an autograph as it provides lots of clear space for the filmmaker’s squiggles.

A couple of years earlier Burton was supposed to sign for Inkworks’ Sleepy Hollow set. Redemptions were included promising collectors autograph cards, but plans fell through and replacements were sent. So if you come across a seller offering a good price on Sleepy Hollow boxes and promising the possibility of Burton or Johnny Depp, remember that these cards were never made. It’s still a nice set nonetheless.

1997 Upper Deck Baseball Amazing Greats
AG14. Jeff Bagwell

I’m not a big fan of “the pun” when it comes to naming card sets. For example, take this perfectly gorgeous mix of faux wood and a slide portrait – very classy, very nice. But then you’ve got the cornball title “Amazing Greats.” It’s not very often that you start humming a hymnal whilst flipping through your cards, but I can’t help it.

Name aside, this is still one of my all-time favourite insert sets. I remember getting a Tony Gwynn in one of my first packs of 1997 Upper Deck Baseball and looking at it in awe, wondering who the genius was that thought to make a wood baseball card. Although they were rare at the time (1:138 packs), I managed to pick this particular card up for a buck or two.

1996 Pinnacle Essence of the Game
4 of 18. Matt Williams

The Crazy 1990s Insert spotlight continues with today’s card. Pinnacle’s Essence of the Game inserts mixed cool rainbow foil (or Dufex as they called it) with a clear plastic design. What’s the purpose of this set? I don’t know, but it sure looks cool.

With the clear plastic comes a stiffer card than your traditional cardboard. They’re so stiff in fact that you could carry one in your back pocket just in case you get jumped by a band of ninjas and need a throwing star for protection.

Essence of the Game cards were inserted 1:23 packs of 1996 Pinnacle Series One Baseball.

2005 Donruss Bomb Squad
2 of 6. Jeff Bagwell/Frank Thomas

The 1990s were all about the long ball. Now that the steroid scandal has surfaced, we have a good idea why. But two of the decade’s best first basemen have yet to be implicated – Jeff Bagwell and Frank Thomas. Both are featured on numerous dual-player cards from this era due, in large part, because they played the same position and because they knew how to hit 1990s-style – that is smash home runs.

Produced during a relatively peaceful era of American history, Donruss’s 1995 Bomb Squad inserts pay tribute to sportscaster hyperbole. You see a home run can also be referred to as a “bomb”, therefore the title Bomb Squad implies a connection between home run hitters and military missions.

This double-sided card features Bagwell and Thomas in the foreground with a fierce looking jet fighter in the background. On the left-hand side are cute little foil bombs that act as a tally for their respective 1994 home run totals. Rather than your traditional name plate, the personal details are printed on a dog tag. They include name, team, position and league home run ranking.

Six cards make up the Bomb Squad set. Cards were inserted at a rate of 1:24 retail packs or 1:16 magazine distributor packs of 1995 Donruss Baseball Series 1.