Holo Grammys

It's the Academy Awards of music tonight but I don't really care. While your significant other scours People Magazine's website in the morning, here's a random bunch of holograms:

 1992 Denny's Grand Slam 26. Joe Carter

I remember begging my parents to take me out for pie and coffee when these were available. They just turned to me, told me it was a 30 minute drive and that I was too young for coffee as they sipped their instant "coffee." They neglected to mention that Denny's also had gross key lime pie. Denny's sucks. This set was the best thing the restaurant had to offer in 1992. 

 1995 Score Dream Team Gold DG11. Greg Maddux

I'm not sure why Score abandoned the shirtless grandeur of the Dream Team cards for holograms. I can't say that I mind either. The whole "Gold" label, though, doesn't make a whole lot of sense either.

1993 Upper Deck Diamond Gallery 32. Wil Cordero

This card is a part of some oddball Upper Deck box set. I hadn't heard of it before and may have to track it down seeing as how it's an oddball hologram box set. Just 123,600 sets were made, which must make it extremely limited ; )

1997 Stadium Club Instavision Highlights I13. Andy Pettite

You can't capture the greatness of this card in a scan. Well, it is a hologram so it is instantly great, but that there hologram shows Pettite's hurling prowess. Yes, it's got motion technology without the creepy factor of Sammy Sosa's 1996 SPx card winking at me.

And now a trio of static non-sport holograms:

 Marvel Universe: Series One (Impel, 1990) MH1. Cosmic Spider-man

Although these are probably the most recognizable non-sport holograms (my guess is that it's due to the seemingly millions that are out there and just about everyone collecting the set at the time had one or two), I also rank them amongst the worst. Sure, they're shiny but there's nothing else going on. Plus, the card backs are identical for all five in the set. Yes, Virginia, holograms can be boring sometimes. Can anyone tell me what makes this Spider-Man, Cosmic Spider-Man?

 DC Comics: Series One (Impel, 1992) DC Hologram Hall of Fame DCH8. Superman

This card suffers somewhat the same fate as the Spidey above. It's pretty boring. However, at least with this set Impel wised up a bit and gave something of an interesting background. Too bad Superman's face resembles that of a stick man I doodled while waiting on hold yesterday.

Marvel Universe Series Three (Impel, 1992) H-5. Ghost Rider

Finally, Impel is getting somewhere. While I'm not a big fan of Ghost Rider, the way his motorcycle is popping out of this card is pretty bad ass.

Upper Deck Brings Back the Hologram

Even though Upper Deck is still holding back on their double top secret designs for their MLB-less line, I came across something today that's got me excited: holograms are making are making a comeback. Scouring over the initial info for 2009-10 SP Authentic Hockey, I noticed that the Holo FX line has been brought back from the dead. The throwback insert set will stay true to its roots offering a large checklist of 42 cards and a much rarer die-cut version that will act as a case hit in the product.

Basic Holo FX cards will fall 1:12 packs, while the die-cuts will be 1:288 packs.

While the return of holograms makes me giddy, seeing the mock-ups shows that they're not the same FX-branded cards I fell in love with more than a decade ago:

2009-10 SP Authentic Hockey Holo FX

1996 SP Authentic Baseball Special FX

A big part of what I liked back then was the holographic face, many of which turned and even winked as the card was turned. The new cards have a generic background. Sure, it's a hologram but it's not the same. So while I appreciate that Upper Deck is reaching back into their archives to bring something spectacular back, there's still some work to be done.