3D Cards Reimagined

One of the many different projects and tasks I completed over the weekend was a complete reorganization of the 3D card binder, a collection of cards that have been around almost since I began collecting.

Even with stacks from the Mansfield show waiting to be organized, I took it upon myself to completely reorganize the 3D card album which had become more of a mess than I would've liked. 

With cards from different sets spread out throughout the sheets, nothing in numerical order, and the sheets themselves being incredibly dusty, a lot had to be done in order to give these cards the organization and neatness they deserve, and I'm proud to say that after spending Sunday afternoon working on it, I accomplished that task.

Due to the purchases of 3D card lots at past sports card shows, I've accumulated respectable totals from a select few sets, hence why they can now be found on the want list. Besides those few sets, I've also put together a selection of about 7 different 3D sets in the miscellaneous part of the binder. 

Because I'm only missing a handful of cards from each 3D set, it shouldn't be all that difficult to piece together the rest of the cards given each checklist is no more than around 75 cards with some as low as 60. First up, I have the oldest of all the sets, 1980 Kellogg's, a set that I am just 8 cards away from completing.

One of quite a few Kellogg's sets without traditionally-sized cards, 1980 Kellogg's includes the common blue borders made exciting by the bright colors of many 80s jerseys. In a way, it's not too dissimilar from the 1972 Kellogg's set, a card from which is shown at the top of this post, though the 1980 cards are a bit smaller with yellow banners instead of red. 

Next, quite possibly the greatest 3D card set ever produced, the 1981 Kellogg's set, so vastly different from the 1980 Kellogg's set above. From the extreme difference in color and size, you wouldn't have a clue these sets were 1 year apart if the logo were to be removed.

Like the 1980 cards, 1981 Kellogg's is another set in which I stacked up on at past card shows when I first got into collecting. With a little larger checklist as opposed to the 1980 counterpart, I'm missing just 10 cards from '81 Kellogg's. If we're talking priorities, this will likely be the first 3D set I complete.

Taking a page out of the book of previous sets, the 1983 Kellogg's product features mini cards, this time with an image that extends throughout most of the card, blocked only by a very 80s design of white lines to form rectangles.

The '83 set is quite unlike any of the previous years of Kellogg's 3D cards. For starters, the image takes up most of the card, something that had rarely, if at all, been done before. Additionally, there isn't as much color as previous sets, and what color is there doesn't pop as much as it once did. 

With that being said, the players of the time help to make this set more interesting than it originally was, not to mention I'm only 6 cards away from completing it.

Though the 3D cards I have as well as the options for them in the collecting world is dominated by Kellogg's, there is one set I intend to finish in the future that wasn't made by the cereal company. Instead, I have the 1986 Sportflics Decade Greats set, a 3D card product filled with stars from all decades leading up to the '80s.

With players like Babe Ruth to Jim Palmer featured in the product, the set is chock-full of superstar players. Better yet, each 3D card is created to show 2 or even 3 images, depending on whether the card pays tribute to 1, 2, or 3 different MLB stars. 

However, this set may take a bit longer than the others since, as of now, I have roughly half of the 75 cards in my collection.

The next set is a quick 10-card product, also made by Kellogg's, from 1992, much newer of a set than the previously listed products. Though it's quite a small checklist, I have all the intentions of completing it and am missing just 1 card, #5.

So, if anyone out there has a spare Tom Seaver from this set that they'd be able to send my way, it would be much appreciated.

The final set is one that I don't know as much about as the others, but it's one that I bought completed, so I'm pretty pleased about that. As you can see, we've flashed forward quite a bit to the 2010s with what I believe to be an insert set, Topps 2020.

Though the name "2010 Topps 2020" can be perceived as confusing, it was certainly nice to see 3D cards brought back for modern players, even if such a thing hasn't been done since, to my knowledge, and the Red Sox were left out completely of the product.

As I said before, there's still some space in the binder for miscellaneous 3D cards. That is cards that I don't have large totals of and which will remain in the binder, but grouped together rather than spread apart. 

For example, as much as I'd love to complete the 1972 Topps Kellogg's 3D card set, I have just 10 cards from the product and would have to track down dozens of major names. Same goes for '76 Kellogg's as well, so I figured it'd be best to focus on realistic sets for now and maybe worry about the others someday in the future.

Even though there are a lot of other sets to worry about on the want list, products that have been there for a while, the 3D card sets, especially Kellogg's, are missing so few cards that I figured "why not include them on the list?" 

Not only does this help me appreciate 3D cards more so than I ever have before, but it brings back the joy in collecting them that I felt so long ago.

After all, along with Hostess, Kellogg's cards have to be some of the most fun oddballs to collect in all of the baseball cards out there.