2000s Inserts from Brady

Continuing my recap of the trade package Brady sent, here are the highlights of the inserts from 2000-2009.

Pacific came up with some crazy insert designs.  It is hard to see, but the 2000 Revolution Edmonds is stamped premiere date on the front.  It is i numbered to 99.  Upper Deck was still going strong with McGwire insert mania.  This Black Diamond is a little to wordy for me.  I love the looks of the gold sig parallel on the Bowman Chrome Tatis.  JD Drew somewhat passed the rookie insert rage to Rick Ankiel in 2000.  I wish the Bowman Chrome would scan better.

Donruss did not produced sets in 1999 or 2000, so they made inserts cards for each year in 2001.  Another year, another Mac UD insert.  I think Matt Morris was an underappreciated Cardinal.  He was dominant for a few years after returning from TJ surgery.  I will give UD props for including retired players like Musial in their sets.  I love the Hall of Famers and SP Legendary Cuts sets they produced.

I liked the idea of 2002 Topps Super Teams set.  It highlighted World Series teams from different franchises.  This Steve Carlton is numbered to 1967.  After his 2001 ROY season, Pujols was an obvious choice for many insert sets.  A Topps Total insert called Total Topps.  How creative.  Donruss was not to be left out of the Mac and Drew insert craze.  The Fan Club die cut is not bad, but the raised border of the Bronze Frame Diamond King card can lead to chipping issues. 

Topps loved the name so much they used Topps Total Total Topps again in 2003.  Daric Barton did not have many Cardinal cards besides this Bowman Draft gold.  He was part of the trade with Oakland that brought Mark Mulder and his injured shoulder to St. Louis.

Fleer Greats is one of my favorite sets produced, regardless of year.  These 2004 Forever inserts are numbered to each player's rookie year.  2004 must have been the year for the horizontal Scott Rolen insert.  The Playoff Prestige is about as bland as you can get.  You would think Topps would have used the star background on the All Stars inserts, not Own the Game.  Guess that would have been to logical.

 I assume Brady bought some Molina lots that yielded some doubles.  The 2005 Bowman Draft Chrome refractor and Gold cards are nice additions.  As Brady mentioned in this post, Diamond Kings have a crazy amount of parallels.  These framed red cards look more maroon to me.

2006 Bowman Heritage foil cards scan horribly.  Bowman continued its gold parallels in 2006 Draft.  It still hurts to think how far Allen Craig has fallen.  The Edmonds mug shot is actually a sticker card.  Upper Deck made lots of inserts of Bob Gibson during the mid 2000s.  This All -Time Legends inserts shows off his legendary side burns well.

I cannot say I miss base Fleer sets that much.  The bottom 3 cards are 2007 minis, just a tad bit larger than Allen & Ginter minis. 

Brady included another Molina refractor from 2008 Bowman Chrome.  Red seems to be the theme on this card with the border, shades, and catching gear.  Both the UD O-PEE-CHEE and Topps Year in Review cards are pretty boring to me.  The players do not help matters either. 

 If you cannot read the signature on the 2009 Bowman Draft card, that is Robert Stock.  His in person sig is just as bad.  For some reason Topps stopped making a Turkey Red set and made an insert instead.  I like the painted looks of the Allen & Ginter Baseball Highlights Pujols card.  It is also a great shot of the point of impact.