Panini America set to revive Triple Play brand
By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor
It’s baaacccck.
Panini America will be reviving a short-lived, kid-focused card line of the early 1990s this summer when it brings back Triple Play as a low-end brand that just might be chock-full of fun.
While details are still forthcoming from the company, Triple Play is scheduled for a July 23 release with seven-card packs carrying a suggested retail price of just 99 cents with 24 packs per box and 20 boxes per case.
During its initial run back in the Donruss days, Triple Play lasted for just three years — it arrived in 1992 and was shelved by 1995.
The debut set featured standard action photography but with subsets that included photos of players as kids, highlight cards and stadiums on bright orange and yellow borders. In 1993, the set included a card of President Bill Clinton — long before a presidential presence was more typical in card sets — while the 1994 release showcased full-bleed photography as the company moved more of its products higher-end by adding gloss and more foil-stamped inserts.
The new set appears to have a definite kid-focused flavor — at least based off of a lone preview image — with vector artwork bringing a new feel to the line.
We’ll have more on the return of Triple Play when it becomes available.
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
This is exactly why Topps shouldn’t have the only license for baseball. Thank you Panini.
havent we determined that kids dont care about cards…
if a tree fell in the forest and no one cared then ….should they still make this crap
Triple Play lasted for just three years…. does it mean they should bring it back- it last 3 years for reasons
Great more cards with no team logos on it. Does panini suck at everything they do?
If they keep it to minimal thrills and leave out game used cards it would be a plus. The reason I say that is because adding game used cards means there will be pack-searchers. They could have rare non-serial numbered inserts or on-card autographs to keep a chase factor, but limit the amount of potential pack searching. Personally I like the idea, but I liked Triple Play back when it came out in 1992. Then again, I liked Topps Kids that came out that year too.
There needs to be more cheap products. There’s basic Topps and Opening Day, which is the same only cheaper…I love buying cheap stuff. I bought 3 boxes of Score Hockey, got to open a whole bunch of packs, got more than my money’s worth out of every box (which never happens with expensive products) and had a blast. Bring on more cheap stuff! Maybe if kids have something else they can afford, more kids will get into cards.