Insert Card Craze: Collector’s Choice You Crash the Game Baseball Cards of the 1990s
In the days before serial numbers, relic cards, certified autographs and countless parallels, simple base insert cards ruled the hobby.
The first modern insert cards arrived on the market in the late 1980s, but it wasn’t until the early 1990s that the insert card craze truly swept the hobby, aided in part by rising young superstars Ken Griffey Jr. and Frank Thomas.
In the coming weeks, we will be taking a look back at some of the more memorable insert sets from that era and their progression over the years.
Next up is a look back at the staple insert card set from the five-year run of the Collector’s Choice product line from Upper Deck. The You Crash the Game inserts were part of a contest that allowed collectors to exchange the single card for a set of cards if the pictured player hit a home run on the specified date.
1994 Collector’s Choice You Crash the Deck
Cards: 15 (dual player)
Hall of Famers: 12
Before the You Crash the Game inserts were introduced, there were the “You Crash the Deck” inserts found one-per-pack in the inaugural Collector’s Choice release in 1994.
There are 15 different cards in the set highlighting some of the biggest matchups of the season, and inside the fold-in-half card was a scratch-off game card.
The fronts feature the star player from each of the teams on the card. An impressive 12 Hall of Famers are among the 30 players. Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Don Mattingly, and Ryne Sandberg and Ozzie Smith are among the best player combinations.
1995 Collector’s Choice You Crash the Game
Cards: 20
Hall of Famers: 4
The first You Crash the Game cards were introduced in 1995. The checklist features 20 players. Each has three cards with identical designs but different dates to potentially hit as a winner.
Of the 60 different combinations of players and dates, only seven ended up being winners, with Jose Canseco, Juan Gonzalez, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Raul Mondesi, Mike Piazza and Gary Sheffield each hitting a homer on one of their dates.
There are two different versions of the redemption cards–a Silver (1:5 packs) and a Gold (1:49 packs), and the winning cards could be redeemed for an upgraded Silver or Gold set of all 20 players from the You Crash the Game contest.
1996 Collector’s Choice You Crash the Game
Cards: 30
Hall of Famers: 8
For the 1996 Collector’s Choice set, the You Crash the Game checklist was expanded to 30 players and there were once again three dates for each player.
However, this time around each card features a range of dates rather than a single one. As a result 27 of the 30 players delivered a winning card. The redemption system also changed, as it was a simple 1-for-1 trade of a player’s game card for his redemption card, rather than one card bringing back an entire set.
Joe Carter, Tim Salmon and Larry Walker were the three players who failed to hit a home run in any of their three date ranges. As a result, they do not have a card in the redemption set.
The holographic game cards also come in a Gold parallel and stand up as some of the best looking inserts in the Collector’s Choice product line. The redemption cards are sharp as well with a transparent player image surrounded by a woodgrain background.
1997 Collector’s Choice You Crash the Game
Cards: 30
Hall of Famers: 8
The You Crash the Game cards are exclusive to Series 2 packs in 1997, landing 1:5 packs. The checklist again features 30 players with three date ranges each for a total of 90 possible winners, and they were again redeemable for an upgraded card of the player on the game card.
Only 22 of the 30 players were winners in 1997, leaving the other eight redemption cards as a short-printed insert that could only be redeemed through an “Instant Winner” card that was good for the entire 30-card redemption set. However, those were an extremely tough pull at 1:721 packs.
The short prints in the redemption set are Jay Buhner, Jose Canseco, Cecil Fielder, Vladimir Guerrero, Chipper Jones, Ryan Klesko, Rafael Palmeiro and Alex Rodriguez.
1998 Collector’s Choice You Crash the Game
Cards: 30
Hall of Famers: 9
The Collector’s Choice product line was rebranded as UD Choice in 1999, and then scrapped in favor of Upper Deck MVP in 2000 as the low-end product line, but they rolled out one final You Crash the Game set in 1998.
All of the details of the contest were the same as the previous year, including the return of the “Instant Winner” cards that were once again found 1:721 Series 2 packs.
However, an influx of the instant winner redemption sets onto the secondary market in 2003 undercut the value of the short-printed cards in the 1998 set, robbing them of their scarcity.
Topps has resurrected the You Crash the Game idea with their Home Run Challenge cards in recent years, though there’s a bit more freedom with the ability to select a date for your player rather than being locked into a predetermined date range.
