Monday, May 2, 2022

Set Appreciation Post #16 - 1998 Metal Universe

We went through a dinosaur phase in my house when my son was in preschool and early elementary school. He's now in fifth grade, so we are past the phase, but the kid is a sponge and can still repeat back all kinds of information about all the dinosaurs. 

The dinosaurs phase included trips to museums to see dinosaurs. My personal favorite was the Easter Egg Hunt at the Life and Science Museum in Durham when he spent an hour looking at dinosaur models. Note, he is not holding an Easter Egg in this picture. 

Did he pick any up?  



He did the follow year, because the museum used inflatable dinosaurs that were not realistic and did not hold his attention.  



Beyond going to museums, he also had tons of dinosaur books. They had their own section in his well-stocked bookcase. Every night, we would end up reading a dinosaur book before he went to bed.  Most of the books were fine, but one that I always remember was one titled, "Dinosaurs On My Street" 

It's widely available, if you feel inclined to purchase.  



The cover says it all.  

It is this bizarre mashup of prehistoric dinosaurs on modern streets. You parked your red Mercedes on the street, you should have paid extra for the parking garage, because this T-Rex is going to total it out for you. Good luck explaining that to your insurance agent.  

It goes on from there.  



A lot of cars get smashed up by dinosaurs, which probably has a lot of appeal to a preschool aged boy.  

In many ways, the Dinosaurs On My Street book has always had some strong parallels with the 1990s Metal Universe cards in my mind. They essentially have the same formula. Take something popular, in this case baseball, and mash it up with some really odd backgrounds.

As a guy in his 40s, this is a really cool set. 

It was a cool set when I was in my 20s and in college.  

Before I get into the baseball cards, I wanted to note that I did not use a scanner, because they are terrible with these cards. See Jose Cruz Jr. below.  



The background just looks like a complete blur. It is not supposed to be, so all the cards posted here were taken as photographs.  

Here you can see the background much better. 



A little chipping along the edges. My son really likes looking at these cards, so that has contributed a little to wear and tear on a few of these cards. However, they are printed on fairly thin card stock and feel a little flimsy.  

I am not sure why there is a mountain in the background behind Jose Cruz Jr. 

Are there mountains in Toronto? 

Does Jose Cruz Jr. have some sort of nickname that involves mountains? 

No and I think no.  

This is just the first card in the set. I am letting you see the basic design and in no way is this post going negative on Metal Universe. This is a true 1990s masterpiece.  

Here is the back of the card, which I am not going to post beyond this Jose Cruz card.  


I like the pink, green, and purples hues on the right side of the card. You could have easily seen all three of those colors on some clothing in an episode of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air back in 1998. Will Smith had moved into his alien move phase by the late 1990s, but I am sure the show was still on WGN or TBS.  



I bet Jose Cruz Jr. had that same shirt in his closet.  

Rather than doing my usual breakdown of Cardinals, Durham Bulls, and insert cards, I am just going to stick with the backgrounds in the base set. Let me run through some of my favorite cards from this set.  

There are three basic types of backgrounds on the 1998 Metal Universe cards.  

First, there are pictures with landmarks from the city or area.  

Randy Johnson in front of the Space Needle.  



Scott Rolen in Love Park.  



Last, but not least, Ray Lankford in front of the Old Court House with the Arch in the background.  



These remind me a bit of the card backs of the mid-1990s Leaf cards. Same company, so it's a bit of a borrowed look, but these still look really sharp. If the whole set had been made using the city landmarks, it would have been a great looking set.  

Although, I would have liked to see some city sites that were more personal to the players. 

For example, Jeff Kent in front of a street car seems like a good idea.  



What do you think of when you hear the name Jeff Kent?

Me?

I think of trucks and carwashes.  




What about a background with a truck going through a carwash?  

If you know, then you know.  

Next background.  

Animals.  

If you know this set, the best animal card is at the end of the post. 



We've got Chuck Finley in front of some giraffes. 

Chuck is tall. 

Giraffes are tall.  



Tony Clark in front of a tiger.

Tony played on the Detroit Tigers.  

See what they did there?

There are also all sorts of cards with a space background. 



Here is Russ Johnson on the moon, or this Mars?  

Earth is too big for Mars, but I don't think the Moon is that red.  

It's the effort that counts.  

Which brings us to the really great Metal Universe cards. The random backgrounds or those with some sort of connection to the player are just simply too incredible to believe. Some of the most unique cards from the 1990s. The best part was the fact that they were often just random players.  

Here are three of my favorites from the 1998 Metal Universe set.  

First, Reds third baseman Willie Greene.  



Anytime I hear mention of Willie Greene, I instantly think of this card. Since nobody talks about Willie Greene anymore, I talk about him and remember this card. Decent player for a time, hit 26 home runs in 1997, so obviously that earned him a cool construction excavator background. 

Name another baseball card with construction excavators in the background? 

You can't. 

The next time you are out and about and see an excavator, think about Willie Greene.  

Next, pinch-hitter extraordinaire, Matt Stairs.  



Yes, he is fielding a ball on a set of stairs and his last name is Stairs.  

Is that the US Capitol?  

Matt Stairs is Canadian.  



This Matt Stairs card is incredible. A true great baseball card of the late 1990s.  

Last card of the post. If you know this set, you know this card.  

It speaks for itself.  



Another great card.  

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?


I have written about 15 other baseball card sets over the past two or three years. Here are my rankings of the previous sets, links to the sets are included.  


13. 2000 Topps 
12. Bowman Platinum 
9. 1988 Donruss 
4. 2001 Fleer EX 

The 1998 Metal Universe set is a great modern set. I think it's better than the 2001 Fleer EX product, but I am still going to keep the 2002 Topps Super Teams set ahead of it. Super Teams is a much different product than Metal Universe, both great in their own way. 

So, the question comes down to whether or not this is better than the 1979 Kellogg's set. I am going to Metal Universe the nod and slide it into the 3rd spot on my list.  

4 comments:

  1. Back in the 90's, I thought Fleer Metal was a little cheesy... but I've really grown to appreciate these sets over the past decade or so. Great job breaking down the 1998 set. There were a bunch I didn't even know existed like the Stairs, Greene, and Finley cards. Thanks for taking the time to show of such a cool set... and take photographs instead of scans.

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    Replies
    1. I actually collected the later Metal sets, but not the first few years. I am trying to go back and track down some of these cards prior to 1998 where the backgrounds were more Sci-Fi in nature. Tom Pagnozzi with metal tentacles peaked my interest.

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  2. It seems like most boys go through a dinosaur phase, I know that I certainly did. It's too bad though that very few of us end up hanging onto it.

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  3. I'm currently building '98 MU, as well as the Super Teams. I knew at least some of these had the landmarks backgrounds, will have to examine the rest a bit more closely.

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