1999 FLEER BOYZ WITH THE WOOD MIKE PIAZZA
The end of the Topps monopoly in 1981 led eventually to the insert-set explosion of the 1990s.
However, the practice of adding these bonus cards to packs began with a whimper, not a bang.
Topps included glossy all-star cards with its 1984 rack packs– the cards were shiny and attractive, but held in little regard by collectors. Fleer included two insert sets in 1986 packs (All-Stars and Future Hall of Famers), but again, the consumer response was fairly lukewarm. Donruss made a half-hearted effort to join the fray in 1988 by adding 26 MVP cards to its ubiquitous orange wax packs.
However, as Topps, Fleer, and Donruss began introducing more and more product lines at varying price points throughout the early 1990s, and additional players (Score, Upper Deck) entered the market, inserts became a way for companies to differentiate between entry-level, mid-range, and high-end sets.
One of the byproducts of the escalation in production of inserts was a shift away from the more prosaic set names of the 1980s (see above) to an ever-more absurd slate of titles. Groan-worthy puns and random pop-culture allusions became the norm.
This Mike Piazza “Boyz With the Wood” insert from 1999 Fleer Metal Universe is a fine example of both. I assume that the name of the set is meant to be a call back to “Boyz n the Hood,” John Singleton’s trenchant 1991 drama concerning life in South Central Los Angeles.
Of course, it doesn’t take a Pauline Kael to note that the insert set has no practical connection to the Academy Award nominated film.
And it doesn’t take a Beavis or a Butthead to chortle at the use of the word “wood” here. What is meant to be a tribute to power-hitting sluggers instead brings to mind something slightly more priapic…
Tobacco companies used to make a point to have the cigarette pointed up in all of their print ads. You would think that Fleer could have done something similar with the bats in this “Wood” insert.
If your bat points up for longer than four hours seek immediate medical attention.
The only thing I could think of with this card was the 99 Skybox Thunder set with the raps written about the players on the back.
FYI Joe, I wrote about the Brian McRae card from that ’99 Thunder set last year: https://mets360.com/?p=10448
On the flip side though, it was nice to finally see Mets get represented in such sets regularly for the first time in sometime during those years.
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