2013 Leaf Memories #388 "Gold" #/5 (1991 Leaf with some post production defacing)

Card Review: Already reviewed, see 1991 Leaf
Some people like this stuff.  I am not one of those people.  My thoughts on this "Leaf Memories" crap are pretty well documented.  I'm sure the people that do enjoy this stuff are tired of me whinning about it and aren't really wrong if they say "just stop buying it if you hate it so much."  But I can't help myself, and I'm pretty sure Leaf is counting on me and others like me to not be able to help ourselves.  So they get to sell me the same card twice.  Congratulations on your "success" Leaf.  These early sets of yours really laid the foundation for the great new stuff your making today.  Or maybe not so much.

Number of this card in my collection: 1*
2016 update: 2

*plus 60 1991 Leaf, which the copy right on the back clearly shows the card above to be.

2013 Leaf Memories Buyback Red 1/1

Card Review: 9.5  I gave 1991 Leaf a score of 9.7, I dinged this one .2 pts for the red stamping at the bottom.  After all, this is nothing more than a '91 Leaf that the company bought back and threw some post production art on to.  If I did this with a sharpie, no one would care, but Leaf does it with foil and suddenly they get to charge $109.75 for one pack of 13 cards.   Leaf can justify this anyway they want to, but this is absolutely the worst kind of gimmick, and the kind shameless money grab that ruined the hobby.  But given that Leaf debuted in 1990, perhaps they consider the destruction of baseball card collecting the "good old days."  They give a very vomit inducing, self-lauding description of this pathetic set on their website if your curious.

My hypocrisy is not lost on me.  I can trash this set above, but yet here I am showcasing yet another Leaf Memories card after bashing the set last year as well, with links to where to buy the stupid thing (spend away suckers). I guess my OCD trumps my ethics.  At least to a degree.  I picked this card up on ebay.  But not the first time it listed.  Here's a screen shot of the original listing:

 A $49.99 buy it now price for a '91 Leaf?  No thank you.  I'll "Collect Them All except 2013 Leaf Memories" and change the banner above to reflect that.  It really didn't even hurt at all to watch this listing come an go.  I actually passed the 1/1 2012 Leaf Memories for a much lower price than that and I survived.  As I suspected though, the seller immediately relisted it with an opening bid price of $0.99, and I was all set to have it for that price until some suspicious bidding popped up in the final minute.  I still took card for under $6, with is to say, I spent way too much for '91 Leaf that are readily available for pennies (I'm a sucker).

I guess technically this marks the first card I have now "collected them all" of.  Though technically the original print run for 1991 Leaf was probably in the 250,000 copies range.  But if they're going to charge over $100 a pack and people (suckers) are going to pay it, I'll count it.

Number of this card in my collection: 1 (I have collected them all)

1991 Leaf Preview #6

Card Review:  9.5 At one time this was the single most prized card in my entire collection.  The novelty of it has faded and it likely wouldn't crack my top 25 (if I ever get around to doing a ranking) now, but it's still a card I like.  The 1991 Leaf design is my favorite of the Leaf sets after they stopped being a mirror of Donruss.  The base card from this set is actually better looking than this one, or at least I like the photo a little better.  These preview cards were sent to dealers.  I remember the first time I saw this in a dealers glass case, and being utterly shocked at the $10 price tag.  Fortunately the spoiled kid down the street bought it and traded it to me for a handful of crap (some Clemens or the like from the era).

Number of this card in my collection: 1

2012 update:  4
2013 update: 6
2014 update: n/a
2015 update: n/a
2016 update: 11
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: 12
2019 update: 13

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: 14

2022 update: n/a

2023 update: 15

1991 Leaf #388

Card Review:  9.6  As far as the "premium" cards go, this one is one of my favorites.  The gloss is light, and there's no foil stamping, so it's not entirely "premium."  But I love the design and front photo selection.  And the back has complete career stats as well as good bio info, and a crisp clean design.  Just a very well done card.

Topps could take a hint from a set like this.  I think something like this would work as a modern Topps flagship set.  Anything other than the standard white borders with foil stamping would be a welcomed departure from the norm.

Number of this card in my collection: 23
2012 update: 32
2013 update: 48
2014 update: 55
2015 update: 64 
2016 update: 76
2017 update: 88
2018 update: 119
2019 update: 179
2020 update: 191 

2021 update: 193

2022 update: 204

2023 update: 208

2024 update: 217

2025 update: 236