Bring Back Checklists

Imagine being a designer for sets of 2025 sports cards. To bring into the kitchen our nuanced tastes when it comes to collecting. Whip up a recipe. I'd sprinkle in some of my favorite attributes - 90's neon color pallette, clean lines, throwback borders, minimal glitz.

I'd strip it down, one card for each player. Okay, maybe two for stars. One subset. No mega-opulent inserts or multitude of confusing parallels. I'd go back to the hobby's roots.

One card type I'd be sure to include is the Team Checklist.

When did producers drop these club inventories from their new set checklists?

Some Sunday mornings when the feeling strikes, I bring up a box of cards from the basement. Inevitably, at some point during these nostalgic sorts, some elusive editions unexpectedly strike my eye.

Last weekend, ahead of two blockbuster NFL playoff matchups, some inexpensive basketball cards came calling.

1989 featured roundball's debut in Hoops. The rookie card of the Admiral grinning and gripping his Spurs jersey was an instant classic. Being chosen as an esteemed cover for Basketball Card Fanatic Magazine supports this single's endurance. But that Hoops base set and its follow up in 1990, with their white or silver border and photograph cut-out in the shape of a key, hasn't aged well for me. In another basement (my dad's) binders and boxes, doubles (and triples) of these two sets merely add to the clutter.

Well, almost. The Team Checklists from the '90 set deliver that elusive eye-appeal. That je ne sais quo de cardboard. You know it when you see it.

What fun mining up these mini posters by various artists. Take, for instance, the neon pastel renditions of Rony Seikaly, Danny Manning and Rolando Blackman created by Kathy Petrauskas. Or William Reiser's Magic and Clyde the Glide decorated with paint-penned stars, swirls and dots. The work of at least eight different artists was featured in this subset. A facsimile signature can be found on most.

These commissioned paintings turned into cards reminded me of one of my favorite modern releases - Topps Project 2020. I've probably analyzed and digitally carted more of these art-heavy cards than any other. Such original and stylized works by Keith Shore, Gregory Siff, Fucci, Ermsy and other recognized talents in the art world. These pre-slabbed cards were individually sold on the Topps website. Print runs were based on demand. A lot stayed low, which drives up the price. Even the most common go for at least five bucks.

Team checklists, found at a satisfying rate in cheap packs, were part of Hoops' base set.

Skybox's 1990 debut set still thumps. The gold border. Black background streaked with florescent lasers, deepened with shadowed geometry. Talk about a design match for ringing in a radical decade! These Team Checklists feature each club's logo. Blown-up and Lite-Brite bright. They pop.

Interesting to compare teams that have retained their classic emblem with clubs that have rebranded a bit. Fun to turn back the clock to the standard blue and red for the Kings and Nets. A basketball is featured on nearly every crest, either set as the center background or dribbled by a mascot, jockeyed for by the two animated L's in "Bullets", or finger rolled by a deer wearing a sweater with a B on it. Knicks, Lakers, Pistons and many other teams have maintained their iconic symbols over the years. And why would the Hawks ever stray from the raptor staring into a backward C? What a moment for me, to finally find the bird after seeing a only a Pacman-type character for years.

Team Checklists are also fun because, in a sense, with one card, you get the whole team. Names of players who have cards in the set are listed on the back. Making it easy to go back in time and reminisce about your favorite lineups - like Run TMC or the expansion Hornets or Magic.

Set Checklists are pretty sweet too. No wonder the decades' bests - '86 Fleer and '97 Metal Universe both have them. Having a list of players on cards is no where near the same as having each card in the set. But it clarifies an image of hoopsters framed by the classic red-orange and blue border or leaping through galactic wastelands that have been embossed with foil.

Upper Deck hitched onto the Team Checklist trend in 1991. Artist Alan Studt did all UD's team checklists in 92-93. Hand-done depictions of a team representative in action and close-up. And most include, along the bottom, draftsman's linework of the team's stadium! Sean Elliot and the Alamodome, Key Arena and Ricky Pierce. Ah, yes please.

It had been awhile since I found a budget chase. These art-forward throwbacks can be had on the cheap. So they're fun to handle recklessly, the way cards were intended. No protective sleeve or case. Just deal them out on the table. Shuffle them up. Pass the pile to a friend. Flip them against the wall. And yes! Why the heck not? Make bike spoke music.

Ever notice how that sounds like the ticking of an old camera that captured home movies on film? That soothing melody that echoed from projection rooms through the same era as these time-capsuled cards. Frames flicking off the big wheeling reel.