I have been toying with the idea of how to showcase some of my collection in ways other than flat scans presented here on The Rolen Collection. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times; some cards just look better in-person (or photographs) as opposed to the scans I've added to this site.
For several months now I have taken photographs of some of my cards and posted them on Instagram and I knew I wanted to do something similar for my website without taking away from the uniformity of my collection on the gallery pages.
What I have come up with is this: Spotlight! I'm not sure how often I will post these, but I will attempt to make it fairly regular (until I run out of shiny cards to showcase here anyway.) I will also attempt to take the best photos I can of the cards to present them here for your viewing pleasure! Hopefully I can fully capture the essence of what it is that attracts me to these beautiful shiny cards.
1999 Metal Universe - BaseballCardPedia
Release date: January 1999
MSRP: $2.69/pack
Insertion Ratio: Unknown
Precious Metal Gems are grail cards for most 90s collectors. I have had these two cards on my Top 10 want list for a very long time. I would have been elated to land one or the other, but now I have both of them in my collection thanks to my friend, Michael!
Obviously the true beauty of these two cards cannot be captured in scans and honestly, you almost can't even capture all of their shininess in photographs!
These cards are highly condition sensitive due to the foil used on the fronts. To compound that issue, the holographic foil that was used makes any little mark or chip even more noticeable.
But overall, I really like the design of these cards. Each of them features embossing - Rolen's last name on the front of the card along with the rivets that make up the steel plate running the length of the top are embossed on card #188. On card #277, the MLPD logo is embossed. That little added layer of texture makes the light bounce off of them differently when the card is moved around in your hand.
Check back soon for another card featured on Spotlight!