Somehow I've traveled to Cooperstown!

I bought, back in November 24 2012 Panini Cooperstown rack packs.

I've made the impossible to hold myself and keep them safe to only open on Christmas.

I was such a good girl that after opening all the gifts I almost forget to open these packs (and the hockey ones too).

As you might notice in the blog's top menu bar I haded a page with the '2012 Panini Cooperstown - base cards wantlist'.

Since the first moment I saw this set I wanted badly to have it. So finally I got the packs for a reasonable price and finally get them.

I thought that in 24 packs I might get almost the entire base set complete (170 cards is quite manageable). I was not quite right because I got more dups than I was expecting.

But what made me a bit sad was how difficult it was to get inserts.

I know the inserts are called that because the sets have less cards than the base set and the cards are more difficult to get.

But you all at Panini could have made it a bit less difficult!

And what bothered me even most was that I got dups for inserts! So they are less and even when I get one is the same I got 10 packs before!? That's a big no-no...

Or, as I usually say, the cardboard gods don't like me that much =(

But lets see, none the same, what I got.

Starting with one of my favourite and truly want-it-badly insert.

The card on the post top is one example of a great ballpark card. I have some of this from the Phill Rizzuto's pastime set which is the first thing that came to my mind when I saw Panini had similar cards in Coopertown.

This is also one of the examples for a dup card. So if you need it to complete the set or simply want it. Let me know and we'll trade.

Next I got the Field Generals card, doubled again!

Again it comes to my mind an other set I've seen before: Masked Marauders from 1998 Collector's Choice Upper Deck.

It's just me or I cannot figure out to where Ray Shalk is looking at in the photo on the right of the front?

I'm already with 4 insert cards but only half counts.

I knew Clemente was a great player but I confess I didn't know the tragic way, and how soon, he died.

I also didn't know that they could pass the 5 year waiting and simply honour Clemente into the HoF.

That's why I prefer and love so much more having (useful and historical) trivia in card's back.

(Have you read that Topps!?)

High Praise insert is way cool!

I like the quote on the front.

I only got horizontal cards but I'm not sure if they are all like this but I think so. If that's true is a +10 for the insert set. Even more because my binders are 8 pockets in horizontal manner. So these cards look even better in the binder without the need to turn the neck to see them.

And I've never had a card with such a young Nolan Ryan.

A baseball card with no photo/picture is something always 'danger'.

In a set like this is not that danger but might be questionable. A small player photo on the card, even if it was only on the back, could've been possible.

But I'm ok with it.

Just wonder why Clemente has (Walker) written that way?

But after the Credentials set why do we need the Induction set? Or vice-versa?

To me it seems a bit redundant.

And here, in the Induction set they have a photo. But they seem to have the lozenge hanging by their heads!

Like those hangers to put on the door saying 'Do not disturb!'.

And the photo on the back (not talking of it being a crop from the one in the front instead of a different one) looks like they wanted to hide the cap because of the missing license to show MLB symbols but...ohhhhhh wait...They don't have caps!

So, I think I prefer the Credentials set to this Induction set.

And last, but by no means the least, I got a Village insert.

It's James Fenimore Cooper Statue card. I like the back in Post Card format. Are all of them like this?



I was hoping of getting Museum Pieces or a With Honors insert and that disappointed me a bit. But it's ok.

And it seems the Credentials insert odds are 2 per box? I got 3. Ok again. Shame for the dups but then again, dups are not that bad because I can trade them to someone.

Just trying to see the positive side of it.


I liked Panini Cooperstown set not quite because of the inserts (exception for the Ballparks) but mainly for the base set: concise and well implemented (being black and white and the hiding MLB logos thing).

But the inserts are ok and add more 'juice' to the collection.