Fast Five: Card brands that Buzz wants to see return any time

Fast Five is new department here on The Buzz -- a quick list under a single topic. Five items that could have a common tie, fit a theme, be fun for a starting collector, or be a new way to add to a stash that might already seemingly include everything when it comes to cardboard. For some of you, it's probably common sense. For others of you out there, it's something to think about.

This time? Five brands from the past that I'd bring back now.

SAME APPROACH, NEW FORMAT
The Brand: Panini Americana non-sports cards
There might be some groans out there -- perhaps even from Dallas -- with my having this one leading off here. Why? These kinds of releases are a lot of work to create -- there's no union deal to help line up rights for those to appear in the set and help facilitate who might appear and sign autographs. It's been five years since the last Americana non-sports release and that was one that has really dried up now wax-wise. It's a brand that, with a format tweak, I could perhaps see do better now than back then. That last release was a traditional box format with a ton of packs, a few hits at a price that I'd argue was too high for what those non-hit packs delivered. (And, at times, even beyond some of the hits, too.) But the formula of celeb autos and mem cards is one that still works. What would I change? I'd avoid a drab design -- there's a reason I show a Blue foilboard parallel here and not one of the gray base cards -- and I'd put a hit in every pack in a smaller box ... something closer to Prestige NFL or Elite Extra Edition baseball in recent years or in Americana's earlier years. Or, perhaps a brand like this might even take a hits-only approach? Either way, there are a ton of big names who have had cards in the various editions of this line that arrived way back in 2007. To me, it's time for more.

NO STATS, PORTRAITS ... NON-TRADITIONAL
The Brand: Pro Line Portraits football cards
The first two years of NFL Pro Line were the best in my book -- meaty sets of cards without stats and many cards with memorable portraits that are just way different than other cards out there from that era of cardboard and, really, any other era of cards, too. These cards didn't have stats on the backs and instead had thoughts from the players themselves. My gut feeling is that the basic idea for this one back in the day was to sell some NFL Pro Line year -- a lot of players were wearing that (and a lot of Zubaz) in these sets -- but the real draw for collectors was an autograph arriving often (several times per case) that first year and in every single standard (not jumbo) box the second year. There are a lot of traditional card sets these days with nothing for stats on the back, so that once-taboo issue doesn't really apply now. What if this set were to arrive with autographs and memorabilia and a handful of cards in every pack, though? Or ... perhaps you apply the photo-driven approach atop, say, booklet cards for ink and memorabilia? Just a thought. Different could sell these days ... right? Imagine that card above with, say, Tom Brady, his rings and some ink ... it'd sell.

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EMBOSSED & FOLDED
The Brand: Action Packed -- any sport
Action Packed resides in the Panini America portfolio these days but the times the cards with that name have arrived lately did include two things that were a key back then -- embossing on all cards and 24k gold stamping on some inserts. I could take or leave the gold -- I'd rather have autographs as a chase element -- but the embossed effect here was an interesting one that, yes, is more costly to make, but was unique. These cards are actually printed on just one side of a sheet -- cut, folded and glued shut -- and that is probably why they haven't come back. (They're work.) When these were good they were good -- some sets, not so much. But, like the previous set mentioned above ... what if these arrived with some kind of autograph, memorabilia or booklet components involved? Action Packed had cards in baseball, football, basketball, wrestling and auto racing ... and they were different.

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THINK BIG
The Brand: Topps Big baseball cards
A Topps #TBT set last year revived this look -- this is the 1988 Topps Big design revisited -- but the short-lived run of this brand (1988-1990) was an attempt to revisit the slightly oversized cards of the 1950s with a design that was similar to 1956 Topps. I liked when one of these designs was revived as part of a Topps Heritage WWE set in recent years and I think it might do well as a buddy of Topps Heritage or some kind of insert/companion. The key is good photography where the images work well together. Another thought ... what about even bigger oversized cardboard? Could a set of 5-by-7 cards with ink in the mix work? And with that thought ... mmm Action Packed Mammoth -- I need some of those. (Imagine that Sanders card above as an 8-by-10 ... it happened. And they were spectacular.)

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WAY AHEAD OF ITS TIME
The Brand: Pro Set ... specifically 1990 NFL
Believe it or not, the last time I checked in recent years, somebody out there was still protecting the trademark rights to Pro Set even though we haven't seen a set with that name on it in more than 25 years. The company was ahead of its time -- but printed too much and didn't keep its blades sharp for cutting its super-skinny stock -- leaving a bad taste in many mouths. Its NFL run that began in 1989 and ended before it could release a full set in 1994 (just promos) but there are some real innovations in these sets that set the stage for a lot of what we see today. Forget all of those possibilities, though, the 1990 set -- its color-coded design, its inclusions, its checklist, its photography, its gimmicky subsets and inserts, boatloads of variations, its mix of history and modern-day ... it's a package that needs to be studied, ripped off and done all over again. I don't even need that same name ... just re-do what matters from this one. Then let's slap some autographs and memorabilia cards into the mix ... I'd rip it all day long and twice as long on Sunday.

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What would you want to see in a future Fast Five? Let Buzz know on Twitter or email.

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