Baseball Cards Made With Wood

Does wood seem like a good material with which to make baseball cards? The major card makers in the mid-1990's thought so, at least for a couple of years. I have a handful of cards using wood from 1996-1997 and I've seen none since.

1996 Leaf Picture Perfect #7 Ken Griffey

This was a 12-card set inserted 1:40 packs in 1996 Leaf. The cards were serial numbered on the back to 5,000. The card is a thin slice of wood mounted on white cardboard. Although it looks like there is a cutout in the wood with the picture printed on the cardboard, that's just the design. It's solid wood on the front. If you look closely you can see the wood grain in the player photo. I actually have two of these. I paid $4.50 for the Griffey in 2005 but only 81 cents for the Bagwell in 2007. I think I got the Bagwell in a deal with other Bagwell cards.

1996 Leaf Picture Perfect #9 Jeff Bagwell

1996 Leaf Limited Lumberjacks #5 Alex Rodriguez

This was an insert in the 1996 Leaf Limited set. This card is all wood, with a heavy glossy finish on the back. Also numbered to 5,000. I paid $7.84 for this on eBay in 2004.

1996 Pinnacle Aficionado Magic Numbers #10 Matt Williams

Another all wood card but without the heavy gloss finish on the back. This was inserted 1:72 packs of 1996 Pinnacle Aficionado. I acquired this on eBay in 2009 for $3.50.

1997 Leaf Knot-Hole Gang #4 Tony Gwynn

Unlike the Leaf Picture Perfect above, there actually is a cutout in the wooded front to see the photo printed on the cardboard backing. You probably figured that out. I really like this card. I got it for $4.00 on eBay in 2003. This was inserted in 1997 Leaf Series 1.

1997 Stadium Club Firebrand #1 Jeff Bagwell

Not only made of wood, but it features the other cool tech at the time, laser cutting. All of the text and logos on the front are in gold foil. I got this via mail-order redemption in 1997.

1997 Topps Team Timber #14 Albert Belle

Another all wood card but with a heavy gloss on the front and a lighter gloss on the back. I also have the Bagwell card. I pulled both from packs of Topps in 1997. Pretty good considered they were inserted 1:36 packs.

1997 Upper Deck Amazing Greats #18 Mo Vaughn

Upper Deck had their own wooden cards. This has a wood front and an acetate backing. The player photo shows through a cutout in the wood. This 20-card set was inserted at 1:69 in 1997 Upper Deck. I paid $5.00 for this in 2005.