2012 Leaf Memories #80 Gold Variation

Card Review: 7.8 (but really, just a middle finger to Leaf)  Let's be straight about this, this is a 1990 Leaf.  Literally.  It's not a new card, not a reprint, it's twenty four years old.  Leaf just put some new foil stamping on an old card.  In the card collecting world that I grew up in, that makes a card less valuable, not more.  For more on this money-grab of a set, read what I wrote about the "base" card by clicking this link.  Once again, my OCD forced me to pay $2 for this card on ebay, plus $3 in shipping (I'd be looking to rip people off too if I paid $135 for a 12-card "box" of these).  I didn't even like this set in 1990, and feel it has only gotten uglier over the decades.

This gold variation is only numbered to five.  Very fancy.  Now I have one.  And if I'm being honest, I won't hesitate to buy the other four.  Unless they go for the kind of insane prices the "Super Special" one of one went for.  Then I will hesitate, and let the other Wallach collector in Texas pick it up.

Number of this card in my collection": 1*

*I also have 4 that have been stamped with numbers out of 20, and another 30 copies that are still in Mint Condition and haven't been defiled by Leaf stamping machines.

2012 Leaf Memories #80

Card Review: 7.9  Let's be straight, this is a 1990 Leaf.  Literally.  Leaf at some point confused a relative low production run with popularity and has taken to calling this bland/boring design iconic and groundbreaking.  I think they're confusing it with 1989 Upper Deck.  In any event, they bought a bunch of them back, stamped them with foil, and are reselling them at obscene prices.  Talk about balls. The following is lifted straight from the Leaf website (click for the full write-up):

"In the 20th Century, there are a number of sets which clearly stand out as both noteworthy and universally loved, 1990 Leaf was definitely one such set...Leaf’s last 2012 release is a salute to one of baseball’s greatest sets. With that, we introduce 2012 LEAF MEMORIES BASEBALL.

This exciting set is a wonderful combination of both original 1990 Leaf buybacks (specially foil stamped and numbered) and cards that never were in 1990 Leaf."

I don't know anyone that loves this set.  As kids, we all hated it, thought it heinous, it still is, it was just briefly desirable because of the price tag that went with it, and being from Cooperstown we got ton if it for free (Hall of Fame tie in with Donruss/Leaf, a friends dad was a bigwig w/the museum).

If you want to buy any of this crap, it's on sale for $134.95 a box.  Each box has 10 cards and 2 autographs.  If you do, let me know, and I'll send you a free red "Sucker" stamp to put on your forehead.  I'm still from the school of thought that says post-production additions to cards detract from them, be it a black sharpie drawn beard, or a silver stamp that reads "Leaf Memories."

Number of this card in my collection: 1 

2013 update: 4
2015 update: 5 

1990 Leaf #80

Card Review: 8.0  I was never wild about this set.  I found it bland, ordinary and of little interest to me.

I was also unaware of the perceived scarcity and corresponding frenzy over it.  Leaf/Donruss used to have a tie in with the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (maybe they still do).  One of my friends as a kid, had a father who was curator at the Hall of Fame.  As a result, he got a lot of free cards.  He wasn't much of a card collector and would let me and other kid help ourselves to copious amounts of cards that his father brought home.  Having access to so much of it, made it seem unimportant, and no one else our age was collecting it or talking about it.  It just seemed like a throwaway off brand.  I wasn't very savy at the time and remember going for Diamond Kings and All-Star cards from the Donruss base set over this Leaf set.  And since I wasn't wild about this set, I just took the Wallach's from my friends boxes full of Leaf.  My other friend was much more aware of hobby trends and took all the major pulls, something I became very envious of a few summers later when the cards from this set were selling for obscene amounts.

Fun Facts: *This was the first unique Leaf set.  Previous Leaf sets were identical to Donruss, but for the Leaf logo and french writing.
Number of this card in my collection: 5
2012 update: 8
2013 update: 24
2014 update: 68
2015 update: 77 
2016 update: 83
2017 update: 85
2018 update: 96
2019 update: 125

2020 update: 126

2021 update: 139
2022 update: 144

2023 update: 149

2024 update: 151

2025 update: 156

2026 update: 157