[ckrakowski]

When did inserts arrive? Was it the early 90s with the Ted Williams and Nolan Ryan and Henry Aaron autos from upper deck. If you bought a case of 1987 topps all you got were base cards and no inserts. Now if you buy a case you get more inserts then you can handle.

[zeprock]

The cards themselves were inserts when they first started to appear in tobacco and gum products. When I first started buying packs of Topps in 1970, each pack came with a mini comic book or mini poster as an insert. I believe Topps included inserts as far back as 1961 when they inserted a pair of baseball stamps into each pack of cards.

[djohn]

It really just depends on how you want to define the term "insert". As zeprock pointed out baseball cards used to be the added insert. Even after tobacco cards were gone, baseball cards were used as inserts to sell gum and candy. As the industry grew and people actually started buying packs for the cards themselves, the companies started inserted bonus items with the cards. These bonus items included all sort of things like stickers, posters, stamps, etc. Eventually special cards were made and inserted into every pack. As time went on these special cards were inserted randomly and were not guaranteed 1 per pack, but rather random bonuses throughout. Thus, pinpointing the exact 1st insert would really depend on how you want to define an insert. The first autographed baseball card insert was the 1990 Upper Deck Reggie Jackson card. The first series of serial numbered baseball card inserts was 1991 Donruss Elite. It was a combination of the Jackson autograph and the Elite cards that really made insert cards explode and change the dynamics of card collecting. Before them, people were mostly buying boxes to put together sets. After that people were buying boxes to try and find the inserts.
As per your note about 1987 Topps, it just depends on what kind of box you bought. The rack packs had an All-Star insert card one per pack. Also in 1987 Fleer inserted stickers 1 per pack as well as randomly inserted All-Star cards, and Donruss inserted puzzle pieces in their wax packs. However this was going on well before 1987, I just chose that year in response to your comment about not getting anything from a case of 1987 Topps.

[jumper4d8]

The cards began as inserts in the 1880s, many of them in tobacco products which eventually gave way to cards being inserted in to candy/gum packages in the 1930s. Going back to those cards in the 1880s+ they included a coupon that could be filled out and sent in with some money to purchase an album for the cards. In 1933 you could send in wrappers from the 1933 Goudey and receive the #106 Nap Lojoie, the only way you could get the card, so I guess that would be considered the first redemption card.

There were things like stamps and tattoos inserted through the 60s in to the 70s but I think the first card inserts would be the 80s. I remember the early 1980s Topps Football products having like the 1,000 Yard Club inserts.

[uvaspina]

The first time I remember getting a true "insert" (in my mind--being a numbered card) was the 1991 or 1992 Topps "Gold." I plucked a scrub Indian but I was absolutely FLOORED. Thought I had struck the jackpot.

I'd be curious to know more about the history of inserts/SNs in the 1990s. That was an era that I collected in but wasn't really aware of anything besides the flagship products. I'm always stunned to see the cool inserts (etc.) that were released in the mid to late 90s that I knew nothing about.

[bengalsandreds]

The first time I remember getting a true "insert" (in my mind--being a numbered card) was the 1991 or 1992 Topps "Gold." I plucked a scrub Indian but I was absolutely FLOORED. Thought I had struck the jackpot.

Same here. 1992 Topps Gold. Me and my friend each bought one pack each from a grocery store and I pulled Tom Brunansky. There was only one per box, so like you I thought I hit the jackpot.

[djohn]

The first time I remember getting a true "insert" (in my mind--being a numbered card) was the 1991 or 1992 Topps "Gold." I plucked a scrub Indian but I was absolutely FLOORED. Thought I had struck the jackpot.

I'd be curious to know more about the history of inserts/SNs in the 1990s. That was an era that I collected in but wasn't really aware of anything besides the flagship products. I'm always stunned to see the cool inserts (etc.) that were released in the mid to late 90s that I knew nothing about.

The 1992 Topps Gold were not serial numbered. The first serial numbered insert card was the 1990 Upper Deck Reggie Jackson Heroes autograph card, which was hand numbered to 2500. In 1991 Donruss inserted Elite cards which were numbered to 10,000 a piece. These were the first numbered insert set, as the Reggie Jackson was just a single card and the non-autographed versions were not serial numbered. In 1992 a set of football cards was put out by Collector's Edge, where the entire set was serial numbered. Today most people don't even realize that the long string of numbered on the back of those cards is actually their serial number. Serial numbered took off from there, though for several years card companies kept the serial numbering around 1,000 or so of any given card. Then in the mid to late 90s, the trend came in to see how low a card company could go. Thus in 1997 Fleer issued the 1/1 via the 1997 Flair Showcase Masterpiece.

[Bruce3D]

I did about ten minutes of research on BaseballCardpedia, but it looks like the first inserts as we know them today were found in 1985 Topps. It had a 22-card set, Glossy All-Stars, inserted one per rack pack.

On a side note, I looked up this insert set on comc.com, and they look familiar. I have a Craig Kimbrel card in the same design. I think maybe 2011 Topps Lineage did an insert set for rookies with the same design?

[chevy man 22]

Didn't Fleer have the team logo stickers in the early 80's that we all stuck on our notebooks ? Those are the earliest modern day inserts that I remember. And by insert I mean included in packs but not part of the official set.

[magicpapa]

Didn't Fleer have the team logo stickers in the early 80's that we all stuck on our notebooks ? Those are the earliest modern day inserts that I remember. And by insert I mean included in packs but not part of the official set.

Pack Pulled, back in the Day