Cards Used to Come in Soup Cans. Bring That Back.

In 1997, Pinnacle sealed ten baseball cards in a cellophane pack and put the pack inside a metal soup can. Collectors needed a can opener to get to their cards.

There were 24 different baseball cans featuring players such as Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn. Pinnacle even supplied branded can openers to hobby dealers.¹

The packaging was more memorable than the cards

The 150 cards inside were never worth much. Each can cost about $3 in 1997.¹ A raw Pinnacle Inside Ken Griffey Jr. still sells for $1 to $2. This January, a sealed Griffey can sold for $2.²

Beckett bought a 48-can case for $100 at a card show and ran a case break of it on Aug. 26, 2026.³

Derek Jeter's 1997 Pinnacle Inside can next to the matching base card.

A factory-sealed 1998 Pinnacle Inside Ken Griffey Jr. can.

The 1990s treated packaging like part of the product

Topps tried metal packaging too. It produced Screenplays cards in collectible tins in 1997 and commemorative Roberto Clemente tins in 1998. The Clemente program used four different tins based on classic Topps card designs, with a hermetically sealed commemorative card inside.⁴

Pinnacle expanded the can concept beyond baseball. Football cards came in 28 different player cans, with autographs inserted roughly one in 251 cans. The inaugural 1997 WNBA set also used player cans, including stars from the league's first season.⁵

The can gave collectors a second thing to chase. A Griffey collector wanted both the card and the can, with the empty can staying on the shelf after the rip.

Opening one took a can opener, which turned the rip into its own event. Card companies now spend real money to make an opening look different on a breaker's stream.

The can lost the fight for shelf space

The cans took up far more shelf space than ordinary packs and boxes. Hobby shops and retailers had trouble displaying and storing them. Collectors also faced an odd dilemma: leave a favorite player can sealed for display, or open it and possibly discover one of the scarce Diamond Edition parallels inside.¹

Shelf space matters less now. Topps sells direct online, sealed product moves through live breaks and collectors pay up for boxes that look different. A cylinder still costs more to ship than a rectangle, but it no longer has to win three inches of shelf at the local card shop.

I'd also fix the can itself. A pull tab can replace the kitchen opener, with the foil pack held in a tray so the cards don't rattle around inside.

Topps already knows collectors still like tins

Topps sold 2025 Series 1 baseball tins with 59 cards per tin, exclusive variations and six tins per box. The product sold out on Topps. Holiday Baseball also used collector tins alongside Advent Calendars and Mega Boxes.⁶

Topps has another round of tins coming. Retailers list 2026 Topps Holiday Baseball, sold in 59-card hobby tins with three to a box, for Oct. 21.

Tins don't have to carry a weak checklist either. The Series 1 Celebration Mega Box already carries short prints, exclusive parallels and cards numbered down to 1/1.⁷

A rectangular tin of 59 cards is still a box. Pinnacle Inside built the product around the container, with player art on every can and a can opener to get inside.

Cans should come back for one or two releases a year

Flagship already comes as Hobby, Jumbo, Breaker, Mega, Blaster, Hanger, Value, Fanatics Exclusive and Sapphire. A Soup Can edition of the same 400 cards would just be one more box. The can works only if it's rare enough that the package tells you what's inside. Here's where I'd use it:

1. The WNBA's 30th season in 2027. The first WNBA Pinnacle Inside set in 1997 came in cans. A tribute release would tie straight back to the league's first year.
2. Topps Archives or Heritage. Both lines already sell nostalgia, with player cans fitting the throwback.
3. A small 1990s insert revival with a tight premium checklist, where the can is part of the throwback.
4. Not Flagship. Too many formats already compete for the same collector.
5. Not a four-figure premium product. A soup can loses its charm once it becomes luxury packaging.

Here's the can I'd buy: 10 to 12 cards, 12 to 24 player cans, a pull-tab lid and a pack that can't move inside. Keep the checklist tight so the can is worth keeping after the rip.

The hobby has enough boxes

Rectangular boxes stack well, ship cheaply and look good on a breaker's wall.

Pinnacle went bankrupt in July 1998, a year after Inside came out. Retailers had struggled to stock the cans the whole time.⁸

If Topps puts cards in a can again, I'd buy the first one. Until then, the cheapest way to own the idea is a sealed 1997 Griffey can. One sold for $2 in January.