The Origins Of A Cardboard Addict:I'll Stand By You

I'll stand by you,
I'll stand by you, won't let nobody eat you,
I'll stand by you......no bake cookies

It was the 1990's and I was introduced for the very first time to an appealing dessert called no bake cookies. Wait...What? Cookies you don't have to bake? Am I eating raw egg? Should I dare try some? Well, I did and they were wonderful. As a kid, I would have eaten anything with the word cookie in it but these were by far the bomb superior of cookies.

My friend Aaron's mom made two wonderful versions of the cookie with chocolate (somehow plain chocolate without peanut butter in it) and peanut butter. I would go over to his house sometimes just to eat some of his moms food. I am sure I wasn't the only kid who would spend a night at a friends house to eat their moms food.

Ever since then, I have stood by No Bake Cookies making my own today. I can perfectly nail down the peanut butter version, but for some reason or another, I cannot do the plain chocolate ones. I have tried every recipe as well. I used some with some peanut butter in it, some chocolate chips and even baking cocoa and they never harden and are runny. Not that eating a spoonful isn't bad, but it's not the same as eating a cookie.

At least 90's insert/parallels  don't require a recipe and stay firm on their own. They always come out the same no matter which brand I get.

There was nothing better than pulling a 90's inserts/parallels and I will Stand By that statement all day long. I would take any of them over pulling a player worn single color jersey swatch any day.

In one of my Wes' mail days, it took me back to revisiting some of those great inserts/parallels. It brought me back to a time when the hobby was simpler and more fun. A time when base cards looked better than the inserts of today. A time when inserts were valuable and worth the time of finding them. A time when parallels were more than just a color change on a border or background. A time when the hobby wasn't about making money, it was about collecting because it was a hobby. A time I will always stand by and collect.

Here are some of those inserts/parallels. They don't need captions or words. They just need your eyes. Because once you look at them, it's hard to turn away.They stand by themselves.

 

 

You see what I mean now don't you?

The cards above are one of my reasons I find myself going back to the 90's to collect. And to be honest, it's even more fun now landing those cards. I understand the hobby better now and what I am seeing.

I can stand by 90's inserts, but can't stand by Aaron's moms cooking anymore as sleepovers are not a thing for adults and it may be a little weird if I showed up to his mom's house to do one.I am sure she still cooks great but can't stand by that as I do with the 90's inserts/parallels.

I'll stand by you 90's inserts,
I'll stand by you, won't let nobody take you,
I'll stand by you!!!!!!!!!!!

(I'll Stand By You was a great song by The Pretenders in 1994. If you haven't heard it, go check it out)