The Portland Pickles are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Portland, Maine that has developed a niche following for their uniquely irreverent brand and marketing strategies. While the team itself has only been in existence since 2010, the Pickles have made a name for themselves through zany promotions, offbeat jersey designs, and novel merchandise offerings – including their collector baseball cards.
The Pickles first started producing official team baseball cards in 2012 as a fun new collectors’ item for fans. The initial series had traditional front and back card designs portraying Pickles players from that season with stats and short bios. The cards took on a noticeably cheekier tone than typical baseball cards through humorously posed action shots, goofy nicknames printed below names, and other whimsical touches. For example, one card featured a player sliding into third base with a pickle slice photoshopped onto his cap.
The offbeat presentation was a hit with Pickles supporters looking to display their fandom in a distinctive, non-traditional way. It also spurred interest from collectors beyond just Pickles fans who appreciated the refreshingly lighthearted take on typical solemn baseball card traditions. The team saw the potential and have since continued and expanded their baseball card offerings each year, getting more creative with their designs, jokes, and limited edition variants.
In 2013, the Pickles upped the ante with a larger 250-card ‘Turnip the Beets’ season set showcasing that year’s roster along with bonus promotional cards and rare parodies. Notable inserts included ‘Sultan of Swat’ Babe Ruth accidentally stepping onto a pickup truck filled with pickles and ‘Say Hey Kid’ Willie Mays getting smacked in the face with a flying vegetable. Regional hobby shops and card shows began stocking Pickles cards as a novelty conversation piece.
For 2014, the team rolled out multiple series totaling over 500 unique cards. The flagship ‘Far Out Furloughs’ base set was complemented by promotional mini-sets like ‘Scrub a Dub Dub’ showering players in bubble bath and a sparkly ‘Glitz and Glamour’ portraits set. Insert chases included hit streak parallels and jersey relic cards with threads cut from actual Pickles jerseys. An insert poking fun at Topps Project 70 portraying players in wild retro fashion really caught collectors’ attention.
By 2015, the Pickles had firmly cemented themselves as the premier producer of offbeat, humor-infused baseball cards. Their ‘Haute Dog’ series took cues from premium hockey and basketball card products with intricate parallel designs, autograph and memorabilia cards, stunning photography, and insert sets riffing on iconic card themes. A massive checklist spanned jumbo oversized cards, retro reprints, and rare concept parodies. Mobile apps were created for virtual card packs, checklists and community forums.
Since then, each new Pickle cards release has become a highly anticipated summer event. 2016’s ‘Dilly Dilly’ base set and associated parallels sold out at card shops. An insert set imagining MLB stars as caricatured ‘super heroes’ found a cult following. In 2017, a massive insert checklist included silly player photo fakes à la UD Black Diamond and a poke at Legendary Cuts feautring vegetables. For 2018, the team even created a mock trading card game like Magic or Pokémon involving Pickles players and wacky veggie-themed attacks.
While the lighthearted takes on baseball cards have certainly ruffled feathers of staunch traditionalists defending the supposed sanctity of the hobby, the Pickles have clearly tapped into something that resonates. Their cards are popular novelties to showcase team pride, gifts for fellow collectors, or conversation pieces. They’ve brought new fans into the fold who may have otherwise overlooked a minor league team. Limited parallels and inserts create intrigue for chasing complete rainbow sets. Most importantly, they exemplify how embracing a quirky persona and not taking things too seriously can cultivate passionate fan engagement.
Going forward, the Pickles have shown no signs of slowing down their creative streak. Upcoming 2019 card designs continue pushing boundaries, whether commemorating franchise anniversaries or putting unique spins on iconic sets like Topps Project 2020, Stadium Club, and Tribute. Partnering with other indie companies means special co-branded cards as well. As long as the Pickles maintain their irreverent identity, their wild collector batos remain a must-follow staple of the summer card season and epitomize grassroots buzz marketing strategy success.
