And I can give you lots of reasons why (guest post from Dad!)

Nick's dad here...I'm fascinated in the differences in modern-day card collecting compared to my collecting years (basically mid-70s to early 80s)...all those inserts and variations!..all those "hitz"!

With that in mind,I was recently gifted a full box of the Panini Beach Boys cards..These were issued to tie in to their ill-fated "reunion" a few years back..and now i have a little first-hand window into modern day collecting...

I LOVE the Beach Boys,and really enjoy this set. Nice shots of the group from all their eras.

All the core members are well represented,with again,pics throughout the many years...Brian,Carl,Dennis,Al,Mike..also Bruce (who joined mid 60s)....and....

David Marks!?...He was an original Beach Boy,but was replaced by Al Jardine within 18 months of them signing a contract...since Carl and Dennis are no longer with us,he was roped into the reunion,despite not having anything to do with them for almost 50 years!

Aside from the base cards having "variations" of a little gold surfer dude in the corner (not shown) there's LOADS of inserts...from "etchings",both gold & silver..

To both "gold record" and plain ol' "on the record"...

And,like so many baseball sets Nick has shown me,some superfluous inserts..I mean,"Sounds Of Summer"?...doesn't that cover almost ALL their hit singles!?

Of course...it seems every baseball set nowadays waves the carrot of "look for autos!" and "look for relics!"...and this set is no different! I didn't nab any autographs (from what i saw on Ebay,a Brian Wilson auto card is going for 2-300 bucks!) ,and since the other Wilson brothers Carl & Dennis aren't represented in autographs or relics, i did as good as can be on the "Concert Gear" relic cards - Brian & Al!...my friend who gave me this box was pissed..his box contained a Bruce Johnston autograph and a Mike Love relic,haha!!

I have to admit,though i can do without all the minor variations of the same basic cards,the inserts and such make opening each pack exciting...and a far cry from the pack after pack of "got it,got it,got it,got it" from my collecting days...so what i'm trying to say is...it was (yeah,ya knew it was coming) Fun,Fun,Fun!