2006 Giants Emerald Nuts - A Gem of a Set

I was recently able to pick up one of the two remaining Giants Emerald Nut team sets, this time from 2006.  As best as I can tell these sets were produced as stadium give aways from 2005 through 2012.  In 2013 Chevron took over as the sponsor and in 2014 it was Coca Cola.  The Giants 2015 promotional schedule includes socks, orange mustaches and a Hello Kitty bobble head but I don't see cards listed.  It would be sad for this Giants collector if these sets stop, I am hoping I just missed it or it will be a surprise give away.

This set from 2006 hadn't popped up for sale much and I jumped when I saw a set come up with a nice low starting bid.  I ended up scoring this set for less that $10 delivered, a steal in my opinion.  From a design perspective, I have to say this is my favorite Emerald Nuts team set. 

 I love the design, it resembles the 2006 Topps flagship set but has some great upgrades for the Giants.  First the white borders are replaced with orange - awesome!  The Giants team name at the top is a little larger and uses the font the team used which is a nice touch.  The two Giants logos on either side of the team name look great and finally the name banner is in orange as well.

 Here are a few of the 2006 flagship cards for comparison.  Another great element of this set versus other Emerald sets is that every card has a different picture from its Topps counterpart. 

In the flagship set, Steve Kline is pictured in his Orioles uniform, the update to a Giants uni is greatly appreciated.  Also note Giants playoff hero Travis Ishikawa is in this set from his first time with the Giants.  He and Matt Cain are the only two players from this set currently on the Giants.

 Similar to Kline, Matt Morris has an updated photo in a Giants uniform versus the Cardinals uniform in his flagship card.  Also this set includes Brian Wilson, the former bearded Giants closer.  He appears in a couple Topps releases in 2006 but doesn't have a card in the flagship set.

One of the best parts of these sets is the inclusion of the coaches.  While they don't get their own cards it is pretty cool to see retired players like Willie Upshaw, Mark Gardner and Dave Righetti appear on cards again.

I am down to needing the dreaded 2010 set that has both Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner rookies.  I missed out on one recently that went for a little more than I wanted to spend. Others keep popping up for $100 or $150 buy it nows and I won't do that. Hopefully I can track down a reasonably priced set soon and finish this quest.