Every hobby

Insert

Also written: Insert set · Subset

A card with its own design and name, seeded into packs alongside the base set — not a version of a base card.

ConceptVocabulary rather than a finish

An insert is a card that shares a product with the base set but is not part of it. It has its own artwork, its own name, its own numbering scheme, and its own odds. Inserts are where manufacturers put their design ideas — themed series, illustrated cards, tribute sets — and they are often the most visually interesting cards in a box.

The thing that confuses people: inserts have parallels too. An insert can exist in a base version, several coloured versions and a one-of-one, exactly like a base card can. So "is it an insert or a parallel?" is the wrong question — a card can be a coloured parallel of an insert, and frequently is.

How to recognise one

The card number uses letters or a different format from the base set — a prefix, a hyphenated code, or a numbering that restarts.
The design shares nothing with the base cards in the same product.
It has a name printed on it, usually on the front, naming the insert series rather than the set.

Some insert series carry more market weight than the base set they ship with. When an insert becomes the reason people buy a product, it has become the chase card.