Marvel Zombies, this one's a genuine tactile oddity — 2017 Upper Deck's "Groot's Roots" wood parallel from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, card GR8, and yes, that's an actual etched-into-wood card, not a printed effect.

Baby Groot front and center, that iconic dancing pose burned right into the grain, with the full team — Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Drax — etched into the reverse alongside a genuinely fun collector callout: "Congratulations! You have received a Groot's Roots trading card and are now an honorary Flora Colossus!" That's the kind of playful, on-brand insert copy that makes this feel less like a chase card and more like a piece of merchandise you actually want to keep visible, not just filed away.

Wood cards occupy a specific niche in the hobby — they're novelty by design, but the tactile, one-of-a-kind grain pattern on each individual card means no two copies look perfectly identical, which is a scarcity angle standard cardboard just can't replicate. Combine that with a character whose merchandising popularity has genuinely only grown since 2017, and you've got a lasting crossover appeal between GOTG loyalists and novelty-format collectors.

This is exactly the kind of insert that photographs fine but hits completely different in hand — the etched texture is the whole point, and it's not something a picture fully sells.