While I am mainly a vintage collector, occasionally a modern set will cach my fancy. 2000 through 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game fall into that category. As does the 2009 through 2011 Tristar Obak sets that were issued to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the original T212 Obak tobacco cards. Back in December, I happened across an uncut sheet of the 2011 Obak cards on eBay for a less than $50 delivered. So, I got it and took it in to be framed. I got it back today.
It is not the complete base set, just the regular print run cards. The 2011 base set consisted of 120 cards, the last 10 of which were short prints. This sheet is the other 110 cards.
The Obak sets were mainly normal sized trading cards, but each included a subset of T212 minis, which were essentially duplicates of some of the main set cards, but in the size of the 1909-1911 tobacco card originals. For some reason, I had it in my mind that the sheet was the minis, though I have no earthly idea why I thought that. Since this the full size base set, it is huge. I am going to have to think about how/where to put it in my home office/card room.
Since I maintain two player collections, I am constantly looking for new cards for those players. At this point, it is a rare occurrence to find something I don't have. I do occasionally run across art cards, which are non-licensed cards generally produced by independent artists, and I will often buy them. But, I tend to run hot and cold on these cards. Let's take a look at why that is.
These Edward Vela cards are very nice. The reference to being a giclée print means they were digital images printed using an inkjet printer. That is fine because these are well done. Vibrant colors, glossy finish, and on a heavy stock of similar weight to licensed trading cards.
My only complaint about these cards, and it is a minor one, is the images. Since I am looking through all new Paul Blair listings on Ebay daily, these images are familiar to me. Each are commonly seen on 8x10s for sale. Further, card #2 is the same image used on the 1999 and 2001 Fleer Greats of the Game cards for Blair, in addition to the 2003 AT&T Heroes to Heroes card. Overall though, this is minor gripe. These cards sell for $5 to $10, so I would expect that the process is basically running a digital image through some Photoshop filters to render them like paintings.
This card, part of my Johnny Antonelli PC, was a major disappointment. The stock is similar to what is used on greeting cards. Heavier than construction paper, but much thinner than normal trading card stock. Additionally, as you can see, the colors aren't very bright, almost as if the printer was running out of ink. I like custom cards with backs, but this one is uninspiring.
This is my latest art card pickup. This is generally a really nice card. Nice stock, well designed, bright colors. It falls into the "cards that never were" genre. The final series of 1959 Topps baseball included cards for a number of that years All-Star game participants. While Antonelli was on the team representing the Giants, he didn't have a card in that subset. This art card corrects that. My only complaint about this card? The back is blank. Since this card was $5 delivered, I get that the artistic process needs to be limited in order to make this a profitable venture. However, I would have gladly paid $10 or more for this card with a printed back.
There is another art card seller on Ebay that also has a Johnny Antonelli card available. I haven't purchased the card because, even though the card image is quite well done, the listing description reads as follows:
"THIS IS A NOVELTY CARD THAT IS CUSTOM MADE. IT HAS NO VALUE, IT IS FOR COLLECTING ONLY. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT A CUSTOM CARD IS, PLEASE BUY FROM SOMEONE ELSE. THESE CARDS ARE THE SAME SIZE AS A NORMAL CARD BUT NOT AS THICK. IF YOU WANT A THICK CARD THEN BUY FROM SOMEONE ELSE. IF YOUR GOING TO DISPLAY YOUR CARD IN A TOPLOADER, WHY DOES IT MATTER HOW THICK IT IS. IT WILL LOOK GREAT. CARDS ARE MADE ON 140LB CARD STOCK"
Maybe I am just a different version of curmudgeon, but the combination of thin stock and negativity just turns me off. I'll buy from someone else.
Finally, there is one other art card in my collection and has been so for 6 years. It came to me from Cardboard Junkie. You can read about it here.
So, to my half a dozen or so readers, how do you feel about art cards? Do you add them to your collection?
What I am listening to: Rolling in the Deep by Adele.
Since it seems to be the trend out in the blogosphere, I spent a little time pawing through the discount boxes at the show I went to a couple weekends ago. I didn't have much in mind other than to find some things that I liked and maybe find some trade bait.
Three sepia parallels from 2010 Triple Threads. I really like Triple Threads designs and have picked up some of these base cards previously. I don't like Triple Threads enough to actually buy it off the shelf, but I'll be happy to grab cards out of the discount boxes. I particularly like the Berra card with the bat in motion.
2004 Topps Tribute Cool Papa Bell. I just like it. It also reminds me that I wanted to do some reading about the old Negro Leagues.
1975 SSPC card 616 - Willie Mays. I like the simplicity of the SSPC cards, although the backs are kinda phoned in (IMO.) At some point, I'd like to actually put the set together. But, I have too many sets that I am in the process of building now. Perhaps after I finish the Topps 1970s sets, I'll loop back and work on this and the next set.
1979 TCMA 1950s Ernie Banks and Willie Mays. As I said a moment ago, this is another set I would like to work on at some point. I like the simple front and the back is almost identical to that of 1952 Topps.
1973 Juan Marichal. It is in pretty good shape and given that I'll probably work on 1973 in earnest next year, it was a bargain at 50 cents.
1969 Topps Deckle Edge Ron Santo. A neat little card that is part of a 33 card insert set (actually 35, since cards 11 and 22 come in two versions with different players.) I am not sure if the 69 Deckles were the first modern insert set or not, but they are surprisingly affordable. This one was found in a dollar box. I've added these cards to the list of sets I'd like to work on...........some day.
1965 Dodgers Rookie Star card. There was one seller with a huge box of cards from the early to mid 1960s for a dollar apiece. I bought this on the hope that Night Owl needed it (he did.) But, even if he didn't need it, I would be happy to have it. That "picture" of John Purdin is freaky, isn't it? Al Ferrara is all, like, "Dude?!?!!?!? WTF!??!!?!??"
This is another card picked up with Night Owl in mind. He probably has it already, but this card is so awful, so terribly bad, that I couldn't not buy it. I mean, WTH? Did Upper Deck do a whole series of cards of players dressed up like 1930s gangsters, or is it just this card? Either way, this is definitely on my list of worst cards ever.
Wow. Yesterday was quite the day. When I opened up the mailbox at the end of the day, I found four packages of cards awaiting me. There were two single card EBay purchases and two large trade packs. I am not going to cover the trade packs in this post. The generosity of the two trading partners was significant and deserves to have their own posts. I intend to get to them before I leave town on Saturday for a getaway weekend, which is followed immediately by a week long business trip. But, for now, here I am going to cover the two single cards I received for my Paul Blair player collection.
That is a 1971 Carl Aldana card. I haven't been able to locate a lot of information about it. While Google turns up alot of information about Aldana, it is mostly about his "traditional" art work. Near as I can tell, Aldana did a set of cards like this for the Baltimore Orioles in 1971. Beyond that, I haven't found much out in my (admittedly) limited research.
So, what is this? Looks like a run-of-the-mill 1977 Topps card, doesn't it? It is. And it isn't. This is Paul Blair's actual 1977 Topps card:
The first card is actually Blair's 1977 Burger King Yankees card, printed by Topps and distributed at area BK restaurants. With the exception of the card number, the backs of the two cards are identical right down to the same cartoon. But, obviously, they show Paul on two different teams. Both photos were taken in Yankee Stadium, though it appears on different days (thus, no airbrushing.) The sky in the Yankees pictures is overcast, while the Orioles card shows a partly cloudy sky.
Blair was traded from Baltimore to New York on January 20, 1977 for Rick Bladt and Elliott Maddox. At the time, his offensive output was down significantly and he was in the waning days of his career. With the Yankees, the eight time Gold Glove winner was mainly an late inning defensive replacement with occasional starts when one of the regular outfielders was spelled. It was in the former role that Blair played a role in one of the more infamous episodes in baseball.
On June 18, 1977, Yankee manager Billy Martin thought that Reggie Jackson was loafing in right field and had, consequently, allowed Jim Rice to leg what should have been a single into a double. Billy sent Blair out as a mid-inning replacement. What ensued when Jackson returned to the dugout was a nationally televised confrontation between the slugger and the manager (who was a slugger of a different type.) You can read the contemporaneous account in this Phil Pepe article.
