The New Frankenset: Page #6

The last 24 hours have been the craziest in terms of sports events that I can recall. Virtually all events, including the rest of the NBA and NHL seasons as well as the much-anticipated March Madness, have been canceled.

Spring Training is finished and the MLB season will be delayed at least 2 weeks. College sports have also been shut down, but truthfully, the Coronavirus issue goes way beyond the sports world.

I don't want to get too much into the details of the pandemic. After all, this is a Baseball card blog, and my goal is simply to provide interesting content related to the greatest sport in the world.

However, it's imperative that everyone is aware of the symptoms and stays safe during the foreseeable future. Awareness and proper hygiene is the #1 thing that each and every one of us can do to prevent it from spreading even more.

Now that I've addressed the unavoidable, I would like to move onto the 6th page of my new frankenset, the subject of today's blog post. As I mentioned, my goal is to (when I can) write and provide interesting content about various topics within the hobby as well as Baseball as a whole.

Hopefully, this frankenset page, featuring cards #46-54, can do that, and we can all take a 5-minute break from thinking about the Coronavirus.

#46 1974 Kellogg's 3D Super Stars Bert Blyleven

My dream of a Kellogg's 3D card revival seems highly unlikely unless Topps reaches out to form a partnership, but I can't help but want something like that to happen given the caliber of the original cards from the 1970s and 80s.

In my eyes, Hostess and Kellogg's are the top oddballs in the history of the hobby, though I'd give the latter of the 2 the edge if it came down to it. Although a few designs, most notably those with blue borders, blend together in my mind, certain sets, like 1981, stand out to me.

#47 2007 Bowman Heritage Mark Teixeira

If Topps actually wanted last year's Bowman Heritage release to be a success, it should've come out earlier in the year (not at the same time as Bowman's Best, an anticipated and popular product), and they should've included a retail format so the set would appeal to a wider audience.

It's challenging for a lot of collectors, myself included, to get behind purchasing and collecting prospect cards. However, if Bowman used a more interesting format, like Heritage, they'd be able to draw my interest toward the entire field of prospect collecting.

#48 2016 Topps Stadium Club

Produced before he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Harold Baines' 2016 Topps Stadium Club card is one of my favorites from the entire set, and that's a bold statement given the sheer caliber of the '16 product, specifically the checklist and photography.

It's impressive enough when Topps captures shots of current players using all sorts of different angles and so on, but it's the enhanced photos from decades prior that elevate Stadium Club to the top tier of all releases.

#49 2005 Upper Deck ESPN Scott Podsednik

I feel like this collaboration between card producer Upper Deck and TV/news network ESPN had strong potential, but the duo failed to give the cards an identity/concept in addition to the modern design.

I'm not exactly sure how I would design/market these cards so that they were more than just a set with the name ESPN attached to them, but there's definitely a whole lot more that could've been done to enhance the quality.

#50 2003 Fleer Authentix Jorge Julio

Seeing this ticket emulation from Fleer Authentix brings me back to the same idea that I started this post by talking about: the fate of sports, particularly the new MLB season, in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak.

I'll be watching to see whether MLB pushes the schedule back to get all 162 games played or if they opt to cancel the first several weeks and, thus, have an abbreviated 2020 season.

As far as I know, something like this is unprecedented in its effects on sports, particularly baseball, so there's not necessarily a proper way to handle things.

#51 1984 Donruss Dave Winfield

First came Blyleven, then Baines, and now Dave Winfield: half of the first 6 cards of this page feature members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and while the final of the 3 doesn't have quite as interesting of a card, it's still nice to have some superstar representation.

I actually appreciate the choice to feature this type of image with the '84 Donruss design, one that allows for photographs to take up most of the card. With that being said, the set itself is rather uninspiring, so the pictures need to blow me away to make up for it.

#52 1966 Topps Power Plus

It doesn't matter if the condition is a little worse for wear or if I don't even collect either of the players featured: I will always have a profound appreciation for combo cards from the 50s, 60s, and 70s Topps sets, as well as the, recreates in today's Topps Heritage.

As fabulous as vintage Topps sets are, the base cards, like any set, can get rather repetitive after a checklist of several hundred. Breaking up the set to avoid becoming boring is essential, and that is exactly the role that combo cards like the one above play.

#53 2016 Panini Donruss Clayton Kershaw

It might just be my personal dislike for the 2016 Panini Donruss set, but I feel like this card stands out like a sore thumb among the rest of this page. Even the Podsednik and Winfield, 2 cards that I'm not exactly crazy about, fit better with the page than Kershaw's from '16 Donruss.

The reason for this, simply put, is licensing. The less than stellar design/photograph is only made worse because of the fact that Panini, to no fault of their own, cannot use the MLB logos.

Thankfully, they've stepped up their game in the years that have followed with products like Leather & Lumber and Prizm. Hopefully, MLB will reward them with the license as soon as Topps' exclusive rights end in a few years.

#54 1963 Topps Rookie Stars

Last up, a good old-fashioned rookie stars card from 1963, a title that seemed to almost doom the career of anyone it was applied to.

Although none of these guys became superstars in the MLB, it's certainly worth noting that Dave Debusschere eventually became a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The New Frankenset: Page #5

It's been a while since I last updated the frankenset series with another post, so I thought that highlighting page #5 would be the perfect way to transition back into a somewhat regular schedule for the blog after being gone for most of the week.

The scope of this page, which features cards #37-45, is more limited than it's been in the past. The 1980s-2010s are represented, but there's only 1 card from the 80s, and it's from '89.

This page might not be one of my favorites, but there's still a fair amount to address; now, let's get started.

#37 2015 Bowman Prospects Archie Bradley

I don't remember exactly when I made this frankenset, but I wish I had chosen something a little more interesting than a 2015 Bowman base card.

Both the set design and the photo aren't all that interesting, and the foil text that makes up the player's name on the side of the card is notoriously hard to read. Fortunately, the subsequent cards on page #5 are at least a little more appealing.

#38 2003 Topps Finest

Thankfully, Frank Thomas' 2003 Topps Finest card is much more interesting, so it looks like this page is heading in a positive direction. People have often referred to this design as somewhat of a "beehive" thanks to the hexagons scattered throughout the background.

Furthermore, I usually prefer to see home uniforms on cards as opposed to the road, but there's something about the grey jersey that compliments the design better, in my eyes, than white would have.

#39 1997 Fleer Million Dollar Moments Ron Blomberg

In 1997 and '98, Fleer placed redemption cards in their products of all different sports which could, ultimately, result in a lucky collector winning $1 million. While I'm not sure if anyone was actually victorious, at least the design is pretty neat.

Blomberg is an interesting choice for the checklist considering he's a lesser-known player compared to guys like Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken Jr, but it's also highlighting the moment which was the introduction of the designated hitter.

#40 2003 Topps Stadium Club Orlando Cabrera

I don't know if any of you have seen the set design for the 2020 Topps Stadium Club set, but I must admit that I'm super excited to get a sampling of it upon the release in June. The lowercase letters and small, colorful banners make for an extremely modern design.

All Stadium Club sets, for that matter, use stellar photography to create an incredibly modern end product, and the 2003 set is no exception. The only way I could improve this card is by choosing a photo of Cabrera with a powder blue Expos jersey.

#41 2015 Bowman Matt Shoemaker

There's nothing else I want to say about the 2015 Bowman design, so I'll instead talk about Matt Shoemaker, the subject of the card who was en route to an All-Star season with the Blue Jays last year before getting injured.

Hopefully, he can return in 2020 and stay healthy, maybe even take home the AL Comeback Player of the Year award while he's at it.

#42 1994 Ted William Card Company Ralph Garr

1994 was the 2nd and final year of the Ted Williams Card Company, and while the set was only produced for a brief amount of time, they succeeded in highlighting underrepresented players from the game's extensive history.

Guys like Ralph Garr, Thurmon Munson, and Sal Bando, among others, were featured in the checklist over the product's 2-year history. I've completed both of the base sets and even opened hobby boxes from '93 and '94.

#43 2006 Topps Laynce Nix

As far as the 2000s Topps Flagship sets go, 2006 falls roughly in the middle. It's not catastrophic, but there's nothing all that special about the design. It does feature colors that line up with that of the respective team, but that's about it.

If they removed the foil text that spells out the team/player name as well as the position, I'd be slightly more fond of this design. Hopefully, by now, card companies have learned that we don't like foil text on cards whatsoever.

#44 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter Freddy Sanchez

The card above might very well be my favorite of the entire page, though, to no one's fault but my own, there wasn't a whole lot of competition.

Both the photograph and the design are different from what we typically see out of Allen & Ginter, and the Pirates uniform, which they no longer wear, brings back vivid memories of late-2000s Baseball.

#45 1989 Score Willie Randolph

Aside from the obvious, damaged corner in the top righthand corner, the rest of this 1989 Score Willie Randolph card is in reasonable shape. By this point in his career, on the other hand, Randolph was past his prime.

Granted, he went on to be an All-Star for the 6th and final time in '89, this time with the Dodgers, but he wouldn't match the numbers he put up for the 1977 and 1978 World Champion New York Yankees ever again.

The New Frankenset: Page #2

The best thing about starting a brand-new, 74-page frankenset is the opportunity to showcase inserts as well as base cards from sets with smaller checklists, something that, for no reason other than what I have available in my collection, was absent from the final pages of frankenset #1.

If you saw the first page of frankenset #2, you know it was chock-full of inserts, oddballs, a mini, and, overall, was incredibly diverse in its range of various cards.

I really do wish that this wide variety could carry over into the 400s, 500s, and 600s of each frankenset checklist, but the fact is that after card #350 or so, there isn't a whole lot available aside from standard Donruss, Fleer, Topps, and Upper Deck.

Because of this decrease in variety, if you appreciate having a page of 9 totally different cards as much as I do, appreciate the first half of the frankenset as much as possible. Hopefully, I can captivate the interest of my audience just as the original pages did when I started the first series back in March of 2018.

The first 10 pages, in particular, feature an especially diverse collection of cards, thanks in large part to all the insert sets. Page #2 (cards #10-18) is no exception, so after a strong showing the first time around, let's get started and see what the 2nd page has in store.

#10 1997 Pinnacle Mint Collection Andruw Jones

I consider myself lucky to have found not 1 but 2 of these 1997 Pinnacle Mint Collection cards in the dime bins throughout my trips to the card show, the other one being Mo Vaughn. Though I originally purchased the card above thinking it was Chipper, not Andruw Jones, it ended up being a perfect fit for my frankenset.

Though some card companies have made their own coin sets, I can't recall any example other than '97 Pinnacle Mint Collection of coins being an actual part of the card itself. Unfortunately, this release was, as far as I know, the only in the brand's history.

#11 2014 Panini Donruss Hall Worthy Adrian Beltre

As I mentioned early, the further into the frankenset we get, the less diverse each page will become as a result of the smaller set checklists compared to the massive ones like, for instance, Topps Flagship.

Part of what makes the beginning of this frankenset so special is the fact that, in the case of page #2, brands like Panini and Pinnacle are granted slots in the checklist.

The Beltre card above is also a dime box pickup, but instead of starting a player collection of the future Hall of Famer, I opted to put this insert into my frankenset.

#12 2013 Panini Cooperstown Home Run Baker

From potential a Hall of Famer to someone who already has his own plaque in Cooperstown, Panini is literally covering all bases with their 2 cards featured on page #2. The 12th card in this frankenset is from Panini Cooperstown, a set that, as you can tell by the name, is reserved only for HOFers.

I must say that I prefer this design to the previous year's Cooperstown set, and I applaud Panini for featuring players who, despite having achieved Baseball's highest honor, remain unrecognized today.

#13 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game Mel Ott

Speaking of underappreciated Hall of Famers, look no further than Mel Ott, a member of the 500-home run club who rarely gets brought up when discussing Baseball legends. Thankfully, Allen & Ginter gave him the respect he deserves and featured Ott in their Ginter Greats set in 2019.

A career .304 hitter with 2,876 hits and 1,860 RBI, Ott never took home MVP honors across his 22-year career (which was more like 21 considering he only had 4 at-bats in '47 before retiring). During 9 of those seasons, he eclipsed the 100-RBI mark.

#14 2016 Topps Chasing 3,000 Ichiro

It would've been something for Topps to put out a near-3,000 card set, 1 card for each of Ichiro's hits, to commemorate his journey to the 3,000-hit mark, similar to what Upper Deck Documentary did for each MLB game a little over a decade ago.

Understandably so, however, Topps did not want to channel the 2000s where sets like Total and Moments & Milestones flooded the market. Instead, they went with quality over quantity and produced a smaller set, acknowledging his most memorable moments.

#15 2015 Topps Stadium Club Adrian Beltre

Because the original frankenset, towards the end of it anyway, would feature 2 cards from the exact same set on 1 page, I don't feel too bad about including 2 Adrian Beltre cards at slots #11 and #15 respectively. If nothing else, the sets are drastically different.

Back in 2015, Stadium Club, having just been revived the year prior, was all the rage in card collecting because of its inventiveness and Topps' world-class photography. Both of these factors are still present, but I'd be lying if I said the set still does for me what it did 4 years ago.

#16 1993 Continental Baking Hostess Cecil Fielder

As much as I love each and every card that I select to be featured in my frankenset, I wish I had held off on the Cecil Fielder card above and, instead, saved it for the Fielder player collection.

After all, there are literally hundreds of options for card #16 at my disposal that I could've chosen over Fielder since it's not every day that I have the opportunity to add to this particular player collection of mine.

#17 2014 Topps Breakout Moments Jeff Bagwell

Topps has produced so many insert sets over the 2010s with designs and/or concepts similar to the one above that, if I'm being honest, most of them just blend together.

If I wanted to, I could probably list 5 other inserts that are a little too similar to "Breakout Moments" for my taste, but at least the uniform is interesting, and the card goes with the wide variety that I've tried to establish across this page.

#18 1970 Topps Carlos May

The first card of the entire frankenset dated before the 1990s, this 1970 Topps Carlos May card provides a nice contrast to the ultra-modern theme that, for better or worse, has engulfed the first couple of pages.

It's nice to return to something simple yet stunning; a picturesque powder blue jersey paired with the classic silver borders of the 1970 Topps Flagship set. As much as I've grown to love modern cards, the fact is that you can't beat the originals.

The New Frankenset: Page #1

After a brief hiatus between my 2 frankensets, the series has made its return with 74 brand new pages and 666 unique cards waiting to be introduced.

Truth be told, the ~3 weeks in which I didn't write about a single frankenset page felt odd, to say the least. This feature has been apart of my blog since March of 2018, so the break was a little weird. After all, frankenset pages are my go-to option for a quick, easy, and entertaining blog post.

I think the thing I'm most excited about regarding my 2nd frankenset is the opportunity to explore a new batch of players, products, and set designs.

The last ~200 ish cards of the first binder featured primarily Topps/Donruss/Fleer base cards, so it's very refreshing to look at the page above and see inserts, as well as smaller sets and oddballs, make their return.

I fully expect to keep the same schedule for the new frankenset as I did for the original: 1 post every week or so, give or take. And with all that out of the way, nothing is stopping me from getting this series started.

Page 1, as you all know, features cards 1-9 in the 666-card set. I don't want to wait any longer, so let's begin.

#1 2015 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini Mike Trout

If you ask me, any sort of Mike Trout card is an excellent way to begin the frankenset. While I'm glad that Gypsy Queen has found its identity over the last couple of years, cards like this make me miss the old days with framed parallels and a mini in every pack.

While I'm on the topic of Trout, I'm stoked to announce that the once in a lifetime autograph pull was sent out to Beckett over a week ago and, if all goes as planned, I'll get the grade and the card by the end of this week.

I'll know what grade it receives before the card comes back in the mail, but I'll wait to get the announcement until I have it back in hand. Until then, the suspense will continue to build.

#2 2015 Topps Opening Day Franchise Flashback Ryan Braun

There have been several sets (Gypsy Queen, Stadium Club) that have shown today's MLB players in throwback uniforms, but only the Franchise Flashback insert set from 2015 Topps Opening Day has paired them with a retro-style design as well.

Aside from the unnecessary "Opening Day" logo towards the bottom right of the card, I love everything about these cards. While I don't really collect insert sets for the fun of it, the Franchise Flashback cards are inspiring me to start.

#3 2015 Topps Opening Day Franchise Flashback George Springer

I'm not too keen on featuring cards from the same set on 1 page, let alone back-to-back, but there isn't going to be many opportunities for cards as unique as the ones above to be featured later on in the set, so I was willing to make an exception.

Plus, the Springer card pairs the vibrant set design with one of the greatest uniforms in MLB history, the "rainbow" Houston Astros jerseys, introduced in the late 1970s. Once again, aside from the OD logo, these cards are close to perfection.

#4 1991 Topps Toys R Us Rookies Carlos Baerga

From what I remember, several things attracted me to this Carlos Baerga Toys R Us oddball when I was created the 2nd frankenset; the black border only enhances the colorful aspects of the card, especially the company logo, and the photo, especially for the 90s, is a nice quality shot of the Indians 3rd baseman.

I've had this card in my collection for as long as I can remember, yet I've never come across another card from this set. Though I don't collect either one of them, I like the looks of Larry Walker and Frank Thomas' cards from what I've seen on COMC.

#5 2001 Bowman Heritage Bartolo Colon

The media and fan obsession with Bartolo Colon, in my humble opinion, has gotten a little old, but I won't let that discredit the fact that he has an excellent 2001 Bowman Heritage base card. Upon seeing this black-and-white photograph-based set, I'm hoping that I've included a few more of these cards across the remainder of the new frankenset.

If the me who made this set 2 ish years ago feels the same way about these cards as I do now, I don't think there will be a problem.

#6 2015 Topps Heritage Then & Now Koufax/Kershaw

Though the comparison is made somewhat regularly, it's hard not to contrast Sandy Koufax and Clayton Kershaw, the 2 greatest pitchers in Dodgers franchise history. I don't follow the team enough to formulate an opinion, but Kershaw still has many years to eclipse the 3-time Cy Young award winner.

Seeing a Heritage insert from a few years back only makes me more excited for what's to come later in 2020 when Topps pays homage to the '71 design. My luck in 2019 may not have been as stellar as years past, but Heritage, nonetheless, remains one of my favorite releases.

#7 2012 Topps Archives 1969 Deckle Edge Joe Mauer

He may have been one of the most dominant players in Baseball in the late 2000s and early 2010s, but Joe Mauer will likely fall just short of Cooperstown due to the injuries that plagued his 15-year career.

This is to be expected from a catcher, as many of them had either shortened careers, injuries, or both throughout their time in the MLB. Once he moved away from that position, however, it seems like he didn't miss quite as much playing time.

#8 2003 Upper Deck 40 Man David Eckstein

The previous year of Upper Deck 40 Man featured flimsy cardstock and a sub-par set design, so I must say that I'm rather impressed with the 2003 release in terms of how much Upper Deck improved the look of the cards as well as the sturdiness.

Of course, it's the 2002 design that I have an abundance of cards from whereas I only own a handful of cards from the 2003 set. The Upper Deck equivalent of Topps Total, as far as I know, didn't last too long afterward.

#9 2012 Topps Gold Futures Jeremy Hellickson

Jeremy Hellickson was a member of a dominant Tampa Bay Rays pitching staff from the early 2010s that also featured Matt Garza, James Shields, and, of course, Cy Young award winner David Price.

Hellickson may not have had the "Gold Future" promised by Topps back in 2012, but he's been a serviceable pitcher for many teams since leaving Tampa Bay. Despite his 6.23 ERA last season, he still won a World Series ring with the Washington Nationals.