A fan favorite player for the Expos and Angels, Vladimir Guerrero is one of my favorite players of all-time, and I'm fairly certain he's the favorite of many other card collectors and fellow bloggers. That's part of what made me so happy to see him get voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his 2nd year on the ballot a few months ago, having received 92.9% of votes.
For a lot of reasons, I really enjoy collecting Vlad Guerrero more than many other players. For starters, I love chasing down Expos cards and he certainly has a fair share of Expos cards to look for given the 8 years he spent in Montreal. Additionally, he also played at the perfect time if you're looking for the sheer number of cards of a player.
The first 4 player collections I ever started were (Catfish Hunter, Duke Snider, Harmon Killebrew, and Ivan Rodriguez), and Vladimir Guerrero's player collection was formed pretty soon after. Since then, it's grown into one of my largest player collections and currently sits at 163 total cards from his days with the Expos, Angels, Rangers, and Orioles.
It was one of the toughest ones yet, but I was able to narrow down 163 cards to a top 5 that consists only of Expos cards, something I did not intend to do, but frankly, it's the way it should be.
#5 2007 Topps Finest Rookie Finest Moments Blue Refractor
Usually, I have a card or two that immediately comes to mind when I think about a certain player collection. In the case of Vladimir Guerrero, a play of whom I have over 150 cards, this is the one that instantly comes to mind along with his 2011 Bowman card on the Baltimore Orioles. Maybe it's the fact that it's one of my numbered cards of Vlad (numbered to 299 on the back) or maybe it's the design that peaked my interest. Truth be told, I really like the Rookie Finest Moments cards from 2007 and think this card is an excellent example of what's out there for cards of Vladdy.
#4 2000 Topps Stadium Club Chrome True Colors
I think of all baseball cards, I have the strongest liking and interest in shiny cards. From today's Topps Chrome set to the first Bowman's Best cards produced in the 90's, chrome cards have never failed to captivate my interest and Guerrero's True Colors insert from 2000 Topps Stadium Club Chrome affirms exactly what I like about these cards. I'm a big fan of how unique these cards are in addition to how the Stadium Club Chrome brand has evolved into part of the regular Stadium Club set we see today.
#3 1998 Donruss Collections Leaf
Just in case you're tired of seeing chrome cards, and I wouldn't blame you, this is the last one of the post. I always try not to do too much of one thing on a blog post, but I had a hard time choosing one of these 3 chrome cards not to include especially the 1998 Donruss Collections card. I genuinely don't know why more card sets aren't made using black borders or backgrounds like this one is. Not only does it help the rest of the card pop, but it looks awesome in general. Add to it a chrome cardstock and you have the recipe for a successful baseball card.
#2 2002 Upper Deck SP Authentic
One of the best compliments you can give to an image on a baseball card is to say that the picture is "Stadium Club quality." To me, no card of the 163 Vladimir Guerrero cards I have screams Stadium Club more than his 2002 Upper Deck SP Authentic base card. and this included Multiple base cards from the Stadium Club set. The image of Vlad in the on-deck circle is one that I really wish I had seen in a card with a full-bled image, not just a picture taking up half the baseball card. Regardless, the perfect photo was enough to catapult this card all the way to the #2 spot, falling just short of only 1 card.
#1 1999 Topps Gallery
One of my newest Vladdy cards that I brought back with me from The National, Guerrero's 1999 Topps Gallery card combines everything I like into 1. I love the Stadium Club pictures, this one in particular. The simple background of classic turf and dirt works extremely well as does the dark background likely due to shadows since it's clearly a day game. Finally, the perfect timing of the picture and the ability for the picture to take up all the space it needs makes for a near perfect card. It's as if it takes all the good elements of the #2 card and simply elevates them to another whole level.
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