Top 5 Cards; Chipper Jones

If you read my 2019 playoff predictions last week, you know that while I predicted the winners of both American League Division Series correctly, I bombed when it came to the NLDS.

Not only did I predict the Dodgers sweeping the Nationals, but I had faith that the Braves would have little to no trouble advancing past the Cardinals and make their way to the NLCS.

5 games later, I ended up getting both series wrong, highlighted by St. Louis' 13-1 annihilation of Atlanta on Tuesday. Now, it's time for the championship series, including a double-header tomorrow at 4:00 and 8:00 pm respectively.

Following Atlanta's crushing defeat, which I never saw coming, Braves legend and 1st ballot Hall of Famer Chipper Jones showed his respect to teammate Brian McCann who retired following Atlanta's NLDS exit.

Though Chipper is one of my largest player collections, I haven't talked about him much on the blog, nor have I created a top 5 cards post for the 1999 NL MVP. I figured, given the events of this week regarding the Braves, that this was the perfect time to pay homage to one of their all-time greats.

Currently sitting at 173 cards, it's only a limited time before Jones reaches the 200-card mark necessary to become a platinum tier player collection. Because of the extensive selection of cards, narrowing the list down to just 5 proved very challenging, but I was able to make it work.

#5 2000 Fleer Focus Focus Pocus

An 8-time All-Star, Jones headlined a talented group of 2000s stars who spent their whole careers with 1 team along with Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Joe Mauer (to name a few). There's something to be said for this level of dedication, mainly because we rarely see it nowadays.

Though the late 90s and early 2000s are notorious for shiny inserts from manufacturers like Fleer and Upper Deck, few are as colored and detailed as this Focus Pocus card from Fleer Focus. The abundance of colors and shiny design gave it the edge over the Topps Tek card to make the top 5.

#4 1999 Upper Deck Retro Distant Replay

One of the benefits of there being so many card manufacturers and sets leading up to around 2005 is the huge variety of cards, many of which are now available in the dime bins at shows.

Take the first 2 cards on this countdown, for example. The cards are only 1 year apart in age, yet they truly couldn't be more different. If you want something flashy and vibrant, go for the Focus Pocus insert. If you want something classic and simple, this Distant Replay card is the best choice.

Because I love both retro and modern cards, I don't prefer one over the other, especially when making these lists. I always go case by case to see which card impresses me more.

#3 1996 Upper Deck SP

The scan didn't turn out as well as I would've liked, but the 1996 Upper Deck SP set features a spectacular design, perfect for the action shot of Chipper that takes up most of the card.

While a set like 1987 Topps relies a little too much on wood borders, '96 SP only has a little bit of that design on the card. Most of the space is dominated by a fantastic photo of Jones and while the small headshot is a tad unnecessary, it's the only fault I can find in this otherwise stellar card.

#2 2004 Bowman Heritage

1955 Bowman remains one of me and my dad's favorite Baseball card products ever made, yet we have very few cards from the Bowman Heritage set that replicated this iconic design.

The reprint set, produced in 2004, does an excellent job of replicating the original cards, even using 2 different colored wood borders to stay true to the '55 set. I may not have all that many originals or reprints, but the ones I do have, like the Chipper card above, are outstanding.

#1 1999 Upper Deck HoloGrFX Starview

I don't expect anything to be achieved by constantly repeating this sentence, but Topps, being that they have the Baseball card monopoly, has to start producing more sets with black borders or backgrounds.

Seriously, they need to take notes on how terrific cards like this '99 Upper Deck HoloGrFX insert are. The black and silver background is sleek and spectacular, and a design like this will work for every single MLB team and player, for it allows the image to pop more than usual.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't have a preference when it comes to shiny vs retro cards. There was a balance of the 2 types on this list, so it really just depends on which set executes the style better.