Frankenset Page #71

It's crazy to think that by the end of this month, my 74-page frankenset series will likely draw to a close. I seem to be averaging one of these pages every week or so, so it stands to reason that the series will officially be wrapped up towards the end of the month.

Today's page is #71 in the series, featuring cards #631-639 that span 5 consecutive decades (the 1970s-2010s).  Let's get started.

#631 1983 Fleer Pride of Venezuela

This combo card may be the first of the page, but I'm already declaring it my favorite just like the Big Red Machine from the previous frankenset post. Both Trillo and Concepcion were entertaining players to watch in the late 70s and early 80s, especially when the former was a member of the Chicago Cubs.

Plus, there's something harmonious about the 2 red uniforms and the basic silver-bordered '83 Fleer design. There's just, to put it simply, a lot to like about this card.

#632 2016 Topps Ramon Cabrera

I could get into my issues regarding the 2016 Topps set yet again on the blog, but I'll refrain from that and instead focus on the fact that Topps did a nice job with this card.

Look, the card isn't groundbreaking or extraordinary, but I always love the way a catcher's action card looks as he prepares to throw the ball in an attempt to prevent a runner from stealing. If nothing else, the mediocre to put it kindly nature of the 2016 Flagship set didn't stain this card.

#633 2006 Topps Josh Barfield

I don't know if Topps was attempting a combination of modern and retro with the 2006 Topps design. All I know is that the color pairing did not work out very well as far as the San Diego Padres' cards are concerned.

Orange and brown may have looked great together back in the 1970s when Topps could make virtually any color combination work, but the same can't be said when a silver foil design is added to the mix.

#634 2013 Topps Drew Smyly

Over the last few years of Topps Flagship, particularly 2019, I've noticed a resurgence in retro uniforms making appearances on base cards. The inclusion of these throwback jerseys is something that I'm quite happy about, for they weren't always as common as they are now.

To be quite honest, I don't recognize the jersey that Drew Smyly is wearing in the card above.

#635 1978 Topps Joe Rudi

Joe Rudi remains one of my favorite members of the Swingin' Oakland A's teams from the early/mid-1970s, but by '78, Rudi was no longer playing in the Bay Area. He joined the California Angels after the 1976 season and remained there until '81 when he played for the Boston Red Sox for a year.

After a down season in Boston, Rudi spent 1982, the final year of his career, back with the Oakland A's. Interestingly enough, he hit a home run in his final MLB at-bat.

#636 1992 The Sporting News Conlon Collection

Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly fond of the breathtaking 1992 Sporting News Conlon Collection set. However, I don't want the cards to be featured too frequently and, thus, become repetitive.

With that being said, the photography, no matter how many cards I look at, never fails to impress me. The fact that hundreds of Conlon's photographs were compiled into one cohesive set is nothing short of extraordinary.

#637 2010 Topps Prestigious Pinstripe Power

The 2010 Topps set, even as far as this decade's Flagship products are concerned, does very little to impress me. The overly-large font used for team names is about the only thing that sets this design apart from others, and that's not necessarily a positive attribute.

It seems to me that this set is forgotten amongst all the others that have been produced this decade, and in my eyes, Topps should be thankful for that.

#638 2015 Topps Jimmy Rollins

Seriously, all you have to do is look at 2010 Topps next to a card from the 2015 Flagship set to understand what I'm saying. Topps has produced 20 base sets this century and as far as I'm concerned, none of them have come close to rivaling the colorful and vibrant 2015 design.

#639 1987 Topps Gerald Perry

 Last up, a card from 1987 Topps, a set that we haven't seen featured on one of the frankenset pages in a little bit. As a result, I have slightly more positive feelings towards the wood-bordered set, because I haven't seen any of its cards in quite some time.

Frankenset Page #70

Page #70 of my frankenset will definitely rank in the top 5 of all 74 pages when all is said and done, and by the end of this post, you'll understand why.

Representing every decade from the 1970s-2010s (excluding the 2000s), page 74 features cards #622-630. As we inch closer to the end of a series that's spanned over a year and a half, it's nice to have such a dynamic page as we draw to a close.

#622 1992 Sporting News Conlon Collection Rogers Hornsby

Among other things, the upcoming end of this 74-page frankenset series means that I won't have (as many) opportunities to showcase cards from the, at times, breathtaking Sporting News Conlon Collection set.

Hopefully, my 2nd frankenset series will give me the chance to discuss these cards at much greater length. For now, I'll just comment on how amazed I am at how beautifully the photographs were enhanced.

#623 1992 Bowman Ryan Klesko

COMC doesn't give me any information as to what type of parallel from the 1992 Bowman set is featured above. I know that the base cards feature white borders, so I assume it's some sort of gold parallel (it looks far brighter in person).

Ryan Klesko, on the other hand, can best be described as a Topps Archives Fan Favorite type of player. He hit .279 with 1,500+ hits in 16 seasons with the Braves, Padres, and Giants.

#624 2016 Topps Tommy Milone

The appearance of Fenway Park's Green Monster in the background inspired me to include this 2016 Topps card of Tommy Milone in the first place. Despite how iconic the feature is, I don't see the Green Monster make appearances on non-Red Sox cards all too often.

Now, if not for the unnecessary smoke that accompanied every card in the 2016 Topps set, this card would be elevated to a much higher level.

#625 1988 Donruss Ripken Baseball Family

One of the 2 combo cards featured on this page, the Ripken Baseball Family shot takes an otherwise dismal 1988 Donruss set and adds something of interest to it. On the card above, you can see Billy Ripken, Cal Ripken Sr, and, most notably, Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.

Whether they're featured in original Topps sets, modern-day Heritage, or anything in between, I'm a sucker for combo cards which you'll see more of later on.

#626 1983 Topps Jerry Martin

Neither the 1982 nor the 1983 Kansas City Royals feature another player with the last name of Martin, according to Wikipedia, so it's interesting to see the letter J before "Martin" on the back of his jersey.

Of course, Martin was part of the infamous 1983 Kansas City Royals drug scandal along with 3 of his teammates, including former MVP Vida Blue and Willie Wilson.

#627 1981 Topps Luis Tiant

Though I prefer cards that depict Luis Tiant as a member of the Boston Red Sox, there's something about seeing the 3-time All-Star in New York Yankee pinstripes. I have a handful of cards featuring Tiant as a member of the Yankees, none of which rival his '81 Topps card.

From the pink frame around the photograph to the iconic uniform, there's a lot to like about this card, even if you're indifferent to the 1981 Topps set like I am.

#628 1974 Topps Ivan Murrell

There's a whole lot of San Diego Padres' team colors on this card, great if you like gold/light brown, but not if you don't. Personally, I love all the bright and bold uniforms from the 1970s, and '74 Topps is one of the better sets from that decade.

Plus, as is the case with several cards from the frankenset, the angle at which the photograph was taken is uncommon when it comes to Baseball cards.

#629 1985 Donruss

This page has already had more than its fair share of impressive cards/photographs, but now we have the fabulous combination of Yankee pinstripes, this time paired with the black-bordered 1985 Donruss design.

One of the more underrated sets of all-time, '85 Donruss makes an excellent look of sleek, thin black borders by pairing them with the colorful uniforms and overall uniqueness of the 1980s. In my humble opinion, it's the greatest set Donruss ever made.

#630 1982 Fleer Big Red Machine

It's rare for there to be one combo card on a frankenset page, let alone two, and this Big Red Machine, despite the excellence of this page, easily gets my vote for the #1 card.

By this point, the Big Red Machine was well past its prime with some players moving on and others soon to be retiring. Nonetheless, this photo of Dan Driessen, Dave Concepcion, and George Foster not only sheds light on some of the team's more underrated players but reminds Baseball fans how dominant this club was during the mid-1970s.

Given a page in which virtually every card is a standout, the Big Red Machine combo card thrives, garnering my vote for the best card of the page and will certainly rank among the better cards of the set.

50s Topps, A HOF Rookie, & More Vintage; 2019 National Recap Part #2

Moving right along with my series of recap posts from the 2019 National, I have a haul of vintage pickups for both the teams and the players that I collect ready to go today.

While I mentioned that the cards featured in yesterday's post were a part of my only player collection oriented purchase, I still grabbed other cards for my PCs across my 2 1/2 days at the show. 

However, my Dad and I's mission was to go after cards that I couldn't necessarily find back home. A perfect example of this is the card at the top of this post; Nolan Ryan's 1971 Topps card which my Dad tracked down.

Buying vintage cards was one of our main objectives for this year's show just as it was at the 2018 National in Cleveland. We both understand that cards from the 50s and 60s aren't going to be readily available forever, especially at the bargain prices that we often see them going for.

In addition to filling in cards from the 1961 and 1976 Topps sets throughout our time in Chicago, we made multiple vintage card purchases while at the show that, ultimately, added up into an impressive haul, consisting of cards from the early 1950s, 3Ds from the 70s, and even a HOF rookie.

I'll showcase some of the other 1970 Kellogg's 3D cards that we picked up later in the week, but, for now, I'll start with the 4 players above, all of whom I collect. Another project of my Dad's, he has always been fond of 3D cards, particularly the Kellogg's brand. 

Whether they're for our 3D binders or player collections, Kellogg's cards are often on his radar when we attend larger Baseball card shows. This time, he assembled a group of 70s Kellogg's cards, including one of Joe Morgan from his early seasons with the Houston Astros. The headshot and the sky background easily makes Morgan's card my favorite of the lot.

Though Morgan's card happens to be my favorite, that doesn't discount the fact that my Dad found a new card for our Ron Santo player collection, something that certainly doesn't happen every day. 

Although he's a 9-time All-Star and a 5-time Gold Glove award winner, Santo is one of the most underappreciated and underrepresented players in Baseball history. He wasn't inducted into the Hall of Fame until after he passed away in 2010, and his most recent Baseball card (excluding fancy hits), according to COMC, is an insert card from 2016 Topps.

I urge Topps to feature Santo in sets like Allen & Ginter and Archives to give this Baseball legend the respect he deserves. However, if I can't have my wish, at least I have his awesome '70 Kellogg's card.

As focused as I often am on boosting my 250 player collections, my Dad is quite the opposite. He has no qualms about buying cards of non-PC guys so long as there are some parameters to what he purchases. 

Though I likely wouldn't have chosen these cards myself, I'm pleased that he ended up buying some vintage Red Sox and Cubs cards from the 1950s. As many Cubs and Red Sox cards as I have, my collection is somewhat limited as far as the early and mid-1950s are concerned (i.e. anything before 1957).

In fact, I didn't even have a single Topps card from 1952 or 1953 going into The National this year. Thankfully, I was able to make some progress with the absence of those 2 sets.

Though we never got our hands on a '53 Topps card, we finally landed our first ever 1952 Topps base card, and the player of choice is Red Sox catcher Gus Niarhos. I also added another '52 Bowman Red Sox card to my collection (Vern Stephens) to go with my other one (Clyde Vollmer).

Even though the players on and the condition of these cards aren't the greatest, that's not a significant concern of mine when it comes to cards from as far back as 1952. 

Frankly, I'm just pleased to have these in my collection in the first place, for I would have difficulty tracking these cards down at the shows I attend.

Now that I have all the photos scanned for this post, I realize that most of the cards shown were ones that my Dad picked up. However, there is a handful that I chose myself, including the 2 1977 Topps cloth cards above which will fit nicely in the Willie Stargell and Lou Brock PCs.

These cards, along with Hostess and Kellogg's sets, are my personal favorite oddballs from the 1970s. Lou Brock's card, in particular, with the powder blue uniform and funky hat, is definitely a standout. 

I'm sure there's a more technical name for these that I'm forgetting, but, for now, I'll simply refer to them as cloth cards.

Out of all the things that make vintage Baseball cards so phenomenal, my Dad and I, collectively, love the various combo cards the most. Whether it's Mays and McCovey's Fence Busters card or Mantle and Mays' Manager's Dream, combo cards were extremely prominent, particularly throughout the 1960s.

I suppose our collective appreciation of combo cards is what led my Dad to grab a whole bunch of them when he had the opportunity to do so. Most of these cards feature just 1 player that I collect, but the Pride of the NL includes 2 (Mays and Musial). 

After deliberating it for a while, I decided to add this card to the Willie Mays PC for no particular reason other than I haven't bought a card of his in a while.

As pleased as I am with my Dad's choices for vintage cards, specifically the oddballs, I'm especially proud of the vintage cards that I was able to grab for bargain prices. 

Starting off with my final purchase of the show, this gorgeous 1955 Topps Monte Irvin card which ended up being one of the biggest bargains of the entire convention at just $5. 

Though 1955 Topps isn't one of my favorite sets of the decade, Irvin's card is pretty close to perfect, from the blue background to the action shot on the left.

As I mentioned, this card was my very last purchase of the entire show. Earlier on, however, I seized the opportunity and grabbed another of Irvin's Topps cards.

Although the surface leaves something to be desired, Irvin's 1954 Topps card is another fantastic pickup, and I couldn't be more pleased to add it to my collection. Thanks to these 2 cards, I've built up a nice vintage Irvin collection, and I definitely see myself adding to it when presented with the opportunity.

I'm equally glad to have both of these vintage cards in my possession, but there's something about the '54 card that's more organized and refined than the '55 Topps alternative. I don't have strong opinions about either set, but I do have positive opinions on each of these 2 cards.

Despite how fabulous the 2 vintage Irvin cards are, I couldn't think of a better vintage pickup than this 1966 Topps Jim Palmer rookie in terms of bargain vintage cards. 

For less than half the cost of a blaster box, I added this sought after rookie of one of the greatest pitchers of all-time to my collection. Now that's what I call a steal.

At a Baseball card show last year, I purchased a redemption card for a Jim Palmer autograph in which he signed a reprint of his iconic '66 rookie card. Now, roughly 1 year later, it's all come full circle, and I have this treasured card in hand. 

Top 5 Cards; Pedro Martinez

The most recent player collection to achieve the 200-card or platinum tier milestone, Pedro Martinez played in just the right era for there to be an obscene number of cards produced of him.

The height of the over-production era was in the mid and late 1990s, but Martinez played from the early 90s all the way through the end of the 2000s. In this span of nearly 20 years, an unprecedented number of cards were produced, benefiting guys like Pedro, Chipper Jones, Ivan Rodriguez, and many others.

Although over-production era cards are often critiqued, they play a significant role in helping player collections reach these high totals. Out of the 8 platinum tier players in my collection, each and every one of them with the exception of Ichiro played in the 1990s.

As evident by guys like Ichiro and David Ortiz who played little to no games in the 90s, the trend carried over into the 2000s. Admittedly, some of the sets aren't fantastic, but there are some true gems out there from this era, cards that I've picked up for only a dime each.

My Pedro Martinez player collection reached the 200-card mark courtesy of the Shriner's Show on April 28th when I added around 8 cards of him to my collection. 

I'm not usually inclined to do a top 5 cards post of a player collection with as many cards as Martinez just because of how difficult it can be to formulate a list. With that being said, this seems like the perfect time for a top 5 cards post for Martinez. 

As difficult as it was, I was able to narrow down over 200 cards to my personal favorite 5.

#5 2004 Upper Deck Sweet Spot

I was initially surprised that this low-numbered card was part of the 2004 Upper Deck Sweet Spot base set. I'm guessing that these Pennant Drive cards are just a part of the base set, but either way, I'm impressed with the creativity behind this card. 

The pennants on the side are an incredibly unique touch that I don't see too much on other cards. The photo is very well chosen; a classic shot of the 3-time Cy Young award winner. The red background is a nice touch to go with Boston's team colors and the low serial numbering just makes the card that much better.

I know that I say this about all sorts of intriguing cards that I come across, but I'm going to have to keep my eyes open on COMC for more of these Pennant Drive cards from the '04 Upper Deck Sweet Spot set.

#4 1998 Fleer Ultra Double Trouble

A card with Pedro Martinez and Vladimir Guerrero on the Expos? You can't get that much better than that, especially since these 2 guys are some of my favorite players to collect. The Double Trouble surrounding the Expos logo in the middle is a brilliant way to separate the photos of these 2 Hall of Famers.

Although they weren't teammates for very long, I appreciate that Fleer created this combo card while these guys were both in Montreal. According to COMC, there's only one other card of both of these superstars on the same team, and it's from 1998 Pacific Invincible. 

#3 2001 Topps Gallery

Topps Gallery has always been one of my favorite Topps releases, whether we're talking about the original sets from the late 90s and early 2000s or the recently-revived product that was first released in 2017. However, out of all the Gallery sets ever produced, the 2001 edition may just be the greatest.

The design is fairly simple and allows the art to be the focal point while also providing an interesting design to go alongside the fabulous paintings. This particular card stays true to the Gallery brand, and it's just beautiful to look at.

The card, although produced rather recently, is very classic looking. I love the attention to detail throughout the entire card, and that's the reason why it stood out among 200+ others to make the top 5.

#2 2002 Topps Gallery Heritage

Pedro Martinez's 1993 Topps card is pretty iconic, but I'll go with the Gallery Heritage version for my top 5. It looks exactly like the original version of this card, but the photo is restyled to help fit the artistic theme of the Gallery brand.

While the concept doesn't seem stellar at first, Topps' artists are consistently successful with redesigning cards for the Gallery Heritage insert sets. They've been incorporated into the past couple of Gallery sets as well, and I've always been a huge fan of them. 

Evidently, the same goes for Pedro's Gallery Heritage card from 2002, a superb recreation of his 1993 Topps card.

#1 2003 Topps 205

Pedro Martinez played in an era in which shiny cards and parallels became increasingly common. Donruss, Fleer, Topps, and Upper Deck introduced hundreds of different products that complicated the Baseball card industry even more. With all these different sets out there, it's refreshing to have a simple alternative, and 2003 Topps 205 provides just that.

There are a few different designs within this set, and the one featured on Pedro's card is definitely my favorite. Everything about this card, the dark green, the gold borders, the picture of Martinez, works incredibly well in tangent with all the other aspects of this card. 

Don't get me wrong, I still love parallels, refractors, and all the things that make modern cards so collectible. However, every once in a while, it's nice to go back to something basic yet stellar, and that's exactly what this card is.

Best Player Collection Pickups From the Shriner's Show

As usual, I made the most of last Sunday's Baseball card show and dedicated lots of time and resources towards boosting my many player collections. 

The focal point of my entire Baseball card collection, I usually try to add cards to my player collections at every show that I attend. This never proves to be overly difficult, for the sheer number of players I collect combined with the millions of cards out there guarantees that, as a player collector, I'll never be bored.

Whether it's a search through the dime bins or a visit to my Baseball card show's case breaker, I'm looking for some new player collection cards virtually everywhere I go. They are, and will always be my #1 priority as far as my Baseball card collection is concerned.

Likewise, I was looking for cards for my numerous player collections throughout last Sunday's Shriner's show, no matter what vendor I was buying from. In some instances, I was searching solely for Red Sox PC additions. Other times, I kept my eyes open for whatever I could find to boost my 250 different player collections.

While I can't say that I've ever had an unsuccessful card show, I successfully added a few hundred new cards to my player collections last Sunday, something I don't accomplish all too often. I'm accustomed to purchasing roughly $20 worth of dime cards at every show that I attend, but I went above and beyond at the Shriner's show.

I bought cards for my player collections from every vendor that I did business with last Sunday. Needless to say, I wound up with some pretty stellar PC pickups, so I've decided to showcase those cards on the blog today.

The cards aren't in any particular order, but here are the greatest player collection pickups from last Sunday's trip to the Shriner's show.

First things first, I'm ecstatic to officially declare that the Pedro Martinez player collection has achieved the platinum tier mark following the Shriner's show. I now have 206 cards of the Hall of Fame pitcher, yet only 11 of them are Expos cards.

I don't remember exactly what I paid for this card, but it was far from unreasonable. I never quite realized how rarely I come across cards of Pedro on the Expos, and that made me appreciate this card even more.

The final vendor that I visited on Sunday was one that I do quite a lot of business with at the Woburn show which I frequently attend. He's a case breaker, and thus, he always has base cards, parallels, and inserts from the new releases.

I hadn't seen him since 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen was released, so my eyes were immediately drawn to the hobby box-exclusive chrome cards from this product. Not only did I pick up Scherzer, but I grabbed chrome cards of Jacob DeGrom and Nolan Arenado as well.

The GQ chrome cards are some of the most beautiful cards that I've seen in quite some time. It would've been foolish of me to pass up the opportunity to add a few of these chrome stock cards to my player collections.

I showcased this card yesterday during my PC overview of Reggie Jackson, but I'll gladly feature it on the blog once again today. This High Tek Orange diffractor card from 2018 is numbered out of just 25 copies. Topps, I've noticed, likes to keep it consistent with a majority of their colored parallel numbering. 9 times out of 10, an orange parallel/refractor will be numbered out of 25.

This is the first numbered card of Reggie Jackson in my entire collection, and it's everything that I love about modern cards. It's excessive, undoubtedly, but there's something magical about the combination of the orange background and the iconic gold and green A's uniform.

I've probably purchased enough of these 2001 Topps Combos cards to come close to completing the insert set, but I don't think I've bought one of the chrome versions until last weekend. 

Once again, I'm not sure how much I paid for this card. However, regardless of the price, this card is one of the greatest pickups from the entirety of last Sunday's show. The 2001 Topps Combos inserts, on their own, are appreciated by card collectors. With that being said, the chrome version elevates these fabulous cards to a much higher level.

The "Sweetness" card features arguably the 2 greatest overall hitters in Baseball history; Ted Williams and Tony Gwynn. While I collect both of these guys, the Red Sox usually take priority so this will be going to the Ted Williams PC.

Rest assured, the 2001 Topps Chrome card wouldn't be the last combo card that I picked up at the show. I added 2 additional vintage combo cards to my Al Kaline and Wille Mays player collections. Totaling roughly the price of 1 hanger box of Series 1/Heritage, the cards are from 1958 and 1960 Topps respectively.

Combo cards may not be as valuable as a base card of the same player(s) from the same set, but I've always loved the style and names associated with combo cards from the late 50s and 1960s. The Kaline combo card is one of many that I'm familiar with from the 1958 Topps set.

On the other hand, the Mays combo card from 1960 Topps could very well be the oldest card that I own of his. Although I'm not familiar with Rigney, I can only assume he's Mays' manager.

From funky modern parallels to classic vintage combo cards, and everything in between, I ended up with a huge range of different player collection additions from last Sunday's show. 

Truth be told, it's cards like the ones above that symbolize exactly what I love the most about being a player collector.