Redefine the Design - 1990 Topps

The last time I redesigned a card to suit my taste, I toyed with the oft ridiculed 1991 Fleer release.  In that redesign, I inverted the colors from yellow and black to black and yellow.  Even this tweak was met with distaste...

Night Owl chimed in with "Get rid of the yellow all together!" I guess '91 Fleer will never get any love from respected bloggers.

Anyways, for this entry, I am returning to the Topps brand for some Frankenstein tinkering.  As I've said before, I love redoing Topps cards because they are my favorite cards.  While that statement may not make sense to you, it does to me.  For if I truly did not like a design/card, it wouldn't be on the forefront of my mind like the Topps re-dos.

As the post title suggests, I am adding my personal flair to the 1990 Topps release.  I remember when these cards came out.  I initially loved the set because it was much more colorful than the 1989 set, which I consider to be a drab design with awful photography.

But as the years have passed, I am less and less in love with the 1990 design.  I could never quite put my finger on it until recently.  Originally I thought it was the wild color scheme, but I like that.  It is reminiscent of 1975 Topps, which proved borders do not need to match team colors even in the slightest!

Then what is it about these cards, and then it dawned on me.  It's the dots.  The dot matrix-like print on the borders.  When I look at these cards now, I am harkened back to yesteryear and can hear the whir and zips of the printer sliding across the paper.  That's it, the dots have to go!

The dots were erased and replaced with a nice smooth gradient flow.  Something akin to what a laser printer would do today.  So, I guess I have redesigned the card, just upgraded to a newer printer.

What do you think?

2013 MLB Tournament Prizes #21 through #25

Are you ready for the next batch of potential prizes for the 2013 MLB Tournament?  Good!  This week, you're either going to think I've lost my mind, or I have little faith that any of these five teams will win the tournament.  I'd go with the latter, BUT, if they do win the tourney, you're going to get a SWEET card for free!

As noted previously, there will be 30 prizes available, however, only the tournament winner will receive a prize.  The prizes consist of one card from my collection for each of the 30 teams. Seeds are not open for claiming, and the prizes are based on a sliding scale using Las Vegas' odds for winning the 2013 World Series.

For further information, check out the 2013 MLB Tournament Rules and Prizes. 

As mentioned before, this batch of prizes promises to deliver, and I might actually turn a head or two!

#21 - Odds 50/1 - NL Seed #10	1970 Topps Roberto Clemente
#22 - Odds 75/1 - AL Seed #13	1956 Topps Bob Lemon
#23 - Odds 75/1 - AL Seed #14	1962 Topps Harmon Killebrew
#24 - Odds 75/1 - NL Seed #12	1968 Topps Tom Seaver
#25 - Odds 75/1 - AL Seed #9	1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr.

PS - Seeds are not open for request, and will not be opened until all 30 prizes have been announced.

PPS - Here is the bracket...

Redefine the Design - 1989 Bowman

Given that my redesign of 1986 Topps was fairly well received, I think I will venture into the redesign business again.  This time I will set my sights on 1989 Bowman.  This one technically isn't a redesign, just a tongue in cheek tweak.  Look real closely to notice the difference...

Do you see it?  Granted, it's not a terribly exciting redesign, but I believe it would be welcomed to those of us who have untold numbers of 1989 Bowman with smashed tops.  That's right, I just reduced the height of the card to the "standard" 3.5 inches.

I remember when these cards were released.  I purchased my first pack at the local pharmacy and was awed at the size of the cards.  It was like getting more card for your buck.  Like somehow the amount of card surface area dictated the awesomeness to my 13 year old mind.  I think that aura lasted approximately one week.

I soon found, like many collectors, that 1989 Bowman didn't fit into ANYTHING available to collectors at the time.  Penny sleeves?  Nope.  9-pocket pages?  Ha!  Keep dreaming.  Boxes?  Not even close.  So, we were stuck with cards that couldn't be organized with the rest of our collection.

For years, I kept my 1989 Bowman separated from the rest of my collection.  It was like Baseball Card Segregation.  It was pathetic.  As time elapsed, '89 Bowman lost its shine and, let's face it, it hasn't aged well.  I can attest to that fact based on the number of smashed 89 Bowmans I see at the LCS.

Like myself, many other collectors tired of quarantining their 89 Bowmans and dropped them into a standard size 3,200 or 5,000 count box, popped the lid on, and then proceeded to stack 6 or 7 more boxes on top, thus bending the tops of those precious 89 Bowmans forever...