Monday, November 28, 2016

1990 Topps #813 Buddy Bell

Buddy Bell was a decent player, and his skills kept his in the Big Leagues for 18 years. He played with the Cleveland Indians from 1972-1978, the Texas from 1979- the middle of the 1985 season. He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, and stayed with them until the middle of the 1988 season when he was released. The Houston Astros picked him up for the rest of the season, and he played his final season in 1989 with the Rangers. After his playing career, he coached for many teams. Wikipedia says he coaches with the Reds for many years, but I have checklists made for every coach for the 1989-1992 seasons, and I don't see Bell anywhere for the Reds. He coached the Indians from 1994-1995. In 1996, he became the manager of the Detroit Tigers. He got fired from them in 1998, then became manager of the Colorado Rockies from 2000-2002. He coached the Cleveland Indians again from 2003-2004. He managed the Kansas City Royals from 2005-2007 before retiring.

Buddy appeared in every Topps set from 1973-1989. He also got into the 1988 Topps Traded set. His only missing card from his playing career is his sunset 1990 Topps card, so with this custom, his complete playing career Topps run is finished. Buddy has manager cards from the 2001, 2002, 2005 Update, 2006, and 2007 Topps sets. He is missing cards from the 1995,1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2008 Topps sets.

I've been working on a few templates lately, and have actually made some cards. I keep telling myself that once the rest of the templates are done (1989-2001), that it will be worth it and I can just crank out customs, but it is nice to actually make customs and not templates every once in a while. I also have some cards fro Richard that I need to post one of these days, so I'll have a busy week with stuff to do with customs, but it will be fun, especially if I can finish the 1994 set.
Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy 

Monday, November 21, 2016

1994 Topps #825 Steve Lyons

Well, it's been a good while since I've posted an actual card, so here is the next one in my set, a 1994 Topps Steve Lyons. Steve played in the Majors from 1985-1994. He came up in 1985 with the Red Sox, and played with them until the middle of the 1986 season when he was traded to the White Sox for Tom Seaver. He stayed with the Pale Hose until 1991, when he went back to the Red Sox. Steve spent 1992 with 3 teams, the Braves, Expos, and the Red Sox, the 3rd time he suited up for Boston in his career. Steve spent his final season with the Red Sox in 1993.
Steve was famous for his crazy personality, and earned the nickname "Psycho". His most famous moment was in 1990 against the Tigers when he slid into first base, and briefly pulled down his pants to shake out the dirt. He quickly realized what he had done and pulled them up, but that didn't stop the replay from being played over and over since. Back when I collected ttm autographs, I sent a few cards to Steve and he signed them and inscribed his nickname on them.

Steve got his rookie card in the 1986 Topps set. He appeared in the 1986 Traded set, and then in the regular set from 1987-1992. Richard, one of my readers, made a 1992 Topps Traded card for him in a Red Sox uni. At first, it's hard to say which team to put him with, since he played with Atlanta, Montreal, and the Red Sox in 1992, but by the time the 1992 Traded set would be released, Lyons was with Boston. I'm sure few, if any, photos exist of Lyons in a Braves or Expos uniform. Heck, Lyons himself might not have any. Steve is only missing a 1993 Topps card after I made this 1994 Topps custom.

My time has been split between work, baby, and making templates, but I have done a lot cardwise. The 1989 and 1990 Topps checklists are done. The 1991, 1993, and 2015 sets have the coaches done and are only missing players from the checklists, and all of the templates are done for the 1989-1993 sets, the 1996 set, and the 1999-2001 sets. The 1997 set is basically done, as you can steal most of the team logos from the 1996 set, and I am making headway with the 1994, 1995, and 1998 sets. Once I finish them, I will probably make templates for every team for the '97 set. The 2001 set almost has the complete checklist as well. I finished the NL teams, and have started on the AL teams. I think within a few months, every template will be done for the 1989-2001 sets, and more of the checklists will be finished. Good times are ahead and many players will have their first Topps cards and have their career Topps run finished. Stay tuned.
Thanks for checking out my latest custom.
-Jeremy

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Templates 1989-2001

Well, I finally got out of the hospital and am going to try to post all of the templates that I have. If you have any questions or problems with any, let me know by commenting or emailing me at karensjer at gmail dot com, and I will get back to you.

This first one is the basic logo template I made. It has the First Round Draft Pick logos for the '89-'91 sets, as well as Future Star templates to add to the '89 and '90 sets, and a Season Highlight template for the '91 set.


1989
This should be everything you need for the 1989 set. The checklist can be found here.
























































1990
These are all you need for the 1990 set. I'm working on the checklist page. Here are the actual checklists I made for the set. 






And the templates for the set.









































































































































1991
I don't have every one done for '91, but it's a good start and reader Paul B. is getting me the checklist for 1991-1995, so I'll have that up as soon as I can. 























1993
I don't have every team for 1993, but I do have a few random templates for it. I'm looking forward to doing the coaches, and hope that they come out to an even number, because I don't know what I'm going to do if there is an odd coach to make a card of.






1994
I have a few done for '94. 














1995
The first template has most of the letters which I have cut out and added to the template from original cards since it is so difficult finding a font to match the originals. You should just be able to copy and paste each individual letter.








1996
1996 is completely done. Checklist isn't made yet, but making the templates are half the battle. The coach cards will feature 4 per team, and the odd coaches out will get their own cards. 
















































































































1997
This is another set where I cut out the letters. They need logos on each card, but you can probably swipe them from the 1996 templates.



1998
A few of these have the whole picture cut out, and some don't. You can probably cut out the frame-like part and add it to the ones that have a whole picture in them. The prospects card is tricky, but if you can work with what I gave you, then you are a better custom maker than I am.










1999
These are pretty easy to do, just add the team name, and rotate the card to add the player name. For the coach card, I just added a color bar, I need to make a manager template too. The manager cards I have done before are basically the same as the coach cards.



2000
2000 is all the way done, just needs the checklist.




























































2001
2001 is done, just needs the rest of the AL checklist made.
































































































Thanks for checking out this post, and be sure to email me any cards you make if you want them included on my lists.
-Jeremy