1997 Topps #506 Ozzie Smith

When I made this card, I kept thinking about Ozzie's 2 cards in the 2001 Topps Archives set. The set featured among other things, the first and final Topps cards of many players. You would logically figure that Topps would've had Ozzie's '79 and '96 Topps cards in the set. They got the last one by having his 1996 card in the set, but for some reason, they put his 1980 card in the set instead of his 1979 rookie. To make things worse, Topps missed out on making Ozzie's sunset 1997 card, so technically, neither his rookie nor his sunset Topps card appeared in the '01 Archives set.

This card turned out pretty good. The lettering came out great and really looks like it is the gold foil used by Topps in 1997. The logo has a few issues, but now that I have the 1997 templates done, I could easily go back and fix it. The photo looks nice, and features Ozzie during one of his final seasons in his career. This actually isn't the first custom I've done of the Wizard. I did a 1978 Topps rookie stars card with Ozzie, Eddie Murray, Paul Molitor, and Alan Trammell.

I have finally finished the templates to every set from 1989-2001. Now, it will be so much easier to make customs, because you won't have to make a template every time you make a custom, now you will just have to figure out the card you want to make, grab the design from whatever year it is in, find a photo, add the photo and player/team info, and you are set. I also made pages for every set from 1989-2001, and have begun to work on the checklist for the 2016 Topps set. Topps offers a way to make custom Topps cards on their website, but the sets are limited. Off of the top of my head, I can remember that they had the '68, '86, '15, and '16 designs on their site. If only they did every set.  The 2016 design, though, is amazing. The cards I've seen made with the design templates look just like pack-pulled 2016 cards, complete with team logos, the Topps logo, and you can even add the Rookie Card logo to them. Those are some of the reasons why I am trying to finalize the 2016 Topps checklist. I also kind of think that as the 2017 card year goes by that Topps may take the 2016 design away from the site in favor of the 2017 design. In 2009, me and a group of autograph collectors from SportsCollectors.net made a set of customs from the Topps website, and there were many more sets offered, including the 1982, 1987, 2008, and 2009 Topps designs. All of those are gone, so it makes me wonder.  Right now, I have every manager and coach, and the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays done for the 2016 set. Hopefully in the next month or 2 I can knock the checklist out and with help I can possibly complete the '16 set. Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy