What I have so far: 2002, 2003, and 2004 Topps

Just a quick post. I will be going on vacation in less than a week, and I definitely won't have time to post in the next 2 weeks or so. I have decided to spend less time blogging/doing customs, so while I still want to post, don't expect these at near the same rate I have been posting. Here is what I have done in the 2002, 2003, and 2004 Topps sets to tide you through until the next post. 

2002 TOPPS

 Bret Saberhagen by Richard

 Tony Fernandez by Richard

 Wally Joyner by Richard

 Harold Baines by Richard

 Ken Caminiti by Richard

 Darryl Hamilton by Richard

 Charlie Hayes by Richard

 Lyle Overbay by Richard

2003 TOPPS

 Tim Raines by Richard

 Darryl Kile In Memorium by Richard

 Joe Maddon Coach by Richard

2004 TOPPS

 Rickey Henderson by Richard

 Steve Avery by Richard

 David Cone by Richard

 Joe Girardi by Richard

 Ozzie Guillen Coach by Richard

 Bobby Dews Coach by Richard

Vacation should be fun, with a trip to the Louisville Slugger factory and a Tigers/Reds game at Comerica Park planned. I may be going to a card show this Saturday, but that may depend on if we are all packed or not and what all is left to be done. I hope to post all about the trip when I get a chance, but for now, I am probably only going to post every other Tuesday, but we'll see.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.
-Jeremy

Dick Pole Project Part 13: 2002 Topps Dick Pole coach

Today's Topps Card that Never Was is a 2002 Topps Dick Pole coach card. He was finishing up his 2nd year with the Indians in 2001, getting a nice rookie season from CC Sabathia. That wasn't enough to keep him from being let go, but the good news is that he ended up with the Expos in 2002. 2002 Topps is one of the hardest sets to master customs with in my opinion (along with 1988 Topps) because of the ribbon-y lettering on it. I am going to try to make some Topps Traded cards for Pole along with his regular ones, and it's going to suck having to deal with '02 Topps again as I will have to do a Traded card for him with the Expos. Best case scenario is that the Indians colors on the color ribbon match the Expos ones. If I recall correctly, I think they don't.

I did a '79 Topps Dick Pole yesterday to give him one final Topps card from his playing career. Today, I got an '88 Topps Traded and a sweet '93 Topps Traded card featuring Larry Herndon with him. I think by the time the Dick Pole Project is over with, he will have about 20 new Topps cards. Maybe somebody can print some of these customs and have him sign them (if he does ttm). I would love to see what he thinks.

I'm off tomorrow, so there's a chance I might be able to finish the 5 customs needed to complete the Dick Pole Project (player, coach, and Traded coach cards). I might update this post if I do. Thanks for checking out the latest card in my set.
-Jeremy

Coaches Center part 2: 2002 Topps Bob Melvin coach

I decided to skip the next card in my custom set ( a 1993 Topps Phil Nevin Draft Pick card) because I wanted to fill in his missing Topps cards ('94, '95, '98-'00). While I'm working on those cards, here is a 2002 Topps coach card of Bob Melvin. For now, I'm making coach cards for teams that won the championship the year before. Melvin and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Bankee$ in 2001, and this is what the coach cards from th '02 Topps set could've looked like. I basically combined a manager card and a prospect card and was able to get the lettering to spell 'coach' and have it look similar to manager cards in the set. Doing the lettering for the name proved difficult. I have a few ideas I might try in GIMP to get it to work. For this one I used a white background and rotated the name, but when I did a screen shot and tried to paste the rotated name in Paint, it came out all pixelated. I think if I can put the background color behind the letters and then rotate it and paste it I think it might look better. 

Next time it will either be the missing Nevins or a '96 Topps card of one of my favorite players. Thanks for checking out my latest card. 

-Jeremy