1991 Topps #802 Bill Buckner

Bill Buckner was one of only a handful of players to play in 4 different decades.  He played in the Majors from 1969-1990. He spent 1969-1976 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1977 through the middle of 1984 with the Chicago Cubs, the rest of 1984 through the middle of 1987 with the Boston Red Sox, the rest of 1987 through the middle of 1988 with the California Angels, the rest of 1988 through 1989 with the Kansas City Royals, and finished out his career with the Red Sox in 1990.

Bill appeared in every Topps set from 1970-1988, and is only missing cards from the 1989, 1990, and 1991 Topps sets. He also appeared in the 1984 Traded set, and has a team leaders card in the 1982 set. Richard made Buckner's 1989 Topps and 1990 Topps Traded cards, so now that I made his 1991 Topps sunset card, all Bill is missing is a 1990 Topps regular card to complete his career Topps run. Here are his '89 and '90 Traded cards.

\

I've slowly been working at the 1996 checklist, as well as getting some postseason highlight cards done. I posted all of the 1991 Topps World Series Highlights cards I made on the Facebook custom card page, and I'll probably post them on here when I get to them. I have been searching for team photos for the 1996 Topps set, and have found a few, but not all, so I am adding them to the checklist as well as stadium cards as I work on each team. So far I have 4 teams done and will hopefully add a few more tomorrow. Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

2016 Boston Red Sox team set by Michael

A month or two ago, I got a nice email from a reader named Michael who send me some Boston Red Sox customs for a few different sets. He is from the Custom Baseball Card Facebook group, and he posts some great stuff on it. Recently, I have been trying to update the 2016 Topps checklist, and I finished the Boston Red Sox checklist. Michael took it upon himself to do every Red Sox on the list, and now we have the rest of the 2016 Topps Boston Red Sox set. If you are into making customs or like viewing the work of guys who make them, I would suggest joining the group. There are a good number of people who joined the group and make posts, and I usually see a few new batches of customs every week. The themes are fairly diverse, from Topps Archives-type customs of today's players in vintage designs, customs of characters in baseball movies, and everything in between. I might post newer stuff of mine in the group, and just keep going through the checklist of my customs on this blog just to give each platform something different to see. The next card in my set is #206, and the last custom I've made is #363, so it will be awhile before this blog catches up to the posts I've made on the Facebook group page, so if you read both, you shouldn't see duplicate cards for a while. 

I finished crossing off all the latest customs I've been e-mailed or made, and at the very least, each sets' checklist is current, even if my checklist isn't. I'll try to keep working on the '16 Topps checklist now that I'm all caught up, and hopefully get a few teams done by the end of the week. I will leave you with Michael's Red Sox set. Much thanks to you Michael for the help with the '16 set. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy

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

The Dick Pole Project Part 10: 1999 Topps Dick Pole

Dick Pole went to Boston for the '98 season. Topps didn't make manager or coach cards in the 1999 set, so I had to use my imagination for this one. Since Topps had rookie cards with a gold bar that said 'rookie card' in them, I decided to do something similar for coach and manager cards. I wasn't able to find a photo of Pole as a Red Sox coach, so I photoshopped the Sox logo on another photo.

I had the idea the other day to possibly try to look for photos of players on YouTube. I found some older games that are on there, so that might be a possibility for if I can't find photos, just not sure of how broad a selection of games it has on there. I have 3-4 cards in my 1992 Topps project that I would love to find different photos for, and it would be great if I can find some videos of games from 1991 on YouTube.

Dick's next card will feature him on his 4th team as a coach, and usher us into the 2000's. That should be posted in a few weeks, as I have some other cards to post before it.Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

2006 Topps Jason Varitek Gold Glove

A month or two ago I was reading a post about the 2005 Topps Alex Rodriguez Spokesman Insert set on 21st Century Topps Baseball, a blog dedicated to all things '90's Topps baseball up to the present. REJ, the owner of the blog stated how he wish Topps would re-issue more cards that never were, including some Mariano Riveras from '92-'95. I mentioned how I was working on a few, and asked if there are any more cards he knew of that Topps missed. He listed a card for the '05 Gold Glove Award winner at catcher was missing from the '06 Topps set. That seemed kind of mysterious, so I got to work finding out who the card was of and why it wasn't made. Turns out, it was mainly for the same reason that the ARod cards weren't.

In 1991, Jason Varitek played for the Team USA. Topps produced cards of the team in the '92 Topps Traded set. I guess Varitek had a feud with Topps or something, because he refused to sign a contract with Topps after that, similar to what ARod would do in 1992. After Varitek's '92 Topps Traded card, he missed out on cards in the '95-'06 (ARod would miss cards from '94-'97). It just so happens that Varitek won the AL Gold Glove award in '05 and that is why this card is missing from the '06 Topps set.

I might very well do a Missing Topps Cards segment on Varitek. There are some cool cards I could do, including his '95 Topps Draft Pick card, maybe even a '94 Topps Traded Draft Pick card, and a '96 Topps Prospects card. This card was a little difficult to make due to the curvature on the name part. I need to figure out a way to get text to go over a background without making it look all crappy. Paint has come a long way, but is still missing the mark on that part.

It's funny to see how there are a few players on Team USA cards who are missing Topps cards after that (ARod, Varitek, Charles Johnson to name a few). I wonder how many refused to sign Topps contracts and missed out on Draft Pick and early cards because of it. It would be interesting to get a list going.

I'm almost up to card #100 in my set. I really like how some of the cards have turned out, and I like the direction this set and blog is heading. I'm hoping to keep cranking out cards, and hopefully by next year, I will have a few of my usual segments with a good number of posts in them. I hope you enjoy reading them and seeing new cards that Topps should've made. Thanks for checking out my blog.

-Jeremy

1990 Topps Mo Vaughn Draft Pick

Mo Vaughn was left off of the 1990 Topps #1 Draft Pick subset. I guess Topps thought Roger Salkeld and Tyler Houston were better players to put in the set. They did get it right with Frank Thomas, though. Topps gave Mo his first card in their 1991 Traded set. I remember the 1995 season where Albert Belle broke the 50 Home Run mark and thought for sure he would win the AL MVP award, but I think Vaughn's media-friendly personality won voters over. I think this card would've been pretty hot back in '95 had Topps made it.

1991 Topps Jeff Bagwell

Jeff Bagwell got a card in the 1991 Topps Traded set featuring him as a Houston Astro, but never was featured as a Boston Red Sock. His 1991 Stadium Club card was hot at the time, and he was a pretty decent prospect, so I wonder why Topps didn't include him in the base set as part of their Future Star subset. Here is what his regular Topps card may have looked like in 1991.