1997 Topps 1st Base Prospects

Topps made a card of Daryle Ward in 1996, but not in 1997. Topps made a card of Sean Casey in 1996 AND 1997. Topps didn't make a card of Big Papi in 1996, or 1997, but they did in 1998 (alongside Ward). I decided to put them all together on one card in 1997. Who knows, if this card was around, maybe it would be the key David Ortiz rookie.

1993 Topps Outfield Prospects

This was a difficult card to make. I was hoping GIMP would have a wider variety of fonts, but it didn't, so it was difficult to use fonts on the back that were true to the original set. I don't know what I'm going to do for the 1994 Topps fronts...Topps left Manny Ramirez and Shannon Stewart off their 1993 set. Manny had a card in 1992 when he was drafted, and in 1994. Stewart was a high Draft Pick that year, but Topps chose to give Todd Steverson a card instead. Now they, along with Rondell White and Kevin Roberson (the best guy in AAA that I could find that didn't debut in 1992) have a card.

1992 Topps Dave Parker

This card has been featured in my Completing the 1992 Topps set blog already, and is the 5th card in my first series of custom cards. Dave "Cobra" Parker had a 1991 Topps Traded card, but was left off of the 1992 set. I could've sworn he was a Hall of Famer, but I guess the injuries kept him from putting up the stats he needed. Here is Mr. Parker's final Topps card.

1995 Topps Traded Michael Jordan

In 1994, MJ shocked the sports world by announcing that he was going to play Minor League baseball. Upper Deck made many cards of Michael that next year including a whole insert set in the 1995 Upper Deck Minor League set. Topps missed the bus on the whole Jordan baseball craze, but here is what his 1995 Topps Traded card may have looked like.

1990 Topps Mike Schmidt All-Star

Mike Schmidt retired before the 1989 All-Star game, but fans still voted him in as a starter. Here's his 1990 Topps All-Star card (apologies to Howard Johnson).

1990 Topps Mike Schmidt

Mike Schmidt only recieved cards in 1990 from Donruss and Upper Deck. If I was running a card company back then, I would've at least thrown a tribute card into my set. I think I may do a 1990 Bowman Schmidt card in the future, but for now, here is what his 1990 Topps card may have looked like.

1952 Topps Eddie Gaedel

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In 1951, the Cleveland Browns staged a publicity stunt, where midget Eddie Gaedel popped out of a birthday cake, and pinch-hit. Gaedel drew a walk on 4 pitches, giving him a career 1.000 On-Base Percentage. Topps was just starting to make baseball cards in the '50's, and didn't include Gaedel in their set. As far as I know, Gaedel still hasn't appeared on a Topps card, although Upper Deck has 1 or 2. This "Topps card that never was" is the first card in my Jeremy's Custom Cards set.

First Post

Hello everyone, my name is Jeremy. I am 31, and I have been interested in baseball/baseball cards ever since I can remember. I have been a Topps snob ever since I started collecting, and the 1992 set is my favorite, since it is the first set I remember purchasing packs of with my own money. In 2004, I started to try to design custom cards. The cards featured me and my friends, and I used scans of my Topps collection, and Microsoft Paint. Needless to say, they looked like crap. Time went on, and around 2009, I became interested in making custom cards of ballplayers. I had become better at Paint, and learned a few things on GIMP as well, and I started making a few customs, some of which are the basis for cards on this blog. Somewhere along the way, I got the idea for this blog. I had seen some people online post custom cards of players that Topps forgot to include in their sets, mainly players in their final seasons. That gave me the idea to create other "cards that never were", like rookie cards, highlight cards, and (like other bloggers) final cards. I have even taken on the incredibly tough task of giving every player a 1992 Topps card that appeared in a game in 1991. It bumps the checklist up from 792 cards to almost 1,200, but I hope to finish it (maybe in a few decades), and am posting my work from the 1992 set on http://completingthe1992toppsset.blogspot.com. As far as this site is concerned, I'll be posting my custom cards, and I will be including some of the cards from my 1992 set. Each card in the set will be numbered as if Topps added it on to their set (for example, in the 1992 Topps set, it was 792 cards when Topps made it, and the first 1992 card I make will be numbered 793, and so on). I will also number it in regards to my custom set as well. Currently, I do not have a printer, but I have given thought on getting one and trying to print my custom cards, and possibly selling them. That will probably be a while down the road, possibly next year, but I have given it thought. My first series will be 25 cards, as will the second. The pending checklist for the first series is:

1. 1952 Eddie Gaedel
2. 1990 Mike Schmidt
3. 1990 Mike Schmidt All-Star
4. 1995 Traded Michael Jordan
5. 1992 Dave Parker
6. 1993 Outfield Prospects (Kevin Roberson, Rondell White, Manny Ramirez, Shannon Stewart)
7. 1997 1st Base Prospects (David Ortiz, Sean Casey, Daryle Ward)
8. 2000 Traded Albert Pujols
9. 1984 Traded Orel Hershiser
10. 1994 Carlton Fisk
11. 1991 Traded Jim Thome
12. 1986 Traded Mark McGwire
13. 1988 Traded Craig Biggio
14. 1986 Traded Barry Larkin
15. 1978 Infield Prospects (Paul Molitor, Alan Trammell, Ozzie Smith, Lou Whitaker)
16. 1967 Tom Seaver/Nolan Ryan
17. 1991 Cecil Fielder Highlights
18. 1992 Gene Larkin World Series Highlights
19. 1988 Traded Ken Griffey, Jr.
20. 1989 Kirk Gibson World Series Highlights
21. 1992 Catcher Prospects (Mike Piazza, Carlos Delgado, Javy Lopez, Dan Wilson)
22. 1991 Jeff Bagwell (Red Sox)
23. 1982 Ryne Sandberg (Phillies)
24. 1981 Minnie Minoso (base card)
25. 1997 Alejandro Pena



I have a pending checklist for the 2nd series, but I may make changes to it, so I will post that later. If you have any ideas or comments or questions for me, feel free to leave me comments. Thanks for checking out my blog.

-Jeremy