Matt Merullo Missing Topps Cards

Matt Merullo played in the Majors from 1989-1995. He spent 1989, and 1991 through 1993 with the Chicago White Sox, 1994 with the Cleveland Indians, before playing his final season in 1995 with the Minnesota Twins. His Grandfather Lennie Merullo, played shortstop for the Chicago Cubs from 1941-1947.

Matt only got into 1 main Topps set, the 1992 one, but did get 1990 Topps Debut, 1991 Topps Stadium Club, 1992 Topps Stadium Club, and 1994 Team Stadium Club cards. Matt needed 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996 Topps cards to complete his career Topps run.  Here are all of Matt's Topps cards to showcase his career Topps run.

1990 Topps custom rookie card

 1992 Topps card

 1993 Topps custom by Paul

 1994 Topps custom

 1995 Topps custom

1996 Topps custom sunset card

A few years ago, I sent Matt a letter and a 1992 Topps card to sign. I had some extra cards, so I sent them as well asking for him to keep them, and he sent the '92 back signed, as well as a note saying that he would be in Germany soon doing a camp and that he was excited to bring the extra cards I sent with him to hand out to the kids there. Matt looks to be a pretty consistent signer, so if autographs are your thing, I would send Matt a letter, and perhaps send a few extras of his that you can afford to lose so he can have more to hand out at camps and stuff. 

The 1997 Topps checklist is officially done, so that means the 1987-2001 sets are all ready to go, with every checklist done, and every template completed and up on its own page. 

I have kind of started a side project that I have wanted to do for some time now. I have always wished that Topps would just scrap their Archives brand as it is now with current and retired players on old designs, and turn it into a brand of nothing but cards that never were. Since they probably wont, I am. I am currently in the process of coming up with a checklist of 300-500 cards to make a base set out of, as well as a few insert sets. Not sure if I should split the set up into decades, or just make it into a 1-2 series set of 1951-2017 Topps cards. I do want to make maybe 100 cards in the set devoted to Draft Picks, Highlights, Managers, and Coaches. I plan on making a fake 'sell sheet' of the set, showcasing the cards, maybe a parallel set or two, all of the insert sets, and yes, even a relic and autograph insert set. As far as insert sets, I want to do a card with showcasing 2 players with 2 different Topps cards from the same set. Maybe 1/2 with a regular Topps card and a card that never was, and the other with both players' card that never was. Also have an autograph version of that one. The big insert would probably be cards of stadiums in various Topps designs (like the year after the team won or was in a World Series), but including a unique stadium/team-themed relic in it, like a tomahawk for the Braves, a piece of ivy for the Cubs, a Homer Hankie for the Twins, a dollar bill for the Yankees (just kidding!). That would probably be a serial numbered insert (maybe to 25 or 50). The main draw to the set would be a redemption card that would be redeemable for an original copy of every one of the depicted players' Topps cards, including cards that never were. These would probably be 5 per player, and then the holy grail would be one redeemable for every card, and each card would be autographed. So I will probably start working on a page to list the checklist, and then go through my inventory of cards I have already made and add them to the checklist and start working on insert cards. It might take a while, but keep your eyes peeled, and hopefully it won't bee good enough that Topps will want to sue me. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post.

-Jeremy