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

A little help from my friends

Recently, a fan of my blog, Richard, emailed me with some customs that he made off of my list of cards that never were.  Included were the '08 Topps cards, '13 Topps cards, and a 2016 Topps card. I must say that I like what Richard has done, and I am happy to get help on any of the cards that I have on my list. The list is ever-growing, and I'd be happy even to just get help on names of players/cards to put on the list. Eventually I want to just list every player needed to complete the set (like I have with the 1992 Topps set), but let me tell you, when I did it for the '92 set, it took probably close to a month, and I knew that set inside and out, so it was easier to know who was in it and who wasn't. Maybe it's a pipe dream, but I do think that I can get the list updated, at least maybe from the '89 set up through the 2000's at least at some point.

I would like to thank Richard for his work. If anyone else wants to help make cards off of my list, I'll be happy to add them and post them. Every card made gets us a little closer to having a Topps set be officially complete.

Things are changing in my life right now. My wife and I are expecting our first child in mid-late November, we are (hopefully) moving into (and owning) a new house in the next month or so, and I don't know if I'll be able to update this blog as much as I have in the past. That isn't to say that I won't add new cards. Lately I have been updating my 2 blogs (I have another blog called Completing the 1992 Topps Set if you didn't know) during my lunch breaks at work, and I can usually get a post up during my lunch as long as the wifi is good. The making of new cards might just be slow, because I'm sure it's going to take a while to unpack everything in the new place, and I don't have any clue as to what things will be like with a baby, but I am excited. I will still be here making my '90's through the present Topps cards, and hopefully with friend like Richard and other custom card makers out there, every Topps set will be as complete as it can be.  Thanks for checking out the latest post.

-Jeremy

2016 Topps!!

today, I thought I would take a break from customs and do a post about my first packs of '16 Topps. I don't usually post too much about my collecion, but I mainly collect Topps cards and like to collect cards of the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays, Detroit Tigers, and my favorite players. At last count, I had over 50,000 cards, and that was probably 5 years ago. I have been reorganizing my binders, and I might try to count them once I'm done.

 My first card of 2016: Sonny Gray!

I opened 3 regular packs and 1 jumbo. Probably should've just got a few jumbos, but I think I got some good cards out of the regular packs. I won't bore you with the base cards. I pulled 3 First Pitch inserts, one of Bree Morse, Evelyn Jones, and Steve Aoki. Don't know what the insert rate is for those, but if it's like last years' set, I think I beat the odds. I pulled a Wrigley Field insert (7th Inning Stretch), an Evan Longoria Perspectives insert, a 1961 Bill Mazeroski and 1994 Mike Piazza Berger's Best, and a '78 Topps Bob Stinson buyback. Pretty happy with the inserts, even the rainbow Brian McCann (boo Yankee$!!!). 

 I pulled 2 other Rays, a Steven Sousa, Jr. and a Richie Shaffer card. I got 2 Tigers, JD Martinez, and the team card. As for favorite players, I only got 2, but I think I did ok. I got Steve Pearce (a former classmate of mine at Lakeland High School in Lakeland, Florida), and a Scouting Report jersey card of Corey Kluber, who went to school at Steton University in DeLand, Florida (where I now live). Guess the Card Gods want me to get cards of players close to home.



 I do have a few complaints about the cards. Besides the obvious one of the cards lacking foil on the names (Topps must be saving a ton of money on that), and the ESPN graphic-type nameplates and the super close photos, I really have to say that the backs are basically the same as last years' set. Let's look at 2015 (Update) and 2016 card backs of Jimmy Paredes.

2015 has the O's logo on the top left and has the same design behind the logo as it does on the front of the card. It has the player name at the top center, a number on the top right with the indication of the series above it. There is a bar under all that with height/weight/etc., and under that a bio, a color bar, stats, and the Topps logo, disclaimers, and MLB logos. 

In 2016, it has the same thing, a team logo under the same design on the front of the card in the top left portion, name in the middle (basically the same font, too), card number and indication of the series on the top right (same font!). Underneath is the height/weight, bio, color bar, stats, and Topps/MLB logos. I used to think that the 2004 and 2005 backs looked similar, but these are so similar, they could almost pass off for a Bowman back. I mean really, Topps, is it that hard to come up with a back just a little different than the one from last year? This is why everyone should just quit spending money on Topps' cards and recruit 20-50 custom card makers to design a set. They could include every player, coach, the designs could be voted on, and then the custom artists could get to work. I'm sure they would be better than some of the crap Topps forces on us, and it might even come out cheaper in the end. Seriously, I'm up for it.

Other than the backs, I enjoyed the cards and am organizing them and putting them in my binders. Even though I didn't show many base cards, I enjoy getting them and reading the backs. It was nice to add some 2016 cards to my collection, and I hope to add more in the coming months. Thanks for checking out the latest post on my blog.

-Jeremy