Topps team photographs..........wait, who, what, why?

I get that sometimes Topps team photo day has never been a perfectly executed effort on all the team cards but sometimes you have to wonder what the photographer was asked to shoot and what he was ordered to shoot and who was to be included in the photograph:

A perfect symmetrical team shot ruined by an insurance salesman.

I knew I've seen him before

You have no idea how hard it was to find this pic.

Finally googled thumb face guy and there he was.

I was thinking more of an earthworm than thumb.

Also reminds me of Will Sasso from MadTV.

You were right buddy.......

......this stuff totally works!

Did you see how far that ball went?

ARod, we need to keep this to ourselves. 

ARod(13):Sure Cerv.......uh...I would never sell you out....I MEAN totally!!

Audio Artistry: Owl Eyes - Closure

This is music.

That voice.

That beat.

Those synths.

That video?

Yeah, that video. But it's rather odd.

But the song is gorgeous and I have probably heard it 500 times.

It seems to bring about memories of the '80's for me.

Which is fine because It's a pretty good decade to dwell on.

Listia Loot: 1937 John Player & Sons Motor Cars

This was one of the most exciting items I've ever gotten on Listia.

For 13,500 credits I got 38 out of the 50 cards from the second series of John Player & Sons 1937 Motor Cars.

They are the same size as most cigarette cards from back then.

They are the first cigarette cards I have ever owned.

This same company made sets for hundreds of topics to be inserted into pack of cigarettes.

They were made with adhesive on the back so you could collect them in  an album which you would have bought for them.

I LOVE these cards.

Here's one of them, front and back:

14 horsepower!

Now that's enough to power an ipod.

Sweet ride though, especially 76 years ago.

The backs are pretty informative:

Topps Without Borders - 1996

I am removing the borders from the Topps designs year by year.

This time it is 1996.

1996 Topps is not a great set but it's good enough for me.

While the colorless second photo of the face on the front is really tacky I do like the backs with a full bodied second photo.

Not as cool as Diamond Vision and the even smaller player photo on the back of 1995 Topps but it works.

Here's the design with border:

And without:

Side by side:

I don't think this looks good at all.

The clean white border really holds the design together but without it it looks messy.

And that face shot is even bigger now.

Nope.

It does have an early '90's Donruss quality about it though. That doesn't help it much to say that about it.

I would have to say there is no design to the card without the white border.

Coming up next, 1995 Topps.

This one is going to take some work to get right with the squiggly borders.

We'll see.......

That must be terrible, Harry

Having the name probably stinks to start out with but...t, how do you treat the condition?

Shaving must be excruciating!

And the itch......they don't make a cream strong enough for that.

He used to be a tight end but now he is a safety. We're assuming he's safe....to be around.

Steroids are one thing.......

.....but hitting it out of this ballpark would require something far more potent than that:

Heck, just making it to first safely would be remarkable.

Not to mention the 125 MPH fastballs.

Every player would be thrown out at the plate as long as the catcher could handle the throws darting down on him.

But every attempted stolen base of second would be successful.

Now the whole Ryan Braun thing makes sense.

Listia Loot: 1966 Topps Ken Henderson?

This is Ken:

I picked him up for 300 or so credits on Listia. Not in great condition but it is a vintage card which was worth picking up. Just because.

Here's the back:

Now Ken might have been an excellent golfer but I can't figure out by looking at his anemic stats how the write up praises him so highly.

Was his dad a senator?

Did he have his own PR group?

Did he have something on the writer? Or, better yet, Topps?

You tell me because I don't get it.

And how do you only hit .179 in the PCL?

I think we need a congressional investigation to get to the bottom of this. Wait, they all skipped town for a bit.

300 credits. And a mystery which will go on long after this card turns to dust.

(Cue Robert Stack dialogue.....and music).

Hey Rizzo, I'm flying to New York........

You can put me down:

Instant classic Cubs card right there.

Anthony Rizzo said he has a card of Alfonso Soriano hanging in his locker. I wonder if this is the one?

While Alfonso's Cubs career didn't live up to all it could have been it was a pretty solid run.

He was never even taught how to play the outfield until 2012 Spring Training when he told coach Dave McKay he wasn't. So they worked with him in spring training and he darn near came out and won a Gold Glove.

His leg injuries which started early on zapped him of most of his speed but I believe he had 10 stolen bases at the time of his trade to the Yankees.

Yesterday when the White Sox hosted the Yanks marked the first time Arod and Soriano played together. They had previously been traded for each other back in 2004.

I wonder how different Soriano's legacy would have been if he had stayed in Ruth's house?

He was a class act and never had anything bad to say about anyone.

He played hurt a lot and never complained. He was also a mentor to many of the younger Cubs. I wish the Cubs had just let him play his contract out just so he could have been around this year when they called up some prospects in the fall and for next year when the next wave of the franchise is there.

He could have helped them out in an unofficial coaching capacity and also played when they needed him, which, would still have been most everyday.

The whole Cubs clubhouse was watching on the tv when he hit his first home run with the Yankees and they all cheered loudly when it happened.

They said he'll be missed a ton and I miss him a bit already.

Back to the old duds, Sori!

Somebody could have brought them a uniform...........

1992 Bowman is an awesome set in terms of value and looks.

But couldn't Topps have given the photographer some spare uniforms for the newly drafted players?

I know for sure that I wore each of these styles back in the early 90's:

I had the exact same shirt Cepicky is wearing.

Or maybe Topps had their own scouting department and had the dope on these guys and figured it would save money by not giving them unis?

Just wish I had the Mariano Rivera card:

Yeah, Topps definitely should have sent him a uniform.

There are a bunch more of the uniless players in this set but these are all I can take without bringing back the hell of high school.

Maybe Topps will make a 25th anniversary set of 1992 Bowman in 2017 and have everyone dressed in 1990's clothes.

Just imagine the jersey patches.