1999 Starting Lineup Extended Series: Greg Maddux

 

Being both a toy collector and a trading card collector with blogs for both hobbies, I wasn't sure which blog to share this figure...however since its sports oriented it landed here. 

I'm not a Starting Lineup collector, however I remember these figures vividly from card shows of the past. I don't want to knock them or anyone who collects these, they just never appealed to me. The only reason I have this one is because I got it for a $1 from a card shop that obviously wanted it gone. The blister bubble is heavily yellowed (my guess is from sunlight or old age), but didn't care as if I was going to buy it I was going to open it...at least for the included baseball card.

I find it mildly fascinating that they would make a figure of Greg Maddux in mid-swing of all poses. Now that MLB has done away with pitchers hitting for themselves in the NL it makes this figure that much more unique. While some NL pitchers did make a name for themselves at the plate (from time to time), I don't recall Maddux doing much with a bat in his hands. None the less at the cheap intro price I couldn't pass it up. He now resides on display behind my baseball card bar in my mancave along with the only other Starting Lineup figure I own of Tim Salmon.

Fright Rags: My Bloody Valentine (1981)

 

In 1981 Paramount Pictures released a great, often overlooked slasher horror movie, My Bloody Valentine. It's since been re-made, but like a lot of movies from the horror genre that have seen a new version the original is still the best. 

Flash forward to 2023, the movie is receiving a set of trading cards from Fright Rags. I've been on their mailing list for awhile now, more specifically after I discovered they released horror movie trading card sets. I've purchased a few sets from them so when they put up pre-orders for My Bloody Valentine I jumped at the opportunity to buy a box set. Fright Rags sells the cards by the wax pack, complete set or wax box.

If you're not familiar with these offerings, they are done up in an old school style. Fright Rags even does their logo on the packaging to mimic the old style Topps logo. Reminiscent of old Topps movie trading cards like Star Wars or Indiana Jones, these cards feel right at home with grown up collectors. Each card features a still from the movie along with a caption. The back of the card features a small description of the scene pictured on the front. The box set comes with the base set, a few parallels and two stickers. The rear of the stickers features a puzzle image of the movie poster...which look awesome once put (backwards) in a 9 pocket page. Wax Box features two sets, all the stickers and an autograph. They can be pricey ($120) so I opted for the box set.

This images can be a spoiler if you've not seen the movie, so with Valentine's Day coming up I urge you to watch the movie first! If you've seen the movie, then enjoy the card scans. Beware, some of them can be a little graphic.

Gold Medallions

Parallels are nothing new in the world of trading cards. Now days collectors are literally chasing the parallel rainbow for their favorite player. Do card companies today get carried away with this? Yes, but it still can be fun. However can you remember a time when parallels weren't as plentiful in each set? Gold parallels were hit when Topps first introduced them in their 1992 baseball set. Other card companies would follow suit with their own gold parallel, but one company excelled in this department...at least in my opinion. Fleer. Fleer Ultra to be more exact. First released in their 1996 Ultra set, the parallel started off with just a small gold medallion logo stamped on the front of the card. Each year though this parallel would change.

Recently I've been working on bolstering my NC State collections across basketball and football and I ran across several Gold Medallion parallels of former Rams WR, Torry Holt. Looking at several years of these parallels in my hands all at the same time made me appreciate them that much more. There are a few of his Gold Medallion cards I've yet to find, but I've got the majority of them so let's take a look at what I currently have.

1999

This was Torry's rookie year and with him pictured in his NC State Wolfpack uniform, it's one of my favorite images. For this version of the popular parallel the entire background image was covered in a gold metallic ink. The holographic silver foil that wraps around the player's name was also changed out for gold holographic foil. Not my favorite Gold Medallion parallel, but it works.

2000

I've always been a sucker for die-cut cards so I like the 2000 version of this parallel. The top of the card has a dome shape cut, which works well for football since several teams play in dome stadiums. Like with the 1999 set, the silver holographic foil is swapped out for gold. Gold Medallion Edition lettering also adorns the top of the card. One of my favorite versions!

2002

Skipping 2001 since that's one of the few I don't own, in 2002 I feel like Fleer got a little lazy with basically using the same idea they first used in 1999. The entire background photo has been covered in gold, which looks OK, but it's been done before. Pass.

2003

Now one could say Fleer continued their laziness with the 2003 version of the Gold Medallions, but where as the 2000 set's cut covered one whole side of the card, they opted to just round off one corner of the card. I like it, I think it stands out. It also combines the 1999 and 2002 sets with the gold background. I think it looks pretty good, what do you think?

2004

I may have been able to give Fleer a pass in previous years, but in 2004 they basically did the same thing they did in 2003. Rounded off corner, gold background...been there, done that. I like the base design of the card and that is what saves this for me.

2005

Are you starting to notice a trend here? Not only does 2005's Gold Medallion cards look a lot like 2004, so does the base design! I think I prefer the font used in 2004 over this one, but these parallels are starting to get boring...which is sad.

2006

In Fleer's 2nd to last year producing an annual football set, their Gold Medallion parallels are once again boring a previous idea in that the card's silver foil and background are switched out for gold. *yawn*

I haven't picked up Torry's 2007 Gold Medallion version yet and while I plan too, that design is more of the same as well. Looking back at what they did with this parallel set in baseball, I feel like they were much more innovative. I especially liked 2006's full blown thick gold cards with the embossed logo. Where companies borrow designs across sports, I'm surprised Fleer didn't bring over some of their ideas from baseball into their football sets. Regardless of how lazy Fleer may have been with the Gold Medallion parallels in football, they still are a fun parallel to chase. Every time I see them, regardless of the sport, it takes me back to the 90's when I collected the heaviest. Fun times. Fun cards.

Topps Sure Loves Chrome

Hey! It's been awhile, hasn't it? While my blogging activity has been scant to say the best, I've still been chugging along, picking up cards and ripping packs & boxes every now and then. While my hectic life makes it hard to keep up with what's going on in the new hobby, Topps released yet another Chrome set in late 2022 that (initially) flew under my radar.

At first glance I thought this was just another "throw away" set. Looking more like a Panini set than Topps, I wasn't sure what to think about the set...but I knew I still wanted the few Braves' represented in the set, especially the Dansby Swanson cards since they would be some of the last to feature him in a Braves' jersey. I sought out to find some online and one of the first purchases I made was this Blue Moon Refractor which is numbered 21/99. When it finally came in the mail I was very impressed with the way the card looked. It's still a crazy design, but wow, it looks fantastic in hand.

I kept looking to see what else I could find. I ended up with a few base Refractors and a Matt Olson insert, but I wanted more Dansby. A few parallels came up, but the sellers wanted more than I was willing to pay so the search continued. As the "hype" of Cosmic Chrome started to die off a few weeks after it's release, I was finally able to pull the trigger and grab the Gold Intergalactic Refractor card above. Numbered 14/50, this one just barely edges the Blue Moon in terms of awesomeness.

The last parallel of Dansby I was able to score is this Orange Galactic Refractor, numbered 09/25. While my scan doesn't do this card justice, it's just as beautiful as the other two...if not more. I believe there is another one or two for me to track down and at this point I'll be keeping my eye out for them as I'm really impressed with Topps' latest Chrome offer. I know it may not float everyone's boat, but I'm impressed.