A Ty Cobb Mini And I Missed It

A number of weeks ago I picked up some packs of 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen and I finally got around to putting away the cards in to a 5000-count storage box and I noticed that a mini that I pulled is actually a Sepia-toned parallel #/99 of Ty Cobb. This was a very pleasant surprise.

Gypsy Queen Sketch-Relic Cards Follow Up

Yesterday I posted a story about the new Topps Gypsy Queen sketch relic cards. Each card is hand painted by artist Monty Sheldon. This morning Monty Sheldon left a comment on yesterday’s posting explaining the process on how these cards were created. I still would have loved to see these cards as a complete hand painted card sans relic but this is definitely something original by Topps and they did use amazing patches so I can understand the collectability with them.

Sheldon posted the 4-panel process with each card from origination to completion and it is quite cool to see each step. One cool thing that you will notice is that he changed some of the backgrounds from the original images, this worked out well because they highlight the player so much better plus it gives each card a more “historical” feel. Here are some of my favorites from the set starting with my Mariners and ending with the hometown Diamondbacks (including an old school D-Backs Schilling). I don't know why but the Gaylord Perry calls to me, probably because of the hideous 1970s-80s Padres uniforms.

Click each image to see a larger version.



Ichiro




Gaylord Perry




Albert Pujols




Cal Ripken Jr.




Old School Black & Purple D-Backs Curt Schilling




Modern D-Backs Brick Red & Black Justin Upton



All images are courtesy of Monty Sheldon (via his Facebook page)

Gypsy Queen Sketch-Relic Cards

Last Saturday artist Monty Sheldon, a well-known and very talented artist, posted images of some 1/1 sketch cards that he completed for the upcoming Topps Gypsy Queen release. The detail that went in to these hand painted cards is amazing. Just look at the uniform of Ichiro, the folds of the fabric and shading is so in depth it looks almost real. The effort Sheldon took to detail every player individually takes real talent. Ozzie’s facial hair is a perfect example of the time he took to paint these cards.

With that being said I have to say that the relics added are like a blemish to these cards, almost a slap to the face of Monty Sheldon. They weaken the design and flow of the card and obscure the time and effort that the artist put in to the card. Why would Topps do this? I realize that Topps went with some amazing patches in most of the cards but in my opinion ruined a great card.

I have to ask, why would Topps use beautiful multi-colored patches in 21 of the cards but make the Red Sox (and Victor Martinez) fans endure plain jersey swatches? (I included Victor Martinez with the Sox because his swatch is from when he was with the Red Sox). Even Gaylord Perry’s plain swatch is multi-colored yellow.

I am truly saddened that Topps would do this to an amazing 1/1 sketch card. If this was the original plan why would they not have Sheldon paint 2 of each card with one being the sketch card and the other being the sketch relic card? As an artist myself I would be more content to have a complete sketch card instead of one containing a patch.