Cards I Love Part 18- 1999 Topps Mark McGwire #220

This is the Mark McGwire card with the 70 different variations.  The 70 variations are for each of the 70 home runs that he hit during the 1998 season.  I pulled my first copy of this card from my box of 1999 Topps Series 1 that I picked up the day after Thanksgiving that year.  

It was a pretty good variation to pull.  

I never really made a serious attempt to put together all of the 70 different variations.  Some are tough to find, some are expensive.  I think the steroid stuff probably was a bit of a wet blanket on taking on that project as well.  Instead of taking on the whole set, I actually went through all my ticket stubs, programs, and scorecards to figure out which of the 70 McGwire home runs from 1998 I saw in person.  

The most I have spent on one of these cards was for a #70.  I do not remember the exact number, but I want to say it was between $15-$20.  My favorite one though has to be the #3 variation, which was the first McGwire home run that I saw that year.  

This game took place on my 21st birthday.  I drove up to see the game with some college friends.  The card back has some good information about the home run, including the date, the pitcher, and the location in the stadium.  

In video form.  

I love these cards because they are a game specific variations.  They are attached to an actual game that I saw in person.  I think that if I had put together the whole set of variations together, they might have actually lost a little bit of meaning.  I pulled a few out of packs, and have roughly a dozen other variation cards.  Topps did something similar for Sosa in this same set, and again with Bonds when he broke McGwire's record in 2001.