Not Really My Style, But Happy You Came Along

I have been working on the Project 2020 cards, mostly sticking with the Bob Gibson and Mark McGwire cards.  Not buying all of them, just sticking with the art work and artists that I enjoy.  Not really been into the "investment" resale and flip thing that has made them popular with some people.  I have posted a few of the cards here over the summer, but I am happy that the prices and insanity around Project 2020 has settled down.  

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the high prices for awhile.  I was able to trade out a Project 2020 Bob Gibson card for an actual Bob Gibson rookie card.  Not sure I could make that trade anymore, which is actually probably a good thing the baseball card hobby.  

Baseball cards are fun, not investments.  

The card that seems to have burst the Project 2020 price bubble was the Ken Griffey card by artist Keith Shore.  You could see it coming a mile away.  The card has an enormous print run.  I am certain there were people who bought hundreds hoping to flip them for a good margin of profit.  They're not quite free on Ebay, but selling at a large discount.  

I figure at this point, the card is at least notable, so I bought one off of Ebay.  I think of this Griffey like a prospect card that was expensive at some point, but is now selling for a dollar because the player has been stuck in A Ball for 6 years.  It felt like I was getting it for free, but not quite.  Some actual money was involved.  

The art is not really my style, but to each their own.  I am just happy this card came along to burst the bubble.  I am sure there are people who really like this card for the art.  The pirate hat people in background are pretty cool.  Seems to be a staple in this guy's art.  

After reading the artist bio on the back, I was curious about the designs he has created for the beer labels.  I had to go check them out.  Similar style art as the cards down to the people with the pirate hats, but it feels like it works better on cans and bottles than cardboard.  

The crashing prices and interest in the Project 2020 cards has helped me go back and add a few cards that I was not sure about at the time they were released, but since several of them are now selling for roughly half of what it would have cost me to originally purchase them, the decision is now much easier.  

The first card I picked up was a remake of the 1987 Topps Mark McGwire rookie card by Blake Jamieson.  One of the criticisms of the Mark McGwire cards in Project 2020 has been that Topps is using the 1987 Topps card with the A's rather than his 1985 Topps rookie card featuring him on the 1984 Olympic team.  

This card combined the two with the wood border from the 1987 card, and the picture of McGwire in a USA Baseball uniform from the 1985 rookie.  I still have issues with the card I will address in a second, but for a discounted price I was willing to add this card to my collection.  

Personally, I would have rather seen the 1985 Topps card used for this set for McGwire.  This seems like a solid attempt to marge the two cards.  My lone fault with this card is McGwire's uniform number.  The artist made McGwire with a 25 jersey, which he wore in both Oakland and St. Louis.  However, he did not wear that number while playing for USA Baseball.  

If you're a long time reader, you know the USA Baseball facility is a few minutes away from my house, and I usually go to games there during the summer.  There is a McGwire plaque inside the stadium that recognizes his play during the 1984 Olympics and commemorates his jersey number being retired a few years back.  I currently cannot find my picture of it.  

McGwire wore 41 while playing in the Olympics Games.  I know, it's a small detail.  I can be picky.  There actually is a card of a player wearing the uniform number 25 for the 1984 Olympic team if you flip through your 1985 Topps set.  That number belonged to......

long time Indians, Giants, and Dodgers outfielder Cory Snyder, who was a shortstop at BYU during college.  His jersey is not retired.  

Here is the back of the McGwire card.  

Blake Jamieson is one of the artists who seems to be a natural fit for the Project 2020 cards since he already did sports art.  I know I posted a card a few weeks back and mentioned that the artists gallery of work online was not kid/work friendly.  Blake Jamieson is fine.  Go ahead and look at his Instagram, nobody from HR will be talking to you.  

One last quick card.  

I believe this card was available the same day as the Griffey show above, or they were at least relatively close.  While I have stuck to McGwire and Gibson cards up to this point, this is the first card that I have bought of a non-Cardinal because of the art work.  

I own the McGwire card by this artist.  The majority of the card is made out of triangles.  The writing on the bottom is the most obvious set of triangles, but you can also find them on the portrait drawing of Koufax's face and hat, along with the picture on the side with him standing on the stairs.  

I also like the original card, but as a collector with a budget, it's not like I am going to be springing for 1 1955 Sandy Koufax card.  Go ahead and assume I won the lottery if the real version of this ever appears on my blog.  

Back of the card.  

Here is the full explanation of the artist and his style.  When I said triangles, I meant to say Pop and Cubism with a surrealist vision.