I think I posted this item on here seven or eight years ago as an item I picked up from Topps Vault.
I am not sure if the Topps Vault is still a store on Ebay, but it was more or less where Topps dumped out all of their odds and ends. I am certain that 90% of the listings on the Topps Vault were blank back versions of sports cards that were released between 1995 and 2015 along with tons of photo proofs.
I loved the Topps Vault and bought all kinds of stuff off of there. Most of it was 1990s Cardinals and current Durham Bulls players.
Note the date of the contract ends on January 31st, 2003. Lankford played the 2004 season with the Cardinals as a left-handed bat off the bench, but never had a baseball card produced during that season. It was always kind of surprising that a veteran player like Lankford was excluded from the Topps set in 2004 and 2005, especially given how good the Cardinals were during that time.
Guessing this was Ray Lankford's last baseball card contract with Topps.
That's a really neat item. Wonder how much players get paid these days for inclusion in Topps sets.
ReplyDeleteI bet they still get paid next to nothing to be in card sets unless they are signing autographs.
DeleteLankford had an Archives Fan Favorites autograph a few years ago. Not sure he signed a contract with Topps for that card though. I could have just been a quick private signing thing.
ReplyDeleteI did not even think of that. That would be interesting to know. I would guess it was a one-time thing that Topps paid for him to sign a bunch of autographs. He didn't have a base card or appear in any other Topps products around that time period.
DeleteI have 1 or 2 of the blank back cards, but nothing as cool as the contract. Very nice!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThey still pop up on Ebay from time to time.
ReplyDelete