Set Appreciation Post #17 - Topps Lineage

Topps Lineage is really an off-brand version of Topps Archives.

Yes, there are positives here, but I think there are limitations because of its format.  

Same general idea as far as the checklist goes, but rather than recycling a bunch of their former card designs, Topps used the same border for all the cards. Looks like something that was likely a rejected design for one of their base sets at some point.  

Here is the basic design.  

I like the photograph of Koufax, but there is just nothing really special or interesting about the design of this card. It's just not very good.  

Back of the card.  

No stats on the back. I actually like this idea for this type of set, especially given the way that Topps wrote these snippets. If you had to summarize the career of Sandy Koufax in two sentences, it would be difficult to do a better job than what is on the back of this card. The modern players are just as well done. 

The card backs are a positive for this set.  

Similar to the Koufax card, there are plenty of other older players throughout the set. 

Whoever made the set actually did a good job of picking out former players. Nice mix from all different areas. The older players, such as Tris Speaker, are generally colorized, but the card photos still look decent. The photography on the older players is another positive in Topps Lineage.  

I like that Lenny Harris makes an appearance on the Ryne Sandberg card. He's a first ballot guy if someone ever makes a Hall of Fame for utility and bench players. Also shout out to Topps for not using the cringeworthy Milwaukee Braves logo from the 1950s and 1960s, even if they used the cringeworthy Cleveland Indians logo on the modern players.  

Any set that has a subset of cards with Topps All-Star Rookie Trophies can't be all that bad, right?  

Favorite Cardinals card.  

Bob Gibson.  

Favorite former Durham Bulls card.  

Evan Longoria.  

Best non-Cardinal/non-Durham Bulls card.  

An aquward looking, 21 year-old Freddie Freeman.  

How many Braves players have baseball cards with this same pose at the Braves Spring Training Stadium?  

It's a lot.  

Topps Lineage is still not all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows.  

There is still the ever-present horrible airbrushing. I picked out two different examples. The Adrian Beltre card is just incredibly bad. The Damon card is not quite as bad, but they airbrushed him out of a Tigers uniform, but left Jim Leyland in the background.  

If Jim Leyland were smoking in the background, I would forgive the bad airbrushing.  

Topps used the parallels from their flagship sets on the Lineage cards. A bunch of sparkles and colors that do not look very good with this card design.  

Sparkly Lou Gehrig?  

No.  

However, I do like the cloth cards based on the old Cloth Stickers. Topps had some cloth/silk parallels around in different products around this time. Good looking cards that they should consider bringing back.  

I have thought about finding all of the Cardinals and former Durham Bulls cloth sticker cards from this set, but that is somewhere way down on the list of things to do. 

Let's talk about another positive.  

The inserts are great, but similar to the Archives sets, the designs are all borrowed from older Topps products.  

There are the 2011 Rookies insert that is a copy of the 1980s Rack Pack All-Star cards.  

Hank Conger with a Hooters ad over his shoulder.  

There are 1975 Topps Minis. Miniature in real life, but not here because of the scan.  

There are also relic cards with the 1975 Topps Mini design. I am sure that there are a few floating around in one of my boxes of relics, but I am not going to go surfing for one at the moment.  

We also have the 1964 Topps Stand-Ups.  

Love the green and yellow backgrounds on these cards.  

There are also autographs. There were some decent current player autographs in this set. Early autographs of Stanton, Posey, and Freeman. I bought a box of Lineage while I was on vacation in St. Louis back in the day and ended up with a Charlie Morton autograph.  

Charlie is pretty old now, but he's had some good seasons along the way.  Solid autograph. 

The autographs of the older players are really nice. I have a few of the players who appeared for the Cardinals. I will go with Duke point guard, Dick Groat for this post.  

The 1952 Topps design has been completely overused at this point, but what are you going to do?  

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

 Lineage is essentially a Topps Archives set. I like that they do not recycle former flagship set designs on the base cards. I think that is the biggest positive here, along with some of the autographs. There is nothing here that really stands out to me, so I am going to go with the bottom half of my rankings.

In my opinion, it is not as good as the first four sets in the bottom half of my Set Appreciation posts. So, that's below the Heritage Minors, Emotion XL, Donruss, and Bowman. I thought long and hard about how this set compares to the Ionix and Bowman Platinum set. I was tempted to put it behind both of those sets, but I think the autographs are the saving grace here. 

Yes, copying the design of the 1952 Topps set is slightly annoying, but they are good looking cards. I am ranking the Topps Lineage set 11th.  

16. 2000 Pacific Paramount Update 

15. 2010 Topps USA Baseball  

14. 2000 Topps 

13. Bowman Platinum 

12. 2000 UD Ionix

11. Topps Lineage   

10. 2002 Bowman 

9. 1988 Donruss 

8. 1995 Emotion XL 

7. 2017 Topps Heritage Minor League

6. 1998 Topps TEK 

5. 1986 Topps Mini League Leaders 

4. 2001 Fleer EX 

3. 1979 Kellogg's 

2. 2002 Topps Super Teams

1. 1983 Topps 

Set Appreciation Post #16 - 1998 Metal Universe

We went through a dinosaur phase in my house when my son was in preschool and early elementary school. He's now in fifth grade, so we are past the phase, but the kid is a sponge and can still repeat back all kinds of information about all the dinosaurs. 

The dinosaurs phase included trips to museums to see dinosaurs. My personal favorite was the Easter Egg Hunt at the Life and Science Museum in Durham when he spent an hour looking at dinosaur models. Note, he is not holding an Easter Egg in this picture. 

Did he pick any up?  

He did the follow year, because the museum used inflatable dinosaurs that were not realistic and did not hold his attention.  

Beyond going to museums, he also had tons of dinosaur books. They had their own section in his well-stocked bookcase. Every night, we would end up reading a dinosaur book before he went to bed.  Most of the books were fine, but one that I always remember was one titled, "Dinosaurs On My Street" 

It's widely available, if you feel inclined to purchase.  

The cover says it all.  

It is this bizarre mashup of prehistoric dinosaurs on modern streets. You parked your red Mercedes on the street, you should have paid extra for the parking garage, because this T-Rex is going to total it out for you. Good luck explaining that to your insurance agent.  

It goes on from there.  

A lot of cars get smashed up by dinosaurs, which probably has a lot of appeal to a preschool aged boy.  

In many ways, the Dinosaurs On My Street book has always had some strong parallels with the 1990s Metal Universe cards in my mind. They essentially have the same formula. Take something popular, in this case baseball, and mash it up with some really odd backgrounds.

As a guy in his 40s, this is a really cool set. 

It was a cool set when I was in my 20s and in college.  

Before I get into the baseball cards, I wanted to note that I did not use a scanner, because they are terrible with these cards. See Jose Cruz Jr. below.  

The background just looks like a complete blur. It is not supposed to be, so all the cards posted here were taken as photographs.  

Here you can see the background much better. 

A little chipping along the edges. My son really likes looking at these cards, so that has contributed a little to wear and tear on a few of these cards. However, they are printed on fairly thin card stock and feel a little flimsy.  

I am not sure why there is a mountain in the background behind Jose Cruz Jr. 

Are there mountains in Toronto? 

Does Jose Cruz Jr. have some sort of nickname that involves mountains? 

No and I think no.  

This is just the first card in the set. I am letting you see the basic design and in no way is this post going negative on Metal Universe. This is a true 1990s masterpiece.  

Here is the back of the card, which I am not going to post beyond this Jose Cruz card.  

I like the pink, green, and purples hues on the right side of the card. You could have easily seen all three of those colors on some clothing in an episode of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air back in 1998. Will Smith had moved into his alien move phase by the late 1990s, but I am sure the show was still on WGN or TBS.  

I bet Jose Cruz Jr. had that same shirt in his closet.  

Rather than doing my usual breakdown of Cardinals, Durham Bulls, and insert cards, I am just going to stick with the backgrounds in the base set. Let me run through some of my favorite cards from this set.  

There are three basic types of backgrounds on the 1998 Metal Universe cards.  

First, there are pictures with landmarks from the city or area.  

Randy Johnson in front of the Space Needle.  

Scott Rolen in Love Park.  

Last, but not least, Ray Lankford in front of the Old Court House with the Arch in the background.  

These remind me a bit of the card backs of the mid-1990s Leaf cards. Same company, so it's a bit of a borrowed look, but these still look really sharp. If the whole set had been made using the city landmarks, it would have been a great looking set.  

Although, I would have liked to see some city sites that were more personal to the players. 

For example, Jeff Kent in front of a street car seems like a good idea.  

What do you think of when you hear the name Jeff Kent?

Me?

I think of trucks and carwashes.  

What about a background with a truck going through a carwash?  

If you know, then you know.  

Next background.  

Animals.  

If you know this set, the best animal card is at the end of the post. 

We've got Chuck Finley in front of some giraffes. 

Chuck is tall. 

Giraffes are tall.  

Tony Clark in front of a tiger.

Tony played on the Detroit Tigers.  

See what they did there?

There are also all sorts of cards with a space background. 

Here is Russ Johnson on the moon, or this Mars?  

Earth is too big for Mars, but I don't think the Moon is that red.  

It's the effort that counts.  

Which brings us to the really great Metal Universe cards. The random backgrounds or those with some sort of connection to the player are just simply too incredible to believe. Some of the most unique cards from the 1990s. The best part was the fact that they were often just random players.  

Here are three of my favorites from the 1998 Metal Universe set.  

First, Reds third baseman Willie Greene.  

Anytime I hear mention of Willie Greene, I instantly think of this card. Since nobody talks about Willie Greene anymore, I talk about him and remember this card. Decent player for a time, hit 26 home runs in 1997, so obviously that earned him a cool construction excavator background. 

Name another baseball card with construction excavators in the background? 

You can't. 

The next time you are out and about and see an excavator, think about Willie Greene.  

Next, pinch-hitter extraordinaire, Matt Stairs.  

Yes, he is fielding a ball on a set of stairs and his last name is Stairs.  

Is that the US Capitol?  

Matt Stairs is Canadian.  

This Matt Stairs card is incredible. A true great baseball card of the late 1990s.  

Last card of the post. If you know this set, you know this card.  

It speaks for itself.  

Another great card.  

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

I have written about 15 other baseball card sets over the past two or three years. Here are my rankings of the previous sets, links to the sets are included.  

15. 2000 Pacific Paramount Update 

14. 2010 Topps USA Baseball  

13. 2000 Topps 

12. Bowman Platinum 

11. 2000 UD Ionix  

10. 2002 Bowman 

9. 1988 Donruss 

8. 1995 Emotion XL 

7. 2017 Topps Heritage Minor League

6. 1998 Topps TEK 

5. 1986 Topps Mini League Leaders 

4. 2001 Fleer EX 

3. 1979 Kellogg's 

2. 2002 Topps Super Teams

1. 1983 Topps 

The 1998 Metal Universe set is a great modern set. I think it's better than the 2001 Fleer EX product, but I am still going to keep the 2002 Topps Super Teams set ahead of it. Super Teams is a much different product than Metal Universe, both great in their own way. 

So, the question comes down to whether or not this is better than the 1979 Kellogg's set. I am going to Metal Universe the nod and slide it into the 3rd spot on my list.  

Quick By My Standards

I have let some of the different set projects that I have posted in this space linger for a long time, either because I did not complete them quickly, or I just never updated the project to show my progress.  Back at the beginning of February, I made a post about putting together a set of the 1983 style cards in that are included in packs of this year's Topps base set.

I started with 8 of the 100 cards, last check in I was down to just 27 cards.  Last week that number was all the way down to 2 cards.  A few days ago in the mail I got a bubble mailer with......

the two cards that I was still missing.  I am crossing this card set off after just two and a half months.  Really pretty good considering that I did not open a box, or significant number of packs.  Almost all 92 cards that I was missing when I started were picked up in trades, or from buying small lots, no singles, off of EBay.

Yes, the set is finished, but I am also going to leave the door open to find more of these cards when Topps releases Series 2 at some point this summer.  There were some things that I really enjoyed about this project.  First, the 1983 sets were the first cards in my collection.  I started opening packs of cards at some point that summer.  I have always loved these cards.  Second, there were plenty of players that I enjoy collecting on the checklist.....

a few Cardinals, a few former Durham Bulls, and also a few players I saw while they were in college.  The Carlos Martinez card is probably my favorite Cardinal.   Also plenty of older players in the set too, which is my lone, small criticism of this set.  It would be nice if the cards of the retired players included on the checklist had a connection to the actual year of the card design.  Might have said this in another post.  My three favorite older cards in the set.....

probably have to be the three shown above since they were actually around and playing in 1983. 

All three were younger players at this point, but they still were pretty impactful that season.  Especially Ripken, considering the final play of the 1983 season was a soft line out to him, which ended the World Series.  

 There were plenty of good players who were active during the 1983 season, eager to see what Topps comes up with in the next batch of cards in Series 2.  I'd be excited to see a Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, or a Willie McGee.  Doubtful I will see a McGee, but a Gwynn in some brown, orange, and yellow Padres digs would be sweet.  

1985 Cubs 7UP Set

We have almost reached the bottom of the box of oddball Cubs cards.  I could go another set, or two, but we will see how I am feeling next week.  For your Sunday afternoon, I am going to post the 1985 Cubs 7UP set.  The other team sets that I posted earlier in the week all had similar designs, but the Cubs switched things up a little bit for their 1985 stadium baseball card giveaway.

This set has a really simply white and blue border.  Sort of reminds of something that Donruss would have used in the early part of the 1980s.  As for the players in the set, many of the same names that were in the 1984 set reappear in this one.  Why not?  The 1984 Cubs won their division and came close to the World Series.....

However, the 1985 season ended up being not so great for the Cubs.  Older position players like Larry Bowa, Ron Cey, and Davy Lopes found out they were old.  Pitchers like Rick Sutcliffe and Steve Trout regressed, others were injured.  Most telling difference between the two seasons was the Cubs record against three in-division teams.  In 1984 the Cubs went 35-18 against the Mets, Cardinals, and Expos.  The next season the Cubs went 15-39 against the same three teams.

Despite finishing fourth, there were some positives for the Cubbies too.  Ryne Sandberg continued to be a great second baseman and the team brought up Shawon Dunston to replace the inept Larry Bowa.  Dunston did not have a great year in 1985, but he was a fixture on the Cubs teams during the later half of the 1980s and through the mid 1990s.

Here is the 1985 Cubs 7UP team set...

Holy Cow! The 1984 7Up Cubs.

Another Cubs set out of a box filled mostly with Cubs cards.  There are plenty of good Cubs cards that I have found in the box, but this has to be the best overall team set.  The 1984 Cubs won a tough NL East finishing ahead of the Mets, their rival Cardinals, and the Phillies.  The baby bears had some good teams in the early 1970s, but spent the latter half of the decade in the bottom half of the division.  Same for the early 1980s.

The 84 Cubs were lead by second baseman Ryne Sandberg.  The team really had a good mix of younger players, like Sandberg, Leon Durham, Steve Trout, Lee Smith, and Bob Dernier, who were mixed in with a solid group of recognizable veterans.  Ron Cey started at third, Larry Bowa at shortstop, Gary Matthews and Keith Moreland holding down the corner outfield spots, and a rotation lead by Rick Sutcliffe and Dennis Eckersley.

The playoffs started off well for the Cubs, but since this is a Cubs friendly post, I am not going to mention anything specific about any games that were played against the Padres in San Diego.  So, here is my Cubs highlight for the 1984 season.  If you have fifteen to twenty minutes, love baseball, the Ryne Sandberg/Willie McGee showdown on the NBC Game of the Week is a classic.  If you do not know 1980s baseball just know that Bruce Sutter was nearly untouchable during the 1984 season with an ERA+ of 227.  That's in the neighborhood of Mariano Rivera.

On to the cards.  The 1984 7Up Cubs cards were a giveaway at Wrigley Field.  The design is very similar to the Thorn Apple Valley cards that I posted earlier in the week.  Not any one great rookie card in this set, but the Sandberg is a pretty popular card and there are a lot of good names that appear in this set.  Without interruption, the 1984 7Up Cubs.....

A Venerable Old Card (Set) Part 13

Last week in this space I showed off a cool old oddball Ozzie Smith card that showed up in a box from a college friend.  Still so many more cards to show off, so this week I am going to focus a little bit on the Cubs.  Not just today, but all week.  In sorting out the box it is clear that a bunch of the cards in the box are old Cubs giveaways.  Some look pretty cool, others not so much.  I know that I am a Cardinals fan and you may not think of this as a place to read about cool Cubs cards, but let's get something straight here before we look at the cards.

It's hard as a Cardinals fan to collect Cubs cards.  I still have nice Cubs cards.  Further, the Cubs cards we are dealing with this week are from the 1980s.  What baseball loving kid in the 1980s did not spend a percentage of their summer break watching the Cubs games on WGN?  I did all time.  I can probably name most of their starters anytime after the mid 1980s through the mid 1990s.

A little background on tonight's card set....

This is the Thorn Apple Valley Cubs team set.  It was a stadium giveaway during the 1983 season.  While the 83 season was not a great one for the Cubs, the set features rookie cards of Ryno and Joe Carter.  There are also a lot of good veterans in this set, many of whom were contributors on the 1984 Cubs team, which was a really good team.

1980s Cubs also means there is music.  Enjoy the cards, commentary free.