Custom Card of the Day: Torii Edition

Another custom where the throwback uniform fits the card. Of course, the Angels aren't necessarily ruling their division. The Rangers sorta have them beat. But Torii Hunter and the gang are indeed trying. With a decent pitching staff, a lineup of veteran hardhitters and newcomers, they look to be a strong team. The sad thing is that Oakland and Texas seem to be trying pretty hard too.

Coming Tomorrow- More from Throwback week, a veteran Brave gets a custom.

Custom Card of the Day: Kouz Edition

I know a few bloggers out there who are Kouzmanoff fans, so this'll exite them. Also, I've been seeing a lot of throwback unifoms this week, and those are great for customs. If those uniforms fit a certain era, it'll look even more like an older card, which is the effect I'm going for.

Coming Tomorrow- Another Throwback uniform, only this one's an Angel whose been a prominent figure in Anaheim for a few years now.

The fan- A Custom Card Anecdote

This is what people in the world of literature would call an essay. It's a long little anecdote, but it's still an interesting story about a fan, and his admiration for what I did. I made this custom back in April, and I don't know why I held it for a month in my files. But being that the most famous wish-granter in the modern world of Entertainment will be leaving her show next week, I felt like I needed to share my own Oprah moment. So let's travel back to the beginning of this story.

Somewhere around New Year's Day this past year, I got an email from a fan. It wasn't a trade email, it wasn't an "upcoming blog, please put me on your linkbar" kinda thing. It was a fan of my custom cards. I don't get that a lot, other than the constant little "awesome job" messages you guys leave in the comments. This fan was a Dodger fan living in Idaho, a place with no real local baseball team to root for. He first asked me for all the Dodger customs I've made, which was easy to send. Then he asked me if I made any cards at "reader request". I, of course, answered yes, saying that requests are part of what I do.

About a day later, he sent me another email with a bunch of requests for customs on it. These requests were kind of tricky to do, but I reassured the fan I'd give it a try. One of the most intriguing requests I got was a Jerry Sands custom in the form of a 1987 card (including a rookie cup). At that point I hadn't heard of Jerry Sands, and had no idea how I'd make a custom of him, but I said that I'd see what I could do.

A week passed, and I hadn't even begun working on the customs. This might have been caused by A)- The difficulty and amount of requests, B)- The fact that in January I wasn't in the mood for custom making, and C)- The fact that January was being January, and Winter Break was about to end. A week after the first email, the fan sent me another one, apologizing for sending so many. And I was horrified. Not just at the fact that he had to apologize to me when he hadn't done anything wrong. I was horrified at the fact that I had let one of my only fans down. So I responded to the email, saying that it was absolutely fine, that it was my fault, and that the customs would be sent soon. After that, school was back into swing, and my life caved in on the project.

By mid-April, I had nearly forgotten about the fan's request. Then, he sent me another email, this time forgiving the lack of response to his request. He still felt that my customs were awesome, and despite the rough start on Los Angeles' part, still wanted to see more Dodger customs. He also said that if I was looking for a subject for a next card, that Jerry Sands was the huge up-and-coming prospect, and that he'll be big soon.

I was happy that he hadn't abandoned me for procrastinating on his request. I sent him a few of the Dodger customs I had made this year already, and promised that when Jerry Sands pictures are featured across the internet, there would be no doubt that he'd be customized. And within 6 hours, I found Jerry Sands photos, from his debut. And I found the perfect action shot. So I used a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card as the base, and whipped up the perfect custom. I proudly sent it to the fan, awaiting a response.

Well, he loved it. He reported that it was the wallpaper on his computer, and that he would remain to be a loyal fan in the future. And that made me proud to do what I do. I started out blogging for fun, and the only people reading it was just myself and a friend. Now, I have fans and people wanting trades, and I feel I've done a full 360 from 2 years ago.

I caved: More Gypsy Queen with a cameo by Topps Series 1

I'm honestly loving the new Gypsy Queen set, the same way I loved the National Chicle set last year. Still, when the opportunity arose to hit Target (ha, ha, ha), I caved, and went to get some more. Sadly, my local Target's gypsy queen stock was low, so to compensate I got a few packs on Topps series 1. Sadly, not much came out of those 2 packs of Topps:

David Price Checklist
Mickey Mantle Red Diamond
Nolan Ryan Topps 60
Ryan Howard ToppsTown
277- Trevor Hoffman
6- Neftali Feliz
95- Pedro Alvarez
Duos of Steve Carlton and CC SABATHIA
Johnny Cueto NotYoMamma card
Andrew McCutchen ToppsTown

But you didn't come for the Topps. No, you came for Gypsy Queen. I got 2 packs and a 4 pack racker.

Pack 1-
100- Nolan Ryan
132- David Murphy
248- Dustin Pedroia
140- Shawn Marcum
203- Brian Matusz Mini
Stephen Strasburg Future Stars. Hmmm, can't think of a bad "Strasburg will get nowhere" joke.

Pack 2-
63- Jimmie Foxx.
249- Jacoby Ellisbury. WHAT'S WITH ALL THE DAMN RED SOX???
187- Lance Berkman
Franklin Guitierrez Wall Climbers
Yovanni Gallardo Mini
Jose Tabata Future Stars

Pack 3-
161- Aramis Ramirez
193- Carlos Beltran. More proof that the Mets are getting old.
215- Trevor Cahill
30- Hanley Ramirez BROWN BORDER #'D TO 999. NICE!
Mike Aviles mini
Johnny Bench Home Run Heroes

Pack 4-
45- Carlos Gonzalez
205- Chris Johnson
269- Curtis Granderson. That's more like it...
Wall Climbers of Torii Hunter
Bronson Arroyo Mini
Brooks Robinson The Great Ones. Got that one right...

Pack 5-
99- Ozzie Smith. Love that shot
86- Prince Fielder
120- Gaby Sanchez
248- DUSTIN...FRIGGIN PEDROIA AGAIN! HMMMMMPH!
Curtis Granderson mini
Frank Robinson home run heroes

Bonus Green Border Pack-
43- Matt Cain Green Border
49- !!!! HONUS WAGNER GREEN BORDER!!!
82- Starlin Castro green border

Nice rip overall. Gypsy queen is still awesome.

Custom Card of the Day: Bruce Edition

You know, if you squint a little bit, you might mistake this for an actual 1974 card. And if you squint a little at the Reds this season, you might think it's 1974 again. Players like Votto, Bruce, Phillips, maybe Rolen and Hernandez are making the same team that was close to last a few years back eerily similar to the Big Red Machine this year. And Jay Bruce has always been a big part of it. I made a Bruce custom last year, and the card I photoshopped happened to have a All Star logo on it. Even though Bruce wasn't an all star, I still felt it was fitting. He's an all star in Cincinatti all right..

Coming Tomorrow: An up-and-coming rookie for a down-and-out team. I made this one especially for a fan a few weeks back, and tomorrow I post it on the blog.

...And we're back!

I made this Roy yesterday, and meant to post it yesterday to break my slump, but Blogger, being Blogger, decided to switch off for most of yesterday. So I waited. Today, Blogger's finally back. Fitting that Roy Halladay headlines this post, because he's had a few subpar starts recently, and you can say he's waiting for a rebound, like all of us were waiting for Blogger to get back up.

Also, I'm gonna try to get back to my normal posting schedule. I fell off the wagon last time because of A)- Lack of good pictures for customs, and B)- Lack of good card-related news stories. Now, I've got a few more customs planned, and hopefully this blog'll be back to normal.

Coming Tomorrow- In Cincinatti, when you think of the big guns on the lineup, two guys come to mind: Joey Votto, and this guy.

2011 Gypsy Queen- Yeah, I have some too

I know Gypsy Queen's been sweeping the blogosphere, because of its awesome inserts, retired stars, and good design. So I figured, why not get some. I ventured to the local Bullsye Enthusiast Superstore (Better known as Target), and got 2 of those 3 packs and a bonus ones.

Pack 1-
1- Ichiro. Great first pull of a set.
26- Adrian Gonzalez. Whenever I think of people calling him A-Gone, Harold Ramis comes to mind.
252- David DeJesus. Former Royal who's close to getting somewhere (read: nowhere) with another ballclub.
279- Josh Thole. Could his name just be Josh Sole, and he was just saying it with a lisp?
Thurman Munson Mini
Future Stars of Neftali Feliz. Future? He's a star now, Topps. Hate to break it to you.

Pack 2-
137- Ricky Romero, suddenly making Toronto baseball relevant
110- Todd Helton, The Mountain Man of the Rockies
224- Drew Stubbs
Sticky Fingers of Ivan Rodriguez. I will blame blindness and being housed under a rock if this man is denied by Cooperstown.
Michael Young mini
310- Jon Garland. Proof that the LA Team is going downhill- this guy is a relied upon starter.

Pack 3-
82- Starlin Castro. If he made the cover of Sports Illustrated, he's bound to be good, right Oil Can Boyd? Nah, I'm kiddin. Starlin'll be great.
140- Shawn Marcum. I must ask not only who he is, but what he is doing in Gypsy Queen.
295- Phil Hughes. Down with a case of AJ Burnett syndrome this year.
David Eckstein Sticky Fingers. Relevancy questioned on this one. Eck's past his prime.
Tommy Hunter mini
Konrad Schmidt rookie.

Pack 4 (All Green Cards)-
86- Prince Fielder Green Border.
15- Matt Kemp Green Border
58- Dale Murphy Green Border. That'll attract the bigger bloggers.

Pack 5-
97- Stan Musial. When I was a kid, I thought his name was Stan Musical. But no, he's tougher than that.
126- Billy Butler. In 2007, we thought Alex Gordon would be the star, and Butler the washup in AAA. Boy, were we wrong.
242- Joba Chamberlain. Back in 2007, we thought Joba would be the star, and Phil Hughes the washup. And...we were sorta right.
Wall Climbers of David DeJesus...on the Royals. Holy Continuity Error, Batman!
James Lonely, oh so Lonely mini.
The Great ones of Frank Robinson. He fits the billing.

Pack 6-
60- Rogers Hornsby
88- Robinson Canooooo!
226- Geovany Soto. Rookie of the Year. I just want that to sink in a little.
One of those actual Gypsy cards. Trash
Andrew McCutchen mini
A Home Run heroes of Jim Thome...on the Phillies! That's a good use of past unis.

Pack 7-
60- Rogers Hornsby again
88- Robbie Cano again
161- Aramis Ramirez.
139- Raul Ibanez. Who woulda thought this guy's star power would rise once he hit Philly.
Scott Kazmir mini
Future Stars of Desmond Jennings. Yeah, he'll probly be a star in the future.

Pack 8 (All Green Cards)-
64- Josh Hamilton Green Border
66- SANDY KOUFAX GREEN BORDER !!!
26- AAAADDRRRIIAAAANNNN GREEN BORDER! Wow.

Overall, this seems like a really nice set. If I get comfy with it, I might try to collect it like Chicle.