Worst Mets card ever?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I remember that 1972 Rusty Staub Topps card was one that everyone in my neighborhood wanted. Little did we know that it didn't even exist.

Were some guys claiming that they had seen it? Or even had it?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Not that I recall, but there may have been.

[G-Fafif]

And here I was thinking the worst Mets card ever had to be any that portrayed the 2009 Mets.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Yeah, I remember thinking it was a ripoff that both Fregosi and Ryan were depicted as Angels. If they knew that Ryan was an Angel, how could they not have known that Fregosi was a Met?

Fregosi appeared as an Angel, probably because his card was included in the earliest First Series (card #115). In all likelihood, the First Series had already been printed by the time he was traded to the Mets.



Ryan's card (#595) appeared in the 5th Series; Topps, presumably, had time to airbrush an Angels logo on his card.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

G-Fafif wrote: And here I was thinking the worst Mets card ever had to be any that portrayed the 2009 Mets.

Got caught in Citi 3-4 times last year with time to kill-- couple of rain delays, couple of waits for friends-- and a couple of extra bucks burning a hole in my jeans pockets. Ended up buying 4 big packs total of last year's Topps set. Bought one of the '08s, too-- I think they might have been on sale.

EVERY pack-- each one purchased AFTER the first week of June, and the A-Rod pop-up-- had a Luis Castillo pop up in there. (The '08 one was foil-stamped, and gave its life to the Two Boots wall for a pint of Brooklyn Lager.)

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

No discussion of Topps and air-brushed Mets is complete without the 1973 Agee. Is that Harrelson and Rusty suddenly joining Tommie on the Astros?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Rusty can't win, can he?

[ashie62]

Could be worse, he could be Russell Jay Kuntz "Rusty Kuntz"

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

http://metsguyinmichigan.blogspot.com/2010/01/solving-mystery-of-horrific-hostess.html

Had to give the awesome Crane Pool Forum the love for solving this mystery!

[ashie62]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: I've been trying to figure out the park in the background. Did Jerry Park even have a roof like that? Maybe the road grays were a light shade of gray, or this is from the spring? You rarely see Rusty in long sleeves, much less a windbreaker under the jersey.

It is Jarry Park....small roof..The big LF bleachers give it away..Been there for what its worth

[batmagadanleadoff]

Uniwatch was having a discussion about the old Hostess baseball cards that were on the backs of Twinkies boxes, and I was reminded of this Rusty Staub disaster. Among the flaws: 1) They left the Expos logo on the jersey 2) They painted on only some of the pinstripes. 3) They used a photo that was more than three years old, as this is from 1975. I can only guess that the artists were on a major sugar buzz from eating too many Ring Dings and was distracted. Or, they just didn't give a damn. I'm guessing that Hostess licensed their pictures from Topps and that the screwup with the Expos "elb" logo and pinstriping was not an artist's oversight, but that the photo was supposed to be cropped higher up, at around Staub's neck and through the shoulder line. I've seen several proofs of old Topps cards where the cap or helmet was airbrushed to reflect the player's brand new team. In those proofs, the jersey top (former team) was left unaltered. The final card was cropped above the jersey.

Comparing the 1974 Topps Bob Miller card with its' Topps proof (below) illustrates why I thought that the Hostess Staub image was intended to be cropped, rather than airbrushed further.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Here's another example --- Casey Stengel's 1962 Topps card, and proof:

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Where do the Topps proofs come from?

[batmagadanleadoff]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Where do the Topps proofs come from?

The Topps [crossout]ostrich[/crossout] stork.

[batmagadanleadoff]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Where do the Topps proofs come from?

They were auctioned on ebay last year.

[batmagadanleadoff]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Where do the Topps proofs come from? The Topps [crossout]ostrich[/crossout] stork.

Stork. I meant to write stork. Because, you know, "where do _______ come from? Come from. Get it?

[Benjamin Grimm]

You had me thinking that maybe an ostrich chick was called a "proof."

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

http://metsguyinmichigan.blogspot.com/2010/02/for-every-hello-there-is-goodbye-metdom.html

Had some fun with the other perspective -- guys traded away from the Mets. Some examples of badness, but nothing as horrid as that Hostess Staub.

The 1972 Bobby Pfeil is a disaster, first because the Mets lettering is not totally covered, but also because he played for several other teams before getting to the Sox -- and I don't think he ever made it to Fenway. And the 1973 Dave Marshall has a Padres collar and cap, with the Mets pinstripes.

[Guest Edgy DC]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Comparing the 1974 Topps Bob Miller card with its' Topps proof (below) illustrates why I thought that the Hostess Staub image was intended to be cropped, rather than airbrushed further.

The other problem with this card is that they took the picture in the future of a 51-year-old Miller at an old-timers game and then went back in time to use it to represent him as a 35-year-old.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Bam!

[Zvon]

Hey Grimm, is there a checklist for your cards?
I have 42 cards.
I am not counting Santana's '71 card back as a separate card,
and I am counting the Bensen babe.

[Benjamin Grimm]

They're all on the UMDB Facebook page.