What's your favorite Topps Mets card?

[seawolf17]

Bob Heise is one.

Hahn has a couple of Mets cards.

[seawolf17]

Les Rohr?

[batmagadanleadoff]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Don Hahn

[batmagadanleadoff]

No on Rohr:

[batmagadanleadoff]

seawolf17 wrote: Bob Heise is one. Hahn has a couple of Mets cards.

Heise is right. One more to go.

[seawolf17]

Forgot about that one. I just remember I sent him a custom card using a photo I found of him with his "69 METS" license plate for my autographs collection.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Damn, I even have this one in trips

[Guest Edgy DC]

Tim Skala Tim Foli.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy DC wrote: Tim Skala Tim Foli.

There are others, too.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Give up? I'll post the third Met sometime before this evening.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

The reason I remembered Schneck was because as a Mets obsessed 11-year-old, I couldn't figure out why Schneck was in the yearbook but didn't have a card, while a guy I had never heard of -- Bill Sudakis -- had two of them.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I remember Schneck as one of the Mets involved in a three-way uniform # swap, along with Felix Millan and Teddy Martinez.

The third answer to my Topps Mets trivia question is Jim Gosger.

[batmagadanleadoff]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: I remember Schneck as one of the Mets involved in a three-way uniform # swap, along with Felix Millan and Teddy Martinez. The third answer to my Topps Mets trivia question is Jim Gosger.

The record for most seasons as a Met without ever appearing on a Topps card as a Met appears to be three. I believe that in addition to Heise, Schneck and Gosger, there are also three Mets from the post 1980 multi-baseball card company era that never appeared on a Topps card as a Met despite playing for the team in three separate seasons. I say "I believe" because I'm kinda sure about the three post 1980 Mets but not 100% certain -- as I am of Heise, Schneck and Gosger. Because who the hell can completely keep track of these things post 1980? I can't.

Anyway, who are the post-1980 three? My hunch is that this branch of the trivia question won't generate as much interest, mainly because of the unmanageably large number of cards produced post 1980.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Well, the focus of the hobby changed, too. For a while there, sets shrunk so the companies could pander to the investment people. If a player wasn't a star or a rookie, they were often left out of a set. (A company rep told me that as the pack prices raised, they wanted to make sure every pack had a card that someone would see value in, and that would be a star or a rookie, or a parallel version of one of those.)

Not my idea of a good pack or set, and look how the hobby tanked.

And as an aside, looking through all my Mets binders, none of the cards from a fringe, insert-driven set came even close to making the cut. The base cards in those sets were clearly an afterthought, something there justify the jersey swatch or numbered insert card.

But I both rant and digress...

[batmagadanleadoff]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: But I both rant and digress...

Not really. I agree with everything you wrote. David Wright cards get boring and lose their effect after about the 100th Wright card for the same season. My favorite sets are the largest ones, that include the largest number of players. I'd rather see one Frank Catalanotto Met card before I see three Johans.

[Guest Edgy DC]

We should just produce our own set.

[seawolf17]

I'd love a "team history" set, featuring each player in team history in the card style of their debut year.

Topps tried "Topps Total" a few years back to handle those folks who wanted every middle reliever, but it was so bloated that nobody bought it.

Pedro Feliciano's first Topps card appeared in the 2010 Update set, although Upper Deck had him in 2008.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Seriously, we have graphic designers, photographers, a database guy to produce stats, illustrators, writers, editors, contempt for rules... Let's go nuts.

[batmagadanleadoff]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: The record for most seasons as a Met without ever appearing on a Topps card as a Met appears to be three. I believe that in addition to Heise, Schneck and Gosger, there are also three Mets from the post 1980 multi-baseball card company era that never appeared on a Topps card as a Met despite playing for the team in three separate seasons. I say "I believe" because I'm kinda sure about the three post 1980 Mets but not 100% certain -- as I am of Heise, Schneck and Gosger. Because who the hell can completely keep track of these things post 1980? I can't. Anyway, who are the post-1980 three? My hunch is that this branch of the trivia question won't generate as much interest, mainly because of the unmanageably large number of cards produced post 1980.

The three post 1980 Mets who played for the Mets in three different seasons without ever appearing on a Topps card as a Met are, (I believe):

Mike Howard, Jorge Velandia and Mike DiFelice.

[ashie62]

The only licensed manufacturer of MLB cards is Topps. Print runs are limited to what they can sell.

The old school "set collector" is a thing of the past. So are "Mom and Pop" card stores.

The younguns of today don't spend their dough on sportscards..they spend the money on..

Gaming issues.

I have my own online store and most customers are adults..Yikes.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

I'm back to the countdown, and really closing in on some special cards:http://metsguyinmichigan.blogspot.com/2010/11/quirky-players-and-quirky-sets-in.html

No. 20, 1974 George Theodore


No. 19, 1971 Bud Harrelson


No. 18, a tie between the 1974 Tug McGraw and the 1974 Harrelson



No. 17, 2008 Johan Santana


No. 16, 2009 Heritage Carlos Delgado


No. 15, 2003 Todd Hundley


No. 14, 1989 Darryl Strawberry


No. 13, 2001 Heritage Edgardo Alfonzo


No. 12, 1992 Stadium Club Howard Johnson


No. 11, 1964 Casey Stengel

[G-Fafif]

I'm psyched to see the damage HoJo is about to do to Three Rivers.

[batmagadanleadoff]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: I have all the Mets managers cards in the blog post, but didn't know if I'd be pushing the limits by posting all 40 of them here. http://metsguyinmichigan.blogspot.com/2010/11/will-history-repeat-terry-collins-can.html

I remembered a Topps Bobby Valentine manager card that you left out. I can't find an internet image. What card am I referring to?

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Sweet, because I could find only:





Now that I think of it, I bet there was a Bobby V card in the special Subway Series set -- the one with the amazing inserts with the subway tokens. I'll look tonight!

[batmagadanleadoff]

Sweet, because I could find only: Now that I think of it, I bet there was a Bobby V card in the special Subway Series set -- the one with the amazing inserts with the subway tokens. I'll look tonight!

That's the one. In that set, Valentine has his own card, and also appears in a card with Benitez, captioned: "Bobby Valentine and Armando Benitez hug after Game 1 of NLCS."

[batmagadanleadoff]

2001 Topps Combos

[Guest Edgy DC]

Did they do one with Yogi Berra and Dallas Green?

[batmagadanleadoff]

One more Topps Mets manager:



Topps 1988 Glossy All Stars

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

That Davey Johnson card is neat!

Here are two non-Topps Davey cards, from the 1988 Donruss All-Star game packs. I love the pop-out cards!




And here are the two Valentines from the Subway Series set.

[G-Fafif]

Bobby and Armando appear to be looking past each other, as I guess will happen in the victory lane.

Subway Series set was great. Half of it, anyway.