What's your favorite Topps Mets card?

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Loving that 2010 Seaver, and it's been elusive for me so far. Great card!

[batmagadanleadoff]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Gooden!

Yes! If Straw makes the top 15, then Gooden, who was still a Met four years after Straw signed with LA, has to be on that list.

metsguyinmichigan wrote: As for Kranepool, I thought you were an older collector.

I am. ?????

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Gary Carter, despite being a Met for a fairly short time, is in a bunch of sets.

Gary's got that Seaver/Ryan veteran card thing going on, too.

Carter, 2008 Donruss Threads

[batmagadanleadoff]

1. Mike Piazza -- JCL
2.
3.
4. Dwight Gooden -- Mich
5.
6. John Franco -- Grimm
7.
8. Edgardo Alfonzo -- Grimm
9. Darryl Strawberry -- JCL
10.
11. Al Leiter -- Edgy
12. Howard Johnson -- Edgy
13.
14. Bobby J. Jones -- Grimm
15.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Todd Hundley.

David Wright.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy DC wrote: Rick Reed

Reed had the bad timing to play for the Mets when the card companies reduced the size of their larger sets. During those years, it was unlikely for the third or fourth guy in the rotation to get a card. Reed deserved better treatment from the card makers: he's one of the 20 or 25 best starting pitchers in franchise history.

I have only nine Rick Reed (97-01) Mets cards. By comparison, I have 34 Anthony Youngs (91-93) and 30 Pete Schoureks (91-93). The early '90s saw the most large sets per season.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Kevin Elster.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Gregg Jefferies.

[batmagadanleadoff]

1. Mike Piazza -- JCL
2. David Wright -- Grimm
3.
4. Dwight Gooden -- Mich
5. Todd Hundley -- Grimm
6. John Franco -- Grimm
7.
8. Edgardo Alfonzo -- Grimm
9. Darryl Strawberry -- JCL
10.
11. Al Leiter -- Edgy
12. Howard Johnson -- Edgy
13.
14. Bobby J. Jones -- Grimm
15.

Wright looked like he had a shot at catching Piazza -- until last season. But he won't catch Mike so long as Topps is the only company printing cards.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Reyes

[Guest Edgy DC]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Rick Reed Reed had the bad timing to play for the Mets when the card companies reduced the size of their larger sets. During those years, it was unlikely for the third or fourth guy in the rotation to get a card. Reed deserved better treatment from the card makers: he's one of the 20 or 25 best starting pitchers in franchise history. I have only nine Rick Reed (97-01) Mets cards. By comparison, I have 34 Anthony Youngs (91-93) and 30 Pete Schoureks (91-93). The early '90s saw the most large sets per season.

Perhaps Reed's scabbiness also hurt his case.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Kevin McReynolds

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Ordonez

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy DC wrote: Edgy DC wrote: Rick Reed Reed had the bad timing to play for the Mets when the card companies reduced the size of their larger sets. During those years, it was unlikely for the third or fourth guy in the rotation to get a card. Reed deserved better treatment from the card makers: he's one of the 20 or 25 best starting pitchers in franchise history. I have only nine Rick Reed (97-01) Mets cards. By comparison, I have 34 Anthony Youngs (91-93) and 30 Pete Schoureks (91-93). The early '90s saw the most large sets per season. Perhaps Reed's scabbiness also hurt his case.

I doubt it, but that would be a shame if it was true. Reed deserved better all-around, not just from the card companies. It always bothered me that Reed was shunned by some. I could see scabs being mistreated in other industries where the employees and skill sets are more fungible, and there is a real risk of losing your job to a scab. But the idea that those replacement players, collectively, ever posed any threat to the established major leaguers, I thought, was ignorant and mean-spirited.

[batmagadanleadoff]

1. Mike Piazza -- JCL
2. David Wright -- Grimm
3. Jose Reyes -- JCL
4. Dwight Gooden -- Mich
5. Todd Hundley -- Grimm
6. John Franco -- Grimm
7.
8. Edgardo Alfonzo -- Grimm
9. Darryl Strawberry -- JCL
10. Rey Ordonez -- JCL
11. Al Leiter -- Edgy
12. Howard Johnson -- Edgy
13.
14. Bobby J. Jones -- Grimm
15.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Bonilla.

[batmagadanleadoff]

1. Mike Piazza -- JCL
2. David Wright -- Grimm
3. Jose Reyes -- JCL
4. Dwight Gooden -- Mich
5. Todd Hundley -- Grimm
6. John Franco -- Grimm
7.
8. Edgardo Alfonzo -- Grimm
9. Darryl Strawberry -- JCL
10. Rey Ordonez -- JCL
11. Al Leiter -- Edgy
12. Howard Johnson -- Edgy
13. Bobby Bonilla -- Edgy
14. Bobby J. Jones -- Grimm
15.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Reed being a scab actually hurt a lot. He wasn't a part of the union, and cared companies needed to negotiate with the union for licensing. There were a couple players caught up in that.

Topps, I believe, signed individual contracts with players, so he could still appear in sets -- and you're right, he was hampered twice when the set sizes were reduced.


Stumping on that last spot. Has Beltran been guessed?

[batmagadanleadoff]

1. Mike Piazza -- JCL
2. David Wright -- Grimm
3. Jose Reyes -- JCL
4. Dwight Gooden -- Mich
5. Todd Hundley -- Grimm
6. John Franco -- Grimm
7. Carlos Beltran -- Mich
8. Edgardo Alfonzo -- Grimm
9. Darryl Strawberry -- JCL
10. Rey Ordonez -- JCL
11. Al Leiter -- Edgy
12. Howard Johnson -- Edgy
13. Bobby Bonilla -- Edgy
14. Bobby J. Jones -- Grimm
15.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Inspired by this discussion today, I bought a rack pack of 2011 Topps. Decent pack: Johan, Dillon Gee, a sparkly card of David Price, Strasburg, a mini retro card of Justin Upton, a faux Piazza rookie -- a double, actually -- a jersey card of Carlos Marmol, a 1933 Goudey of Mel Ott and, finally, a sweet card of M's outfield Michael Saunders going Endy.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Pedro Martinez.

[stevejrogers]

Keith Hernandez

[batmagadanleadoff]

1. Mike Piazza -- JCL
2. David Wright -- Grimm
3. Jose Reyes -- JCL
4. Dwight Gooden -- Mich
5. Todd Hundley -- Grimm
6. John Franco -- Grimm
7. Carlos Beltran -- Mich
8. Edgardo Alfonzo -- Grimm
9. Darryl Strawberry -- JCL
10. Rey Ordonez -- JCL
11. Al Leiter -- Edgy
12. Howard Johnson -- Edgy
13. Bobby Bonilla -- Edgy
14. Bobby J. Jones -- Grimm
15. Pedro Martinez -- Edgy

Martinez 2006 Topps Wal-Mart


Jones 1968 Topps


Martinez 2008 Upper Deck Goudey


Durocher 1934 Goudey

[batmagadanleadoff]

SteveJRogers wrote: Keith Hernandez

Keith is #23 on my list. But have some Keith cards. They're on me. Happy Birthday, kid.

Hernandez 2005 Topps All Time Fan Favorites



Hernandez 1984 Topps


Hernandez and best buddy BFF Wade Boggs 1987 Fleer World Series. What's so funny, guys? Only one team gets to win.

[batmagadanleadoff]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Reed being a scab actually hurt a lot. He wasn't a part of the union, and cared companies needed to negotiate with the union for licensing. There were a couple players caught up in that. Topps, I believe, signed individual contracts with players, so he could still appear in sets -- and you're right, he was hampered twice when the set sizes were reduced.

You must be right. I went through my cards, and discovered that all nine of my Rick Reed Mets cards are Topps cards. This can't be due to chance alone, given the large number of companies that produced cards when Reed was a Met. Also, I flipped through a few large-sized sets produced by Fleer, Upper Deck and Pacific and could not come up with any plausible explanation for Reed's omission from those sets given the number of Mets that were included, other than a scab/union issue. Reed was always a key Met and would be more deserving of a card than, say, Rich Becker or Tim Spehr.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Post more Met action photos where we can determine the actual game from clues in the photo. That's fun!

[batmagadanleadoff]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Post more Met action photos where we can determine the actual game from clues in the photo. That's fun!

Boswell 1971 Topps, (in the style of Millan, '78 Topps)


Is that Vic Davalillo, sliding into 2nd?

[batmagadanleadoff]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Post more Met action photos where we can determine the actual game from clues in the photo. That's fun! Boswell 1971 Topps, (in the style of Millan, '78 Topps) Is that Vic Davalillo, sliding into 2nd?

2010 Gary Matthews, Topps

[batmagadanleadoff]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Post more Met action photos where we can determine the actual game from clues in the photo. That's fun!

Ryan Thompson 1995 Pinnacle

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Must be. How many Mets cards show the Whitestone? That's sweet.

The 78 Koosman is an action shot I'd bet was taken the same day (and by the same shooter) as the Millan one but there's no way to know for sure. That set had a nice mix of tight candids around the batting cage in addition to a few real action shots and your requisite Spring Training fake-poses.

[batmagadanleadoff]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Post more Met action photos where we can determine the actual game from clues in the photo. That's fun!

Bonilla 1995 Topps Stadium Club; "Best Seat in the House"