Mattingly Madness

Donnie Baseball time! I didn't get into baseball until 1990, so, having missed out on his 80s peak, I wasn't really a big Mattingly fan growing up. But since returning to the hobby as an adult, he's become one of my favorite guys to collect and I've ended up with some pretty nice cards of his in my collection.

Very happy to finish his Topps Retired refractor trifecta recently. I wouldn't mind someday upgrading my '04 to one that is unfaded/ungraded. But still, so satisfying to have these three secured after years of chasing this set.

Another look at 'em refracting away in all their glory.

Here's another completed trio of Mattingly refractors from the years 2003-2005, these from Topps All-Time Fan Favorites. I've nearly completed the full set run of TATFF refractors (/299), with just a few from '04 remaining. 

 

Here's a trio of different rookie reprint refractors. I mentioned last post I've been going nuts for reprint refractors lately. I mean, years back I completed the Archives Reserve base sets (which are essentially all reprint refractors), but I've recently been expanding into Chrome inserts from other years. I think of the 2019 versions as "Refractors Your Mom Threw Out" because they've got a write-up on the back, while the 2014 versions are more desirable as "original back" reprints. Otherwise they look pretty similar on the front, even if the one on the right didn't shine much in the above photo.

Now to feature some cardart I've been whipping up lately.

Last time I checked in with what I've been up to in regards to cardart, you may remember I was all about coming up with silhouette cards. Further down that path lead me to come up with "logoman minis" which I'm really digging. The plan is keep each of these as a 1/1, but try to come up with several variations.

A second Mattingly style. I've also got Rickeys in the works.

I'm still making lots of "mods", tweaking real cards to spice them up as after-market parallels. This is the latest style I've been working on. Holographic overlayers on cards is basic "cardart 101" stuff, but I think it looks dumb when you cover up the player with it, so I don't cover up the player on mine. I plan to start putting some of these in my ebay store soon. Been trying to keep these all one-of-one and not repeat myself.

Took a long, long time to make this "white border" mod. I had intended to make it to sell, but with all that went into it, no one could ever appreciate it as much as me, so guess I'll hang onto it. ha

I've got a couple Mattingly cardart displays I made a year or two ago that I've been meaning to make available. But again, sometimes the combination of being lazy and liking it enough myself, I end up hanging onto stuff I originally intended to "side hustle" out of the house.

Last year I was all about making custom displays, but don't think I made many in 2025 other than for silhouette ideas.

More original cardart from a year or two ago. Available for trade or maybe I'll add some of them to my ebay listings at some point. I generally shoot for $10@ but settle closer to $5 if I don't find much interest after awhile. Yeah, maybe it's silly "making" cards like this when there are billions of real cards out there already that collectors would rather spend their money on, and if it was just about me making money, I have plenty of decent real cards I could list, but cardart is a fun creative outlet for me, so I'll keep at it.

Leftovers of some Mattingly customs I've made over the years. Funny, that Big League Chewing Gum custom I made in 2016 ended up getting "mass counterfeited" on eBay, even with the back crediting Baseball Card Breakdown. Dumb.

As far as Donnies I'm still on the hunt for, there's yet another rookie reprint refractor out there I need (the "50 Years" one), plus relics for my ARMS (Archives Reserve Master Set), and a couple tough "junk" era issues.

MY MATTINGLY MOST WANTED:
2004 Topps Retired refractor auto /25 (signature upgrade wanted)
2001 Topps Chrome Through The Years refractor reprints #32 (1984 Topps)
2001 Topps Archives Reserve Relics ARR7 (“1984” jersey)
2001 Topps Archives Reserve Relics ARR28 (“1984” bat)
2002 Topps Archives Reserve Relics TRR-DMB (“1985” bat)
1992 Leaf Preview - Black Gold parallel #22
1990 Topps Batting Leaders #4 (aka "Kmart greenies"; I'd be down for the '89 red, too)

If you happen to have any of those available, feel free to drop me a line.

Ok, I guess that's pretty much all the Mattingly stuff I wanted to mention. To keep things light, I've deleted my sour rantings about the HOF and the Dodgers and other things that suck the fun out of today's game. But yeah, baseball back in the 70s through 90s.. that's my wheelhouse. And Donnie Baseball is a major figure of that golden era.

Thanks for reading, guys!

Will our blogs outlive us?

I heard about how recently MySpace ended up losing all the old music artists had uploaded to the site back in its heyday. They said it was a server migration error or something, but rumors are they just wanted to free up the space all those files were taking up. It was a bummer for me since I had a couple artist profiles there: my main "band" page, and a secret alter-ego rap/hip-hop joke project. There was also a page for a little wannabe "record label" I started with some online musician friends back then. I know MySpace is essentially dead and those songs probably only got like maybe 1 or 2 real human listens per year, but it was still nice to know they were out there.

And of course when something like this happens, as a blogger you can't help but to think about Blogger (and/or WordPress) and how quickly our blogs and their archives could be wiped away forever, either on purpose or accident. That would suck. Hell, I frequently use my own blog as a resource.. looking up when/how I got a certain card.. what I need.. what I have... stuff like that. And our blogs are basically journals of our collection (sometimes branching out into real life stuff too), and it's nice to think they'll be around a long time, perhaps even tell our stories after we're gone.


Anyways, something to ponder, but that was basically just a click-bait intro to trick you into checking out some new 2005 Topps Retired auto pickups of mine...

This Don Mattingly refractor has a story behind it. When I opened up the package from the seller, there was a David Ortiz stickergraph/relic instead. The seller was apologetic and cool about correcting the mixup. Thankfully the guy who accidentally got the Mattingly was cool about returning it. Chances are he was a Red Sox fan, so the Donnie Baseball probably grossed him out. But it all worked out and the correct cards made it to the correct people.

I had to look it up, but seems Mattingly is still currently the manager for the Miami Marlins. It's a living.

Hall of Famer Monte Irvin was a fun one to get. There's a little story behind this pickup, too. When this card originally popped up on eBay, I made a reasonable best offer that was declined. A month or so later, the seller came back with his tail between his legs asking if he could have a do-over and accept my old offer. I took my time.. even considered making a slightly lower offer than before.. but ultimately took the high road and went ahead and re-submitted the same offer.

Ok, so we've had a New York Yankee and a New York Giant.. time for a New York Met...

This Gregg Jefferies refractor had been sitting on eBay for a while, and I finally pulled the trigger on it with the help from a discount code. Great looking card. Seems even extra shiny.

Casual baseball fans who hoarded hot rookie cards in the late 80s/early 90s often consider Gregg Jefferies one of the game's biggest busts due to how crazy-hyped he was around 1988/89. And while he didn't live up to his "future all-time great" promise, looking at his numbers, he still had a very fine career that pretty much any ballplayer working their way up would kill to have.

Here's a base auto, not a refractor, as you can probably tell by lack of rainbow shine, but still happy to snag this Ron Gant, a favorite player of mine since I first got into baseball back in 1990.

Like Jefferies, not quite a HOF career, but still some impressive numbers on the back of his card.


That wraps up this batch of 2005 Topps Retired autos.
Have a great weekend!

In the crosshairs: 1984 + 1985 Donruss

I've never completed a Donruss set, but now that I've gotten into the groove of being a part-time set collector, I figured I'd go after my favorite offerings from them. I think 1984 has a real nice, simple design (with today's collectors being reminded of it thanks to its inclusion in 2018 Donruss). Though there are probably too many boring headshots, there are also some neat photos in there as well. Plus apparently the print run that year was a bit lower than other major sets of the era, which-- can't lie-- appeals to me.

ARPSmith kicked off my setbuild a few months ago with a little starter lot. Then recently, Larry in Alabama sent me a nice big chunk of the set. Turrdog then came in with a bit of a brick to fill some holes and bring me to a manageable wantlist to officially post.

The Mattingly RC is probably the key card in the set. Big thanks to Larry for taking care of that one for me.

Larry also gave me the Sandberg, with Turrdog completing the trio of sophomore stars with the Gwynn and Boggs.

Thanks again for the trades, Larry and Turrdog!
I'm down to less that 100 cards to go. (Note that I'm not bothering to go after any of the many errors/variations; I'll be happy with one copy of each card number, regardless if it's an error or correction.) My 1984 Donruss needs are now on my main wantlist, so if you think you might be able to help and want to trade, please take a look at get in touch!


And now for 1985 Donruss which I'm working on concurrently. I always thought it was a cool "bad boy" set with its "Knight Rider" design, though I never owned many cards from it. But now thanks to the trading tandem of ARPSmith, Larry, and Turrdog, I'm in spitting distance of finishing it.

Again, Adam got me off the ground with a starter lot, then Larry did some heavy lifting with a few hundred cards, and then the Turrdog topped it off with important needs, including the two biggest rookies in the set, Clemens and Kirby.

It's a nice looking set!

Just 15 cards to go with 85D! (again, unconcerned with variations.) Check my wantlist for the up-to-date needs if you think you might be able to help me out.

Thanks yet again for the trades, Adam, Larry, and Turrdog! I should be able to knock out the rest of these two sets before long.

Think About You

Ah, the 80s.

It's funny how I never felt so good 
It's a feeling that I know I know I'll never forget
Oooh it was the best time I can remember

You said it, Axl.

I've got 3 sets from the 80s that are racing to the finish line thanks to generous trader buds.

Don Mattingly is probably the top card in 1984 Fleer, going by book, and I'm very grateful to Larry in Alabama for hooking me up with it, even though I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for useful cards I can send back to him after our couple other recent trades. But yeah, this is a great card. I think it's my first Mattingly rookie ever. He's a guy I kinda collect thanks to being one of the Springfield Nine.

All I'm missing to finish off '84 Fleer now are Nolan, Rickey, Gaylord Perry's retirement tribute card, and of course, the legendary Milt Wilcox. (j/k; not sure why the Milt has been so elusive).

Larry also hit a couple big names left in my 1983 Topps set, with Ripken and Carew here.

Big thanks, Larry! I've got a stack of cards for you I need to drop in the mail ASAP.

- - - ----o

And I did a quick PWE trade with reader John H. to knock off a few more '83 Topps needs.

And a Gavin along for the ride.

My remaining '83 Topps needs as of this post:
71 Steve Carlton super-veteran
146 Don Sutton super-veteran
397 Pete Rose all-star
406 Steve Carlton all-star
792 Chris Chambliss

I think I might've exhausted all I can from friendly blog readers, and may now have to turn to Twitter if I want to complete these sets ('84 Fleer, '83 and '80 Topps) only by trading. I mean, I'm sure I could nab these final few cards cheap enough on Sportlots or someplace, but doing it through trades is more rewarding, right?

Anyways.. Thanks, John! I'll try to round up something to hit you back with shortly.

-  - - ----o

And last trade to mention today was a dual PWE blast from my buddy Matt at Sport Card Collectors.

A couple nice additions to the Billy Hamilton PC. The 2018 is one of those batting practice jersey SPs. And while I didn't care for 2017 Topps Fire much overall, I really like those shiny Golden Grabs insets.

Some other guys I collect.

And some assorted Padres from the past. Max Fried went to the Braves back in the Justin Upton trade. I think he's fighting for a spot in Atlanta's rotation this spring.

Thanks a lot, SCC! I'll shoot you back some NY Giants or whatnot soon.

Custom or Not A Custom

Time to play America's fastest growing quiz sensation Custom or Not A Custom!

Don Mattingly made his MLB debut in 1982, but the Big 3 card companies didn't bother including him in their 1983 sets. But in this day and age, cardboard wrongs can be righted, and there's a nice trio of what could have been.

Did you guess right? The Topps card is NOT a custom, it's a Topps Archives card. I made the Fleer and Donruss cards.

More Yankees Captains, now with Derek Jeter. This is an easy one: The custom here is the 1991 Line Drive-style card. I thought it looked good with that early photo.

The Donruss cards come from 2004 Donruss Originals. Panini should revive that brand, like as their version of Topps Archives. Current Donruss products pay homage to old Donruss sets with new-but-similar designs, but rarely come right out and use old designs unless maybe for inserts.

Zero-year Vlad sunset card that never was. Yep, it's a custom.

I'm still a little upset the Jays declined to call him up in 2012 despite his success in the minors, effectively ending his career. He could have easily played for 2 or 3 more years, and possibly gotten to 500 HR and 3000 hits.

The "Originals" gives this one away: Not a custom. Kirby's first mainstream card was 1984 Fleer Update. This "What If? card imagines what it might look like had Donruss also put out an Update-type set that year.

My Kirby PC has definitely made good strides over the past few months, and this eBay pickup is one of my favorite cards in the collection.

More Donruss Originals. Got these in my recent COMC order. I just love these "What If?" cards. What if Donruss put out a set in 1980? Might have looked like that Winfield. What if Craig Biggio was in 1988 Donruss The Rookies? Might look like that.

Quick aside, but a few months ago Topps Bunt had some digital Cards That Never Were available. I thought that was super cool at first, but later grew very frustrated. They made the cards super hard to pull, first off. I drained my coin balance on packs hoping to pull one, coming up empty. Topps really needs to ease with the manufactured scarcity with their fucking digital cards! Obviously in real life you can't pull a Koufax or Hank Aaron auto in every blaster, but with fake cards, there's no reason to be so stingy with cool pulls like that. Come on, the whole point of digital cards is you could pull ANYTHING! How cool is that?! But no, Topps gives you 99% boring digital base cards. Add to that Bunt's move more and more into selling digital packs for "diamonds" that can only be obtained by paying real money... and I'm done with the app. Same with the Star Wars Card Trader app. Oh, another thing that sucks about those Cards That Never Were is they ripped off the blog of the same name. Even used the dude's font, but he wasn't involved at all. That seems like a dick move by Topps.

Last one for today.

Yep, it's a custom! Nate Colbert is one of my top guys I collect. I thought is was pretty cool when I came across this photo (even bought the original negative from the Topps Vault). I had never seen a pic of Colbert on the Jays. But as the blurb on the back of the custom states, he was with them in '77 spring training before retiring. So yeah, this is another year-zero sunset card that never was that I'm very happy I could bring into the world. (Seems like a lot of guys I like have their careers killed by Toronto. Vlad, Gavin Floyd, Mark Buehrle, and Nate Colbert. Oh well.)

That's all for today. Thanks for reading!

The Simpsons custom set for Homer at the Bat

A couple years ago, I did a blog series called The Simpsons Fortnight where each day I posted about a player who guested on the classic "Homer at the Bat" episode of The Simpsons (it ended up not lasting the full fortnight I had originally planned, but I did cover all 9 players from the episode). Each post featured a couple junk-era custom jpg's using images from the show. This was back before I was making hardcopy customs, though a while later with the help from a guy I knew, I did make a limited run of magnet cards featuring some (not all) of the virtual Simpsons cards I had whipped up.

Anyways, now that I've gotten the hang of printing out customs, I had been meaning to make hardcopy customs out of these designs. And so that's what I did!

The autographed Simpsons cards from my recent Wade Boggs-centered contest were easily the most popular of the 3 designs I made, based on the response in the comments. It was no surprise when both contest winners chose that one. (That means I still have a couple each of the Cheers card and the Always Sunny card available for trade, BTW.)

The other catalyst for this project came from negotiating a trade with a reader named Josh, who had a couple nice cards I was interested in, and to seal the deal, he inquired about a set of my Simpsons customs. So I've spent a few hours over the past fortnight cleaning up those original digital customs from 2014, as well as creating backs for them, and making them a physical reality.

So without further ado, I present to you The 2016 Baseball Card Breakdown Simpsons "Homer at the Bat" Custom Card Set!

Wade Boggs cards from The Simpsons

Jose Canseco cards from The Simpsons

Roger Clemens cards from The Simpsons

Ken Griffey, Jr cards from The Simpsons

Don Mattingly cards from The Simpsons

Steve Sax cards from The Simpsons

Mike Scioscia cards from The Simpsons

Ozzie Smith cards from The Simpsons

Darryl Strawberry cards from The Simpsons

Cool stuff, huh?

As with most of my customs, these are up for trade. Drop me an email if interested.
(Sorry, but these are not for sale. It's just too much of a headache from a legal standpoint.)

And if you missed out on the original blog series (it didn't get much traffic at the time), here are links to all 9 posts:

Wade Boggs

Jose Canseco

Roger Clemens

Ken Griffey, Jr.

Don Mattingly

Steve Sax

Mike Scioscia

Ozzie Smith 

Darryl Strawberry