Imagination Reclamation

We take our custom cards seriously around here. At one point we had a whole separate page of this blog dedicated to custom cards from around the Web. And while that page went the way of much on the Internet, our love of customs remains. Here are a few of our favorites we've created over the years, and don't forget to check out our new page presenting the 1978 Topps "Traded" set all in one place...

Elvis Presley Heroes: 1965

I had trouble deciding what to call Elvis' teams throughout his career. The Tupelo Hound Dogs? The Memphis Kings? The Hollywood Headliners? Or something like "The Jumpsuits"? I decided to combine the first two for this card. Here's a closeup of the team logo...

Because It Should Exist: 1971 Topps Greatest Moments Elvis Presley

Like Travis, I haven't posted in a long time. (The Baseball Card Blog is lucky that, like the railroads used to be, Mike posts on a schedule you can set your watch to.) I've been kicking around a fan set idea for a long time: Elvis Presley Heroes. It would be a collection of 50 or so cards from across Presley's career and life, done in the style of each year. Because his years roughly match those of Mantle and Aaron, his cards would roughly match those two stars.

Here's one I put together tonight. I plan to put together the rest of them over the next few months, if the project can hold my interest.

50 Single Stickers Can't Be Wrong

I'm a fan of Elvis Presley. It's the fact that he was a bit of an ass, that he was a drug addict at the end, that he had three TV's, that he had a Jungle Room at Graceland, that he laughed and talked during live recordings, that he was fond of ridiculous jumpsuits and that his album cover art was so darn cool. I'm not talking about the original "Elvis Presley" self-titled album with the rock-a-billy photo and the green and pink text overlay that The Clash ripped off and seems an odd-yet-completely-legitimate choice of inspiration for the design of the 1984 Topps set. That album cover deserves its own, separate dissertation.

I'm talking about the gold lamé army of Elvii raining down on the cover of "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong." I'm not sure that's even the name of the album, come to think of it. Doesn't matter. The point I'm trying to make is that if you squint real hard at the American League All-Star stickers that I'm finding at an alarmingly common rate, all decked out in their gold foil, if you try real hard, you can almost see Elvis smiling back.

Key word there is "almost." I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl after opening 10 packs of stickers and not finding a single double. Let that sink in. Ten packs of five stickers each and no doubles. I completed nearly 20% of the set in one fell swoop. Unheard of. Unbelievable. Especially in this box, this treacherous box of Dusty Bakers and Hosken Powells, Al Olivers and Chet Lemons.

Here they are, in all their glory.

Pack 27: Greg Luzinski, John Castino, Terry Puhl, Bob Knepper, Dwight Evans

Pack 28: Doug Flynn, Leon Durham, George Brett, Milt May, AL All-Star Dave Winfield

Pack 29: Mike Flanagan, Matt Keough, Pedro Guerrero, AL All-Star Jerry Remy, Dwayne Murphy

Pack 30: Damaso Garcia, Jorge Orta, Floyd Bannister, Mike Norris, Reggie Jackson

Pack 31: Gary Carter, Ken Reitz, Tom Paciorek, Ted Simmons, Ron Cey

Pack 32: George Hendrick, NL All-Star George Foster, John Mayberry, Pete Rose Highlight, Bob Forsch

Pack 33: Alan Trammell, Kirk Gibson, Julio Cruz, Mickey Hatcher, Pete Rose

Pack 34: AL All-Star George Brett, Steve Henderson, Warren Cromartie, Steve Rogers, Gary Gray

Pack 35: Len Barker Highlight, Jerry Mumphrey, Don Baylor, Bump Wills, Billy Almon

Pack 36: Steve McCatty, Fred Lynn, AL All-Star Rick Burleson, Danny Darwin, Cecil Cooper


Some notes. I have a gut feeling that it's going to be much harder now to get all new stickers in a pack . . . Interesting to note that Topps used the same Highlights subjects as in the 1982 baseball card set . . . On the Baltimore Orioles page, there are eight players, three of them are pitchers, and none of them are the shortstop . . . It's Billy Almon on the sticker back, but Bill Almon in the album . . . I still have no Leaders, no Pirates, no Padres, and no World Series stickers . . . I almost have completed the Angels, the Twins, and the Astros pages.