Pack War Customs- What If Brooklyn Nets

Jay-Z has been clear that if he has his way the New Jersey Nets will move to Brooklyn. Jay-Z only owns about 5% of the team but when Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov agreed to purchase 80% of the team things look like the move may happen after all.

Jay-Z has also hinted that he would love to have his friends, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, playing for him in Brooklyn.

This card is based on a 2006 Topps Luxury Box relic card that I have with Dwyane Wade, Jay-Z and Allen Iverson.

Team of the Decade?

So the Yankees won the World Series this year. Big deal. They had the biggest payroll in MLB, and signed the top 3 Free Agents in the 2008 offseason, and have arguably the 2 best shortstops in the AL in the same lineup. They had a great year and deserved to win it all. I just don’t see why people proclaim them the Team of the Decade from 2000-2009. Boston won 2 rings, Philadelphia almost did, the Angels, Twins, Cardinals, and Dodgers have been in the thick of it throughout the decade. The Yankees had a ton of chances to win a 3rd ring in the decade and seal their claim as the top team, but weren’t able to. I decided to make some What-if? cards of the Yankees from 2001-2008 that show how things could’ve been if they lived up to being the team of the decade. They were fun to make, and maybe I’ll do some of other teams. Congratulations, New York, on the World Series win. Maybe next year Detroit won’t give up the Division crown during the last week.

2001 

Real Life: Yankees lose to Arizona on Luis Gonzalez’s bloop hit in 9th Inning of Game 7 of the World Series

Card: Mariano Rivera pitches perfect 9th Inning in Game 7

2002

Real Life: Francisco Rodriguez shuts down Yankee bats in the ALDS

Card: Jeter hits walk-off HR in Game 5 off of Rodriguez

2003

Real Life: Josh Beckett pitches lights-out ball in the World Series

Card: Pettite out-pitches Beckett

2004

Real Life: Dave Roberts/Bill Mueller/Big Papi start rally in Game 4 of the ALCS, then Boston goes on to win next 3 games and come back from 3 games to 0 hole to go to the World Series

Card: Mariano Rivera gets through the 9th in Game 4

2005

Real Life: The Angels rally off of Mike Mussina in the Division Series

Card: Mussina pitches well

2006

Real Life: The Tigers hot rookie pitchers and powerful bats are too much for the Yankees in the ALDS

Card: Chien-Ming Wang beats Justin Verlander twice

2007

Real Life: The Indians beat Joba Chamberlain in the “Bug Game”, Jeter kills rallies by hitting into 2 Double Plays in Game 4 of the ALDS.

Card: Chamberlain shuts down Indians hitters in relief.

2008

Real Life: Yankees don’t make the Playoffs as Tampa Bay comes out of nowhere to win the AL East, and Boston clinches the AL Wild Card

Card: Yankees clinch Playoff Spot

As far as Team of the Decade, I would say it’s a tie between the Red Sox and Angels, with St. Louis a close second. Feel free to post your opinions.

What-if? Cards: 1994 Donruss Matt Williams

In 1993, a group of investors from the St. Petersburg area put in a bid to buy the San Francisco Giants and move them to the Tampa/St. Pete area. The contract was actually signed by Giants ownership and the group from St. Pete, but the Giants never moved to Florida, as a group from San Francisco put an offer together and NL President Bill White kept pushing back the announcement of the finalization of the Giants sale. Because the sale of the Giants to the St. Pete group wasn’t voted on by owners, acting Commissioner Bud Selig declared that the deal wasn’t done, allowing for the group from San Fran to buy the Giants and keep them in California. Just another reason for me to hate Bud Selig. I even remember seeing reports on the evening news of Tampa getting the Giants and people selling t-shirts and season ticket packages. Well, at least we finally got a team with the Devil Rays in 1998. Here is a what-if card of Matt Williams as a Tampa Bay Giant on a Donruss 1994 card.

What-if? Cards: 1993 Topps Ken Griffey, Jr.

In 1992, a group of people from Tampa/St. Petersburg Florida made a bid to purchase the Seattle Mariners. They were unsuccessful, and the Mariners remained in Seattle. Since I have lived near Tampa since I was a 8 year-old in 1990, I missed out on seeing one of the greatest players of our time, Ken Griffey, Jr. play live during my teenage years. I did, however see him a few times in Spring Training when he was with the Reds. Here is a 1993 Topps card of Griffey as a Tampa Bay Mariner.

What-if? Cards-2010 Topps World Series Highlights

I’ve never been a Phillies fan (I love the Tigers, and my hometown Tampa Bay Rays), but I can’t stand the Yankees. Hopefully I’ll be pulling a card like this out of a pack of 2010 Topps next January.

Another Musician Custom

I’ve been thinking of doing a whole custom set, based on old tobacco card designs. It would only include Hall of Famers, but would not be exclusive to sports. I was thinking each Hall of Fame would get it’s own tobacco inspired design, that way it would almost be like having multiple mini sets within the master set.

I still have to design the back of this one, but here is my first design, which would most likely be used for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Woody Guthrie

The design is based off of a set released in 1890 (I think) by Ogden’s Tobacco Co.

Custom Relic Card Completed!

I mentioned on the Custom Card Blog that I was working on making a custom NASCAR card.  Well, it took a bit of time, but I think I have something that I can now share with you:

I plan on making 9 more of them and giving them away on the blog, or if you don’t want to try and win it let’s work out a trade.  I plan on making a bunch of these with different drivers.  I have 35 more pieces of sheet metal from various drivers.  It really isn’t as hard as I thought it would be, as soon as the printout dried it was a piece of cake.

Let me know what you think.

Tribute to 1968 Topps- Stephen Strasburg/Bryce Harper

If the Nationals get the first overall pick in 2010 and can draft and sign Bryce Harper, they would have two of the most coveted prospects in all of baseball with Stephen Strasburg and Harper. Here’s a tribute to 1968 Topps of Strasburg and Harper.

American Heroes: Abraham Lincoln & Jackie Robinson

I think that it’s strange that Abraham Lincoln and Jackie Robinson were never paired together on a card. Lincoln was instrumental in the end of slavery with the Emancipation Proclomation, and Robinson was the first Arfican-American baseball player. Here is a custom cut-signature card of two American Heroes.

Stephen Strasburg Custom

Here is a very basic design that Im sending to Stephen TTM :