Relic Cards as Art

This card arrived in my mailbox today, and trust me, it looks even better in person. It's from 2003 Topps Gallery, and is the only Gallery card I own. This particular insert is titled "ARTifact" (hmmm...sounds familiar), which is apt for set named Gallery, and definitely reflects the overall design of the card. As an artist, and amateur designer, what immediately struck me about this card were the "pantone" swatches running down the left side. I think they're really cool, and definitely add to the overall look. The other thing I like about this card also manages to use white space to it's advantage, which is something few modern sets, with the exception of Allen & Ginter, manage to do properly. The relic window is sort of dull, and generally, I am not a huge fan of relics to begin with. Even without the chunk of Frank Robinson's mighty lumber, this would still be a beautiful card. Topps definitely seems to have gotten it right with this card, and I'm going to check out more cards 2003 Topps Gallery for sure.

The best part is that I was able to add this card to my O's Hall of Fame collection for less than $8 on eBay. Generally, I don't like to spend more than $10 on any card that isn't autographed, but that's a story for another day (probably tomorrow) as my eBay purchases slowly trickle in. It arrived in a top-loader that still had a price tag of $20 on it. No wonder card shops are going out of business...