Friday, May 15, 2009

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...

6 comments:

  1. Funny you mention the price tag on it. I have almost spit up my drink when I open some of my ebay purchases and see things like $8 on a card I got for a $1. Or worse yet $25 on a patch that I got for $4 shipped.

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  2. I swear to Vin Scully that the Captcha on the last comment was: ensest.

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  3. We joke all the time in the newspaper business about "creative white space." It seems like a little too much for my taste in the right corner. But a good spot for a signature.

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  4. What is it you like about the white space? I'm not a designer but it seems like a big waste to me. Is it supposed to be a space for a signature or something?

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  5. I swear that the word verification for the last post was: nuthugger

    OK, that wasn't true.

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  6. Most cards look crowded, and they cram so much stuff into them that they can look ugly. The white space is just nice to see for a change, and works with the left border really well.

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