Cindy Crawford

I was going to save this card for the 4th of July or Flag Day, something super cliché like that.  But, I decided I'm much too impatient for that.  Maybe call it an early Columbus Day post?

1988 Topps baseball

The image used for this card is one of my favorite things ever.  I had this poster when I was 14, so did my two best friends, well, at least one of them did for sure.  Not in a super pervey way but 14 year old me studied every curve of this mega babe.  Cindy Crawford in that U.S.A. bikini was my dream girl for sure.  I thought she was absolutely perfect.  I wasn't alone either.  Back around that time -early '90s- Cindy was THE it girl.

This is in the design of the the 1988 Topps baseball cards.  This is a set that if you've been following this blog this past year you've seen I'm quite fond of.  Topps in the their "Traded" update set featured members of the U.S.A. baseball team that competed as a demonstration sport in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

Bull Durham Rebooted

I previously had made a Bull Durham mini-set that consisted of five cards.  About  month of so back I rewatched Bull Durham for the first time in a long time and realized I left a lot of fun cards on the table, so I went back and gave the set a re-up.  The movie had a few details in it that I wanted to match up with different elements found in the 1988 Topps baseball inspired design that the mini-set was made in the style of.

The Crash card saw the least change getting a bit more of a stylized parenthesis around Crash.  I gave the same treatment to the Nuke card plus added the "Future Stars" logo for the young fireballer.

I added a Joe Riggins card.  It seems like a pretty big character to omit the first time around.  The reason he wasn't in the original mini-set was that the first few I made were not done with the idea of making a set but rather for the purposes of getting an autograph through the mail, and since Trey Wilson passed away in 1989 it would prove pretty difficult to get the card signed.  The Larry Hockett card got the addition of the "Pitching Coach" designation which is pretty cool to me because even though the '88 Topps was monstrous in the number of cards it had, it didn't go quite that deep as to include pitching coaches.

Next there's the addition of Jimmy -getting married to Millie- and the Switch Hitting Witch, Jose.

These two cards I got really excited about when I was reminded of the records that were broken during the movie.  Although Crash would never have wanted his dubious distinction of being Minor League Baseball's all-time home run leader acknowledged, but I had to immortalize the milestone on cardboard.  And then there was the litany of records Nuke broke on his first trip to the mound as a Durham Bull.

The Team Leaders card was another I was really excited about.  The meeting on the mound, to me, was one of the movie's funniest scenes.  Tim Robbins played a man-child to a T.

My original mini-set had both a Millie and Annie Savoy card.  I, in a sense, retired those two cards.  Just because they weren't actually members of the team.  I still felt the mini-set needed them so I came up with a special fan card in the style of the Team Leaders card.

These last two would be perfect as like a couple of "Topps Traded" style additions.  If you don't remember Crash broke the minor league home run record as a member of the Asheville Tourists.  He signed on with them after Nuke was called up and Crash was no longer needed to wean the young hurler, so Durham let him go.  I did the card in the Houston Astros color scheme of the '88 Topps set.  Theses days the Tourists are affiliated with the Colorado Rockies, but in 1988 their big team was the Astros.  Normally I rely on the internet for my card's images.  It may take dozens of searches with all kinds of keyword combinations but usually I can source an image that will work.  This wasn't the case for Crash in a tourists uni; there was nothing usable.  I had to have this card in my set so I did my patient best to get my own screen grabs.

They never specifically mention the Major League team name when LaLoosh is called up, but we're going to assume it was the Braves since that is who Durham's big league affiliate was from 1980-97.

This mini-set is available in the online card shop.

Willow

Here is yet another ode to my favorite year, 1988. Willow is a movie I’ve seen a bunch. My mom had a habit of getting stuck on movies. She’d watch the same movie for like a week straight and I remember Willow being one of them. It didn’t bother me. As a kid who was obsessed with Masters of the Universe growing up, a heroic fantasy movie was right up my alley. Val Kilmer is a favorite of mine and I remember my mom saying of Joanne Whalley “she’s SO pretty” a time or twelve. On top of that I, to this day, think the Brownies are pretty damn funny.

These are done in my old trusty 1988 Topps baseball inspired design. The color scheme is not from a team but one that I thought worked well drawing inspiration from the movie’s poster.

Burglekutt was kind of a pouch, wasn't he?

Fun Fact: Pat Roach, who played Gen. Kael, was also an English professional wrestler

Funny Farm (Updated)

I went back and made this a Funny Farm mini-set. I actually had to correct my original Andy Farmer card because I messed up on the name of the town in the movie. The original said “Rosebud” when it should have been “Redbud”. Oops. I also changed the image because I wanted to use that image for the Record Breaker card. A card, by the way, that I love. An Andy Farmer lamb fry record breaker card is just hilarious to me. I only wish I could have gotten a decent image from that scene, but it’s still hilarious to me. The mini-set rounds out with Elizabeth Farmer. I knew this wouldn’t be one of my larger sets, but I would have maybe added a couple more characters had I been able to find some decent images.

I haven’t made it a goal to make cards of every Chevy Chase role ever, despite that sort of seemingly starting to happen organically. I mean, I definitely like Chevy and am a fan but apparently I need to consider him for my personal Mt. Rushmore of favorite actors.

Funny Farm holds a special place for me. It’s a movie both myself and my mom enjoyed. I got my love for a escaping into a good movie from her. She wasn’t a nerd about it like me, but she definitely hobby watched movies.

There’s a number of parts I remember her always laughing out loud to. Chevy pulling snake from the pond, the psycho mailman, the “lamb fries" record. I can picture quoting that scene “the trick is you’ve got to clip them off way up high” while making the finger scissor motion. I miss my mom … a lot.  Funny Farm is one of those movies that we could always agree on whenever there wasn’t an answer to “what do you feel like watching?” while thumbing through the tapes on the shelf. So this card literally brings a smile to my face to look at, and a lump in my throat if I’m being completely honest.

This is the second Andy Farmer card I’ve made.  The first one was among the first I made when I started tinkering with card making. It, like the rest, were in the style of the 1985 Topps baseball cards. I wanted to update it to a year accurate template with the movie being released in 1988. My original card was a Mets card with the Andy character wearing a Mets hat throughout the movie. The original picture was really poor quality looking back at it now, this one is much better. I changed it from a Mets card to a “Redbud” card after the name of the small Vermont town that Funny Farm is set in. The gag being that Andy desperately wanting to be a part of his new hometown but the community not receiving him so warmly in return. For the colors I used the St Louis Cardinals scheme from the 1988 Topps because, you know, Cardinals … “Rosebud” "Redbud"… the color red.

This card could turn into a mini-set I guess depending on the response I get from it. I’m not sure how many others out there geek out to it like me. It’s not Caddyshack or a Lampoon's classic, but to me it’s up there. If there’s enough others who love this movie as much as I do and would want the other memorable characters on cardboard then I’d be more than happy to expand. If not, I’m cool with this one card being a Funny Farm representation in the Phantom Cardboard raisonné.

Get a copy here.

Bloodsport

Here's the second mini-set I'm posting as an ode to 1988, my favorite year in the '80s.  The first was Beetlejuice, and now here's Bloodsport re-imagined as a vintage inspired trading card set. Happy 3-0, Bloodsport!

A couple weeks ago I had this as a four card mini-set that was inspired by the 1988 Topps baseball set. There was "Frank Dux", "Chong Li", "Ray Jackson" and "Janice Kent". I was ready to drop that grouping in the PCb card shop and then it happened... I decided to go and rewatch Bloodsport. I had not seen this movie in a few years and forgot just how much I marked out for it. In watching the movie and thinking about the 1988 Topps set I quickly realized I was not going to be satisfied with just a four card representation for such an epic and card-worthy movie.

1988 Topps baseball

The first step was to jump the ol' Google machine and start collecting images. I was able to find almost everyone I needed with the exception of maybe "Inspector Chen" and "Ricardo Morra". Notwithstanding those two this is my largest mini-set to date with a 19 20 card checklist.

This first card made for this set was JCVD as "Fank Dux", and that was quite awhile back. I made this one because you'll occasionally see collectors have through-the-mail successes from Jean-Claude. As it turns out I was one of the lucky ones and got my original "Frank Dux" card signed. When adding onto the set I found a different image that I wanted to use for the "Dux" card so that one actually changed. The others remained the same with the exception of of making the Bloodsport title a brighter red to show up against the dark background that a lot of the images had. You'll see I used the Topps All-Star Rookie trophy on this card to represent "Dux's" 1988 Kumite title. I know I've mentioned it before, but when I was a kid I really thought that little trophy made the card it was on 100x cooler.

I really liked Jean-Claude when he burst onto the action scene in the late '80s. I look at him as a hybrid '80s action hero. He's got the foreign mystique of Arnold, the lean build of Sly, and the martial arts credibility of Chuck Norris.

I really loved the look of the subsets in the 1988 Topps and wanted to incorporate them into my set while also having them make sense to a certain extent instead of just randomly adding an image to the template, so a decent amount of thought went into each.

I definitely wanted to have a card for the "Ok, USA" guy who has grown imto an internet legend over the years due to (I presume) his soulful exuberance for America? Originally I was going to use the Team USA cards as an inspiration for his card. I also really wanted a card inspired by the All-Star subset. I couldn't decide who to give the all-star nod to so instead I combined the two ideas for the "Ok, USA Guy's" card. I had to change the all-star card's diamond design to a rectangle to fit the image of "Ok, USA Guy".

In the movie "Frank Dux" breaks the Kumite world record for quickest victory when he dispatched the all bark, no bite "Sadiq Hossein" in mere seconds. So naturally this was perfect for the "Record Breakers" subset. Frank Dux is a real guy and Bloodsport is mostly (maybe loosely) based on a true story and as legend has it Frank broke the record for fastest Kumite victory in 1975.

I think I remember liking the "Team Leaders" subset as a kid. Each team had a "Team Leaders" card, usually picturing two top stars. Looking at them now, from a design standpoint they're kind of, eh, lazy? But, they do have a certain charm and also a great way to make one card of "Helmer and Rawlins" -- the two Army CID officers sent to Hong Kong to stop "Frank Dux" from competing in the Kumite. It was a two-for-one special.

"Frank Dux" has that flashback that gives his origin story telling how he came to study ninjutsu under "Senzo Tanaka" which gave the perfect opportunity to make a "Turn Back The Clock" card. The scene itself is a bit unsettling with its dubbed over and slightly sexualized dialog, but none-the-less I like the card. The Kumite that the movie is supposed to be based on was in 1975 but different things in the movie definitely give the impression that it's taking place in the late '80s even if I didn't catch any mentions of specific years. Since there wasn't that specific year mention I chose a 1983 Topps baseball inspired design for the throwback card. If you estimate "Frank Dux" to be in his early 20's that year can make sense. Since young "Frank" was wearing a San Francisco Giants baseball hat I used their team colors from the 1983 set for the Turn Back card. Plus, I just really like the '83s.

To not be too serious some of the Kumite competitors like "Pumola", "Suan Paredes" and "Sen Ling" are featured in the thralls of defeat on their respective cards. 

Fun Facts:

... the actor that played "Suan Paredes", Michel Qissi, played Van Damme's protagonist "Tong Po" in 1989's Kickboxer. ... that big bastard, "Chong Li", was actually in his early 40's while filming Bloodsport. He, Bolo Yeung, was also opposite Chuck Norris in 1971's Enter The Dragon 

It's Showtime!

Who doesn’t love Beetlejuice?  I love Beetlejuice. My mom loved Beetlejuice. My kids love Beetlejuice.  Everyone should love Beetlejuice.  He’s the ghost with the most! Shame on anyone who doesn’t watch it at least once a year around Halloween time.

It’s kind of hard to believe this movie didn’t already have a licensed trading card set. Well, there was one for the cartoon series, just nothing for the movie.

This mini-set is the first of at least three 1988 Topps baseball inspired designs I’ll be releasing in celebration of some really cool movies that were released that year and thus are turning thirty in 2018. For me, 1988 was probably my most seminal year of the decade. I just remember really developing a passion for a few things that would turn into lifelong loves for me. For one, baseball / trading cards. I’ve mentioned in past posts that the 1987 Topps baseball cards were the first sports wax packs I ever opened, but my collecting hit a fever pitch the next year. Topps, Donruss, Score, Fleer … it didn’t matter. I was hooked. At the same time I fell in love with basketball and the Detroit (Bad Boy) Pistons. They were one heart breaking blown call from beating the Lakers in the 6th game of the 1988 NBA Finals. Then there was the music, TV, video games and movies. Any of which takes me back in time 30 years when everything instantly felt like the greatest ever, and much of it has remained that way for me to this day.

I can remember badly wanting to see Beetlejuice at the movies.  We went but it wasn’t showing or something. We ended up seeing Johnny Be Good. That wasn’t meant as a punchline, but it kind of feels like one after typing it out.

This, like a lot of cards I was making at first, started off as a one-off. The Jeffrey Jones “Charles Deetz” card, knowing I had a good shot at having it signed through the mail. I knew how I wanted the card to look and executed my exact vision. The template is the ‘88 Topps, but it is an unmistakably Burton-esque inspired trading card. There was no experimenting with different colors schemes. The colors you see were my only choice for both the title and name sash. The alternating black and white horizontal striped background is to me the designs greatest asset as it is a recognizable optic throughout the movie and later in the cartoon series and toy line.

Now that I’ve decided to expand some of my singles into mini-sets to give a new energy to my little hobby I get to plug in lead characters to the templates. I may never get to have my “Betelguese” card signed by all-time favorite actor, but you can’t very well have a Beetlejuice set without Michael Keaton, can you? I think my favorite card in the set is the “Miss Argentina” card. She was a memorable as a small part character, plus the colors of her makeup and wig really pop.

I’ve added a title card to this and a few of my other sets as a way to pay homage to some of the classic illustrated movie posters of the past. I think it makes for a nice addition.

I’ve added this set to the store. There’s even a mystery bonus card thrown in... “C’mon, you gotta work with me here, I’m just tryin’ to cut a deal, what’a ya want me to do!?”               

The Gipper

In the growing list of cards I've made with no hope of getting autographed add a 1988 Topps style Ronald Reagan to the collection.

1988 Topps baseball

Most of my cards are '80s-centric and President Reagan is right up there with Madonna and Michael Jackson as far as being identifiable with the decade.

"The Great Communicator" threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field in a late season Cubs - Pirates game.  Mr. President actually threw two pitches, not being satisfied with his first.

If this was a real card back in 1988 it probably would have been my favorite card.  I could just see myself being overly excited about a card of the POTUS playing baseball.

... A little known fact is that after graduating from college in 1932, Reagan started out as a sportscaster at WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. WOC later consolidated with WHO in Des Moines, and Reagan gained national media exposure recreating Chicago Cubs baseball games from the studio. He became a lifelong Cubs fan due to this early affiliation to the team.

Jenny Robertson

Yesterday I excited to receive my third Bull Durham 1988 Topps inspired custom card back autographed.  This one signed by Jenny Robertson who played "Millie" -- with the other two being Kevin Costner and Robert Wuhl.

2016 Topps Archives

I've got a few more from this set I made that are pending.  Fingers crossed on those.

Crash Davis

Here's my custom "Crash" Davis.  As a explained in the Larry Hockett post when I decided to make cards from the movie Bull Durham I did not know Topps had already made these as an insert for their 2016 Topps Archives set.

All-in-all I have to say I prefer my card to theirs.  I like the photo I found.  To me it makes it look more like an actual baseball card.  And, as I stated in the other post, I like it saying Bulls rather than Bull Durham.  Again, because it makes it look more authentic.

2016 Topps Archives

I don't think Kevin Costner necessarily does a lot of signing through the mail, but I did have a temporary address for a play he was doing at the end of summer in Connecticut that came through for me.  I would say that this has to be one my biggest TTM successes to date.

C'mon Meat, Throw Me That Weak-Ass Shit!

Henry Rowengartner

I wanted to post this one to coincide with the Chicago Cubs thrilling World Series win, but I got bogged down with other stuff.  Better late than never.

Nine times out of ten when I make a card of a movie character I try to use a card design from the year of the movie's release.  Rookie of the Year came out in 1993.  I really feel no nostalgic kinship to any baseball card set after 1990, so it just wouldn't excite me to reproduce a 1993 baseball card design for this card.  So, I went with a design I've been wanting to use for awhile, the 1988 Donruss baseball set. Now, as a kid I was not particularly fond of these cards.  Don't get me wrong, if I was at a corner store that didn't have Topps, I would settle for Donruss.  I guess I just didn't "get" the design. I mean I still don't, actually.  Are those like some sort of Mario Bros. pipes?  I seriously don't know. Plus, there was no managers in the set.  No Sparky Anderson. For some reason 8 year old me saw the guy in charge of the Tigers' players as somewhat of a larger-than-life figure.  Third, I was a mark for Topps' All-Star Rookie trophy (it always made me look at Matt Nokes like a super hero champion of baseball), so Donruss' Rated Rookie logo suffered by comparison to me.  Strike four, I couldn't have cared less about putting together the Warren Spahn puzzle from the perforated puzzle cards.  But I will freely admit that the Diamond King subset was pretty dope.

I now have a great appreciation for this set and it's weird red and blue tubes.  If for no other reason than nostalgia.  In 1988 I would have traded oxygen and food for baseball cards.

Design wise it was not too particularly challenging, but I love the way this came out.  Of course I had to add the "Rated Rookie" graphic for this card as it would be near criminal not to for a movie called Rookie of the Year.

As for the movie, it's a fun enough watch.  Interestingly the star of the movie, Thomas Ian Nicholas, and I are the same age.  So, between this and his role in the American Pie franchise, his movies followed the coming of age timeline of my own life.  Fingers crossed on getting this one back and signed from him.

UPDATE: Got this signed at the 2017 Motor City Comic Con

Larry Hockett aka Robert Wuhl

When I decided to do some Bull Durham cards with a 1988 Topps baseball theme (the year of the movie's release) I did not know Topps had already done them as special insert in their 2016 Topps Archives set.  Usually the point of my cards is to make something that was never made, but I made an exception because there was a couple of things I wanted to tweak.

Theirs

As you'll see, not drastic.  I used a different image and I wanted it to read "Bulls" instead of "Bull Durham" in the team nameplate.