Fronts or backs?

I'll be the first to admit that it is more fun making the front of customs than it is making the backs. That's probably why most people only make the fronts. I decided in my custom 1992 Topps set that I would make backs for the cards just so if I ever do finish the set, that I could print the cards and put them in binders and you wouldn't be able to tell that they weren't from the 1992 Topps set. And I guess I'm a little OCD and it would just bug me that a card didn't have a back to it...

With that being said, I have currently done 29 cards (more if you inculde some of the checklists/coaches/prospect cards) front and back. I recently finished making blank templates for the fronts and backs of all 26 teams that year, as well as a Draft Pick and checklist template. I might even have a prospect one somewhere as well. I decided that it would be fun to work on nothing but fronts of cards for a while. I don't know how long I'll do so. Maybe if it goes quick enough, I will finish the whole set. I do know it's been a little harder than I thought it would. Most of the players don't have that many photos of them during their careers or from the 1991 season. For them, I have to use photos from other baseball cards (which, unfortunately, I was hoping not to have to do). A few cards, I have had to paste logos on blank caps and do a lot of uniform and background editing. Some I will probably have to colorize a photo on, and after looking at some GIMP tutorials, that will take a good amount of time, probably a few hours. I tend to treat everything like a race, and it's hard for me to enjoy the process, I like seeing the outcome, so we will see how it goes.

For now, I wanted to show you the fronts that I have done so far, and kind of give you a taste of how the set looks like as of now.

Those are cards #822-840. Hopefully you saw somebody you remember or feel should've got a card in the '92 Topps set.

1 final thing, I probably won't post them on here, but if you would like me to send you any of the blank templates I have made, leave me a comment or email me at karensjer at gmail dot com. Thanks for checking out my blog.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps Blaine Beatty

Blaine Beatty was a pretty big prospect for the New York Mets in the early '90's. He came over from the Baltimore Orioles in 1987, and won double-digits in the minors in '88 and '89. He made the Majors in 1989, but unfortunately, was injured in 1990. He came back, and made it back to the Mets in 1991, but that would be his last year in the Bigs. Blaine appeared on the 1990 Topps Debut set, and didn't recieve any cards in a regular Topps set during his career.

I have finally got the templates for all 26 teams done, and have had a little fun doing the fronts for the next 10 cards or so (now comes the hard part, the backs). Just a little heads-up for anyone who is interested, I would love to have help with this project, even it's small, so if you are interested in contributing to making customs for my 1992 Topps project (even if it's just doing the fronts), I would love the help, and would give you credit for any work that's yours. If you happen to think you would be interested, let me know and leave me a comment.

Thanks as always for checking out my blog
-Jeremy

1992 Topps Atlee Hammaker

It seems fitting today that I would post Atlee Hammaker's card. On my other blog, I did a post on Dave Dravecky, Atlee's best friend when they were on the San Francisco Giants. Atlee came up with the Kansas City Royals in 1981, and won the NL ERA title in 1983. His last season came in 1995 with the Chicago White Sox. His last Topps card, though, came in the 1991 set. Here is his 1992 card, and I believe he is on my list of cards to make on my other blog, so eventually (probably in one of the later series) you will see his sunset card, a 1996 Topps version. Thanks for checking out this blog, and also my other one.

1992 Topps Jeff Carter

Jeff Carter pitchced 1 year in the Big Leagues, 1991 with the Chicago White Sox, and got into 5 games, with an 0-1 record. He didn't get a card in the 1992 Topps set, but did appear in the 1992 Topps Debut set and in the '92 Stadium Club set. He also got cards from Score and Pinnacle. Here is his missing 1992 Topps card.

1992 Topps John Ramos

John Ramos really does have a card in the 1992 Topps set. Sort of. In 1992, Topps issued their first paralell set (excluding Tiffanys), the ToppsGold set. The Gold cards were the same as the original cards, except that the section with the players name and team was overlayed in Gold foil. You could get the cards a few different ways. They were inserted in packs (1 in 36 regular packs, I think the odds in jumbos and rack packs were easier. Each 500 count vending box had 5 Gold cards, and you got 10 in every factory set.), they issued a Gold factory set at the end of the season, and they had game cards where you could win them.

The game cards had 8 sections you could rub off, and the object of the game was to match 3 sections that had stats. If you matched the stats, you could send in the card, and win whatever prize was listed in the box (usually 10 ToppsGold cards). There was also a way to collect "runs" at the bottom of the game card, and you could save up your runs, and once you got 100, send them in with 2 dollars, and get 10 ToppsGold cards. People figured out how to cheat at the game, and in response, Topps printed *Winner* on cards that were won from the Match the Stats game, and the cards that were pulled from packs, or were from the factory set didn't have the *Winner* stamp. I don't know if Topps did the *Winner* stamp on just the cards won from Runs or the Match the Stats game. You would figure you would still have to bust a lot of packs in order to get enough game cards to get 100 runs, and it many people were cheating at the Match the Stats game that Topps would've printed the *Winner* stamp on cards that were won from the Match the Stats game. I actually won 10 ToppsGold cards from the Stats game sometime in 1992, and the ToppsGold cards I recieved didn't have the *Winner* stamp on them. This leads me to believe that I probably won my cards before the game was compromised, and it was maybe later in the year (maybe around the time that Series 2 card hit the shelves nowdays) that Topps decided to put the stamp on the cards. As I was writing this I googled a picture of the Match the Stats card, and found This article, dated January 17, 1992, only days or weeks after 1992 Topps probably hit the shelves. Maybe I did win the game on the first try, but I swear it was midway through the year.

Back to the Ramos card, since all 792 cards in the set had a Gold card, Topps decided to place 6 players who didn't appear in the regular set in place of the 6 checklists. Ramos was 1 of them. I decided to use the back of his 1992 Topps Gold card, and make a different front. I think it turned out ok, and now John Ramos has a card in the 1992 Topps and 1992 ToppsGold sets, and the 1992 Topps Debut set.

1992 Topps Paul Miller

Paul Miller played 3 years in MLB, all for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He recieved a few cards from various companies, but none from the main Topps set. He made an appearance in the 1992 Topps Debut set. It had to be confusing for Pirates fans in the early '90's as they had pitchers named Paul Wagner, Kurt Miller, and Paul Miller in their farm systems at the time, and I believe all but Kurt Miller made their MLB Debut with the Pirates (Kurt Miller would make his with the Florida Marlins). Paul Miller finished his career with a perfect 1-0 record.

1992 Topps Bruce Egloff

Bruce Egloff was one of many Cleveland Indian rookies in 1991. He got into 6 games that year, and appeared in the 1992 Topps Debut set, but not in the regular Topps set.