1992 Topps Matt Young

Today's card is the first card that I "borrowed" from the 1992 O-Pee-Chee set. In 1992, the OPC set mirrored the 1992 Topps set except for the fact that the All-Star cards and a few select subsets were replaced with a Gary Carter tribute subset as well as a few cards of players who were left out of the '92 Topps set. Matt Young was one of those players. I chose to include the OPC cards because unlike players who got a card in the '92 Topps Traded set, the OPC guys didn't have a card with a Topps logo on it. I also did it with the 6 ToppsGold checklist replacement cards as well.

Matt Young had appeared in a few Topps sets over the years but was left off of the '92 set even though he appeared in 19 games. He would be left off of the 1993 set as well, even though he pitched a no hitter (allowing 2 runs and losing) in 1992. He accomplished just about all of the things you would hope to accomplish as an individual, appearing in the All-Star game, pitching the no-hitter, striking out 4 batters in an inning, and playing for a World Championship team. I was happy to add his autograph to my collection back when I was doing ttm signatures.

I basically just added the Topps logo to the front. On the back I made the background by the stats transparent enough that I could put the Topps logo behind it, added text where it was needed, put the Topps logo under the number and changed the number. Otherwise, it looks like the original OPC card. I think it looks like it belongs in the '92 Topps set though and wish Topps would've at least gave the OPC guys and ToppsGold checklist replacements a regular card. Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps Gary Wayne

Gary Wayne pitched in the Bigs from 1989-1994. He only got Topps cards in the '90, '91, and '93 Traded sets. He was part of the 1991 Minnesota Twins World Championship team, but only appeared in 8 games, which is probably why he didn't get a '92 card. He was a decent reliever and got some good Save and ERA totals in the Minors. He is a good ttm signer, so if you feel up to it, try to print this card and see if he likes it and let me know. I would love to know what some players think of my customs.

I did a few backs today, and am up to card #1022. I had a strange one today. I did the back for Warren Cromartie, who played for the Royals in 1991. He had played in the Majors in 1974, 1976-1983, and in 1991. In between 1983 and 1991, he spent 7 seasons in Japan, so there were 7 columns of stats that just read "Played in Japan". Haven't seen anything like that in any Topps set before.  Hope you are enjoying my slow completion of the 1992 Topps set and find some of the facts I am giving to be insightful. Thanks for checking out the latest card.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps John Briscoe

I decided to go back to the old way of writing posts. I thought changing it up would be a good idea, but discovered that some of the categories I made didn't include that much info, and that if I just wrote about the cards I made and added necessary info, that it should suffice.

 John Briscoe made his MLB debut in '91, but didn't appear in the 1992 Topps set, probably due to the fact that he only appeared in 11 games. He pitched with the A's from 1991-1996, and that was his only time in the Majors. He only appeared in 1 major Topps set (1995), but did appear in the '92 Stadium Club and '92 Major League Debut set. This would've probably been his rookie card, unless Topps had expanded the '91 Traded set to include him.

I finished the back to card #1012 today, getting me a little closer to finishing the set, and officially putting me on the back side of the 2nd checklist. I'm not gonna lie, it is a little tedious making backs to cards of players who were really either rookies or journeymen, but sometimes there is a draft pick card, or a card of a star, or a numerical goal that I try to reach that makes it worthwhile. Someday I will finish this set, and maybe I'll get really lucky and maybe a collecting publication or website or maybe even Topps themselves will take notice and maybe we can get them to make some of the types of cards that we want or actually produce some of the customs we've been making for so long. One can only hope. Thanks for checking out my latest card.

-Jeremy

1992 Topps Dean Wilkins

PLAYER BIO: Dean Wilkins, Astros

YEARS IN MAJORS: 1989-1991

LAST TOPPS SET HE APPEARED IN: None

APPEARANCES IN FUTURE TOPPS SETS: None

REASON LEFT OFF OF THE 1992 TOPPS SET: Probably because he only pitched in 7 games and had an ERA over 10.

NOTES: Dean never got a card in a Topps base set, even though he got cards in '90 Bowman, '90 Topps Debut, and the '90 Topps TV set. He had good numbers as far as Saves in the minors, so you would've figured he would've saw more time in the Bigs. This card was pretty difficult to make as the only photo I could find of Wilkins in an Astro uniform was in black and white. I used a program called Recolored (I believe) to match the colors where they should go and colorize the photo. Not the best, but it was the only thing I had to work with. One final note, I finished the back of card #993, which means I have finished 201 cards in the set. I hope to knock off #1000 tonight, leaving only 368 more backs to do. Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps Sil Campusano

PLAYER BIO: Sil Campusano, Philadelphia Phillies

YEARS IN MAJORS: 1989, 1990-1991

LAST TOPPS SET HE APPEARED IN: 1991

APPEARANCES IN FUTURE TOPPS SETS: None

REASON LEFT OFF OF THE 1992 TOPPS SET:  I would say because he only appeared in 15 games is why.

NOTES:  Sil appeared on TOPPS sets in 1988 (Traded), 1989, and 1991, so he got an extra card in '88, but missed one in '92. He had a successful career in Japan from 1994-1999. He had some decent speed/power numbers, but I would assume the low batting average kept him from seeing extended time in the Bigs. Thanks for checking out my latest card in the '92 Topps set.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps Carmelo Castillo

PLAYER BIO: Carmelo (Carmen) Castillo, Twins

YEARS IN MAJORS: 1982-1991

LAST TOPPS SET HE APPEARED IN: 1991

APPEARANCES IN FUTURE TOPPS SETS: None

REASON LEFT OFF OF THE 1992 TOPPS SET: He only appeared in 9 games in 1991, so it's pretty clear to see why TOPPS didn't include him in the '92 set.

NOTES:  This would've been Castillo's sunset card, although he did spend some time in Japan after MLB. This card was a little tricky for me once I started making the back. I went to Baseball-Reference like I usually do to get the stats for the back, and I typed in 'Carmen Castillo' and the search didn't find anything. I typed it in on Google, and it found me tons of cards, but then I noticed that some of his cards were listed under 'Carmelo Castillo'. I typed that into BB-Ref and that gave me what I wanted. I guess he was known by both names. Most of his Topps cards before 1990 have him listed as Carmen.  His '90 and '91 cards have him listed as Carmelo. I had originally had the front of the card with his name listed as Carmen, but I changed it to Carmelo so it would be like his final 2 Topps cards. I have both at the top of the post.
One final note, Castillo won a title with the Twins in '91, and not many '91 Twins are missing from the set surprisingly.

Thanks for checking out my latest card.
-Jeremy

1992 Topps Rick Schu

I'm trying a new format on this blog and changing things up a little. Please feel free to leave input.


PLAYER: Rick Schu, Phillies.

LAST TOPPS SET HE APPEARED IN: 1990.

APPEARANCES IN FUTURE TOPPS SETS: None.

REASON LEFT OFF OF THE SET: He only got into 17 games in 1991, so that's probably why. He was left off of every major brand in 1992 and only got into the Fleer set in 1991. He played in Japan in 1994 and 1995 and actually made it back to the Majors for 1 final game with the Expos in 1996, and no, he didn't appear in any sets in 1997.

Thanks for checking out the latest '92 Topps card.
-Jeremy