Truly Beautiful Cards

AFLfan · June 17, 2019 8:42AM

Some cards are just stunning. I'm not talking about condition. Maybe it is a killer image, or great design or some combination of the two. Some cards are just plain cool. Let's see what has "it" in your mind.

I've never owned this card, but have always thought it was just a killer. And just a note to say that I think there are a lot of cards in the 1957 Topps set that fit the definition here, at least my version of the definition.

LarkinCollector · June 17, 2019 8:49AM

I'm really liking this one:

DBesse27 · June 17, 2019 9:06AM

Been my favorite a long time.

krisd3279 · June 17, 2019 9:11AM

@DBesse27 said:

Been my favorite a long time.

The colors really pop on those 51 Bowman when you find a nice copy.

AFLfan · June 17, 2019 9:20AM

Those Arbuckle cards are cool. I've got one in my collection that mentions lacrosse on the back.

Campy has some beautiful cards as well. Here is my favorite of his. Same image, but I like the surrounding stadium scene as well.

perkdog · June 17, 2019 9:41AM

I love seeing cards that have a photo of an image used on a regular issue card like the Campy above.

1951WheatiesPremium · June 17, 2019 9:44AM

@AFLfan said:
Those Arbuckle cards are cool. I've got one in my collection that mentions lacrosse on the back.

Campy has some beautiful cards as well. Here is my favorite of his. Same image, but I like the surrounding stadium scene as well.

I agree

1951WheatiesPremium · June 17, 2019 9:47AM

My personal pick:
1933-36 ZeeNut PCL Joe DiMaggio (Batting/Hand Cut)

The reasons I love this card are plentiful. First, there are only 10 in PSA slabs. Pretty cool. Also, it is the first card to ever feature the Yankee Clipper (1934). The fact that they misspelled his name is amazing to me; two years later he is almost a household name and today he’s an almost mythic figure but then he was just a new kid at shortstop. Finally, I really like the Seals stadium in the background - it looks like it was pretty nice ballpark out west - more impressive than I’d have thought.

PS - It’s holdered now. But I loved the look of it raw, too.

VoteDizzy · June 17, 2019 10:26AM

The inner 12 year old in me still thinks those black & white early 90's Score cards are still cool.

doubledragon · June 17, 2019 12:14PM

I always loved the colors in this one.

lawnmowerman · June 17, 2019 12:23PM

First off, I love the clean, simple 1963 Topps design. In addition to the classic football pose sans the helmet, the "throwback" uni really puts this card high on my list.

ahopkins · June 17, 2019 12:41PM

Something about this card has always stirred me: the artist's lines in the uniform; the backdrop of Fenway; the half-smile on Williams's face; his heavenward looking motion; and the color schemes that cut the picture so resolutely. It's a card I own (not the exact one pictured), and it's one that sits present in my mind whenever I need to be reminded of the greatness of card collecting and the greatness of baseball in general.

PaulMaul · June 17, 2019 12:55PM

hyperchipper09 · June 17, 2019 1:25PM

IMO, there are 2 cards in 1990 Leaf that are a level above the rest of the set on the "beautiful" scale. One is the Griffey Jr, don't have that one. The other is Prime Time

DBesse27 · June 17, 2019 1:53PM

That Bowman Ted is great. So is his 51 Bowman!

Stone193 · June 17, 2019 1:57PM

This is my favorite.

Great chromolithographic color IMO.

My only T206.

Good backstory:

I bought it as a common in 1992 from Greg Bussineau for 45 bucks. In 1998 Davis goes into the HOF.

NGS428 · June 17, 2019 3:38PM

@hyperchipper09 said:
IMO, there are 2 cards in 1990 Leaf that are a level above the rest of the set on the "beautiful" scale. One is the Griffey Jr, don't have that one. The other is Prime Time

I got your back!

NGS428 · June 17, 2019 3:56PM

My favorite Griffey card front is this one.. Hard to choose.

Bosox1976 · June 17, 2019 4:28PM

Desert_Ice_Sports · June 17, 2019 7:02PM

@ahopkins said:
Something about this card has always stirred me: the artist's lines in the uniform; the backdrop of Fenway; the half-smile on Williams's face; his heavenward looking motion; and the color schemes that cut the picture so resolutely. It's a card I own (not the exact one pictured), and it's one that sits present in my mind whenever I need to be reminded of the greatness of card collecting and the greatness of baseball in general.

One of my favorites too... Here's an 8x10 photo of that image, signed by Williams.

stwainfan · June 17, 2019 7:18PM

A great looking card.

wrestlingcardking · June 17, 2019 7:49PM

DBesse27 · June 17, 2019 8:18PM

Phenomenal photography, but nothing about Andre was “beautiful” lol

ArtVandelay · June 17, 2019 10:45PM

Photography is probably my favorite aspect o sports cards. Topps was at the top of their game from about 1971 through 1977. Whether it is Baseball, Basketball,Football or Hockey this images can be stunning.

jay0791 · June 18, 2019 4:03AM

My favorite player stealing the headlines.
I think Topps should of airbrushed in a cape or marvel super hero costume for Nolan.

A stare down from Bob Gibson is children's play compared to this.

jay0791 · June 18, 2019 4:19AM

I also love the 1957 Topps. Don't collect the set just Yankees. Nearly all the Yanks are dugout or stadium shots

For Todd.. A favorite card of mine.
Had he not split time with the CFL he probably would be a NFL HOFer

I also collect CFL RC of HOFers This is a pop 3. CFL cards are about as scarce as they come.
Fortunately only 5 people in the world want them

Centauri · June 18, 2019 5:56AM

I am sorry I don’t have the posting skills others have, I love the 1964 #423 - Tops in the NL Mays and Aaron. Those 2 dudes were unbelievable.

mintonlypls · June 18, 2019 6:24AM

Jay...

I love the Yankees Power Hitters' card...that is a beauty!

Monte

wrestlingcardking · June 18, 2019 6:32AM

@DBesse27 said:
Phenomenal photography, but nothing about Andre was “beautiful” lol

Imagine being inside the ring and that was the image coming at you.......

DBesse27 · June 18, 2019 6:38AM

@wrestlingcardking said:

@DBesse27 said:
Phenomenal photography, but nothing about Andre was “beautiful” lol

Imagine being inside the ring and that was the image coming at you.......

Terrifying for sure!

AFLfan · June 18, 2019 6:39AM

@jay0791 said:
I also love the 1957 Topps. Don't collect the set just Yankees. Nearly all the Yanks are dugout or stadium shots

For Todd.. A favorite card of mine.
Had he not split time with the CFL he probably would be a NFL HOFer

I also collect CFL RC of HOFers This is a pop 3. CFL cards are about as scarce as they come.
Fortunately only 5 people in the world want them

'57 Topps Mantle/Berra and two Cookie Gilchrist cards? Brotha, you are speaking my language! I love that Mantle/Berra also, and like the '57 Yankees cards because of the scenery around them. Joe Collins at the bat rack and Al Cicotte and Ralph Terry with stadium backdrops are cardboard candy.

And then the double-whammy with one of my favorite AFL players ever! Cookie Gilchrist is one of two players that I have built unsigned master sets for, Frank Buncom being the other. But '63 Fleer is my favorite AFL set as well. Here are a few faves from my collection...

DBesse27 · June 18, 2019 6:44AM

Todd, I knew there had to be a Bambi sighting!

AFLfan · June 18, 2019 6:56AM

I blame @jay0791 because he started it with the '63 Fleers.

stwainfan · June 18, 2019 8:06AM

a iconic card.

craig44 · June 18, 2019 1:19PM

1998 crusades are some of the most beautiful designs ever in my opinion

psychump · June 18, 2019 10:35PM

The love and joy he expresses on this card seems to exude the wonderment that he is actually a major league star and can actually do this! Beautiful lighting and card color enhance this classic card IMO.

DBesse27 · June 19, 2019 4:32AM

@MLBdays said:
This~

A million times better than his 58 Topps!!

2dueces · June 19, 2019 5:30AM

Not a modern guy but these are spectacular. My buddy is amassing quite the collection of 10’s. Well done Ray.

ReggieCleveland · June 19, 2019 9:05AM

For me, I'm not sure anything will ever take the trophy from the Pee Wee Reese so thanks @PaulMaul for posting it.

From, what I believe to be, the best use of photography in a modern set, 1988 Score, I just love everything about this. The composition of the shot makes the bat the dominant object and the card takes on more of a symbolic nature than one for the specific player.

And i just love this. A popular pose from the time but the only use that I know of where it's bordered closely to Louis and in a rectangular fashion. Only two or three of these known to exist. The 1937 Lucky Heart premium.

Arthur

AFLfan · June 19, 2019 9:21AM

1988 Score does have some killer photography. I opened a box recently for an article I wrote for the PSA blog, and it was a really good time. I had forgotten how nice some of the cards are. Too bad there are about 1,000,000,000,000 of them in circulation.

These next two cards are all-time greats for me. When i was about 10 years old, my dad bought me a 1955 Bowman Bob Feller. He said that he had always liked the card when he was a kid, because to him it looked like Feller was saying, "just step up to the plate and watch me shove a fastball up your @ss." I found that hysterical as a roughly 10-year-old kid, and think about that conversation every time I see this card.

The 1957 Topps Big Klu is just a classic. The pose, the jersey, the snarl on his face... Excellent!

Coarsegold · June 19, 2019 12:13PM

Some of the 70's photography is so horrible that I love it. Still the only Punter in the HOF.

ArtVandelay · June 19, 2019 8:11PM

1974 football set has some of the best photography in all of Topps imho. It seems that Topps decided sometime around 1972 that instead of the normal poses that they would try to capture more in action shots on the card.

p.s. that Ray Guy card is one of the toughest cards to get centered!

jay0791 · June 20, 2019 6:15AM

Thank u Monte.
The card is an upgrade from a psa 4

I own 2 autographed RC's. One is Larsen. But like them a lot.
Need to draw the line as I can't collect everything.
Looks like the 63's were signed in the same pen. Or back then all they had was a bic blue ball point.

The 53 Pee Wee is a top 10 card of all time IMO and in a 9. Rizzuto would say "holly cow."

The 62's are just outrageous Some nice cardboard.

Ray Guy. Well I can say I was a Raider fan back when George Banda was the regular QB.
I championed him for years to get into the HOF. Guy was the 3rd string QB. This saved a position.
I actually saw him play QB in games. What a great athlete.
How many times did he receive a bad snap and run for a first down. Many. He handles everything before the long snapper was a specialized position. Not only were his punts the longest …....they were high. They were not measured in seconds but minutes.
People may not realize when he punted the TV went into a 30 second commercial just in time back for the returner
to make the catch. Yes that photo is just plain awefull !!!!!!!

daltex · June 20, 2019 1:41PM

@jay0791 said:
I championed him for years to get into the HOF. Guy was the 3rd string QB. This saved a position.
I actually saw him play QB in games. What a great athlete.
How many times did he receive a bad snap and run for a first down. Many.

Let's not go overboard. He threw three passes and rushed 11 times in a total of 207 games. 43 yards rushing and 54 yards passing. Calling Guy a QB is like calling John Elway a punter.

spanky74 · June 21, 2019 4:45PM

Danny White the last true QB/punter?

ArtVandelay · June 21, 2019 5:00PM

Randall Cunningham could have been if the Eagles wanted him to be. Danny White was the last though.

ahopkins · June 21, 2019 5:49PM

The angular positioning of Gretzky's body, the way the stick comes off his midsection perpendicularly, the Oilers symbol (especially when the "drop" is centered), the way the colors mesh and blend, almost like the whole design of the card was created around this particular image of Gretzky....well, it's truly beautiful.

Truly Beautiful Cards

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