Stick a Fork In It!

This project is done! This past week I was able to purchase the last two 1991 Topps Desert Shield cards I needed for my Reds team set: Paul O'Neill and Eric Davis. I was a bit surprised how much Eric the Red set me back because he was just as much as the Barry Larkin cards I had purchased earlier. Not only that but I had only found a total of 3 Davis cards online. Talk about slim pickings. I'm glad I finally put this project to bed. Without further ado, here are the last two cards. If you're interested you can view the complete 1991 Topps Desert Shield Reds team set here.

1997 Topps

The 1990s were a disappointment I think for Topps, and nothing says disappointment like 1997. If 1996 wasn't bad enough then Topps just had to make sure 1997 was a washout as well. I don't know if it was just the massive glut of cards that were on the market at the time that lead many manufacturers releasing product hoping to sell a couple of packs to whomever, or perhaps it was the lingering effect of the 1994 strike that made them not care about what they released. Whatever the case, I'm glad that I went on card collecting hiatus from 1994 to 2001 and missed many of these dismal releases. There's just so much wrong with the 1997 Topps set that I don't know where to start. I wasn't too impressed with the photos The ghosted green border just doesn't do it for me. It's almost like the photo's border was bleached by the sun and caused fading. Not only that, but you also have a lack of information on the card front. Just the player name and a team logo. Where's the position Topps? I will say that I think the back of the card looks better than the front. I like how Topps used the light green and yellow boxes for the player stats and info. Sure it looks like a lot of grass on the back, but what's baseball without grass? Favorite Reds card from 1997 - Reggie Sanders. I liked Reggie for the short time he wore a Reds uniform. He was a great outfielder and a nice complement to other Reds other outfielders of the early 90s (Paul O'Neil, Eric Davis, Billy Hatcher, and Roberto Kelly to name a few).