top 5: vladimir guerrero

so, here i am stealing a premise from nick at dime boxes.  it's been a long time since one of my favorite players has made the hall of fame.  in fact, outside of paul molitor's induction in 2004, none of the players - dodgers or non-dodgers - that i considered to by my favorites have made it in to cooperstown.  sunday, vladimir guerrero, who at one time was my favorite non-dodger player, joins the hall of fame.

i've kept my big daddy vladdy pc even after dismantling almost all others that i had built since the late 70s and figured i would share what i consider to be the five favorite cards in my collection.  this list does not include autos or relices - just good ol' base cards plus one insert.

had i stuck to just base cards, that 1999 topps gallery card up top would be number 5, but it got edged out by...

5. 2010 upper deck biography

this is just such an unusual card that it forces its way on to this list.  it is indeed a vladdy card (celebrating the game in which he hit his 399th and 400th career dongs), but features him blurred in the background as he circles the bases, leaving matt garza in focus instead.  this is actually guerrero's 399th career home run, as russ springer relieved garza and coughed up vladdy's 400th career dinger five innings later.  still, it's not often that the pitcher's shame is featured on cardboard.  imagine a dennis eckersley card showing him in full whiplash mode as he watches kirk gibson's home run fly into deep right field.  that would be awesome stuff.  just like this card.

4. 1998 topps

it's staged and not so original (hello, 1995 topps stadium club tim wallach), 

but still a great image and captures guerrero's signature smile as opposed to wallach's grimace.

3. 2008 upper deck 

it was a bright, sunny day in anaheim when this photo was taken, and it shows vladdy giving angels' third base coach dino ebel a high five.  i like this card because of the colors - specifically the white and red of the uniforms contrasting with the green and brown of the field - but also because there is joy there.  and it doesn't hurt that i can see guerrero's loping gait come alive in this photo (one of his legs is longer than the other, don't you know)

2. 1995 bowman

rookie card alert!  despite the 'phantom zone' design that bowman stole from 1994 upper deck, this is a great card - rookie or not.  i really like that it was the first look at guerrero with a bat and it featured his throwback gloveless approach to hitting.

so, it turns out that nick and i have similar thoughts.  my 2-4 also appeared on his list.  however, with 1998 topps being number one on nick's list, we differ on the top spot.  here's my choice:

1. 1998 upper deck

this is one of my favorite cards, period.  vladdy is happy, he's signing autographs, and it's a sunny day in dodger stadium. when i first saw the card, i thought it was great and that the only way it could be better was if guerrero were wearing dodger blue.

this card

that also shows vladdy in dodger stadium didn't qualify for the list as it is actually his brother's card, but it is worth an honorable mention.  and, had vladdy received a true final tribute from topps flagship, it probably would have been on the list, but i am still happy with the five cards i chose as my favorites.

by the way, here's the list of vladdy cards with the ones i own in strikethrough text. feel free to send me any ones that i still 'need' in trades!

what do you think? any other cards of the new hall of famer that should be on this list?