Wednesday, June 14, 2023

there's something happening here

but what it is ain't exactly clear (credit to stephen stills, of course).

did you know that 2023 bowman is out? i guess i haven't really seen anything written about it, but i am not on twitter where i am sure it was a hot topic a few weeks ago. i picked up a few packs and found a couple of dodgers, including this j.d. martinez card
the airbrushing of martinez (kudos for topps getting the number right - something they don't always do) is not the strangest thing about the card. no, that would be the background.

what exactly is happening behind the dodgers' new dh? at first i was thinking foul ball, but some of the fans are oriented towards the aisle and not the field. i momentarily thought maybe it was the wave captured on cardboard, but i now think it is a t-shirt cannon moment. maybe?

still, it doesn't make sense that any of this activity would be going on while martinez is batting. is it possible that topps swapped in a random photo background, like they've done in other releases? i know that practice has found its way to flagship for the first time since perhaps 1973 (i'll share in a future post). well, the answer is yes, this isn't even close to the actual background for this photo of martinez
that above photo, courtesy of getty images, is from may 31, 2022 and it is the one used for martinez on the bowman card.

so...

what do you think is happening here?

11 comments:

  1. I'm not sure what's happening there, but if I look at it for long enough, I think I'll see a sailboat.

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  2. I think it's some sort of photoshopped background. Now that it's rampant in Heritage, Topps probably think it's OK to do it on everything.

    I opened a pack of 2023 Bowman on the blog early last month.

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  3. That is very, very weird. The people in the background are WAY too close. Like, he appears to be batting while up against the fence. Even if he were on deck he wouldn't be so close. The background seems to come from a picture of someone trying to catch a foul ball at the wall. And the original background would have been fine.

    I did pick up some of the Mets from the set at the card show a week and a half ago.

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  4. It looks like the fans in the background are melting in agony. It happens...

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  5. I don't see any logic in photoshopping a different blurry crowd behind him. What a weird choice.

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  6. Such an odd card. Can't tell if the person designed it was trying too hard or not hard enough.

    Curious about the 1973 card. Can't think of one off-hand, though maybe I am forgetting an obvious one.

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    Replies
    1. well upon closer inspection it looks like i was wrong in thinking that 2023 topps has a photoshopped background (at least the card i had in mind) but i think it is pretty well universally accepted that george scott's 1973 topps card has some background shenanigans going on

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  7. Seems like a couple of guys there are going for a home run or foul ball.

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  8. No idea. My first thought was a home run ball coming their way... but not sure why multiple rows of fans are getting ready for that.

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  9. I really don't like this sort of thing. Just leave the regular background alone.

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