Wednesday, August 23, 2023

seeing double

with no vintage set to chase currently, i really haven't paid a lot of attention to older cards over the past year or so. the one card i did decide to seek out finally made it in to my hands a couple of months ago. it's a 1955 topps doubleheader jim gilliam card
that he also shares with red sox hurler ellis kinder
as you can probably gather, the card folds and unfolds, with kinder (with gilliam's lower left leg)
being the primary image. gilliam is revealed when you unfold the card. i thought it was pretty neat and liked the idea of adding another gilliam card to the collection.

there are other, less interesting ways to get more than one player on a card, too. for example, there are some modern team cards, like this 2011 topps dodgers cognac parallel
that replaces the team leaders concept from the 1980's.

more common are "combo cards", like this 2011 topps heritage chrome parallel
matt kemp and andre ethier were a dynamic duo in topps' eyes back in 2011 i guess.

topps has maintained the combo cards in heritage in recent years, adding them as an insert set to the high numbers release. here's the 2020 heritage high number combo card 
that i am most interested in.

last year, panini included "historical duals" in their absolute release. the dodgers were represented by teammates roy campanella and gil hodges

not to be outdone, topps issued an online only set called dynamic duals. i've shown one of these dusty baker/steve garvey cards before, but i've added the dual autograph card
and the blue parallel card
to my collection since then.

topps issued the set again this year, with don sutton and clayton kershaw
being featured on the "cooperstown calling" insert.

i really wish that topps would bring bunt back to the real world and issue some of their digital cards as real, tangible cards. here is one that i would love to own and be able to slide into a 9 pocket page
of course, topps does include then and now cards in heritage. the dodgers have been well represented through the years, thanks to the dominance of sandy koufax and others. here are a couple cards from 2013 topps heritage
and 2015 topps heritage
respectively.

i didn't bother to scan any league leader cards or all-star cards which have historically been used to get two guys on one card, but i did scan a few rookie cards that fit the bill.  these three cards are from 2000 pacific omega
they are short printed cards that are considered part of the team set and i just recently tracked them down.

similarly, this 2002 fleer platinum card
finished up my team set, and is also a short print.

this 2004 topps rookie card of eventual journeyman edwin jackson (and greg miller)
is numbered like the omega cards, but that's because it's the gold parallel. not because it's a "base" short print.

there was a time - around 2007 and 2008 - when i felt that topps was using combo cards as filler and really forcing the issue. some of those cards back then were pretty bad, but for the most part i like the idea of multi-player cards when there is a valid connection between the two.

of course, there are other sorts of "double" cards in my collection - those showing the double play turn at second base. here are a couple i haven't shared before:

1998 pacific invincible tripp cromer gems of the diamond

2020 topps dansby swanson gold parallel

and 2022 topps stadium club chrome fernando tatis jr
you can't tell in the scan, but that is the dodgers' will smith sliding in under tatis.

i like double play cards, too - just don't call them combo cards!

6 comments:

  1. Edwin Jackson--the guy to guess if you're stuck on Immaculate Grid! B^}

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  2. Those doubleheaders are really nice. I don't have a 1955 but I actually have a (very poor condition) one from the 1910s.

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  3. I remember seeing an article on those Doubleheader cards back in the early 90's in either Topps Magazine, Tuff Stuff, Beckett, or one of those other card magazines and thinking they were so cool. Wish I had picked up the Jackie Robinson when it was a little more affordable.

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  4. I'm guessing that they wouldn't go over too well with the grading/investing crowd, but it's too bad that folding cards like those Doubleheader's aren't still being made.

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  5. I have never seen those Omega Dodger cards. Not super surprising with newer stuff, but still a little bit. I should take note and track some down myself, but I know I will probably not.

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