it's been a while since i made a custom card - a couple of years, i think - but i remember enough from my time churning them out that i can say the motivation for making them (customs of the non-art variety) stems from missed opportunities by those who made the real cards. someone was left off of a checklist? make a custom. didn't care for the photo the "real one" used? make a custom. significant event not covered by a highlight or record breaker card? make a custom. rookie not given a card? make a custom. player switched teams and the "wrong" team was represented in a set? make a custom. veteran fan favorite not given a proper send off? make a custom.
those were the reasons i and many others made and make custom cards, and there is none better in the game than gio from when topps had (base)balls. gio takes his creations a step further than most and produces physical, professionally printed sets that are fun to collect.
back in october of 2024, he dropped his "series 18" set that covered all six of the reasons for making customs that i gave above, with fantastic results. let's have a look.
1970 topps bert blyleven
1971 topps larry doby and jon matlack
topps hadn't produced stand alone coach cards since the 1950's, but they've had at least one recently in the topps now universe. a doby expos card would have been sweet. as for matlack, he debuted in 1971 and, unlike blyleven, was included as part of a late series release. that card, however, was a three-player rookie card (with old friend ted martinez), so gio gave him his own solo rookie card.
1972 topps rusty staub traded
le grand orange was traded from the expos to the mets on april 5, 1972. that was later than the transactions involving steve carlton, joe morgan, and frank robinson, but still plenty of time for topps to include a traded card in the late series. they chose not to.
1973 topps sadaharu oh
1974 topps graig nettles
gio makes an improvement upon nettles' actual 1974 topps card
this is just a straight up "fantasy" card of the japanese legend. oh and the yomiuri giants won their 9th straight title in 1973.
1975 topps steve blass and felipe alou
1976 topps red sox combo card
combo cards didn't really make it into the 1970's at topps. they were big in the 60's and have rebounded in the 2000's. having a card of the three red sox stud outfielders is great, similar to the card gio made for the dodgers' 30 home run quartet. i don't think he's tackled the legendary dodger infield yet though!
both blass and alou finished their major league careers in april of 1974 and so didn't make the 1975 topps checklist. gio gives them both a proper final tribute send off. i believe the blass is the second 1975 card he's made for blass. as for alou, his brother matty also played his last game in 1974 and was also denied a card. gio corrected that omission as well.
1977 topps frank robinson and gene tenace
both robinson and tenace were included in the 1977 topps set, but robinson was just a small part of the indians' team card and really deserved a final tribute to salute the end of his playing days in 1976. as for tenace, he received an airbrushed card from topps (and o-pee-chee) in 1977 following his signing with the padres in the offseason. one last look at tenace as an oakland athletic is welcomed!
1978 topps paul molitor and bob horner
a solo rookie card for molitor, who appeared in the set on a 4-in-1 card, and a "missing" rookie card for bob horner. in horner's case, there were no late series or traded or update sets issued in 1978, so it's more of a fantasy card. horner was drafted by the braves on june 6, 1978 and debuted in the big leagues less than two weeks later, going on to be named the national league's rookie of the year.
gio was kind enough to include two copies of the molitor and horner cards for my 1978 topps master set.
1979 topps tom lasorda and billy martin
freddie patek wasn't the only all-star left without a banner in the 1979 topps set, as the managers of the 1978 midsummer classic were pretty much ignored. lasorda was present on the dodger team card, but martin was no longer the skipper of the yankees when the 1978 season ended so he wasn't in the set at all. i would welcome a return of solo manager cards to topps flagship, along with stadium cards.
here's the bonus card in the set - a 1973 kellogg's willie mays card
complete with stats on the back!
what a fantastic set!
hunter was shut out in 1980, and brock only got half of a highlight card.
then, last july, gio issued his 1980s career cappers set featuring retired greats who should have been better treated by topps at the end of their careers.
1980 topps jim hunter and lou brock
1981 topps willie horton and willie mccovey
horton's big league career ended in 1980, but he played in the pirates' organization for the next two seasons. in fact, his only real 1981 card is a tcma minor league card with the portland beavers, as for mccovey, he at least got a card from fleer in 1981 but nothing from topps or donruss.
1983 topps willie stargell
it's a willie parade! stargell was included in the donruss and fleer sets in '83, but not topps. topps didn't include wilver in their 2018 1983 anniversary insert sets, either.
1984 topps jim kaat, carl yastrzemski, gaylord perry, and johnny bench
three of these four were included on the iconic (yet disappointing) 1984 topps highlight card as retiring legends, but kitty kaat was nowhere to be found in '84 - not even in fleer or donruss. bench and yaz got 1984 all-star design cards from topps in 2019, but not regular cards that would have had their career stats on the back. kaat and perry were omitted altogether.
1985 topps amos otis and jim palmer
there were no cards of either otis or palmer in 1985. seeing otis in topps' 2020 1985 anniversary set would have been a miracle, but i was hoping to see palmer. no dice.
1987 topps george foster, cesar cedeno, and tony perez
the only 1987 card of any of these three stars was perez's 1987 fleer card. none of them were featured by topps in 2017 or 2022, either. it would be nice to see some foster and cedeno cards these days.
1988 topps phil niekro, reggie jackson, and steve garvey
all three of these players were given cards by score in 1988, and reggie also had a fleer card. niekro actually appeared in 1988 topps, but on a highlight card with his brother, joe, and as an indian. he finished his career as a brave, so gio's card is appreciated.
1988 topps phil niekro, reggie jackson, and steve garvey
like me, gio is a proponent of steve garvey as a hall of famer, and per my request, gio added an extra garvey card to my order for my collection. here's the back of garvey's 1988 topps career capper:
i've created a stat back for my version of garvey's card that should have been, with a front that was created by punk rock paint.
1989 topps don sutton, graig nettles, and steve carlton
once again, score to the rescue in 1989, at least by way of cards for sutton and nettles. there were no cards of carlton to be had aside from his baseball talk card (that shows him as a cardinal). sutton at least had a box bottom card, but that's not the same as a final tribute. of the three, a missing nettles card is the biggest head scratcher since he was on the expos roster the entire season. by the way, gio and i used the same photo of old man sutton for our 1989 cards.
like me, gio is a proponent of steve garvey as a hall of famer, and per my request, gio added an extra garvey card to my order for my collection. here's the back of garvey's 1988 topps career capper:
that's a pretty good resume there.
the bonus card in this set was a 1981 topps saduharo oh card
most recntly, gio announced the sale of his 1976 topps "power roll" dice game set. this is a masterpiece. the set includes 25 cards in the 1976 topps style, a pair of six sided dice, two mini pencils, a "wthballs" pinback button, and two pieces of bazooka gum. he went all out, for sure, and the cherry on top is that most of the cards feature verifiable 1976 season action shots, thanks to the presence of the various bicentennial patches on the players' sleeves.
my set took an adventure across the united states before arriving, but it's here and it is glorious. of course, gio added an extra steve garvey card
for my collection which is always appreciated. here's the back of garvey's card:
snake eyes for a garvey home run!
if you like custom cards or just miss the players of the 1970s, i strongly encourage you to check out gio's work.
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