ring that bell

today is a good day to show juan bell's 1993 leaf card. especially the back

there are two bells there, in fact, making the card pretty meta. the liberty bell, as fans of the national treasure movies will tell you, was kept in the house of pass and stow (the steeple of what is now known as independence hall). you can see "pass and" on the card, but the big item that draws your eye is the crack which occurred in the early 19th century, well after pass and stow recast the original bell.

anyway, it's independence day and there are other cards that make sense to post. over the past few months, i've picked up a couple of topps' independence day parallels.

2022 has perhaps the lamest design - here's andre jackson

design aside, this card appealed to me slightly because it is numbered 01 out of 76

and it pairs nicely with this 2025 topps heritage high numbers evan phillips "color of the year" parallel

that is bookended at 76/76.

of course, this year is 2026 which makes it the country's semiquincentennial. earlier in the year, i was looking for cards that showcased the memorial patch that the brewers wore in 2025 to honor bob uecker and came across this isaac collins gold parallel

it is very patriotically numbered 1776/2026 on the back

and, while it won't represent the uecker patch in my collection, it is unique enough to land in my "meaningful and just because" collection.

semiquincentennial means 250th, and this tommy edman purple rainbow foil parallel

is numbered to 250 as most purple parallels are these days. however, this particular one is 250/250

and so is a semiquincentennial card in and of itself. 

more traditional 4th of july appropriate cards celebrate the red, white & blue, like this 2021 panini prizm justin turner parallel

although perhaps i should have turned it upside down.

and, last but not least, here is an independence day parallel from 2026 topps featuring blake snell

in recent years, topps has put more 'merica in the design of these. here's the back

jackie robinson number!

happy birthday america! i hope you survive another 250 years, but at least get through these next couple in a recognizable fashion.