1989 Upper Deck Nolan Ryan
Also in honor of Game 7 of the World Series, my second favorite Nolan Ryan card from the 1989 Upper Deck set (the first coming before he was signed by the Rangers). As a kid my mind was blown seeing one of my favorite players throwing a football on a baseball card. I had no idea what was going on! It turns out throwing a football was one of Ryan’s preferred ways of warming up. Is a modern card of a Hall of Famer better than a vintage card of an average player? Is this an indication of who will win tonight? Answers: “I don’t know.” and “No.” I have to root for Rafael Furcal and the National League though. Sorry Nolan.
Panini Redesigns
Panini’s preview first, the second three are mine based on their design.
So the collectors out there have heard by now, the Major League Baseball Players Association signed a deal with Panini America to produce baseball cards featuring Major League players.
What does this mean? Well, it means Topps no longer has the monopoly on baseball cards any more. Sort of. Panini only has a deal with the MLBPA, NOT the MLB. So while they can put players on their cards, they cannot put players wearing any MLB trademark on their cards. Which shouldn’t be as long as MLB produces some nice looking cards. Judging from the preview card above, they are not. So I took it upon myself to do some mock ups where I went and “fixed” up their design.
So here are the problems I see. First, the giant banner with what I am assuming is the brand of the set. That thing looks like a football logo, it’s ugly.If that much space is taken up on every card in the set than this thing is dead in the water. I took it and put it in the corner as a smaller logo.
Second, the photo. It needs to be bigger and more interesting, so I mocked up a version with a background and a version with cloned out logos.
Third, the Panini logo. Sorry there is no need to keep it that big and in colors that draw away from the entire front of the card.
Fourth, the color blue is everywhere. A lighter background draws your attention to the photo.
Last, the fake team logo. If you can’t have the real logos you don’t have to make a fake team logo. An understated position, city, and league across the top border does the same job much more elegantly.
I also did a mock up of what their autograph inserts could look like, after all the press release is all about Josh Hamilton’s contract with Panini. What do you think, do mine look better than the preview card or not?
