The Great Griffey Frankenset: Page 10

Welcome to Page 10 of the Great Griffey Frankenset!

If you're not familiar with the idea of a Frankenset, it is a customized set of cards properly sequenced by card number that all tie into a connecting theme. Some frankenset themes include whole teams, mini-collections, and even just generally great cards or photos. This is the first Frankenset I'm aware of that is made up of just one player: Ken Griffey, Jr., the man of a million cards. I took the liberty of including things like inserts, parallels, cameos, and oddballs for the sake of variety and because it's just more fun that way. Enjoy!

Here is page 10 of the Great Griffey Frankenset:

Completeness of page: 9/9

Completeness of the Frankenset so far: 100% (90/90)

Team distribution so far: Mariners: 65/90 (72%), Reds: 22/90 (24%), White Sox: 1/90 (1%), No team indicated: 2/90 (2%)

Approximate retail value of this page: $43.00 ($1814.25 running total)

Page 10 Notes: Seven of the nine cards on this page are from Upper Deck, and two of those were made after UD lost their license. That means for the first time we have not one, but two cards with no team specified. We also have our first minnnnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiii, so enjoy that.

Page 10:

82. 2015 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions #82 Mini Canvas #/50

The first Mini of the Frankenset. Junior is looking fly in his pastel striped button-down, paired with a robin’s egg blue blazer. The flat-cut white slacks with matching tie complement the soft colors of the rest of the ensemble, and the entire look is capped off with a black fedora that says, “I’m breezy, but I also mean business.” The perfect look for the golf course, polo match, or a couples day at the marina.

83. 2005 Studio #83

Late Studio, while less portrait and more action-photo-made-to-look-like-a-portrait, was still an attractive set in 2005. The black-and-white Griffey superimposed over a red-tinted Cincinnati cityscape make it a personal favorite among Studio’s late issues.

84. 2001 Upper Deck Gold Glove #84

Here’s another flipped-up-shades-looking-right-into-the-sun moment. Junior had a lot of these. I suppose he had his reasons for not using those Oakleys or Gargoyles or whatever awesome exclusive eyewear he was sporting at the time, but I still think it darn silly. Cool nameplate on this one.

85. 1992 Upper Deck #85 (w/ Ken, Sr. and Craig Griffey)

The famous family portrait. Senior would go on to coach in Cincy and Craig didn’t take to baseball quite as easily as Junior, eventually requesting his own release from the Mariners system; but for a short, fleeting moment, all three Griffeys were Mariners. I consider this one of the greatest Griffey cards ever made.

86. 2001 SP Game Bat Edition #86

Just a well put-together card. Name a better nameplate.

87. 2002 Upper Deck Piece of History #87

Another well-done issue from Upper Deck, this one has the look of an insert or subset. I like the idea of the timeline along the bottom of the card (which they don’t seem to make any specific use of here) and the dark reds and blacks with the silver text. The highlight here is the photography. We get two smiling portraits of the Kid and a fantastic bat-less post-home-run action shot. A shoe-in for #87.

88. 1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Gold Signature #88

There is so much to love about this card: a brightly-colored cartoon featuring a Jay Buhner cameo as an EMT, a fun premise, and a shiny gold signature? It's almost too much.They gave Junior a real anime quality in the illustration, too.

89. 2014 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions #89

The second recent Upper Deck issue featuring a very stylish Junior lookin’ all shive. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty certain I’ve seen Michael Jordan wearing this very same outfit somewhere?

90. 1996 Topps Chrome #90 Star Power

This remains one of my favorite chrome base cards ever made. There’s something about the stars and colorful background that translated to chrome so well. While chrome usually doesn’t add much to the look of a base card, here it changed the whole game. And that is definitely the same font they used on the security doors in the museum scene of Demolition Man, aka the "What seems to be your boggle?" scene. "He's going for a gun, Huxley. Trust me, he's going...............for a gun."

Here's the back of Page 10:

Thanks for reading, and look for Page 11 next Friday!