The Great Griffey Frankenset: Page 16

Welcome to Page 16 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!

[Note: When this page was originally published there was no Griffey card #141, so we used 2007 Topps Moments & Milestones #46 RBI 141 Black #/29 as a placeholder. 2018 Donruss Optic has done us the service of giving Junior a legitimate card #141 in their base set, so I have updated this page and the stats on the following pages.]

Here is page 16 of the Great Griffey Frankenset:

Completeness of page: 9/9

Completeness of the Frankenset so far: 100% (144/144)

Team distribution so far: Mariners: 102/144 (71%), Reds: 39/144 (27%), White Sox: 1/144 (1%), No team indicated: 2/144 (1%)

Approximate retail value of this page: $81.50 ($2999.25 running total)

Page 16 Notes: Here we are, folks. This is the page that contains our first hole. There doesn’t seem to be a legitimate Griffey #141, so I’ve made a concession to ensure no blank spaces in the Frankenset. Yes, this space has a big ol’ asterisk on it as the card is not really card #141, but it’s as close as we’re going to get until somebody issues a Griffey numbered 141. You hear me, Topps, Upper Deck, and Panini? Need a Griffey #141 here. A little help…? Nevermind - we're good! Thank you, Panini!

Page 16:

136. 1999 Upper Deck Encore #136 Homer Odyssey

This card makes me smile. It’s a baseball card tribute to an ancient Greek poem. What? Cute name, and the columns really hammer it home.

137. 1999 Skybox Premium #137

Team–colored motion lines? Epic slide? Yes, please.

138. 2001 Topps Fusion #138 (Topps Gallery Awards Gallery #28)

Here is the Topps Gallery Griffey from the bizarre Fusion set which gave us a little taste of five different Topps products in a single set. There are two other Griffeys in this product, but I believe I’ve made it abundantly clear that I’m a Gallery guy through and through. Sadly, the closest thing we have to this kind of set nowadays is Archives. I’d love to see Fusion come back with retired players.

139. 2006 Ultra #139 Gold Medallion

Sure, late Ultra designs began to run together, but there’s no denying the greatness of that nameplate or the accompanying home run hero shot complete with dropped bat.

140. 2013 Topps Update Tony Gwynn #US140 SP (cameo)

One of my greatest pack pulls of all time and certainly one of the greatest Griffey cameo cards. Oh, and without a doubt my favorite Tony Gwynn card ever-ever.

141. 2018 Donruss Optic #141 Holo Aqua #/299

This was an empty slot for years until Donruss Optic finally released a Griffey card numbered 141. The only work left to do was pick a nice parallel. This Holo Aqua is the nicest of those I own, so here it is. When will our next void in the Frankenset come? We are definitely getting up there in numbers...

142. 1999 Upper Deck UD Choice #142

UD Choice was never as good as Collector's Choice, but you can't fault Junior's base card for that. Not one bit.

143. 1994 Sportflics 2000 #143

I don’t care for most lenticular cards. They tend to be blurry, hard to scan, and only a small number of them look presentable to adult me. This one, though, has a colorful back and is one of the best-looking cards of its kind. Check out that great moving nameplate.

144. 1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated #144 Baseball's Best Overall Player

 A bit generic design-wise, but who am I to nay-say a giant blue ribbon that heralds The Kid as “Baseball’s Best Overall Player?” Sports Illustrated knows exactly how to win me over. This thing could have been a crayon drawing on looseleaf paper and it would still be on this list (provided it was numbered appropriately, of course).

Here is the back of Page 16:

 Thanks for reading, and look for Page 17 next week!