Friday, May 29, 2020

The Great Griffey Frankenset: Page 21

Welcome to Page 21 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 21 of the Great Griffey Frankenset:


Completeness of page: 9/9

Completeness of the Frankenset so far: 100% (189/189)

Team distribution so far: Mariners: 131/189 (69%), Reds: 54/189 (29%), White Sox: 2/189 (1%), No team indicated: 2/189 (1%)

Page 21 Notes: A rare page with more Reds than Mariners. At this point its not even my own personal preference for Seattle-era cards - it is strictly number availability. This one also contains a pair of back-to-back Gold Medallions and, of course, plenty of subsets.

Page 21:


181. 1994 Sportflics 2000 #181 Starflics

That really looks like a swung-on strike. I've always kind of liked this design (it's ok for a lenticular card), but that picture leaves me scratching my head.


182. 2005 Ultra #182 Gold Medallion

Then we have an amazing picture - possibly the greatest Griffey photo to grace an Ultra base card. I wish Junior got more hat-wave shots on cardboard. I feel like Mariano Rivera has more.


183. 2013 Panini Prizm #183 Green Pulsar Prizm

I could have picked any of the colored Pulsars from this year of Prizm, and yet there was no purple. That green, though. She pops.


184. 1998 Fleer Sports Illustrated #184 Year in Review (w/ Mark McGwire)

This card is 50% awesome and 50% blech. I'll give you a pass, though, Fleer Sports Illustrated. Nobody knew yet...


185. 1996 Pinnacle Starburst #185 (.300 Series) Artist Proof

The regular card is #301.8, but as Starburst is considered an insert and not a parallel, this card # works just fine. That being said, this one IS a parallel. What is the term for an insert that parallels the base cards but that isn't quite a parallel?


186. 2007 Topps Chrome #186

I'd have preferred to show one of the many base parallels if this one, but those are all #450. The Chrome version has different numeration which was a blessing here as it's the only Griffey card #186.


187. 2002 Upper Deck Ballpark Idols #187

Another one where we didn't have a choice of cards at that number. The first hole in the Frankenset is coming fast.


188. 1996 SP #188 Checklist

1996 SP was positively loaded with two thing: wood grain and shots of Griffey laughing his ass off. I like both of those things.


189. 2004 Ultra #189 Gold Medallion

Here's that other Gold Medallion. I love how Ultra avoided slapping batting shots on every card like a lot of brands did with Griffey. We usually got something different from them, and it made for some great base cards.

Here is the back of Page 21:


Thanks for reading!

4 comments:

  1. That green Prizm with the red uni is the most Christmasy thing ever, or at least prior to last year's Topps Holiday parallels with the candy canes and such.

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  2. I realize 2004 and 2005 ultra gold medallions were cut exactly the same.

    ReplyDelete