The Great Griffey Frankenset: Page 25

Welcome to Page 25 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 25 of the Great Griffey Frankenset:

Completeness of page: 8/9

Completeness of the Frankenset so far: 96.88% (218/225)

Team distribution so far: Mariners: 156/218 (72%), Reds: 58/218 (27%), White Sox: 2/218 (1%), No team indicated: 2/218 (1%)

Page 25 Notes: A couple of off-size cards in this one, including one relatively valuable rookie you should never, ever store in a binder page. At this point we have to wonder when we will see another complete page. This one only missed it by a single card, so we were close. Sadly close don't cut it. As long as that completion percentage sits above 89%, any page missing cards - whether it's missing nine or just one - is going to cause it to drop.

Page 25:

217. ---

Hey, number 217. Yeah, you. You a odd lil' punk.

218. 1999 Upper Deck MVP #218 Checklist Silver Script

There is nothing on the front of this card to indicate it is a checklist which is kind of a best-case scenario when it comes to checklists. So many otherwise cool ones are ruined by the big, ugly "CHECKLIST" honking across the front. This one got lucky.

219. 1999 Ultra #219 Season Crowns

I never see this subset referenced, but dammit if it isn't a beautifully put-together card. I'm so used to Ultra super-imposing player images over a bunch of full-bleed nonsense that it's nice to see they do know how to integrate a background into the design. 12/10. This could be a Blu-ray cover.

220. 1989 Bowman Tiffany #220

There are several Griffey cards numbered 220. I chose this because it is the scarcest of the Tiffany rookies (Topps Traded and Fleer are the others), and because I knew it would look funny sitting in a binder page at the top of this post. Don't try that at home with your '89 Bowman Tiffanies, folks. You can do whatever you want with the reg's.

221. 2009 SP Authentic #221 Future Watch Flashbacks #/495

That is one low serial number for a base card. I don't believe I've ever seen the Kid looking more like, well, a kid than in this photo. Several guys from my high school rocked this exact same pose in their Homecoming pictures. The cool ones, anyway. I did the awkward hands-on--the-waist-of-my-date-who-is-taller-than-me thing. Also I got new shoes that same day, and when I got home from the dance I realized I had never taken the price tag off and it had been dangling off of my shoes the whole damn night. Coulda done without that flashback.

222. 2000 Fleer Tradition #222 Glossy

This is the glossy version which means nothing when you're just looking at the scan. It is noted on the back of the card which you can see on the page scan at the end of this post, but come on no one looks at that thing.

223. 1996 Panini Stickers #223

Who'd have thunk that sleepy little sticker-peddling Panini would become who they are today? Plus there's at least five logos on this thing. Don't see that anymore.

224. 1994 Upper Deck #224

How do you not pick the Superman card? Thing's a legend. I feel like the whole base design was built around this one photo.

225. 2003 Fleer Tradition #225

Another appearance from Fleer Tradition, this one on a heritage Fleer design from the '60's as opposed to a blatantly-copied Topps design. This photo is cropped so low it's like they're begging us to spy on Very Interested Blurry Kid and his dad, Gigantor McWhiteshirt.

Here is the back of Page 25:

Thanks for reading. Here's a little treat for the people who do make it all the way to the bottom:

You can't see the price tag, but it's there.