Buyback Franken-set: 0-fer...But with Some Page Updates

Back to the Buyback Franken-set on this overcast Tuesday morning!  Ten random selections from my backlog today, from a variety of sources...

1972 Topps #82 - Ron Woods

I picked up this Ron Woods simply because I love 1972 Topps, and because I'm intrigued by the Montreal Expos.  After Ron wrapped up his time in Montreal he headed over to Japan for a couple of years to finish up his professional baseball career.

Brutal match-up for Woods as the franken-set goes though.  First ballot HOFer Tom Glavine actually won the NL Cy Young the year this card was printed up.

Easy choice there.

1988 Topps #405 - Dwight Gooden All-Star

An extremely yellow Doc Gooden All-Star card is up next.  I love the look of this one, just screams 1980s.  I'm not sure why Gooden got an All-Star subset card in the '88 set when, according to Baseball Reference, he was not an All-Star the season prior.

Standing in Dwight's way is this 1979 Butch Wynegar buyback.  I've been just waiting for a chance to bump this one out.

Two no-brainers to start today's proceedings.

This slot is part of a completed page as well, here's the look before with the '79 Wynegar at lower right...

...and here it is now, much brighter with the Gooden in place.  A ton of All-Star presence here due to Topps using this number range for the All-Stars in a couple of different releases.  Would be pretty cool to supplant the four non-All-Star cards here and have a complete page of them.

1986 Topps #142 - Bob Jones

1986 was the end of the line in Major League Baseball for 36-year-old Bob Jones.  I have to be honest and say this is not a very exciting buyback, just happened to come my way as part of a large lot.  It would take an open slot, or a miracle match-up, for Bob to make the franken-set.

Unfortunately for him, I've got this fantastic '65 Topps Bill Monbouquette Heritage buyback in slot 142 already.

Not a lot of tough decisions in the early running here.

1988 Topps #368 - Gerald Young

Here's another one I don't expect to put up much of a fight, acquired in the same lot as the Bob Jones if memory serves.  At the outset of 1988 this was probably a good card to pull, as Gerald had swatted .321 in 74 games as a rookie in 1987, finishing 5th in NL ROY voting.  His lifetime batting average ended up being .246.

1974 Manny Mota looks to deny Young his franken-set glory.

Denied indeed!

1959 Topps #319 - Dave Hillman

Dave Hillman's 1959 release is up next, and I feel like we've got a real contender for the binder.  These were inserted as box-toppers in 2008 Topps Heritage, the first year that Topps did these actually.  Hillman would actually join the Red Sox after the 1959 season.

Another tough match-up though, as we have a smiling Larry Gura courtesy of 1976 Topps in slot 319 of the binder.  My gut instinct is to select a '59 over a '76 just about every time...

...but I really like the image on the Gura card better.  Larry takes it in a minor upset!

1984 Topps #261 - Bobby Brown

Here's another pretty bland buyback that was picked up in a lot.  The 85 games that Bobby Brown saw action in during 1984 were the second most in a season during his seven years as a part-time MLB player.

He runs up against a buzz-saw as far as the franken-set goes, with this beautiful Gene Stephens '59 buyback.

Once again, a really really easy call.

1989 Topps #55 - Julio Franco

Alright, here's a buyback I really like.  I've talked many times about my love of the ageless Julio Franco, and I half collect him just due to the fact that he stuck around for so many years.  His '89 Topps card is a strong candidate for franken-set inclusion.  1989 was actually Julio's first year with the Rangers, as Cleveland dealt him to Texas in the 1988 off-season.  He made a big splash upon his arrival in Texas, swatting .316.

Ouch, another rough match-up.  Bill Virdon was the 1955 Rookie of the Year, and aside from that I have very few '63 Topps buybacks in the binder at this point.  Maybe the least of any set from the '60s.

In what was maybe the toughest decision in this post, I reluctantly kept Bill Virdon in place.

1990 Topps #552 - Mike Smith

Hey alright, another 1990 Topps buyback!  You know the drill here, if there's any way possible I'm going to slide this guy into my dedicated 1990 Topps buyback set.

Already had this '79 Jose Morales in slot 552, which is great.

I moved this one into the 1990 Topps set, however I already had the Bronze Foil version of this very same buyback in the 1990 Topps buyback binder.  I'll put this one in its place, since the Blue Foil version is rarer, and the Bronze Foil one goes off to the reject box.  In reality, my 1990 Topps buyback project didn't improve at all with this one since it was for all intents and purposes a duplicate.

1974 Topps #382 - Bob Moose

Next up, Bob Moose and a huge mop of hair on his 1974 Topps release.  All that hair (including the mustache), the stir-ups, a tilted background; this is a perfect 1970s card right here.  Unfortunately, Bob had the worst year of his career in 1974, going 1-5 with an ERA above 7.50.  Ouch!

He's got some real competition for the binder too.  I already mentioned my love for 1972 Topps, and just check out that warm-up jacket!

Down goes Moose.

1999 Topps #422 - Orlando Hernandez

Here's our final hopeful for today, a much more recent buyback of El Duque.  This one pains me a bit, as Hernandez's impressive 1999 season (17 wins) was highlighted by his ALCS MVP Award after he dominated the Red Sox in two starts in the Championship Series that year. He was really good in his one World Series start as well, and the Yankees won it all that season.

Orlando draws 1989 Bo Diaz for competition as far as the binder goes.

The challenger wins a spot in the binder!

This slot is part of a complete page as well.  Here's the before, with Bo Diaz bottom center...

...and the after, with El Duque about to deliver.  Love the variety on this page, with buybacks from the '50s right up through the 2010s.

That's a wrap for this latest installment.  A pretty brutal day for this project to be honest, with most contenders getting shut down and just a couple fighting their way into the binder.

Thanks as always for stopping by!

Franken-set Progress: 652/792 (82%)
1990 Topps Buyback Set: 119/792 (15%)
"Rejected" Buybacks: 616
Total Buybacks in Collection: 1,387