Gavin 1, Topps 0

Recently I was the recipient of another solid PWE from everyone's favorite custom card maker, Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown.

Inside were some of his fantastic custom creations, including this card of Art LaFleur from his role as Babe Ruth in The Sandlot, done in vintage Goudey style.  Great work from Gavin here, I love the photograph he chose as well as its placement relative to the text.

As is the case with every custom card I've received from Gavin, he went all out and did up a card back as well.

I was one of many collectors who, while excited about the inserts from The Sandlot in this year's Archives release, was a bit disappointed that a few big characters from the film were left out.  Well, Gavin was of that opinion as well, and he did something about it!  Odds are you've seen these posted on his own blog or elsewhere by now, but in case you haven't he created four great customs to round out the original insert set from Topps.  Once again, Art LaFleur as Babe Ruth...

...Denis Leary as Bill, the stepdad (another excellent photo choice here)...

...the great James Earl Jones as Mr. Mertle...

...and lastly, Karen Allen as Scott's mom, Mrs. Smalls.

These are absolutely fantastic supplements to the insert set released by Topps this year.  I'm so grateful that Gavin was kind enough to print and ship me a copy of each.  I'm even more grateful that Gavin decided to right Topps' wrong in the first place, and has the skills required to do so.

Gavin included four buybacks along with the Sandlot customs.  The first was one of those 2017 Bowman 70th Anniversary buybacks.  I don't have many of these, in fact I think this is just my second one to date (with the other being a Xander Bogaerts RC).  This one's not eligible for the Buyback Franken-set since I'm keeping that to Topps flagship buybacks only, but it's still a great oddity for my Red Sox collection.

1988 Topps #314 - Jimy Williams

The other three buybacks that Gavin tossed in are eligible for the franken-set project, so we'll see how they fare here.  First we've got manager Jimmy Williams of the Blue Jays from 1988 Topps.  Williams managed the Jays to an 87-75 record in 1988, 12 games above .500.

If he wants into the franken-set binder though, he'll have to unseat this 1965 Sterling Slaughter buyback.

Sterling Slaughter is just too cool a name, and 1965 Topps is just a much more interesting set than 1988 to me.  Jimy falls short.

2006 Topps #14 - Chris Snyder

I'll confess that I'm not all that familiar with Chris Snyder.  He was an NL guy for most of his career, and I mostly watch AL baseball other than highlights and the playoffs.  He played in just 61 games in 2006.  At #14, Chris would be on just the second page of the binder if he were to make the cut.  How's it look for him?

Not that good.

Going with a '73 Red Sox buyback over a guy I'm not too familiar with from '06 any day.

1973 Topps #316 - San Diego Padres

Lastly, my favorite of the three contenders is this 1973 Topps Padres checklist.  Look at all that mustard yellow!  San Diego had a super rough year in '73, losing 100 games.  Ouch.

Already have this Curt Shilling Astros card from '92 Topps in slot 316.

Gotta stick with Curt, even over those great, blinding uniforms.

Gavin may have gone 0-for-3 as far as the franken-set goes, but that's honestly not all that surprising at this relatively late stage of the project.  In fact, he jokingly threw the buybacks in a penny sleeve that he'd written REJECTED on in red pen!  Haha!

Thanks for the great buybacks Gavin, and even more for the awesome work you do with your customs.  I've already got at least a couple of cards set aside for you, and I'll try to get a return PWE headed your way in the next few days.

Franken-set Progress: 632/792 (79%)
1990 Topps Buyback Set: 101/792 (12%)
"Rejected" Buybacks: 523
Total Buybacks in Collection: 1,256