Next Stop on the Project 2020 Train - Mark McGwire

For the most part, I'm avoiding Topps' Project 2020.  For the most part.  I did succumb to temptation and purchase a Ted Williams card that was just so fantastically strange I had to have it.  After that, I returned to just passively monitoring the new offerings as they came across my inbox daily.  The next one that happened to catch my eye finally arrived in the mail last week...

Whereas my first Project 2020 pickup was based on "that's so odd I just have to have it" logic, this one was actually a card that I just plain liked.  My scanner does a terrible job with the magnetic holders these come in, so here's a much more accurate and colorful representation of how the card looks, courtesy of my iPhone:

Ah, there we go.  It's like someone turned the lights on in here!  Anyway, I really, really dig this particular card.  I think the artist was genius to combine elements of the 1987 Topps McGwire (I'd recognize that wood-grained border anywhere!) with elements from his '85 Topps Team USA rookie card.  A very creative approach.

Even though our country is incredibly $&%ed up right now, I'm still proud to be an American, and I like the flag backdrop that the artist went with here.  All in all, this card just spoke to me.  I guess that's sort of the point of Project 2020, different cards appeal to different collectors with different tastes.  For the most part I've been content to ignore them, but like the Ted Williams that I purchased first, this one just spoke to me.

Here's the back, your standard reference text related to the project as a whole, and the specific artist who completed this card.  Nobody buys these things because of the backs though...

Well, that's about all I've got to say regarding this pick-up.  A really fun card, and since I'm not exactly a super-collector of Mark McGwire or anything this is easily probably a top ten or even top five card of his in my collection now.  I know they're not for everyone, and they're largely not for me either so far, but this particular Project 2020 card just struck a chord.  I'm happy to own one.

Thanks as always for stopping by, I'll be back tomorrow with a couple of pack rips!