Topps Living Set

[jaredkelley]

Originally Posted by astroshane

Topps has been doing an amazing job with the historic player selections this year. We still need the remainder of that original Hall of Fame Induction class. I kind of like the palm trees in the original reference photo as spring training is a special event.

Love the artwork but I can't help but repeat I'm not a fan of those Easter eggs when they come in the form or hokey obtrusive billboards in the background. It really distracts and pulls from what is otherwise amazing artwork. Please no more overly large and obviously out of place hokey insider billboards. Let this amazing art remain classy and stand on its own. Your work is amazing and speaks for itself. Adding the flag to Rick Monday was class and added the personal touch and perspective of the artist. Those are the things I personally prefer.

If you are looking for cheeky ideas, how about a Bobby Bonilla card on Bobby Bonilla Day? Canadian baseball fans not only celebrate Canada day on July 1st but we also turn our minds to and celebrate the anniversary of the greatest contract in sports history.

https://www.foxsports.com/stories/ml...his%20contract.

Thanks for voicing your critique of the artwork, Astroshane. It's good to hear every TLS collector's opinion. After all, you're part of the target audience.

If you'll allow me to defend the "hokey insider billboards" for just a moment, I'd like to say that from the outset, Topps has impressed upon each Living Set artist the importance of being "true" to the 1953 set. In that effort, each artist creates realistic portraits, not overly expressive, with life-like backgrounds. Very "vanilla" is some regards, especially compared to other trading card products in this modern era.

Specifically addressing the "hokey billboards", out of the 13-14 "Easter egg" cards I've created (out of 147 portraits), only 5 contain billboard surprises (seen below). I'm willing to guess that of those 5, you'd consider them all "hokey" with the exception of maybe the Diaz portrait? If so, that's because the Diaz is the only one of the 5 that was not directly influenced by a background seen on a 1953 Topps card.



Forgive me if the following info it something you already know.....

The idea for my Easter eggs didn't come to me until I painted the Spencer Strider card in 2022, after studying the cards in the 1953 set (which I do often). It's obvious that in the '53 set, artist Gerry Dvorak would include "hokey" billboards in the background hiding letters of his own name, the player's name, words like "Strike" and "strikeout", or even blatant product advertising like "Topps Gum". The hokeyness of these billboards was due to how out-of-place they seemed at times. There's a reason for the overt conspicuousness of those backgrounds. Topps complained to Dvorak that his backgrounds were too plain, most featuring a lot of sky and trees. Dvorak then started inventing non-existent buildings and signage to break-up the monotony of backgrounds (though collectors will still notice that many of the invented backgrounds are exactly the same). I for one, noticed how "hokey" the signage was in the '53 set, although that doesn't bother me at all. I love the 1953 set and I love Dvorak's portrait style. I would venture to say that when placed side by side, Dvorak's portrait style may even appear hokey compared to today's Living Set art. But why should that be a negative?

Each hokey billboard background I have created has been an intentionally conspicuous throwback to the 1953 Topps set, including the blatant shoutouts on the billboards. How can it be anything other than that? I am after all, mixing Dvorak's style with my own. It's inevitable that those two distinct styles within one piece of art will stand out glaringly, so why shy from it? My hope was that most, if not all, the Living Set collectors would see the clear throw-back to the '53 set and Dvorak's style.

With all that being said, it's understood that it's impossible that each collector will love 100% of the cards in a never-ending set like the Living Set. Disliking 4 cards with hokey backgrounds out of a 650 card set is a pretty good track record, I believe. Thankfully, not all the Easter eggs I've included are as conspicuous as Mazeroski's. I love adding the subtle Easter eggs in the cards as well, like the lightning on Ron Guidry's card or the numbers on the bat knobs in the Keith Hernandez card.

I firmly stand by the Easter eggs, even the "hokey" ones, as I think they all stay true to the '53 set while also helping the Living Set to evolve. To that point, I love that Topps added the Black Bio Text cards to the modern set, a clear shoutout to the '53 set as well as a way to increase interest for today's market.

In the end, this set has a little something for every collector.

Again, thank you for voicing your feedback! Keep it coming. Please forgive the verbosity of this post. I get wordy sometimes when I'm expressing my thoughts.

By the way, terrific idea for a Bobby Bonilla card release on July 1st. Bobby Bonilla Day falls on a Wednesday in 2026. Normally, I would consider adding your handle as an Easter egg, but I know how much that would drive you nuts so I'll restrain myself

[jaredkelley]

FYI - I updated my artist-signed print runs here. Congrats to the collector who won the Jordan Walker 1/1 giveaway!

[Joliet Jake]

I didn't expect that print run (4257) for Walker. Well done, Jared.

[astroshane]

Originally Posted by jaredkelley

Thanks for voicing your critique of the artwork, Astroshane. It's good to hear every TLS collector's opinion. After all, you're part of the target audience.

If you'll allow me to defend the "hokey insider billboards" for just a moment, I'd like to say that from the outset, Topps has impressed upon each Living Set artist the importance of being "true" to the 1953 set. In that effort, each artist creates realistic portraits, not overly expressive, with life-like backgrounds. Very "vanilla" is some regards, especially compared to other trading card products in this modern era.

Specifically addressing the "hokey billboards", out of the 13-14 "Easter egg" cards I've created (out of 147 portraits), only 5 contain billboard surprises (seen below). I'm willing to guess that of those 5, you'd consider them all "hokey" with the exception of maybe the Diaz portrait? If so, that's because the Diaz is the only one of the 5 that was not directly influenced by a background seen on a 1953 Topps card.



Forgive me if the following info it something you already know.....

The idea for my Easter eggs didn't come to me until I painted the Spencer Strider card in 2022, after studying the cards in the 1953 set (which I do often). It's obvious that in the '53 set, artist Gerry Dvorak would include "hokey" billboards in the background hiding letters of his own name, the player's name, words like "Strike" and "strikeout", or even blatant product advertising like "Topps Gum". The hokeyness of these billboards was due to how out-of-place they seemed at times. There's a reason for the overt conspicuousness of those backgrounds. Topps complained to Dvorak that his backgrounds were too plain, most featuring a lot of sky and trees. Dvorak then started inventing non-existent buildings and signage to break-up the monotony of backgrounds (though collectors will still notice that many of the invented backgrounds are exactly the same). I for one, noticed how "hokey" the signage was in the '53 set, although that doesn't bother me at all. I love the 1953 set and I love Dvorak's portrait style. I would venture to say that when placed side by side, Dvorak's portrait style may even appear hokey compared to today's Living Set art. But why should that be a negative?

Each hokey billboard background I have created has been an intentionally conspicuous throwback to the 1953 Topps set, including the blatant shoutouts on the billboards. How can it be anything other than that? I am after all, mixing Dvorak's style with my own. It's inevitable that those two distinct styles within one piece of art will stand out glaringly, so why shy from it? My hope was that most, if not all, the Living Set collectors would see the clear throw-back to the '53 set and Dvorak's style.

With all that being said, it's understood that it's impossible that each collector will love 100% of the cards in a never-ending set like the Living Set. Disliking 4 cards with hokey backgrounds out of a 650 card set is a pretty good track record, I believe. Thankfully, not all the Easter eggs I've included are as conspicuous as Mazeroski's. I love adding the subtle Easter eggs in the cards as well, like the lightning on Ron Guidry's card or the numbers on the bat knobs in the Keith Hernandez card.

I firmly stand by the Easter eggs, even the "hokey" ones, as I think they all stay true to the '53 set while also helping the Living Set to evolve. To that point, I love that Topps added the Black Bio Text cards to the modern set, a clear shoutout to the '53 set as well as a way to increase interest for today's market.

In the end, this set has a little something for every collector.

Again, thank you for voicing your feedback! Keep it coming. Please forgive the verbosity of this post. I get wordy sometimes when I'm expressing my thoughts.

By the way, terrific idea for a Bobby Bonilla card release on July 1st. Bobby Bonilla Day falls on a Wednesday in 2026. Normally, I would consider adding your handle as an Easter egg, but I know how much that would drive you nuts so I'll restrain myself

Thanks for the insight as I never turned my mind to the number of billboards in the original 53 set. I should clarify that your work is amazing and I truly love this set. I recognize that I may have come across as overly and unfairly critical of the Easter eggs in the artwork. Keep up the amazing work and thank you for being so engaging with the collectors of your fine work.

[jaredkelley]

Originally Posted by astroshane

Thanks for the insight as I never turned my mind to the number of billboards in the original 53 set. I should clarify that your work is amazing and I truly love this set. I recognize that I may have come across as overly and unfairly critical of the Easter eggs in the artwork. Keep up the amazing work and thank you for being so engaging with the collectors of your fine work.

I did not interpret your post as "unfairly" critical at all. I never want a collector to hesitate from voicing his opinion. I worried that the length of my response might signal that I did find your comments unwarranted but I honestly saw it as an opportunity to let all collectors in this thread better understand my process and thinking as an artist. I love all feedback, even the critical and even the trolls (I have coffee mugs in my studio with negative feedback from trolls printed on them ).

Since I've been on the Living Set, some of my favorite feedback includes: my backgrounds are too dark, my players necks are too long (my favorite feedback to date), my Josh Jung looks like he's "smelling a fart", I paint too many Yankees, and I'm painting too many Spring training uniforms.

A host on the former About The Cards podcast, which started as a way to primarily talk about the weekly Living Set release, had these critiques of my art: "I'm not a fan of his [cards]", "They don't fit", "[His art] waters down the set", and "You can't tell me Project 70 isn't going to bury this set even further". (FYI, I'm good friends with that host today and have since converted him to a fan of my work.)

A preference to see less billboard backgrounds is really minuscule in comparison to the feedback above and again it's not an unfair critique at all. I appreciate you voicing your thoughts. Don't hold back in the future

[byronscott4ever]

Originally Posted by astroshane

Thanks for the insight as I never turned my mind to the number of billboards in the original 53 set. I should clarify that your work is amazing and I truly love this set. I recognize that I may have come across as overly and unfairly critical of the Easter eggs in the artwork. Keep up the amazing work and thank you for being so engaging with the collectors of your fine work.

As a collector, if we can’t have our own card, being egged on one is the next best thing

[futurepres13]

First time poster and huge fan of the living set. To share my criticism of the set recently (and hope for change) in a forum that seems to lead to immediate results in the set, it's surprising to me that the team that has had the best record in baseball for much of the season (the Braves) haven't had a new representation all regular season. And the team with the best record before them (the Rays) have waited even longer.

I know that overall the Braves are fairly well represented numerically speaking, but 27 teams have had a new card since Michael Harris' card in February. It would be great to see a veteran get their first card (Arcia or Elder), a second card in a new place (Murphy or Morton), or a classic (Smoltz, Spahn, Niekro, Joe Torre).

[jaredkelley]

Originally Posted by futurepres13

First time poster and huge fan of the living set. To share my criticism of the set recently (and hope for change) in a forum that seems to lead to immediate results in the set, it's surprising to me that the team that has had the best record in baseball for much of the season (the Braves) haven't had a new representation all regular season. And the team with the best record before them (the Rays) have waited even longer.

I know that overall the Braves are fairly well represented numerically speaking, but 27 teams have had a new card since Michael Harris' card in February. It would be great to see a veteran get their first card (Arcia or Elder), a second card in a new place (Murphy or Morton), or a classic (Smoltz, Spahn, Niekro, Joe Torre).

Welcome to the thread, Futurepres13! You're posting your suggestions in the right place. I can verify that the Topps Living Set team regularly monitors this thread. It wouldn't surprise me if you see a player from one or both teams you mentioned very soon.

[eldavojohn]

Great art this week on the Wiemer & Andrus! Not very interested in either player but the artwork is tempting me to go for it. Wiemer is a fourth round draft pick batting .213 ... no wonder he's not on my radar . BUT DAT RC SHIELD DO!

[Joliet Jake]

Topps MLB® Living Set® Card #651 - Joey Wiemer - PR: 1554
Joey Wiemer is the Milwaukee Brewers 14th franchise and team member, and 202nd rookie featured.


Topps MLB® Living Set® Card #652 - Elvis Andrus - PR: 1290
Elvis Andrus is the Chicago White Sox 22nd franchise and team member featured.

[Joliet Jake]

Interesting reference photo for Wiemer. One of the few in the set where it's not immediately obvious what team he plays for. Must be the mullet!

[jaredkelley]

Originally Posted by Joliet Jake

Interesting reference photo for Wiemer. One of the few in the set where it's not immediately obvious what team he plays for. Must be the mullet!

A fun factoid I'll have to look into - How many TLS cards feature no identifying team logos in the art?

Joey's hair was fun to paint. I like the idea of a mini subset within the Living Set of hair-do cards. I think I've personally only painted 4 cards of players without hats/helmets: Yuri Gurriel, Brendan Donovan, Miguel Cabrera, and Joey Wiemer.

I'm trying to see if Topps can get an agreement made with Oscar Gamble's estate so we can get his iconic fro added to the set. I grew up playing little league ball with one of his sons in Montgomery, AL.

[Chihuahuas]

Originally Posted by jaredkelley

A fun factoid I'll have to look into - How many TLS cards feature no identifying team logos in the art?

Joey's hair was fun to paint. I like the idea of a mini subset within the Living Set of hair-do cards. I think I've personally only painted 4 cards of players without hats/helmets: Yuri Gurriel, Brendan Donovan, Miguel Cabrera, and Joey Wiemer.

I'm trying to see if Topps can get an agreement made with Oscar Gamble's estate so we can get his iconic fro added to the set. I grew up playing little league ball with one of his sons in Montgomery, AL.

Fun stuff. Thanks Jared

[eldavojohn]

Originally Posted by Joliet Jake

Interesting reference photo for Wiemer. One of the few in the set where it's not immediately obvious what team he plays for. Must be the mullet!

Topps loves the mullet, he's got a TN RC card with imagery front and back sporting it.



And here's the getty ref photo that Jared totally nailed:

[Fsegaud]

That Getty photo emits a strong Larry Bird vibe.

[jaredkelley]

I love that the players this week appear to both be looking at the same amusing event to their right.

[jaredkelley]

Here's the Gold Signature Giveaway winner for my Bill Mazeroski artist-signed print:



Here's the updated print runs list. Thank you to everyone who picked up a copy!

[astroshane]

Has anyone else seen this Ebay listing? An entire Topps Living run of 630 cards all in PSA 10. This is the workings of one serious collector. The time and cost that went into this must have been off the charts. It's one thing to have the entire set but to have them all gem mint 10 is a near impossible feat !! My collection now stands at 1/3 of the set in PSA 10 (191 cards focusing on the greats of the game) and I know just how much time, patience, and cost that goes into building a gem mint set. Major respect to the collector who built this.

The Living Set has the potential to go down as the most comprehensive and historically representative baseball set of all time. The rarity of having every card as a perfect 10 is a bit of a big deal if you ask me.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/25619518150...Bk9SR_7TwfnGYg

[tdubs1010]

I think I am current 1-310 on PSA 10s, but then I had to stop. PSA had that crazy backlog issue and bumped pricing around that time. I still add some in occasionally (Mantle, Chipper, Frank Robinson, Maddux.) Would be fun to get back into, just too expensive and PSA is somewhat shady with pop control IMO.

[dherm360]

PSA grading aside, how many actual sets are out there. I know autographing the cards is getting bigger and bigger. I saw one video where a guy cut up the living set cards and made an art piece.

[Asian62150]

Originally Posted by dherm360

PSA grading aside, how many actual sets are out there. I know autographing the cards is getting bigger and bigger. I saw one video where a guy cut up the living set cards and made an art piece.

What's the lowest PR these days? Around 1000?

I'd guess around 500 ppl putting the set together (I'm one of them).

Was kinda hoping Topps would have to stop making it when they lost their license but the set lives on!

[eldavojohn]

Originally Posted by Asian62150

Was kinda hoping Topps would have to stop making it when they lost their license but the set lives on!

Look, I refuse to defend Topps or Fanatics but boo this man, boo I say. I love this set. Even if I was broke and penniless and all these cards were worthless and I couldn't buy new ones if I wanted to, I would STILL pull up the website like a child on Christmas morning every wednesday.

[Fsegaud]

Originally Posted by eldavojohn

Look, I refuse to defend Topps or Fanatics but boo this man, boo I say. I love this set. Even if I was broke and penniless and all these cards were worthless and I couldn't buy new ones if I wanted to, I would STILL pull up the website like a child on Christmas morning every wednesday.

If I come to a point where I can't spend the ridiculous amounts of money that I spend on all sorts of Topps Now products, Living Set & and the On Demand Black & White sets (and this is seriously all I buy card wise)...then Living Set would be the last thing to drop.

[Chihuahuas]

Originally Posted by astroshane

Has anyone else seen this Ebay listing? An entire Topps Living run of 630 cards all in PSA 10. This is the workings of one serious collector. The time and cost that went into this must have been off the charts. It's one thing to have the entire set but to have them all gem mint 10 is a near impossible feat !! My collection now stands at 1/3 of the set in PSA 10 (191 cards focusing on the greats of the game) and I know just how much time, patience, and cost that goes into building a gem mint set. Major respect to the collector who built this.

The Living Set has the potential to go down as the most comprehensive and historically representative baseball set of all time. The rarity of having every card as a perfect 10 is a bit of a big deal if you ask me.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/25619518150...Bk9SR_7TwfnGYg

Agree this set is epic and may go down as GOAT. Wish I had the $$ to purchase every card. My hat is off to those who have the entire set.

[metsy617]

Originally Posted by dherm360

PSA grading aside, how many actual sets are out there. I know autographing the cards is getting bigger and bigger. I saw one video where a guy cut up the living set cards and made an art piece.

i personally am making 4 sets , which i am current on