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Cardboard appreciation: 2008 Topps Heritage Torii Hunter

(Does anyone appreciate a good laugh more than a card collector? For the most part, collectors are adults who never grew up. The less serious the topic the better. I, for one, fit that description. Give me a side-splitter and some cards and I'm all set. Here's another edition of Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 18th in a series):
It isn't often that the sight of a baseball card elicits spontaneous laughter, but that's what this card did when I received it in the mail on Saturday.

I know all about Hunter's mugging for the baseball card camera. And somewhere in my hazy memory I think I might have actually seen Hunter execute this same pose on some baseball show somewhere. But those facts didn't diminish my enjoyment of this card when I first saw it.

It's a great shot. Baseball is a game. It's fun. And there should always be room for goofy in baseball. People get too serious about this sport. They get too serious about life. Everyone needs to loosen up and look at a Torii Hunter baseball card.

For whatever reason, Topps has given Hunter license to be as goofy as he wants. Here are some other examples:

2008 Stadium Club. I don't know if Hunter is mugging here or if the cameraman merely caught a candid moment of Hunter on the bench. It is pleasantly odd, though.

2008 Topps. Hunter is calling his shot before an empty stadium. The photo would have worked better without Topps' terrible '08 design. Way too much empty space in this shot.

2008 Topps Allen & Ginter. Here we have Hunter saluting or viewing a titanic blast. I'm not sure which.

All three of these cards are great goofy fun, but not as hilarious as the Topps Heritage card, which is fun in a what-the-heck-is-he-doing kind of way.

But even that Hunter card isn't as good as this one:

This card has won praise from goofy collectors everywhere. It's even taken up residence on a certain Junkie's banner. But, unfortunately, I don't have this card. I didn't start collecting A&G until last year. I stole the scan, and since I don't have the card, it's ineligible for Cardboard Appreciation.

However, these cards that I received from Dan, along with the Hunter Heritage card, are:

Three more flag cards that I needed.

And the worst newspaper flub in the history of time.

Plus, a super awesome 1993 Upper Deck Mike Piazza! Look at that intensity. You can just see him saying, "62nd-round draft choice, my ass" with that swing.

Now that's another card I can appreciate. 2008 Topps Heritage Torii Hunter AND 1993 Upper Deck Mike Piazza, I appreciate you.

Comments

Anonymous said…
You can't forget the Pinnacle card where Griffey, Jr. was seen blowing a huge bubble with his gum!