Need Advice for Next Custom Project

[CamaroDMD]

So, I want to start another custom card project...and what I want to do is a set to commemorate a relative of mine's professional football career. He never had a "true" football card produced of his career (his only cards came in the 85 and 86 McDonalds issues).

So, he played professional football for 4 seasons. Here is the breakdown:
1983 Chicago Blitz (USFL)
1984 Arizona Wranglers (USFL)
1985-86 Chicago Bears (NFL)

The NFL cards are fairly straight forward. Typically Topps produced cards reflecting the previous year. So, I could do a 1986 Topps NFL RC for his '85 season and a 1987 Topps for his '86 season. That's how Topps would have done it.

The USFL is a little tougher. The big question is...do I do it 100% authentic. Topps issued 2 USFL sets...1984 and 1985. But, they correspond to the current year. So, had they made him a real card it would have only been a 1984 USFL and it would have been him with Arizona. No Chicago card would have been issued.

So, do I make him a single USFL card with the Wranglers in the 1984 design...or do I take some artistic liberties and make the 84 card reflective of the 1983 season with the Blitz and then make an 1985 design reflective of the 84 season with the Wranglers?

It should be noted that the Arizona Wranglers no longer existed in 1985...so there was no Wranglers team cards in the 1985 set (they had merged with the Oklahoma Outlaws and became the Arizona Outlaws). 1985 Topps USFL has Arizona Outlaws cards.

So, I guess the question is...do I do it 100% how Topps would have done it and create a 3 card career set for his 4 season or do I do a 4 card set showing each year and each team?

I know which way I am leaning already...but I was looking for a few other opinions.

 

[ranbethscards]

why not cover all the teams he played for? I say go for it.. and have some fun!

 

[CamaroDMD]

why not cover all the teams he played for? I say go for it.. and have some fun!

Honestly, that is the direction I was leaning in. I started the 1984 USFL card today. I don't have a good photo of him with the Blitz (I'm gonna contact him and see if he can send me one). Anyway...here's the start. Just for the visual effect, I put a photo of Kevin Long on it so it's not blank. I have to add the text and do some cleanup, but I think the front is off to a decent start.

 

[ranbethscards]

in my humble opinion, and you can take it with a grain of salt... but to me.. it's perfect!

sweet looking card front!

have you googled his name for a picture? you might find one that will work best for what you want. (yeah, I'm sure you did, but just in case you had a momentary lapse of memory...)

are you printing these up on card stock? or just saving them on your computer?

 

[CamaroDMD]

Well, I think the first card is basically done. I might do a little tweaking to the centering on the front (it's a little off) and I'm gonna look for a better photo. This is the only one I have...and it's a signed 8x10 so I had to really crop it to cut the signature out. Some of the fonts aren't perfect. However, I'm really happy with the design.

So, this is in the design of 1984 Topps USFL. I didn't do it exactly as Topps would have because it depicts the 1983 season (like a traditional Topps NFL set of the time would have). Unlike their 1980s NFL issues...the USFL issues depicted the current year. But, hey, it's my card.

So, here it is:



For comparison, here is a real 1984 Topps USFL card.



I think I got it pretty close.

 

[CamaroDMD]

Oh, and to answer your question...I am working on printing them. Still trying to perfect the process. For now they are only digital but I'm working on it.

 

[ranbethscards]

Great job!!!!

 

[CamaroDMD]

Hey thanks. Actually I showed it to him and he was pretty impressed. Asked if I could make a set of him and some of his teammates. Might be a fun project.

 

[CamaroDMD]

OK, here is the second card. This card covers his second USFL season...1984 with the Arizona Wranglers. It is made in the design of the 1985 Topps USFL issue.

 

[ranbethscards]

sort of has a 1970s throwback feel to it

 

[CamaroDMD]

sort of has a 1970s throwback feel to it

It does a little bit. I actually tried to replicate the 1985 Topps USFL design as best as I could. Since he played in the USFL in 83 and 84 and the NFL in 85 and 86...I'm replicating the sets from the next year. So, 1984 Topps USFL for the first card, and 1985 Topps USFL for this one. I'm currently working on his first NFL card...1986 Topps.

Here's what a real 1985 Topps USFL card looks like (this is a scan from my collection...note the front and back are not from the same card)

 

[ranbethscards]

okay.. makes sense to me!

 

[CamaroDMD]

Here is the next one. This one is based on 1986 Topps which would have been the set his NFL rookie card would have appeared in..had he had one.



For comparison, here is an original 1986 Topps


So, I have one more to go. The final card will be 1987 Topps.

 

[ranbethscards]

looking good... but doesn't Tim have a goofy look in that picture?

 

[CamaroDMD]

looking good... but doesn't Tim have a goofy look in that picture?

Yeah, the problem is I am limited for images that will fit...but a lot of the 1980s Topps cards had goofy pictures so it sorta works.

I think the 1987 will look really good. I'm working on the back right now and will do the front later. Will probably be a few days and it will be done.