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Barry Larkin
Year: 1993
Brand: Upper Deck
Insert set: Walter Iooss Collection
Card number: WI21
One of the neat things about being a player collector is that I get to dabble in many, many sets that I otherwise would have ignored. The Walter Iooss insert set is one such set despite it being seeded in 1993 Upper Deck (which was a set that I bought some of as a kid). I'm guessing I never saw a single card from this set since it was seeded in Series 1 hobby packs and Series 1 retail foil packs, neither of which I probably bought as a kid (I know I didn't buy a hobby pack since there wasn't a hobby shop anywhere near me).
Anyhow, the gimmick of the Walter Iooss set is that each team got one player in the set and that player was supposed to be photographed in a "candid" setting. I'm not sure that Larkin's photo is all that candid, unless he holds his bats a little too lovingly all the time. That said, it's still a kind of cool card and it definitely is a unique shot of Larkin for my collection.
I also have to make mention of the quote on the back of the card, who knew Larkin was so humble in the minor leagues? Only a few years later, Larkin would be rocking a wristband with his own (cartoon) image on it. How times change.
Year: 1993
Brand: Upper Deck
Insert set: Walter Iooss Collection
Card number: WI21
One of the neat things about being a player collector is that I get to dabble in many, many sets that I otherwise would have ignored. The Walter Iooss insert set is one such set despite it being seeded in 1993 Upper Deck (which was a set that I bought some of as a kid). I'm guessing I never saw a single card from this set since it was seeded in Series 1 hobby packs and Series 1 retail foil packs, neither of which I probably bought as a kid (I know I didn't buy a hobby pack since there wasn't a hobby shop anywhere near me).
Anyhow, the gimmick of the Walter Iooss set is that each team got one player in the set and that player was supposed to be photographed in a "candid" setting. I'm not sure that Larkin's photo is all that candid, unless he holds his bats a little too lovingly all the time. That said, it's still a kind of cool card and it definitely is a unique shot of Larkin for my collection.
I also have to make mention of the quote on the back of the card, who knew Larkin was so humble in the minor leagues? Only a few years later, Larkin would be rocking a wristband with his own (cartoon) image on it. How times change.
This is such a cool set... and singles are very affordable. I probably should stop procrastinating and build it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm tempted to look into collecting the set as well BUT I still have too many other sets on my want list!
DeleteNot candid. Iooss is one of the best sports portraitists out there and is known for balancing flash with that golden sunset light (as opposed to the 1985/86 Topps look that tended to make things look like a thunderstorm was about to roll in). He took a few of the photos in 1991 Topps (Boggs for example I think).
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah I love this insert set. Am slowly building it (5 left!) since it's great Sportlots combined shipping filler. And I wrote a bit about it for SABR. https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2017/11/01/cahiers-des-cartes/
Hmm, interesting Nick! I don't much (i.e. nothing) about photography so I appreciate the information. I'm not sure how this set escaped my attention for so long but I'm definitely glad to have the Larkin card at least!
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