Barry Larkin Collection 759: 2004 Fleer Platinum - #11

Barry Larkin
Year:  2004
Brand:  Fleer Platinum
Card number:  11

Not sure why I scanned this card "backwards" with the front on the right-hand side but what's done is done.

It's probably no surprise to see that Larkin's card number in the set is #11, after all, he's probably the most famous #11 in baseball (certainly on the Reds' team and by 2004 his illustrious career was all but over).  A fitting tribute if nothing else.  And speaking of nothing else, the 2004 Fleer Platinum set doesn't seem to be overly "platinum" to me at all.  In fact, if anything it's retro ("platinum" doesn't scream retro to me).  

What's not so retro about the 2004 Platinum set is how Fleer packaged the set (which I can't even begin to explain here but trust me, it's a disaster).  The one good thing (I guess) is that there is only one parallel to try and track down - a "Platinum Finish" parallel that is serially numbered out of 100.  The only other Barry Larkin card in the set is an autographed card as part of the Inscribed insert set.  The Inscribed cards were all serially numbered to different values (Larkin's happens to be only 75) and you could only find the Inscribed autographs in rack packs (which only came in specially marked hobby boxes).  

Overall, while the set distribution may have been a confusing, sloppy mess I will say that I do like this particular Larkin base card.  I'm not going to make myself crazy trying to track down either the parallel or the autograph but if the stars align I'll certainly be glad to get either (or both) someday.  For now though, I'll simply enjoy this "retro platinum" card from Fleer's penultimate year of making baseball cards.