Barry Larkin Collection 916: 1993 Leaf - #14 - Gold Leaf Stars

Barry Larkin and Cal Ripken, Jr.

Year:  1993

Brand:  Leaf

Insert set:  Gold Leaf Stars

Card number:  14

Here's a dirty little secret from someone who's prime childhood years spanned the early 90s:  I never liked the Leaf brand.  Truthfully, for the most part I still don't like most of the early 90s Leaf stuff that's out there - and yes, that includes this Golf Leaf Stars card.

What's wrong with the card, you ask?  For starters, I'm not a huge fan of cards featuring one player on one side and a different player on the other side.  I'm even less of a fan when companies features players from different teams in this manner.  Sure, I get that Leaf is pairing NL and AL positions together (in this case, shortstops) but I still don't have to like it.

I also don't like that the various text on the card is going in multiple directions.  You've got the angled name plate at the bottom, the "properly position" foil logo at the top, and a vertical copyright line on the card's back.  There's also too many different fonts to count, some of which are in foil and some of which are not.  Finally, what's with the faux marble at the bottom of the card?  

Yeah, this isn't one of the better Larkins in my collection - at least not for my tastes.  That being said, anytime I can track down a Larkin card where he's been paired with either Ripken or Jeter I'm glad because those sorts of cards tend to be way more expensive and/or hard-to-get!