2018 Clubhouse: Houston Astros

51. José Altuve

52. Alex Bregman 

53. Carlos Correa

54. George Springer

55. Justin Verlander

Finally, my first perfect team set. Nobody to bump, nobody to add :)

Altuve and Springer are the auto subjects. Again, with these 5, any two picks would be solid.

I'm a sucker for orange and black so the black parallel works for me here.

2017 PENNANT BOX BREAK - PACK 24

40. Daniel Murphy

205. Jason Castro

43. Adrian Beltre

53. Brandon Finnegan

149. Trea Turner

297. Justin Verlander

117. Matt Duffy

228. Raisel Iglesias

250. Matt Harvey

DT3. Jose Altuve - Dream Team

And here’s the final pack of our 2017 Pennant box. Seems pretty fitting for the final card of 2017 to be Jose Altuve considering it was his year. 

I’m trying to look at the designs objectively but it’s really hard for me not to be sick of seeing them after all this time. I know I was definitely more excited about the base design way back when than I am now. The lack of a team logo really sticks out to me. But overall I think it was successful enough calling back to the era.

I don’t know what 2018 has in store for me as far as fake card designing goes. I’ve actually put together a few cards for the Spirit base set but I’m not sure if I have the energy to do a full box break like I did this year. I’m sure I won’t just abandon everything, but I can’t really foresee what the future holds. Whatever it may be, I hope you stay interested.

2017 PENNANT BOX BREAK - PACK 22

252. Dexter Fowler

140. Kolten Wong

229. Joc Pederson

136. John Jaso

98. Christian Yelich

122. Jerad Eickhoff

1. Jose Altuve

190. Masahiro Tanaka

113. Sam Dyson

TI10. Justin Verlander - The Incumbents

Welp, that Incumbents card is pretty wrong now. It sitting next to the Sam Dyson card really highlights how behind schedule I’ve been with this box. Maybe I should cut Topps some slack. (Nah.)

2017 SPIRIT BOX BREAK - PACK 14

213. Buster Posey

227. Melvin Upton, Jr.

59. Chase Anderson

108. Chris Tillman

112. Joe Ross

162. James McCann

12. Nate Jones

69. Chad Bettis

54. Omar Narvaez (RC)

G211. Wade Miley

AW20. Jose Altuve/Daniel Murphy - Award Winners (Silver Slugger)

Lots of orange in this pack. Also, another new insert. This one is for the Gold Glove/Silver Slugger Award Winners. This year I decided to have the players 2-up, featuring the winners for both leagues at each respective position. The abstract AW “logo” allows the cards to be rotated 180° and still be interchangeable. I included both here so you don’t have to strain your neck to see each perspective.

2015 Spirit Team MVP

Time for the return of the Spirit Team MVP insert. This is the third iteration and just like the previous two, the basic design for these cards contain relic swatches.

The big 'MVP' letters runs across the bottom, cut out from a team-color bar to reveal the jersey swatch below. There are some gold foil embellishments with the player name and a frame around the edges. I managed to leave a lot more space for the player photos with this layout and having them stretch to the edges of the cards helps keep things from getting to claustrophobic. The team logos are also a bit more prominent than the previous design.

The backs are bright with team colors and white borders for each info compartment. I also included the relic codes where you could (hypothetically) enter the code online and see the actual jersey the featured swatch was pulled from.

Just for fun, lets look at the rest of the checklist:
MVP1: Mike Trout (Angels)
MVP2: Jose Altuve (Astros)
MVP3: Josh Reddick (A's)
MVP4: Jose Bautista (Blue Jays)
MVP5: Freddie Freeman (Braves)
MVP6: Carlos Gomez (Brewers)
MVP7: Yadier Molina (Cardinals)
MVP8: Anthony Rizzo (Cubs)
MVP9: Paul Goldschmidt (Diamondbacks)
MVP10: Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers)
MVP11: Madison Bumgarner (Giants)
MVP12: Corey Kluber (Indians)
MVP13: Felix Hernandex (Mariners)
MVP14: Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins)
MVP15: Matt Harvey (Mets)
MVP16: Jordan Zimmermann (Nationals)
MVP17: Chris Davis (Orioles)
MVP18: Andrew Cashner (Padres)
MVP19: Chase Utley (Phillies)
MVP20: Andrew McCutchen (Pirates)
MVP21: Adrian Beltre (Rangers)
MVP22: Evan Longoria (Rays)
MVP23: David Ortiz (Red Sox)
MVP24: Johnny Cueto (Reds)
MVP25: Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies)
MVP26: Eric Hosmer (Royals)
MVP27: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers)
MVP28: Joe Mauer (Twins)
MVP29: Chris Sale (White Sox)
MVP30: Jacoby Ellsbury (Yankees)

Boy, the A's slot was brutally hard to fill. Same with the Twins, though Mauer just keeps it by default on account of him still being around.

2014 Spirit Base Series 1: 161-170

#161 - Jose Altuve
Altuve's probably my favorite that I don't collect. Maybe it's because of his stature. Or how much fun it is to say his name. Or the fact he's stuck on the Astros. Either way, I'm pulling for him to shine.

#162 - Aaron Crow
I used to have an Northwest Arkansas Naturals Aaron Crow shirsey, oddly enough. I went to a game at Arvest Ballpark and felt out of place without any gear so I grabbed a Crow shirt off the clearance rack. I don't think he had been called up to Kansas City yet but I guess it was obvious he was done with AA.

#163 - Howie Kendrick
I think Kendrick tried to go by Howard last year but I guess it didn't take. I keep seeing Howie everywhere online.

#164 - Andre Ethier
Boy, I bet he feels lucky Matt Kemp's been such a DL-hermit the last couple seasons. Ethier's been able to redeem himself enough to where his contract doesn't look like the absolute worst in the league anymore. Probably only top-10 now.

#165 - Jacob Turner
Going into 2013, Turner looked like he'd been the Marlins' #1 starter. Going into this season, he's probably #4 or #5, even though he had a decent season last year. Miami's rotation could be amazing in 2014.

#166 - Yovani Gallardo
I really don't like the lighting in Miller Park.

#167 - Brian Duensing
I really dig the depth of field in this shot.

#168 - Lucas Duda
Oy, those empty seats at Citi Field.

#169 - Brett Gardner
One of my biggest hopes this offseason was that after the Yankees signed Ellsbury, they'd be willing to move Gardner since he'd be a perfect fit for San Francisco. Unfortunately, the Yankees were smart enough to lock him up for a few more years. Meanwhile, the Giants signed noted clomper Michael Morse to clomp around left field...

#170 - Tommy Milone
If I were an Oakland fan, I'd try really hard to find a reason to call him Tommy "The Mailman" Milone.

THIS IS THE REMIX: 1981 Topps

As per Johnny's request on the last Remix post, installment number 2 is 1981 Topps.

From what I've seen online, the 1981 Topps set is held in somewhat high regard. If I were to wager a guess as to why that's so after 30 years later, I'd say it's probably that floppy old hat. Personally, I think it's a little hokey but I can understand why others find it so endearing. My biggest issue is probably the team name runs arched right at the bottom while the position is on a straight diagonal right on top of it, leaving that negative space above it like it weighs a ton.

I'll give Topps credit for having the hats in the appropriate team colors even though sometimes they really clash with the border color. The Johnny Grubb above is a perfect example.

So my first order of business was bringing the hat concept into the 21st century. Instead of cartoony drawings, we have actual photographs of the actual hats. With all the alternate hats that teams wear these days, there might an issue of the logo hat being different than what the player is wearing on the photo (Altuve, Carpenter) but that doesn't really bother me. Just a reflection of current uniform trends.

Since the hat is now the official team hat, I had to find a place for the position. Some have mentioned how the Topps logo inside the baseball was kind of an odd logo treatment on the original. And since Topps' logo is different now and has a lot more flexibility, I figure that was a perfect home for the position markers. The circle is just a black circle since having a ball AND a hat is kind of overkill.

The names are in white on a team-color border so they're nice and legible. I tucked the team name smaller beneath just in case someone new to the game doesn't quite have the team logos down. All in all, the composition is pretty similar with just a few tweaks and updates made to freshen up the design, so good remix.

Be sure and let me know what other sets are begging to be remixed.