Fictional Athlete Trading Cards

[AlHazred]

I'm sure everybody's seen the replica Roy Hobbs baseball cards that float around on evilBay. Some of them are enhanced for accuracy, while others are just like the ones made for the movie, i.e. single-sided.

Then I read this article from the Orlando Sentinel, and it congealed an idea in my head. (Well, two ideas, really. The first was that this guy has the soul of a replica prop collector, and could well haunt this board.) The better idea was to do some replica cards that have been kind of floating around in the back of my head for the last couple of years.

While I have good sheet cardboard that even looks right (when I compare it to my old trading cards), and there are several sites that can assist with getting the visuals right, I find myself a little puzzled as to how to get the right finish. Regular sheet label paper doesn't look like it'll come out right, and photo label paper usually has high gloss which will make them look too artificial. Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

[Rhett J Martin]

IIRC, trading cards back in the day, and maybe even till the 80s (I'm thinking Topps here), that the cardboard they were printed on simply had a semigloss laquer on it. Could be that simple. **shrugs**

 

[franz bolo]

It's the same type of card stock as a cereal box. It's got a smooth finish on one side (like Bristol Board) and plain finish on the back. Go to a paper supply place and they will have a ton of samples.



FB

 

[137th Gebirg]

I think I remember seeing a "Buck Bokai" (sp?) card from Deep Space Nine many moons ago at a convention. The only one I've seen before or since.

 

[Rhett J Martin]

It's the same type of card stock as a cereal box. It's got a smooth finish on one side (like Bristol Board) and plain finish on the back. Go to a paper supply place and they will have a ton of samples.



FB

Ah!! That's points me in the right direction for my Roy Hobbs card!

 

[AlHazred]

It's the same type of card stock as a cereal box. It's got a smooth finish on one side (like Bristol Board) and plain finish on the back. Go to a paper supply place and they will have a ton of samples.



FB

That's good info! Thanks! Now to identify a good brand!

 

[franz bolo]

Here's some good info for the paper you might use:
http://www.printing-in-usa.com/paper.aspx

Paper: 10 pt C1S (10 point, coated one side and uncoated on the back side). It has a 94 brightness which is very white and is slightly thicker that 100 lb cover. The sheet prints well on digital equipment as well as offset. It is used wherever you need a sheet that is coated on one side and uncoated on the other side.

FB

 

[motivealloy]

That's some great info. I really miss the look and feel of those old cardboard trading cards. :thumbsup

 

[wuher da brewer]

Here are some of my favorite fictional sports characters.

Paul "Wrecking" Crewe - Burt Reynolds not Sandler

Reggie Dunlop and Jeff, Steve, and Jack Hanson of Slap Shot

Rocky Balboa

 

[AlHazred]

Ah!! That's points me in the right direction for my Roy Hobbs card!

For a Roy Hobbs card, you're going to want to check out the Virtual Card Collection's page on 1941 Play Ball cards as a basis.

The cards seen in the movie were incorrectly done, as a color image with a mitt-and-ball banner, on regular trading card stock. Either the image should be black and white (the mitt-and-ball banner was on the 1940 Play Ball cards which had B&W photos), or the banner should have been more plain (as you can see at the link above; the photos were tinted, as opposed to being genuine color photos). Also, the card should be printed on pasteboard as opposed to what we've come to consider "trading card cardstock."

The site should give you some good ideas of what to put on the back as well.

 

[Darth Brass]

I still want a "Jimmy Dougan" card from A League of Their Own. I'd pair it in a display with an autographed ball:

"Avoid the Clap, Jimmy Dougan"

 

[shuktuki]

i made this its in another thread
dont know if it counts but i like it
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=44726&highlight=dodgeball

 

[Rhett J Martin]

"Avoid the Clap, Jimmy Dougan"

"That's good advice!!!!"

 

[AlHazred]

Jeff, Steve, and Jack Hanson of Slap Shot
Rocky Balboa

Trading cards for all of these appear in the article I linked to in my OP.

 

[Darth Brass]

The cards in that article are pretty sweet!

 

[AlHazred]

i made this its in another thread
dont know if it counts but i like it
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=44726&highlight=dodgeball

I like it, too! I'm kind of surprised there haven't been dodgeball cards in the past. Seems like there's enough interest to have done a set.

 

[The Wolf]

How about Flash Gordon's card for when he played for the Jets? When the movie came out I remember seeing a picture of Sam Jones posed in the Jets uniform and thought it would be a good shot for a fake card.

The Wolf