For the record card companies have never asked me to advise them on their product. Ever. But boy do I have a list to go over with them if they ever did.
Love Dikembe “Mount” Mutombo and his famous finger wag which I’ve tried teaching to my granddaughters for their games (yeah, bad grandparenting and coaching). The only time I truly rooted for him was when he was with the Rockets. That basically was the impetus for me to begin collecting him as a player. I own both rookie cards shown above – not a high ticket item, but RCs nonetheless. If I was part of the design team I’d propose they ditch the GQ concept, ESPECIALLY for a rookie card. Sure, Mutombo looks debonair in his stylish suit, and I love that tie! But, come on! It’s a trading card. It should show him in the ready position, intently looking for the opportunity to smash a shooters face with the ball on an ill-advised layup through the lane.
If these came across my desk to approve for inclusion in this year’s football set only one would NOT meet my requirements. Guess which one? (Hint: It ain’t the ones with players in uniform!) The question that comes to mind is: Were the Dallas Cowboys insolvent and unable to afford full uniforms for everyone in training camp? THAT would have been a scoop on America’s Team! But, seriously, there are five Cowboys rookies in the 2003 Bowman set (undrafted Tony Romo is not shown) how is it that Jason Witten managed to be the only one pictured in practice shorts? One might say that Witten wasn’t a top draft pick to deserve such treatment as a professionally-presented photo for a well-known trading card company. Well, neither were James and Smith (4th and 6th, respectively) who actually were drafted after Witten (3rd). The Witten card is not even a great action shot! So we move on…
Where to start? These types of action shots do NOT translate well as individual players’ cards. Who is really the focus? I consider myself a more than average sports fan, especially of anything and anyone from the late 60s to the late 90s. If one didn’t know the players or teams, there’s really no way to know who the picture was about. Except for Garvey (and is he really that short?) the pictures aren’t even clear enough to identify the player named on the card. Honestly, only the Corrales (he’s the one writhing on his back) is a great picture on its own; the other two just aren’t – the photographer was a bit too quick on the shutter. How do we know that they even played in the game shown? Maybe captions should have been used for each card, such as: Visions of Fosse/Rose (for Corrales), They can’t see my smile, Parker! (for Garvey), and Rump roast feels ready! (for Johnson).
I often wonder about those company decisions to release a set. Did someone fall asleep at the wheel and simply rubberstamp the final product to get home in time for dinner? Was there nepotism involved in the production process? Who really killed J. R.? Did the totem stop spinning? We’ll never know the answers to these questions, nor to why card companies failed to reach out to me for design help, but we do know that I am not an investor, I identify as a card collector.
I Identify as a Card Collector 
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