Is it real or is it Photoshop?

With Topps 2008 Allen & Ginter finally available in retail, I thought I'd pose a question. Maybe every other baseball card collector already knows the answer but it's not something I'd seen discussed before.

Allen & Ginter is one of a number of baseball cards that attempt to recreate the look and feel of baseball cards from earlier years. I'm thinking also of Topps Turkey Red, Topps 206, even to some extent Upper Deck Goudey,

My question is, are the pictures on these cards paintings (perhaps, and probably made from photographs) or are they Photoshopped photographs?

To the left is a 2005 Topps Update card featuring Sammy Sosa after he came back to baseball briefly with the Orioles.


The second card is from the 2005 Topps Turkey Red set. It looks pretty clear to me that the Turkey Red card was produced using the same photo as the Topps Update card. So how did they do this?

My guess is that Photoshop (or something like it) was used. I'm sure that a set of customized filters could be set up to make the transformation. There were only a few different backgrounds for these cards. The filters would do all the work. It would probably take just minutes per card.

I don't think I have a problem if Photoshop is used. I'm guessing if the Allen & Ginter Company had something like that in the 1880's they'd have used it instead of hand painting each card.



Finally, my feeble attempt to produce a card using Photoshop Elements. I obviously started with the Topps Update card. The card designers of Topps and Upper Deck have nothing to worry about from me.

1990 Publications International Stickers (Large) - Sam Sosa

When I first received this in a trade recently, it looked familiar but I had no clue as to what it was. Was it a photo? Was it a sticker? I couldn't tell. The only thing that I knew was that it had been hand cut.

My dad always reminds me that I was a fan of Sammy Sosa when he was on the White Sox. This is mostly true. I am a fan of everyone that comes through the organization. Good or bad. When Sammy was with the White Sox, he was bad.

Sammy struck out a lot, which is something he never really solved. He couldn't hit a home run to save his life. Not that they were flying out of the park at that time, they weren't hit by anyone on a regular basis until Frank Thomas came along. Sosa made mistakes and didn't really do anything spectacular to make up for them.

I remember being at new Comiskey Park in 1991 when Sammy was in right field. It was a game against the Royals. How do I know this? We always saw the Royals for some reason. Whenever my family would find the time to go to the park, the Royals were always in town. It still baffles me to this day.

The entire section behind Sammy would yell at him while he was in the field. S-A-M-M-Y-S-O-S-A, WAKE UP!! This went on every half inning. I thought he was a bad fielder, but I didn't think he deserved that. Could that moment be the deciding factor in his "ahem" future home run performance? I don't know. I often wonder about that.

The weird thing about this sticker besides the size of it, is the name. Sam Sosa. I've never seen that on a card or a sticker before. It makes me smile a little. Maybe he didn't want to be called Sammy. Maybe it was forced on him by the media or his agent. Maybe he always longed to be called Sam. It's a more respectable variation of Samuel.

Sammy reminds me of a child. That's exactly what he turned into later on in life. There was still hope left for Sam when this photograph was taken. There were subtle differences to tell Sam from Sammy.

Sam could speak English. Sammy forgot how. Sam would give his best and try but ultimately fail. Sammy would take every advantage to get ahead, which made for some interesting news stories involving such things as cork and drugs. Sam was a team player. Sammy was a selfish SOB.

This sticker reminds me of a ballplayer, not a media darling who acted like a sideshow freak. I guess that's the difference between Sam and Sammy. I could like Sam, but Sammy wouldn't let me.