National Chiclets

The new National Chicle set seems to be very hit-or-miss when it comes to the paintings. I can definitely appreciate an entirely painted set and can claim no artistic skills of my own whatsoever, but I made the unprecedented decision to just buy the Cardinals team set at last weekend's card show and not even bother with buying packs. I was really unimpressed with some of the preview images that I saw and was even more annoyed with the gimmicks. Here's a gimmick-free (and short print-free) look at the team set along with some free association commentary on each card. Stan the Man's card looks great, by the way.

Is this a charcoal sketch? Mize's face is fairly unrecognizable.

Wow, look at those hips!

I don't mind this one, but it's not one of my favorites either.

They turned the Arch into something resembling a rainbow. Gibby is way too shiny and happy here. I'd almost feel comfortable getting into the box with that guy on the mound.

This looks like a courtroom sketch of a menacing defendant.

This is pretty good, as long as you don't dwell on the face.

Nice touch on the reflection in Colby's shades.

This is definitely the most realistic drawing. Yadi's expression is priceless. "Did you seriously try to run on me?"

Carp is cut off at nearly all of his limbs!

Not a bad one, but what happened to the stadium?

This is on the pack wrapper. It's not awful, but I think they could have come up with a better portrait.

What's that you say? Sisler is not a Cardinal? It's true. This is a common mistake or flawed assumption that people tend to make when trading with me, and it also held true with the team set I purchased. The St. Louis Browns were an entirely different club than the Cardinals. (You may know them better as the Baltimore Orioles.) I suppose that's not entirely accurate, because for a short time in the late 19th century the Cards were actually the Browns, but the George Sisler era Browns were most definitely their own thing for fifty some years.

Anyway, since I have no actual connection to St. Louis other than an admiration of their National League baseball team, I don't really need any Browns cards. If anyone out there is interested in my Browns cards (an Orioles fan, perhaps?) or even just my several Sisler cards, feel free to let me know. I even have a Sisler 2009 Topps short print card that I pulled from a pack, although I'd prefer to get one of the Cardinal short prints in return since I have zero since they started the current gimmick.