The Artist Who Never Gets Credited

I got a chance to learn a few things from photographer Dustin Bradford last week and I'm not sure how much he wants me to reveal, but it was fascinating to learn a bit about the Topps photography process.

Dustin is a photographer who works out of Colorado and has photographed a bunch of cards that occur at Coors Field every year.  His Instagram is loaded with many cards that he has photograohed along with some of his personal collection.  You can view his Instagram by clicking here.

He saw a card of Cutch I had posted from the July 4 2018 game where Cutch was a member of the Giants and they played the Rockies and noted that the photo used was one that he had shot.  I asked him if there were other cards of Cutch that have been produced that he may have shot.  

Well, as it turns out two cards in 2021 were shot by Dustin.

The 1992 Topps design found in 2021 Topps Update as an insert card features an image of Cutch at Coors Field.  You can view the original image at Getty Images here. Cutch went 0 for 4 at the plate in a 12-2 Phillies loss. 

The 2021 Holiday Relic also features an image of Cutch at Coors Field.  The snowman didn't make it into the lineup that day so that got generated in later. 

I asked Dustin if he could sign the pair of cards he photographed and he kindly obliged.  These are only the 2nd and 3rd autographs he has signed, the first being a Ronald Acuna Jr HR card. 

Thanks for honoring my wacky request Dustin.  For those that want to see his photography please visit his Instagram and check out all the awesome images that his eye and skill has transformed into a baseball card.

Have you ever thought about the original images used for baseball cards?  

What are some of your favorite images captured on baseball cards? 

Mine is the Kevin Mitchell 1987 Topps

Do you want to build a snowman?

The Topps Holiday release is one of my favorite each year.  It makes for a very fun rip and provides lots of joy along with a guarantee hit per box.  

It's nice to know that some parents rip these boxes with their kids and help bring younger generations into the hobby.  

For me, I just want those Andrew McCutchen cards though.  

Cutch had a base card, base metallic, Christmas tree ornament, snowman relic, hat relic, and hat relic autograph in the release.  I've manage to snag all the cards I needed and when that wasn't enough I set my eye towards making unofficial rainbows of the jersey relics.

Often times the jersey relics included in products like this, Topps flagship, Topps Heritage, and Allen & Ginter include plain jersey swatches.  

Sometimes there are so many jersey swatches for a player that they begin to "cut" into other jerseys to provide variety for the release.  

I've shown this off before with my Allen & Ginter Jersey rainbow.

Well, now it's time for 2021 Topps Holiday Wal Mart mega boxes to have the rainbow relic chase.

Pictured above are a jersey swatch from the baby blue throwback uniforms worn by the Phillies, a pin stripe home jersey, and a plain swatch from a home jersey.

Do you chase after different looking relics of the same card?