Project 70: Xander Bogaerts by Lauren Taylor

I discussed this a little bit before.  My favorite artist from the Project 70 set was easily Lauren Taylor.  Her artwork is incredible.  Luckily, she also did a couple of Red Sox cards.  I showed off the All Star card of Rafael Devers with Nolan Arenado earlier this year.  She did one of Xander Bogaerts as well.  It was a very easy decision to grab this one.  It's a terrific-looking card.

Topps must have agreed with how great Lauren Taylor's artwork is.  She ended up doing a small set this year.  I picked up the Red Sox cards and will show them off when I receive them.

Project 70: Rafael Devers by Jacob Rochester

As far as player selection goes, I cannot say I was super impressed with the Project 70 set.  There were a reasonable number of Red Sox cards out there, but outside of Bill Buckner, all the players were big superstars or Hall of Famers.  There were 27 Red Sox cards total.  Like I said, that's a reasonable number, but compared to some teams, not all that impressive.  For instance, the Angels had 95 cards, all but a couple of them being Mike Trout or Shohei Ohtani.  The Dodgers had 92.  The Yankees had 196.  That's absurd.  I know Topps wanted to give the artists creative license here, but that's a bit much.

This is a card I decided to grab because Rafael Devers is one of my current favorite players and he was enjoying a terrific season in 2021.  The design looks more like a standard card.  There really is not much flash here.  It looks like something that would have come out in the 1970's.  That is probably the idea.  It's not super-exciting, just a solid design for a great player.

Project 70: Mookie Betts by Morning Breath

I have a particular affinity for the 1990 Topps design.  So, I did decide to pick up this particular card for that reason.  Also, it was a rare Red Sox card of Mookie Betts.  There were a couple of them in this set as I recall.  Sometimes I wonder if Mookie is going to be remembered more for his time with the Dodgers when all is said and done.  As great as he was in 2020 in the shortened season with the Dodgers and for a couple months this season, he has not come up to the heights that he displayed in his time with Boston.  Time will tell I guess.

Project 70: Rafael Devers/Nolan Arenado by Lauren Taylor

Of all of the artists that were involved with the Project 70 set last year, I have to say that Lauren Taylor was my favorite.  Her photo-realistic renderings of the players using elements from the cities in which they played caught my attention from the very beginning.  I seriously considered buying other cards from this set if there was not to be a Red Sox card.  Luckily, there would eventually be two. 

This one came from the subset of All Star starters that were released around the All Star Break.  Taylor had the two third base starters: Nolan Arenado from the Cardinals and Rafael Devers.  Devers made his first All Star team in 2021, though it likely should have been his second.  He had a huge season last year, hitting .279/.352/.538 with 38 home runs, 101 runs scored and 113 RBIs.  As good as he was, he is still just 25 years old.  The sky may very well be the limit with Devers.  Boston needs to lock him up.  Do not make the same mistake they made with Mookie Betts.

Project 70: Carl Yastrzemski by Toy Tokyo

 

Toy Tokyo I guess is not just one person.  Sket One is the artist that created this Carl Yastrzemski card, using the 1990 Topps design as a template.  The artwork here is interesting, if a bit cartoonish.  I do not really remember why I decided to pick this one up.  Maybe it was the photo.  I do like the design a bit, it kind of reminds me of the old Topps Kids sets from the early 1990's.  

Project 70: Carlton Fisk

My second Project 70 card is this Carlton Fisk card by artist JK5.  JK5 uses various elements from the city of Boston and regarding the Red Sox and incorporated it into the design of the card.  There is a lot going on here.  JK5 also did a Carl Yastrzemski card, but I never got around to picking that one up.

I picked up the Fisk because I have mentioned previously that I am a huge Fisk fan.  I was not too interested in picking up just any Red Sox card.  It had to be a decent design and/or a player I particularly wanted.  Fisk is definitely a player I pick up whenever I have an opportunity.

Project 70

I never got around to buying any of the Project 2020 cards from last year, even though Ted Williams was one of the subjects of the set.  I was not sure I would be buying any of the Project 70 cards either.  Prices were kind of high.  I also was not exactly blown away by the cards for quite awhile.  The first Red Sox card was #20, but the next one did not come until #148.  The set seemed very focused on Yankees, Dodgers and a couple of big-name stars.  There have to date, been only 24 Red Sox cards as compared to the over 150 Yankees cards.  That's just ridiculous.  

I decided I was going to look for lesser-known Red Sox stars players and interesting designs if I was going to get any.  And thus, the first card I got was #148: Bill Buckner

This card was designed by Ron English.  English had a couple of unfortunate designs early on with his Babe Ruth and Yogi Berra cards.  Buckner was his third and is actually a good-looking card.  I like the kind of water-color design here.  Plus, Buckner is a more inspired choice for a subject.  This is the only Buckner card in the entire set.  I always liked Buckner personally, but I was not watching baseball in 1986.  English was one of the artists who actually did a few Red Sox cards.  He also did cards of Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and even Mookie Betts.  He also apparently really liked the 1970 Topps design.  All of his cards used that template.