2019 Topps Archives Expos 50th "Red Variation" #/10

Card Review: 7.5  This Red "Variation" is my favorite of the color foil options Topps trotted out.  The "Blue" logo actually pops a little bit nicer, but given Topps went with a photo of Wallach wearing a blue batting practice jersey, the red works better.  I've said it before (Click the tags for blue or red b.p. jersey in the tabs to confirm), but I'll say it again, the Expos red and blue b.p. jerseys were awesome looking, particularly the red.  But I've never complained about the blue.  I would love to own those jersey's but I've never seen one for sale.  MLB did release a red Raines jersey a few years ago, and I did find a red one with no name on eBay once (unfortunately its too small to wear), but have never seen a #29 jersey.  The search does still continue.

I'm probably beating a dead horse here, but I am very reluctant to count these foil color variations as "different" cards.  These red ones are numbered to ten, but it's the same card as the silver, or blue, or green, or gold or black (I'm not sure there is a non-signed black version, or gold either for that matter).  Topps ran a print run of this card.  Then they took ten of them, it didn't matter which ten because they were all the same card, and added a red foil stamp to the front and a number to the back.  That doesn't mean any post production alteration can't be cool.  It just doesn't make it a new card.  Can you imagine the demand if Topps had asked Andy Warhol to doodle on cards in the 60's and randomly inserted them into packs?  That would have been amazing.  However I wouldn't feel as though not having a Warhol copy of a '66 Pete Rose meant that I didn't have a '66 Pete Rose.  I feel like who does the post production changes is irrelevant.  Be it Andy Warhol, Topps, or me as a five year old adding "C" to all my '84 Topps to differentiate them from my brother's cards. 

In any event, I feel as though I lack the authority to over rule the hobby standard and count these as all the same card, so I will count them as "different" too, albeit, reluctantly.

Number of this card in my collection: 1