1989 Fleer Billy Ripken FF - A Story...
 

I met a fellow collector online after seeing a neat piece of cut-card art he made for his son. We started chatting, and he said he was open to doing custom pieces. The one for his son was his first, although he is an art school graduate and designer by trade, so he had an idea of what he was doing. I tried to think what card had the most impact on me as a kid, as well as what card my wife would also enjoy having displayed in the house. '89 UD Griffey? Checks the first box, but not the second. '52 Topps Jackie? Beautiful image, but I don't even think I knew about that card as a kid.

Then I remembered the '89 Fleer Ripken. 1989 was the year I became fully immersed in collecting. Of course we chased the Griffeys, but when we found out about the FF card... THAT WAS IT. No telling how many rack packs I opened looking the the uncorrected version. Plus, my wife really appreciates the humor in that card ever since she heard about it years ago. The plan was set.

Thousands of cut up junk wax cards later (but only two months!), I get this in the mail. The detail is out of this world. There are many hidden easter eggs in it, from Billy's lifetime statistics to just little jokes. It's 18"x24" and covered in museum glass. It is truly amazing the talent some people have, especially after only doing this once before and in a much smaller format. I love it.

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The elastic wristband of the glove was given texture by using a card's middle, pulling the front and back apart. Genius!

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So many '89 Fleers cut up for just the gray/silver stripes!

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If you notice the note above it, you'll see it's from the guy's son. His son's name is Henry Aaron Lastname, who he made the first piece for- a '54 Aaron rookie card. Well, his son has lots of Aaron cards, but not that one. So I gave him mine as payment for the piece. And the next pic is one of his son with the first piece and the card. (He posted this on his social media, so I don't think he'd mind me sharing it here)

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That is awesome all around, from the great story to the amazing artwork. Thank you so much for sharing.

That turned out great! Love seeing these creations. Everybody won!

Thanks guys, I'm super pleased with it. Made a friend, too!

Very cool! Thanks for sharing

Fantastic Jarrod!

Awesome story!

Thanks for sharing, Jarrod.

Absolutely amazing!

I love it!


So, was it made completely out of cut up FF cards? :D

Well that would get EXPENSIVE! :D

One thing I really like is that the stands behind him are made from the backs of 1989 Topps cards, which I probably opened more of than anything back then. Just a nice touch.

Did you contribute any of the cards? I had one made and the artist let me send him a few 89 Fleer Bill Ripkens he added to the piece.

I can't get over the amazing detail in yours. The Franklin batting glove is beyond amazing.

wow, incredible work! looks great on the wall too, jarrod

Thank you, Ben. The batting glove may be my favorite part. And let’s see a picture of yours! I wish I’d thought to send in one of my childhood Ripkens, but I did not. I thought I had a rack box of ‘89 Fleer somewhere in my closet, but apparently I opened it or something.

And thanks, Lawrence. Not sure this wall is its final home, but it’s there until I repaint the walls of my studio.

The batting glove is probably my favorite part also. For me it is the strips with the partial stars and the perfect angle used on the thin strips that separate the fingers.

You can see a couple of the 89 Fleer Bill Ripken backs beside the 7 on his uniform.

Nice, Ben!