Those old-school Dick Perez Diamond Kings were simultaneously some of the most beautiful and the most hideous works of art ever created by man. Is this Ken Singleton, or Diana Ross? And why is the batter in the inset picture caucasian? Dick Perez is a national treasure.
LOL! We never figured out how Perez got to be THE baseball artist of choice.
ReplyDeleteNascar's version is Sam Bass. People fawn all over the guy and my daughter is 10x the artist he is.
As KIDS we thought his drawings stunk.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's a little harsh, but goodness some of them (I'm thinking junk-wax era Donruss) are hideous.
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteI have to agree, I love the concept, but the execution was flawed. At least Kenny looks recognizable - like night owl mentioned, later editions were not as pleasing.
Unfortunately, I think this also started the push towards subsets, and limited prints, etc that has really taken the hobby down a bad road which I doubt it will ever turn back from.
Bob - Of course there's also LeRoy Nieman, who transcends all sports.
ReplyDeletenight owl - Check out Kirk Gibson's 1986 card. Woof.
Tim - Agreed. Let's storm Dick Perez's house!