[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Perez also uses gray for areas of white players' skin, resulting in the appearance of deceased tissue. At least that's how I interpret it when I see it. I fail to understand how a different artist couldn't have been found at the time. This was pretty simple sports portraiture for the most part.

Also, in instances where Perez employed backgrounds, they all feel so cookie cutter and forgettable, even when certain unique stadium aspects may be depicted. One gets the impression that Perez isn't concerned with the backgrounds, only painting them due to obligation. For a lot of people, the background is just as important, as we revere the long-lost ballparks and their architecture just as much as we do the players. All of it put together encompasses the total experience.

As someone else mentioned, yes, Graig's style is much more to my liking, but I don't know how great it would have translated to the Perez Steele model. For the later sets, such as Great Moments, it would have been fine, but perhaps not for the base set. So much of the beauty in Graig's work can be found in the backgrounds, and to eliminate that in favor of a white background for autograph purposes might not have worked well. Also, a big part of Graig's personal style is his use of much darker lighting and shading. While it works for what he does, it probably wouldn't have been beneficial in this hypothetical scenario.