Ars Longa Art Cards

[Jayworld]

To me, this is not a reprint set. This is a new/modern card set depicting vintage players created with a vintage design. A reprint would be re-producing (re-printing, if you will) a vintage card or set, such as OJ, T206, etc. As a graphic designer, I appreciate the beauty and creativity in these cards.

Further, there are other really nice, modern cards or sets depicting turn-of-the-century or pre-war players that are not reprints, just modern day offerings of classic ballplayers. Other examples of really nice cards like these are the Ronnie Joyner 1944 St. Louis Browns set:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1944-ST-LOUI...item565ec46395

And also the Infinite Baseball set:
http://www.infinitecardset.blogspot.com/

Would you judge either of these to be reprints? I would not. Should these be slabbed? I guess that would depend on the collector. Personally, I don't buy/collect graded cards, but that's just me.

[TCMA]

Originally Posted by Jayworld

To me, this is not a reprint set. This is a new/modern card set depicting vintage players created with a vintage design. A reprint would be re-producing (re-printing, if you will) a vintage card or set, such as OJ, T206, etc. As a graphic designer, I appreciate the beauty and creativity in these cards.

100% agreed .

[SteveMitchell]

Originally Posted by TCMA

100% agreed .

In our view, some of the finest cards ever issued were produced by TCMA and the various producers of the Conlon Collection series, 1981-1995. TCMA's Stars of the 1950s and Stars of the 1960s (for just two examples) combined outstanding photography with well-written biographical/statistical information.

Later, the various Conlon Collection manufacturers (The Sporting News, Marketcom, Wide World Sports and Megacards) took the superior Conlon photo negatives and added great baseball writing - particularly when TSN historian Paul Mac Farlane wrote the card backs.

These cards are not reprints: they are commemoratives. They commemorate players and times past, and better (in many cases) than were produced when the players were active.

More recently, as Jay pointed out, artist Ronnie Joyner has produced some great (and eminently affordable) sets commemorating the 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers, 1953 St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia Athletics for the Philadelphia A's Historical Society, and the 1944 St. Louis Browns.