Vida Blue’s 2005 Topps Pristine Legends Refractor and a Collector’s PC

Vida Blue’s 2005 Topps Pristine Legends refractor makes a fitting first stop in a new series built around one collector’s 140-card frankenset. The set currently stands at 139 cards, with the last still on the want list. Each installment will follow the checklist’s players, sometimes in groups and sometimes one at a time. Blue gets a full post: he’s a longtime personal collection favorite, and his cards reach well beyond this one refractor.

The shorthand here is “Pristine Legends.” Topps released this Legends set in 2005; other Pristine products featured active players or a mix of active and retired players. The writer sees little prospect of another set devoted entirely to retired players, even as non-Legends Topps Pristine has returned in the Fanatics era. For this collection, then, the year is part of what makes the set distinctive.

The checklist also gives the series its structure. The first 100 cards belong to “The Legendary Years,” with players shown in MLB uniforms on a design that nods to the 1965 Topps set. The later subsets are The College Years, The Negro Leagues, and The Early Years. The refractor finish varies in intensity; the card pictured below has a softer shimmer.

The photograph is a welcome change from the familiar images that turn up across vintage and modern cards. This one appears to show Blue later in his Oakland years, rather than as the young star of the early 1970s. The collector places it around 1976 or 1977: Blue’s mustache shows up on cardboard in 1976 oddball issues, offering a useful clue, though not a firm date for the original photograph.

Blue is posed mid-motion, playing along for the photographer with a convincing set or wind-up. The visible Oakland details are limited to a couple of small “A’s” marks, which the writer figures could make the image relatively easy to adapt if team licensing weren’t available. That’s a collector’s eye for the composition as well as the player: the photo has enough character to work even without much of the uniform in view.

The back keeps the player’s vitals, a brief, energetic write-up, and a career stat line together. Blue also prompts a couple of questions the collector likes to revisit: he may be the most recent switch-hitter to win MVP, and he remains an unusual first name in MLB, with several players named Vidal but no other Vida. The writer makes a personal Hall of Fame case for Blue, pointing to a career WAR above Harold Baines’s while acknowledging that difficult off-years shaped the course of Blue’s career.

A rookie card that stayed in the collection

Among the collector’s earliest vintage purchases was the 1970 Topps Vida Blue / Gene Tenace rookie card. In the early 1990s, it sat behind glass at a local card shop as one of the less expensive vintage choices. Blue’s name felt familiar and appealing, and the card stuck: it survived when the writer later parted with much of the childhood collection before moving to Portland.

Returning to collecting as an adult brought a gradual build-up of Blue cards, and the 1970 issue remains a favorite. The collection now nearly completes Blue’s flagship Topps run. The group shown here didn’t require breaking up sets: the collector has duplicates of most of the pictured cards in other sets or builds.

There are still corners of the PC left to show. Kellogg’s and OPC cards are among the highlights saved for another time, along with the 1983 Fleer “2-card puzzle.” That issue pairs Blue with Royals teammate Bud Black, giving the collector a neat “Black & Blue” pairing.

Autographs, music, and the next card on the list

From 2015 through 2020, the writer sent cards through the mail for autographs, usually using custom designs. Blue was among the strongest returns. At the time, he charged $5 per card. One custom used a slightly altered version of Blue’s old Time magazine cover; Blue signed it and included a note asking for a few extra copies. The collector gladly sent them.

The card still topping the want list is Blue’s 2003 Topps Retired refractor autograph. The writer already has the 2004 and 2005 versions, plus the base 2003 autograph, and hopes to add the refractor to complete a personal “Retired Refractor tRifecta.” It’s a specific collecting goal: the colorful parallel would fill the one gap in a run already built around Blue.

The backs of a pair of Blue autographs marked 12/25 get a playful “Blue Christmas” caption. For readers wanting the full statistical record, the writer links to Blue’s Baseball-Reference page.

Music rounds out this salute. The Cult’s “Soldier Blue,” from the 1989 album Sonic Temple, gave the writer a childhood lyric joke: swapping “Soldier” for “Vida.” The song also called to mind Blue’s turbulent relationship with Charlie Finley. Later, a jam band named Vida Blue featured Phish’s keyboard player, and Blue appeared at the group’s 2004 Fillmore show in San Francisco. Blue died of cancer in 2023, aged 73.

The final image brings in another “Legends” card, bookending the first entry in the series. The 139-card frankenset still needs its last card, while Blue’s PC has a clear next target in that 2003 Topps Retired refractor autograph. Up next in the checklist-driven tour: Bert Blyleven.