2014 TOPPS MINI DIE-CUT MATT HARVEY
Episode 7F16 of The Simpsons is a classic entry from 1991 named “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?”– a title cribbed from Preston Sturges’ 1941 comedy Sullivan’s Travels, and later appropriated by the Coen brothers for their Depression-era riff on Homer’s “Odyssey.”
In the episode, Homer (the Springfieldian one, not the ancient Greek) discovers through a cascading series of events that he has a long-lost half-brother. Herb Powell (voiced by Danny DeVito) turns out to be the rich, successful head of a Detroit-based auto company. But for all his wealth, Herb is lonely at his core, and longs for a family and roots.
The revelation that he has a half-brother overjoys Herb, who invites the Simpson clan to visit his mansion. He indulges the kids to no end, and decides that average-man Homer would be the perfect person to design the next flagship vehicle of Powell Motors.
Given free rein, Homer concocts a Frankensteinian mashup of the Edsel, the Tucker, and George Jetson’s flying saucer. The bubble-domed, tail-finned monstrosity that is “The Homer” has a list price of $82,000, and leads to the swift bankruptcy of Powell Motors soon after it is unveiled.
Which leads us to this 2014 Topps Mini Die-Cut Matt Harvey. This one-in-eight-pack insert is essentially “The Homer” in baseball-card form. It starts off as a riff on the unloved 1989 Topps set, then adds team-colored borders, mini formatting, and inessential die-cutting to the misbegotten original design.
Worst. Card. Ever.
Still…I’d take it!
Herb Powell should’ve invested in the Monorail. Card looks sloppy, but maybe not quite as bad as The Homer, haha.
Those early Simpsons are the best!
“His life was an unbridled success… until he found out he was a Simpson.”
And even though this is a pretty depressing episode, it ends with Bart telling Homer that he liked the car. And in that spirit, I’ll say this isn’t the worst card ever. I actually like the orange border (but not the shadow effect) and the in-action, tight crop picture of Harvey is pretty good.
There’s no way this is worse than the mid-90s card of Brian McRae with the rap lyrics that you did earlier.
Brian, I have to agree that this is not technically the worst card ever. I went Comic Book Guy on it for effect.
That being said, it is an uneasy mix of elements that do not blend in an organic way…