Are Sports Cards ART? + Why 1948 Leaf Is Punk Rock + The Story Behind Satchel Paige’s Iconic Image

I'm just gonna explain, th- this is my love letter to Leaf, okay? So here's the thing, right? I think when most people look at Leaf cards, they think like this, right? Which is Warhol, okay? And Warhol, who came after Leaf, uh, a lot of people think that he kind of was inspired by Leaf, right? Like those, uh, Pete Rose he ended up putting in for a museum, which is very Leaf-like in those Monroes and the, um, all these cards.

It makes a lot of people think of, um, of Andy Warhol.

And by the way, my mom's an art history teacher, so forgive me for this kind of stuff.

Um, all right, so, so I understand that.

But for me, I don't just see Warhol in this.

I see it as dirtier than Warhol.

I see it more as like, uh, graffiti and stencil and things like that for it.

So if you don't mind showing the next one of like a...

Like, these are like Banksys, right? I think it has like a little sprinkle of Banksy, the Leaf set.

And then go one more, uh, if you don't mind, Jeremy, to Shepard Fairey, okay? I, I just think that, like, this is what I see when I see Leaf cards.

Mm-hmm.

It's unlike any other set in the world, and it is in your face, but also like on the side of a wall is where I picture these cards.

I don't picture them on cardboard.

And it's unlike any other set by the way it looks, and the way it's dirty, and the way that it is cut in a terrible way, and printed in the worst way possible.

And after the war, so they used any color available to them, and that's why there's different color schemes, because they just used whatever blue was around, right? And sometimes it just looks very different, and I love that.

I love that, like, each one of these Leaf cards is a little bit, has their, its own character to it unlike everything else.

Um, and man, this, uh, this page...

And so this is, these are my cards of my, of my Leaf set.

And what I did is I cropped out the, uh, slabs so you slab people can, uh, appreciate it more.

Look at how crazy these cards look next to each other.

I love it.

Like, I always have pictured myself having some kind of like mural behind me of like something like that.

And, uh, that's just how they look together as like an art piece to me.

Um, I really don't feel like there's another card that is as artistic as these cards.

Um, I mean, look at the pop of color and just, like, don't they look like stencils of what you would see, um, in a major city on the side of a building kinda thing?

I'm just gonna explain, th- this is my love letter to Leaf, okay? So here's the thing, right? I think when most people look at Leaf cards, they think like this, right? Which is Warhol, okay? And Warhol, who came after Leaf, uh, a lot of people think that he kind of was inspired by Leaf, right? Like those, uh, Pete Rose he ended up putting in for a museum, which is very Leaf-like in those Monroes and the, um, all these cards.

It makes a lot of people think of, um, of Andy Warhol.

And by the way, my mom's an art history teacher, so forgive me for this kind of stuff.

Um, all right, so, so I understand that.

But for me, I don't just see Warhol in this.

I see it as dirtier than Warhol.

I see it more as like, uh, graffiti and stencil and things like that for it.

So if you don't mind showing the next one of like a...

Like, these are like Banksys, right? I think it has like a little sprinkle of Banksy, the Leaf set.

And then go one more, uh, if you don't mind, Jeremy, to Shepard Fairey, okay? I, I just think that, like, this is what I see when I see Leaf cards.

Mm-hmm.

It's unlike any other set in the world, and it is in your face, but also like on the side of a wall is where I picture these cards.

I don't picture them on cardboard.

And it's unlike any other set by the way it looks, and the way it's dirty, and the way that it is cut in a terrible way, and printed in the worst way possible.

And after the war, so they used any color available to them, and that's why there's different color schemes, because they just used whatever blue was around, right? And sometimes it just looks very different, and I love that.

I love that, like, each one of these Leaf cards is a little bit, has their, its own character to it unlike everything else.

Um, and man, this, uh, this page...

And so this is, these are my cards of my, of my Leaf set.

And what I did is I cropped out the, uh, slabs so you slab people can, uh, appreciate it more.

Look at how crazy these cards look next to each other.

I love it.

Like, I always have pictured myself having some kind of like mural behind me of like something like that.

And, uh, that's just how they look together as like an art piece to me.

Um, I really don't feel like there's another card that is as artistic as these cards.

Um, I mean, look at the pop of color and just, like, don't they look like stencils of what you would see, um, in a major city on the side of a building kinda thing?