One Card = Two Cards

When it comes to the Olympics, there are two sports I really look forward to: figure skating in the winter, and gymnastics in the summer. They are art in motion, plainly put.

It doesn't hurt that the US has had some really good competitors in these sports. I could probably ramble off at least a dozen names between the two sports (in no particular order, women only):

1. Dominique Moceanu
2. Dominique Dawes
3. Shannon Miller
4. Simone Biles
5. Kerri Strug
6. Carly Patterson
7. Gabrielle Douglas
8. Aly Raisman
9. Tonya Harding
10. Nancy Kerrigan
11. Sasha Cohen
12. Nastia Liukin
13. Shawn Johnson

Thanks to sets like Goodwin Champions and Allen & Ginter, I've managed to accumulate several relics and autographs of the US's best. Yes, the Topps Olympics sets and some Leaf and Panini issues have contributed hits of Olympians as well. My newest acquisitions are these two relics of McKayla Maroney.

I don't have the cards in-hand; they are at my mom's house. But I believe that Maroney gave a leotard or warm-ups to Topps for these relic cards, rather than just a T-shirt or pair of jeans. Honestly, I would have been happy with just one card, but the seller was offering these as a pair, and patience is not my middle name. Besides, I now have two color swatches for the same card.

I do know Aly Raisman's relics in 2016 Goodwin Champions are from a leotard, which I think makes them so much better than most memorabilia cards in sets like Americana. Maroney and Raisman are athletes, and as such, their memorabilia cards should reflect that. (Side note: Kerri Strug's relics are from a warm-up jacket, and Sasha Cohen's are from a warm-up shirt).

McKayla has a relation to baseball, in a way - she tossed out the first pitch at a White Sox game in 2014:

That event got her a baseball card in Topps' First Pitch set (I miss that set; I hope it makes a comeback soon). She also threw out the first pitch with her gymnastics teammates in Dodger Stadium in 2012:

Until next time...