topps was dynamite with a laser beam

hey! die cut cards are for wimps, right?  why not use a frickin' laser!?!?!  that's what topps was thinking in 1996, and the result was…meh.

here's a hideo nomo card

which is pretty much the same as ismael valdes' card

don't fret - not all the cards used the same template.  here's an eric karros card as proof

i appreciate the view from above, and the fact that karros is shown in his swing follow through, just like the laser batter guy.  in a way, i see a bit of a penrosian quality in this card although that doesn't really work in two dimensions, so never mind.

here are two more dodger cards from the set - raul mondesi

and mike piazza

both fielding their positions and with a fielder's pose cutout.  there was also a fourth template in the set - a baserunner - but there were no dodgers that i know of in that subset.

credit topps with trying something new, i guess, and definitely credit them for matching photos to the laser cutouts, but at the same time understand that there certainly was no clamor for a 1997 topps laser release.