The 1980s

 I thought I'd write a little bit about my 3 favorite sets from the '80s and my 3 least favorite sets. 

This won't be a deep dive into the sets like my friend Night Owl does, but will hopefully be a little informational and more opinion than anything else. The 3 favorites are not ranked in any order, just like my 3 least favorites aren't either. I'm also sticking to Topps. If I included any of the other ones, there's no doubt that 1989 Upper Deck would be in the top 3 and 1981 Donruss in the bottom 3. 

The first of my favorite sets of the '80s is 1980. Now, like everything else in life there are things about this set that aren't my favorites, but overall, I really like the look of these cards.

               

The 1980 set released in April and contains 726 cards. 66 of those cards were double printed. I am a fan of the design of the card. It's a clean look with the name on the top, the position ribbon on the upper left and the team name on the ribbon in the bottom right corner of the card. The cards also have a facsimile of the player's autographs. I know there are some out there that don't like those, but I don't mind. Kind of gives you an idea of what their autograph might look like. There are 74 rookie cards led by:

This was the first "big" card that I got when I started collecting cards. They were selling for $1.00 in 1981. Should have loaded up on them for a $1.00 a piece. If I only knew then, what I know now. This is still one of my favorite cards. I was a big Rickey Henderson fan. He was a game changer leading off the game. If he walked or got a hit, it was like a double because he was swiping second. A few of my favorite cards from the set...

Of course I pick my Texas Rangers team card. The reason for this card though is the scoreboard in the background. The state of Texas scoreboard was a significant characteristic of the old stadium and it's fitting that it made it onto a baseball card. 

                

I like the All-Star designation on the cards. It's enough that it shows who was an All-Star but it's not overbearing either. I also like that it's on the player's regular card without having a separate card in the set. 

                

I've always been a fan of the action shots on cards. I love the Gary Carter card. I wasn't a huge fan of Gary Carter, but I think that's a cool card. As far as Nolan Ryan goes, 60 feet 6 inches drops down to about 55 feet with that stride and then the ball is coming a 100 mph. Wow!

   

I think the Joe Niekro card is a great picture of him showing his knuckle ball grip. I included the victory leaders card because I thought it was pretty cool that both Joe and Phil led the National League with 21 wins that season. Obviously, it was a good year for the knuckle ball. Does anyone still throw the knuckle ball? The last one that I can think of was R.A. Dickey who reinvented himself throwing it.

My last card is Ozzie Smith's 2nd year card. Known for his glove I think this card of him swinging the bat is pretty cool. Ozzie has a career .262 average to go with that glove.

That's it for this one. I'll have the next one out soon!

Leave me a comment about your thoughts on the 1980 Topps set.

Peace, 

Michael

Isaiah 40:31