The 1980s Part 3

 Well, it's taken a lot longer to get this post out than I thought. I was distracted for the last couple of weeks by the WORLD SERIES CHAMPION TEXAS RANGERS!

I became a fan of the Rangers way back in 1972 when the Washington Senators moved to Texas, so this was a long time in coming. I will have another post about my Rangers soon(See Night Owl Cards, I'm learning!).

Let's get back to the '80s. This is the third of three installments about my 3 favorite sets from the '80s. The fourth installment will be about my 3 least favorite sets. 

Once again, this won't be a deep dive into the sets, but will hopefully, be a little informational and a little bit of  opinion. The 3 favorites are not ranked in any order, just like my 3 least favorites won't be either. I'm also sticking to Topps base sets. It's not like that's all I collected back then. I have tons of  Fleer and Donruss cards that I collected in the '80s, but my focus these days is on Topps so that's what I'm sticking to.

My third favorite Topps set of the 1980s is the 1988 Topps set. 

     

This 792 card set was released as one series at the height of Junk Wax Era. I really don't like the name Junk Wax Era, I wish there was a better way to describe it. The Overproduction Era? Anyway, the '88 Topps have a white border with the team name in block letters set behind the larger player photos. The player's names in block letters are on a diagonal strip in the right bottom corner of the card. The backs of the cards are orange with player stats. There are 80 rookie cards in this set (81 if you count the Leiter corrected card) led by Tom Glavine. 

I really like the simple design and larger player pictures. The team and player names are easy to read. The older I get and the worse my eyes get make that kind of important! 

There are four subsets in the '88 release; Record Breakers, Future Stars, Turn back the clock and All-Stars.

   

    

I really like the cut-out picture with red background. I think that it really focuses on the players. 

        

There are five Future Stars in the set. I'm not in love with this subset, but I don't not like it either. I do like the fact that Future Stars on the card is easy to spot. 

     

Card numbers 661-665 are the Turn back the clock subset. I think these are pretty cool cards. I do think they could have chosen a better player than Ron Blomberg. No disrespect to Mr. Blomberg, he was a Major Leaguer, but there are a lot of other players that would have been better.

     

Card numbers 386-407 are the All-Star cards. I like the close-up design of the cards. I think Topps could have chosen a better color than the yellow, but it's still a nice looking card. I really like how it looks when when all of the subset is together. 

Here are a few more cards from the set.

     

I always like manager cards. Okay, not always, but I'm starting to like them more and more the older I get. 

     

I think the way the team cards are cropped is pretty cool. Not something you normally see on cards. It's different and I like the pictures with players highlighted.

     

    

Overall, for a set that was massed produced and mostly ignored by card collectors this really isn't a bad looking set. 

Very soon (I keep saying that, but it never really is very soon!), I will have out my least favorite sets from the 1980s. Let me know in the comments what you think about the 1988 Topps set.

Peace,

Michael

Isaiah 40:31

 

2nd trip to Albuquerque and a new card store

 This was my second trip to Albuquerque, NM in the past 2 months. Last time I was able to visit a couple of local card stores and wasn't overly impressed or dissatisfied either. This trip I only got in one more card store of the 5 or 6 that I've seen in town. 

Last time, I intentionally did not mention the card store names. This time, however, I want to tell you about my visit to New Mexico Sports Cards. 

New Mexico Sports Cards is a very neat and organized store. It's not real big, but has plenty of room. They've got $1.00 and $5.00 boxes and lower priced slabs for collectors to peruse. The cases are organized by sport and have both graded and ungraded cards. Yep, that's right, a typical local card store. The big difference for me was the guy working counter. 

Now, I must admit that I didn't get his name but, I do know that he was the owner.  According to the business card I got, it was either Jeff or Tyler. 

Jeff or Tyler, which ever one it was, was extremely friendly, knowledgeable and a pleasure to talk to. There weren't a ton of vintage cards in the store, but what was there, was in nice condition and reasonably priced. He said that there just didn't seem to be a lot of vintage cards in the area. I was able to pick up a couple of cards that I've been looking for at a really good price. 

That is my first real Willie Mays card! I've got all kinds of reprints and inserts throughout the years, but this is my first real one. 

Ozzie Smith has been one of my favorite ball players since I was watching This Week in Baseball on Saturdays when I was kid. The Wizard was on almost every week with some kind of spectacular play. I've been looking for his rookie card for awhile and I finally got one. I know it's off centered and one of the corners is a little rounded, but the price was right and I pulled the trigger. 

The wife and youngest son was with me, so I didn't have a lot of time to go through the dollar boxes, but I did pull out a couple of Torkelson rookies that the owner threw in with the other cards. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to New Mexico Sports Cards. If you're ever in the Albuquerque area, drop by and check them out. 

That's all for now. Hope to get part 3 of the 1980s up real soon. 

Peace, 

Michael

Isaiah 40:31

 

Thoughts and questions from an old card collector

 I've been blogging a little over 8 months and I've learned a few things...

First, it's not as easy as I thought it would be. I figured I could just talk off the top of my head and I do that some of the time, like right now, but when I decided to write about my favorite sets from the '80s I actually had to do some research. Now don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed it immensely. I really liked going back through the 1980, 1983 and 1984 Topps sets as I prepared to write the post about the '80s. I still struggle with what topics to write about. I haven't found my niche yet.

Second, its hard to stick to a schedule. Life likes to interrupt the schedule. My original plan was to write at least one a week. That plan quickly changed to every two weeks. It took me over a month to get the '80s part 2 out because life decided to intervene. Work got complicated, lost a family member and moved my youngest son to another state to name a few of life's bumps in the schedule. When life is that crazy, it's hard to sit down and write. I'm not a natural writer like some of the bloggers that I read. I have to really work at it. So, when life gets messy, sitting down to write just isn't a priority.

Third, I love logging into Blogger and see how many people have read the blog and I absolutely love it when people take the time to write a response. It made me realize that I need to respond when I read the blogs that I follow. I don't always do it, but I'm trying to at least say something. So, if you're reading this, leave a message! LOL!

- I've bought cards on Ebay, BuySportsCards.com, Facebook, Online Dime Box, Walmart, Target, local card stores, but I think my favorite place to get cards are at shows. It's the people. I used to love going to the local card store because we'd talk baseball, cards, and sports. It was a place to hang out and talk sports, look at cards and get away from the daily grind. The problem now is the local card stores around me aren't like that anymore. It's all business, the people that work there aren't as friendly, don't seem to want to just talk sports while I browse and don't really make deals anymore either. The card shows are the complete opposite. I've always found deals at the shows, the dealers are friendly and love to talk sports. Give me a card show over any other venue to get cards. 

- As I've mentioned before I've started trying to catalogue my collection on TCDB. It's been a long time since I've done anything as far as adding my collection to TCDB. I have completed 36 trades and have one in transit. I think now that life has settled down a bit, I hope that I can get back to it. 

- Has Ohtani lost some of his shine since he's been hurt? I feel as if everyone has moved on. He's still a lock for AL MVP and I think he still deserves it(You could make an argument for Corey Seager, but he's just missed too many games). I know that I don't seem to see as many Ohtani cards when I'm out looking.

- Absolutely love the discussion between Acuna Jr. and Betts for NL MVP. I really like Mookie Betts, but I think he's finishing second in this race. Acuna's season is off the charts.

Questions...

-Do you think the grading of cards is growing, staying steady or declining?- 

   

I believe that grading of cards might be on the decline. I've heard enough stories of people being unsatisfied with the grades the cards receive, how long it takes to get the cards back and the expense of grading the cards. I'm seeing more and more people looking for ungraded cards at shows. I do believe that it will be around, but I think it might be losing it's luster. 

- If you could keep only one thing from your collection, what would it be?

That's a tough question. For me, it probably would be my 1953 Jackie Robinson. Not because of the monetary value because it's in pretty rough shape, but for what Jackie Robinson represents. I've tried to type this sentence several times only to delete it because it everything I've tried to write just doesn't do him justice. I can't even begin to imagine everything that he had to deal with and still be able to play the game at such a high standard. That's what a real man looks like. 

Finally, I was very blessed to have met Brooks Robinson at a card show when I was a teenager. I didn't get to spend much time with him and to be honest I really don't remember anything of our brief conversation, but I do remember him being larger than life and an extremely nice man. He took the time to recognize a teenager who was pushed to the side by a bunch of older men. Rest in peace Brooks Robinson. The world is a little worse off without you in it.

 

Peace, 

Michael

Isaiah 40:31

The 1980s Part 2

This is the second of three installments about my 3 favorite sets from the '80s. The fourth installment will be about my 3 least favorite sets. 

Once again, this won't be a deep dive into the sets, but will hopefully be a little informational and a bit of  opinion. The 3 favorites are not ranked in any order, just like my 3 least favorites won't be either. I'm also sticking to Topps base sets. It's not like that's all I collected back then. I have tons of  Fleer and Donruss cards that I collected in the '80s, but my focus these days is on Topps so that's what I'm sticking to for now. 

One of my favorite sets from the 1980s is the 1984 Topps set. 

  

The 1984 Topps set was released in one series, as best as I can tell, in April of '84. This 792 card set is very similar in design to the '83 set. Like it's predecessor, the '84 set has a large action shot with an inset portrait, but differs in that the inset portrait is in a square set in the bottom left corner and the team name, in block letters, runs vertically down the left side of the card. The backs of the cards have a blue border with red and blue text. There are 93 rookies in the set. The top two rookie cards are the Don Mattingly and Darryl Strawberry rookie cards. 

    

I remember when I was opening packs and pulled both of these cards. Isn't it an awesome feeling when opening packs and you pull the card you've been looking for? I love that feeling. 

The first six cards of the '84 set are the 1983 highlights. 

Two really cool cards that honor the history of the game. First 3 pitchers in one year surpassing Walter Johnson...what a cool part of history. Second, three HOFs all retiring at the same time. Great way to honor their contribution to the game with a card.

Cards 131 to 138 are the League Leaders cards. 

I really like these cards because they show some of the history of year and as I go through the set, I'm reminded about who the league leaders of that time were.

Cards 386 to 407 are the All-Star cards. 

   

I've never been a big fan of the All-Star cards. I really like the way it was done in '79 and '80. That being said, I do like the design of the '84 cards. I think it's the team name on the left side. 

The last subset in the '84 set is the NL/AL Active Career Leaders cards numbered 701 to 718.

     

I think this is a super cool subset. I love the quick reference to those players who are moving up the ladder of career stats. These cards are great examples; 5 HOFs and one that had a huge impact on baseball. 

 
 Here's a few more of my favorite cards. 

     

     

I really think the action shots are so much better in the '84 set. The Jackson card is one of my favorites. I think its the colors, that classic Reggie swing, just a cool card. 

     

I am a big fan of the manager cards. I always liked Billy Martin as a manager. I think it was his fiery demeanor and his willingness to argue to defend his players. Frank Robinson is, in my opinion, an underrated HOF'er. I'm not saying he doesn't get recognized as great, but I believe he was better than some of the others that get more recognition. 

     

I love the action shots that have the ball in them. The ball makes the shot seem realistic to me.

This one of my favorites. Not so much because it's Rupert Jones, because of the shot of the hitter and catcher. Cool pic.

I had a hard time trying to decide between the '83 and the '84 sets. Very similar sets as far as design goes and I didn't want 2 of my 3 favorites to look so much alike that I had to choose one(spoiler alert! 1983 won't be my next pick). I went back and forth between the two. First, I was leaning to '83 set mainly because of the rookie cards of Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg. 

    

The more I looked at the set, which I still really like, I kept finding things that I didn't like as much as I did of the '84 set. For instance, the All-Star cards. I don't like the star design on the card. The star is too big and the font of the All Star looks like it was a last minute add to the design. The '84 design is better.

      

    

Another thing that I noticed as I went through the sets, the '83 set seemed to have more posed "action" shots. That's not to say there aren't any "posed" action shots in the '84 set. As I was going through both sets I found that there are more than double of the posed "action" shots in the '83 set as compared to the '84 set.

       

That's enough comparing the '83 and the '84 sets. Let me know what your thoughts are on my choice!

Peace, 

Michael

Isaiah 40:31