The Weekly Clean-Up

-  So another trade on TCDB:  I sent a dozen football cards to Joshua (jrberus) and received a trio of hockey cards.

-  Obviously, the Hextall is the best card here.  But Lemieux and the Soft One are both Hall of Famers. 

-  Figured it was time for a Sayers, with his passing.  Had two on hold at my dealer's, but he decided to charge a death tax on the preferred one.  So I got the other one, even though the centering is off.

-  This seems like a good time to remind people that card pics on this blog are from TCDB.  

-  Collecting Cutch is talking about breast cancer awareness and giving out prizes.  

https://collectingcutch.blogspot.com/2020/09/3d-or-ddd-another-save-second-base.html

Cardbarrel Order

So I got 46 cards in this batch.  Let's gaze upon some highlights.

-  Six for my names collection.

-  Fisher was a popular singer in the 1950s, with four #1 singles.  He was married to Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, though not simultaneously.  Father of Carrie Fisher.  

-  Horton was a convicted murderer who took advantage of a weekend furlough program in Massachusetts to commit more crimes, including rape.  The case got national attention during Governor Michael Dukakis's Presidential run in 1988. 

-  1974 Topps Cedeno for my Base Stealers project.

-  1978 Topps Winfield.  Not sure why.

-  19 of these 1993 Leaf cards.  

-  The Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial  is featured on the backs of Braves cards.  Not sure how I feel about that.  

   

-  Filled 17 slots in my Topps Through the Years project.  

-  2012: Ichiro catching an invisible ball. 

-  2015: Abreu Future Star

Anyway, I don't know what's up, but it's really a pain to get things on the page where I want them lately.  It's not like I'm doing anything differently.  But it's a free blog service, so I can only complain so much.  If I start blogging less frequently, this might be why though. 

Worst Baseball Card Sets of the 1980s

So I checked out the 32 major release sets of the decade.  Instead of boring people with analysis of every set, I'll just talk about the worst ones here and the best ones in a future post.  Base cards only. 

28.  1985 Topps  

      

   



The redundancy on the front.  The typical unattractive Topps back.  The photos aren't bad - at least they're doing baseball things. So it's a bad set, but not the worst.

29.  1980 Topps
   

    



The infamous fake auto makes an appearance.  Some action shots.  Boring borders, though the labeling is a bit more interesting.  The usual unattractive back, but with a cartoon.

30.  1982 Topps      
   

   


It might not be clear from this sampling, but I think the photos are weaker in this set than in 1980 Topps.  Even the In Action cards are a bit lacking in ...  action.  The fake auto returns after taking a break in 1981.  The trivia on the back is about other players.  But I kind of like the hockey sticks and the In Action cards don't have the fake autos. 

31.  1981 Fleer        
   

   



Weird that Tommy John missed an entire season when he was an established veteran.  Was there a major injury that required surgery?  Anyway ...

So many boring photos in this set.  Team name spelled out inside a baseball doesn't help.  The glaring error on every pitcher card is another demerit.  Points for readability, so it avoids the ultimate shame. 

32.  1989 Bowman
   

   

Yikes.  

Fake auto?  Check.

Boring photos?  Check.

Lack of info on the front? Check.

Weird back? Check. 

So that's that.  Next time I'll look at the best 1980s baseball card sets. 

Cardbarrel / Player Collection?

 

I hope Emily Greinke still has the rest of her body.  Anyway ...

So I was perusing the 'teams played for' leader-board on Baseball Reference.  A lot of okay players - good enough for lengthy careers but not headline grabbers.   Casually hanging out in a tie for 6th, however, with 11 - Phillies legend Kenny Lofton.  Six-time All-Star, four Gold Gloves, .299 BA over 17 seasons, 622 steals.  

So here we are: 19 cards - one for each season, but also one for each team.  Two binder pages with one left over for my Base Stealers collection. 

   

1991 Upper Deck Final Edition - Rookie Card. 

   

1992 OPC Premier - Voltigeur, indeed. 

1993 Score - Going to my Base Stealers collection. 

   

1994 Leaf

1995 Topps

   

1996 Fleer

1997 Score

   

1998 Upper Deck

1999 Topps Gallery

   

2000 Fleer Twizzlers - Even though it says Tradition. LOL.  

2001 Stadium Club - If only his name had been Eri.

   

2002 Fleer Tradition Update

2002 Topps - A motorized vehicle makes an appearance.

   

2003 Topps Traded & Rookies Gold

2003 Upper Deck 

   

2004 Fleer Ultra

2005 Topps Total - Second motorized vehicle, if you look closely. 

   

2006 Topps Updates & Highlights Gold

2007 Topps Heritage - The most expensive card of the batch.   

So yeah. This is probably as close as I'll get to being a player collector.      

My favorite is the 2001 Stadium Club.

My least favorite is the 2002 Fleer Tradition Update.