Mailday: 1987 Topps, the end.

First a clerical note. It looks like Blogger fixed whatever problem they were having with pre-scheduled posting, and I think I've sorted out my email issues. So all is right with the world for now.

I got home this afternoon and there was a box sitting on my front porch, but more on that later. In the mail box was an envelope from Howard from In Purple I'm Stunning with five cards.

We've traded a few times and he's a great guy to trade with. Go check out his site if you haven't and in his latest email, he told me to have anyone who's needing '09 Topps drop him a line and see if you can work something out.

Anyhoo, on to the cards. The three that I was missing were Gary Carter, Barry Bonds and Scott Bradley. It's always nice to get new old cards that you've never seen before. We've all seen pictures of the Bonds rookie online, but the other two are completely new to me. And I have to say, I think I have a new favorite '87 Topps card.


Look at it! Just look at it. In an era where Topps gave us things like this, this card is a breath of fresh air.

Ok, so it's not up to the standards of modern photography and the players in the background are kinda blurry, but Carter's about to try and gun down a runner at second. In the background we see Luis Aguayo at the plate, Rick Schu on deck and I can't figure out who that is in the dugout. The uniform number looks like 38, but that's clearly not Dave Stewart. So it could be a blurry 33, in which case there are two possibilities on the '86 Phillies, but only one of those possibilities was white. So I'm going to assume that that's pitcher Tom Gorman standing in the dugout.

It may be a Met, but that doesn't matter, catchers in full gear look badass no matter what team they play for.

The Scott Bradley card is more typical of Topps photography from the late '80s.


Also in the envelope were two little oddball releases.


The first is an odd, ball shaped (hehehe, see what I did with words) Chipper Jones from 2003 Fleer Hardball. I've never seen these before since 2003 was nearly ten years after my first round of collecting. What's interesting about this card is that it lists Chipper as an outfielder. In 2002 and 2003, the Braves brought Vinny Castilla back at third and stuck Chipper in the outfield. He did reasonably well out there, but I was so much happier with him at third and a platoon in left. But you gotta hand it to Bobby for trying something new with a superstar player.

Next is something that I've heard of before, but have never actually seen in person. Topps released a small set of mini cards in the UK to explain baseball to the Brits.


ugh... now I may have to collect the rest of the set so I can find out what the other strike factors are.

So once again I want to thank Howard for helping me finish, after 21 years, my 1987 Topps set. I'm looking forward to sliding these last three cards into the binder and then taking a stroll down memory lane and looking through the set now that there are no gaps.

I also look forward to more dealings and trades with Howard in the future. Again, go check out his site.

Now... that box that I mentioned...



Check out 1989 Bowman later this afternoon for pack one.

Mailday: Tribe Cards Giveaway

A 400 count box from David at Indians Baseball Cards... was waiting for me in the mail box this afternoon.

This far, I've given it just a cursory glance and pulled out a few interesting things. So stay tuned for this multi-part episode.

There's a lot of stuff in this box that I've never seen before and very few cards that are already in my collection.

Here's where we'll start. These may look like 1987 Topps cards. Well, they are. But, these are the glossy Tiffany version which I have never seen before. Also interesting to note, several days ago I commented on how poorly '87 Topps cards scan, well these scan beautifully. I guess the scanner just doesn't like no gloss finishes (my scanner is a Joe Collector).


These are gonna go right into the binder.

The Tiffany version is printed on white card stock and looks, aside from the gloss, identical to the traded set. These are beautiful cards.

While we're on the topic of '87 Topps, let's look at this mini League Leaders Bob Horner.



I've seen plenty of mini Topps over the years, but this is the first '87. I like it, but at the same time I don't. I feel the same about it as I do the team leaders subset. It's a nice little card, and I love mini cards, but the cloudy white border just doesn't do anything for me. It looked fine when the border was white. But it just doesn't look right with the wood grain.

That said, I'd be kinda interested in trying to put together a set of these to compliment the base set.

So that's it for part one. Who knows what's coming up in part two, but at some point we're going to look at some more Steve Averys that were hiding in the box.

My thanks go to David for the cards and the fun I'm going to have this afternoon sorting.

Mailday: In Purple I'm Stunning

Today a package showed up from Howard from In Purple I'm Stunning with a stack of '09 Topps and one of the few '87s I'm still missing.  At the rate I'm going, I'll be finished with 2009 Topps before 1987.

I want to thank Howard, and go check out his site, it's pretty interesting and a fun read.

Now to look at some cards.

We'll start with this 1987 Frank Tanana.


Here we see Tanana as a member of the Detroit Tigers, his last lengthy stop in the Majors (he split the final year of his career between the two New York teams).  The background isn't what it could be, but I think this is one of the better posed shots in the set.  There's not a hint of airbrushing and we see one of the better uniforms of the era.  I'm actually a bit surprised that with all the crazy uniforms of the 70s and 80s that the Tigers didn't break down and wear orange and black striped uniforms.

For whatever reason, I don't have much luck scanning 87 Topps cards on my new scanner. I guess I still haven't learned the finer points of modern scanner technology.

Up next is the last Braves card I need from '09 Series 1, Bobby Cox.


I'll be a sad day when Bobby retires and I can't really think of another manager out there who is as well respected by everyone. Players have had disagreements and have said bad things about Torre and LaRussa, but I've never heard a bad word from a player about Bobby Cox.

Hopefully the Braves can give him at least one more winning season before the end.

Cox is, of course, currently the longest serving manager with one team (since 1990, but had spent time in Atlanta before). Behind him is LaRussa who's been in St. Louis since 1996. What I didn't realize is that after LaRussa, the longest tenured manager currently serving is Mike Scioscia of the California Angels, who will be beginning his tenth season at the helm in April.

It seems like a lot of teams have a new manager every several seasons. So are guys like Cox and LaRussa a dying breed? I hope not, because to win a team needs stability at the top and a new manager every three seasons doesn't lend itself well to stability.

And while I'm thinking about it, aside from the foil and specks of dust, see how much better the 09 scanned than the 87. Probably the glossy finish.

I guess that's about it for now. I'd like to thank Howard again for the great help in completing '09 Topps. With these and four more that should be on their way to me soon, I'll be down to six.

Mail day part 1: 1987 Topps

Two packages showed up today. Well, actually three, but the third was toys for my cat, so I won't post pictures of that one here.

One from Jeff at Card Junkie, and the other from Phillies fan John, you can see his Phillies Want List here.

We're gonna start with the card from Card Junkie. Several days ago I sent him two of the 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights he needed for his set, and he sent along one of the remaining 1987 Topps cards I need. I'm now down to five.


It's Bob Shirley on a very bright, over exposed day somewhere. It doesn't really look like Yankee Stadium, so maybe a spring training shot. I've never been to Florida, so I don't know if it's bright and over exposed or not.

Check back later for some nifty 1981 Topps goodies from John.