yes, the cards celebrate

or, perhaps more accurately, my card collection celebrates when i receive trade packages in the mail such as the one reader john sent not quite a couple of months ago.

he knocked quite a few cards off of my 1965 topps want list, like this world series card

as well as the game 6 recap card featuring the yanks' jim bouton

love those stirrups.

john also included bouton's base card

plus another yankee-ish card, the american league batting leaders featuring tony o, brooks robinson, and elston howard

that's card number 2 in the set.

here's the 1965 american league mvp and future dodger, zoilo versalles

there was a multi-player rookie card (hello sandy alomar, sr)

a bob chance rookie cup card

with him wearing a cleveland indians jersey as a washington senator

here's the angel manager bill rigney

i believe the halos became the california angels in 1965, with rigney staying on as manager into the 1969 season.  he later led the twins to the postseason in 1970.

here's the back of jim king's card

i'm showing it because i like the backs of 1965 topps cards, and this one also mentions double plays.  it's not a double play card, but it gets bonus points for a dp mention, even if it's related to outfield double plays.

john took a shot at my 2001 topps heritage want list, too.  he sent along dodgers darren dreifort

and chan ho park

along with some other cards, including some teams that weren't represented in the 1952 topps set

of course, the red sox and giants were in the '52 set, and the twins were the senators back then.  i just didn't take the time to separate the scan.  also, dig on cristian guzman's facsimile signature.

last, but not least, john included one of the unnumbered checklists.

thanks for the trade john - i hope we can do it again sometime!

it's beginning to look a lot like all-star weekend

when the twins were awarded the all-star game a couple of years ago, i thought for sure that i would be attending a bunch of the events, including possibly the game itself.  now that it's almost here, i've actually turned down tickets to the futures game and celebrity softball game, as well as fanfest.  i thought about buying tickets to the home run derby, but decided not to go through with it.

i was in boston during the 1999 fanfest but didn't go, and i regretted it at the time (i think steve garvey might have been at that one).  there's a slight chance that i might pop into the local card show for a bit tomorrow, but i won't be at the fanfest.

anyway, i was thinking about this because there is a lot of coverage on the local news and downtown minneapolis is all decked out with all-star game graphics, and also because this 1987 topps fernando valenzuela glossy all-star card

has been staring at me from my scanned folder for quite some time.  it was included in a pwe sent my way by a certain jay barker fan.  and it wasn't alone.  a couple of weeks later, there was another pwe in my mailbox with more cards.  here are some of the cards from the two envelopes.

1981 topps jay johnstone

this card scanned kind of crookedly, which suits johnstone.  i am currently wondering who the player behind johnstone is.  it sort of looks like the second number on the back is a 6, which would mean it's rick monday, burt hooton, or pepe frias based on the 1980 roster.

1982 fleer tom niedenfuer

aka mr. judy landers

1984 donruss steve sax

we as bloggers don't show enough 1984 donruss i don't think.  this was such a high target set when it came out.  i completed multiple sets and sold one for about $80 in the late 80's as i recall.   i think i still have two sets today.

1990 fleer mike hartley

and another dodger who wore 43, raul mondesi and the back of his 1992 leaf gold leaf rookie insert

i am really intrigued by the lefty batting photos that leaf used here and on his 1993 leaf card.

2003 upper deck darren dreifort

and 2003 upper deck paul loduca

from 2002 through 2005, i largely ignored upper deck's flagship set, only buying product from carlsbad when it was stuff like 2003 chirography and 2004 legends, so these two cards were especially appreciated.

last but not least, here's a 2011 bowman hiroki kuroda card

i wonder if kuroda gives current teammate mark teixeira grief about spoiling his perfect game back in july of 2008 with an 8th inning double.  there are actually three braves who played in that game that now play with kuroda in new york - teixeira, brian mccann, and kelly johnson.  hopefully kuroda reminds them all that he dominated them that day as a dodger.

thanks for the cards wes!

time for 206

12 years in the making, i have finally compiled my want list for the 2002 topps 206 set.  any help is greatly appreciated, and you will be rewarded.

following the release of the inaugural topps heritage set in 2001 (a set which i still am trying to complete - want list coming someday), i was intrigued by the idea of another retro set, and topps hit the right buttons with this one.  first, they made the base cards the standard card size, which i appreciated.  i don't think i would have been interested in an all-mini set.  next, they mixed in current players, prospects (a james loney card in 2002? nice!), first year players, retired stars, and 1909 t206 reprints all in for this next retro set.  finally, there were different variations of some of the cards which i thought was great.  i have since come around to being somewhat annoyed by variations, but in 2002 i was more than tolerant of them.

anyway, let's have a look at some of the cards from this set that i hope to complete, variations and all, someday.

here's gary sheffield

remember that pose

darren dreifort

shawn green

hideo nomo

now, here's sheffield again from one of the later series

painted sets make it easy to change teams.

here's a sheffield variation, too

the set was released in three series, with the third coming out in early 2003.

roberto alomar

something is off with his eyes.

moises alou

this is the 'a' version of alou's card.  there is a varation which shows him in the cubbie pinstripes, but it's not a short print.  not all variations were short prints back then which helped fuel my lack of frustration with them.  the set does have some short prints, however, but that was such a novelty back then that i didn't mind.

craig biggio

bob gibson

duke snider is in the set as one of the retired stars, but he is only featured as a dodger.  nolan ryan has cards of him as an angel and an astro, plus a variation of him as a ranger.  i'm glad duke doesn't have a card of him as a giant.

juan gonzalez

ken griffey jr

vladimir guerrero

that is card number 1 in the set

todd helton

todd hollandsworth

holly as a rockie, holding the bat as if he were right-handed

brian jordan

just like the sheffield card, there is a card of jordan in a later series that uses this same image, but with him in a dodger uniform.  then, there's a variation of that card, too.

mark mulder

chan ho park

eddie plank

here's one of the reprints of the original t206 cards.  not a true reprint like the dover reprints because the size is different, but you get the idea.

jimmy rollins

john smoltz

alfonso soriano

kerry wood

there were the minis, as i mentioned earlier, with different backs of course.  here's a honus wagner

the t206 wagner is reprinted in the set three times as well - each with a different colored background.

here's a larry walker mini

with the base card, too

those are both the purple jersey variation, by the way.

i'll finish up with ichiro.  a mini version

of a variant of this card

of which there is a third version as well.

what seemed fun 12 years ago has become a bit tedious, but i still plan to finish this set.  can you help a blogger out?