Pondering the 2019 Chachi Design - Reader Input Requested #Collect

1971 Topps #119

1972 Topps #528

1984 Topps #101

1986 Topps #585

1987 Topps Traded #103T

It's about this time each year that I start to think ahead to the next season and the design I'll use for my annual custom Phillies team set.  I've called these cards "Chachi" cards since first creating the set during the 2005 season in honor of our late, great first dog, Chachi.  I've been working my way through the Topps designs of the 1970s and 1980s, and my choices are dwindling in terms of sets I've not yet tackled.

As a look into this annual process, here's a summary of what sets are off the board (for now) since they've already been used, and a look at the handful of sets still remaining.

1970 Topps - 2016 Chachi
1973 Topps - 2013 Chachi
1974 Topps - 2010 Chachi
1975 Topps - 2005 Chachi
1976 Topps - 2007 Chachi
1977 Topps - 2008 Chachi
1978 Topps - 2018 Chachi
1979 Topps - 2012 Chachi
1980 Topps - 2009 Chachi
1981 Topps - 2006 Chachi
1982 Topps - 2017 Chachi
1983 Topps - 2011 Chachi
1985 Topps - 2015 Chachi
1988 Topps - 2014 Chachi

And the candidates for the 2019 Chachi set:

1971 Topps - I've come close to using this design so many times, but I've never been able to pull the trigger.  The actual 1971 Topps set is awesome, but I'm afraid I'd get tired of creating cards with the all-black border half-way through the season.  I either need to use this design in 2019, or wait a few years as Topps will be using this design for its 2020 Topps Heritage set.

1972 Topps - I can say the same thing about the 1972 Topps set - awesome set, but I could get tired of the psychedelic tombstone design by early summer.  And there's no way I'm talented enough to re-create the team name font so I'd have to scan in a card for each team I wanted to feature and I'd pass on making cards for minor league teams.  No fun.

1984 Topps - This design has grown on me, and I'm far enough away from having used the 1983 Topps design that maybe it's time to give this a shot.  As an added bonus, it's colorful.

1986 Topps - This set is also a dark horse candidate, and it's moved up in the rankings since someone gave me the name of the font to use for the team name (Napoli Serial Heavy).  But it's somewhat of a boring design.

1987 Topps - Like the 1971 Topps design, I've come close to using this in the past but Topps' over-saturation of 1987 Topps style cards as inserts in prior years caused me to back away.

1989 Topps - I'll probably never use this design.  I wouldn't know how to re-create the style and font used for the team name and I'd have to go the 1972 Topps route (see above) if I were to use this set's design.

1965 Topps #352

1981 Donruss #175

1982 Donruss #219

1983 Fleer #163

1991 Topps #618

I've also recently given some thought to leaving the friendly confines of the Topps sets from these two decades and using the design of one of my other favorite sets.

1965 Topps - My favorite design from the 1960s.
1981 Donruss - One of the first sets I remember collecting, and I've always had a soft spot for the very early Donruss designs.
1982 Donruss - See above.
1983 Fleer - Another nostalgic set for me with a simple design.
1991 Topps - My son Doug has become partial to this set's design for some reason.  Given that 2020 will be the 15th anniversary of the first Chachi set, maybe I'll go with this design then and replace the "40" from the original with a "15".

What do you think?  What set would you like to see on this blog throughout next season?  Any other sets I'm omitting that deserve consideration?

Blue Jays at Phillies: May 5th to May 6th

Monday and Tuesday 7:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Blue Jays 14-17, 5th Place in the A.L. East, 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees
Phillies 15-14, Tied for 4th Place in the N.L. East, 1 1/2 games behind the Braves

Blue Jays Probables:  J.A. Happ (0-0, 4.15), Drew Hutchison (1-2, 3.82)
Phillies Probables:  Kyle Kendrick (0-2, 3.52), Cole Hamels (0-2, 6.75)

At the Ballpark:  Tonight is a Dollar Dog night at the ballpark and on Tuesday, all fans will receive a Phillies hat as part of the Teva Respiratory Asthma Awareness Night.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Chase Utley - .346

Runs:  Carlos Ruiz - 18

Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 6

RBIs:  Marlon Byrd - 22

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 10

Wins:  Antonio Bastardo and Cliff Lee - 3

ERA:  A.J. Burnett - 2.06

Strikeouts:  Cliff Lee - 45

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 9

1988 Topps #24T

1988 Topps Appreciation:  This is the first card featured from the 1988 Topps Traded set in this season's series preview posts.  Sil Campusano played 73 games for the '88 Blue Jays, hitting .218 with two home runs and 12 RBIs.  The Phillies must have liked what they saw, as they selected Campusano in the Rule V draft following the 1989 season.  In parts of two seasons with the Phillies in 1990 and 1991, Campusano hit .183 (22 for 120).  He was actually their opening day center fielder in 1990 as a result of the injured Lenny Dykstra missing the start of the season.
 
I'm not sure why, but I felt the need to post Campusano's 1990 Classic Yellow card back in a June 2009 post with a brief write-up of Campusano's short time with the Phillies.

1990 Classic Yellow #T66 Sil Campusano

Sil Campusano is the lesser known of the two players selected by the Phillies in the 1989 Rule 5 draft. (The other better known player being Dave Hollins, whom the Phils' selected from the San Diego Padres). Sil had spent the 1988 and 1989 seasons bouncing around the Toronto Blue Jays' organization, playing 73 games in the Bigs in 1988.

Sil was actually the Phillies Opening Day center fielder in 1990, due to an injury to Lenny Dykstra. In his limited time with the Phils in 1990 and 1991, Sil appeared mostly as a late-inning defensive replacement or as a pinch-hitter.

His one memorable moment as a Phillie came on August 3, 1990, when with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and a 3-2 count, Sil singled off of the Pirates' Doug Drabek to break up his no-hit bid.