42 for everyone

no surprises today, as i am posting some of the jackie robinson cards that i've added to my collection over the last few months, starting with this 2016 topps mlb debut insert

celebrating that event that occurred 77 years ago today!

2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts when it was a game insert /550

2006 upper deck all-time legends insert

2014 topps triple threads

2015 topps 1st home run gold parallel insert

four of a kind there. i am happy to report that the rest of the cards in this post have unique photos, starting with 2017 topps stadium club black foil parallel

topps' acceptance of black and white photos (for some releases, anyway) has opened the door for some "new" images of jackie to be used. some, like this one in stadium club, works really well. sometimes topps goes for colorization of black & white photos and comes up short as we've seen in another stadium club release where they colored the number on the back of his jersey red instead of blue.

2021 topps 70 years of topps inserts - base

and chrome

the chrome version is really more of a foil, i think. it's interesting to me how difficult it was to find these two cards at a low price, but i managed it.

2022 topps stadium club chrome

i believe that someone, somewhere, figured out what jackie is doing with that paper, but i can't find the post. one of the headlines above where he is holding the pencil says "contest deadlines" so maybe it's some sort of entry form and not the ponies!

2018 topps gallery hall of fame gallery insert

not a bad painting of jackie on that card

2023 topps archives 1979 comics insert

unbelievable here that the "inside baseball" inset shows the date of jackie's debut as april 15, 1945. yes, the text is correct below, but then why was the text above allowed to remain? i mean it looks like someone tried to add some red to the uniform number on the front of his jersey, so why couldn't they have corrected the text? it just boggles my mind at how poorly topps does sometimes.

in other news, the dodgers have issued a comic book about jackie robinson in the past. i think it was in 1997. i used to have one - maybe i still do!

2023 topps 1988 all-star insert

at some point i wonder if topps will leave jackie out of these insert sets. 

2024 topps grand gamers insert

this one finished my team set

2023 panini chronicles - pinnacle

i don't really chase any panini products, but i had wanted this particular card for a while. it's simple, but the design and black and white photo creates a pretty appealing card in my opinion. you almost don't miss the absence of the "b" on his hat.

today all players will wear jackie's number, just like carlos correa here on a 2018 topps salute insert

i haven't picked up any other 42 cards lately, but i'll be checking out topps now releases tomorrow to see what's available.

finally, i want to once again share the story of how i first learned of the meaning of jackie robinson's debut. i was listening to a dodger broadcast with my dad in the late 1970's and one of the announcers (vin scully, jerry doggett, or ross porter) mentioned the fact that jackie broke the color barrier and became the first black player allowed to play major league baseball. i asked my dad if that were true, and to further clarify, asked if there were really a time when dusty baker wouldn't have been able to play in the major leagues. it blew my mind when he said yes.

i wonder if there is a young fan out there that is thinking the same thing today, but about mookie betts

42 really is for everyone.

safe travels this time

the last time i received cards from this particular trading partner - the cousin of jeff from my sports obsession - the box that the cards arrived in was pretty thrashed. there was no thrashing of the package this time, as kevin took great pains to overprotect the contents. and what wonderful contents they were!

there were a number of oversized items, including boxtoppers of jackie robinson and trea turner from 2018 topps gallery

and 2022 topps

plus an oversized hideo nomo card from 1998 topps super chrome

slightly smaller in size is this 1987 m&m's panel

featuring two dodger greats.

and then there were a bunch of minis, including a james loney 2009 topps allen & ginter

plus a couple from 2012 topps gypsy queen

the matt kemp is the image variation, and duke snider's card is the gypsy back parallel

other minis included parallels of cody bellinger and tom lasorda from 2019 topps allen & ginter

a gavin lux rookie from 2020 topps 206

a couple more snider cards from 2020 topps allen & ginter

and another cody bellinger parallel from 2021 topps allen & ginter

bellinger also shows up on this 2020 topps allen & ginter mini

although the base on balls is the real focus of the card

kevin is always good to send donruss color parallels, and he didn't disappoint with these 2020 donruss pink fireworks and vector clayton kershaw cards

they are not the most attractively designed cards, but they are dodgers and so they are welcome here!

kevin is also known for sending autographed cards my way, and this time he sent a 2012 topps gypsy queen nathan eovaldi card

and a 2017 topps chrome blue refractor rookie auto of jose deleon

deleon is only 30 and is currently pitching at triple-a for the twins. with some injuries in their starting rotation, i wonder if he will get the call at some point this season.

and then there are the relic cards, like this 2022 topps tribute purple max muncy card

muncy is also represented by this 2022 topps heritage clubhouse collection card

but i am most appreciative of these next two - a 2015 topps triple threads adrian gonzalez bat and jersey combo card

and a heck yeah 2005 donruss zenith rickey henderson bat card

i will always accept rickey henderson dodger cards!

the most interesting item kevin sent was this:

that is a roll of two uncut strips of the world series insert set from 1989 fleer. i hadn't seen these before, but they are definitely a thing.

 

finally, here's the cody bellinger tin from 2021 topps

all of the standard sized cards were inside the tin, snuggled in the foam protection. safe travels ensured!

thanks kevin! looking forward to next time!

my favorite cards of the year - 2018 edition

i recently introduced my mini collection focusing on my favorite cards from each year that i've been a collector. the basic gist is that i wanted to create a space for the cards that i most appreciated having in my collection in the year that they were released. these were cards that i acquired in the year that they were issued, and that i considered to be my favorites at the time. i have disallowed (most) cards that are already in other mini collections in order to avoid having a mini collection consisting of more steve garvey, double plays, and dodger stadium cards.

this one is pretty easy given that i had previously identified my favorite card of 2018 as part of p-town tom's annual contest.

favorite non-dodger card: topps gallery ian kinsler

you can read why i chose this card here, but basically, it's art!

favorite dodger card: topps archives tommy lasorda

i also posted (briefly) about this card before, too - saying "it's great". i can expand on that a bit here. to me, the norm was for managers to have their own card. this was because i began collecting with packs of 1978 topps which featured the fantastic then and now photos of (almost) every manager in the league. so, when i saw cards from 1979 lump the manager in with the team photo, i was bummed. i later discovered that 1978 was somewhat of an anomaly, as topps had combined the manager and team photo card in 1975, 1976, and 1977.

1977 was the first full year that lasorda managed the dodgers - he had taken over at the tail end of the 1976 season following walter alston's retirement, but all the 1977 topps set had to offer was a tiny photo of tommy on the team card. so, i was happy to see him get a solo card in the 1977 design in 2018. so what if the photo is from 1992.

up next, 2007 - stay tuned!

art

for quite a few years i had a print of paul klee's 'farbtafel' hanging in my loft space.  i also had a mark rothko print in my bedroom, and a couple of other klee cubism works elsewhere in my house.  i am drawn to the colors and the geometric shapes of those and similar abstract works.

the other day i opened a few packs of 2018 topps gallery and found this ian kinsler card

i was immediately drawn to the background. this card is going in my collection as part of my 'cards i like but don't otherwise fit' category.

it's art. and it's my favorite card of the year - from the "other" team in "los angeles", no less.