Two birds, one stone

Have you ever completed an image-packed post and then DELETED it by accident?

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

I just did it.

So, in a major case of deja vu, I am RETYPING the post revealing the last card package that I received over the Thanksgiving holiday. It's from Jim of GCRL.

I always get great packages from Jim because they're filled with Dodgers. But this time, he went through my want list carefully, which means he sent both Dodger needs and set needs. If you're ever looking out for my card collecting welfare (and really, isn't that what's most important?), then this is what you do.

Then, Jim threw the Dodger and set needs all together in one box and shipped them off! Two needs taken out with one box. Sweet!

Most of the cards are Dodgers, but here are a few non-blue guys, for those of you misguided folks who root for other teams.

One for the continuing pursuit of the 1976 Topps set. Decker's '76 card looks a lot like his '75 set card. But it's not a recycled photo, just a similar pose.

I found the 1981 Topps team cards very difficult to find when I was collecting the set. I know they weren't short-printed, because Topps didn't do that nasty stuff back then -- at least not on purpose -- but I need a bunch of them.

Jim sent a handful, including the Cardinals checklist with the latest Hall of Famer up at the top right.

Here are two great pitchers from 1981, one at the end of his career and one at the beginning. Both appear to be checking out the same pretty girl in the stands.

Jim also sent a good stack of 1995 Topps for when I beat my conscience into submission and put up a want list.

All right, it's all Dodgers from here on out. Chan Ho Park can always be counted on to make a strange face.

Upper Deck was so weird in the late 1990s. Is this a Dodger card? Is it an Indians card? Is it a Tigers card? When did confusion become a part of collecting?

Jim sent a bunch of these Upper Deck 50th anniversary Jackie things. They scan like crap, but that's because they're shiny gold. Which is good.

And here is No. 42 on card No. 42 from 1997 Topps. I need to add Jackie Robinson to my page of Dodgers I Collect. Cey, Koufax, Hershiser, Nomo and Kershaw are starting to get lonely.

I always feel like I'm making progress on the team set when I get the team card. This card means I need only one card for the '02 Dodgers team set, and that's on its way to me. Did anyone collect in 2002? This set took a long while to complete.

These Upper Deck Vintage cards still kill me. I'm trying to imagine a situation where I would be so desperate for an idea that I would steal a well-known idea from someone else and then publicly air it as my own. UD must be filled with employees who as school kids looked over the smart kid's shoulder to copy his test answers.

Oooh, Topps Gallery. This is my first look at the 1997 version. I love this card because of the view of old Busch Stadium in the background. Also, the card back is interesting.

How on earth did they decide that photo of Karros was worthy of putting on the back of the card? I do know this, it's going to come in handy for me.

From now on, whenever I want to show shock and disgust, this Karros photo will make an appearance.

I just deleted my entire post and now I have to type it in again! ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

See? Doesn't the photo sum it up nicely?

My apologies to my Canadian neighbors, but I think Jim is the king of baseball OPC. I get plenty of them from him. This card features awful airbrushing even by 1970s standards. But at least Monday isn't a Cub anymore.

Aside from the year that I worked at a drug store that sold cards, I didn't know these box-bottom cards existed. I'm glad others were aware and cut them out so carefully.

Here is another Guerrero. A less successful one. But it is the last card I needed to complete the 1998 Topps Dodgers set. Apparently, people are still holding onto their Wilton Guerrero cards thinking he'll be the next great thing.

The last 1978 Topps card I needed for the Dodger binder. Burke is credited with inventing the high-five, although that's probably not true. That would mean my 1980 Dodgers yearbook is lying to me. I was so suckered into team propaganda when I was young.

This might be the best Dodger Paul Konerko card that there is. And I just received a bunch of Dodger Konerkos in "the greatest card package ever." You'll see that eventually. But none of them can touch this one. Look how young Konerko looks! He looks nothing like that now.

"Beat the Odds." Jim just did by sending me a Nomo card I don't have.

I also received a couple Hershiser cards I don't have. I don't know why I put Collect-a-Books in my card binder. They're not cards.

I guess I can't resist the cartoons on the back. These are great.

Going way back for a 1971 Topps card I need for the Dodger binder. I now have just two left. Time to put Wills in the Hall already.

Going back even farther for a 1963 Topps Dodger. Phil Ortega was one of those pitchers who couldn't break through the Koufax-Drysdale-Podres rotation of the early 1960s. By the time he did, in 1964, the Dodgers had a lousy season, and he was traded to the Senators in the Frank Howard deal that brought Claude Osteen to L.A.

Here is Koufax now! There weren't that many, if any, Koufax cards in Topps' release of 2009 products this year. I don't know why. We got a card of Wade Boggs in a Devil Rays uniform, but no Koufax. That's plain junk.

There. Finished. And I won't accidentally hit "delete" this time.

Thanks for the card, Jim. I already have a stack of Dodgers building up fast for you!