Eighties

I've been feeling a little guilty lately about neglecting my 1980s card needs.

All of my recent purchases have been related to vintage or Dodgers from the 1990s to the present. The poor '80s have been ignored.

I don't have anything against the '80s, not at all. It's pretty much my favorite decade. While I prefer the '70s for cards and the '90s for god awful situations, the '80s are the overall winner. I continue to live in them when it comes to music, recounting past girlfriends, and the best memories of all-time.

So why don't I gravitate toward the cards from the '80s?

Well, probably mostly because I have so many of them. All the Topps sets are complete. And most of the Dodgers team sets from that time were finished off long ago. My favorites from Donruss and Fleer are done, too.

That leaves the sets that aren't the greatest but do showcase the players that I grew up with, and that's why I'm still trying to complete some Fleer sets from that decade (as well as the '80s Kellogg's sets and some other oddballs).

Just over a year ago, I announced my plans to finish of Fleer sets from 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1988. The '81 and '88 sets are done. And around this time a few fellow bloggers bombarded me with cards from 1982, 1983 and 1985 Fleer.

And that's where we are now. I haven't accumulated more than a handful of cards from any of those Fleer sets since around February of last year. You'd think people would be throwing these cards at me because everyone has 40 different versions of every 1980s Fleer card, right? But almost none of my trade packages feature '80s Fleer wants.

I was quite grateful to receive a card package from Bob of The Best Bubble several days ago. It contained several needs from 1983 Fleer.

Look at those happy guys. They're all happy because they're Living in the '80s!

You don't see happiness on cards like this anymore, unless the players are in an on-field mosh pit, assaulting each other with giant containers of liquid. I miss the sunny portraits of Fleer.

Some of the cards are a little miscut or dented. I may or may not upgrade, but the vast majority in this package were just perfect.

More '80s greatness with slightly more ... um, determined expressions.

I will never say I'm a big fan of 1983 Fleer -- I much prefer the first two issues and 1984 and 1985, too. But '83 Fleer may have more of those goofy poses and bizarre "what the hell is that cropping/angle/expression" than any other set.

Bob add a couple of other '80s collecting needs. I'm trying to finish off this 1983 Topps glossy set, which was the first of these glossy series that Topps bombarded collectors with throughout the decade until the thrill was gone.

But in '83, the thrill was at its highest peak. Love that expression on Nolan Ryan's face.

Bob added a few fun '90s cards, including a Museum Collection Piazza, one of the many Kraft Piazzas and a baby Konerko.

The '90s will never be my go-to decade but at least it produced a bottomless pit of cards.

There were a few more modern needs, including the very handsome 2008 Russell Martin black parallel. I couldn't tell you one song from 2008 off the top of my head, though. (I'm sure I know a few).

Buyback Dodgers. I really don't know what to do with these. The possibility that someone actually wants a 1988 Jeff Hamilton with a stamp on it is remote at best. I end up placing them next to the nonstamped version of the card in my binder and then question my logic every time I see it in the binder.

Back to something that makes more sense. Of course, it's a card from the '70s!

Look at how carefully somebody trimmed this card. Made sure there was no trace of dotted line anywhere.

I will always look to '70s first when I'm hunting for vintage needs and the last three decades are more within my budget when I'm looking for Dodgers I need.

But I have to get myself to finish those '80s sets -- no, I'm not going to buy the full set, I don't collect like that in most cases -- so I'll just quietly leave those want lists here. Maybe somebody else can visit the '80s besides me.

1982

FLEER

1-Baker, 38-Guidry, 39-Jackson, 40-John, 55-Werth, 56-Winfield, 57-Bench, 60-Brown, 68-Householder, 109-Underwood, 131-Templeton, 135-Brouhard, 140-Edwards, 153-Slaton, 154-Thomas, 158-Belanger, 170-Martinez, 174-Murray, 175-Palmer, 176-Ripken, 190-Gullickson, 191-Jackson, 200-Parrish, 202-Raines, 229-Ryan, 256-Rose, 264-Cappuzzello, 270-Jones, 282-Summers, 283-Trammell, 292-Eckersley, 297-Hurst, 298-Lansford, 305-Rice, 315-Darwin, 323-Matlack, 375-Monge, 403-Wohlford, 455-Carew, 456-Clark, 469-Moreno, 519-Zisk, 527-Hodges, 587-Blackwell, 608-Ainge, 620-McLaughlin, 625-Velez, 632-Carlton & Fisk, 644-Fingers, 645-Seaver, 655-Royals/Braves chklst

1983

FLEER

58, 59, 83, 91, 97, 99, 142, 156, 162, 173, 179, 187, 188, 190, 191, 194, 196, 247, 253, 261, 272, 298, 330, 331, 337, 360, 372, 378, 383, 384, 401, 402, 403, 425, 431, 435, 442, 454, 463, 468, 486, 488, 496, 500, 503, 513, 519, 527, 532, 537, 538, 539, 541, 542, 543, 553, 564, 565, 584, 585, 608, 610, 619, 622, 635, 639, 647, 648, 651, 654

KELLOGG'S 3-D

3-Jackson, 4-Brett, 6-Rose, 8-Henderson, 9-Yastrzemski, 10-Gossage, 11-Murray, 14-Yount, 15-Winfield, 21-O.Smith, 31-Ryan, 35-J.Morris, 37-Sutter, 40-Parrish, 56-Fisk, 59-Buckner

TOPPS GLOSSY SEND-INS

1-Yastrzemski, 11-Gossage, 12-Horner, 13-Harrah, 14-Rose, 16-Murphy, 17-Fisk, 18-Knight, 19-Palmer, 20-Carter, 26-Madlock, 29-Carew, 30-Oliver, 37-Murray, 38-R. Jones, 39-Jackson, 40-Sutter

1985

FLEER

8, 18, 23, 24, 33, 34, 57, 65, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 80, 82, 87, 89, 90, 91, 93, 95, 111, 121, 129, 133,  151, 155, 163, 171, 174, 175, 184, 187, 193, 202, 203, 208, 220, 222, 240, 242, 244, 247, 254, 257, 259, 265, 286, 296, 304, 305, 323, 326, 335, 357, 359, 370, 371, 374, 394, 395, 404, 405, 419, 440, 443, 444, 448, 451, 476, 479, 480, 508, 509, 510, 511, 513, 526, 527, 539, 542, 544, 548, 550, 551, 555, 559, 563, 574, 578, 586, 587, 588, 600, 601, 603, 605, 626, 627, 628, 629, 630, 631, 632, 640, 641, 643, 649, 650, 653, 657, 660

Update: U-2-Almon, U-42-Fontenot, U-55-Holland, U-64-Kemp, U-72-Lezcano, U-85-Orsulak, U-88-Reuschel, U-108-Sorensen, U-109-Speier 

1989

FLEER

20, 125, 139, 152, 210, 215, 216, 230, 234,  277, 288, 303, 353, 379, 385, 434, 516, 527, 540, 571, 647
'89 Fleer All-Star team: 2-Canseco, 3-Clark, 4-Eckersley, 6-Greenwell, 7-Hershiser
Stickers: Blue Jays, Mariners, Rangers

(Sorry, haven't gotten to an '87 Fleer want list yet).