Nostalgia is relative

 

Today is release day for 2022 Topps and true to form I am going to work, not the store or hobby shop.

I'll wander out to Target or Walmart eventually, maybe Friday, maybe Sunday, more likely Monday, to see if there's anything left (or if it's even arrived).

There are lots of folks on Twitter who have grabbed boxes or packs or whatever. And there are even more people advertising their breaks or trying to get you to join breaks. Getting through all of those pitches is kind of a chore. It hasn't reached one of the "must-avoid" Twitter days like Election Day or when some major world event happens (Twitter: the world is ending! THE WORLD IS ENDING!). But it gets a little annoying.

Then there's this:

This story came out in The Sporting News on the occasion of 2022 Topps being released. This isn't anything I find annoying really, just something that is interesting to me, as someone who isn't nostalgic about 1987 Topps at all.

 

I've never met Ryan Fagan but I like what he's about. He is a sportswriter and a collector. He's very friendly and interactive. He loves cards and baseball and respects those who just plain collect.

But I would never consider 1987 Topps "the most nostalgic baseball card set of all-time."

The '87 set has returned to the spotlight -- again -- because Topps has trotted out 1987-themed inserts on the set's 35th anniversary because that's what it's done for every 35th anniversary set for ... um, five whole years. Nobody seems to remember that the inserts used to be "30th anniversary inserts" and that Topps just did the '87 treatment in 2017. Or nobody wants to remember this because for some collectors who grew up during that time, what is wrong with talking about 1987 Topps all the time?

 

I get it. I'm the same way -- about 1975 Topps. I'd be happy to talk about 1975 Topps all the time and I wouldn't even mind a '75-themed insert every couple of years (we did have a couple).

But I would not call '75 Topps "the most nostalgic set of all-time." (In Ryan Fagan's article he actually writes that '87 Topps "just might be the most nostalgic set of all-time." You know those headline makers, always sensationalizing everything.)

I am not nostalgic about '87 Topps because I was 21, turning 22 in 1987. I was in college. I had classes, working for the school newspaper, college girls, a job in the campus cafeteria, and beer in the bars and nightclubs to occupy my time. I bought, I think, 3 packs of '87 Topps that year. I don't remember what I pulled. I do remember thinking, "Hey, this kinda looks like '62 Topps. That's a little lame."

But overall I didn't think about it at all. So I can't be nostalgic about it. And I don't buy that "of all-time" thing.

 

Nostalgia is relative to when you grew up. People were nostalgic about the '50s when I was a kid. Few are nostalgic about the '50s anymore because a lot of those people are gone. There will be a time when no one is nostalgic about late 1980s baseball cards.

I know that '87 Topps is considered the start of the overproduction era, it had a lot of big rookies and all that. But I think the reason it gets so much play is not only because of that, but because there are so many 40 year-olds out there collecting cards. I'm sure Topps is aware of that. The kids who were part of that junk wax boom are all back into collecting now and I see odes to 1987 Topps and 1989 Donruss and even god awful 1991 Fleer all the time.

I miss the people talking about 1975-79 Topps.

But that's why you have me here.

 

I'm doing stuff like this -- I love the 1975 Topps set so much, I am so nostalgic about it, that I'm trying to recollect it with stamps on the front of each card.

 

These four cards arrived in the latest package from Max of Starting Nine.

 

He was actually able to find three buyback cards that I don't have yet (I do already have the buyback Tepedino). Considering how far along I'm at in this venture, it's amazing that I haven't turned up McCarver, Apodaca and the rookie prospects card before.

 

This brings me to 450 total cards in the 1975 Topps set in buyback form (I mentioned "460" on Twitter but I just typed in the wrong number). Will I be able to get to 500? Before I would've told you no, but maybe it's possible.

 

 Max also sent me some cool modern-type cards. I'm doing pretty well on parallels of the Fireworks card lately. Maybe I should do something wild and try to find all the parallels of this thing.

I love the two Mookie Betts cards. The "coin" card has acetate over it so you can't actually touch the coin. That's kind of a bummer.

 

Some Sabres cards from just last year, although in typical Sabres fashion, one of these cards is already out of date. In somewhat related news, the Sabres celebrated a two-game winning streak last night, their longest win streak since October. Wooo!

This nonlicensed card is shinier than anything they were making in 1992. I think all of the shiny cards made after this one can draw a line all the way to bright blue Strawberry as inspiration.

I do not think this Tatis is related to known Dodgers annoyers Fernando Tatis Jr. or Fernando Tatis Sr. It's good to finally have a Tatis on our side.

 

For those who actually braved the wilds of the card aisles for 2022 Topps, I hope you were successful and are not now trying to flip it all.

 

Leave some for me. I'll get there eventually.

 

And here's a bonus:

 

Every 1987-themed insert that I pull that is not a Dodgers card? They're all up for grabs.