I have a bias when it comes to the month of July. Naturally I am going to like it because it's my birthday month.
It is also the month for the All-Star Game, one of my favorite sports events. It's also a month in which baseball is the primary sport in action and every one of those other sports that dominates the calendar loudly -- football, basketball, hockey -- isn't playing. Even my next favorite sports event after anything baseball, Wimbledon, is mostly in July.
I'm not done. July is the slowest month of the year at my job. Therefore it is the month in which I take the most vacations. I am always off in July. Always. And July is the height of summer, probably my favorite season, just edging out fall.
Finally -- and this just occurred to me about a week ago -- it is the month in which I regularly acquire the most cards. It's been that way for the last three Julys. Thanks to TCDB, I can chart my month-by-month progress and July is the only month from last year for which I acquired at least 1,000 cards. I can say the same for this July, too -- the only month I've added at least 1,000 cards, so far.
It helps that I often get cards for my birthday. This year I received 2024 Topps Series 2 from the three closest women in my life -- my wife, daughter and sister-in-law. Each one bought something different (wife: packs, daughter: blaster; sister-in-law: big box, whatever those are called).
After that Series 2 explosion I should really just try to complete that set.
So that's why I wish July could last forever.
The card highlight of the month though might be that I finished the 1977 Hostess set. The last card arrived a couple days ago.
It was this John Hiller card, with a corner cut off, but I don't care. The Hiller card in the '77 Hostess set is a short-print, which means I had to wait a little while to acquire one.
It's interesting how SP's work in the Hostess sets. There are always several in each set, because SPs for Hostess are defined by the cards that appeared on less-popular/less-issued Hostess products (think Sno-Balls). But generally I don't have too much trouble acquiring most of the SP's. It's interesting to see which one will be the sticking point. For '77, it was Hiller.
Completing the 1977 Hostess set means a lot to me for a couple of reasons.
First, a 1977 Hostess card was the first Hostess card I ever owned. It was Davey Lopes and I picked it up at some point in the 1970s. Still have it.
Second, 1977 is a key year in my history as a fan. While I followed baseball and collected cards in 1975 and 1976, my first true year as a fan was 1977. That year I really followed the players on TV. I'd faithfully watch NBC's Game of the Week and ABC's Monday Night Baseball (when I could stay up). I watched This Week In Baseball as often as I could. These are all things that really hit my consciousness that year.
Therefore all of the players in the 1977 Hostess set are those first players that I knew, I knew their teams and whether their teams were good or bad. I knew what positions they played and various other things that fans know. Before '77, it was very hit and miss, and mostly what I knew came from baseball cards.
Also, 1977 was the first time my favorite team made the World Series and it's also the first year I actively watched the Series.
It's great fun going through this set now. Sure, seeing Brett and Yount and Palmer is fun, but it's cool to see Jim Barr and Darrel Chaney and Dick Ruthven. I know those guys!! And they're all wearing the right uniforms!
So now I have two '70s Hostess sets complete, 1976 and 1977. Each are 150 cards and I've found out it's not the easiest task (big assist from reader Paul with the '77 set). At least one Twitter collector understood:
But I'm not done. I want 1975, 1978 and 1979 completed, too.
That will take some doing, obviously. I have maybe one-third of 1975 and 1979 done and a little less for 1978. I'd like to tackle '75 first because that hits me in the feels more than the other two, but I have a feeling it will be more challenging (although the price I saw listed on TCDB for the '79 Dale Murphy might be the most ridiculous card thing I've ever spotted).
Like Kellogg's sets from that same era, I'm starting to feel a little heat with other collectors suddenly discovering them. I'm hoping it's not going to interfere with my pursuit of those like it did Kellogg's (at least Hostess cards aren't so brittle). This is my childhood I'm collecting here. I should have first dibs!
I'll probably take a break from pursuing the other sets now for a little bit and just bask in the glow of my binder all nice and completed.
In fact, since it's July, if that's all I wanted to do for the rest of the month, I could probably do it. That's how great this month is.
Comments
Now, as far as Hostess dibs go, you are a year older than me, so maybe I'll give you a ten minute head start :), Unless I got our birthdays reversed, hehe.
I am the opposite about July. I want September to come. Way too hot!
Glad you're enjoying the month and the birthday cards.
B. Had no idea that 70's Hostess panels were product specific. If I had collected these as a kid, I never would have had any of the Sno-Ball cards. I never ate those as a kid. And I would have had a bunch of the guys featured on the raspberry Zingers boxes. Haven't had one of them in years, but they were a childhood favorite.
Happy July birthday to you. Today is my 61st. Hard to believe I'm that "young" and 1977 was so long ago.
That lot of 77 Hostess that I sent you had been sitting in one of those mega 3200 count boxes in the basement for probably 25 years. Since I had picked up the full 50 panel sets for 78 and 79, I never had any interest in those 77s until I saw you needed them. And I got some great Tigers cards in the deal too.
For those who hadn't heard the story, one of my best friends growing up across the street helped me get all of those cards for free. His mom worked on the Twinkie line (yes really) in downtown Detroit while his dad was a delivery driver for Hostess and Wonder Bread products. Whenever the lot number printer smeared the lot code and dates, the boxes were thrown into a pile before and not filled with products. The employees were even told they could take home those "worthless" boxes for their kids. The lot number was on the side of the box so it never impacted the cards.
The SPs were definitely brands that sold less. Cinnamon crumb cakes were a short seller. Maybe snow balls too because who wanted a box when 1 or 2 was all one could handle.
Paul
Surprisingly, I've got almost all of them except for several 1979's. Not sure why those have been so elusive. I don't see them anywhere. The most recent ones should be the easiest, but they're not.