OK, "childhood" is a stretch. I graduated from high school in 1983. But "first collecting period" doesn't mean anything to anyone but me. Also, it's amazing how those cards issued in my senior year still give me some of the same feels that cards issued in 1976 -- when I was in grade school -- do.
1983 is the cut-off line for that first collecting period. I want all the sets from that time complete. I have all the major ones done ... except for one.
That one is 1983 Donruss and cards from that set are starting to roll in now that I've made my interest known (still haven't posted my wants on TCDB but that's coming).
I've mentioned many times before that for the longest time I had just a handful of '83 Donruss, the two or three packs I bought that year and then all the Dodgers. For almost as long, that's all I wanted from it. But that's silly. There are guys in that set that I watched avidly every single weekend before we had cable! I NEED -- THOSE CARDS!
So I'll start with Matthew of Number 5 Type Collection, who sent me another round of '83 Donruss after an earlier send.
First a question. Were the card he sent 100 percent winners? He wants to know.
Well, I can say with confidence that each of these were needs. These all came from The National, too, which makes them extra special. It's difficult for me to believe that someone was selling 1983 Donruss there, but I guess that's the place for everything.
Not quite as confident on these ones. In fact, let me check ...
Oh well, not quite perfect. But 83% is nothing to complain about. Yay!
Cards On Cards was next, shipping all these Donruss wants my way. George Foster is one of those '83 Donruss cards I used to have and then traded away because had some weird idea I didn't need to complete this set.
Kerry was probably happy he had something besides Dodgers to send my way for once. My team want lists can be a challenge. But each of these were needs. The Yamamoto is one of those "companion cards" from the oversized card packaging product in retail outlets. Sorry for the vague description. I don't pay any attention to stuff like that -- I'm not in a hurry to get more weird-shaped cards if they aren't vintage -- but at least I have this card.
The rest of the 1983 Donruss cards from this series of sends were from reader Ken H. and he had a nice healthy stack.
A nice group of stars there, including a Frank Viola rookie card that I have never seen before. That's what's so fascinating about '83 Donruss to me now -- these are photos of super familiar guys that I'm seeing for the first time.
Since this is my era, all of these names mean a lot to me, not just the stars. Here are just a few of them. All told, Ken sent 78 cards I needed from the set.
He also sent a surprise stack of 1981 Donruss cards. I've completed this set already but you know how flimsy '81 Donruss is. Since most of the set I collected back in '81, there are sure to be upgrades here.
Ken also sent some much-appreciated 1970 Laughlin Fleer World Series cards. Each of these three were needs!
Thanks to this batch of 1983 Donruss cards, I am up to 35 percent of the set, more than 230 cards, which is insane for someone who had the same 27 cards from the set for four decades. I had all those guys memorized, too (Tito Landrum! Kelvin Moore!).
I'm not in any hurry to finish this set because it will be sad when I have all the major sets from my early collecting days finished.
But that's why there's Hostess and TCMA and O-Pee-Chee and Drake's and Burger King and Squirt and SSPC and Stickers and Discs and Scratch-Offs and ...
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