Completing the 1970 Topps set wrapped up a project that I have been thinking about for years and for a number of those years didn't seem possible.
I've wanted to finish all of the Topps '70s flagship sets for a long time, probably since fairly early into my blogging career. That's when I finished all the '80s sets, before moving on to the early '70s, and now I've got 1970 through 1991 complete and ... um ... shhhh ... I'm at a bit of a loss where to go next.
OK, not really. I don't have that kind of a collecting mind-set. There are always next projects. It's just that 1970 was a big set and a big project that took years to finish and that was after 1971 took years and then 1972 took years and then 1973 took years. It makes you step back, and let out a big sigh -- "Woooo, that was something. Let me take a moment."
All right, moment's gone. NEXT!
I have a little project finished to show here.
The Davey Lopes card up top was the last card I needed to complete the 1980 O-Pee-Chee Dodgers team set. Unfortunately, the All-Star notation is not in French in 1980 so there's no sign of Canada on the front. (But OPC veterans already caught on to the ragged edge).
There we are, that's OPC waving its Canadian flag right there. This is why we're doing what we're doing.
I've been focusing on completing as many of the Dodgers O-Pee-Chee sets as I can. I know some of them are tough. But I'm also going at a very slow pace. This targeted project has been going for two years already because I fit it in between other collection quests.
1977 and 1978 have been finished for a little while, I wrapped up 1979 in 2022, 1981 and 1983 were completed last year and now 1980 is complete.
These were two of the final four, the most interesting part of OPC and understandably two of the trickiest cards. In fact I remember having the Goltz OPC card being swept out of my COMC cart a couple of different times two or three years ago.
I got the Reggie Smith OPC card when Goltz and Johnstone showed up. Then all I needed was Lopes.
A tradition when finishing an OPC team set, I compare it to the Topps team set. OPC sets are always smaller so let's see the guys who weren't lucky enough to get into O-Pee-Chee.
Ken Brett, Terry Forster, Charlie Hough, Von Joshua, Larrin LaGrow, Ted Martinez, Manny Mota, Johnny Oates, Doug Rau, Jerry Reuss, Rick Sutcliffe, Bob Welch. Also there's no team card or Future Stars card.
The most glaring absences are probably Hough and Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe was the Rookie of the Year in 1979 and Hough the most-used member of the bullpen. I think OPC was released after Topps and both Hough and Sutcliffe were peripheral guys in 1980 (Hough purchased by the Rangers in mid-season and Sutcliffe in a sophomore slump), so that's probably why they were left out.
So here is the whole team set!
So which OPC set is next? I'd like to finish 1975. I'm one individual card away from completing that portion but there are so many extra cards in that set -- league leaders, World Series, MVP subset -- it might take a moment.
1982 is one of the last of the '80s team sets that isn't finished so I should tackle that. It's a fun one, too, with a lot of French on the front.
There's always something coming up next.
And speaking of "always something" ...
The kitten that I mentioned we got at the end of July, escaped eight days ago. She's mischievous as they come and disappeared a week ago Friday night. No sign of her for days. But today a neighbor on the next street found her in the bushes next to her house and she's returned!
Glad to have her back. Stinker.
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