On one hand I think it's a decent accomplishment to finish the 1980s Topps Traded sets. That's nine years of sets. I feel pretty good about that.
On the other hand, the only one of those sets I truly "collected" was the 1984 set and some of the 1986 set. Traded sets from that time arrived more conveniently -- send a check in the mail and all 132 cards showed up at your door in a tidy box. It wasn't exactly difficult to assemble.
My only regret in finishing this entire run of sets is I don't have all the colorful boxes from each year. What you see in the picture is all I own. I'm most distressed that I no longer have the blue 1982 Traded box as that's the first one I ordered and the set I have the most nostalgia for -- those red backs! I suppose I could buy the empty boxes.
But to celebrate completion I've pulled 20 of my favorite cards from these sets to count down. Many of these are familiar cards and you'll expect certain ones to show up. For those people I'll say, "don't worry" or "sorry you're disappointed." In general, the sets from earlier in the '80s mean more to me than the back half.
Here we go.
20. Carney Lansford (Angels to Red Sox), 1981
This takes me straight to those early '80s days. We rooted for the Red Sox in our family (when I wasn't rooting for the Dodgers) and I liked what Lansford was doing in his first couple of year for the Angels. The big trade with the Red Sox blew our minds -- they were trading the whole left half of the infield! -- but I was excited Lansford was moving east where I could watch his games better. Batting .336 that first year helped.
19. Tom Seaver (White Sox to Red Sox), 1986
I thought about doing a "best of the worst" '80s Traded cards countdown, too, and maybe I still will. If I do, '86 Seaver may appear on that one, too. It seems disrespectful to place such an obviously painted hat on Seaver's head -- but he had already been a member of the White Sox by this point, which already seemed below Tom Terrific at the time.
18. Rickey Henderson (Yankees to A's), 1989
I liked Rickey from the start of his career, but it was sad when he became a Yankee (therefore his 1985 Traded card is not on this list). It was such a relief when he returned to the A's.
The border looks too large here but I think it's just because the card is off-center.
17. Steve Sax (first solo card appearance), 1982
The main card I wanted when I ordered the 1982 Traded set that summer. Objectively it's not the greatest card -- what's going on with his hair? -- but I was so happy to finally get a card of Steve Sax. It felt like I had been waiting forever.
16. Reggie Jackson (Angels to A's), 1987
The grand finale for Reggie Jackson as far as Topps was concerned -- it didn't bother giving him a card in 1988. Every Reggie card was to be treasured when I was growing up collecting. It was necessary to add this card and remember the good ol' days.
15. Vida Blue (Giants to Royals), 1982
Blue's Royals time was not a high point for his career, but I cannot stop bringing up that Vida Blue's name is blue on this card.
14. Bip Roberts (Padres to Padres?), 1989
Bip Roberts was already a veteran of Topps' Traded set by this point -- he appeared in the 1986 Traded set. Then Topps put him in the '89 Traded set even though he didn't change teams and was no longer a rookie. Is this the only case of that? -- I'm guessing not. At any rate, this card is a classic with Roberts' huge grin. At least I think it's a grin.
13. Keith Hernandez (Cardinals to Mets), 1983
All right, I'll bring up the Traded card stock once here. For 1981 and 1982 if there's a difference in the stock, I didn't notice it. But 1983 was obvious and the difference stayed for the rest of the '80s and into the '90s. I remember being shocked and disappointed when I received my 1983 Traded set -- it seemed slighter and not as impressive.
Anyway, Keith Hernandez was a known star with the Cardinals, an MVP, when he was traded to the Mets, so this was a big card -- and really what the Traded set was meant for as far as I was concerned.
12. Al Oliver (Phillies to Dodgers), 1985
I was so happy when Al Oliver arrived with the Dodgers. I had been a fan of his from the time he was with the Pirates and wished he could play for the Dodgers. He finally did. But there wasn't much left in his career.
11. Darryl Strawberry (first solo card appearance), 1983
My favorite part of Traded sets from the beginning was seeing traded players in their new uniforms. Rookie mojo was secondary -- hell, the set was called "Topps Traded". The "traded" part has faded into the background today thanks to players like Strawberry who made this set a big deal at the time.
I've mentioned this before, but I read a story in the old Baseball magazine about Strawberry around 1980, so I was aware of him for quite awhile before this card.
10. Ozzie Smith (Padres to Cardinals), 1982
Another one of the big cards in the 1982 Traded set. I recall being pleased that Smith was finally off the Padres and that I could root for him -- that would go south in three years.
9. Pete Rose (Phillies to Expos), 1984
The newest card to my collection on this list and Rose is here purely for the novelty. He spent just one year with Montreal and I know he got his 4,000th hit with the Expos but I can't remember a single moment of him in an Expos uniform.
8. George Foster (Reds to Mets), 1982
Foster was the biggest slugger in the land during my formative baseball fan years and firmly associated with the Reds. Seeing him with the Mets was weird, weird. I recall reading about his signing with New York while preparing newspapers for delivery on my route. This transaction turned out to be a cautionary tale and I think this was the first moment I wanted to tell players "don't go to the Mets, nothing good is going to happen."
7. Ron LeFlore (Expos to White Sox), 1981
LeFlore 🩷 bat.
6. Jim Leyland (new manager)
The card I looked forward to most when I was collecting the 1986 Traded set. I honestly don't know what's going on with that hat.
5. Kirk Gibson (Tigers to Dodgers), 1988
For those collectors who are accustomed to getting cards of players on their fresh new team in a matter of a couple of weeks thanks to Topps Now, old man night owl is going to tell you a story about how a lot of collectors didn't get their first Topps card of Kirk Gibson with the Dodgers until around the time he hit that Game 1 home run in the World Series.
We collected cards uphill both ways too.
4. Dave Winfield (Padres to Yankees), 1981
The poster player for that first Traded set. This card was on every advertisement I saw in Baseball Digest, the collecting catalogs that came to my house (Fritsch, etc.) and other publications. Winfield's arrival in New York was the biggest news possible, a watershed free agent moment, and, sure, I wanted this card. I wouldn't get it until decades later.
3. Reggie Jackson (Yankees to Angels), 1982
When was the moment that Reggie Jackson jumped the shark? Some would say it was when he joined the Orioles. Maybe others would say it was when he called himself "Mr. October." But I say it was when he joined the Angels and started trying to kill the queen. What happened to him, the most feared hitter in the land?
I might have instinctively pulled back when I first saw this card out of the box. So close! Closer than his 1976 Topps card, closer than 1977. It just added to the weird new world.
2. Cal Ripken (first solo card), 1982
For a long time, this was the most valuable card I owned. It felt good to get in on something before others did, that didn't happen to me very often (still doesn't). Like I've said before, I knew who Cal Ripken was in 1982 (I saw him hit a home run in Fenway Park that year), so I wanted this set for this reason and others. But there wasn't a frenzy by collectors to own this set. There was no "sold out" back then.
1. Fernando Valenzuela (first solo card), 1981
My all-time favorite Topps Traded card. The one Traded card I'd keep after getting rid of all the others. For a long time this was the biggest whole in my collection. Now I own 3 or 4 of them.
And those are my favorites though there are plenty of others I could add if I expanded the list a bit more -- 1983 Julio Franco, 1981 Ken Landreaux, the '84 Dwight Gooden, etc. And, yeah, I'll acknowledge 1986 Jose Canseco and Bo Jackson, though none of the big rookies from that time do much for me. (1983 was about the cut-off for that stuff for me).
I actually have all the Topps Traded sets from 1981 through 1991. I don't plan to gather any others, but if I stumble on a cheap 1992 one, I'd take it.
And, that's it, unless I compile a list of the best of the worst. I'm staring at the 1988 Buddy Bell as I type this.
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