A want list's worst nightmare

Watch out want lists! Dan from Saints of the Cheap Seats is out to get you. He will track you down like a dog and gut you like a fish. When he's done with you, you poor, wretched excuse for being, you will wish that you were never born. My want list, for example, was once a healthy, robust 234 lines. It is now a feeble, whimpering 116 lines, thanks to Dan.

The package I received from him on Monday was shocking in its completeness. He hit almost every major sector of my want list. He was like Batman in the fight scenes of the old '60s TV show, taking out '78 Topps here and '08 Heritage there. BAM! POW! KABLOOEY!

Here's a rundown of the "damage":

2008 Topps Heritage. I received 40 cards. KER-POW!

A nice pick-up, considering Game 1 of the World Series. I don't think Hamels received enough credit in the media reports after the game. He won some praise, but it seems like the major media is reluctant to focus on pitchers after strong outings, like they don't know what to say. Pitching doesn't get enough credit.

Johnny Estrada, pictured with a team for which he never played. A case of Topps acting too quickly. There's plenty of other cases of this. The 1977 Topps Bill Greif card shows him airbrushed into an Expos cap. He never played for the Expos.

Now THAT is a team card. No foolish fences. These could be the best team cards ever. See, Topps? Scrap the fences and you've got some good stuff.

On to 1978 Topps. I received 38 cards. I now need just 12 cards to complete the set! BIFF!

Dave Rozema. Along with Mark Fidrych, the late 1970s were great times for the Tigers. Too bad it didn't last. Oh well, 1984 wasn't that far off.

Bobby Winkles. THE best manager cards of all-time were in 1978. I don't want to hear any arguments! I'll clear this courtroom!

Next up, 1976 Topps. I received 49 cards! THWACK!

Ed Kranepool (apparently not minding that the stadium is tilting to the left). Any Mets card I receive from the mid-to-late 1970s reminds me of Sunday afternoons at my grandparents. My grandfather was a Mets fan and my brothers and I would sit on the floor in front of their giant television and watch Lindsey Nelson, Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy broadcast the Mets games. The team was terrible then. Three straight sixth-place finishes from 1977-79. But I memorized the "Meet the Mets" theme song that's stayed with me for my entire life. So it was time well-spent.

K.C. Royals and the White Rat. Speaking of nice team cards, here's one. I've got a color thing, and I love baby blue. My favorite NFL team as a kid was the Houston Oilers. Not because of Earl Campbell, but because they wore baby blue.

Dan Osborn. Baseball reference lists him as Ozzie Osborn. I've never heard of Dan or Ozzie, except for, you know, the singer (sorry, only one rat reference per post). But that's why I love the card. It's educational. Osborn pitched in seven games for the White Sox in 1975 and then he was done.

Checklist love! Beautiful pink and blue and orange. Hey, it was the '70s. Those are complementary colors, right? Speaking of pink, I was always ticked with Topps for using pink as a primary design color with Dodgers cards (1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1988). What was Topps trying to get at?

Next, 1991 Topps Dodgers. 25 cards. BOOF!

Included were the last two cards I needed to complete the team set: Mickey Hatcher and Dave Walsh. And ...

... when I found out from a Cheap Seat post that there was a Jose Gonzalez error card (the player above is actually Billy Bean), and I mentioned that I didn't know about the error, Dan sent the card!

But wait, there's still more! 1992 Topps and Topps traded Dodgers. 26 cards! SPLAT!

You think the photographer could have said, "Here's a towel, Chris," before he took the photo.

1983 Fleer. 7 cards. WHAM! Those cards included the Ron Cey at the top of the post, the first Cey card I've received that I didn't already have since this blog was born! And here is Terry Forster, chewing on a twist tie, or a sprig of wheat or something. Terry, you're in L.A. Get out of the cornfield.

Still more ... 1987 Fleer and updates. 13 cards. WHACK!

This is a great set, and I collected none of it then. It works great with the Dodgers colors.

Dan also sent a 1983 Topps card I needed, a couple 84 Fleer Dodgers, a '92 Pinnacle, and a couple '87 Fleer subset cards. My package to him wasn't nearly as filled with goodies, but, rest assured Dan, when I find other stuff on your want list, I will try to kick its ass but good.

(EDIT: You can devastate a want list, but you can't kill it. Mine is already regenerating new years and numbers. It's alive!)