That nostalgia rush

Collecting cards, as everyone knows, has a lot to do with reconnecting with your childhood. But I never returned to collecting for the purpose of reliving those childhood experiences. I returned because I became interested in cards again.

But a byproduct of returning to the hobby and collecting vintage cards was that feeling -- that nostalgia rush -- that I would get when I saw a card for the first time since I was an 11-year-old. Often times I wouldn't even remember that the card existed until it was thrust into my face. Then the "oh wow" nostalgia rush would hit me.

I hope everyone knows what I'm talking about. The feeling is almost addicting. It's not better than a couple of other sensations out there -- I think you know what I mean -- but it's got to rank in the top 10. It's the same feeling I got when I thought about Freakies cereal or space food sticks or the TV show "Angie" for the first time in decades (whatever happened to Donna Pescow?)

When I was collecting the 1974 and 1975 Topps sets in 2005 and 2006 I felt the nostalgia rush quite a bit. Those sets are complete and I'm close to completing another nostalgia-rich set, the 1976 set. But when the '76 set is done, where will I turn for that rush? The 1977 set is a possibility, although I'm familiar with just about all those cards already.

The only obvious place to turn is 1975 again, my first year of collecting. Except this time I'll try tracking down the MINIS!

That will be a challenging task. Ever since I got back into collecting, I haven't even attempted to add to my '75 minis, or upgrade them. The 100 or so mini cards I have are the same ones I had 34 years ago.

That's what made receiving the Jimmy Wynn mini card up top and the Joe Ferguson mini card so special. These two cards, received from Jim at gcrl, are the first two new (new to me anyway) '75 mini cards I have obtained since, well, 1975. As J.J. Walker would say: Dy-no-MITE! That's your nostalgia rush right there.

I have about half the '75 Dodgers in mini form, but somehow Jim found two that I didn't have. Both cards are well-loved, which means they'll fit in nicely with the rest of my minis. Maybe when I collect the set, I'll just go for cards that look like they're 34 years old. That'd be great, to have a complete set of well-worn cards.

But, of course, Jim sent some other Dodgers as well. He's got a stockpile of them, as every good Dodger collector should. Here are some others he sent:

Here are some 1993 Pinnacle Dodgers. If you send me a Pinnacle card, chances are I don't have it. The only Pinnacle cards I ever bought were some '92 cards. But that was my last true collecting year for a long time. I missed Pinnacle's peak completely.

A couple of cards of E.Y. The one on the right is from the '98 Score Rookies and Traded set. I didn't even know that set existed.

I'm wondering if E.Y. wishes he was on the MLB Network instead of ESPN. I'm one of the many baseball fans who has totally migrated to the MLB. I'd love to rid myself of ESPN completely. But as long as they feature ballgames, I'm afraid I'm hooked.

This begins a series of cards that help me complete some team set. Mr. Reuss is a little beat up here, but he's the last guy I need to wrap up the '82 Donruss Dodgers set. Thanks Jim!

Burt Hooton puts the bow on the '82 Fleer Dodgers set. I always liked the Dodgers cards on this set. Even the out-of-focus ones.

These two players always need to be featured together as a reminder of the Dodgers' idiocy in picking up these two dudes prior to the 1980 season. Much was made of L.A. finally venturing into free agency when they signed the two pitchers late in 1979. But they sucked.

Stanhouse was injured and barely played for the Dodgers. Meanwhile, I have Dave Goltz's 1980 numbers memorized: 7-11 with a 4.32 ERA. Four-point-three-two might sound pretty good if you're hurling in the American League in 2008. But let me tell you, in the NL in 1980 it STUNK. And it cost the Dodgers a playoff spot that year.

But Stanhouse and Goltz, combined with Vic Davalillo, give me a complete Dodgers set for 1981 Fleer. I like how Davalillo received a card even though he had just six at-bats in 1980. There's your Final Tribute card.

Fernando's doing some sort of weird dance on his 1989 Upper Deck card. Ever since I learned that some dork at Upper Deck didn't like the Dodgers and did immature things like give the Dodgers No. 666 on UD's cards (I knew there was a reason I hated you Upper Deck. You just confirmed everything I suspected about you), I've been studying my UD Dodgers of the era to find other underhanded, pea-brained stuff. Could making Fernando look goofy be one? I wouldn't be surprised.

Lastly, here's a 1982 O-Pee-Chee In Action card of Ron Cey. Or shall I say "Au Jeu"? And I don't mean "with juice." I mean "in action" smarty-pantses. Does anyone know what Cey's ancestry is? If it was French that would be very cool.

This is a Cey card I do not have. And knowing how much Jim loves the OPC, it's quite generous.

Thanks Jim!