I will defend the 1980s to my last breath.
It is the last great decade as far as I'm concerned. It is the decade in which I had the most fun -- easily -- and I know I'll never have that much fun again.
It is also the decade that didn't take itself as seriously as decades that followed. Look at the music. Rap and metal were much friendlier in the '80s than the '90s versions. And the '80s never had anything called "Limp Bizkit". The '90s just became too serious and angry for me and the decades that followed have been even worse.
I can't separate cards from that. If life is fun, then the cards are fun. Yes, cards can be an escape from everything else swirling around, but I still see things in my life that were going on at that time when I look at my cards.
I'll view 1986 Topps and remember off-campus parties and knocking off steam at the bar down the street after putting the college newspaper to bed. I'll see 1989 Topps and recall taking out my girlfriend with the money I earned from working two jobs, just a few hours after going to the drug store to buy a few wax packs.
And I'll look at 1983 Fleer and recall the final dance of my high school years, dancing to the Greg Kihn Band's "Jeopardy" with five other classmates.
Cards from the 1980s evoke the thrill of new relationships, new ideas and new avenues. Not to mention all those Dodgers from the 1981 and 1988 World Series champions. Cards from the 1990s recall debt, uncertainty, strange people and locations. Plus a bunch of L.A. Rookies of the Year that produced no titles. No amount of fancy '90s inserts is going to change that.
So, this is why I'm still collecting 1980s cards, long after many have stopped.
The Topps '80s sets are complete but there's always Fleer. I'm focused on 1982 and 1983 now and I just received an assortment from Chris, one of a number of unfortunate Braves fans that I know from Twitter (although the Dodgers' luck is just as awful as the Braves' now).
I'll start with a few 1982 Fleer needs. I was a sophomore in a high school, just starting to get comfortable with my surroundings. It'd be a lot easier from this point out.
I had some good times collecting cards in 1982.
Did we care that the photos were blurry in 1982 Fleer? Eh, maybe a little, but not really.
Did we get bent out of shape because Pete Redfern's card came out of the pack miscut? Absolutely not. Did we care that we had to collect a checklist to complete the set? I didn't care in the least.
It was an easier-going time. Less noise about centering and sharp corners and WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN IN THIS HOBBY ... IN THIS WORLD and more quiet collecting for the fun of it. Because life in the '80s was more fun.
Now let's look at the 1983 Fleer needs. Closing out my high school career with this set.
Am I miffed that there's not an action card in the bunch, that there's a bunch of goofy faces, that some aren't even wearing hats?
No I am not. I wasn't then either. Quite frankly, I was probably too busy making fun of a dude named "Storm".
These cards have character that many modern cards wish they had. I will remember these ones long after those very slick, cynically-produced, 2019 cardboard-lite simulations have cycled out of my collection and probably into a landfill somewhere. (Not that I expect them to decompose).
The cards above are more fun. They remind me of fun.
Because the '80s were more fun.
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