New York state of mind

I don't know whether it's because I watched the Yankees lose last night or that I recently landed a couple of Yankees cards that finished off some sets, but I'm in a cheerful New York state of mind with this post.

This very unnatural-looking card of The Mick, fresh off of my Nebulous 9 list, finally, at long last, completed the Mantle insert set from 2006 Topps.

As regular readers may know, I have been attempting to complete as many things as I can from the 2006 Topps set as that's what vaulted me back into the modern part of the hobby. I don't normally try to finish insert sets randomly, but that's what I've been trying to do with '06. It's more of a half-hearted attempted 15 years later, but I can say I wrapped up one in 2021!

Mantle is all over 2006 with a card for every home run he hit running rampant at this time. But the Mantle insert set is a tidy 10 cards (OK, OK, 10-card insert sets are actually infuriating). Each card featured Mantle on one of the 10 flagship designs Topps put out since Mantle's death in 1995.

 

When I was trying to buy up every card in 2006, I managed to pull four of the Mantle retro cards and then added a few more through blog trades over the years. But the '98 card was elusive. It's probably the worst one but let's look through them all.

 

The 1996-themed card features a pleasant-looking pose of Mantle and I don't even mind the design I've ripped a thousand times because instead of merely repeating the main photo in the inset picture, Topps went with a fielding shot. This looks so much better.

This regal Mantle pose with the stadium frieze as apparent as ever is ruined for me because Topps scrapped the white borders on the edges, which its 1997 set had on every card! Come on, Topps, man, you made that set!

 

Mantle appears to be searching for an opening for the box he's trapped inside. But never mind that, that orange border is definitely not '98 gold!

I am guessing the photo used with the 1999 card is colorized. It looks like a watercolor dream, especially those trees in the background.

Here we go. I think the 2000 design goes very well with the Yankees and you can't beat a vintage batting cage shot. This is my favorite card in the set.

Not an exciting shot. Nothing more to say.

Just the opposite with the 2002 design, have you ever seen that much dirt kicking up so close and so clear in a card shot? It looks like he's sliding into kitty litter.

 

My second favorite here on the 2003 design. We could argue all day about whether '03's blue borders go best with the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Royals or whatever. But it looks meant-to-be here. The insert pic is the same as the one on the 1996 design.

 

Third-favorite right here with quite an interesting picture. Who are the suits crowding around and why are they ignoring Mantle?

 

Finally, Mantle on the 2005 design. He doesn't look quite right on what's a more modern design than some of the others. But it's a nice shot.

So that set is done, but I'm not done with Yankees finishing sets. Yes, yes I know, you're not used to all this good feeling around Yankees cards here. Enjoy it while it lasts.

 

I mentioned last month that I finished the 2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites set, which also allowed me to finish the complete run of the Fan Favorites sets from 2003-05.

But that wasn't quite accurate, as going through my set binder, I realized a gremlin had struck and I was missing a card.

I quickly ordered the card and waited for its arrival. When it showed up, it was not the card I needed. I looked to see if the sender had shipped me the wrong card. Nope. I ordered the wrong card! How am I even allowed to collect?

So, I repeated the process, ordered the correct card this time, the Bobby Richardson card, and now here it is to complete the set ... a second time. 

 

Sheesh.

 

While I'm on the topic of Yankees cards and being all nice about it, I want to address what's probably my favorite Yankees set.

 

I was reminded of it recently by a post from Cardboard Catastrophes. He mentioned that he recently ordered a publication celebrating the Yankees' 1977 championship (booooo!) and that it contained cards inside.

 

Those cards were very familiar to me. It was the SSPC set issued in 1978 and I have owned it since around that time. But I didn't get the cards from that publication. Instead they were in the 1978 Yankees yearbook. I actually purchased the Yankees yearbook maybe a year after it came out because I saw those cards in some friend's yearbook and wanted them.

 

I wanted EVERY card in 1978. Come with me to 1978 when the only cards available were the Topps set, Kellogg's cards from the cereal box, Hostess cards that never came to my house because my mom wasn't buying that junk for me, some Burger King cards I never saw, and some round discs packaged with wiffle balls. That was IT. So, hell yeah, give me those Yankees cards.

 

The Yankees SSPC cards came in a fold-out sheet and if you wanted them to look like cards, you had to trim them out yourself. You can tell I wasn't precise. And they've been around for awhile and handled but still I like them a lot, they are among the most familiar cards for me that aren't from Topps sets from 1975-80.

 

This set was one of my first looks at a complete team set, with super-fringe players (George Zeber!) and a stadium shot. And, yes, I wished there was something like this for the Dodgers (there was, I was just on the wrong coast). ... Ken Clay fell victim to the crease monster at some point.

 

The last few cards. SSPC kind of backloaded the set.

I've had the opportunity to trade these away many times, even in their s well-worn state, but I've never been able to part with them. It's interesting how much your card situation can dictate what means the most to you.

The Yankees from this time were enemies on TV, insufferable, and their fans boors. I learned to root against them at a young age, not coached by an older relative, it just seemed right almost instantly. And then during their two World Series wins against the Dodgers in '77 and '78, I learned about luck, bad calls, cheating and someone named Brian Doyle getting hot at the right time.

But the cards of those same guys? I treasure them, as symbols of my childhood, watching and listening to White, Messer and Rizzuto on WPIX and cheering on the Royals, Red Sox, Brewers and whoever happened to play them. 

It's a collection of guys in black hats. But I won't let go.