C.A.: 1981 Topps Traded Bruce Sutter

(Around about now, I start hating rain and hoping for snow. It makes perfect sense to me, but it won't in March. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 308th in a series):

I have written a lot about the cards that came out in 1981.

Not only has it been 40 years since those cards were new, but it was the start of new era, of more than just Topps cards to buy, and it was a mind-blowing development for this collector.

I was looking at this Bruce Sutter card earlier today, thinking that I have written everything I could about those 40-year-old cards. There is nothing left.

But Bruce Sutter reminded me that there is.

For example, 1981 was the first time since I had started collecting that I could look at each of the brands out that year and determine which player received the best treatment from the three companies. Which player had the best three-card display?

This is something we've taken for granted since the 1980s -- heck in 2021 it would have to be which player has the best 1,000-card display -- but it was certainly unique in 1981. Three card issues, all around 600 cards or so, all pretty much shooting for the same thing and the same audience. Which player got the best of it?

So, this afternoon, while the Bills were making everything right in the world again by slapping around the Jets, I went through each of my 1981 complete sets and noted which players had the best cards for Topps, then for Fleer, then for Donruss. Then I looked at the results.

There's nothing scientific here, I just wrote down which cards spoke to me and hoped at least one player was mentioned for each set. And there was.

I'll start with Bruce Sutter, because he's the one who made me think of this. And I did have an idea that Sutter's major-release cards in 1981 were all pretty good.

Even though I'm a fan of the '81 Donruss card with its "this can't be" Cubs/Cards theme, I'm disqualifying it as the winner because of that. Some people just aren't going to buy that this is one of the better cards in the set, let alone 1981.

Willie Randolph makes good cards. That's just a fact. And, although none of these three are super special, each of them are quite pleasing and that's why I wrote him down three times. But he's not the winner.

Bob Walk was a bit of a surprise, but I should've known from reading the Bob Walk The Plank blog for so many years. The Donruss and Fleer cards are a bit too similar for Walk to be the winner but they're all good cards.

I'm pushing things a little with Gary Carter (sorry for the lousy cropping on the Topps card). The Fleer Carter isn't going to win any trophies, but The Kid is a natural on cards -- come on, he collected cards -- so I had to consider him.

 

Dave Cash always seemed like the coolest cat when I was pulling his cards from packs. He was almost on his way out at this point, and on the Padres to boot, but these are all solid cards. Not quite solid enough to win though.

 

 

Bucky Dent comes close, probably closer than almost anyone. If only his Donruss card was a bit more exciting. The batting cage shot is always a winner with me but maybe it's zoomed-in a bit too much for me to notice. Or, maybe I just don't want to give Bucky credit.

There are a few other players who just missed out. Reggie Jackson was there, and he had more cards to choose from because 1981 was also the year when companies started producing two, three, sometimes more of one player in the same base set, without it even being a subset card.

The same could be said for Willie Stargell and Tom Seaver and George Foster. Then there are those players who were definitely in the running, and then one company didn't even have a card for that player. Where is Donruss' Ellis Valentine card??????

But for me, the best three-card display in that first official year of a player in each of three major sets, is a natural:

It's Manny Sanguillen of course!

All right, NOW am I done talking about 1981?

Probably not.