Finally finished one

 

I haven't done very well this year with completing sets.

It's my main mission in this hobby, the reason I'm on this collecting earth, but so far in 2023, I've completed only an Allen & Ginter mini set from a few years ago. That is not going to cut it when the card collecting auditors pay their annual visit.

But finally, 141 days into the new year, I've finished one.

Last week I received a shipment from the baseballcardstore (more on that shipment soon, it's a wild one). These two cards completed the 1985 Fleer Traded set for me.

Not really a big deal at just 132 cards but I'm still working on finishing off the main '85 Fleer set. I just need to find some cash, which has been the story of 2023 (now you know why I didn't complete a set the first four months of the year).

 

This completion though is notable because it's the first time I've completed any 1980s Traded set that was not a Topps set.

 

I love Traded sets and it pains me when I see the price on some of them (i.e. 1984 Fleer, 1986 Topps). So it's a hoot to finish off one from Fleer. It may be the only one from Fleer I complete unless the price suddenly drops on 1984.

 

To celebrate the occasion, I dug out 10 cards from the set that are notable. There are many more than 10 notable cards in this, but weekends are for being lazy.

 

OK, now in alphabetical order because that's the way Fleer did things:

 

U3 - Dusty Baker: If you didn't get a shot of Baker in action on the field, chances are you snap a photo of him in mid-conversation. Baker likes to talk, always has. 

 

 

U7 - Vida Blue: The late Blue returned to the Giants after a pretty disastrous stay with the Royals. Fleer is the only card company that recognized his arrival with San Francisco in 1985.

 

 

U12 - Tom Browning: Donruss is the only company in 1985 that put Browning in its main set. But this card is my favorite of his. It's different and he's got a boyish look that helps me picture him playing on the high school ballfields that my newspaper covers, which he did.

 

 

U13 - Al Bumbry: Tell me again, Fleer, how you erased the Marlboro sign behind Randy Johnson in 1989 because of the kids. TELL ME AGAIN!

 

 

U21 - Gary Carter: The best part of Traded sets is seeing those players in new uniforms who then made a major impact for that team, like winning a World Series, like Carter did.

 

 

 U28 - Vince Coleman: The hot card from this set back then, I think. I wasn't collecting much at the time. 

U33 - Darren Daulton: Yikes, this is the fourth player I've shown so far who has passed away and there are more to come. That's a lot for a set from the mid-1980s. Fleer was the only major release to feature Daulton in '85.

U51 - Rickey Henderson: Rickey Henderson's arrival with the Yankees was major news in 1985 after the December 1984 trade with the A's. Fleer didn't treat him right though, it looks like he's missing his entire right arm.

 

 

U114 - Bruce Sutter: Getting the photographer's flash in the photo is wonderful and also major amateur time. I wonder if Topps looked at some of Fleer's photos in the '80s and posted them on the office walls to amuse themselves.

 

U115 - Don Sutton: The only thing cooler than seeing a card of a player with a team for which he barely played is to see that same player IN ACTION for the team for which he barely played. This is a great card.

So, part of my binder rearranging and page-questing that I addressed in the last post is related to completing this set. I've managed to conserve some pages in other places and find the right binder, too, so now '85 Fleer Traded is in with the '85 Fleer flagship set, which I will hopefully complete in the next couple of months.

I also hope I do better finishing sets in the second half of the year or it's going to go on my permanent record.

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Since I'm unable to note when I've published a new 1993 Upper Deck blog post on the sidebar, I'm going to try to update those interested to new posts over on that blog at the end of NOC posts. There's a new '93 UD post now.