More from the Braves collector who sure has a lot of Dodgers

 

Johnny's Trading Spot sent me a big box of Dodgers-and-such a little more than a month ago. It was so large that it took me three posts to go through.

Well, apparently he wasn't done because another box of cards showed up a week or two ago. It was mostly Dodgers this time. As I've said before, Johnny sure has a lot of Dodgers for a Braves fan.

I can tell he's cutting back -- maybe not enough for my taste -- because of the very obvious former collections that I've received. This is the most notable one:

Even more Yasiel Puigs. And these are just the ones that I needed. I'm a bit conflicted by this, firstly a little embarrassed that I may not have had as many Yasiel Puigs as a Braves fan and secondly a little scared that Puig is shooting too far up my TCDB list of the player with the most Dodgers. (He's 26th now, even after the last two sends from John).

But that wasn't the only hand-me-down cards I welcomed into my collection.

 

Johnny just mentioned ridding himself of cards like this in the comments of a post of mine last week. I admit, I don't really know what to do with these Braves-Dodgers either. Upper Deck really liked doing this but I don't know who these appeal to, it just makes two fan bases feel awkward.

(One day I'll need to figure out why it annoys me when UD does this but I'm thrilled when OPC does it).

 

Aside from those cards, there were plenty of others I needed, although this picture doesn't quite tell the story -- cards needed on the left.

I've compiled a top 10 of the most welcome by me. Yup, it's another inside look at what really fits into my collection and why.

 

10. Eric Gagne, 2005 Topps Total

Every Topps Total arrival feels like an accomplishment. The team sets are very large in Total and since I never go out of may way to seek out Total cards, it could take me the next 400 years to land all the Dodgers.

9. Andre Jackson, 2020 Donruss Optic

Andre Jackson cards seem to arrive at my house at the same rate as St. Jude return address labels, but for some reason this was the last Dodger I needed to finish this particular team set. Weird.

8. Jose Ramos, 2022 Bowman Chrome, It Came to the League insert

I don't ever expect to find Bowman inserts interesting, so a comic-book treatment is a surprise. Ramos was just sent down by the Dodgers but I had my first look at him this spring training. He seems to be a confident young dude.

7. Jason Heyward, 2023 Topps Chrome, prism refractor

How much do I enjoy getting Jason Heyward Dodgers cards? I don't mind receiving the same photo over and over again, that's how much.

6. Gavin Stone, 2023 Topps Update, 1988 insert

This card completes the '88 insert team set for me for Update. Still need to do something about Series 2 though.

5. Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella, 2001 Bowman Chrome 1950 Bowman reprint inserts

More team set completion, this three-card reprint insert set is finished as I've had the Gil Hodges card for a long time.

4. Clayton Kershaw, 2023 Topps Favorite Sons insert

Weee, a Kershaw card Johnny doesn't need that I did needed!

3. Walker Buehler, 2024 Topps

One month after 2024's release, I'm down to needing the Jonny DeLuca card and the Ohtani-Betts card to finish the team set. Buehler's arrival scratched that want and cards like those are the most wanted cards in the early days of flagship's release.

Plus it's one of the best Dodger cards in Series 1.

2. Andre Ethier, 2015 Topps, purple parallel

This is when purple parallels were Toys R Us exclusives and my gosh I have to drive an hour to get to a Toys R Us?!?!? So I still have PTSD from these things and any one of these is very welcome.

1. Duke Snider, 2004 Donruss World Series, Blue

Also, any card from between 2001-05 seems elusive so I really like getting cards like this.

There were a few non-specific Dodgers cards in the box, too.

Mostly a bunch of night cards from mostly 2023 Stadium Club. I'll be checking which ones make the night card binder in a couple of days. One of these days I need to feature that binder on the blog.

Also there was this sticker that I'm guessing arrived in boxes of Frosted Flakes. Those were the days!!

I tried to guess when these might have showed up. My guess was the early 1980s, just from the logos and the orientation.

But folding it out showed me it was from the early 1990s. Perhaps on occasion of the Rockies being named an expansion team?

I can't relate to being a kid in the '90s at all ('90s was for a career), so I'll keep it folded to the Dodgers side. Bonus: these are also listed on TCDB!

So I'll have some more binder-updating to do. Anything pre-2015 though will have to wait until the next round.