Mind reader

 

 

As a team collector, I don't really do a great job of acquiring the separate team sets that Topps puts out each year.

It's a little difficult to stay focused because the team sets often feature mostly the same cards that are in flagship -- out of around 20 cards, maybe three are different.

But mostly it's me forgetting, because I do want the team set each year. Jim, from cards as I see them, does a much better job of remembering and each year he has a post in which he compares the Dodgers in Topps flagship to the Dodgers in the team set.

He wrote one this year a couple of weeks ago and I made a mental note to add the team set to my collection. I even took the next step of finding it online and adding it to my cart. Over the following days I'd note that it was still in there and think about cashing out but I still hadn't.

Good thing because a week ago a box showed up on my porch unannounced. It contained:

The 2024 Dodgers team set AND the 2022 Dodgers team set. (The empty packaging space on these is a wild quality control fail).

The box arrived from Jonathan, who has sent lots of good stuff before, and he must be a mind reader. How did he know that I had been thinking about that 2024 team set every day for the previous week?

 

The card-by-card comparison has been completed by gcrl so I'll just show you the 2024 team set in one shot.

 

The differences are: Clayton Kershaw features a different picture and is vertical, not horizontal; Michael Busch is a legitimate Dodger and not an airbrushed Cub; Bobby Miller and Miguel Vargas display the team name rather than "Future Star," and Chris Taylor's positions are different. Everything else is the same.

 

Also it's weird that Will Smith is not in the team set, Austin Barnes is there instead -- meaning this team set doesn't have a chance of winning against another team set.

Now the 2022 one:

I had some of these cards already so it's nice to get the rest of them. I don't really remember the differences other than Chris Taylor is the team set after not being in flagship. I'd go look for the other differences but I have a pounding sinus headache and you probably don't care.

It's nice to get those done though and I should do a better job of finding those team sets!

Jonathan was also helpful with a lot of other pursuits, let's look at more Dodgers:

All needs there, including a couple of prospect signatures. I also appreciate the Mookie Betts Big League orange parallel and the 2002 gold Hideo Nomo. Also, those '02 Victory cards -- I don't have clear ideas on the rareness of 2002 cards, but I know it affected just about every set during that era.

 

The higher numbers in 1993 Pacific ain't easy to get either, so these are two "common" players but both desperately needed for my collection.

 

Oh yes, how about a 1939 Play Ball card of Hot Potato Hamlin to throw off the curve?

That's my fourth '39 Play Ball Dodger. There's a bunch more to get. Almost all the players in this set are rookie cards. It's like baseball began in 1938.

 

Jonathan is really good at paying attention to what complete sets I'm collecting, even if I haven't mentioned them in awhile. So there was ...

 

 ... a whole pile of 2005 Topps. Look at all those 2005 names!! ...

... a smattering of 2021 Chrome Platinum Anniversary, including The Gambler David Fletcher. I'm still at the stage of collecting this casually and don't know if I'll ever get to foolishly trying to finish it. (P.S.: Is that really Pujols?) ...

 

... he even remembered I want every last 2006 Topps insert! (Except I gave up on the Bonds HR history cards). Those Walmart cards (A-Rod and Ortiz) always throw me off as I think they're from the actual original designs. That's what happens when you don't collect between 1995-2005.

There were also some Legends cards thrown in because who doesn't like Legends cards? That Joe DiMaggio Pacific was a need. I also really like that Fleer Red Sox set and find myself picking them up at the baseballcardstore whenever I see one.

Also, this collection always has place for the original legends cards:

Issues? Nah. Not for Hall of Famers.

 

Jonathan also sent this book:

 

 That 2024 team set may have been mind-reading but this was mind-unearthing. While Jonathan was rummaging around in my brain, he dug up this memory. I had this book back in the '70s. It was in a lot better condition (looks like someone was trying to stuff this in their pocket every day), but I don't think I've thought about it since 1977.

 

The inside pages and layout were all familiar, too. I'm sure I read every word. Look at those Brewers Rookies to Watch, good luck with those. The Blue Jays were making their debut and you can tell some of the players were unfamiliar as Jerry Garvin was called "Ted".

 

This is adorable. This is how we delivered breaking news in 1977, created an extra page in the back of the book. (Some sad news in the Late News and I'm not talking about Bill Buckner getting traded).

 

Jonathan added one or two other things but I'm saving at least one for another post. So that was a nice send, full of memories and revelations. Always appreciated.

 

It's also the first of a bunch of nice sends in the past week.

 

So stay tuned!