(It's a little noisy around here! I live in a residential neighborhood. There are very few trees on what is a fairly long block. But get to my house and there are several tall and old oak -- or are they maple? -- trees, including two directly in front of my property. They were incredibly scenic at this time of year, but, sadly, this week, they are coming down as they were growing unhealthy and dangerous. I've known these trees for 28 years and it is bizarre seeing a front yard without a roof. The house feels totally exposed. Anyway, due to the noise and commotion, I'm very tired -- those 8:30 a.m. workers -- and my schedule is wrecked, including blogging. But it's still time for Cardboard Appreciation! This is the 343rd in a series):
I have a very good handle on TCMA sets of the 1970s. Those are the first TCMA sets I ever knew, the ones shown in the old TCMA Advertiser that used to come to my house, the first ones that I ever bought, ordering through that publication and waiting however many weeks for them to arrive.
The 1980s? Well, that's a mass of confusion for me when it comes to TCMA. I have a lot of those '80s cards in Dodger form, mostly the various "Greatest" sets that TCMA issued that decade. But I never quite had a handle on what year they were issued and couldn't match the card with the set or the set with the year.
But I've done a little inspecting recently, spurred by a post from Wrigley Wax a couple weeks ago. He was showing off a couple of the TCMA Play Ball Cubs that he recently acquired and that prompted me to look around and see what was available in Dodger versions.
I also looked to see what I had in my collection. The answer: Not much.
They aren't exactly elusive, but unless you're looking for them, they don't land in your lap. Here is my current inventory:
1983 TCMA Play Ball
1942 Play Ball - 0 of 3
1943 Play Ball - 1 of 2
1944 Play Ball - 1 of 3
1945 Play Ball - 0 of 3
1984 TCMA Play Ball
1946 Play Ball - 0 of 3
1985 TCMA Play Ball
1947 Play Ball - 1 of 3
1948 Play Ball - 0 of 3
1949 Play Ball - 0 of 3
Three cards ... that ain't great. One of the three is the Jackie Robinson card from the 1985 '47 Play Ball set that I recently added.
The cards are styled after the original Play Ball sets from 1939-41, the same shape and the front graphic mimics the 1940 Play Ball originals. The 1983 and 1984 TCMA sets feature gray cardboard stock and sepia-toned photos. In 1985, it used white stock and black & white pictures.
Now, a few of you cardboard historians who may not be familiar with TCMA might be saying, "1942 Play Ball?!? 1947 Play Ball?!? 1945 Play Ball?!? What the hell? Nobody was even issuing cards in 1945!!"
Yes, exactly. Isn't that cool? The point of this set was to imagine that Play Ball continued all through World War II, all through the 1940s, instead of stopping after 1941. The cards from those years that Play Ball didn't make cards would showcase players from that era, who didn't necessarily get a Play Ball card -- players like Jackie Robinson.
I operate in somewhat of a haze when it comes to card sets from before the 1950s, so you probably could have fooled me into thinking that these were reprint cards at some point.
I'm not sure if I'm going to set right out to add all the Dodgers from these sets, but it's possible they could be shoved up to near the top of the "get next" want list.
The minds at TCMA were pretty awesome.
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