I stay put, but the hobby travels north

 

It's another "long weekend" with just two days off for me. But it was enough time for my hobby to travel north for a brief visit.

 

Yesterday I finally paged the 1983 O-Pee-Chee set that I received from Angus of Dawg Day Cards months ago and put them in a binder. It kind of violated my new rule of "no incomplete sets in a binder" as I still need 67 cards to finish it. But I consider it a priority set -- anything from 1983 is -- even if I don't spend much time on it for awhile. It's just a relief to stop staring at that stack.

 

Then today I was sitting in a hospital lab waiting room -- I'm telling you, it's just another Monday around here -- and thought enough to bring some reading material. It was the latest copy of Beckett Vintage Collector with David Clyde on the cover.

 

I've read that story already, and the one after it. But the one up next, that I read fully during my 45-minute wait, was also related to O-Pee-Chee.

 

This was written by my social media friend Kevin, who lives in Canada and interviewed me for one of his stories once. He's really good at finding people to talk to (I don't have quite those hobby connections) and I was particularly impressed with his subjects in this article.

 

The story is about the 1971 O-Pee-Chee set, which is known for being a collecting doozy. It's the first OPC set to match the number of cards in the Topps set, and the '71 Topps set was the largest it had made at the time, at 752 cards. OPC cards weren't printed even close to the rate Topps cards were that year, so the high numbers in particular are difficult to snag. You thought '71 Topps high numbers were tough?

 

This article focuses on the obsessives who not only want to collect the full OPC set, but a graded version, with each card the highest grade possible. I can't conceive of doing something like that. That, to me, seems like a job, not a hobby.

 

But the article was interesting and I spotted something that I don't think I ever realized with this set. I noticed it when I turned to the next page of the article and saw the Eddie Fisher card displayed.

 

 

 It's a high number and the back does not look like the '71 OPC backs that I know.

 

 

That's what I know. The head shot on the back is centered with a sunburst behind it. And there is French on the card. The Eddie Fisher card does not have any French.

 

The Fisher card back looks just like the '71 Topps card backs except the background is yellow instead of green.

 

The Beckett OPC article makes reference to this difference without specifically mentioning it outside of the pictures of high-number card backs. But I shouldn't have been surprised by all this. Just over a month ago, I acquired just my second high-number Dodger from this OPC set.

 

It's Willie Davis -- card No. 585. I was very happy with this purchase. One of my favorites from the past month. But maybe turn that card over to the back, night owl.

 

 

 

Note the similarities to the Topps card. I don't know why OPC changed direction in the middle of the set, but it's rather fascinating. I must not have been paying attention to the '71 Walter Alston OPC card I own, because it's the same way (maybe I thought because it was different because it was a manager card).

 

So that was a nice little detour for some knowledge. Coincidentally I happen to be working on my latest Beckett Vintage article right now. I've received approval for two more articles, which should be showing in the months to come.

 

That's about all I did notable this weekend (outside of watching the Dodgers lose twice on national TV). No, I didn't go anywhere besides the waiting room and work, but at least my hobby took me for a trip up north.