In no time at all

 

When I first started chasing down the 350-or-so cards I needed to finish the 1983 Donruss set, I figured it would take me awhile.

 

I knew it would take longer than when I decided to finally finish the 1982 Donruss set. With that, I just bought a complete set. It cost me something like 50 bucks. Swift and easy. And with these '80s Donruss sets -- even though they include the players that made me want to complete them in the first place -- they're not appealing enough to get into the whole "joy-of-building" scene that we set-collectors are known to love.

 

But I knew I couldn't buy the full set of '83 Donruss and be done with it ... well, I could, but I'm not paying that price for a 1983 set. The Boggs-Gwynn-Sandberg rookies were holding up the quest, and I simply decided just to build it the regular way. Maybe I'll be done in 2026, I figured.

 

But almost two decades into this blog, I'm still underestimating its power and the generosity of collectors.

 

A couple of offers on Bluesky, particularly a huge send from Aaron, efficiently cut my wants down from plus-300 to less than 30 in no time at all.

 

 How about some of those great names?

 

 

 Even more, taking me back to my teenage years.

 

 

 Lots more where those came from, the players who made me love baseball.

 

 

One more round. That's not even all of them, but I've got them all mixed in now. I quickly found a binder for the set and I've been moving some of the new cards into pages with the '83 Donruss cards I had already accumulated.

 

This was a good decision because a mere few days after I received these cards, I got a box in my mailbox from Johnny's Trading Spot.

 

A comment he made on a recent post made me know he would have something for one of my '80s set-builds. I was guessing 1987 Fleer, but was pleasantly surprised when it was 1983 Donruss.

 

 

These are just the ones I needed. Many of the ones Johnny sent were repeats from just a few days prior. (Like with 1982 Donruss I have decent starter sets for both '82D or '83D for someone).

 

But the cards John sent packed even more punch.

 

Titans of my formative collecting years (Look at Dwight Evans wedging himself in with the final needed HOFers -- again!)

 

 

A few more of the greats.

 

So, in no time flat, I went from "A Project" to five cards to get. Granted, two of the rookies are still out there. Here is what's left:

 

277 - Ryne Sandberg

530 - Whitey Herzog

533 - Sparky Anderson

586 - Wade Boggs

Checklist: 443-546 

 

Oh, and I need a 650-Jesus Vega that isn't creased through the center.

 

That shouldn't be any problem at all. The only one that seems like that it will cost me more cash than I want to spend is Sandberg, which just figures as that was one of the original 1983 Donruss cards I owned for years before sending it off in a blog trade well before I decided to get this set done.

 

Still, that's wicked progress even for a plentiful '80s set.