Marc B Destroys My '82 Topps Want List!

I've been slowly chipping away at the 1982 Topps baseball set for what seems like forever now.  It might not be the best baseball set of the '80s, but it's fairly high up there in my rankings.  It's possible that I am biased by the fact that it came out the year I was born, or by the Ripken RC, which was my most prized card for a good long stretch as a kid collector.  Either way, this is one I've wanted to knock off the list for quite a while.  The problem is, when I got to under 200 cards needed, I sort of moved on to other things.  What can I say?  My biggest problem as a collector is staying focused.

Sometimes all you need is a reminder or kick-start from another collector to get you going again on a forgotten project.  To say that Marc did that with my '82 Topps set would be an understatement.

In a recent package that he sent me completely out of the blue, he went to town on my '82 Topps want list.  There were cards from all the great subsets, like the Highlights and Team Leaders cards above (how about that Rangers logo!)...

...and my personal favorites, the 'In Action' cards.

As you can see, it wasn't just a bunch of commons that Marc sent my way, although that would certainly have been appreciated as well.  Thanks to this package I was able to cross some big Hall of Fame names off my list.  I would have to say this Ozzie card was my single favorite out of the two gigantic stacks.

It's funny how in today's releases I expect action shots, yet in sets that came out decades earlier I'm usually okay with portraits like this.

Here's one I've been anxious to land.  In fact, had I done a better job with upkeep it should have been on my 'Most Wanted' list in the sidebar over there.  As a Boston sports fan this is easily one of the coolest cards in the entire set.  I received a copy once before in a trade, but it was way too beat up to fit in with the rest of my set.  This copy is perfect.  I could dedicate an entire post to this card, and perhaps someday I will.

From the limited amount of reading I do, I seem to see a lot of polarization with collectors when it comes to this set.  I know many people who rank it among their favorites, others who think it's highly over-rated.

How could you not like a card like this, though?  This is actually Dave's rookie.  I think the great Spring Training shot, plainly visible name on the glove, and perfectly placed signature (great penmanship, too) make this one of the better cards in the set.

The 13-year-old in me still snickers every single time I get a new card of this guy.  Never fails.

The straw that stirs the drink!

A trio of All-Stars.  All these scans are in numerical order, which is why they're grouped together.  Love this Fernando card as he was one of the biggest names in sports in the early part of the decade.

Here's one you don't see too often that I enjoy quite a bit.  I think it might fit into the 'so bad it's good' category, with the orange and purple of the border being an odd choice for a card dominated by yellow, green and blue.  Then there's the uniform, that 'stache, and those wings.

Ripken is the big rookie card obviously, but if you look beyond Cal there are some other really nice rookie cards of solid players on the '82 Topps checklist.  Lee Smith may not have made it to Cooperstown, but I'm glad to finally own the rookie of one of the best relievers of his day.

My Red Sox team set was completed thanks to this package.  I'm guessing that's an extremely blurry Green Monster behind Eck?

I would say this is one of my favorite looking cards on the 792-card checklist.  Again, the colors selected for the border seem odd here, but in this case it kind of works.  I can't explain why, just how I feel.

This Jack Morris completed the All-Star subset for me!

It wasn't all big names, Hall-of-Famers and rookie cards, as Marc obliterated the commons I still needed for the set.  Best name, and best signature, in the entire lot goes to this "Shooty" Babitt card.  As an unlisted common I sort of overlooked this card.  Had I realized how great it was I would have picked this one up long ago.

Back to some big names to close out the post.

As in a trio of enshrined players.  Fergie Jenkins sporting an awful Rangers uniform...

...hometown favorite Carl Yastrzemski in a late-career appearance...

...and the hit king.  I'm one of those in the 'let Pete back in' camp.  Are we really gonna let this guy go to his grave banished from the game because of his gambling?  I know it's wrong, and I know he lied about it as well, but he's been pretty open and honest (and seems genuinely sorry) for a long time now.  Mark McGwire is involved in the game again, which is totally fine with me, so why not Pete?  The whole thing just seems like a shame.

This package was so amazing that it knocked every single card off my '82 Topps want list but TWO!  Over 160 new additions to my set, which is in its proper place in a binder, ready for me to slide the final cards in when I get them.  Oh, and this is just one part of the overall package that Marc sent.  It's taken me this long just to get all these scanned and sorted into the binder, but I've got more in store to show off eventually.

Marc, your generosity is just unreal.  Aside from sending me these out of the blue, I can certainly appreciate the time and effort that it takes to identify and sort this many cards off of someone's want list.  Though we've never met (which we should do something about), I consider you a true friend in this hobby.  I'm not sure how just yet, but I'm going to find a way to pack you back for your kindness...

On a side note, if anyone has a spare #111 (Carlton Fisk In Action), or #167 (ERA Leaders w Nolan Ryan) available for trade let me know!