With all of the billyuns and billyuns of card companies out there, some of you are probably wondering, "Why do you only collect Topps? And why just the regular set?" Well, it's because I can see the future, and knew that Topps would be the only company with a Major League Beisbol license starting in 2010 and I wanted all of my cards to match.
I kid, of course. Sort of.
Like most collectors whose blogs I've read, Topps is the brand I collected as a kid. And yes, I'm old enough (but not by much) that Topps was the only brand around back then. Sure, I got a ton of Donruss and Fleer starting in 1981, but that's only because I've always been a compulsive shopper, and who wouldn't want to get the cards from a company's first year? (I didn't realize at the time that Fleer had put out cards before I was born.)
But I always liked Topps the most. I was a stathead - at one time I could have rattled off Steve Garvey's batting average for every year he was with the Dodgers - and Topps always had a ton of stats on the back. Especially in '81, when they added a ton more data to the cards. Donruss and Fleer? Not so much with the stats. And the flimsy white cardboard those other two guys used seemed to bend and fray every time I looked at 'em. So I was a Topps guy through and through.
But mostly, I decided to concentrate on the Topps regular issue because it's the only brand that has been produced throughout the Angels' 49 seasons. It wouldn't make any sense to me to start with twenty years of Topps, then switch to Donruss in '81, Upper Deck in '89 or whatever, and so on. I think having close to 50 years of Angels cards all from the same brand is a heck of a lot cooler, and provides a better (and more consistent) look at the history of the team.
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Good call on Topps Dub. I think they are the only company licensed to use MLB logos going forward. Not sure when that starts but I assume for all 2010 issues. Hopefully this will help people get a grip on what's available for a player in a given year. For an established star it seems there may be well over 100(?) cards a year issued.
ReplyDeleteThanks, man. Topps is Tops!
ReplyDeleteYes, the Topps MLB exclusive starts next year. Upper Deck's been making a big stink about how they'll still be releasing MLB cards, but I imagine they'll end up looking like Topps NFL cards from when I was a kid - all the team logos airbrushed out. I always thought it was the stupidest thing in the world to have a card of Roger Staubach without a star on the side of his helmet. I guess we'll soon see what a Pay-Roid card looks like with no Yankmes logo on his forehead.