the final active player pages from the steve garvey binders

twenty-five sheets are all i have in my steve garvey binders of cards from his playing days - excluding smaller and larger sized oddballs.  here is sheet 24:

those cards are:

1. 1987 m&m's
2. 1987 o-pee-chee
3. 1987 o-pee-chee stickers
4. 1987 ralston purina
5. 1987 ralston purina cookie crisp
6. 1987 sportflics
7. 1987 sportflics (factory set)
8. 1987 sportflics team preview
9. 1987 topps

the only difference between the 1987 sportflics card and the 1987 sportflics (factory set) card is that the factory set card has a copyright 1986 mark on the back, while the other card does not.

and, here are the backs

1987 sportflics was the first set to have color photos on the back. go figure.

and here is the last page of playing day cards of the garv - sheet 25

those cards are:

1. 1987 topps tiffany
2. 1988 score
3. 1988 score glossy

i recognize that garvey did not play in in 1988, but i include his final tribute card with the playing days cards.

here are the backs:

so, very soon we will start to see some of the way more than 25 sheets of steve garvey cards that have been issued after his retirement.  stay tuned.

postcards (mostly) from the steve garvey oddball binder

i'm still working my way through the steve garvey oddball binder, although we are getting close to finishing up.  then, it will be on to the card binders.  i've got a few postcard type things lined up for this post, as well as some other, well, oddballs.

this page includes two actual postcards - starting at the top left, there is a 1971 dodgers postcard (sometimes referred to as a 'dexter' postcard), a 1972 jd mccarthy postcard, a 1975 mengler baseball's best 'card', and a 1975 sspc puzzle back

i wrote a little bit about the mengler card here, which is to say i provided a link to a different source.

here are the backs, although they are reversed.  that's the back of the jd mccarthy card in the upper left.  the puzzle back piece is of nolan ryan's torso.

this next sheet is chock full of actual postcards, all issued by the dodgers.  based on what i've been able to find on the internet, i believe they are (starting in the upper left) 1975, 1981, 1977, and 1976 issues.

here are the backs.  again, they are reversed because i just flipped the sheet to scan it, and i didn't rearrange the backs to line up

i've got  a whole mess of other dodger postcards that i should post for posterity.  i'll work on that.

in the meantime, here's another sheet from the binder.  this one includes a 1987 jiffy pop disc, a 1987 m&m's star lineup uncut panel with fernando valenzuela, a 1979 metallic creations card, and a 1979 baseball patches patch of the garv

and the backs

the metallic creations card is sometimes referred to as a 'signature miniature'.

time for one more page.  this one features a really cool 2003 donruss card that was only available when you subscribed to the dodgers' magazine and a manufactured patch/auto card issued by upper deck as part of the 2002 world series heroes set

upper deck identified it as a 'souvenir' patch card, and it was one of the first manufactured patches i remember seeing.  i recall being confused as to why they didn't just use the actual 1981 world series logo, although i did appreciate them recognizing the dodgers as the world champs.  here are the backs, with the authentication of the upper deck card and all the info you could want about the garv courtesy of donruss

in fact, here's a better look at the back of that card

i was so pleased to have found out about this card when it was being offered that i even let my fellow garvey collector/ebay nemesis mrmopar know about it.  it's one of my favorite oddballs for sure.

how to succeed at collecting without really trying

well, i guess you have to try at least a little bit.  in this case, you would need to develop an ebay rivalry with another steve garvey super collector and then start a blog and trade with him instead.  you send him a little 17-card factory team set, and he will send you a big box filled with oddball dodger stuff that you didn't even know existed, plus some cool steve garvey stuff.

yes, i traded with curt from 1978, the year it all began. it wasn't the first time he and i had made a trade, but it was likely the most lopsided.  i had asked him for a scan of a steve garvey sga item, and he obliged.  he also offered to send me a hard copy of it, and i told him i would send him a 2009 topps dodger factory set in exchange.  he didn't mention that he was also going to send a map.

from 1970, that is a aaa map of dodger stadium.  that is pretty cool.  i should have unfolded it and taken a picture of it.  it looks so easy on paper - so many freeways.  still, heed my advice if you go - plan to get there early.  no map will save you from stadium way or the downtown gates.  unless you get off the freeway and use the sunset route, but that's only for people in the know.

here's the garvey sga that started the whole transaction

this is what's on the back

it's all about consecutive game goodness.  the photo is from garvey's 1000th consecutive game, but the sga occurred on the occasion of his moving into fourth place all-time with his 1104th consecutive game.  of course, garvey went on to pass billy williams in 1983, but he was a padre by then.  he played in game number 1118 at dodger stadium, though, and my dad was kind enough to take me to see the game in person.  it is still to this day the only time i have received a steve garvey autograph in person.

more garvey goodness in the box, including this 1977 pepsi glove disc

i was hot and cold with these oddballs until just a few months ago.  i did have a few in my garvey collection, but not more than a couple.  now i have several of the msa discs that came out in the 1970's into the 1980's, including a 1981 blank back (trust me)

and a 1976 towne club version

speaking of discs, there were others in the box - and not just of steve garvey.  here are pedro guerrero

and fernando valenzuela

from the 1984 7-11 slurpee coin set.

fernando and garvey are together forever on this 1987 m&m's panel

those padres hats look really bad without the logo.  they look only slightly better with, however, as we see on this 1984 fun foods pin proof

i am glad curt sent this to me.  it is much easier to store in the binder than the actual pin back.

here's steve garvey in the metrodome, courtesy of the 1986 donruss pop-ups set

it's hard to believe that garvey was part of the home run derby held prior to the 1985 all-star game in minneapolis.  his slugging days were behind him by then, unfortunately.

there really was so much cool stuff in the box.  media guides, team issued photos, union oil portraits (from 1962 and 1982), fernando valenzuela perfect attendance certificates, magazines, and more.  it was the package that keeps on giving.

i'll show two more cards - this one is from 1977 landsman playing cards and features jackie robinson down the third base line

i think jackie is the five of diamonds or something like that.  these are similar to the playing cards that pepsi put out in 1978

last but not least is this 1987 donruss all-stars card of steve sax

with garvey gone, saxy became my favorite dodger and subject of a pretty good pc, but i never did pick up one of these.  now i have one and i hardly even had to try for it.

thanks curt!  that really was an awesome box of goodness.