some good things from topps (and panini) in 2015 and contest results

imagine opening a pack of cards in 2015 and finding a 1978 topps steve yeager card.

someone out there had that experience, and then decided to sell that card to me.  the only two buybacks i have ever pulled from a pack were a 1992 topps joel skinner card in (i think) 2001 topps, and a 1971 o-pee-chee bob lemon card from 2009 upper deck opc - neither of which had any stamp to distinguish it from a non-buyback card.

i also went out and bought a few other cards that struck my fancy from one of this year's releases - in this case 2015 topps archives.  i was happy to see that topps used the 1957 topps design, and that they did it better than they did in 2006 when they washed it out with heritage.  here's don sutton

clayton kershaw

and a nice surprise, vladimir guerrero.

it's good to see the expos logo on cardboard.

here's the last '57 i picked up from archives, yasiel puig

i wish they would have used photos from inside dodger stadium, however, as one of the best things about the '57 set is the stadium backgrounds on many of the cards.

topps did use dodger stadium in the background for this mlb the show puig insert

which is nice.

it's not dodger stadium on this robbed in right insert

but at least the effort behind the insert set is appreciated, unlike some of the series 2 inserts (hot streak, stepping up, etc).

i really like this 2015 panini diamond kings puig aficionado card

it's good enough to make me forget that it's an unlicensed card.

back to some 2015 topps stuff, here's a nondescript 2015 topps gypsy queen card of adrian gonzalez

i think gypsy queen has run its course.

topps heritage, however, has somehow made me appreciate the 1964 and 1966 sets more than i did in the past over the last three years. here's gonzalez on a 2015 heritage league leader card

he was the first dodger to lead the league in rbi since matt kemp in 2011.  not so long, but before that, you would have had to go back to 1962 and tommy davis.

one of my favorite insert sets this year was the jackie robinson story set.  i've picked up the last four that i needed to complete the set, including these two (the other two were sent to me by wes at jaybarkerfan's junk).

now when i see branch rickey, i think of han solo.

this may be my favorite insert of 2015, however. it's clayton kershaw on a team spirit card from 2015 topps opening day.

he's tipping his cap to the dodger stadium crowd just as i am tipping my cap to those of you who've been reading these posts of mine over the past not-quite seven years.  and to the two of you who took the time to enter my contest.  as you may recall, it consisted of identifying the 31 cards that have made up my header for the past six-plus years.

neither of you got them all, but alec got 29 out of 31 and john was not too far behind.  here are the answers:

this list might be easier to read:

1. 1987 topps fernando valenzuela

2. 1995 topps national packtime mike piazza

3. 2004 donruss team heroes rickey henderson

4. 1978 topps dodger team/checklist (graded)

5. 2005 topps all-time fan favorites pedro guerrero

6. 1989 upper deck orel hershiser

7. 2007 upper deck russell martin

8. 1971 topps jim lefebvre

9. 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams kirk gibson

10. 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts jackie robinson

11. 2001 upper deck legends don drysdale/kevin brown reflections in time

12. 1978 o-pee-chee steve garvey

13. 2004 topps robin ventura

14. 2001 upper deck decade '70's ron cey

15. 2005 upper deck sweet spot classic maury wills jumbo patch

16. 1987 fleer bill russell

17. 2001 upper deck gold glove shawn green

18. 1974 topps dave lopes

19. 1992 topps darryl strawberry

20. 1981 topps jack perconte/mike scioscia/fernando valenzuela

21. 2003 topps all-time fan favorites steve yeager autograph

22. 2008 topps dodger factory set dodger stadium

23. 2002 topps american pie duke snider american sluggers blue

24. 1956 topps don zimmer

25. 2004 topps world series highlights kirk gibson

26. 2007 upper deck nomar garciaparra

27. 2001 upper deck legends of new york pee wee reese

28. 1989 fleer world series dodgers team/champions

29. 1997 bowman hideo nomo

30. 1962 topps nl strikeout leaders sandy koufax/stan williams/don drysdale

31. 1999 upper deck century legends mike piazza

i admit, the garvey was impossible to discern as o-pee-chee, and the 1995 piazza and the american pie snider were almost completely obscured (kudos to alec for identifying the snider, though).  thanks to both who took the time to give it a shot - since there were only two of you, i'll send more cards than i had previously advertised.

are they not all-stars?

hey folks! it's all-star tuesday, as if you didn't know.  seems like a good time to show some cards that i had thought came from an all-star set. a while back, i found this card in a repack

i recently found the entire set on sale, and so i now have two kershaws and a hanley ramirez

to complete the dodger team set.

i considered that set to be a 2014 topps national league all-stars factory set and went about my business.  however, i more recently came across the 2015 set, which included clayton kershaw

and yasiel puig

and a smaller national league logo.

the set also included this double play turn card of the cubs' javier baez

at this point, i did a double take, because baez was nowhere near an all-star last year, hitting just .169 in his limited time in the majors.  it turns out that these sets are simply a selection of national league players, which i should have known since hanley wasn't an all-star while with the dodgers, either. 

this card, however, is an all-star card

given out at last year's fan fest activities in minneapolis, and it features that ol' blockhead charlie brown whose creator hailed from saint paul.  i would give a hearty 'auuuuuugh!', but even though those factory sets aren't meant to be all-star sets, i'll still keep the dodgers, so there's no need for frustration here.

more cards from across town

earlier today, i posted some of the cards that fellow twin-citian brian (he of the highly subjective and completely arbitrary blog) sent my way.  there are more to be shown and enjoyed.  like this 1998 upper deck collector's choice of raul mondesi signing autographs at dodger stadium on photo day.

photo day, which used to be called camera day back when i was a kid, is when fans can arrive early and go on to the field (stay behind the barriers, folks) as the players walk slowly by and stop to pose for a picture of sign an autograph or two.  the first time i ever went on the field at dodger stadium was on photo/camera day circa 1979.  i've been on the field once or twice since then, but only for concerts.

here's a 1995 topps stadium club card of delino deshields also signing autographs

but he's on the road somewhere, not at chavez ravine.

also from 1995 topps stadium club, here's a close up of a concerned looking eric karros

that is actually a virtual reality parallel.  perhaps karros is pondering the age old question, "what is real?"

or maybe he is trying to figure out who is on the front of this 1998 topps mystery interleague match-up card

it could be karros, it could be mike piazza, but it could also be an angel.  i haven't peeled off the front to find out.  i'll keep karros guessing.

brian included a few inserts from 2015 topps series 2, which is nice because i haven't bought much of that product.  here's melissa mccarthy getting ready to throw the first pitch at dodger stadium

i understand that the pitch came out of her hand "like lava".

2015 topps adrian gonzalez stepping up insert

2015 topps clayton kershaw hot streak insert

41 innings is impressive.  zack greinke is currently at 35.2 scoreless innings.  he still has 23.1 to go to catch orel hershiser.  incredible.

2015 topps yasiel puig hot streak insert

it would be nice for puig to get on a hot streak again sometime.

brian also hit a couple of peculiarities in my collection.  this is a non-dodger dodger card from 2005 donruss throwback threads of kazuhisa ishii

it's really a mets card, but it's got a dodger on it, so it belongs in my collection.

brian also sent along this 1995 topps stadium club carlos garcia card

featuring nothing but dirt - a tatooine card to end the trade post.

thanks brian! i'll get a return package out to you soon!

six of nine from 2 x 3 by pwe

i was the lucky recipient of another plain white envelope from jeff at 2x3 heroes a week and a half ago.  it was a happy coincidence, as it landed in my mailbox the same day that i sent a couple of pwe's and 12 packages out into bloggerland.  one of the packages was sent jeff's way, but i think i need to get another together soon.  here are six of the nine cards that jeff managed to send my way in a standard number 10.

2014 topps chrome zack greinke gold parallel

greinke's got to be the nl starter for the all-star game, right?  and, he's got to exercise his opt-out clause with the poor run support that the dodgers are giving him, right?  i hope i'm wrong about that last one.

2015 topps adrian gonzalez career high relic

at first glance, i thought this card was all about gonzalez's career best postseason ops, so i took a quick look, and gonzalez did, in fact, have a 1.091 ops in the 2013 nlcs, but his 0.833 ops in the nlds that year would bring his total postseason ops down into the .900s. however, topps does a good job on the back letting me know that they are only referring to the 2013 nlcs with this card - hence the "postseason series" text that i overlooked when i first saw this card.  as a matter of record, in his other postseason appearances, gonzalez posted an ops of .828 with the padres in 2006 and a paltry .610 with the dodgers last year.

2015 topps sandy koufax stepping up insert

and johnny podres stepping up insert

now, i would imagine that 'stepping up' usually refers to a batter.  in fact, the phrase 'step up to the plate' has infiltrated everyday lingo, and the cards feature home plate in the background.  so, why feature two pitchers on these stepping up inserts?  i guess "toeing the rubber" doesn't quite have the same sound.  topps does let us know on the backs that they consider koufax to have 'stepped up' in his second big league start back in 1955 when he threw a two-hitter, and podres, of course, 'stepped up' to shutout the yankees in game 7 of the world series that year.  it's nice to see podres continue to get some topps love, but maybe they could throw some attention to don newcombe or carl erskine or even carl furillo once in awhile.

2015 topps yasiel puig heart of the order insert

topps acknowledges on the back of the card that puig has typically hit in the number 2 spot.

there was one non-dodger card in the bunch, and it was this 2015 bowman michael taylor card

featuring a tatooine shot.

thanks as always, jeff.  hope you enjoyed the stuff i sent your way!

i chose wisely

i mentioned in the earlier post today that i chose what turned out to be a dud of a rack pack of 2015 topps stadium club from the target shelves, but that i had also ordered some singles off of sportlots.  being able to choose specific cards means that i was not disappointed with the subsequent envelope that showed up in my mailbox.  have a look.

2015 topps stadium club fernando valenzuela

i have wanted this card ever since it was first shown on the sell sheets for the set.  it features fernando up in one of the pavilions at dodger stadium signing autographs, and is a great card with a great image from a great time in dodger history.

2015 topps stadium club yasiel puig

another great dodger stadium shot that showcases something not usually seen on cardboard - clouds and a nice socal sunset.

2015 topps stadium club dusty baker

another shot from dodger stadium - vintage johnnie b. baker.  much better than baker as a brave which was the case with allen & ginter previously

2015 topps stadium club josh beckett

i was really happy to see that beckett got a card in the set.  it's a final tribute, too, so here are the stats on the back

in addition to adrian gonzalez on the front of the card, we get a glimpse of drew butera.  this may be the only cardboard on which butera (who has never hit over .200 in any season) appears as a dodger.

speaking of lurkers, here's don newcombe lurking on jackie robinson's 2015 topps stadium club card

and here's robinson lurking on larry doby's card from the set.

but we aren't done with dodger lurkers yet, as alfredo griffin makes a cameo on former dodger lenny harris's 2015 topps stadium club card

that card features a play at second, but not a double play.  i did grab a couple of twin killing cards, however, including carlos baerga

and brandon crawford

both feature world series double plays, too.

last but not least is this 2015 topps stadium club kevin gausman card

that i purchased due to the fact that he's wearing the alternate black jersey, and so it has the orange text tom clancy memorial patch.  i've updated the post specific to that patch, by the way.

it's tough for me to refrain from purchasing packs every once in a while, and i won't go back to swearing off packs as i did at some point in the past, but it does make a lot more sense to pick cards up on the secondary market.

the annual topps/topps dodger team factory set comparison

with the release of 2015 topps series 2, i figured it was time to address the differences between the topps 17-card factory dodger team set and the good ol' flagship cards.  last year, as you might recall, there was a dodger stadium card included in the factory set (which was nice, but had become somewhat repetitive), and the only other variation was the orientation of brian wilson's card.

before i begin with the side-by-side stuff, i'll note that topps did not add a set descriptor to the backs of the factory team set cards, as they are numbered 'lad-#', with clayton kershaw being the first card up.

so far, only series one and series two have had the descriptor above the card number.

here we go - flagship on the left, factory team set on the right.

lad-1 clayton kershaw

the only foil on this year's flagship cards is the topps logo, and the factory set cards replace it with white fill.  that's the only difference between these two cards.

lad-2 andre ethier

ethier, who was probably on the fence as far as inclusion in the factory set, has essentially the same card.  the only difference is the location of the topps logo.  i would have thought that justin turner had as good a chance as ethier to make this year's checklist.

lad-3 yimi garcia

yimi's topps logo remains in the same spot, but his rookie card designation got moved, which is an improvement over the flagship card.

lad-4 adrian gonzalez

the topps logo made a move on gonzalez's card, which i see as an improvement.

lad-5 zack greinke

again, the topps logo moved, but everything else remains the same.

lad-6 aj ellis

this is the star of the set, folks.  the series two card shows ellis in his catcher gear on the road while the factory set used a photo of ellis from last year's playoffs - nlds game 1 at dodger stadium - in which ellis hit a home run.  he was 4 for 5 in that game, but has only 12 hits in 26 games this season.

lad-7 carl crawford

nothing to see here except the transient topps logo

lad-8 brandon league

another topps logo relocation

lad-9 joc pederson

the topps logo remains in place, but the rookie card designation migrated to the other side of the card.

lad-10 yasiel puig

no change

lad-11 hyun-jin ryu

the topps logo moved to a better location.  seriously, does topps give no thought to where the logo appears? there is no consistency as far as one corner or the other, so i would think that if the logo were to be moved, there would be some effort to put it where it doesn't land on top of a players' elbow.  i guess not.

lad-12 yasmani grandal

ok, now i've come to the point where maybe i should have waited to do this post.  grandal had a card in series one, but he was shown as a padre.  the factory set photoshopped him into todd hundley's old uniform, which is actually a good job by topps. grandal wore number 8 with the pads, but switched to number 9 for the dodgers, and topps took notice of that.  anyway, grandal should get a card in the update set and we will have to wait and see whether or not it matches this one.

*edit - grandal's update card is, indeed, different than the topps dodger factory set

lad-13 jimmy rollins

topps did get rollins switched over to a dodgers uniform in the flagship set, but they did not do as well with his photoshopping as they did with grandal.  i guess that they did not anticipate him wearing number 11 as a dodger, even though that was the number he wore for most of his phillies career.  oh, there's no substantive difference between the two cards.

lad-14 howie kendrick

kendrick is in the same boat as grandal - he had a card in series one as an angel, and so we must wait until update is out to make a comparison between his dodger cards.

*edit - kendrick's update card shows him at the bat, so that's nice

lad-15 juan uribe

uribe should be in update, too, but he'll be wearing a braves uniform.  here, only the topps logo location is different between the two cards.

lad-16 kenley jansen

same.

lad-17 brandon mccarthy

mccarthy made four starts as a dodger, and was 3-0.  it helps when the team averages about 8 runs per start, however, as mccarthy's era was just under six. as for his photoshopped cards, topps got the number right, and then decided that the logo would look better in an already cluttered upper right corner instead of the open and dark upper left corner.

so, no dodger stadium card. no don mattingly card. no alex guerrero or carlos frias or justin turner, for that matter. just some strange decisions on logo placement and a second guessing of photo selection for aj ellis. maybe grandal and kendrick will get real dodger photos in update and there will be three variant cards in the factory set when it's all said and done. we'll have to wait and see.