Just Twenty Cards #1

I'm in a hotel this week. Actually, almost all this year I've spent my weekdays "on the road", living in an apartment on the other side of Tokyo from my home apartment. So moving from a "borrowed" apartment to a hotel isn't much of a change, though it does mean I'll have clean towels and a made-up bed every day. It also means no cooking, so I might have more time to post. I want to clear out my scan folder, and there are about 100 cards I got from that card show back in July to share. There is no common theme, so instead I give you 20 cards with no real purpose!

 I love the original Topps Archives sets, simply because I don't have the original vintage cards. One of these days, I might actually try to build a 1950s Topps set. I doubt it, though - there are plenty of other cards in the stacks that I want more.

 1952 Topps is over-rated though. Yes, it was the first real Topps baseball card set. Yes, it has amazing names and some other great things in it. But the lighted marquee sign is dated, just like many of the 1990s card sets (Pacific Online? www.batterz.com?!). And the 1953-1956 sets have much better images.

 Don't get me started on the 1960s, either. Actually, these zoom-and-enhance rookie star cards aren't as good as the original multi-player issues.

 What would people say about designs like the Mazeroski, Bench, and Williams cards today? "Boring." "Simplistic." "Lazy." But they were clean and left lots of space for the photos.

 Topps was practicing leaving lots of space for relics even back in the 1960s, apparently.

 Rookie Cup, before and after. I wonder if baseball players used the trophies for MnMs or keys and loose change.

 I love Golden Age. There aren't many baseball players in it but there are some fun, obscure names. I can't remember the last time I saw Eddie Gaedel on a card. Rocky Colavito... well, give it a few minutes.

 Don't worry, there'll be some more newer cards coming up in a post or two. Here are two nice refractors to get you started.

But we'll finish the day with two more oddball-ish cards. I had the chance to buy a box of 2013 USA Champions for about $35 last weekend. I didn't do it - it's a great set but I have pretty much everything I want from the release already. But what I really love is that Ted Williams set. I think it was just ahead of its time - if a set like that came out today I bet collectors would jump all over it. Logos, retired local heroes, and lots of interesting topical subsets and inserts.