1988 Topps

1988 was a year I returned back to collecting Topps cards. I felt this set looked much better than the year before, however, looking back on the cards of that year I think I would've selected Fleer if I had thought about it more. But Dad was always a Topps guy so that's where my brothers and I mainly kept our focus.

I was the rebel the year before, breaking away to collect Donruss. Now I was safely back into the fold and we all collected the same set. This turned out to be one of the rare times we'd ever collect the same set together. 

As the years went on and competition in the market became fierce, we started having different like and dislikes to each set that came out. By the time the 90s rolled around I don't think hardly any of us were chasing the same sets by then, which made it harder to complete a set when you couldn't turn to your siblings for help, looking for the extras they had. 

 

1987 Donruss

 When the new Topps cards came out the next year, I couldn't wait. What I saw horrified me. Ugly wooden borders that just looked terrible. I was upset. I didn't want to collect a set of them. That's when Dad showed me two other companies that also printed baseball cards. So I picked one of them instead. My first Donruss set to collect!

Yeah, looking at it now it wasn't that good looking either but it beats what the other two companies were putting out in my opinion. 

These cards came with puzzle pieces you collected to put together a puzzle of an old time baseball player. I decent idea, but it wasn't gum. Dad said years ago they used to have a cherry cookie in each pack that tasted awful. As a kid though, I was willing to give it a try over the poor puzzle pieces in each pack. 

I remember one of the last cards I needed to complete this set was of Rookie Raphael Palmero whom I met at a local card show in Jackson, MS. I asked him what number his card was. He told me. I looked at my list and said "Yeah, that's one of the cards I need to complete my set, so I'll buy it" I paid a nickel, bought his card and he signed it right then and there. 

How rude was I??? Geez, I'm shocked he didn't slap me across the face and tell me to scram. It's wild, but I wouldn't collect another Donruss set for a very long time after this. 

1986 Topps

 This was the was beginning of my collection. My dad bought us each a box of cards for Christmas, which to this day is THE BEST gift I ever received. Why? Because it came with 36 individual packs to open, which made it all the more interesting. 

Plus, did I mention highly manufactured and brittle gum with each pack? The guy that made your jaw hurt after chewing it for a while? Oh yes...heaven!  

I remember my brothers and I putting together sets afterwards. Trading cards to each other so we each could complete a set. Dad was also collecting at the time and got his extra cards out to help us complete ours. It was magical. I remember we even went to the local Wal-Mart (before is was "Super") and bought pages with sheets to put them in. 

I separated mine to go in the book by team rather than number order. (something I would always do going forward) 

To this day, I think so fondly of this set. It's still #1 in my heart, even though in the industry it's considered one of the weakest designs for Topps that decade. In my mind though, nothing ever looked so good!

Baseball Cards

 Beginning in 1986 and continuing through 1994 (the Baseball strike) I collected baseball cards. It was my first real hobby as a kid and I loved it!

There was nothing like breaking open a pack to see what inside! So many good memories, trading with friends and card shops (for credit to buy more cards of course!) And visiting them each week to see what new things had come in. 

There aren't many sports card shops around anymore. I hate it, but it's the just the way the hobby has declined over the past few years. 

I tried getting back into the hobby shortly after Megan and I were wed, but got burned out by what the hobby had become. Just a bunch of people chasing after that one rare insert with complete disregard for building a set. 

There was a fine art to completing a set of cards on your own. I used to love hunting down those last few singles needed to complete my set. And this was before the age of ebay and the internet, so at times it could take months before it was accomplished. 

But my goodness....how I would go back to those days in an instant if I could, just to recapture the good times I had looking over my collection, one card at a time in a book or my hobby boxes. 

Since baseball season has officially kicked off (Let's Go Mets!) I wanted to take the next few weeks to share with you each set I completed for every year I was in the hobby. 

Tomorrow, I'll start with 1986. C-ya then!

Frank's Red Hot

 Extremely underrated hot sauce. Not very hot but very tasty. It's replaced tobasco for me at this point. I always looked at this as a "cheap" hot sauce. But after trying it last year at my parents house, I really got a taste for it and now I choose it over most sauces when I'm looking for something with more taste that heat. 

If it's been a while since you've tried it (or you've never tried it at all) give it a shot. I think you may be surprised!

Have a good weekend folks!

Fog on the windshield

 I am SPOILED having a garage. The other day I had to park outside and forgot to put the car back in the garage. I woke up to fog on the windshield and a 5 minute delay getting out that day. 

Ever since I moved out of my apartment both houses I've gotten came with enclosed garages. And I realize I take it for granted a lot. 

I don't even know where my handheld wiper is I used to use when I living in apartments back in the day to avoid running the defrosters forever. 

Anyway, that's my thought for the day. 

World Beyond Season 2 (Review)

It was after finishing this show that I’d realized I never gave my review on the final season of the show. And now that I’ve seen this, I miss Fear the Walking Dead.

Why they made a show about bratty kids in the Walking Dead universe I’ll never know. This season can be summed up like this: Kids get separated within the Central Republic, kids come back together, escape and ruin the Republic’s plans of wiping out the Portland colony.

Now imagine that but with 10 drawn out boring episodes and you got it.

There was however a silver lining to the series. Jadis from the original series comes back and we find out what happened after she left the show with Rick Grimes. Thereby building up the next story I can along assume is in his mini-series.

Overall, this series was horrible. It ends with the kids going their separate ways and Jadis taking over the military. (begging fans to demand a 3^rd season) Thankfully, it didn’t work and they pulled the plug on the whole series.

But not without teasing fans with a marvel-like stinger after the credits of the last episode. One that harkens back to season 1 of the original Walking Dead series. Bringing back a character (post mortem) via video that helps tie an overarching story together and point to what felt like an evadable end.  Though this show ended and 2021 and 4 years later Walking Dead spinoffs are still going strong.

And yes…I am a bit curious as to watching them now. Not anytime soon mind you, but as bad as World Beyond was, it did point to an end of the zombies (as well as a new breed of fast moving walkers) that piques my interest.

For now, I’m happy watching something else but in the future, who knows?