7. A card you bought in person and the story behind it.
Got one of these from a dealer that I'd see regularly at the Chantilly, VA show. He was an older gentleman with only a few showcases who mainly dealt in vintage stars. Usually he had some "off-condtion" stuff that most of his customers weren't interested in. I don't ever need pristine examples of every star card - if they're too perfect they don't seem real. So he had one of these (the scan is not my example, I was just too lazy to unsrew it out of the holder it's in.) as well as a '52 Bowman Duke Snider. The worst defect I can see on mine is a creased corner and maybe a little centering. Needless to say I got a bargain on the pair, and they're two of the oldest star cards I own.
8. A card that reminds you of a family member.
My cousin's name is Charles Hudson. Though he's a skinny white dude born in 1980. '88 Yankee Charles is African American and was born way back in 1959!
9. One of your favorite cards from the 1950s.
My first thought was to consider something from my favorite '50s set - 1959, but I just like the set as a whole. There aren't too many cards that stand out from the whole decade. Then I saw this one in my star binder. "Big Klu" and his trademark sleeveless jersey is the "leading muscle man of the Redleg powerhouse." The uni and the old school team name just make this a consummate 50's card.
10. One of your favorite cards from the 1960s.
I really struggled with this choice. With all the 60's sets, '68 isn't my favorite design, but the "fine" burlap and the right colors is pretty nice looking. I almost went with '68 Ernie Banks because he's so happy. Another choice was '66 Whitey Ford with the Yankees and their stadium, plus Whitey in the follow through pose and the windbreaker under the jersey, but some of those things are associated with different decades. I settled on Bird Belters here mainly because of the clean layout, the multi-player cards that were so cool in the 60's (the shine is lost on the current efforts), and the depiction of the two immortals from my local favorite Orioles.
11. One of your favorite cards from the 1970s.
I picked this Yaz not because of the '74 design (which I do like a lot), or the cool colors (the black and yellow really pop against the red outline and the photo), but because this is one of the original cards I ever had in my possession. I recall starting out with a handful of '74s in junior high school (in '78) And I know Yaz was one of them. The other two I know I had were two Brewers, Pedro Garcia and Eduardo Rodriguez. I don't know when I traded those two away, I just know my specimens now in my complete set are way too nice to be originals.
12. One of your favorite cards from the 1980s.
1982 Donruss reversed negative Phil Garner. I love chasing the variations from the early 80's (and every other decade.) The early 80's is when they came to the forefront. I looked through my '81 Donruss and Fleer sets and could have chosen some of the more subtle errors in the text or the "fingers" on the backs of the Fleers. But I found I was actually missing some of them that I thought I had, and Phil here was the prettiest of all of them anyway.
13. One of your favorite cards from the 1990s.
Three images of the same card out of my Mussina collection. Was looking for the coolest gaudiest insert from the 90's. I was not an active collector for the decade, but I consider it the peak of special effects, materials, and innovations in card construction. This e/x card has some of my favorite things, acetate, varied and elegant fonts, and rainbow reflective areas that aren't overwhelming the design. I don't chase shiny, but I like it when it's used well.
14. One of your favorite cards from the 2000s.
Took this image off the TC database, but I do have one in my complete set. I remember when this and Torii's 2007 Allen & Ginter came out. His expressions are similar on both and pricelessly hilarious without being contrived or forced.
15. One of your favorite cards from the 2010s.
Ginter has one or more gorgeous ladies each year, but they're not usually related to baseball much more than a few of them being fans or reporters. But the First Pitch series that Topps has been doing since 2015 is a great way to put celebs on cards to mix it up and still connect it directly to baseball. They're one of the innovations that Topps CAN take credit for since the exclusive contracts started.
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