the '90s are here

last season, the dodgers had more players wearing numbers from the 90's than in any other year. kevin kiermaier flipped his usual 39 (retired by the dodgers for roy campanella) and wore 93 during his stint with the team. here he is on a 2024 topps chrome update prism refractor

short-timer dinelson lamet wore 94 during his stint with the dodgers. he pitched in three games and was featured in 2024 topps update

his three dodger appearances plus a topps card matches fellow 90's numbered dodger onelki garcia, but is still more than zach lee and bruce brubaker.

and then there is landon knack, who wore 96 for the dodgers last season.

that is a 2024 topps chrome update aqua & blue lava lamp refractor, by the way.

not pictured are michael peterson (i was really hoping to see a dodger card of the brit) who wore 90, and joe kelly who turned to number 99 when he vacated 17 for shohei ohtani, but hasn't had any cards released with his new, higher number.

99 was first pioneered for the dodgers by manny ramirez, seen here on a 2010 bowman chrome refractor card

and was also worn by hyun-jin ryu, who is featured on this 2014 topps tribute forever young relics orange parallel

i remember it sort of being a big deal when joe beimel became the first dodger to wear a number from the 90's in 2006. these days, it's just another series of numbers.

there's sutton happening here

for what it's worth, every few months i search for don sutton cards. i'm mainly looking for his post-dodger oddballs that aren't in my collection yet, but will still bite on dodger sutton cards too! one of my recent searches turned up a 2019 panini diamond kings 1983 retro signature materials holo blue parallel

for a ridiculously low price, especially as it is numbered to only 10. 

that prompted me to keep looking, and i found some more decent deals.

that's a 2015 panini cooperstown red parallel numbered to 35

and that is a 2004 playoff absolute memorabilia spectrum parallel

this 2016 topps gypsy queen card

is a short print

this 2018 topps tribute card

is just the base

and a couple from 2021 - topps allen & ginter x

and a refractor parallel

from 2021 topps chrome platinum anniversary 

you may have noticed that all of the cards above are pre-perm sutton. that's not how i remember him, so let's see some curly hair!

here is a parallel from 2022 topps chrome platinum anniversary

it's a yellow ray wave refractor, and it makes me think of corn.

panini has been including sutton in recent sets...

that's a 2024 panini crusade red parallel, and this

is his 2024 panini donruss diamond king insert. sutton was a diamond king as a brewer in 1985, but never as a dodger, so this was the only card featured in this post that i went looking for specifically.

my searching found me looking at 2024 panini prizm cards, however, and i bit on sutton's ruby wave prizm parallel

i stopped short of rainbow hunting, though. at least for sutton.

i couldn't help myself when i saw tommy lasorda's card

from base to ruby wave and various colors and patterns in between.

i wish topps had featured sutton in last year's 1989 35th anniversary inserts, but seeing him in other releases is a pleasure, too.

so much more than green

it's that day of the year when i typically show off some shawn green cards that i've acquired over the past few months. i don't aim to disappoint, so here's his 2024 topps archives fan favorites autograph

on the 2000 design. here's the back:

green's original 2000 topps card was one of the first to show him in dodger blue, but it featured a posed spring training shot. i like this card image more. i do wonder about the back - why did topps go for cities/states rather than team nicknames? the back of green's original 2000 card says "blue jays" all the way down. 

here's another one - 2005 donruss leather & lumber naturals insert

and one more - 2001 topps hd

that card was the penultimate one i needed to complete the dodger team set. here's the last card i needed - it's kevin brown

and brown is, of course, not green.

to continue the green theme, have a look at some other newish cards to my collection:

2009 upper deck spectrum matt kemp green

2011 bowman matt kemp green

2011 topps triple threads roy campanella emerald

2020 topps finest mookie betts green

that one came from sluggo a few months back, as did this next one

2021 topps walker buehler green foil

2021 topps gypsy queen walker buehler green

2022 topps gypsy queen max muncy green

2022 topps mookie betts gypsy queen green

and now back to 2024 topps archives for steve garvey's fan favorites autograph, in green parallel form

here's the back:

steve garvey side eye!

i don't care too much for colored borders on the 1995 design, but i did buy garvey's gold parallel, too.

it's more of a 2002 topps flagship gold than, say, a 2015 topps update gold

as modeled by joc pederson

2015 was a good year for colored parallels due to the card design and patterning of the border. here's a black parallel, also from update, of brett anderson

and, for comparative purposes, here's a black parallel from 2012 topps update (featuring jamey wright)

10 years later, we have a tyler anderson royal blue parallel from 2022 topps update

i've seen a couple of these royal blue parallels that almost look black

how about some purple? here's a 2010 topps chrome russell martin purple refractor

plus a 2012 bowman chrome ted lilly purple refractor

and a 2013 bowman chrome andre ethier purple refractor

it's not as bright as ethier's but i like lilly's dusk at dodger stadium card a lot more.

here are some 2013 topps chrome orange refractors

i am just two dodgers away from a complete team set of those.

pink is a color used on cards, too, and here's a 2020 topps chrome pink refractor parallel of mookie betts

i thought that this next one was also a pink refractor, but it turned out not to be.

that's a 2022 topps chrome magenta refractor parallel, sent by sluggo. it's numbered to 399 on the back

which was the only way i knew it wasn't pink. once i got the card to my dodger binders, i saw that the pink refractors from 2022 are a lighter shade.

here are a couple of cards dressed in yellow - 2020 topps update clayton kershaw

and 2024 topps emmett sheehan

the 2024 full border works better for colorization than the file folder border on 2020 cards.

i recently ordered some cards from burbank, including two copies of this 2011 topps rafael furcal red parallel

this is a factory set exclusive parallel, numbered to 245. i got one for the dodger collection and one for the double play collection.

i also ordered a couple of yasiel puig parallels from 2016 topps triple threads

those are amethyst and emerald, which are fancier ways of saying purple and green. however, let's stick with emerald as i show you the largest color border endeavor i took on over the past few weeks.

i completed my 2013 topps emerald parallel dodger team set with these three cards 

plus zack greinke's

when these were first introduced in 2013, i was really smitten, but at some point i stopped working on the team set. i'm glad to have it done now.

i also completed the update team set in emerald fashion

with hyun-jin ryu

and yasiel puig

rookies being the last couple of cards i needed.

one reason the color cards from 2013 struck a chord with me was the expansive border space, and now i've started working on obtaining the last few walmart blue 

and target red

parallels i need from 2013 to complete team sets in those colors, too. wish me the luck of the irish!