my favorites of the year

as we close out another year, it's time to look back at some of the cards i've added to my "annual" collections. i've already shown the first of these cards (topps flagship #350), but this post will cover my selections for the other annual collections: topps flagship through the years, favorite dodger, favorite non-dodger, and favorite 2025 dodger and non-dodger cards that i've acquired. first up is the first card that went into these collections, and it's the card i chose to represent 2025 topps in my flagship through the years collection

gunnar henderson's card provides plenty of action and color, and it shows him breaking through the card design. the only real complaint i had about this design was the horizontal cards that were used for player base cards. team cards with the three letter abbreviation (except for the athletics) would have been fine, but to have a player's card with such a different design element or approach seemed wrong to me.

my favorite dodger in 2025 was still clayton kershaw, and i have his topps 1990 35th anniversary card

representing him in that collection for the final time.

my favorite non-dodger in 2025 was still byron buxton, whose 2025 topps chrome xfractor

makes the collection. i feel like all buxton cards should show him making an incredible catch - there are plenty of different plays to choose from! 

as for my favorite cards that i've obtained from 2025 releases, the 2024 dodgers

gave me a lot to be excited about, and that excitement carried over into the 2025 calendar with all of the card releases. that card above is from 2024 topps heritage high numbers, which makes it ineligible - not that it was in the running anyway.

back in 2021, i chose the topps heritage card celebrating the dodgers' world series victory as my favorite that year. this year's heritage card - seen here in its royal blue parallel version

is fantastic and wonderful, but my mind was made up well before heritage was released. that's because when i first saw this card...

favorite dodger card of the year: 

will smith's golden mirror variation knocked out all challengers. knowing that walker buehler wasn't going to get a dodger card in 2025 made this card featuring that moment a classic. it took me a bit to find a second one of these at a decent price to add to the annual collections binder but i made it happen. this card will never not bring a smile to my face.

as for non-dodgers, i was happy early on in 2025 to find brooks lee's flagship rookie card

it features a photo from his rookie debut which i did not attend. i went to the game the following day and had hoped that he wouldn't debut until then. i've mentioned before that he is from near where i grew up and went to the same college as ozzie smith so i had been keeping an eye on his minor league progression.

later in the year, i found tyler o'neill's card in a pack

and admired the stadium club level photography and the pitted green monster. a great card for sure. rod from padrographs also sent me this trevor larnach card 

during the season. it was the very first team color border parallel i'd ever seen in person and i really liked it - so many logos! 

one other contender is the newest card to make its entry - it's jc escarra's topps update golden mirror variation

it first caught my attention because he is wearing jackie robinson's number 42 on his chest protector. of course, these 42 cards have largely been variations (here's the back)

and i am still on the lookout for the dodgers' 2024 topps team card golden mirror with the players wearing the iconic number. i might have decided to pass on escarra's card but when i noticed the detail on his chest protector

i had to have it. in the end, it belongs in my "42" collection as a close second. in time, it might become the favorite non-dodger card i acquired this year, but right now...

favorite non-dodger card of the year:

the fact that i pulled this topps chrome brooks lee rookie image variation refractor from a pack myself made it an instant favorite. sure, lee's season wasn't up to expectations, but he's young and will hopefully break out in 2026.

this is the ninth time that a twins card (tenth if you consider charlie brown to be a twin) has sat in this position and i suppose that makes sense. i assure you, however, that this choice is about lee and a card that i pulled myself and not the team.

i am looking forward to seeing what 2026 brings in the way of cardboard. happy new year!