variations are the theme

i stopped being a team collector in 2012. that's not entirely true, obviously, but the focal point of my team collecting, up until that point, was my topps flagship and traded/update dodger collection. every year since 1980 or so, i would compile the team set with the players in alphabetical order (team card was in the first slot of the page), combining cards from series 1, 2, and/or traded and update sets in a binder separate from the rest of my dodger collection. even as i went back and completed older dodger team sets - they went in this binder that eventually became two binders. it made it easy for me to flip through the progression of the players for my favorite team.

in 2009, topps started including "legends" variations of base cards, and i went along picking up these short printed cards of jackie robinson and pee wee reese and others. all was fine until 2012 update was released. in that set, topps decided to super short print the players that were involved in the blockbuster trade between the red sox and dodgers. that meant that cards featuring nick punto, carl crawford, josh beckett, and adrian gonzalez would show them as dodgers, but they would be ridiculously difficult to find. i was ticked, as i was really looking forward to that first a-gon dodger card. this meant that my annual ritual of completing the full run of topps flagship "base" dodger cards was over.

here we are, thirteen years later, and i still cannot claim that i've completed my dodger team set from 2012 update. it's the only blemish on my record from 1954 up until that point, and it still annoys me. i did find the beckett card 

for a good price a few years ago (i can't believe i didn't post about it, but i guess i didn't), and then about a year ago i won the gonzalez card

here's the back:

i've told this story before, but i was in los angeles when the trade went down. i remember seeing the crawl on the hotel tv that the dodgers had claimed gonzalez on waivers, but i figured nothing would come of it and that the red sox would pull him back. my son and i went to the dodger game that night, and a guy sitting next to us claimed to have some inside information out of boston and said that there would be a trade. the next night, gonzalez was in chavez ravine.

after adding the gonzalez card, i set up alerts for the punto and crawford cards, but there's been only one hit and it was for an outrageously priced crawford. annoying, but at the same time i decided to look at other dodger topps variations that had eluded me over the years. 

there are still quite a few i am missing in addition to the crawford and punto cards from 2012, although the post-2012 active player short prints and super short prints are different, as they feature players who have a base card as dodgers. so, i could give myself a break but then there are still the legends, who don't have non-short printed cards. i should note that, in 2013, i got caught up in the yasiel puig bliss and wound up buying every photo variation of him and the other dodgers, so that year is complete. 2014, not so much, and not any year since, save for 2015, either. 2022 is close, but still not complete. note that i don't count the variations like the "sparkle" or sabrmetric backs or factory set - just the photo and legend variants from flagship and update packs. here is what i am missing:

2014:

331b yasiel puig future stars

400a clayton kershaw throwing

400b clayton kershaw celebrating

2015:

complete

2016:

150 clayton kershaw blowing bubble

2017:

5 corey seager horizontal

50 clayton kershaw hat off

375 jackie robinson

582 julio urias stretching

597 sandy koufax

597 kenta maeda horizontal

us50 cody bellinger pointing in gray jersey

the 2017 update variations (other than that bellinger ssp) were and are easier to come by than the series 1 or 2 variations. going forward, it seems like these variations (aside from the few ssp) were printed in greater numbers than in previous years.

2018:

42 cody bellinger warmup shirt

350 clayton kershaw t shirt

550 corey seager batting cage

550 corey seager celebrating

599 justin turner blue warm up

this kenta maeda variation

and this sandy koufax variation

are recent additions as i peck away at these needs.

2019:

10 clayton kershaw crouching

10 sandy koufax

41 corey seager blue shirt

178 jackie robinson

507 cody bellinger sliding in outfield

507 pee wee reese

658 max muncy horizontal

665 duke snider

us199 will smith yelling

the legends listed above are ssp.  here's walker buehler's variation from 2019 topps

with some action from the 2018 world series with the green screen advertising panel. muncy's is similar, but with less panel.

2020:

50 cody bellinger horizontal

120 sandy koufax

129 jackie robinson

235 dustin may horizontal

292 gavin lux blue shirt

381 sandy koufax

416 jackie robinson

420 mookie betts hoodie

420 mookie betts horizontal

432 walker buehler batting

432 walker buehler running bases

681 edwin rios holding bat up

u63 jackie robinson

u80 cody bellinger tuxedo

u80 cody bellinger

u90 sandy koufax

u100 david price hard hat

u234 gavin lux in dugout

u234 gavin lux back of jersey

u237 clayton kershaw at podium

u268 mookie betts hard hat

i really dislike the 2020 topps design so maybe that is why i haven't made a bigger dent in this list beyond the couple of variations i have.

2021:

13 mookie betts pointing

13 mookie betts headset

50 cody bellinger batting practice

256 keibert ruiz helmet off

302 jackie robinson

347 jackie robinson smiling with two bats 

450 corey seager trophy

650 trevor bauer camera

us76 victor gonzalez kneeling

us200 albert pujols arm on bat

us200 albert pujols with fielding glove

us294 roy campanella

us309 jackie robinson 

us309 jackie robinson signing autographs 

it's funny - the year after the dodgers won the world series, this walker buehler variation

is one of the only two (seager's is the other) that represents that success.  here's the jackie robinson variation from series 2

the other 347 jackie listed above is an ssp.

2022:

41 clayton kershaw white house podium

50 mookie betts smiling

442 jackie robinson

550 trea turner yelling

us42 jackie robinson signing autographs

us330 freddie freeman batting practice

those needs above are all ssp cards. i made a push to finish off the sp versions over the summer.

cody bellinger

mookie betts

walker buehler

clayton kershaw

max muncy

albert pujols

jackie robinson

and jackie robinson again

that one is an ssp that was priced as just an sp

max scherzer

corey seager

will smith

trea turner

julio urias

those are all from series 1 and 2. here are a couple from update:

roy campanella

jackie robinson

this is another one of those collecting endeavors that will never be completed, and i'll have to be ok with that. in fact, the more variations that were released, the less concerned i became, and with the golden mirrors that started in 2023, i don't care. i'll chase the ones that i want, sure, but the thought of even trying to complete the team set hasn't crossed my mind.

to be truthful, i do consider my flagship teams complete without any short prints, but those 2012 update cards really bothered me. i still have my dodger team sets from flagship and traded/update intermixed in separate binders going up to 2011. eventually i will separate those cards out and put them with the other cards from those respective years, but i'm in no rush to do so. and, if i find those crawford and punto cards, maybe i will wait even longer.

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!