some things were not so different five years ago

after having a saved search for a couple of months, i purchased a 2019 topps dodgers factory team set to complete my run from 2006 - 2024 (no sets in 2021). after receiving it, i sort of recalled why i didn't bother picking it up in real time - the cards are all the same save for the logo placement on some of them. let's take a look anyway, shall we?

here's the back of clayton kershaw's card

with the changed numbering and set affiliation.

flagship is on the left, team set on the right.

ld-1 clayton kershaw

complete with the open fly.

ld-2 cody bellinger

ld-3 walker buehler

ld-4 justin turner

ld-5 pedro baez

ld-6 max muncy

ld-7 corey seager

ld-8 enrique hernandez

ld-9 rich hill

ld-10 ross stripling

ld-11 kenta maeda

ld-12 joc pederson

ld-13 chris taylor

ld-14 julio urias

ld-15 david freese

ld-16 kenley jansen

ld-17 austin barnes

some decent photo choices by topps, but i would have liked some variety between the two sets. i think i remember why i didn't bother with this set in 2019.

if you are interested, here's the running list of these posts. 2016 and 2018 are still partial set posts, and i doubt that i will ever go back and complete them. remember that there was no team set issued in 2021. otherwise, click and enjoy!

2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016

2017
2018

2020

2022

2023

2024

what difference does seven years make?

i decided to try to fill in the blanks of my annual comparison posts between the topps flagship dodgers and their cards that are in the factory team set releases. those are the cards that are sold in blister packs and are numbered differently from the flagship sets. sometimes, there are photo (or other) variations, too.

as noted in the 2024 post, for some reason i did not purchase the 2017 team set back when it was released, but i have it now so here we go. remember, it's flagship on the left, team set on the right

lad-1 clayton kershaw

the only difference is the placement of the topps logo. as you will see, the factory set has the logo placed with equal side and top margins. flagship has the logo situated such that it is further from the top of the card than the side. i prefer the factory set format.

and here are the backs - flagship:

and team set:

topps eliminated the personalized twitter handles in favor of their hashtag on the factory set cards.

lad-2 andre ethier

same

lad-3 alex wood

same

lad-4 joc pederson

same

lad-5 scott van slyke

same. it's odd to me that scott van slyke was featured in the set but yasiel puig was not.

lad-6 yasmani grandal

same

lad-7 enrique hernandez

i could have rotated the landscape cards, but why bother? there's no difference between flagship and the factory set here.

lad-8 kenta maeda

same

lad-9 chase utley

same

lad-10 julio urias

same

lad-11 kenley jansen

same

lad-12 trayce thompson

same

lad-13 corey seager

no more rookie cup for seager, who was the 2016 national league rookie of the year. this is going to wind up being the only real difference in the whole set.

lad-14 justin turner

same

lad-15 andrew toles

same

lad-16 rich hill

same

lad-17 adrian gonzalez

same

i think i remember why i didn't bother with this set in 2017.

if you are interested, here's the running list of these posts. 2016 and 2018 are still partial set posts, and i have yet to find the team set from 2019. remember that there was no team set issued in 2021. otherwise, click and enjoy!

2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2018

2020

2022

2023

2024

i maeda trade

the first person to reach out and let me know that they could help me with my 2024 topps series 2 set completion was ryan from "o" no another orioles blog. he sent a nice stack of needs, including old friend kenta maeda

and i tell you what - i really like how the tigers' home uniforms work with the 2024 topps design!

that wasn't the only maeda card in the package - ryan also sent this 2016 topps update walmart exclusive rookie card

and, ryan included some other 2024 topps goodies such as chris taylor's rainbow foil parallel

beyond that, there were a host of dodger needs, such as a 2021 topps corey seager green foil parallel

and a 2022 topps allen & ginter jackie robinson mini a&g back parallel

those two guys represent the dodgers' most recent and first rookies of the year. i think it's a good bet that seager remains the dodgers' most recent roy for another year as paul skenes seems like a lock for the award this year.

finally, perhaps my favorite card of the bunch was this one

it's a 2005 upper deck espn insert of eric gagne. similar to the fleer sports illustrated cover inserts from earlier in the decade, this one is from an issue of espn the magazine. i didn't buy too many issues of that periodical, although i think i did have a subscription one year. i hadn't seen this issue before, but it looks good on cardboard!

thanks ryan!

the almost daily dodger - kenta maeda

i finally added the kenta maeda short print from 2016 topps archives to my collection last fall

it shows him on the 1991 topps design with a photoshopped uniform. there were three dodgers in the 10-card short print part of the set!

the dodgers traded maeda away after the 2019 season for brusdar graterol, and he had a very strong 2020 season with the twins (he finished second in the american league cy young voting). this year, he will be pitching for the tigers in the first of a two-year deal. i was thinking that the dodgers might reacquire maeda to help with their rotation, but it looks like they've done ok in that regard in the time after he signed with detroit!

these cards maeda my day

he may not pitch for the dodgers any longer, but i can still get excited about adding kenta maeda cards to my collection. i recently added two numbered parallels, in fact, including this very nice 2016 topps finest gold card

and this red parallel 2016 donruss optic card

from kevin aka the diamond king. he also threw in a pink wave refractor of craig kimbrel

from 2022 topps chrome update, which i was also happy to accept. these cards were in return for me sending a couple of 2016 topps julio urias cards kevin's way, and i think he may have overcompensated me!

earlier in the spring, i received a text from mr. haverkamp letting me know that there would be something showing up in my mailbox around opening day. here is what he sent:

you have likely seen these cards if you do any player searches on ebay. it's an aceo card by edward vela, and there are a few garveys out there. here's the back:

i've never pulled the trigger on any of these, but i am happy to have one. jim reported that he came across a seller at a show that had quite a few for sale. thanks for thinking of me, jim!

before that even, i received some cards from nachos grande as part of his "not so secret santa" project. i was happy to find a couple of 1995 score summit dodgers that i needed

among the stack of cards that were sent. so happy, in fact, that i went out and picked up billy ashley's card

to complete the team set

chris also sent a trio of vlads that i needed

hailing from 1999 pacific, 1999 topps opening day, and 2000 topps stars. merry belated christmas!

bo at baseball cards come to life reached out to me earlier this year to see if i wanted some 2006 bowman chrome dodgers that he had found. i sure did!

there was also one from 2007

and all were needs that i was able to check off the want list. thanks bo!

more recently, jon at penny sleeves held a ridiculous giveaway that many of us benefitted from. i claimed a few cards, including this 2012 panini cooperstown

insert that extolls the virtues of don drysdale's career.  jon also sent me a 2017 topps silver pack jackie robinson card

so much generosity out there in the blogosphere - thanks to all for contributing to my collection!