a team set 30 years in the waiting

about three years ago, i came across this 1996 topps mike piazza card

here's the back:

if you are familiar with the 1996 topps set, you know that the card front and back are a mismatch. the "star power" subsets had a monthly breakdown of stats. here are the two piazza card backs from the 1996 topps set for your reference:

however, i didn't buy the card because of the back situation - i bought it because it has this addition under the topps logo

that graphic (which matches a jersey patch the dodgers wore) denotes the 35th season of dodger stadium which occurred in 1996 (note to topps - this is how heritage buybacks should be named, as this wasn't the 35th anniversary but rather the 35th year that the dodgers played in the stadium. saying a 1977 card has a 50th anniversary in 2026 is just wrong).

sorry for the rant. 

a little bit of research told me that this was a 1996 topps team topps dodgers card, from a factory sealed set! now, this predates the team sets that are sequentially numbered with a team related prefix by ten years, and i was very unaware that this set even existed.

since finding the piazza card, i've had a couple of ebay searches running with no luck until late last year when someone in alaska of all places listed this 

for sale. still sealed! i placed a bid and wound up being the only bidder, winning the set for less than the current blister team sets sell for.

i did consider keeping it sealed, but ultimately opened it to reveal the full set within:

the backs are identical to the flagship backs - here's nomo's card back

with just those two piazza backs being swapped. 

i took a photo of the back of the packaging, because it held more information

the package contained a 16 card team set, plus a bonus 15 card pack and a bonus "big" topps card. here are the team set and the bonus card pack - front:

and back:

even though there are rockies on both sides of the bonus pack, it's not a rockies team set. there are just 13 random cards from 1996 topps in between with no additional logos. in fact, only a few teams were given these team sets - braves, orioles, cubs, white sox, indians, dodgers, yankees, mariners, and rangers - according to tcdb. each set had a special logo (some have a team specific logo like the dodgers and some have a "team topps" logo). to make things stranger, these were sold only at walmart (again, according to tcdb).

here's a scan of the cardboard insert

with a checklist of sorts on the back

so where is this big topps card? i was thinking it would be nestled in there somewhere, but no - it was the back of the package

so it's just a normal nomo card printed on a bigger piece of cardboard. weird. here's the back:

what an oddball thing.

assuming there is a 2026 topps factory dodger team set, i think i will add this to the running list of team set posts i've made. now if only i could find a complete set of the 2004 fleer dodger team set - the one with the blue design....

don't point fingers at me; i didn't cut up this card

i would tell you to avert your eyes, but it's too late now. 

several months ago i added this 2008 tristar signa cuts to my collection

i have a weird fixation with these things, and i couldn't pass up this destruction of a 1983 topps tom lasorda card, supposedly signed by the man himself.

what's interesting to me is that i never noticed before that tommy was mic'd up in the photo used for this card. i am sure that you are aware that there are many recordings out there of the dodger skipper speaking his mind, but i don't think i am aware of any that exist from 1982. i am guessing this was in spring training, but who knows.

it's a nice addition to my collection which boasts a few lasorda autographs, including this relatively recent arrival

that one comes from 2024 panini boys of summer. here's the back:

that signature looks more legit than the one on the tristar card. not sure how (or if) tristar bothers to authenticate, but i would think it would be tough. i didn't pay too much so i'm not too concerned.

another managerial pickup from last year sometime was this 2024 topps heritage dusty baker chrome purple refractor parallel

with baker retired, it was up to ron washington to represent the first ring of tommy lasorda's managerial tree. now that wash is no longer managing, there aren't any direct ties to lasorda in mlb's managerial ranks. lasorda's successor, bill russell, was the dodger manager for the first couple of games of alex cora's career, so the red sox manager is the closest to lasorda in that regard. i will also note that jim tracy's tree is alive and well with dave roberts at the helm of the dodgers. i'd be interested to hear roberts discuss tracy's style and influence.

post holiday post of pre-holiday card show cards

it's been over two months, and i haven't posted cards from the december 2025 twin cities club card show. i thought about skipping it, as i went to the february show and found some fun cards that i want to post about, but remembered some of the cards i picked up in december were also post worthy so here we are.

one of the regular sellers at this show always has a couple of dime boxes tucked under his table. i always stop and take a look, even though it requires some effort as his table tops is jammed full of shiny stuff and you have to squat and dig under the table. most of the time, it's been worth it. here are some of the cards i found in december

2013 panini golden age evel knievel playing card insert

big nostalgia hit there. evel knievel was a big part of my childhood for a year or two. we had the toys and his snake canyon jump had my neighborhood talking for sure. i've never looked to see if he has any other cards but i am sure panini has put some out.

2025 panini donruss prince fielder rockets parallel

knievel literally jumped over sharks, while panini has done so metaphorically with some pretty ridiculous parallels.

2017 topps gypsy queen matt kemp purple parallel

there were about 10 of these parallels in the box. they are numbered to 250. even as a brave, i can't quit matt kemp.

2017 topps gypsy queen francisco lindor blackless parallel

there were a few of these as well.

2011 bowman chrome clayton kershaw

i picked this one up for my name/number on the back collection

and this 2020 topps chrome jonathan villar sepia refractor

goes into my double play collection, and this 2017 panini donruss 1983 ozzie smith insert

goes into the dodger stadium collection. that glove in the photo belongs to mike scioscia or mike piazza, or carlos hernandez or a number of other dodger catchers. ozzie looks a bit too old for it to be steve yeager though.

the most surprising cards to find in this dime box were some oversized topps big box toppers from 2023 topps update. included in these cards were nolan arenado and vladimir guerrero jr

as well as none other than clayton kershaw!

usually when i find cards like these, the dodgers are nowhere to be seen. not this time.

there was more from that seller, but you get the gist. now on to the primary seller i visit at these shows. he's the guy with quarter and dollar boxes but always gives a great deal when you pull a lot of cards. this time, i took a look at his $2 boxes and found a few cards, including this 2006 fleer (upper deck) flair showcase greg maddux hot gloves die cut

these have a print run of just 150 copies. there are no comps that i could find - i couldn't even find one of these in comc's database. i didn't know all that when i pulled the card - i just thought it was different and i hadn't seen one before. cesar izturis has a card in the set that i will likely seek out.

as for the quarter boxes, they yielded some fun stuff, like a 2011 topps heritage adam dunn green tint parallel

and some topps heritage chrome parallels, like carlos beltran's 2005 issue

and eric gagne's from the same set

those are numbered to 1956 as seen on the back

i found a david wright chrome refractor from 2005 topps heritage 

in the dollar boxes. those are numbered to 556

it seems like more often than not, i find a legends parallel in this seller's boxes, and this was no exception. here's a 2009 topps babe ruth short print

i already have one of these in my retired number collection, but i couldn't leave george herman behind.

i don't always go for political inserts, but i did grab the gold parallels of the 2008 topps presidential nominees - john mccain

and barack obama

it's hard for me to wrap my head around what has become of the republican party since mccain (or even mitt romney) was the nominee. mccain famously defended obama on the campaign trail when a woman referred to him as something that he was not, and that sort of thing just isn't happening from the gop today.

now for some dodgers that i found - here's a 2016 topps heritage high numbers corey seager rookie performers insert

that's missing the rc logo. that logo is present on alex verdugo's 2018 topps finest card

which was the last base card i needed to complete the team set.

these boxes always have a bunch of parallels, so i have a few to show. from 2024 topps, here are a couple of rainbow foil cards

and from 2024 topps update, here are a couple of silver crackle foil cards

bobby miller and emmet sheehan both had silver pack chrome cards

from 2024 topps update and 2024 topps, respectively, while teoscar hernandez' is from 2025 topps

there are so many inserts these days, as you know, and so i was not surprised to learn that i did not already own this freddie freeman insert

from 2023 topps archives. same goes for this 2025 topps summer superstars insert of blake snell

and then there are the 2025 topps series two 1990 all-star inserts. blue and red versions, and this mookie betts card i pulled

was also a need. in fact, i didn't have the blue one of betts, either.

one more item of interest, to me at least. 

that's a 2018 topps holiday starling marte relic card. it was in the $2 box, and i grabbed it because it features a piece of the pirates' 2017 memorial day camoflauge jersey. i know that's not the holiday this set is celebrating, but i thought it was sort of meta having a holiday jersey piece in a holiday insert. 

that's a wrap on 2025 card shows, and as i mentioned, i have cards to show from my first 2026 show - stay tuned!