Friday, December 27, 2024

my favorite cards of the year

it's that time of year when i am looking back at cards i've acquired and figuring out which were my favorite - both in terms of dodgers and non-dodgers. i really did like the 2024 topps flagship design but there weren't a lot of non-dodger cards that stood out to me. i was pretty excited to pull my bowman dylan crews auto, but was it my favorite non-dodger card that i acquired in 2024?

actually, my favorite cards from new products that i obtained in 2024 were from 2023 topps stadium club - thurman munson's card and michael grove's card. i've disqualified them from consideration as i am only looking at 2024 product released in 2024 (sorry, archives).

here are a couple of runners up from the non-dodger category:

2024 topps stadium club (chrome) mark mcgwire
i didn't find big mac's base card in any of the stadium club that i opened, but i did get his chrome parallel. it doesn't scan well, but mcgwire is standing in front of roger maris' plaque at old yankee stadium. yogi berra's plaque is visible below his left elbow.  this is reminiscent of the classic 1992 topps cal ripken jr card featuring lou gehrig's plaque that was my favorite non-dodger card of that year.

another card i really like is andrew abbott's 2024 topps update card
it's his rookie debut card, and features the somewhat rare rookie card and rookie cup combination, but beyond that it shows a guy who is about to take a major league field for the first time. there is some real anticipation in this image, and it captures a great moment for abbott. he went on to one-hit the brewers over six innings that day, but it started with him on the top step of the dugout waiting for the sign to head out to the mound.

this, however, is my favorite non-dodger card of the year - lawrence butler's 2024 topps stadium club chrome refractor parallel
in a year that saw the a's play in oakland for the final time, a card that features not only an image of rickey henderson but references the "home of the oakland a's" really caught my attention. this is a really nice card.

my favorite dodger card of the year is pretty straight forward. it's shohei ohtani's flagship base card
yes, i am happy to have topps now cards related to his 50/50 feat and the team's world series title, but seeing this card fall out of a pack while ohtani was tearing up the record books was pretty nice. i would compare it to finding the 2008 topps update manny ramirez card, which was another favorite of the year.

i've updated my post that includes all of my yearly favorites dating back to 1978, and i'm looking forward to what 2025 products bring!

4 comments:

  1. I had not noticed that Andrew Abbott card before. That's a terrific picture.

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  2. I've seen the Butler a couple of times in recent weeks. Definitely looking to add it to my collection. I don't usually go out of my way to chase a bunch of parallels... but with the A's leaving Oakland... I might make an exception.

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  3. That Oakland A's card is a good one, timely appearance with Rickey's birthday and recent passing

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