the closer

i know that he is back in the starting rotation, but roki sasaki has proven to be a closer for me in the early goings of 2026. no fewer than three dodger team sets had sasaki as the last card i needed.

2025 topps allen & ginter

2025 topps archives

and 2025 topps chrome update

all waited for sasaki's card to show up.

i've completed a few more sets that didn't include sasaki recently, including 2016 topps gypsy queen.

that kenta maeda rookie card was the last card i needed. it's a short print so i guess it makes sense that i waited for maeda to return to japan before seeking it out. i'll show the penultimate card i needed for the team set in a different post.

a sportlots seller had the last three cards i needed for 2023 topps chrome platinum anniversary

i understand that topps is planning to reintroduce this set in 2026, but they will call it 2025 so that using the 1955 topps design makes sense from a platinum anniversary standpoint. topps/fanatics just can't seem to get out of its own way sometimes.

another sportlots seller had this 2025 panini prizm pee wee reese card

that shut the door on my team set from that unlicensed release chock full of prospects and retired players and not much in between for licensing reasons.

2025 topps stadium club came down to two cards - hyeseong kim

and yoshinobu yamamoto

both of which came from a sportlots order

my 2026 topps series 1 dodger team set is also now complete, thanks to dalton rushing's card

showing up in my mailbox a few weeks ago.

i've got one other recently completed team set to visit. sasaki was the second to last card i needed to complete the 2025 topps all-star game dodger team set

with shohei ohtani being the closer in this instance

i've slowly been accumulating dodgers from this set via various sources, and now i'll show the cards i haven't shown before (which i believe is all but kim's).

mookie betts

freddie freeman

clayton kershaw

yoshinobu yamamoto

i also added a classic swings insert of betts

as well as kershaw's all-star game greats insert

the back

focuses on the 2022 midsummer classic which was held at dodger stadium and saw kershaw make the start for the national league. synchronicity at its finest.

you knew this was coming - i added another steve garvey parallel from the set. this is his black autograph parallel

numbered to 10. here's the back

interesting that these were exclusive to mega boxes. or is that the only way this set was distributed? i wonder if there will be a 2026 version? and will it include former greats like the inserts did in 2025? if so, get ready for a bunch of phillies. now that i think of it, i could use some new pete rose cards (or to fit in with the title of this post, tug mcgraw), so bring it on!

all of the stars

it's all-star game time!

this used to be such a highlight for me when i was younger and didn't have the opportunity to see as many games featuring all of the teams as i do these days. i did watch the full game in 2022 since it was at dodger stadium, but i would say that it is no longer "must see tv" for me. 

i still like to see all-star things on cards, however, and was excited about the 2025 topps all-star game release a week or so ago. most of my excitement was in regards to this card

as steve garvey has not been included in some of the more recent all-star themed insert sets, save for having autos in 2024 topps series two's 35th anniversary all-star insert release. there have been "perennial all-stars" inserts and others over the years that have not included one of the few two-time all-star game mvps, so it was nice to see him get a card here.

the card features a more recent photo than 1974, but the back is all about his first all-star game which occurred that year

i don't have any of the parallels or any of the dodger base cards from this set, but i understand that they are, of course, all foiled up. this is a 2024 topps clayton kershaw all-star game card

which i believe was released in complete set form?

with 2025 topps series 2 out, we get the 35th anniversary all-star treatment, and i've added a few to my collection. i'll start with kershaw's silver pack chrome card

and then show the regular insert

regular is a relative term, as that is the red version. here's the blue

which was the national league color back in 1990.

other blue varieties i have added include sandy koufax

and hideo nomo

whose presence was a terrific surprise. i see topps is also making noise about chan ho park signing autographs for future releases. can the return of ismael valdes to cardboard be far behind?

i will be looking forward to chrome update this year, assuming that they continue the tradition of including refractor parallel all-star game inserts, like this one for chris taylor from 2021

and this one of kershaw from 2023

however, i much prefer my all-star designations in the next year's flagship. that doesn't happen anymore outside of heritage which is ok, i suppose.

speaking of heritage and all-star designations, this is as good a time as any to show my real one autographs from 2024 topps heritage high numbers featuring the aforementioned 1974 national league all-star first baseman steve garvey

more blue and red shenanigans.

garvey's 1975 topps card is not my favorite, but at least they referenced his full name (steven patrick garvey) correctly on the back. with the heritage autos, topps went a different direction, twice

good ol' steve patrick. 

anyway, here's hoping for a good game tonight with a nl win and another dodger mvp.