bringing team sets into focus

long gone are the days where it was possible to collect all of the cards of any given player, let alone team. and, while i've tried to finish off a dodger junk wax year (1989) there are still a few oddballs that i haven't tracked down yet - partially due to a lack of focus - and there are probably other dodger cards from that year that i don't know about.

over the last year, i've tried to be a bit more focused when looking back and picking up dodger cards from past years and i've had some success doing so. whether it's targeting a specific team set, insert set, parallel, or something that spans both of the latter, i've been able to fill some holes in my collection that are more meaningful to me than random cards here and there. 

to illustrate that point, here is the first 1952 topps card i have purchased in a long time.

phil haugstad's card gets me one closer to that dodger team set, although i know i will never complete it. i only have one of the high numbers (at least it's jackie robinson) and i still need seven from the lower series. by the way, when it comes to topps flagship sets, only the 1952 and 1953 dodger team sets are incomplete in my collection, but the remaining 1953 cards (jim gilliam, johnny podres, and even dixie howell and bill antonello) are daunting.

as for my full set builds, i only have high numbers to go when it comes to the 1952 homage that is 2001 topps heritage. i finished the low numbers a couple of years ago or so, and the only card i've added since is old friend ramon martinez's

with 85 high numbers still missing, i doubt i will ever finish this set, either.

insert team sets are far easier to complete, and this 2024 topps update sandy koufax autumn tales card

finished off my 4-card dodger team set.

there were only three cards in the 2024 topps around the horn insert team sets, and mookie betts'

was the last one i needed.

as for actual team set base cards, one of the more recent ones i completed was 2001 topps fusion

those two cards were the last ones i needed and i don't know what took me so long to pick them up. it helps to focus, i suppose.

i even went and tracked down the last three cards i needed to complete the 2013 topps target red border parallel dodger team set. the zack greinke and carl crawford cards

came quickly, but the luis cruz card

had me at the mercy of a saved ebay search for several months. finally someone posted a bunch of these parallels for all sorts of players and i was able to finish the set. i still have several missing from the 2013 topps update release, but having this (and the walmart blue border) team sets for the flagship cards is still something.

even better, this 2013 topps update yasiel puig card

was the final emerald parallel i needed to complete my full run - flagship and update - of dodger cards of that particular parallel. puig is as excited as i am to have this completed.

advantage, my collection

those home field advantage cards that topps has included in recent flagship and update releases are case hits, and don't show up at card shows from what i've seen. i decided to track a couple down, including one of my adopted home from 2023 topps update, even though it's carlos correa on the card

for the record, my least favorite astros, in order, are yuli gurriel, jose altuve, george springer, and then correa. jr richard used to be on the list but only because he was so great, especially against the dodgers. that was respect, not scorn. anyway, the card arrived and it's not really reflective of the twin cities at all.

the downton scene in the upper left is minneapolis (that's city hall with the green copper roof on the tower), but saint paul is nowhere to be seen. the building in the upper right is also in minneapolis (it's the minneapolis institute of art, or mia - pronounced like nomar's wife's name). it would have been pretty easy for topps to tick the saint paul box with a shot of the state capitol, but i guess they had other ideas. 

the other two images reference northern minnesota with a wolf (the international wolf center is in ely, minnesota) and the split rock lighthouse which is on the north shore between duluth and grand marais. fine towns, both.

i went and picked up freddie freeman's card from 2023 topps series 1

there's a very "hollywood" theme to this one, with the academy museum and a film reel shown. also featured are the griffith park observatory, rodeo drive street signage, and a couple of ubiquitous palm trees.

the dodgers' home field advantage cards (two of them, anyway) from 2024 topps are a little more straight forward

the first one gives us two images of clayton kershaw, palm trees, dodger stadium, and the hollywood sign. the second features two images of yoshinobu yamamoto, more palm trees, a different view of dodger stadium, the santa monica pier, and the iconic theme building at lax. i suppose it's easier to focus when there are four other teams in the state, although topps used palm trees on cards for other teams, including the padres. there is another home field advantage card featuring a dodger in 2024, but it's sandy koufax and seems to be even scarcer than the two i've managed to obtain.

these cards were first seen in 2022, and i also recently added mookie betts' card from the series 1 topps release that year

there is a lot going on there for sure! beach scene at sunset! downtown la skyline snippet! palm tree! lifeguard station! movie camera! beverly hills sign! and, what i assume is supposed to be or at least represent a california grizzly bear to boot. the california grizzly has been extinct for 100 years now.

it will be interesting to see if the home field advantage inserts continue, and if so, what other southern california landmarks might be seen on cardboard.

these cards are not to be confused with the unnecessary topps flagship parallels from the early 2000's that were "home team advantage" cards. i have some of those, with my most recent pickups being shawn green's 2000 card

chin-feng chen's 2001 card

and the dodger team card from 2002

i wonder how long topps will go with the home field advantage inserts. there are plenty of iconic landmarks to go around for most teams, and i would really like to see what the a's card looks like next year.

are you an optimist or a cynic?

i received this 2003 fleer platinum new to me chin-feng chen card

from night owl in the last batch of cards he sent my way. i think it might be a short print, even. regardless, it shows what i at first believed to be a defensive miscue which is a rarity on cardboard. 

when i first looked at the card, i thought that chen had attempted to short hop the ball missed and it hit off of his arm and is seen ricocheting away. i looked at it again as i was putting it in my 2003 dodger binder and thought that maybe the ball was still on its way down and that he has a chance to make the catch. i would guess that what i saw the second time around is correct as there is no disturbance of the grass shown, which would seem to indicate that the ball hasn't hit the ground yet.

i guess i was just trending negative when i first saw the card which is strange because receiving cards in the mail is always a good thing!