i sort of forgot about this update

with 2026 topps series 1 out, i should close the book on 2025 topps update. i had previously shared the non-dodger cards that i deemed post worthy and then forgot to get that dodger-centric post published. well, it's here now.

i found some of the dodger cards in the blasters i ordered from topps, including world series hero miguel rojas

the tyler glasnow/blake snell combo card

roki sasaki

dustin may

shohei ohtani

and a trio of dodger relievers - evan phillips, blake treinen, and jack dreyer

the treinen card is nice with the gold championship jerseys, but we all know that's still charlie hough's number.

i didn't find hyeseong kim's base card, but did find his holiday black & orange parallel

those cards always make me a bit jealous of tigers collectors.

i found two of the dodger all-star game inserts - yoshinobu yamamoto and ohtani

plus sasaki's 1990 35th anniversary insert

and the unavoidable stars of mlb inserts, of which two were dodgers: dalton rushing and kim

not a bad dodger haul from a couple of blasters, but not a complete team set. 

i mentioned in my original update post that i had bought into a team break, and that's where i found the kim base card

plus the ohtani/sasaki combo card

i also netted a rainbow foil insert of the glasnow/snell combo card

plus all-star game inserts of freddie freeman and will smith

i did well with dalton rushing inserts, finding his night terrors, black gold, and 1990 35th anniversary cards

and then topped things off with cody bellinger's mvp insert

good stuff, but i had also ordered some cards from sportlots prior to winning that team set slot, so i wound up with too many cards of anthony banda, alex vesia, and dalton rushing

i did add some more inserts via sportlots, including ohtani's stars of mlb insert

snell's 1990 35th anniversary insert

clayton kershaw's all-star game insert

and kershaw's mvp insert

what a year he had in 2014.

i was also able to find some dodgers from this release at the december card show while looking through some of the regularly rewarding bargain boxes.

jack dreyer gold parallel

dustin may blue holofoil parallel

evan phillips holofoil parallel

and a pair of miguel rojas parallels - rainbow foil and holiday black & orange

there was one card that i knew i would have to acquire via ebay, and that was steve garvey's 1990 all-star design autograph card. i actually found his gold parallel first

and later added the base

i would like to tell topps that not everything needs a gold parallel, but if they must, make the border gold and not the name lettering. here's the back:

nothing special about it. so far with these topps inserts, garvey has only been featured in 2024 and 2025, and only on the all-star designs, and only in autograph form. it would be nice to have him on a base 35th anniversary insert someday.

well, that's the update. stay tuned for more late to the market posts!

still treinen to collect dodgers

at some point being a team collector becomes difficult. there are so many releases and parallels and inserts and cards. it's tough to keep track of, and even if you do, the time to check a have/want is not always available when digging through boxes or just browsing online. that's why i am thankful for fellow bloggers who look at want lists and send me cards that i know i most likely "need". one of the latest cases in point are these cards i received from night owl.

starting off with a 2020 topps stickers blake treinen item

this is the back of the sticker - the front is a cub if i recall correctly. there aren't a lot of treinen items out there and i certainly am not actively looking for those that are given how bad he had been in 2025. we will always have 2024, however, so i still have room for him in my collection.

i can probably count on one hand the number of trade packages that have included cards from 2002 upper deck 40 man, and greg sent me two cards i needed

alex cora and hiram bocachica. i remember bocachica fondly because he hit a home run late in the shawn green 4 homer game that helped advance the lineup so that green would later get a shot at homer number 4.

eric karros, seen here on his 1995 fleer flair, 2002 playoff absolute memorabilia, and 1996 score cards,

also played in the shawn green 4 homer game. he was eventually replaced by dave hansen who hit a home run right after green left the yard for the fourth time. i didn't even notice because my friend and i were still freaking out over green's blast. that score card is a dugout collection parallel, by the way.

here's a 2014 bowman chrome dual-ing die-cut card featuring 2012 first round picks corey seager and eddie butler

seager was taken 18th overall - he was the fourth shortstop taken in the draft after carlos correa (#1 overall), addison russell (#11), and gavin cecchini (#12). butler was taken with the 46th overall pick.

this 2024 topps mookie betts insert

is quite often listed as "fan favorites". i know because i have a saved search for dodger fan favorites on ebay, as i look for refractors and autographs. the card is actually "fantasy favorites", but the design hides a lot of the text behind the photo. not just for betts, either.

we've now reached the colored parallel portion of the post, with a 2024 topps yellow bordered jd martinez card

a 2018 topps gypsy queen green parallel clayton kershaw card

and a purple hot box chrome refractor of freddie freeman from 2024 topps heritage

it's always fun to get a 1975 design card from night owl!

last but not least is this 2018 panini donruss optic shock prizm clayton kershaw card

like i said up top, there are too many parallels these days (so many, in fact, i have pretty much stopped adding full panini checklists to my want lists), so i am glad that some others are looking out for me and my collection. thanks greg!

now let's relive october

i wasn't really looking forward to the nlds once it was determined that the dodgers would be playing the padres. however, they prevailed and after they won the pennant, i decided i would pick up a couple of the topps now cards documenting their success.

this is the card from the nlds victory

and what really sold me on the idea of buying this card was the back

it features a view of dodger stadium that you don't often see on cards - looking out from the dodger dugout. you also get a glimpse of some coaches which is nice, too.

the pennant clinching card is similar

even down to the back

of course, i bought two of each so i could throw one of each in my dodger stadium collection.

speaking of the nlcs, i at some point over the summer added a second 2024 topps heritage buyback of the dodgers' nlcs champion card from the 1974 series for my dodger collection

and at the same time picked up a second 1974 mvp buyback for the same reason

i'm still missing steve garvey's solo buyback card though.

now back to this october. i mentioned at one point that i was at lax when the dodgers won the world series. about an hour after the final out, i was on a plane headed out of the country. a day or so later, i bought the topps now 15-card team set (seen in last week's post) and decided to go ahead and pick up the dodger cards from the world series. so, let's relive the dodger victory!

game 1

865 - mookie betts/shohei ohtani

you know topps was jonesing to get ohtani on as many cards as possible. here, betts has hit a sacrifice fly to score ohtani and tie the game 2-2 in the bottom of the 8th inning.

866 - freddie freeman

freddie freeman's walk-off grand slam to end game 1 was such an epic moment. when i decided to go back and buy these cards, the only ones of these available were selling for $50 and up. i chose to wait for the cards to get into the hands of the buyers and hope that some would sell their excess copies for cheap. there was a one or two week window where that was the case and i took advantage. here's the back:

i can see kirk gibson and orel hershiser and steve sax and mickey hatcher in this image. speaking of gibby...

kgff - kirk gibson/freddie freeman

this card was, i guess, a special card created by topps and not part of the sequential numbering. i bought two so i could put one in my "games i've attended in person" collection thanks to the inclusion of gibson's 1988 game 1 homer.

game 2

867 - teoscar hernandez

hernandez's two-run homer in the bottom of the third broke a 1-1 tie and put the dodgers ahead for good.

868 - freddie freeman

freeman followed hernandez with a home run of his own, making it the fourth consecutive world series game in which he had homered. this card was the one that cost me the most. i paid $14.99.

869 - yoshinobu yamamoto

yamamoto threw 6.1 innings and gave up just a solo home run to giancarlo stanton. he retired the next 11 batters in a row after allowing that dinger.

game 3

870 - freddie freeman

another game, another dinger for freeman. this was a two-run job in the top of the first that gave the dodgers a lead that they would not relinquish.

871 - teoscar hernandez

hernandez threw out a lumbering stanton at the plate to preserve the dodgers' 3-0 lead in the fourth inning.

872 - walker buehler

how great was it to see buehler pitch well in the world series. he walked the yankees' first batter of the night, but allowed only three more base runners in his five innings of work. dave roberts actually took a pitcher out at the right time for a change, before the yankee lineup faced buehler for a third time.

game 4

873 - freddie freeman

for the second night in a row, freeman hit a two-run homer in the top of the first to give the dodgers a lead. it was also his sixth consecutive world series game with a home run. that turned out to be the dodgers' lone highlight in this game. i had already forgotten that the dodgers' starter for the game was ben casparius making his first big league start and seventh major league appearance. maybe he will get some cardboard love in 2025.

game 5

880 - freddie freeman

there were no topps now cards produced showing the atrocious yankee defense in the fifth inning of this game, but this card shows freeman driving in unearned runs two and three to give him 12 rbi in the series.

881 - teoscar hernandez

hernandez followed freeman's single with a two-run double to tie the game at 5.

882 - mookie betts

the yankees retook the lead, but gavin lux (not given a card) and mookie betts hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to give the dodgers the lead in the top of the 8th.

883 - blake treinen

treinen was tremendous in this game. he got the last out of the sixth inning after brusdar graterol walked three yankees. then he finished the seventh and eighth innings to set up the save for an unlikely hero. speaking of dodger heroes, i bought two of these treinen cards so i could put one in my memorials collection as this is the best card i've seen so far in terms of showing the patch the dodgers wore for fernando valenzuela during the world series. 

884 - walker buehler

i wasn't sure what to make of buehler's gladiator pose in real time but he started celebrating soon enough. it's corny but i was really happy for him to have that moment after the injuries he has dealt with. the dodgers were in a bit of a darren dreifort situation again with buehler's free agency, but they didn't bite this time. i would have gambled on buehler for sure, especially seeing that he signed just a 1-year deal with the red sox.

885 - los angeles dodgers

here's the big jump around scene around the mound. chris taylor, kiké and mookie haven't made it in yet.

886 - freddie freeman

mvp!

that was a fantastic october to remember, and i'm glad i added these cards to my collection.