Chasing 1983: 745 and Counting

It's time to highlight another part of a deal that knocked massive chunks off of sets I've been chasing for 30 to 35 years.

Along with 1978s and 1981s (part of the trade I haven't reviewed yet), Paul at Carl Crawford Cards sent me 244 cards from the last set I purchased before discovering girls and trouble: 1983 Topps.

Yep, you read that right - 244 cards! I kid you not. And, reminder, this was just part - the biggest part - of the deal. I posted about the first part a week ago and a link to it is at the end of this post.

This shipment brought my in-house 1983 Topps percentage from 64 percent to 94 percent. I see light ahead! Truly, this is exciting. A couple of dozen of these cards were familiar to me as I once owned them before a basement flood at my mom's house sacked a good portion of that set (and almost all of 1979, sadly) long ago. It was nice to see them again after all these years.
Below are a few favorite cards of the 1983 portion of the deal.

Back in 1979, I thought Kent Tekulve was the coolest nerd on the planet. I knew nothing about him. Might not have been a nerd at all. He's rockin' the ol' Pirates duds though. I do know that.

Nice action shot of Mr. Pushbroom Stache. Who's that guy with him? I should know this.

Jim Rice walked by me outside Tiger Stadium in the 1980s. He pretty well ignored me and the other kids nearby. I didn't think at all about autographs back then but just wanted to say "hi". Kind of hard to believe, in a way, that he turns 60 in a month.

Fergie Jenkins is my favorite Cubs pitcher of all-time. I'm efforting as of late to collect all of his playing day cards. As for Leon Durham, I met him at The National in 2011. Got a few cards autographed as the right to do so came with the VIP package my wife treated me with. I wrote all about it and other former player encounters back then.

Bill Madlock is another former player I enjoyed watching who I got to meet at that The National. He signed several cards for me.

Dave Collins will always be a Red in my book. Never a Mariner or a whatever the uniform he's wearing here is.




Never heard of the Brave but I like the card. John Denny looks a bit like God here. Just guessing.

Finally, Senor Orange, or something like that. I'm a big Rusty Staub fan. When I see an old Staub card, I get it. I should probably catalog this collection and see what I need. It seems he's found a way on to my player collection list.

Meanwhile, I posted earlier today about 2013s for trade and have already worked out a couple of deals. If you missed it, take a look please. I'd love to work out some more.



Thanks for sharing the trip down memory lane and thanks again to Carl Crawford Cards. You can find more of the details of the first part of that trade in this post.