Party Like It's 1987

The U.S. Postal Service was very, very good to me today.  Not only did I get an enormous mailer from Kerry at Cards on Cards (details on that in a future post), but my recent eBay purchase arrived.

I'm an impatient cat, and I felt the desperate need to complete the 1987 Mini insert set from 2012 Topps.  I had all 100 cards from Series 1 and 2 -- all safely tucked into my 2012 Topps flagship binder.  But, I was minus the majority of those from the Update edition.  So, I cheated and bid on the final third of this wonderful insert set last week.  

And today the cards arrived!

I've never had the overwhelming urge to complete an insert set  like I had with these '87 minis.  Mostly because 1987 marked my entry into the wonderful world of baseball cards.  So there's the sentimental angle.  And, well, they are great looking cards because '87 Topps features such a beautiful, unique design.  Plus we've got great player selection, great photography, and a large checklist.  Etc., etc., etc.

It certainly has nothing to do with the novelty of these smaller-sized cards.  I'd be more thrilled if they were standard sized.  I hate how these things look in regular binder pages, but what alternate option is there? Apparently we live in a world were you can buy a cupcake holder or a sweater for your beagle, but not binder pages specially sized for these damn mini cards.

In spite of my petty hold ups, I love these cards.  And I'm thrilled to have the entire set.  If you told me I could only keep one set from 2012, it would be a close call between this one and 2012 Heritage. [Ed. Note: Please don't force me into that decision!]  And you know how much I love and adore Heritage.  But, that's how much I treasure these '87s.

I certainly like the fact that this mini set features current-day stars as well as HOFers like Yaz, Cobb and Reggie.  And Topps' decision to include the "Future Stars" subset within the final 50 cards was a stroke of brilliance!  Having such a loaded rookie class doesn't hurt the cause, that's for sure.

So while I'm busting at the seams for the 2013 Topps baseball cards to arrive later this week, I'm still savoring my 2012 experience (with a little stopover in 1987).  In fact, I can't recall a more satisfying year of collecting than what 2012 presented. The Topps flagship was very enjoyable; Heritage was awesome; and Archives was a pleasant surprise.  

Surely, 2013's baseball card crop has its work cut out for it.

MK