70s Saturday - 1970 Fleer World Series Cubs

 The Fleer 1970 set World Series contains cards with cartoons drawn by artist Robert G. Laughlin. Each series was represented by one card.  The Cubs have ten cards in the set.

All I've Got of Him - Anthony Rizzo

 This is a post I wish I didn't have to write.  I knew it was coming, but I was holding out hope that things might change.

They didn't.

A cornerstone of the franchise for the past ten seasons is gone.

He caught the most memorable final out in Cubs history.  Now he is history, as far as the Cubs are concerned.

I like Anthony Rizzo.  He plays hard but he has fun.  He supports the community.  He loved being a Cub.  He is a good guy.

I have 376 different cards of Rizzo in my collection.  Not bad for a guy that I don't collect as a player.  I'm sure that there will be a few more Cubs cards of him in future releases so my collection isn't finished.  I wish that there would be Cubs cards of him in 2022.

2021 Gypsy Queen Inserts Cubs

 There are just two regular insert sets in this year's Gypsy Queen.  Each set has one Cub player, the same player in both.

This set is called Captain and it has 30 cards.  The intent was to feature the "captain" of each team.  But three of the players on the checklist were traded. Rather than give the trading team a new captain, Topps put the traded players with their new team.  So the Cardinals (Nolan Arenado), Mets (Francisco Lindor), and Nationals (Josh Bell) got two players in the set while the Rockies, Indians, and Pirates have none.

Also, the cards are describes as being "Mini" and by looking at scan you'd think the cards are tobacco card sized.  Nope.  They have a height of the usual 3½" height, but have a narrower width of 1 7/8".  They should be described as mini. A better word would be skinny.

Kris Bryant was also in the "Tarot of the Diamond" set.  With just 22 cards in the set, I'm glad that at least one Cub player was included.

There is also a chrome insert set, but I consider that more of a parallel than a separate insert set.  I don't do parallels any more, so I didn't get the five Cubs that were included.

2021 Gypsy Queen Cubs

 The 2021 edition of Gypsy Queen was released two weeks ago.  The set consists of 300 base cards and another 21 short prints.  Nine Cubs are in the base set and the short prints have just one Cub.

 

 

 

 

 

Sammy was the short-print, so I have to pay a bit more for his card.  The rest were all 18¢ Sportlots specials.  And of course Topps had to include Braylin Marquez in another set.

Living Set Craig Kimbrel

The Cubs have a player in the Living Set for the first time since September 30, 2021.  That is the longest playerless span since the set started.

Closer Craig Kimbrel has been really good this year.  He made the All Star team and now he's made the Living Set.  The big question is will he still be with the Cubs by the end of the week?

I like the look of the card. The artwork is very realistic, almost like a photo.

Kimbrel is the 14th Cub to be included and he is also the Cub with the lowest print run.

5	Ian Happ	March 21, 2018	Print run - 3,042
30	Brandon Morrow	May 16, 2018	Print run - 5,585
64	Ryne Sandberg	August 8, 2018	Print run - 7,212
67	Anthony Rizzo	August 15, 2018	Print run - 5,568
83	David Bote	September 19, 2018	Print run - 5,345
103	Javier Baez	November 7, 2018	Print run - 4,499
127	Kris Bryant	January 2, 2019	Print run - 5,361
210	Jason Heyward	July 10, 2019	Print run - 2,573
217	Ernie Banks	July 31, 2019	Print run - 5,406
266	Kyle Hendricks	December 4, 2019	Print run - 2,074
310	Nico Hoerner	May 6, 2020	Print run - 3,523
323	Willson Contreras	June 24, 2020	Print run - 2,052
352	Alec Mills	September 30, 2020	Print run - 1,886

429   Craig Kimbrel       July 7, 2021                Print run - 1,780

T206 Wave 3 Cubs

 The next wave of the Cubs from this year's T206 have arrived.  There were two Cubs in the wave when I bought the cards several weeks ago.  Today there is just one.

 

Jason Heyward is with the Cubs but Joc Pederson was traded to the Brave a couple of weeks ago.  Joc's stay with the Cubs was just long enough. I appreciated some of the timely hits he got, but was growing tired of his "look at me" antics.  I won't miss him at all. 

Five Random Cubs Cards

  I've got 19,313 Cubs cards from 285 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1978 Topps #371 Ray Burris This is a great looking card! I love the home uniform, nice pose, close crop, and  blue sky.

1980s: 1988 Classic Red #169 Ryne Sandberg This is a bad looking card! I hate the road uniform, weird candid shot, and dark contrast.

1990s: 1996 Topps Factory Team #278 Luis Gonzalez This comes from Topps' first attempt at a factory team set.  There were 15 cards in the set and the cards got a special Team Topps logo on the front.

2000s: 2007 Topps Traded #314 Craig Monroe I'm assuming this picture is a photoshop job.  The numbers on the front seem a bit off.

2010s: 2019 Topps Stickers #181 Ben Zobrist This was one of the sticker backs.  Lorenzo Cain is on the front, which gives me a Brewer in my collection - yuk!

70s Saturday - Topps 1970 Cubs

 Reader ashonk51 left a comment last week asking for some sets from the 1970s. I thought that was a great idea, so today I am debuting "70s Saturday."  Each Saturday for the next year or so (i have just about a year's worth of sets from the 70s) I'll be showing a Cubs team set from the 1970s.

I feel I have to kick this off with the first big set from the 70s, the 1970 Topps set.  Topps was the only major game in town in 1970.  They pretty much had baseball cards to themselves.

The 1970 set features the infamous Cubs of 1969, the team that collapsed in September and was run over by the Miracle Mets.  

The cards are shown in alphabetic order: