20,000 Cubs

 Sharp-eyed reads of yesterday's Five Random Cubs cards may have noticed that I hit a milestone.  My Cubs collection had now surpassed the 20,000 mark.

When I began the blog in 2009 I had a little more than 5,000 Cubs cards.  The collection has been growing steadily over the past 13 years and now I've got four times as many cards as when I started blogging.

My recent push for O-Pee-Chee cards has brought in a stack of cards that pushed me past 20,000.  And the card that did that was...

... the 1983 O-Pee-Chee Keith Moreland card.

I hit the 10,000 mark in 2012 and bought a special card to celebrate.  I have no big plans for 20,000.  Instead of buying one special card, I'm getting a bunch of bilingual cards from Canada.

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 20,005 Cubs cards from 301 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1961 Fleer Lou Boudreau  Lou managed the Cubs for just part of one year, 1960.  He had been doing color on Cubs radio, but after 17 games, the manager Charlie Grimm and Boudreau switched spots.  It didn't go well and he was back in the booth in 1961.

1980s: 1985 Donruss #564 Richie Hebner  I like the way that the Cubs logo on the card almost matches up with the Cubs logo on his jersey.

1990s: 1991 Topps #614 Luis Salazar  Today we'd have to do a video replay and see if the runner was trying to avoid Salazar.  I prefer the good old days when a shortstop was fair game.

2000s: 2004 Greats of the Game Forever #12 Ron Santo  I really like the 2004 Greats of the Game set. Even the inserts, like this one, look great.

2010s: 2012 Topps #427 Rafael Dolis  Here's a card of another of the long run of Topps-touted rookies that didn't pan out.

70s Saturday - 1978 Wiffle

 The 1977 Whiffle set features discs produced by MSA.  These are smaller that the usual discs of the era.   The discs have a 1976 copyright but the are clearly from 1977

Bill Buckner was traded to the Cubs on January 11, 1977. 

Burris and Trillo are the other two Cubs in the 80-disc set.

2022 Topps Series 1 Inserts - Welcome to the Show

 The Series 1 inserts are starting to arrive, too.  It's pretty slim Cubs pickings as there are just seven total Cubs inserts.... and not one of them is of a player currently with the team.  They're all either retired or traded.

These three come from "Welcome to the Show."  As you may figure from the name, the cards deal with what the players were doing in the minors that earned them a call-up to the majors.

Topps 2022 Series One Cubs

 My Topps 2022 cards are starting to show up.  This is the first time in years that my Topps cards aren't arriving from Brentandbecca.  I had to go and do all the shopping myself.  I picked up the base cards from Sportlots.  Four of the five were 18¢.  Patrick Wisdom's rookie card was a buck.  Not having many Cubs to get was a real break for my wallet, but I'd rather spend more money if that meant more cards.

 

 

I have no problems with the 2022 design.  It's not crazy flashy nor is it super-boring.  I think it's a straight-down-the-middle flagship design.

What I don't like is that three of the five cards show the player in the MLB-contrived City Connect uniform.  I think that the mono-blue look is really ugly, especially when compared to the classic home pinstripes.

Also missing from the set is a Cubs rookie card.  It makes me happy that, at least in series one, a card wasn't wasted on a player that may never step foot on Wrigley Field this year.  Has the curse of Robel Garcia and Braylin Marquez been broken?

What Makes an O-Pee-Chee Team Set?

Language and logos weren't the only difference between Topps and O-Pee-Chee.  Apparently OPC had a print deadline later than Topps.  Several of the OPC sets have updated cards for players that were traded in the offseason.

 

These two were traded for one another on February 12, 1977.  The deal was made well past the Topps deadline and their set shows Madlock with the Cubs and Murcer as a Giant.  But OPC was able to make the switch.

Later years saw OPC replace the air-brush with some typing.

And that leads to my question... What makes a complete OPC team set.  Do I go with the team designation on the card or the "Now with"?

The TCDB goes with the "Now with".

Teamsets4u used the team designation on the card.

Is the Kilgus card a Cubs card or Blue Jays?  Does Clark go with the Indians or the Cubs?

Personally, I'm leaning towards including both in my Cubs set.  They both say Cubs on them.

Your thoughts?

My Last Big Quest

 I have all the Cubs cards from 300 different brands:

1951 Topps, 3-D, Action Flats, Action Packed, Ajax, All American, All Time Heroes of Baseball, All Star Program, Allen & Ginter, American Caramel, American Pie, Ames, Archives, Attax, Aunt Millies, Ballstreet Journal, Ban Dai, Baseball Caramels, Baseball Card Magazine, Baseball Enquirer, Baseball Heroes, Baseball Scoops, Baseball Wit, Baseball's All Time Greats, Bazooka, Ben's, Big, Big League, Big League Chew, Big League Collectibles, Big T, Boardwalk and Baseball, Bowman, Bowman Heritage, Bowman's Best, Brilliants, Buckmans, Bunt, Burger Chef, Burger King, Cadaco, Callahan, Capital Publishing, Cardtoons, Carousel, Cartwrights, Champions, Chef Boyardee, Chicago Tribune, Chicago's Greats, Chilly Willee, Chrome, Chronicles, Church's, Circa, Circle K, Classic, Classics, Clear Travel, Coke, Coke Hardees, Collectors Choice, Collins-McCarthy, Comics, Conlon, Cracker Jack, Cramers Baseball Legends, Crane, Dairy Isle, Decade 1970s, Dell Todays Cubs, Denny's, Detroit Caesars, Dexter Press, Diamond Greats, Diamond Kings, Diamond Marks, Diet Pepsi, Donruss, Dormans Cheese, Dover, Drakes, Duracell, Emotion, Eureka, Extra Bases, Factory Team, Fan Favorite, Fantastic Sams, FBI, Finest, Finest Flashback, Fire, Flair, Fleer, Fleer Stamps, Fleer Stickers, Fleer Ultra, Focus, Red Foley, French's, Fritsch, Front Row, Fruit of the Loom, Fun Foods, Futures, Galasso Glossy Greats, Gallery, General Mills, Golden Press, Gold Label, Goodwin Champions, Goudey, Grand Slam, Greats of the Game, Gypsy Queen, Hall of Fame Postcards, Hardball, Heritage, Heritage '51, Hills, Holiday, Holiday Inn, Holsum, Honus Bonus, Hostess, Illinois State Police, Impact, Investors Journal, Isalys, ISCA, Italian American Baseball Heroes, Jays, Jewel, Jewish Major Leaguers, Jiffy Pop, Jimmy Dean, Jox, Jumbo Sunflower Seeds, K Mart, Kanebo, KAS, Kay Bee, Kaye's Sports Cards, Kelloggs, King B, Kitty Clover, Kraft, Leaf, Legends, Limited, Line Drive, Lineage, Living Set, Louisville Slugger, M&M's, Major League Baseball in Stamps, Marketside, Masterpieces, Maximum, McDonalds, MCI, MDA, Meadow Gold, Merrick Mint, Metal, Metz, Milkbone, Milton Bradley, MLB, Mootown Snackers, Mr. Turkey, MSA, MVP, National Baseball Card Day, National Chicle, Nestle, New Era, Nissen, On Deck Cookies, Opening Day, Orbakers, Originals, Origins of Baseball, Oscar Mayer, Our Own Tea, Ovation, Pacific, Pacific Legends, Panini, Pepsi, Perez Steele, Performers, Perma-Graphics, Peter Pan, Pinnacle, Pinnacle Certified, Play Ball, Pocket Pages, Post, PKWY, Pro Debut, Pro Sigs, Pro Stamps, Publications International, Quaker Oats, Rainier Farms, Ralston Purina, RBI, Red Barn, Red Heart, Reflectons, Revco, Rite Aid, Rookie Cup, Rub Downs, Saga, Safelon, SCD Price Guide, Score, Screenplays, Sega Card Gen, Select, Select Certified, Seven Eleven, Shakeys, Showcase Baseball, Showcase Gallery, Smokey Bear, SP, SP Authentic, SP Legendary Cuts, Spectrum, Sportflics, Sporting News, Sportstix, Sports Design Products, Sports Educational, Sports Illustrated, SI for Kids, Sports Report, Squirt, SSPC, Stadium Club, Star, Starline, Starting Lineup, Stuart, Studio, Summit, Super, Super 70s, Super Stars, Superstar, Swell, T201, T205, T206, T207, TCMA, Team Heroes, Team Issued, Ted Williams, Tetley Tea, Timeless Teams, Tip Top Bread, Tombstone, Topps, Topps Coins, Topps Kids, Topps Magazine, Topps Now, Topps Stamps, Topps Stickers, Topps Total, Topps UK, Towne Club, Toys R Us, Triple Play, True Value, Turkey Red, Twizzler, UC3, Unocal, Upper Deck, Upper Deck Classics, Utz, Victory, Vintage, Weis, Wendys, Wiffle, Windy City Superstars, Wonder Bread, Woolworth, X, Xpress, YooHoo, Zenith, Zipz,

But there is one bigger name missing from the list, the Canadian card-maker O-Pee-Chee.

OPC issued cards from 1965 through 1994 (plus a 2009 Upper Deck release).  The cards were licensed from Topps, so with the exception of the 1993 and 1994 sets, all the OPC cards had the same design as the Topps cards.  Some years the only difference was an OPC copyright on the back instead of Topps.  Some years an OPC logo replaced the Topps logo.  Some years the fronts had a little French and most years the backs were bilingual.  

I've shied away from OPC for two reasons.  First, they are a bit pricier that most cards because they weren't nearly as plentiful as their Topps cousins.  Secondly, I had a tough time justify the cost for cards that were nearly identical to cards I already had.

Recently I decided to go for it.  I wanted one last big quest, and OPC will be it.  There are three distinct parts to the hunt:

Part 1: 1965 - 1970  These are the first years for OPC.  The set sizes were typically half or less of the Topps sets, so the number of Cubs cards needed per year are typically a dozen or less.  However, these will be expensive because there are cards of Ernie Banks and Ron Santo in most.  I've already got the Billy Williams cards in the player collection, so that will same me some money.

Part 2: 1971 - 1976 OPC went all in during these years, duplicating the entire Topps set. This will get expensive due to the sheer number of cards needed each year, plus the scarcity and age of the cards.

Part 3: 1977 - 1994  This is the easiest and I have almost completed this portion already. These will be the cards you'll see here first.  OPC went back to partial Topps sets (except for 1990-1992) and this also coincides with the junk wax era.  Most of these cards are plentiful and reasonably priced.

Once I finish Part 3, I'll most likely go after Part 1 first.  The smaller set sizes will be easier to finish.  I'll most likely do a year or two at a time.  

I'm sure completing a Cubs run of O-Pee-Chee will take a while to finish, but I'm looking forward to the hunt.

1938 Cubs Scorecard

 About the same time I picked up my oldest scorecard to day, the 1932 card, I also found one from 1938.

Blue Valley Butter is still the sponsor.  I wonder why a butter company chose to advertise at Wrigley Field?  Ballpark attendance at this time was predominately male while the purchasers of butter were predominately female.  It must have worked, though, since they were on the front of the scorecard for eight seasons.

Time has again taken a toll on the color of the card, so I did some photoshop restoration.

This is more like it... beer, not butter, was on the back of the scorecard.  Who knew that Pabst was already 94 years old in 1938?

The card was scored and dated - July 23, 1938.  This is game two of a Saturday doubleheader.  The Cubs beat the Giants 3-1 as Dizzy Dean gave up just five hits and one run over nine innings.  The Cubs swept the twin bill, gaining two games on the second place Giants.  The attendance for the day was 43,223, the Cubs biggest crowd of the season.  The park was packed to the gills as there were 39,396 seats available.  I have no idea where they put 5,000 standees.

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 19,757 Cubs cards from 301 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1972 O-Pee-Chee #439 Billy Williams  You'll just have to trust me that this off-centered card is O-Pee-Chee and not Topps. I picked this up for the PSA master set Billy Williams collection.   

1980s: 1985 Team Issued Scott Sanderson It was a very bad day for Scott Sanderson and the Cubs on the day that this cards was given out at Wrigley Field.  Baseball Card Day, August 14, was the same day that Sanderson was placed on the 60 day DL, due to a partially torn MCL.  He became the fifth starter to be placed on the DL, joining Sutcliffe, Trout, Eckersley and Ruthven.  Yes, the entire rotation was now on the DL.  Like I said, it was a very bad day.

1990s: 1993 Duracell #3 Andre Dawson They picked a pretty good picture to use for a set that doesn't have an MLB license.  The only thing we lost was the C on his helmet.

2000s: 2002 Upper Deck Piece of History #58 Ernie Banks  This card looks more like the back of a card than the front.  You don't usually see that much writing on the front of a card.

2010s: 2010 Opening Day #2 Derrek Lee The 2010 Opening Day was Lee's last as a Cub.  He was traded to the Braves in mid-August.

70s Saturday - 1976 SSPC Cubs

 Today I've got a big set, the 24-card 1976 SSPC Cubs.  

Actually, the copyright on the cards says 1976 though the cards weren't released until 1976.  Star Sports Publishing Company put out the set, and they did so as rogues.  They had no license with either the players or the leagues.  Legal issues (no wonder!) forced them to withdraw the set.  

It was a big set too, comprised of 630 cards and 24 of those are Cubs. The set includes players that were traded to the Cubs over the winter of 1975-76.  They are shown in the uniforms of their previous team while listed as a Cub on the back.

The design of the front is as minimalist as you can get - a picture of the player, a black line around the picture, and a white border.  If you didn't recognize the player then you'd have to flip the card to see who it is.

The card below are in alphabetical order, so that may help you figure out who they are.  Otherwise, I have the names listed below.  How many can you name before you get to the list?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who are they???

Bill Bonham   Jose Cardenal 

Ken Crosby   Ron Dunn 

Ken Frailing   Mike Garmen  

Gene Hiser   Tim Hosley 

Mick Kelleher    Darold Knowles 

Pete LaCock   Bill Madlock 

Jim Marshall   George Mitterwald 

Rick Monday   Jerry Morales

Rick Reuschel   Rob Sperring

Steve Stone    Steve Swisher

Manny Trillo   Jim Tyrone

Milt Wilcox   Oscar Zamora