Year - 1986
Main Brands - Topps, Donruss, Fleer
Number of Players Included Among All the Sets: 33
Players Included in Every Set: 20
There seems to be lots of red and blue on these, especially with the cards from Donruss and Fleer.
In fact, when you look at Fleer and Donruss next to each other they seem very similar - blue border, names surrounded by red, team logo in the bottom left.
The Eric Karros autograph that I got from him through the mail was the final player I needed to complete the lineup. I now have cards signed by the eight position players, the top starter and reliever, and the manager.
The Cubs lineup that year went through some changes during the season. There were injuries and trades that changed the position players. The eight I went with were the ones that played in the post-season. And what an exciting and then crushing post-season it was.
I tried to get cards of all the players on Cubs cards. I was successful for ten of the eleven. Kenny Lofton is the exception. He only has a few cards that show him with the Cubs, so that limits the possibilities. None of his signed cards on eBay are Cubs cards. I also could have gone the TTM route with him, but he charges $60 per card to sign. Nope, no way will I send that much on Kenny Lofton.
This is the way I went. It was a $15 card, which is plenty enough. But it is certified and it doesn't show him with any team. That works for me.
I ended up with five certified signatures, one TTM, and five that I hope are legit but have no way of knowing for sure.
I typically write several posts at once and then schedule them to go live daily at 7:00 a.m. I wrote yesterday's Brandon Hughes post on Saturday morning. Later that day he was placed on the IL and Caleb Kilian was called up to take his roster spot.
Kilian came to the Cubs in the 2021 fire sale, from the Giants for Kris Bryant. He pitched a little for the Cubs last year but was not very good. His so-so performance in spring training meant he would start the season in AAA. But injuries on the Cubs staff created some openings and Kilian got the call.
He started on Satuday night against the Marlins and it did not go well. He was tagged for five runs in the first inning and it took him 40 pitches to get three outs. He ended up going 3 1/3 innings and gave up seven earned runs. That's the kind of outing that gets you a ticket back to Des Moines, which is what he was given on Sunday.
But Topps has Kilian as one of their rookie golden boys. He has a card in Series One and the factory team set. I'll bet that he'll be included in Heritage when it comes out in May. Topps also included Kilian in the 1989 autograph insert set. I picked up the card in March on the hunch that he would pitch for the Cubs some time during the season.
Isn't that nice of Topps to make a certified autograph card of a guy with a career ERA of 12.27? All I can say is that I now have cards of all 154 of the players that have a certified autograph that shows them as a Cub in a season that they played for the Cubs.
| Terry Adams | Mike Fontenot | Derrek Lee | Chris Rusin |
| Arismendy Alcantara | Kevin Foster | Jon Leiber | Addison Russell |
| Albert Almora | Dexter Fowler | Jon Lester | Jeff Samardzija |
| Moises Alou | Jackson Frazier | Cole Liniak | Rey Sanchez |
| Adbert Alzolay | Kyuji Fujikawa | Greg Maddux | Ryne Sandberg |
| Jake Arrieta | Kosuke Fukudome | Nick Madrigal | Kyle Schwarber |
| Javier Baez | Sam Fuld | Dave Magadan | Scott Servais |
| Darwin Barney | Sean Gallagher | Dillon Maples | Jorge Soler |
| Francis Beltran | Nomar Garciaparra | Carlos Marmol | Alfonso Soriano |
| David Bote | Matt Garza | Sean Marshall | Sammy Sosa |
| Milton Bradley | Leo Gomez | Alec Mills | Geovany Soto |
| Roosevelt Brown | Tom Gorzelanny | Scott Moore | Steve Smyth |
| Kris Bryant | Kevin Gregg | Matt Murton | Justin Steele |
| Scott Bullett | Angel Guzman | Rod Myers | Marcus Stroman |
| Freddie Bynum | Jason Hammel | Thomas Neal | Seiya Suzuki |
| Marlon Byrd | Todd Haney | James Norwood | Matt Szczur |
| Jeimer Candelario | Ian Happ | Roberto Novoa | Ryan Theriot |
| Victor Caratini | Brendan Harris | Will Ohman | Keegan Thompson |
| Andrew Cashner | Kevin Hart | Augie Ojeda | Ozzie Timmons |
| Larry Cassian | Kyle Hendricks | Mike Olt | Steve Trachsel |
| Frank Castillo | Jason Heyward | Ryan O'Malley | Duane Underwood |
| Welington Castillo | Jose Hernandez | Kevin Orie | Jermaine Van Buren |
| Starlin Castro | Bobby Hill | Angel Pagan | Nelson Velazquez |
| Ronny Cedeno | Rich Hill | Bob Patterson | Josh Vitters |
| Rocky Cherry | Nico Hoerner | Eric Patterson | Todd Walker |
| Matt Clement | Micah Hoffpauir | Corey Patterson | Todd Wellemeyer |
| Steve Clevenger | Brandon Hughes | David Patton | Randy Wells |
| Buck Coats | Cesar Izturis | Joc Pederson | Turk Wendell |
| Tyler Colvin | Brett Jackson | Carlos Pena | Jerome Williams |
| Willson Contreras | Reed Johnson | Billy Petrick | Patrick Wisdom |
| Juan Cruz | Jacque Jones | Felix Pie | Kerry Wood |
| Yu Darvish | Matt Karchner | Lou Piniella | Travis Wood |
| Wade Davis | David Kelton | Mark Prior | Michael Wuertz |
| Blake DeWitt | Brooks Kieschnick | Brooks Raley | Carlos Zambrano |
| Rafael Dolis | Caleb Kilian | Aramis Ramirez | Rob Zastryzny |
| Scott Downs | Craig Kimbrel | Alfonso Rivas | Ben Zobrist |
| Jason Dubuois | Bryan LaHair | Anthony Rizzo | Julio Zuleta |
| Carl Edwards | Tommy LaStella | Henry Rodriguez | |
| Kyle Farnsworth | Junior Lake | Manuel Rodriquez |
This is the fourth time in four months that I've been able to grab a card on my most wanted list.
The captured card this time is the 1992 Action Packed 24K gold card of Billy Williams. There are a couple of other Cubs in the set that I picked up pretty easily. But the Billy card was MIA.
I found an eBay seller with a lot of six of the 24K cards and Billy's was one of the six. The seller was willing to break up the lot and sell me just the one card, for which I was grateful.
The big question is if I will be able to keep up the one a month pace for knocking cards off of my list. I hope so... but doubt it!
This is another Series One card I picked up in March. He started the season injured, but I knew that Brandon Hughes would end up on the Cubs roster as some time during the 2023 season. He was activated off of the IL on April 15 and made his first appearance on April 17.
That made him a ruler-follower for me as he played in a game for the Cubs in a season that he had a certified autograph card that shows him as a Cub. He is the 154th Cub player that follows that rule since certified autographs started showing up in the early 1990s.
He is also the 11th player (12 if you count Kyle Hendricks, who is on the IL) on the current roster with a Cubs certified auto. That seems like a pretty high number when you consider that there are just a few players on the team that would be considered stars.
| Terry Adams | Mike Fontenot | Jon Leiber | Addison Russell |
| Arismendy Alcantara | Kevin Foster | Jon Lester | Jeff Samardzija |
| Albert Almora | Dexter Fowler | Cole Liniak | Rey Sanchez |
| Moises Alou | Jackson Frazier | Greg Maddux | Ryne Sandberg |
| Adbert Alzolay | Kyuji Fujikawa | Nick Madrigal | Kyle Schwarber |
| Jake Arrieta | Kosuke Fukudome | Dave Magadan | Scott Servais |
| Javier Baez | Sam Fuld | Dillon Maples | Jorge Soler |
| Darwin Barney | Sean Gallagher | Carlos Marmol | Alfonso Soriano |
| Francis Beltran | Nomar Garciaparra | Sean Marshall | Sammy Sosa |
| David Bote | Matt Garza | Alec Mills | Geovany Soto |
| Milton Bradley | Leo Gomez | Scott Moore | Steve Smyth |
| Roosevelt Brown | Tom Gorzelanny | Matt Murton | Justin Steele |
| Kris Bryant | Kevin Gregg | Rod Myers | Marcus Stroman |
| Scott Bullett | Angel Guzman | Thomas Neal | Seiya Suzuki |
| Freddie Bynum | Jason Hammel | James Norwood | Matt Szczur |
| Marlon Byrd | Todd Haney | Roberto Novoa | Ryan Theriot |
| Jeimer Candelario | Ian Happ | Will Ohman | Keegan Thompson |
| Victor Caratini | Brendan Harris | Augie Ojeda | Ozzie Timmons |
| Andrew Cashner | Kevin Hart | Mike Olt | Steve Trachsel |
| Larry Cassian | Kyle Hendricks | Ryan O'Malley | Duane Underwood |
| Frank Castillo | Jason Heyward | Kevin Orie | Jermaine Van Buren |
| Welington Castillo | Jose Hernandez | Angel Pagan | Nelson Velazquez |
| Starlin Castro | Bobby Hill | Bob Patterson | Josh Vitters |
| Ronny Cedeno | Rich Hill | Eric Patterson | Todd Walker |
| Rocky Cherry | Nico Hoerner | Corey Patterson | Todd Wellemeyer |
| Matt Clement | Micah Hoffpauir | David Patton | Randy Wells |
| Steve Clevenger | Brandon Hughes | Joc Pederson | Turk Wendell |
| Buck Coats | Cesar Izturis | Carlos Pena | Jerome Williams |
| Tyler Colvin | Brett Jackson | Billy Petrick | Patrick Wisdom |
| Willson Contreras | Reed Johnson | Felix Pie | Kerry Wood |
| Juan Cruz | Jacque Jones | Lou Piniella | Travis Wood |
| Yu Darvish | Matt Karchner | Mark Prior | Michael Wuertz |
| Wade Davis | David Kelton | Brooks Raley | Carlos Zambrano |
| Blake DeWitt | Brooks Kieschnick | Aramis Ramirez | Rob Zastryzny |
| Rafael Dolis | Craig Kimbrel | Alfonso Rivas | Ben Zobrist |
| Scott Downs | Bryan LaHair | Anthony Rizzo | Julio Zuleta |
| Jason Dubuois | Tommy LaStella | Henry Rodriguez | |
| Carl Edwards | Junior Lake | Manuel Rodriquez | |
| Kyle Farnsworth | Derrek Lee | Chris Rusin |
Wow, what a deal! The 2022 Bowman Heritage comes out just a year after the 2022 season started. And this may be the last Bowman Heritage ever, or at least for a year, since it is one of the brands that Topps announced would be on hiatus for 2023.
This set uses the Bowman design from 1994. The set has two main checklists. The veterans and rookies get numbers 1 through 100. The prospects have their own separate numbers, going from BHP1 - BHP 150.
