Here's another set from 2022 that has arrived two plus months into 2023, Gold Label. This set is confusing to write about since there are 300 cards, or is it 100 cards? The set has 100 players and for each player there is a Class 1, 2, and 3 card.
I always just go for the Class 1 card. And for the Cubs this year, it was pretty easy. Just one player is on the checklist, Seiya Suzuki.
And there it is, the complete Cubs team set from Gold Label 2023.
Why did I need to wait so long for this??
Here is my monthly look at Topps complete set prices for all the years in which I own a set, 1969 - 2022. The prices are from the five most recent Ebay sold auction listings taken on March 23 and do not include shipping.
| YEAR | 3/23/23 | 2/22/23 | Change |
| 1969 | $2,329.17 | $2,329.17 | $0.00 |
| 1970 | $2,125.00 | $1,634.71 | $490.29 |
| 1971 | $1,347.65 | $1,263.50 | $84.15 |
| 1972 | $2,289.80 | $1,927.40 | $362.41 |
| 1973 | $994.31 | $612.96 | $381.35 |
| 1974 | $476.76 | $430.00 | $46.76 |
| 1975 | $684.78 | $653.21 | $31.57 |
| 1976 | $454.56 | $299.35 | $155.21 |
| 1977 | $327.20 | $226.20 | $101.00 |
| 1978 | $209.60 | $204.00 | $5.59 |
| 1979 | $194.00 | $140.49 | $53.51 |
| 1980 | $133.75 | $173.30 | -$39.55 |
| 1981 | $48.69 | $63.80 | -$15.11 |
| 1982 | $72.32 | $57.85 | $14.48 |
| 1983 | $118.00 | $75.97 | $42.03 |
| 1984 | $32.00 | $35.99 | -$3.99 |
| 1985 | $38.40 | $46.15 | -$7.75 |
| 1986 | $17.30 | $19.60 | -$2.30 |
| 1987 | $12.55 | $10.41 | $2.14 |
| 1988 | $10.33 | $6.20 | $4.13 |
| 1989 | $9.54 | $10.65 | -$1.11 |
| 1990 | $14.10 | $11.95 | $2.15 |
| 1991 | $11.04 | $9.25 | $1.80 |
| 1992 | $9.89 | $6.70 | $3.19 |
| 1993 | $36.80 | $39.97 | -$3.17 |
| 1994 | $30.01 | $25.67 | $4.34 |
| 1995 | $29.00 | $41.20 | -$12.20 |
| 1996 | $30.04 | $22.78 | $7.26 |
| 1997 | $29.12 | $32.46 | -$3.34 |
| 1998 | $21.40 | $29.24 | -$7.84 |
| 1999 | $18.33 | $28.63 | -$10.30 |
| 2000 | $17.86 | $24.23 | -$6.38 |
| 2001 | $82.61 | $90.93 | -$8.33 |
| 2002 | $28.17 | $48.95 | -$20.78 |
| 2003 | $36.80 | $42.30 | -$5.50 |
| 2004 | $32.58 | $45.57 | -$12.99 |
| 2005 | $45.60 | $50.40 | -$4.80 |
| 2006 | $38.89 | $26.03 | $12.85 |
| 2007 | $35.90 | $28.07 | $7.83 |
| 2008 | $40.20 | $59.50 | -$19.30 |
| 2009 | $55.19 | $47.95 | $7.24 |
| 2010 | $29.68 | $29.82 | -$0.14 |
| 2011 | $73.04 | $58.00 | $15.04 |
| 2012 | $50.14 | $69.02 | -$18.88 |
| 2013 | $62.75 | $54.94 | $7.80 |
| 2014 | $154.28 | $155.60 | -$1.32 |
| 2015 | $41.60 | $42.25 | -$0.66 |
| 2016 | $65.89 | $74.47 | -$8.59 |
| 2017 | $127.50 | $94.00 | $33.50 |
| 2018 | $110.27 | $108.65 | $1.62 |
| 2019 | $136.73 | $94.15 | $42.59 |
| 2020 | $46.07 | $21.20 | $24.87 |
| 2021 | $23.80 | $25.75 | -$1.95 |
| 2022 | $25.67 | $35.20 | -$9.53 |
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| Notice that my DVD is signed by Darwin Barney! |
I got a note from the producer of Calvin Marshall that a winner was picked for a free DVD. Congratulation to Kevin B.!
A second drawing will be held on March 31. You can enter by going here. You can also pick up some Calvin Marshall merch and help support some youth baseball programs in Oregon using the same link.
I've got 20,985 Cubs cards from 316 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.
Today's set is my last of the 1960's and it is one of my favorites from the decade, the Jewel Food photos.
Chicago was all abuzz with the early season success of the Cubs and Jewel was one of the many businesses to hop on the band wagon. Twenty different photos were available, given out four per week over five weeks. Weekly newspaper ads showed the players from that week along with the purchase necessary to get the photo.
This is the ad from the first week, August 4.
The photos themselves were full color with a facsimile signature and measured 6" x 9". All of the main players, including a couple that were picked up during the season, are in the set. In fact, the photo of Dick Selma is the only item I'm aware of that shows him as a Cub.
My autograph collection of the 1989 Cubs has inspired me to go after a couple of other division-winning teams. First up is the 2003 team.
This team came out of nowhere to win the division, then the NLDS over the Braves, before an epic collapse against the Marlins in the NLCS.
One advantage I have with this team is that 2003 is in the certified autograph era. Because of that I already have autographs of...
... Moises Alou, Sammy Sosa, Aramis Ramirez, Mark Prior, and Dusty Baker. That's five of the eleven that I need.
The missing six are Kenny Lofton, Alex Gonzalez, Mark Grudzielanek, Eric Karros, Damian Miller, and Joe Borowski. I've been able to buy cards for all except Karros, and the cards are on their way.
Ebay didn't have any listings for signed Karros cards showing him with the Cubs. That makes sense since he was just with the team for a single season. I thought I'd try a different route to get his autograph. I'm going to make my first attempt at TTM (through the mail). I was able to find an address for him and I'm going to send out a card. We'll see how that goes.
Opening Day for the 2023 season is just a week away, yet here we are with new cards from the 2022 season. This is nuts.
The 2022 edition of Bowman's Best came out on March 8. It consists of 70 veteran cards and another 30 for prospects. Three of the 100 belong to Cubs players.
Well, sort of Cubs players, since Contreras is no longer with the team and hasn't been since December 9.
Cristian Hernandez is the Cubs prospect. He spent the 2022 season with the Cubs team in the Arizona complex league. I assume he will start the season in low-A Myrtle Beach.
Sadly, this isn't the end of 2022 cards. Two more sets are coming soon, Bowman Heritage and Gold Label. I don't know how long it will take me to track down the Cubs cards from those two sets.
I picked up autographed cards of two of the 1989 Boys of Zimmer at a card show a week ago Saturday. In the post on the cards I mentioned that I had signed cards from most of the team's lineup. After a quick review I found that I was missing just two players, Vance Law and Damon Berryhill.
Not any more!
The cost was less than five bucks each.
When I go for the autographs from a particular team, I get the starting eight fielders, the best starter and reliever, and the manager. I've done that with the 1969 and 1984 teams, but on baseballs, not cards. And with the 2016 team I went for every player that was on the World Series roster. That makes the 1989 team my first 11-card squad.
In the outfield we have Dwight Smith, Jerome Walton, and Andre Dawson. The infield, third to first, is Vance Law, Shawon Dunston, Ryne Sandberg, and Mark Grace. Damon Berryhill is behind the plate while Greg Maddux and Mitch Williams were the top starter and reliever. Don Zimmer managed the team.
Only five of the eleven are certified autographs. The only on-card signature that may be questionable is Greg Maddux. The card did come with a certificate of authenticity, but many of those aren't worth the paper that they're printed on.
My most wanted list has had another card removed!
This is the Clarence Maddern's card from TCMA's 1985 imaginary 1949 Play Ball set. The picture is of Maddern at Wrigley Field. My understanding is that TCMA picked some of the lesser-type players for this set and it was intended to be used to get autographs. As you can see, my card is signed.
This is the first card I've ever seen listed on eBay of any of the six Cubs in the 1948 and 1949 sets. It was listed as an auction which made me a little nervous. Were there other collectors also looking for these hard-to-find oddballs?
Luckily for me the answer was no. There was just one other bidder and I won the card for $9.50. Any time I can knock a most wanted off the list for less than ten bucks I consider that a win. Plus, who wouldn't want an autographed card of the immortal Clarence Maddern?
It took a while, but I finally have a pack of 2023 Topps for my display wall.
Packs were a real pain for me to find this year. A week after Series One was released, the local Walmart and Meijer had nothing. Mrs. WW and I decided to take a trip to South Bend and try our luck at Target.
We choose South Bend so we could make it a combination lunch at our favorite pizza place and a look for cards adventure. We stopped at a Target on the way and found nothing. After pizza we hit up two more Targets and a Meijer as well. All three were a waste of time as they too had nothing,
When we got home I decided I'd have to go the online route. The best option I could find was ordering from Fanatics. I had a free shipping code, so that would help, too. This would be my first direct purchase from them since they bought Topps.
I had to get a box of seven packs. The price was the same as on the Topps site, but the free shipping from Fanatics saved me quite a bit compared to what Topps charged. I was disappointed at checkout to see that Fanatics was charging me a $1.99 handling fee. I guess shipping wasn't completely free.
The box arrived two weeks after the order was placed. That was a bit disappointing too. I was hoping for a quicker ship time.
Once the box came, I grabbed a pack and added it to my shelf. I am now officially out of room and will need to add a fourth shelf for the 2024 pack.
Below is a GIF showing how the wall has progressed over the years. I have pictures from 2009 and then from 2012 to the present.
I've got 20,951 Cubs cards from 316 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.
Milton Bradley put out this game in 1969.
The game game with a set of cards for each MLB team. The cards are very plain, with just a airbrushed photo and player name on the front. The backs contain the information needed to play the game.
The cards don't list teams, so teams sets vary from source to source. Below are the 18 players and the team card that I have in my team set. All of the stars of the team are included.
