My 1980's raw SF Giants binders
Cladiator
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I got around to taking some images of the binders of raw cards I've put together covering the SF Giants throughout the 1980's. Figured this would be an ok place to post them just to have the pics all in one place for fun. They're nothing special, I doubt a single one would get a 10, probably not even any 9's. I get a big kick out of them though and look forward to putting them up here. I'll try and post 1 year every week or so as not to blast and annoy everyone with a million posts and pics all at once.
Here's 1980, smallest album by far with it being just Topps. Most of the marks, lint, cat hair and general schmultz is on the outside of the plastic pages and not on the cards themselves (not all of it but most). My favorite card from this album is the Vida Blue. He was my mom's favorite player so I've got a soft spot for him. It's also fun that this year includes a couple McCovey's. I absolutely love this uniform, one of the best SFG uniforms of all time in my opinion.
Comments
Every time I look at cards like these, I'm instantly reminded how horribly today's modern cards are designed.
Here's the 1981 binder. Again this year my personal favs are the Blue and the McCovey. More cards this year as Fleer and Donruss have joined the game. I put the Donruss Jesus Figueroa in the binder because it says Giants on it, even though he's in a Cubs uniform lol. As best I can tell he never actually played with the Giants. Only records I can find for him show him playing just 1 year (1980) in MLB and that was only with the Cubs.
TOPPS
FLEER
DONRUSS
Enjoyed looking…
Thanks for sharing!
Live long, and prosper.
For whatever the poptarts it's worth, he was traded to the Giants after the 1980 season and played the whole 1981 season at AAA Phoenix. Remember, Donruss didn't do a separate Traded set until 1989.
Ah, now that makes sense. Being in AAA all year threw me for a loop as he didn't appear on SFG rosters when I looked him up. Thanks for the info.
A team collector (i.e., a man after my own heart.) Really nicely presented.
I liked the jerseys they had then. The Chili and Evans cards in the '83 Fleer set really display those well.
1982's are up to the plate. As far as card design I think this year goes to Topps. I could do without the signatures but the overall design is pretty sweet. Second place would be Donruss with Fleer bringing up the rear. I do like the Fleer design, just less than the others. It's a respectful bronze medal for them lol.
'82 brings my favorite ball player to the mlbb card world, Bob Brenly. Singled out below are his rookie cards and of course Blue's cards.
1983, you're on deck...
TOPPS
FLEER
DONRUSS
I just noticed that a handful of your 81 Donruss were taken at Wrigley field...
A whole bunch of '81 Donruss were shot at Wrigley.
1983's are up to the plate. This year I think Fleer has the best looking design. The Topps is nice because they have both the portrait and the action shot, I do like that. Donruss really wasn't too inventive their first few years lol.
'83 is our first year without Vida so that's a bit sad (for now). Brenly would definitely be my favorite cards from this year. The Joe Morgan cards are sweet too, it's always fun to have a HOF'er in the mix. I guess there's two HOF'ers with Frank Robinson coaching. I think Fleer missed the mark with not including manager cards.
I wonder if Chili Davis was annoyed that Donruss put his given name of Charles instead of his nickname.
1984, you're on deck...
Topps
Fleer
Donruss
Favorites
It's fun to collect a favorite team.
When I do a set - the grade/quality of a card becomes secondary for me to the "set" as such.
Question.
Why was Chili Davis in the T Traded set if he was never traded? Backstory? Was supposed to be traded?
Many cards in the 1981 and 1982 Traded sets were individual cards of multiplayer rookies who had caught on, notably Raines and Ripken.
1984's are up. This year I'm leaning towards Topps as my favorite design, especially like that they kept the portrait and the action shot. Donruss is improved over '83 and Fleer is not bad.
Robinson seems to only have a manager card this year with Topps. Of course, the Brenly cards are my favorite. It's cool to have Dusty Baker too, his one and only year as a Giant (as a player! lol).
1985, you're on deck...
Topps
Fleer
Donruss
Favorites
Clark and Evans from the Hall of Very Good, with Oliver narrowly missing out. Sorry. Still a lot of trouble seeing Davis as good as Jim Rice.
Very cool collection brought back memories of buying those packs as a teenager.
1985's up to the plate. Donruss takes the cake this year for me in regards to best looking card. The black edges with the red lines along the bottom background are just quintessential 1980's, I absolutely love it. Topps takes 2nd and Fleer 3rd in the looks department.
The Brenly card count this year jumps to 4 with the addition of the Donruss Diamond King. We get two Jose Uribe rookie cards (what's up Donruss? geez...) this year.
I think the coolest card in the entire year has to be the Jim Davenport. What a cool player. He spent his entire 14 year MLB career with the Giants. 13 years (58-70) as a player and 1 year (85) as manager. He was part of the team that won the NL penant in 1962 and damn near won the WS if it weren't for McCoveys liner getting snatched out of the air in game 7. Two All-Star teams and a Golden Glove. What a cool career and all with the Giants. Pretty cool if you ask me. I'm stoked I'll get to have his rookie card in my collection one day as part of my 1958 Giants set.
1986, you're on deck...
Topps
Fleer
Donruss
Favorites
I think that the neatest card in the 1983 Topps set of Giants cards is Reggie Smith, due to the fact that a certain HOF Cub is the player jogging back to first base, in the set that includes his rookie card. Pretty neat cameo!
kevin
@Cladiator Great thread, thank you for sharing. I always liked those early 80s Giants uniforms. I had to take a second look at the 83 Fleer Jim Fowlkes and the 83 Donruss Jim Barr because I thought they were the same person at first glance.
I enjoyed the 84 binder. 84 Donruss & Fleer designs and photography were superb.
buying O-Pee-Chee (OPC) baseball
Smith is very underrated. He was far better than most/almost all of the players considered by the various HoF Committees recently.
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