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What is your range for being able to identify baseball cards by year?
detroitfan2
Posts: 3,314 ✭✭✭✭
For me, I can go 1951 through 1990 Topps. If you show me the front of a card, I can tell you the year. After 1991, no dice. If you show me the top 3rd of any Topps card from 1976 - 1980, I can probably tell you the player and team. Just like I can tell you what an episode of Brady Bunch is about after seeing the first 20 seconds. Impressive, I know. Curious if any of the vintage guys can go beyond 2000 with their ability to identify the year of a card.
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50-77, intermittent. 78-93 spot on, 15- current no issue.
stopped collecting from 95-2017 so everything in between is a blur.
myslabs.to/smzcards
The baseball strike ended my passion for watching MLB, is this why there is a gap for you too?
86-94 is all I have left committed to memory for cards and some players/teams. I can identify only 51-54 Bowman and 54-64 topps.
I'm much better at identifying tail lights and headlights of most makes and models of USDM, EDM, and JDM vehicles from mid 80s through present, especially at night in my review mirror. My wife doesn't understand how we have such bizarre abilities and yet I often never know what day it is or what I had for lunch. 😀
1948 Leaf through 1988
I absolutely couldn't even get 1 correct after 1988
I can identify 1951 thru 1995 Topps, with the exception of 1955 and 1956 Topps. Put those 2 years together and I can not tell them apart because they look so similar to me.
1981-1992 Fleer and 1981-1996 Donruss are easy to identify as well.
buying O-Pee-Chee (OPC) baseball
Hi Jolley, the strike ended my interest in watching baseball as well. I was 11 years old at the time and I didn't understand the labor disputes that led to the strike. All I remember is being robbed of watching a possible Yankees/Expos world series, and seeing Tony Gwynn possibly end the season above .400 for the first time since Ted Williams. Gwynn was batting .394 at the time of the strike.
buying O-Pee-Chee (OPC) baseball
And Matt Williams was on pace to hit 61 home runs (no guarantee, of course). He had already hit 43 HR in 112 games.
Maris had 43 HR in 115 in 1961.
1952-1992
1948 - 1988 - more confidant with football. Good with Topps/OPC hockey, but Parkhurst is confusing.
through 2009 maybe
51-84
Since I am a Cardinals team set collector....
Topps 1951 - 2023 (plus 1948 Topps Magic Photo)
Bowman 1948 - 1955, 1989 - 1993 (spotty after that)
Fleer 1960 - 1961, 1963, 1981 - 1994 (spotty after that)
Donruss 1981 - 1995 (spotty after that)
Upper Deck 1989 - 1995 (spotty after that)
Mid 1990s I was more into basketball.
Shane
There are games to test your knowledge of card identification, pack/box identification etc.
at
collecktion.com
1951-1989
hahahaha I was always able to pin cars by headlights and taillights. its a guy thing.
and no, once I got to middle and high school just simply lost interest and didn't think much of them anymore until I learned about grading and decided to get my old cards from my childhood graded. things caught on from there.
myslabs.to/smzcards
On the modern stuff, you could hand me the card, let me read the back for 60 seconds, and I still might not come up with the year.
But Topps 52-87 I’d be like Rain Man.
“Thats a 1981 John Wathan. Definitely 81 Wathan”.
I will never forgive them for robbing Tony Gwynn of his chance at .400.
As for the OP's question, I can go 1951 - 1989. After that, forget it.
Steve
I can identify Topps 1951 to 1990. After that I lost interest.
Got me beat. I could never identify a 51 Topps.
LOL. Typo. But if there was a 51 Topps I'm sure I could identify it.
I'm confused.
Stock photo.
I can't tell the red backs from the blue from the fronts.
48-2000 for me. after 00 it is pretty foggy
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
57-95 and 2010-present. I didn't collect from 96-2009. I know a few of the designs in those years, but not many.