1981 Topps Rack Pack

The first pack I ever purchased was a 1986 Topps wax pack, 35 cents of glory, but it was a 1981 Topps card inserted in a box of cereal that was my first ever baseball card. For that reason, this set will always have some sentimental value, and I've always liked the design. The framed borders, the baseball hat with the position and designated team, the "Topps" baseball... I just like the way these cards look. I think this was the beginning of a nice design run for Topps lasting through 1984 that has been unmatched since.

Here's the contents of a rack pack I bought off eBay:

(Section 1)
383 - Eric Soderholm (showing on the front)
487 - Dewey Robinson
83 - Mike Proly (back to back White Sox, both appear to be signing autographs)

134 - Steve Mura ("what's this? a base... ball? I could do wonders with this!")
232 - Mickey Klutts (no mentions of his coordination on the back of his card)
128 - Gary Allenson
231 - Joe Beckwith

152 - John Urrea (if his middle name was "Dye", well... I was 5 when this set came out, so I get to have a juvenile sense of humor, right? the good thing is, I needed this for my Cardinals collection)
537 - Ron Hodges ("he's not related to former Met manager Gil Hodges" - so what does it mean when your claim to fame is not being related to someone famous?)
281 - Fred Stanley
47 - Ken Brett (George's older brother was on his 10th major league team at this point)
437 - Mike Heath
323 - Jim Morrison (insert obligatory Doors comment here)
486 - Marc Hill
358 - Mark Wagner

526 - Phillies Future Stars (I remember Bystrom pitching for the Yankees in the mid-80s but the other two I have no recollection of, though I suppose that's typical for these kind of cards)
11 - Jim Wohlford

(Section 2)
290 - Bob Boone (nice action shot of a restaurant-quality catcher)
481 - Bob Lacey (his cartoon mentions something he did in an American Legion game. nice.)
388 - Andre Thornton ("Andre hit for the cycle for Tribe against 4 different Red Sox pitchers..." - hmm... lazy copy editing?)

495 - Dusty Baker (what is more detrimental to baseball as a whole, Dusty speaking his "wisdom" to baseball fans on ESPN or Dusty teaching that "wisdom" to actual baseball players?)
365 - Graig Nettles (I had a Graig Nettles glove when I played little league)
717 - Jim Barr
17 - Cliff Johnson
78 - Steve Dillard (back to back airbrushed Cubs)
88 - Joe Lefebvre (may or may not be related to the better-known former manager Jim Lefebvre)

76 - Mario Mendoza (poor guy. even the photo is rather unfortunate...)
27 - Champ Summers
611 - Rick Matula (both cartoons on the back praise his exhibition efforts)
350 - J.R. Richard
477 - Luis Gomez ("was a freshman basketball teammate of Bill Walton at UCLA")
24 - Don Stanhouse ("Don's nickname is 'Stan the Man Unusual' due to his unusual manner of getting in and out of jams." somehow, I'm not sure that nickname stuck...)
63 - Steve Renko

(Section 3)


515 - Robin Yount (ah, the reason I bought this pack in the first place. I'll speak more of this on my blog.)
151 - Claudell Washington
501 - Tim Foli
653 - Bill Fahey
182 - Bob Grich
275 - Dwight Evans (lots of Red Sox in this pack. not lots of Cardinals. booo!)
566 - Del Unser (related to Al Unser, but not the one you're thinking of.)


110 - Carl Yastrzemski (yep, here's Yaz. nice card, nice player, despite who he played for...)
598 - George Vukovich
246 - Ed Ott
195 - Rich Murray (Eddie Murray's brother. that's it.)


130 - Larry Gura (an All-Star! er, wait, he's just a Royal. note how you can hardly see his number, let alone his name, in this photo.)
688 - Kiko Garcia
704 - Bill Travers
42 - Jerry White
642 - Vern Ruhle