1983 Topps

This is the first anniversary of A Pack A Day, and I think someone ought to actually post a pack. Capewood's got a draft in process, but I'll step up and post one anyway. This is a pack that was not meant to be opened, but what the hell, it's practically a holiday. I have a wax pack stashed with my set for every year of Topps from 1982 to 1998. I'm going to swipe the pack from my 1983 Topps set and open it right here - LIVE - just because it's my favorite set from the '80s. Also because the local card shop has a whole box of 'em so I can pick one up another whenever I want. The set features three Hall of Fame rookies, Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandburg. I think there's about a 5% chance of pulling any one of them out of a pack. I'm also missing 20 cards for the set so I have those to chase too. I know for a fact I had the complete set when I was a kid, but a big chunk of it disappeared at some point. Most likely I'll get a pack full of doubles, but hey, it's better odds than the lottery. Here's the wrapper:

Whoa, ColecoVision game card! I don't remember those, Now I really want to rip the pack. Here's the back:

The weird schmutz is the other reason I don't mind ripping this pack. I don't know what the heck it is or how many times this pack has actually been sealed, but the sucker's getting ripped anyway. There's also a Winning Line Up game card inside. Is that the same as the ColecoVision game? Or can I possibly win a ColecoVision?? I'm going mad with curiosity. Once again, regret clenches my heart as I see the missed opportunity for 10 Official Topps Sports Collector Sheets for $2.00 and 60 cents handling. The wrapper is crisp, the gum is loose, it's time to open my first pack of this set since 1983.

282 Reggie Smith

Reggie waits for a pick off throw to try to tag out an unrecognizable Brave Ryne Sandberg who I wish was a Brave. Reggie's career stats are on the back as 1982 was his last year in the majors. He did go on to play two more seasons in Japan, where Reggie managed to simultaneously dominate the league and piss off half the country.

371 Mike Richardt

I don't know who the heck this guy is, but the card sure is mint! I played with my cards so much in 1983 I assumed later that the cards came out of the pack with round corners.

328 Craig Reynolds

1982 Highlights for Craig Reynolds:

May 17: Delivered Single & 2 RBI's at Philadelphia
June 9: Cracked Single & Homer with 2 RBI's at San Francisco.

Unfortunately Craig had only three more RBI's all year.

359 Dave Collins

Dave played 16 years in the majors and had 32 homers. This is one of the reasons why the owners looked the other way when players bulked up in the '90s.

150 Bruce Sutter

Hall of Fame arm, LEGENDARY beard!

One third of the way through the pack, and we have one Hall of Famer, one bona fide star, three nobodies, four minty fresh cards (Reggie is waxy), zero megarookies and zero cards I need. Let us proceed...

647 Bobby Mitchell

With the BUNT! That's a bunt triple right there, folks. A big blue flash around the bases.

347 Doug DeCinces

Doug had a pretty solid run with the Orioles and Angels. 1982 was his career year with 30 homers, 97 RBIs and a .301 average.

494 Bob Brenly

I love minor league stats on the back of Topps cards. Bob played for Great Falls, Fresno, Cedar Rapids, Fresno again, Shreveport and Phoenix from 1976 to 1981 before finally getting called up to the Giants.

Scratch off game card

Ah, you can win a ColecoVision with three triples. In 1983 I would have wanted the game more than the World Series trip. Now I remember scratching tons of these things. All I ever got were Bonus Runs.

647 Bobby Mitchell

BOOOOOOOOOOO! Stupid bunt! The next card better not be Doug DeCinces!

347 Doug DeCinces

argh.

595 Tim Raines

YES!!! Rock saves the pack! Looking at the back I notice that the stats for Tim show that he had 71 stolen bases in only 88 games in 1981. There's no way that's correct. Holy crap, it's true!

538 Danny Heep

As much as I'd like to show off the lovely rainbow Astros jersey on the front, the back has these weird faded spots all over it. I wonder what's up with that?

564 Sid Monge

Monge Like Candy!

130 Dave Stieb
You knew this post would eventually devolve into strange YouTube references as I ran out of witty things to write about these jokers.

The Beatles: Blue Jay Way

Last card.........

660 Mike Hargrove
Grover is not a bad way to end the pack. The Human Rain Delay ran up the count to draw 101 walks in 1982.

No Gwynn, no Boggs and no Ryno. No cards I needed either. Raines and Sutter and a bunch of upgrades to my dog eared set made it worth my time though. Plus I got GUM!

Yum... 25 year old gum....