1985 Topps Super

I found a whole box of this stuff for only five bucks. Fortuitous for me, since I have a box of '84 and '86 I ripped decades ago but none of the '85 version. This is basically a big sized version of the base '85 Topps cards. The set is distilled down to 60 cards and hits most of the major stars of the era. The set has the iconic Doc Gooden Rookie card blown up into huge proportions but sadly left out the RC's of Kirby and Clemens. No Olympic cards either, so we're also sadly missing the key to the whole set. That's right no Cory Snyder rookie card. Ah well. I ripped a few packs (saving the full box rip for later) and here's the best one.

1 Ryne Sandberg

First card in the set is a pretty good one. Not the best photo though... I much prefer his 1986 card. I guess he's looking at Superman or something. It's a bird... It's a plane... Even with the large size of the card it's still almost impossible to tell who that dude in the background it. Ron Cey maybe? The face is too blurry.

41 Kent Hrbek

I scanned this one atop a 2008 Allen & Ginter cabinet card so you can compare the size. Many of you have never seen a 2008 Allen & Ginter cabinet card so for you it's all a bit useless. They're big. I'll get to that next. I used to be a big fan of Herbie, mainly because I had all his rookie cards. I got a couple of them at a card shop one time in the mid '80s out of a 5 cent box. Actually I don't think it was supposed to be a 5 cent box, because the next time I went back to that store I got some really nasty looks from the owner. I didn't care because I got several pricey rookie cards and a pile of 1971 Topps for a nickel each already. I have come to realize I was a real pain in the ass as a kid.

11 Dale Murphy

I was SO happy to pull this in one of the first packs. My general theory of duplicates states that the cards you get in the first few packs of a product are going to be the ones you keep pulling over and over when you're desperately trying to find those last few cards to complete the set. There are 72 cards in a box and 60 cards in a set so there are going to be some doubles in that box. A complete set? Knowing the iffy collation of oddball products I would actually wager not. My fear was I'd get 95% of the set and no Murph (the only Brave in the set), and be left with a pile of 8 Juan Samuels and a heart full of broken dreams. I got the Murphy right away though, so everything else is gravy.

As you can see I put Murph's regular '85 Topps card up next to the Giant Sized Dale so you can take in just how big these are. Basically four times the size of a regular card or 5 by 7 inches. I might need to get a picture frame for #3 here. You have to be very careful though... never get a Giant sized Topps card too close to a regular one or else...

Whoa! A negative reality inversion! Don't worry folks, I caught it in time before it hit critical mass. I think the cat got sent back to Edwardian England, but she'll turn up. She always does.