May 1984

     May 1984 was a great month. The Tigers were doing OK. School was almost out. I would soon get my first job and have a little money in my pocket to go watch Tigers games all summer and load up on baseball cards. 

    May 2026 was a month. The Tigers were fucking horrible. I added a lot of cards to make up for it, leaving little money in my pockets. 

    Let's take a look already.

13. Topps Milton Bradley Championship Baseball

    Ok, this wasn't a new addition. More like a "I forgot I had them" and found them in a box. 

    I had the board game back in '84. I will have to hunt that down one of these days. These will do just fine for now. 

12. OPC Checklists

    Yeah, I'm still doing that.

11. O-Pee-Chee "Traded"

    Yeah, I'm still doing that too. I didn't complete this one though. Rose, Morgan, and Perez were all a little higher than I was prepared to go this time. Next year.

10. Charlie Lea

He's an alma mater guy (Memphis) and I've been slowly adding his Canadian cards. I love that Stuart card!

9. O-Pee-Chee Tigers

    While I was diving in the O-Pee-Chee bin on Sportlots, I added a bunch of Tigers. I didn't add them all though, still missing Trammell and the Whitaker AS card. 

8. Fleer Tigers

    While I was diving for something else on Sportlots that will show up later, I grabbed these too. I didn't need them. I have at least 2 of each card already, but it's '84 Fleer, ya know?

7. Topps Ralston Purina

    I really don't remember if I had this one or the Cereal Series set back in '84, but I know I had one of them. One day I'll add the other one. 

6. Topps Tiffany Dave Rozema

    This is the last single player card I need for the Tigers set. I still need the Jack Morris/Steve Carlton League Leaders card and then I will have the complete team set (not counting the Traded Set).

5. Topps Drake's Alan Trammell

    A sweet looking card that had somehow eluded me all these years. 

4. Topps All-Star Baseball Game Sweepstakes

    These were the cards you needed to send in for the Glossy Send In cards (duh, it says that right on the front!) I ordered the "4 Runs" card too, but the eBay seller canceled the sale, refunded me my money, and sent me a dollar coin in the mail instead. Bizarre! 

3. Topps Nestle Sparky Anderson

    My first Nestle card and it's a beauty! 

2. Fleer Team Stickers

    I love stickers. Especially these. So pretty. 

1. Donruss

    I completed this set in the summer of '84. Donruss was plentiful in Michigan. I was surprised when I learned years later that they weren't plentiful everywhere else. Years later I sold that set. In the summer of 2006 I started rebuilding it by picking up lots here and there over the years until I got down to these last 10 cards. I think it's been about 10 years since I found the Strawberry and Mattingly RC at a show and I hadn't added anymore since then.

    Well now I've completed that set for a second time. (I didn't need Johnny Grubb. The seller that I bought Randy Bush from had a two card minimum. There are worse commons to add)

    That's a wrap on May 1984. It was a fun month and I'm looking forward to June and the 1985 stuff to come! 

365 Albums from 1986 - Side 1

    I was in a little bit of a mental rut at the end of last year as I was recuperating from two hip replacement surgeries. I decided I wanted to set some goals of things to do in 2026. 

    One of those things was to taste and learn about wines (not really going that well, wine is just not my thing). 

    One of those things was to try my hand at gardening (going better, in fact I got my first bloom this weekend on my sunflowers). 

    One of those things was to try and listen to 365 albums from 1986. 

    Why 1986? Well, it's the 40th anniversary for one. It's also the year I graduated HS. It was a great time in life. You'll never get that feeling of freedom again like you did the summer you left HS and stepped out into the world and I wanted to feel a little bit of that again.

    Since my budget did not allow me to buy 365 albums in 1986, and now that my budget allows me to easily afford a monthly music subscription, it just seemed like a fun thing to do, and oh how it has been. 

    I've been posting these daily on Blue Sky (if you're reading this you're likely to be on Blue Sky yourself) and I'm now through a full third of the year. 

    I found a list on wikipedia that's sorted by release date and I've been trying to follow as close as I can to listening to them around the same time this year that they were that year. Certainly for the big albums. 

    But what fun is listening to music without sharing a completely subjective poll that no one will agree with?!? 

    Without further ado, here is my Top 10 list from the 1st four months:

1. Bruce Hornsby & the Range - The Way It Is

2. Jackson Browne - Lives In The Balance

3. Janet Jackson - Control

4. Nancy Griffith - The Last of the True Believers

5. Prince & The Revolution - Parade

6. Van Halen - 5150

7. Chris Rea - On The Beach

8. The Triffids - Born Sandy Devotional

9. Hunters & Collectors - Human Frailty

10. The Blow Monkeys - Animal Magic

    Before this started I would've said that Van Halen would easily be in my year end Top 10. It's been a nostalgic favorite of mine for 40 years. Well, knowing what's still coming, it won't even be close. In fact, I don't think there's an album on this list that's a lock for the final Top 10. There are a lot of great albums still to come. 

    I'm going to do 3 separate lists, each covering a 4 month period, so that I can give as many albums as possible their moment in the sun, and then do a final year end Top 10. 

    So look for my next poll to be at the end of August. It's gonna be a great summer and keep in touch!!! 

April 1983

    Continuing the theme that y'all know by now, I added a some fun things from 1983 last month. I know YOU ARE DYING TO KNOW what they are, so I won't waste time!!

6. Cal Ripken

    I pulled out my binders of the three sets from 1983 to look them over (another newfound tradition that I will do each month to make sure I enjoy them at least once a year) and I was surprised to see that this was the only card I was missing. Set is now complete!

5. O-Pee-Chee Baseball & Hockey Checklists

    This is going to be a monthly thing. Where they'll rank each month will be another story. 

4. Game & Insert cards

    Yes, there were inserts in 1983! Not as flashy or cool as in the years to follow, but inserts still the same. The Bonus Runs from the non-winning game cards were used to send away for the 1983 Send In Glossies, which is one of the finest and most colorful sets Topps ever produced. 

    What I wouldn't give to be able to send away $5 for a full press sheet of 1983 Topps! Why isn't that still a thing? I work in printing and it would be easy and cheap to do. C'mon Topps, bring that back!!!

3. Donruss Ty Cobb Puzzle

    I have a monster box full of oddballs that I haven't looked at in forever. I was reorganizing it a couple of months ago and when I got to the Donruss puzzles I was shocked that this was one of the few I was missing! How could that be? (Now that I have one for the puzzle collection, I feel like I need to add another one for the team collection!)

2. O-Pee-Chee Tigers

    I had a handful already and these complete the team set.

    I never gave it much thought before, but since the backs of the All-Star cards highlight famous All Star Game from days of yore, I added the two that featured games played in Detroit, and the backs are front facing on those in my team set binder. Now I will have to hunt down the Topps versions!

1. O-Pee-Chee "Traded Set"

    The thing I love most about O-Pee-Chee sets are the "Now With _____" cards that show players who have changed teams and how they went about depicting that. Instead on new photos like Topps used in the traded sets, O-Pee-Chee just changed the team designation & colors, leading to some interesting looking cards. 

    While I was shopping for the Tigers O-Pee-Chee needs, I checked out Sportlots for the first time in years. I found a seller who had all of the Now With cards at a very reasonable price. I also tossed in some Expos & Blue Jays to get the full Canadian experience! 

    April was fun, but May hopes to be even funner as I track down stuff from 1984.  Not only was it a great year for the Tigers, but the card output in '84 exploded exponentially and there is a lot of great stuff out there for me to track down. See you next month! 

March 1982

The 80's train keeps on rolling and this month it stopped in 1982! I found some cool things and one MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT that I will save until the end. 

    6. Donruss Babe Ruth Puzzle - I have most of the puzzles but somehow this one had eluded me for way too long. I'd really love to put them all together, get them framed and hung up somewhere. I never see that actually happening though. 

    5. OPC Stickers / Tigers - I ordered a bunch one night and forgot to check to see if I got them all. I did not. That will give me something to do next March. 

    4. OPC Checklists - I almost feel like if you have these, you kinda sorta have a somewhat complete set since you have all the names maybe? Maybe? Maybe?

    3. Squirt Tigers - I think these are my first ever squirt cards. Woof they are paper thin. 

    2. Post Cereal Tigers Team Card - I never knew these existed until this month. Pretty cool no-so-little card that's too wide to fit into a standard page pocket. No fear though, I have a box full of things that won't fit in pockets and that's where this will end up too. 

    1. Kellogg's NFL set - I'm pretty sure I've never seen a Kellogg's paper set of anything before. Wild selection of players here too. More storage issues!

    Dishonorable Mention: Zeller's Montreal Expos Team set - Another item I never knew existed. I really didn't think I would find them at a reasonable price and then I did. 

AND THEN THE SELLER FORGOT TO SEND ME 5 OF THE PANELS. 

AND THEN THE SELLER PACKAGED THE CARDS SO POORLY THAT 5 OF THE PANELS I RECEIVED HAD MAJOR DAMAGE. 

So long story short I ended up with 10 panels and a full refund for my purchase. I was happy about the refund, but I would've much rather had all 20 panels. These are fantastic.  

I was also intrigued about these side loading pages which hold 3 card panels PERFECTLY.  I can't recall ever seeing those before either. 

That's it for 1982 in March. 

The April train stops in 1983 starting tomorrow. 

ALL ABOARD!!!