On the Radar - 2022 Panini Donruss Optic

 Wow it feels like just a slug of new products that have Yount cards in them.  I'm interested to see when the Stadium Club checklist is released if Robin has cards in that set as well.  I'll correct the card numbers and add images once stuff starts showing up.

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 Black Finite #/1

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 Blue Mojo #/5

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 Cracked Ice Black #/8

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 Cracked Ice Nave Blue #/8

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 Cracked Ice Red #/8

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 Gold #/10

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 Gold Vinyl #/1

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 Green #/5

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 Green Mojo #/5
2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 Holo

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 Purple Mojo #/5

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 Red Mojo #/5

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 Silver Stars

2022 Donruss Optic - Retro 1981 Signatures #22 White Mojo #/99

All About the Base - 1981 Topps

Year: 1981

Manufacturer: Topps

Card Set: Flagship

Card Number: 515

Card Type: Base

Here we are at one of my favorite sets from the 1980's.  It has to be the hat on graphic on the front of the card.  As a matter of fact I like the set so much this is one of the first sets outside of the modern and junk wax era I decided to build. I'm still a few cards shy, but very close to completion.  Topps also brings back the front and back baseball graphics.  Maybe it's just me, but I like using the baseball graphic to frame the card number.   And the it's definitely the hat graphic that's color coordinated to the team, mostly, and houses the team and position.  Player name on the front could be a tad larger. 

The back of the card is almost perfect as well.  The stats steal the show on the back this year taking up most of the real estate, but card number is large and well placed and we even get a pair of cartoon enhanced player facts. 

1981 Donruss

Card Set: Donruss

Year: 1981

Card Number: 323

Card Type: Base

When we look around the cardboard landscape today we can see the husk of what was to become one of the big three, and then four, card companies. Donruss pretty much doesn't exist anymore except for that nostalgia set Panini started putting out last year.  Much like Topps and Fleer, Donruss has it's origins in candy.  The name Donruss is a combination of the names of the owners Donald and Russel Wiener.  The company had also been putting out entertainment sets in the 60's and 70's. And after Fleer won it's lawsuit against Topps was able to obtain a MLB license. Yada Yada Yada, enough with the history lesson, chances are you already know the story.  And so in 1981 we were graced with the first multi-set baseball card year since Topps had bought Bowman.   

This set along with Fleer's 1981 Baseball set pretty much ushered in the new modern era of baseball cards and paved the way for the Junk Wax Era.  As a matter of fact these '81 sets are not rare or hard to find and neither are singles of your favorite player.  

The overall design is simple and so are the backs.  Both this set and the Fleer set are rife with errors, mainly due to the fact that both companies were in a rush to get their sets out, with good reason, Old Man Topps was out for blood and would soon have the lawsuit overturned in their favor.  But in the end Fleer and Donruss got around it by offering stickers and puzzle pieces.  And that is why if you collected Fleer or Donruss in the 80's and early 90's you have a ton of random stickers and puzzle pieces laying around.

1981 Fleer

Card Manufacturer: Fleer

Card Set: Fleer Baseball

Year: 1981

Card Number: 511

Card Type: Base

If you had to ask me what was my favorite Fleer design and set from the years they produced a flagship baseball set I would have to say without a doubt 1981.  Fleer wasn't know for it's flashy designs. As a matter of fact up until about 1995 they were pretty plain and lame.  But Fleer's inaugural release was a pretty decent one if you overlook all the errors in the set, but the overall design is appealing and in 1981 the card stock was a big improvement from what Topps was using.  This would mark the first time in almost 30 years that Topps would have any serious competition.  Fleer would eventually be bought by the Marvel Comics Group and then sold  off when Marvel when bankrupt in the late 90's and eventually it was sold to Upper Deck, who still uses the brand from time to time.

1981 Kellogg's Uncut Proof Sheet

Card Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Card Set: 3-D Super Stars

Card #57

Card Type: Uncut Sheet

Kellogg's put out food issue sets from 1970 to 1983.  You got cards free in specially marked packages and there usually was also a send in offer.  Robin has a couple cards in a few of the sets including the 1981 3-D Super Stars set.  What we have here is a cool oddball.  A sheet of 9 uncut cards with no lenticular layer.  I'm not sure if this was also a send in item, if it was pulled at the printing plant, or if the auction I won it actually claimed it to be a proof sheet..

Either way a cool oddball with two Brewers greats, Tommy John, Bruce Sutter and others.