The start of my Topps Type Collection

Last night I kept the TV turned off and started to pull together some cards for my Topps Type Collection.

As I went through stacks and notebooks I realized that I've got a crud load of cards I really don't want or need. What don't I have? Topps base cards. Lots of them.

Well, I probably do have more than I think. I've got tons of Orel Hershiser dupes. I could use those, but I don't want this to be a subset of my Hershiser player collection. I also didn't want to rob my Carl Erskine player collection.

I added some blank pages to a notebook and started to insert cards that I had. Ten years per decade and only nine pockets per page. That will mess one up when counting.

One of the problems that I encountered was that I really don't know what design goes with what year. Sure, I know the design names. Burlap. Woodgrain. Pennant. But I'm not sure which is tied to what year.

So rather than keep counting spaces I decided to make some card blanks to fill the spaces. A quick reminder of what I still need to get.

That's nice and all, but I wanted to be able to see the cards. Get to know their designs. So I went to the web and stole many of your card scans. Really. I know where I grabbed them.  I layered a year on top of them for quick reference and made a mock up.

Here's the finished product.  I decided to make the fillers black and white.  Like the giant year in the middle of the card wouldn't have been enough to tip me off that I still need it.

I still have many more years to go.  I've got cards that I know I have, I just don't know where they are.  I hope to have a checklist up in the coming week.  If you want to help a fellow collector out, I'd be happy to take your dupes or spares.  Condition really doesn't matter.