Do Junk Wax Commons Make Good Kindling?

OR ... "testing some baseball card ideas as winter encroaches"

Today’s Lineup…

• 🕵️‍♀️ Mylar Wrappers with Gum, aka, “What Is This?”

• 🐴 Card of the Day - Why the Long Face?

• 🤪 Abject Silliness

• 📰 Hot Off the Presses — Topps Gets Back to Brooklyn Roots

Remember Topps Test Issues?

Back in the decades of the first Topps monopoly, and even after Fleer and Donruss crashed the party, Topps used to try out new ideas now and then.

Things like …

…1968 Topps 3D…

…1977 Topps Cloth Stickers…

…1983 Topps “Michigan” packs, which were the Mylar packs that other card makers copied later in the decade, only the Topps packs had gum.

…here’s part of another test issue:

Know what test issue that’s from? Consider this a (ahem) test.

And that’s sort of what this email is, too.

See, once upon a time, you signed up for this offshoot of Wax Pack Gods, this here newsletter that I called “Baseball Cards Daily.”

It was more like “Baseball Cards 3 Times a Week,” but hey.

Anyway, I thought now, leading into the new year, would be a good time to try out some stuff here once again. So … let me know if you like, or if you don’t.

Or what you like in particular, if there’s anything here that tickles your fancy at all. I intend to send a few of these out, in different formats, over the next couple of weeks.

Now, let’s check in with …

1981 Fleer Paul Moskau (#207) - Card of the Day

In 1981, the Reds had the best record in baseball. But because they didn’t win the old National League West division title in either “half” of the season when The Strike tore the whole thing in two, they missed out on the playoffs.

And that was essentially the last gasp for the remaining assorted parts from the Big Red Machine.

Before the start of the 1982 season, Cincinnati would trade George Foster, Ray Knight (no big loss), and catcher Joe Nolan, and Johnny Bench would grow another 15-20 years older.

Cincy also traded Paul Moskau, sending him to the Orioles in February 1982 for Wayne Krenchicki.

Moskau had spent parts of every season from 1977 through 1981 with the Reds, slowly transitioning from a starter to a long reliever in that time. His overall record for Cincinnati was 28-22 with a 4.07 ERA and 5 saves.

The picture on this 1981 Fleer card ostensibly shows Moskau during the 1980 season, when he was still starting more than half the time.

He looks miserable, like he knew what was coming — one start amid 27 total appearances in 1981, with an ugly 4.84 ERA.

And then the O’s put him on waivers in April of ‘82, when the Pirates claimed him. He was on the mound for 35 innings with Pittsburgh that summer.

The Bucs released Moskau in October, the Cubs signed him, and he posted a 6.75 ERA in eight starts with the north-siders before they, too, cut him loose in August of 1983.

Meanwhile, the Reds bottomed out in 1982, mopping up the division cellar at 61-101.

Krenchicki, fairly or not, would become one of the faces of a dark era of Reds baseball, right alongside Bruce Berenyi, Frank Pastore, and Paul Householder.

And Paul Moskau.

Because if ever there was a face that fully captured the plight of Reds fans in the early 1980s, it’s the one on Moskau’s 1981 Fleer baseball card.

And the reason this card is on my mind today? Why, because today is Paul Moskau’s 70th birthday! Happy birthday, sir!

(on the off chance you should ever come across these ramblings)

Something Silly … But Timely!

You know who else was born on December 20?

It was Oscar Gamble, who gets a ton of credit for having an iconic baseball card…

But not quite as much credit for having been a really good player. In 17 years in the major leagues, Gamble hit .265 with an even 200 home runs and 666 RBI (cue eerie music).

He also picked up some MVP votes as a member of the White Sox back in 1977.

And speaking of “back in,” several years ago, I took on another Gamble card as part of a Spring Training Challenge. Here is what the finished silly product looked like:

If you want to see a bit more context, you can read the full blog post here.

2023 Topps Brooklyn Collection Released

If you’re an old-school collector who’s still buying new cards — or wants to — then the Topps Brooklyn Collection might be right up your alley.

Drawing on Topps’ historic roots (they were born in Brooklyn, after all), this is a no-frills set by modern standards. Featuring a simple, classic design (though not a rehash from previous sets), the 2023 checklist has 50 cards, but with several parallel versions.

The Brooklyn Collection is also available only online, offering a couple of autographs in each hobby box.

Beckett ran down the details here, and you can check out Topps’ own listing here.

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OK, that’s it for today’s test. What do you think — interested in more?

Let me know:

Thanks for reading.

—Adam