Complete redesign of my web site

MrGibson.com has been completely redesigned over the weekend. I wanted to look more modern while improving usability and layout. New icons to give an idea to areas functions. Lighter colors that are hopefully easier on the eyes. More compressed view when possible. I also removed broken functionality when found. There are some similarities to previous designs and layouts.

My list of the my Favorite 50 baseball card sets between 1950 and 2020
1963 Topps

1965 Topps

1967 Topps

+1969 Topps

1988 Topps Big
1989 Topps Bowman
1989 Topps Big
1993 Donruss
1994 Donruss
1995 Fleer
1995 Donruss
1996 Donruss
1996 Topps
2008 Upper Deck

Update my card room photo

with staying at home being focused on, I have updated and rearranged my room. I do have more plans, but here are photos I took last night.

http://mrgibson.com/MikeGibsonBaseballCardDispayRoom.php?general=1

This will allow me to enjoy what I have collected with easy access to all.

What else would I like to do?
- Cubs light fixture
- Cubs Rug
- Hang Cubs bats
- Some type of border trim

Who did 1981 better?

I am very fond of 1981 in baseball card collecting. that was the second year as a youngster I was purchasing cards as a collector. I was thrilled that my Uncle's convenience store next to my grandmother was selling 1981 Donruss baseball cards. What was unique about the Donruss is they put the year of the card right on the front of the card, unlike what Topps or Fleer had ever done.

Visual comparison with photo of cards in my collection. All cards shown are from my personal collection. Cards as shown Left: Topps / Center: Fleer / Right: Donruss

The year 1981 was the first time in baseball card history that there were three sets of baseball cards from which to choose: Topps, Fleer, and Donruss. Topps issued a large set of 726 Cards. The green wax packs contained 15 cards and one piece of gum. Fleer issued a large set of 660 Cards. The read wax packs contained 17 cardsand one piece of gum. . Donruss issued an unexpectedly large set, although smaller than Topps or Fleer, of 605 baseball cards. The red packs contained 18 cards and one piece of gum. Topps’ contract gave them sole rights to gum distribution, so the following year, Donruss puzzle pieces replaced gum. Fleer added a sticker and went down to 15 cards the following year.

Unlike Topps' and Donruss' boxy/squared design, Fleer had rounded borders and curved titles. Donruss took Topps' squared design approach with company logo on front identify. The 1981 Donruss cards were printed on very thin stock and had some known color problems.

The 1981 Fleer Baseball Cards were the first Fleer set issued since 1963. This set consists of many errors and variations. The 1981 Fleer Baseball Cards are organized by team and the teams are ranked by their 1980 standings. The first cards were of the World Champion Phillies. Cards #638 to #660 feature subsets and checklists. The key rookie cards for the 1981 Fleer Baseball Card Set include #346 Harold Baines and #481 Kirk Gibson.

Collection progress

Another one of these, "I don't know why", but the 1981 Fleers set has always been on of my favorite sets. Easily beating both Topps that year, although both designs are very similar (baseball hat vs. baseball). It is not like I hate the 1981 Topps, but Fleer is just better that year.



The information I'm trying to relay is that my Cubs 1981 Fleer set is complete with all 25 cards and a total of 27 (two duplicates). This makes me fairly happy in that I love this set so much. My White Sox 1981 Fleer set is at 6 cards (two duplicates). My Cardinals 1981 Fleer set is at 2 cards. Lastly, my Red Sox 1981 Fleer set is at 3 cards. This brings my 1981 Fleer set to a total of 90 cards. Compare that to my Fleer sets?

1,463  1989 Fleer cards
  819  1990 Fleer cards
  707  1991 Fleer cards
  668  1988 Fleer cards
   90  1981 Fleer cards

My other recent purchase is that I have also mostly completed my 2003 Topps Cubs set with 22 cards. This leaves me the following years without at least a Cubs team half set:
1959 - Topps 5 cards
2002 - UpperDeck 3 cards / Topps 1 Card
2004 - Fleer 2 cards
2005 - Donruss 3 cards