Great idea for a thread brewing. I look forward to everyone elses contributions. Here are mine.
1980 was a great year, I turned 10 in the summer - the year baseball is probably most important to a young kid. The 1980 design wasn't one of my favorites but it did provide a lot of cool cards. Here are my 5 favorites:
1) Roy Smalley. Like you brewing, I was fascinated by the "All-Star" designation on the Topps issues of the late-70s, early 80s. If you remember, in 1979 Topps missed Freddie Patek as the AL SS (more on this when you do 1979). But just something very cool about that Smalley card to me.
2) Nolan Ryan. My favorite Ryan card. An action shot and the All-Star designation. Whats not to like. Plus his last Angels card - he was already in Houston.
3) Fred Lynn. This card was in one of the first two 1980 packs my dad brought home for me on a snowy late winter night when he saw they were out and had to go pick up bread or milk. My first All-Star of the year. Thanks Dad.
4) Darrell Porter. Another cool card. I remember thinking Darrell Porter was massively huge when I was a kid. All-Star designation - check.
5) Gary Carter. I was a big Gary Carter fan as a kid. Great action shot with him holding up the ball. I remember being very disappointed when Carter did not win the voting at catcher that year. Cheated out of the All-Star designation.
I would have added George Brett, but I have two other years in mind for him. I also add an honorable mention for Len Barker and his first Indians card.
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