To recap: I have decided to expand my player collection of John Candelaria, one of my all-time favorite players. I ordered a total of 19 cards of him, and posted the first 5 to arrive last week. Here are the other 14!
Two Hostess cards of John Candelaria.
These are his 1978 Hostess card on the left, and his 1977 Hostess card on the right. The 1978 is the same picture as his 1976 Topps rookie card; the picture in the 1977 card looks like it's from the same photo shoot as his 1977 Topps card. It looks like there's a 1979 Hostess that's out there still; maybe I'll come across it one day.
1985 Fleer Star Sticker album sticker.
Here we see a sticker that I accidentally bought. I saw it called a "Fleer Star Sticker" and didn't pay attention to the "album sticker" designation. I didn't intend to buy any album stickers, and I didn't know Fleer had done album stickers. To me, Fleer Star Stickers are cards. No harm, though -- it might as well go in my binder with the all these others.
Two boxed set cards.
Candelaria didn't often get included in the boxed sets of the era. He did win 1986 Comeback Player of the Year, and that did lead to his inclusion in some 1987 boxed sets. I have the 1987 Fleer Limited Edition set (and posted about it earlier), and the odd thing is, he isn't in it. Imagine my confusion upon seeing this card, then -- but, it turns out it's not a regular card. It's from a box bottom. I guess the Limited Edition boxed sets came in a bigger box, and that box had a few cut-out cards, including him. The other card here, on the right, is the 1990 Topps Kay-Bee Kings. He had a few good seasons here and there towards the end of his career, and I guess he was included on the strength of his 1988 season with the Yankees, although how they really choose the players is a mystery; in any case, I am glad to have the card.
A 1989 Score Yankees card and a 1989 Sportflics card.
The card on the left here was described as a "1989 Score NatWest Bank Yankees" card; I never knew Score to make things like that, so it's a nice card to add to my collection. This 1989 Sportflics card is actually, surprisingly, my first 1989 Sportflics card. I have 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1990 Sportflics in my collection, including the 1988 factory set and a bunch of unopened 1990 packs, but none from 1989. I mentioned before that I think my family had some financial difficulties around 1989; maybe that accounts for my collection being a little spotty for that year.
The Wiz cards.
These two cards are from defunct electronics chain The Wiz (or, Nobody Beats The Wiz). It looks like they kept one picture and just airbrushed his cap; you can't tell the color of the pinstripes since they're not color pictures. At least the Yankees card is from the 90s, when he wasn't on the Yankees anymore, but is highlighting "Yankees of the 80's;" the Mets card is similar, I think. He was actually barely with the Mets, only in September, 1987, appearing in 3 games.
A Dodgers Police card and two Mother's Cookies cards.
Of all these cards I just bought, these Dodgers Mother's Cookies are my favorites. The borderless design, rounded corners, and bright colors make for nice cards. Plus, I'm not really a Dodger fan, but I appreciate their history, and the Dodger blue and Dodger Stadium are nice features of the cards. As far as I can tell, Mother's Cookies cards are a West Coast thing, so these are the first in my collection. The card on the left here is also my first police set card -- the back lets you know that you can just say no!
Another Dodgers Police card.
The final two cards I got won't go in the binder, because they're too big. The 1991 Dodgers Police Set used a larger size, apparently. As does this Angels Smokey the Bear card:
Angels Smokey the Bear card.
I'm not aiming to get every Candelaria card ever, but I am trying to have both a good survey of his career and a good tour through different sets of cards that were put out in the day. He played for two teams that are not represented in the cards I've shown, the Twins and the Blue Jays. I certainly have some of him playing for them, but I don't really want to dig through all my 1991 Score, for example. I'll try to get at least one more offbeat card of him for each of those two teams.
Finally, here's a video from YouTube to show that he still had his stuff even as he got older. It's him pitching a two-hitter with 13 strikeouts against the 1988 Oakland A's, with all their many sluggers:
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