We all know we aren't really supposed to "play" with our Baseball Cards by literally mixing them into a mess like the one in this picture. And instead we play with our Baseball Cards every other way imaginable, but definitely never have we ever randomly mixed cards every which way possible, from sets up to 11 years apart, all at once, spread all over everywhere.
Although I do often look at my Baseball Cards the way Yaz is looking at his Baseball Bat there, I didn't go all scrambled eggs with them today. And, some of these cards I don't even own.
A bit of a pity because just a few days ago I came across a certain picture in my photo library - 
That's a small town in Michigan, not just in the Upper Peninsula, but on the way totally wonderful Keewenaw Peninsula, one of my favorite places to go. I am fortunate that I do get to visit it several times for year, while working. I love how the continuing existence of that sign illustrates the residual cultural power of Major League Baseball in our Society, some 55 years after George Brunet's last Major League Game. Truly a lifer/gamer, his career continued on after 1971 in Mexican Leagues.
Unfortunately, the most routine Baseball sight up in that area today is an old Little League diamond, sporting grass that hasn't been cut in a decade or two, at this point.
His sudden appearance on a Baseball Card image, right in front of me just recently, is a clear sign I need to get in a higher gear on collecting his Baseball Cards. Even his Burlap card, a set I am never going to assemble even a 9 card homage for.
But that's all a bit tangential to that bit of from-way-outta-left-field happenstance. Pretty prescient of say, maybe 16 year old me to obtain his appearance on a Baseball Picture Card product, some 42 years before I came across that homage in his old home town. I know I have posted that picture before. If you knew that, I am truly impressed.
So I kinda sorta have a George Brunet card, courtesy of my long-hoped-for reunification with my 20th century Baseball possessions. Which, as it turns out, weren't just Baseball Cards. That big ole box of wonderfulness also included this:
What a nice thing Topps did here, back in the day. What are the odds Fanatics would allow a product like this to be created? Hardly seems likely any more. And such a product today would have to feature mega-successful (?) players like the 2 current players on the "cover" of Series Two, if you can even remember what packages of Series Two even look like, which would be impossible for me if I hadn't written a blog entry about a pack of it, and scanned the wrapper. Because there are still no Baseball Cards for sale in my local grocery store, right in the prime of Baseball season. Excellent work there, Fanatics. Not.
But back in the early 1980s, Baseball Cards were well on their way to a big, big "upswing" - you know, the kind that launch Home Runs. And so Baseball Cards weren't just wrapped in wax and waiting for you in the candy aisle. The first books about Baseball Cards were appearing, and, in other products.
I was quite pleased to discover this in with the collection of my youth. I immediately started thinking about where and when I could assemble it.
And when I opened the box, it does look good for completion — a lot of pieces in there. The key problem with already-opened jigsaw puzzles is of course — what if some previous human being controlling the box, let a piece escape? Let's just banish that thought, and vibe this puzzle together, 100% complete.
One of the very first pieces I picked up should be recognizable to anyone so old they are still reading about Baseball Cards on a screen, rather than blowing twice as much time to have someone else read to them about Baseball Cards as part of a "video." Surely, y'all remember this guy -
'Ol Blue Eyes played Baseball?
are we sure about this?
I would imagine many of you sharpies could even already identify exactly which set this card appeared in originally. I'm not quite that quick on the '60s draw, but my suspicion is it might be a Burlap card. There is only one way to find out...though I know a modern day Baseball Card Influencer would of course present you with a video replay of the process involved, here on this blog, you'll just have to wait a 'lil bit while the 20th Century is lovingly re-lived here at Base Set HQ.
Just the first sorting of the edge pieces instantly supplied Baseball flashbacks -
And even in 1983 or so, the creators of this bit of wonderfulness knew to tip a hat to Rookie Cards:
These peeps knew their Baseball Cards, and they weren't messing around - the Mantle card is an autographed copy.
And their knowledge was not just via the SuperStars (necessarily) teased on the cover of the box. That was certain to me, not just some of the time, but, instantly, when I found this piece -
Surely, you must know that card.
No?
How about now?
Still no?
Pop Quiz Time: what team does this card purport to represent?
Texas, you say?
Then your 1970s Baseball Card Kid street cred is revoked.
Adults today will blubber on about how much they love the 1971 Munson, or the 75 Brett RC, or be foggy on which decade is which and insist the Ricky RC is The Greatest.
But if you were ripping packs in the late 1970s - that excerpted bit shown there is from THE most famous Baseball Card of the decade. The folks who made this puzzle were from my tribe.
Which was a wonderful thing, for me, today, because after a long day at the ER (I was not the patient), some drifting back to old-timey Baseball was just the ticket this evening.
It helped tremendously to be intimately familiar with the designs of all these cards. Yup, that right there is a corner of a 1972 Topps, yes, sir.
As did owning many of them. Good to see you again, Pops.
Particularly since the box was a little deceptive on what was included inside the 7 square inches of flashbacks. Usually those are created by 1/8" squares.
Perhaps, that familiarity was all a little too much help, as just 100 pieces of such perfect wayback machine good times would never be enough. I basically knew that going in. Which makes owning and operating this Baseball Card blog a Very Good Thing, quite often, as it extends my joy with these goodies from the past.
The cut of my puzzle, as compared to what is seen on the box cover, makes me suspect there may have been a larger, 500, or maybe 1000 piece version of this puzzle created also. One can dream.
Or, maybe some other astute jigsaw puzzle creator has used this concept. I sure hope so. Jigsaw puzzles are incredibly relaxing, I find, and of course, so are Baseball Cards. To combine the two was straight Genius.
So until the day I find another one of these, I will just have to occasionally re-assemble this one. Fun.
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