1970 Carl Aldana Jim Palmer Saw a Cheesy Future

For collectors in the 1980s, Thanksgiving had to share the limelight … with a second wave of baseball cards.

Beginning with the 1981 Topps Traded set and ramping up later in the decade with 1984 Fleer Update, 1985 Donruss Highlights, 1986 Donruss The Rookies, 1988 Score Traded, and others, hobbyists came to expect a new batch of cards showing players in new uniforms and the hotshot rookies we heard about all season long.

It was exciting, and the anticipation helped to warm the holiday months.

But not all fans had to wait until 1981 to get their hands on some late-season updates.

For one thing, Topps themselves experimented with in-set “traded” cards in their gargantuan 1972 issue before pumping out more dedicated (though small) versions in 1974 and 1976.

Find Carl Aldana Orioles on eBay (affiliate link)

Find Carl Aldana Orioles on Amazon (affiliate link)

But before any of that, west coast artist Carl Aldana decided to commemorate the 1970 Baltimore Orioles and their rousing World Series victory over the upstart Cincinnati Reds with a run of 12 black-and-white, blank-back cards issued only in the Baltimore area.

Now, at first glance, it appears that this is *just* a set of 1970 Orioles, and not a nod to the Fall Classic.

But then consider that most of Aldana’s baseball work featured colorful paintings of Pacific Coast League (PCL) players.

And that the Orioles were the only MLB team that Aldana tackled in the “new” style.

And that the set featured two Brooks Robinson cards that show the Hall of Famer outstretched, belly on the ground, glove in the air, exactly like the play in the just-completed 1970 World Series against the Reds that made B. Robby famous-er than ever and a bona fide legend.

Yeah, this was an update set, even though there had been no base set.

And, if Aldana somehow predicted or helped plant the seed for traded sets, maybe he also had some seer in him when it came to the future of Jim Palmer cards.

Because, there on his Aldana card, young Palmer appears without a cap, hand on hip, grinning into the “camera.”

You might almost think he was, like, modeling or something.

---

Wow! Wax of the Day

You couldn’t find evidence of the Orioles latest World Series victory in 1970 Fleer World Series wax packs, but you could find cartoon renderings of all the other Fall Classics. You could also find outstanding cartoonish drawings and bright packaging, as you see in this listing on eBay:

It’s an almost full wax box of 1970 Fleer, with 21 packs instead of the expected 24. Still, bound to be a fun open (if anyone were nervy enough to open it).

See the full listing on eBay (affiliate link).