Drakes Bakes Up A Sweet 1985 Set

Up until a couple of weeks ago, the only thing I knew about Drakes was that Newman loved their coffee cakes on Seinfeld. I assumed they were a baking company and never had any other reason to check them out. Then the discussion on oddball sets happened. Ryan (@basecardhero), Scott (@SBergerBOSTON), Shane (@ShaneKatz73) Donnie (@TheDingoDad) and others started a big discussion that in, Ryan’s terms, “Escalated Quickly.” What we all thought were just random oddball sets turned into a massive list of retail sets that were available from the 80’s that we didn’t even know about. Some of them were regional and we would have had no real reason to know about them. Drakes must have been one of those sets, because I had no idea, but you can believe I ran out and bought me a set for my collection.The set I bought was 1985 but the box shows that it’s the 5th annual edition. A little more research revealed that they produced sets from 1981-1988. The sets were labeled “Big Hitters plus Super Pitchers”; reminiscent to the set I reviewed that started this cluster of a conversation, Fleer’s 1987 “Sluggers vs Pitchers.” The set had a total of 44 cards (no stickers though) and was broken into 33 hitters and 11 pitchers. The checklist is phenomenal in my opinion. There isn’t one player that I think is out of place in the set. One of the reasons I think that may be because Jack Clark was excluded. Another plus is that the cards are from 1985. You can’t buy cards from 1985 as cheaply as you can buy cards from 1989 but this vintage set only cost me $6.49 with free shipping!The cards themselves were set to mirror the ’85 flagship Topps product but have the added Drakes logo and a different bottom banner. The backs of the cards are almost identical with the exception of the color. The ’85 Topps cards were green with red writing and Drakes is red with dark blue writing. They are very similar in style and the card stock is the same as well. The cards were in remarkable condition to be 32 years old, though they had a distinct odor to them. The fronts of the cards had the “5th Annual Collector’s Edition” logo at the top, either in green (National League) or red (American League) and included the card number in the series. At the bottom, there was a Drakes “Big Hitter” or “Super Pitcher” logo next to the banner with the players name, team and position. All of the hitter’s photographs were taken during a swing at the plate. The pitchers were all taken on the mound, most mid delivery. Again, the backs were typical Topps with background info, stats and the occasional trivia question.The Hitters

This checklist is loaded with sluggers from 1985. Listen to some of these stats; Tony Armas (43 bombs), Harold Baines (29/.304), Dwight Evans (32/.295), Tony Gwynn (.351), Don Mattingly (.343), Dale Murphy (36/.290), Eddie Murray (29/.306), Cal Ripken (27/.304), Mike Schmidt (6 consecutive 30+ HR seasons). Again, I have no beef with the selections in this set. I obviously have a personal beef with the inclusion of Kent Hrbek but I’m not going down that road again. His stats were worthy of inclusion so we’ll just leave it at that.The Pitchers

There were only 11 pitchers included but they were all generally stat stuffers and several were future Hall of Famers. Steve Carlton had 313 wins by the time 1985 rolled around, along with a career 3.04 ERA. Doc Gooden was just getting started but his rookie year was 17-9 with a 2.60 ERA and 276 K’s in 218 IP. Tom Seaver was knocking on the door of 300 wins with 288 by 1985. He also had a career sub 3.00 ERA (2.80) with 3,403 K’s. Finally, future Brave, Bruce Sutter was included, wearing his St. Louis Cardinals uniform but his card had the tag at the bottom that said “Now with Braves”. There were a couple of oddball pitchers but nothing too far out there.

The Uniforms

The absolute best part of the set was the uniforms that the players were shown in. Take a look at these gems.Gary Carter – Montreal ExposAlvin Davis – Seattle MarinersSteve Garvey – San Diego PadresTony Gwynn – San Diego PadresKent Turdbek – Minnesota TwinsMike Schmidt – Philadelphia PhilliesTom Seaver – Chicago White Sox

I’ll tell you that this may be the best oddball set I own now. It’s the oldest and the cards are in really good condition. You will not even find many packs from 1985 for this cost and I would put the quality of these cards up against the flagship set. It makes me want to check out the other Drakes sets but I am also worried that I may be disappointed in the next set. I don’t want to be let down after this pleasant surprise! I have to give these a Dub Score of 5 for several reasons. First, the reasonable cost is unbeatable. It’s always a plus to add a set that’s 30+ years old to your collection so vintage value is a winner. The checklist is strong, as mentioned above. Finally, the quality is really good for a set of 1985 baseball cards. I’m actually going to order another so I can random this one to someone else who can enjoy them as well! Collect and keep this hobby strong my friends!

Dub Score – 5

Scoring Scale

1. Let me be the sacrificial lamb so you don’t have to buy these cards.  Just read the post and thank me later.
2. There is worse but there is much better – not worth the effort though.

3. Middle of the road – I wouldn’t talk you into buying these but I certainly wouldn’t talk you out of them.

4. You should probably go out and buy a box and enjoy the rip – I did!  It has some downside but worth the ride.

5. Stop reading and find a box to buy and get to Breaking!  What are you waiting on?