Only a 55 cent discount, but still....

Over time I've been fortunate enough on eBay to get a few lots on the cheap.  Some evenings I'll spend perusing lots of cards on the site and if I find something that I might want to purchase down the road, I'll add it to my watch list so I can find it quickly (like most people do).  

Last week I found a 30-card lot of 1971 Topps football for just under $11, which was already a 10% discount off of the seller's original price.   I put it on the want list, thinking I'll check it out later in the week.

Next morning, for some reason I was wide awake at 3 AM, so I decided to check my email.  The seller sent me an offer with a further discount (yep, just 55 cents).   I figured it was meant to be so I hit the buy it now button and 4 business days later, the cards were at my house.

Not a perfect scan for sure, but it is representative of the cards that came my way.  I love this set as it shows red for AFC teams and blue for NFC teams, easy to remember.  It is also a smaller set, just 263 cards, of which I now have 37. 

One card I don't have currently but will have to shell out some big bucks eventually is the Terry Bradshaw rookie.  Another Steelers great also has a rookie card in this set, Mean Joe Greene.  There's also a lot of legendary QB's to chase, Namath, Starr, Unitas and Griese for starters.  

I'm hoping to find another lot or 2 on the cheap to get a good start to the set before I start knocking off the singles.   

Robert

It's the most wonderful time of the year

With apologies to Andy Williams and his classic Christmas song of the same name, if you're a sports fan, the September-October period is a sports junkie's Nirvana.  For me, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

Baseball winding down towards the playoffs.  NFL football starting up and already some good story lines developing.  NHL training camp getting ready to start this week along with NBA camps starting next week.  For those of you so inclined, European football seasons are well underway and in a couple of months the World Cup will be played.

It's even more exciting this time of year if one of your beloved teams is about ready to enter the MLB playoffs.   The Blue Jays season has been a bit up and down, but for the most part the team has played well and I'm looking forward to watching some Jays games in October.

While he doesn't have the HR/RBI numbers he's had the past couple of seasons, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is hitting above .290 and playing both left field and a bit of first for the Jays.  Found a cheap bat card from the 2020 Topps set for a couple of bucks which became an easy add to the Blue Jays hits and autos collection.

While no longer with the Blue Jays, Ryan Borucki appears to have a good chance at getting some post season playing time this year with the Seattle Mariners.  Ryan was traded to Seattle exactly 10 years to the day after he was drafted by the Jays.   Ryan was struggling with Toronto in 2022, having an ERA near 10 before the trade; he's now having some success with the M's.

Enjoy the next few weeks folks, it really is the most wonderful time of the year if you're a sports fan.

Robert

I'm still alive, I know it's been a minute

 Decided to write a post today, don't know why, I guess I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive and kicking.   Oh yeah, collecting as well.

I've really had to cut back on card spending the past few months, a lot of it due to some home improvements that have put a damper on my discretionary spending.  Life happens, right?

Over the past couple of weeks, I've begun to spend a bit of $$ again on cards; honestly, I've stuck to the old $30 a week budget that was the staple of this blog for years.

My spending has been concentrated on two fronts:

1969 Topps baseball.  Ever since I bought the Steve Carlton card from this set at the Baltimore National many years ago, I've always had a love for this set.   I've begun chipping away at this set, trying to knock out some of the cheaper high number cards.

Since I last posted, I've knocked a fair bit off of this set, so much so that I've passed the 70% completion plateau.   These 3 cards put me at 71.2%, still 191 to go but a lot better than where I was at the beginning of the year.  I actually updated the want list on the blog for the first time in 7 months this morning which led me to realize that I'm over 100 cards closer to completion.

Another facet of collecting that I've really developed a joy for in the past several months (when I could collect) was late 60's and 70's football.  From what I can see, there's not a bad set design in the decade plus of sets that I'm slowly chasing.  

Case in point, 1970 Topps.  

The backs are really sharp as evidenced by these 4 cards.  The fronts are an oval photo, not quite the same as the '59 Topps baseball circle design, while the background is all the same beige color.  I've had some good luck on eBay getting this set started, finding a cheap starter lot for around 30 bucks (if memory serves me) and I've poked here and there at some singles that are in really good shape for under $2 apiece.  

Another good aspect is the set size, just 263 cards which will make it a little easier on the wallet to chase and complete.  

I've been having fun the past 3-4 weeks trying to find some cheap lots on eBay, which hopefully will lead to a few posts here and there.   

I've been gone so long that I even missed my blog anniversary.  

Hope you are all doing well and see you in the blogs.

Robert