Sunday, September 18, 2022

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


12 comments:

  1. Ha, while you were gone, I decided to work on the '69 set myself (among other things). I'm probably around 140 cards away but all the major ones still out there.

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    1. Yes, I did see you were working on that set. You've made some nice progress on that, we'll have to keep an eye on the big ones for each other....

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  2. Missed ya on the blogs but yep, life happens. Glad to read you're doing well and keeping up on the collecting!

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    1. Missed being online more than I thought, hopefully I can get a run of posts together to get back into the swing of things.

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  3. Great to see a post from you, Robert! It's not the flashiest set, but '69 Topps has always appealed to me. I especially love those three because they document the long-lost windbreaker-under-the-jersey fashion show that swept baseball cards back then.

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    1. thanks Nick, '69 Topps is kind of like the ugly duckling of 60's sets if you ask me. I've had fun with it so, largely because I like the backs so much

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  4. It's been far too long. It's good to know too that nothing serious was behind your time away.

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    1. Nothing serious Jon thanks, when the entire house's plumbing goes for a shit (pun intended) you have to get it fixed

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  5. Sup, Robert! 1970 Topps looks cool. I don't think I've ever seen those, as I'm not very familiar with vintage football.

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    1. Tell you what A.J. until a few months ago I had very little knowledge of vintage football save for what I've seen in the blogs. I love it now and for me its affordable. Expect to see more on here in the future.

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  6. Glad you checked in, hope the home improvements went smoothly!

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    1. Matt, they did go smoothly, but the payments not so much. But we're managing, just like any other responsible citizen.

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