Being realistic

I've developed a real strong appreciation for vintage cards during the 5 1/2 years of writing this blog.  I'm just about finished with the '64 Topps set, I have a good start on sets from '62, '68 and '70 and I have a decent amount of cards from the '67 and '69 sets.  Oh, and let's not forget about '59

Those half a dozen sets by themselves are going to cost a pretty penny to finish.  RC's such as Nolan Ryan, Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson and others are going to cost a small fortune, not to mention having to find cards of Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. 

Yikes.

So when I saw today that Gavin from the Baseball Card Breakdown blog is starting a '57 Topps set, it got me to thinking....

How in the world will I be able to finish every set that I've ever bought cards for?  The simple truth is I won't be able to.  No how, no way, fuhgedabboutit.

So, depending on what Gavin thinks about the cards below, he may have himself a few '57s to add to his set build.

'57 is a beautiful set simply because it's simple.  Would I love to build it?  Oh my God yes.  

I just don't think it's in the cards. 

I'm hoping that Gavin will want them.  Temptation is just too great.  That's being realistic....

Thanks for reading, Robert

Sometimes good things happen by accident

Once in a while, I'll take a peek at the auctions on Sportlots.  I think I may have won a couple of them over the time I've been on the site, but I don't spend a great deal of time perusing their auctions.

Last week, on a lark I bid on a few vintage card auctions, putting up a disgustingly cheap max bid and letting the chips fall where they may.  I didn't expect to win any of them with the amount that I bid.

Surprise, surprise, I wake up Sunday morning to find out I won a 3 card lot of '57 Topps.  Take a look:

Yes, the Bobby Avila is off center, and the Dave Pope has a crease or 3, along with some very soft corners on the bottom. 

But when I can add 3 more cards from the '57T set to my collection for a whopping fifty cents (plus shipping), I'm not going to complain too loudly.

Even the mrs. was shocked when I told her the final bid. 

Maybe I should go buy some Powerball tickets tomorrow.   My luck couldn't have run out already, right?

thanks for reading, Robert

Week in review: I didn't know Topps was still doing this

I splurged this week.  Part of my trip down south was a trip to the Hard Rock Casino.  After a successful visit to the blackjack tables, I decided to treat myself and purchase a hobby box of 2014 series 1.  I'll share a couple of cards that I didn't expect to pull out of the box.

A couple of years back when I bought a hobby box of  Heritage, I pulled a buy back card of Chuck Hiller from '62 Topps.  I remember being happy about the card, except for the giant foil logo that Topps pasted on it.

About halfway through this years' hobby box, I pulled this card.

I have this card already for the '73 set I'm putting together (sporadically), but I have to check to see if this is an upgrade.  I'm thinking it probably is.  To be honest, I don't even mind the Topps 75th logo in the upper right corner.  For me, it really doesn't take much away from the card.

In the next pack, I was shocked to pull this card. 

Even with the 75th anniversary logo in the upper right corner, this is the nicest '57 that I own.   I've only purchased a handful over the past couple of years, but sometime down the road this is a set that I'd like to try and put together.  There is only a very small crease in the top center of the front, but other than that this card is in great shape.

Total spent on cards this week:  $65 + tax

Yea, it's probably more than I should have spent, but it was "found money", and I didn't have to wait for the box to be shipped.  Plus spending money at a  B&M card dealer is probably a good idea every once in a while. 

I may have pulled a pink, a black, and a few red parallels, but for me these were the best pulls of the box.

Now it's time to put the set together.

Thanks for reading, Robert

A follow up to a Joe Shlabotnik post

One of the best posts I've read lately was written on the blog known as the Shlabotnik report.  I've not had the opportunity to trade or even converse with the writer of the blog, but his blog in my opinion is one of best blogs out there.   It is really well written, and he has some great custom cards as well (see here as an example). 

If you don't read that particular blog, take a minute and read the post I linked above.  "Joe" relates an unfortunate incident he had at a card show, referring to a young teenager crowding him out of discount boxes that he was perusing.  (When you're done, start following his blog as well, you will not regret it.)

I'm sure that there have been a lot of you out there that have had some kind of similar experience.   I am fortunate enough to say that I haven't had that happen to me, but in fact there have been a couple of instances where I've had the complete opposite happen.

One of those times was at the card show last weekend in Canton.  There was a dealer in the back corner who had a ton of discount boxes, with varying degrees of discounts.   Needless to say, his table was jammed.

I finally was able to pull up a chair after about 20 minutes of standing and going through boxes at one end of the table.  After another 15 minutes of perusing through a few of the boxes that were under the table, I heard a conversation going on behind me about basketball cards.   There were 3 guys, all I'd say in their early 20's referencing a couple of boxes of basketball cards that were in a box that I was sitting directly in front of. 

Once I finally clued in, I asked the guys if they would like the box passed to them.  They were very polite and said that would be great.  They even said "thank you, sir" when I did pass the box. (the gray in the goatee is very prominent now, I guess I better get used to being called "sir").  There were also several other guys at the table, and not one discourteous word was heard.  Guys were asking if people were looking for anything in particular, and a good time was being had by all.

I even managed to score a few cards as well.

I will not bore you with a ton of them, but I do have 4 that I want to show...

How about a couple of mid 80's cards of sniper Mike Bossy:

I would have loved to have seen what this guy's career goal totals would have been had his back not given out on him at the age of 30.  Mike finished with 573 goals, and with many players playing into their late 30's normally, who knows what kind of totals he could have finished with?  These 2 cards were an easy purchase.   I will own both of those sets one day because they are 2 of my favorite hockey sets from the 80's.  The Mario Lemieux (85-86 OPC design on the left), and Patrick Roy (86-87 OPC design on the right) RCs from these two sets will be the major hindrances to completing both sets. 

I haven't shown off a vintage Maple Leaf card lately, so how about a 71-72 Mike Pelyk?

1971-72 Topps # 92

The early 70's hockey sets are another long term goal for my collection.  They look really great, and are still somewhat affordable, even with the plethora of legendary HOF RCs that the sets contain. 

I was even lucky enough to score a '57 Topps card for a buck...

That's the 9th card I've picked up from the '57 set.  Another one that will be completed way down the road, but it's fun for now just to pick up a card here and there.

Remember your fellow collector/blogger the next time you're at a card show.  The guy that you're crowding out of a box of 10 cent cards may not be as kind to you with his post as JS was with that teenager...

Thanks for reading, Robert

Beat up vintage is still cool

It's history folks, plain and simple.  What's funny for me is, in high school, I hated  history.  With the white hot passion of a 1000 suns.

There were only two reasons I took a history course in college.  One, I required a humanities credit.  Two, there was a tremendous looking brunette in the class.  Of course, I wound up with a D because it was hard to focus, if you get my drift.

But I digress....

Cards like this that I picked up at last years November Expo in Toronto for $5 remind me of why beat up cards from the past are great.

 

Pants pocket?  Someone sat on it?  Who knows.  It's the RC of a Hall of Fame center that I got on the cheap.

Sometimes, someone sends you a card that reminds you that even older beat up cards are cool as well.

No, he didn't sing for the Doors

It appears that somebody taped this baby to a page.  Still, it's great to me.

How about a nicely folded '57 Topps baseball card as an example?

It's amazing how we tolerate a beat up card like this because it's approaching 60 years of age, but if someone approached you with a rookie card from the last decade that had a slight imperfection, the look of disdain would be quite evident.

Beat up vintage is cool, because we don't expect as much from older cards as we do the newer ones that come out.  The days of storing cards in shoe boxes wrapped in giant rubber bands are gone.

Sometimes, I wish the rubber bands would come back.  At least these piles on my desk would have less of a chance of falling if they were wrapped in rubber.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Just a passing fancy

Many of you have seen my many posts on the 70's sets that I'm working on.  '77T, almost done.  '75T, less than 60 to go now.  '73T & '76T, a little over halfway done, but still actively being pursued.

When I hit the monthly card show, I don't focus on picking up cards from other sets, just because I'd like to keep most of my money for the show earmarked on the sets that I'm closer to completing.

My problem is, I really can't help myself.  When I see great looking cards of older sets, in bargain bins no less, the impulse shopper in me takes over.   Gotta have that one.  Wow, two more for that set so cheap!!

It's a disease I tell you.  Well, I guess it could be worse, I could have the plague.

I've joked several times about the "monthly '62".  At this show, it doubled up.

As opposed to the other vintage sets I've been working, this set is just moving along at a slow and steady pace.  I have 45 cards so far, and for some reason I'm not doing an imitation of Speed Racer to try and complete this set. 

Another set that I'll enjoy completing is '68 Topps.  Not unlike the '62 set, this set is one that I like the look of, but for some reason I'm working very slowly on it.  Not sure why, but I've only managed to grab 17 cards so far.

I've always been partial to the sleeveless uniforms with the T-Shirt underneath look.  The '68 design is one that I like, but I just can't put my finger on why...

I also managed to pickup another color TV while at the show.   A bit beat up, but for 65 cents, it found a home...

The '55 Bowman set is definitely one that I could say is "just a passing fancy".  Most of the '50s sets are likely going to be out of my price range.  If I can pick up a common here or there on the cheap I will, but putting together the set is likely going to be out of the question.

Same thing with the '57 and '59 sets, I picked up a trio of cards on the cheap, but the thought of cards like Mantle, Aaron and Clemente from these years just scares the hell out of me...

I'll probably live the '59 set vicariously through the 59 Topps Blog that CommishBob writes.

All that for just 8 cards, still have a lot more to show from other sets....stay tuned.

Thanks for reading, Robert

My first foray into the '57 Topps set

At the show a couple of weeks back I decided to hit a table that I don't normally buy from.  The same table that I picked up the '70 Topps commons for a dime apiece (I still kick myself for not buying more of those).  This dealer also has a giant plastic tub full of top loaders (with cards, of course) priced at 6 for $5. 

I figured that with nothing better to do, I'd dig through the tub and see what was in there.  I came up with these 5 cards from the '57 Topps set...

The cards on the top row are all in pretty good condition, while the Throneberry on the bottom row is creased quite a bit, and the Dick Hyde (easy on the snickering...) has a well rounded corner and the back has a bit of paper loss.  The look of this set is easy on the eyes, because the lettering of the player and team names do not detract from the photos.  I especially like the Mack Burk card, it actually looks as if he's going to be chasing a pop up.

The set is smaller in size (407) than the 60's/70's sets that I have been chasing, but some of the cards, such as the Brooks Robinson RC and the Mantle list for unbelievable prices.   To top that off, there are several others that go for $100 +, which means that owning the '57 set for me is likely just a dream.

But at 6/$5, I will buy commons of this set every day of the week...

Thanks for reading, Robert