I find it hard to put these cards down

Back in July I came across a post by Dave over at the Wax Stain Rookie (by the way if you're not reading it on a regular basis, you should be) where he mentioned a find at a local LCS of some OPC from 1976-77.

The post featured a Jack Valiquette RC, and the memories just came flooding back.  After a couple of emails back and forth, I secured about 600-700 cards from Dave for a great price.

These cards have created several problems. I don't want to sort them.  I don't want to put them in binders.   I don't want to figure out how many cards I need to finish the set.  I don't even want to take them out of the original box that Dave shipped them in.

Every time I look at that box, and start flipping through the cards, I turn into the 9 year old kid who bought them back in the 70's.  It scares the hell out of me.  Why?

Because unlike the '77 Topps cards that I used to buy when I was a 9 year old, these hockey cards are timeless for me.  It is a group of players with names like Dunc Wilson, Dave Schultz, Bunny Larocque, Gary Smith and so on that take me back to a time over 35 years ago when the game was simpler.  The times were simpler. 

I was a kid who had found collecting to be a joy, and that is something that will follow me until the day I stop breathing.

Cards like this remind me of a better day...

The old California Golden Seals uniforms.  Not the greatest of greens that was used, but still a retro uni that brings back memories.  The Seals were one of two teams that actually transferred cities that summer, the 2nd being the Kansas City Scouts, who moved to Colorado to become the Rockies (not the baseball team....the hockey team)

Something you will never see again.  A player wearing a head band on the ice.  Awesome.

Nick names were great back then as well...this guy was the "Iron Man" (not Robert Downey Jr.)

No relation to Felix

914 straight games.  Many thought it a streak that would never be broken.  Doug Jarvis came along and ended that thought, by playing 964 straight (the equivalent of roughly 12 NHL seasons).

There were many Maple Leafs cards in the box, but this guy was my favorite of the bunch, the pride of Summerside...

I saw Errol Thompson on the Hockey Day in Canada broadcast last winter from Summerside, P.E.I., and he looks better now than he did in the 70's!  

The box is a great mix of posed shots such as the Thompson card above, and on ice photos similar to the Unger, poor lighting and all.

To Dave, who graciously sent me this box of hockey goodness...you've created a monster.  The same monster that prowled the Danforth back in the 70's in pursuit of cardboard gold.

Thank you Dave.

Thanks for reading, Robert

This trade was a "killer"

I'm spoiled.  I have had the good fortune so far of having quite a few people see what they want on my blog, then make me an offer just as quickly that I cannot refuse.  One such blogger who turned that trick on me was Greg who runs the Plaschke, thy sweater is Argyle site.

I will say that I'm 7 for 7 in trades with Greg, and they just keep getting easier.  Greg saw an Evan Longoria '12 Topps jersey card that I posted, made me an offer, and our 7th trade was completed...just like that.

Yes, for me, this trade was a 'killer'.  At least, that's who Greg sent me in return...

07-08 UD Trilogy

Thank you Upper Deck for picturing Doug Gilmour in a Maple Leaf uniform and using a blue swatch.
Thank you as well for using the vintage Maple Leafs logo, which was used from the 27/28 season through the 37/38 season.  That logo is still my favorite of all time, because it is so simple and doesn't look as if it were computer generated.

Thank you again for the trade Greg, I look forward to #8!

Thanks for reading, Robert

Now I know why they call him the Spaceman

Come on folks, look at this card of the "Spaceman" Bill Lee, and tell me that he isn't looking for an UFO, or the mother ship to come and pick him up.

is the phrase "beam me up Scotty" a little too over the top here?

This was one of the cards I scored in a card draft on Wes' blog Jaybarkerfan's Junk. I figured it would be an easy and fun way to ease into a couple of posts about some of the card drafts/group breaks I've been involved with lately.

One card not enough?  OK, here's two more...

The Jays back in the 70's didn't have prospects at any other positions than P & C

The '79 Topps card of the trio of upcoming Blue Jays prospects is interesting, because it appears that photo day in Toronto was taken with a roll of black and white film.  The Roy Halladay card appears to have the stitches of a baseball drawn on it, and if that's the case, that may be the dirtiest looking baseball I've ever seen.  Sorry Donruss, that's a miss...

Just a tease for now...more to come

Thanks for reading, Robert

The last of the National additions

I figured instead of going into a lengthy post detailing the remainder of my purchases, I'd just give out some of the highlights of what's left over.

A couple of hockey HOFers from early 1970s Topps sets are always a good pickup...the Ullman is the first Leaf card from the 71-72 sets that I own.  50 cents was well worth it.

I figured I'd throw together a scan of some of the other cards I also purchased from the same table for 50 cents apiece.  The Aaron is very well loved, but at 50 cents I just couldn't say no.  I grabbed quite a few 71's, 73's and a few 75's from this table, the only "oddball" was the '72 Killebrew IA card you see below. 

Yes...all were 50 cents apiece

A '69 Steve Carlton in damn good condition....and no, it wasn't 50 cents...

At $12, this was the priciest card for me at the show...well worth it

Some more '64 cards that feature McCovey and Yaz...as I mentioned the other day, I was able to snag a few of the league leader cards from the '64 set at good prices, I believe that these 3 cards cost me a total of $12.

Another nice find for me...this Piniella RC set me back $8.

You can't tell me that it doesn't look like Sweet Lou spent too much time in a tanning booth

All totaled, I spent a little over 6 weeks of my budget at the National, but the cards that I added to my collection included a lot of great finds at some pretty sweet deals, so I really can't complain. 

Besides, what else was I going to do with my bonus check from work anyhow??

Thanks for reading, Robert

Sakic Sunday: 05/06 SPx Winning Materials

Decided to give everyone a day's reprieve from my National posts to show off the latest addition to my Joe Sakic PC. 

2005/06 SPx Winning Materials #'d 326/350.  Saw this on eBay a couple of weeks ago, with Buy it Now/Best Offer pricing on it.  I knocked a third off of the asking price as my best offer....sold!!

3 days later it was at my house and part of my collection.  Love that all 3 colors of the Avs jersey are featured on the card. 

I've really let the Joe Sakic PC slide over the past few years, this winter may be the time to rekindle that flame.  I'm sure that there are still a lot of base cards/inserts to pickup. 

Thanks for reading, Robert

National Saturday: Flat rate cards

It took a little time for me to decide how to split up the Saturday purchases that I made at the National.  Again, at least in my opinion I got some more great deals on my 2nd day at the show.  After a little bit of thought, I figured I would split the first post among two tables where the cards I purchased were an easy flat rate.

The first table was actually the Dave & Adam's booth.  I'm sure you're familiar with the Western New York multi store/internet retailer.  Well, as usual they had their mega sized booth with some pretty good deals on wax. 

I am proud to say I resisted the temptation to purchase any wax at the show!!  But...tucked in the back corner of their booth, I found several boxes of jersey cards at a flat rate of $4 per card.  A digging I went...

The A.J. Burnett card I displayed last Sunday on my post was one of the 7 cards I picked up.  The 2nd card is one that I failed to scan before I sent it off to Brian at Play at the Plate.  I'm sure once Brian receives it, he'll show it off for you.  The next three were all Maple Leafs jerseys, a particular weakness of mine as well.

Sittler jersey card for $4!  You bet it is coming home with me.

I also found another pitching star among the boxes, a longtime Blue Jays star that I couldn't leave at the show.

Calling Dr. Halladay

After what seemed an eternity digging through these boxes, I finally found a jersey card of the newest PC that I've started....Jim Thome

The first...

While I spent roughly 30 minutes looking through the myriad of jersey cards at that booth, the next purchase is quite the opposite.

On my out of the show, I hit a table that had a few people milling around.  One of the display cases had a starburst sign on it that caught my eye.

"All cards in this case, $5"

OK...let's take a look then!  Needless to say within 5 minutes, I was 4 cards closer to my '64 Topps set.  I was able to snag 4 League Leaders cards that he had...

Ford, Bouton, Pascaul, Koufax, Drysdale...all on 2 cards for $10!!  You betcha!

The Killer and Hank Aaron....2 cards for $10...how can I say no??  I couldn't...

The 2nd day of the National gave me the opportunity to do something that I wanted to do, which was to start finding some of the "medium" priced cards for this set.  Yes, there still is the matter of cards like Mantle, Rose, Clemente and others that are going to be tough to find for less than triple digits, but those are later on down the line.

1 more post of National treasures to show off....and yes, it is more vintage ranging from 64-75...

Thanks for reading, Robert

How often do you find cards priced at 15/$1?

OK, let me rephrase that post title.  How often do you find 1975 Topps cards priced at 15/$1?  One of the tables at the very back of the National had cards listed at 15/$1, and I dove right in.

How could I not?

I was absolutely shocked when I came across a stack of 1975 Topps cards in there, and the digging began in earnest.

 

I just couldn't pass them up, you know what I'm saying?  My original plan was to put a dent into my '77 Topps set, but for some reason every table that I came across that had '77s had them at ridiculous prices (at least in my opinion), so I wound up picking up more '75s than I had originally bargained for.  

I picked up 69 cards for this set at this table, and found a couple of '73s to bring the total amount of cards to $5!

I even found one of the worst airbrush jobs on a card imaginable in this box.  If I were a Cardinals fan, I'd be disappointed to say the least.

Was the attempt really even worth it?

The dealer at that table even threw in a couple of '60s cards I found in her "bargain bin" as well...

I spent a total of $5 at that table, and probably had the most fun there over all the other tables that I visited over the 2 days. 

Like I mentioned earlier in this post, one of the main objectives was to put a dent into my '77 set.  If I could call anything at the National a disappointment, it would be the fact that I only managed to score these 8 cards.

Some names I remember in here

This post rounds out my Friday experience at the National.  I spent $88 on the first day, and this sums up what kind of damage I did:

• 8 cards towards the '77 set
• 69 cards towards the '75 set
• 40 cards for the insanity set
• 4 jersey/relic cards (including 2 Jays)
• 5 '62s
• 39 cards towards the '64 set
• 8 cards towards the'73 set
• Also picked up vintage cards from '63/'65/'66/'68 sets

Saturday's fun is still to come....

Thanks for reading, Robert