Had me fooled

Continuing on with the effort I'm doing on updating my want lists on the TCDB, I started entering the '78 Topps set on Saturday.  So I'm clicking away.... #3, got it, #9, got it, then I notice something.

#9 says Doug Decinces on the TCDB, but my build I have Sparky Lyle.  Something wrong there, so I go back and look at #3.   TCDB says Willie McCovey Record Breakers, while my card has Cliff Johnson on it.

I find 2 others at the beginning stages of the set and I start wondering if I have pieces of a Yankees team set released by Topps back in 78.

Here are the 4 cards that had me fooled.  OK condition, corners are kind of soft but no creases.   A little research and I find out that they are from the Burger King Yankees set from '78, 22 cards plus a checklist.

Are there any Yankees fans out there that want these?  They don't fit in my collection so I'm hoping somebody gives them a good home.  Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading, Robert

The attack on my want lists continues

My good fortune in getting cards knocked off of my want list lately continues.   I received another envelope yesterday from a TCDB trade partner, this time it was Bill (User ID: minibbcards) who sent me a great deal of vintage goodness.

I sent Bill quite a few minis from various years of A&G, and as many of you may know, I'm more than happy to move them along to someone who will enjoy them more than I would.  In return, this bounty came my way.

My love for the '69 set keeps growing, as these 13 beauties were part of the envelope.  This really isn't a focus item for me right now (focus isn't one of my strongest traits anyhow), but seeing any cards from this set always brings a smile to my face.   These 13 cards bring to 148 in hand, just over 22% done. 

Anytime I see a Denver Lemaster card, I always think of Forrest Gump's line "There's Denver, he's from Phoenix".  I don't know why, but I get a chuckle every time I hear or think of that line.

Another set that isn't high on the priority list is the '71 Topps set.  But putting that want list up on the TCDB site this past week landed me these 8 cards.  Outside of the Woody Fryman crease, these cards are in really nice shape, which I'm sure will be tough to replicate as time goes on.  I'm thinking that we'll be well into the 2020 decade before I finish this set.  

I'm up to 67 cards in my '71 set, just under 8% complete.   Still lots of time to get this done.

A couple of thoughts came to mind when going through the 20 '72 Topps cards above. 

• I seem to be running into a lot of Tommy John cards lately.  Not sure why, I just am.
• Steve Stone I remember from his days in Chicago.   Had no idea that he went as far back as '72, and that he was a Giant.
• When I see guys like Joe Pepitone and Claude Osteen, I think back to my '64 build.  Osteen goes as far back as '59 I discovered while writing this.  I really don't think about this much while building sets, but it's cool to see the time line of some guys like Claude Osteen through cards over the years.   Another guy that I think of when I think about timelines is Reggie Jackson; he had a lot of great cards over the years, and there were a lot of years as well to reminisce about.

20 cards off the want list means I now have 100 in hand, but that means that the set is barely 1/8th complete.  Another set that I don't expect to finish until well into the 2020 decade.   It's all a marathon and not a sprint, right?

Thank you for the cards Bill, they are appreciated.  Looking forward to our next trade!

Thanks for reading, Robert

Another TCDB trade in the books

I've had some good success with trades lately on the Trading Card Database site.   I finished 2 trades this week, one of them with Ben (user ID:  BenG76).  Ben sent a generous offer in my opinion, asking for 7 serial #'d cards in return for these beauties.

1984 Topps is one of those sets that I'd hoped to finish relatively quickly.  I'm roughly 2/3 of the way through the set, and still need the Don Mattingly RC as the key piece of the set.  I love looking through the early to mid 80's sets, as the players bring back so many memories of my teenage years following baseball so intently.

No sooner do I mention how intently I followed baseball in the early 80's then I see the card of Bert Campaneris in a Yankee uniform.  How do I not remember that?  So, I have to go to baseball reference to see, and sure enough the '83 season was his last as a player, at the age of 41.  He hit .322 in 155 plate appearances for the Yankees, splitting time between 2nd and 3rd.

The only player that I can honestly say I don't remember at all from this 30 card lot is Darryl Cias of the A's.  Looking at BR I can see why; he only played in the '83 season, with 6 hits in 18 ABs.  Not too shabby getting a card with that limited playing time. 

I may be able to finish this set before 2019 rolls around, but my best guess right now I probably won't make a push to complete '84 T until the new year, unless a big block of cards comes way unexpectedly.   With my luck lately, that's quite possible...

Thank you for the trade Ben, look forward to more in the future!

Thanks for reading, Robert