Fifty Nine

Today's post is brought to you by the number 11.

The "What's next?" tournament has concluded, and the winning set earned 11 votes in each of its 4 wins. 

This set won by scores of 11-9, 11-10, 11-5, and finally this week defeated the Cinderella story that was 1974 Topps by a very close 11-10 margin.

1959 Topps, in all its circular multicolored splendor, is the winner. It will be the next vintage set that I will put together and display for everyone in the blogosphere (at least those who read my blog anyhow) to see.

10 cards down, 562 left to go.  I'm sure that the '59 posts that I generate won't be to the level of the Commish, but I hope at least that I can learn a thing or two along the way. 

Let the journey begin.   Thank you everyone for your votes!

thanks for reading, Robert

What's next?: The Finals (3) 1974 Topps vs (8) 1959 Topps

If you had asked me at the beginning of the tournament about the chances of these two sets making it to the final, I probably would have said that '59 has a good shot of making it, but '74 probably wouldn't be able to weed its way through the great sets of the '60s.

Well, here we are, 1974 has made it through and takes on 1959 this week.

This is the first time that I've shown the backs of both sets (which may have been a mistake on my part).  Both sets have great looking backs, with bios and cartoons to read and have fun with when I post the cards on the blog.

In the past rounds, I've had 2 or 3 sections of additional information on each set.  For the finals, I'm just going to answer one question:


Why I want 1974 Topps to win:

All along, this tournament has been about what set I would build next.  The cheapo in me would prefer 1974 because of the lower price tag, along with the fact that I own 40% of the set already.  I'm sure that player recognition would also help, as I know a lot more of the players from this set as compared to 1959.

Why I want 1959 Topps to win: 

Yes, putting the 1959 set together would be an uphill climb for me, as I only own 10 cards out of the 572 card set.  This set has one large advantage over 1974 in my opinion, it's beauty.   Yeah, you heard me say it, the 1959 Topps set is a beautiful looking set.  It's colorful, the backs are great, and even though it's going to cost me a pretty penny to build, the '59 set would probably teach me a lot about the history of the game. 

There you have it friends.   Now it's time for you to decide what set I'm going to build next.  Spread the word if you can, I'm hoping for lots of votes in the final.

Thank you for reading, Robert

Who needs the 60's anyway?

The public has spoken.   Every set from the 60's has been eliminated, as the Cinderella run of 1974 continues.  By the slimmest of margins, 1974 Topps defeated 1963 by a count of 8-7 in the 2nd semi final match, and moves on to face 1959 in the final starting tomorrow. 

Can '74 defeat one more giant and become the set that I'm going to complete next?  Only you can decide that.....

thanks for reading, and voting, Robert

What's next? Semi-final #2: (7) 1963 Topps vs (3) 1974 Topps

How they got this far:

1963 defeated 1972 and 1960 Topps, gaining 12 votes in both rounds.
1974 defeated 1961 with 16 votes, and then 1969 with 15 votes.

To sum up the first two rounds:

I'm not surprised to see that '63 made it this far.  It is a colorful set and a favorite of mine.  '63 had a tougher road to get to the semi-finals, defeating two very good releases in both '72 & '60.  If it wins the tournament I believe that I would enjoy putting it together, as it will make a nice contrast to the much more plain '64 set that I am coming closer to completing. 

If there is one set that I didn't think would make it this far, it certainly would have to be the '74 set.  I would have to say that the luck of the draw helped '74 in the tourney, as '61 and '69 Topps aren't particular favorites of a lot of collectors (although the back of the '69 Topps cards are arguably my favorite of the '60s sets...).  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying '74 is a bad set, in my opinion it just doesn't compare to a lot of the '60s sets that were eliminated earlier. 

What I think will happen in this round: 


I am predicting that the final will have a pair of sets that have circles on the front, as I believe that '63 will move on to the final, and end the surprising run of '74 Topps. 


Is everyone going to prove me wrong two weeks in a row?  Will '74 Topps pull off another win and advance to the finals?


You tell me.   Voting starts.....................


NOW!!


thanks for reading, Robert

The first finalist is in place

By a count of 11-5, '59 Topps becomes one of the finalists.  This week was the lowest total number of votes in the tournament so far, and that's likely because of the time off in between matches.

No matter.  Tomorrow the tourney moves on to the 2nd semi-final, with 1963 Topps facing off against 1974 Topps.   Let's see if I can be successful in picking the losing set again this week, since I did a great job saying that '67 was going to defeat '59.

thanks for reading, Robert

What's next? (8) 1959 Topps vs (5) 1967 Topps

The semi-finals will be the first time that I have injected personal feelings/commentary into the opening post.   I've tried to be as impartial as possible in the earlier rounds, and now I think a little sentiment may go a long way (for me...lol).


How they got this far:

1959 defeated 1966 and 1965 Topps, gaining 11 votes in both rounds.
1967 defeated 1962 with 16 votes, and then 1976 with 17 votes.

To sum up the first two rounds:

I would have thought that 1959 would have had an easier time in the first round against '66, but it was close.  I fully expected a close match against '65, and was a little surprised that '59 gained a quarter final victory (I originally thought that '65 was going to be a finalist, if not win the whole tourney).

I didn't think that '67 would make it by '62 Topps in the first round ('62 is one of my favorite sets).  I was pretty sure that it would defeat '76, but didn't think that the voting would be as lopsided.  (I thought that '67 may win one round, but not make it as far as the semis---what do I know??)

What I think will happen in this round:  

I think that the voting is going to be close in this round, but a lot of people in the last round really surprised me with their strong feelings for '67. 

I think that '67 wins this round and moves on to the finals....but that's up to you now, isn't it??

thanks for reading, and for voting!  Robert

Not even a fair fight

1967 takes home the title of earning the most votes in the quarter finals, soundly trouncing 1976 Topps by a score of 17-4.  I apologize for the delay in posting the results of this round.  I'm going to get the tournament rolling again tomorrow with the start of semi final round.  The matches will be as follows:

The 8th seed 1959 will take on #5 1967 starting tomorrow.
The 7th seed 1963 will face the highest seed remaining, 1974, next week.

4 pretty good sets remaining, I'm curious to see which one is going to survive...

thanks for reading, Robert

What's next? Quarterfinals (4) 1976 Topps vs (5) 1967 Topps

I made a small mistake on yesterday's post.  I said that if '76 wins this weeks match we would have two 70's sets vs two 60's sets in the semis.   '59 Topps is still in the battle, so this weeks match will determine which decade will have 2 sets left in the hunt. 

How they got here:

1976 defeated 1970  16-4
1967 defeated 1962  16-9

How big a head start do I have on these sets?

1976 Topps:  Very Good  375 out of 660 (with a few needing upgrades)
1967 Topps:  Minimal        22 out of 609

Favorite card that I own from each set so far:

1974:  # 554 Ray Fosse (A great look, almost as if he's nailed a runner trying to steal second)
1963:  # 129 Phil Roof  (combination of old time glove, sleeveless jersey and what appears to be a jacket under his jersey is a weird but great look in my opinion).

25 votes last week, a great turnout, thank you!  We already have one blog pushing for one of these sets....read here for further details.

thanks for reading, and voting, Robert

There's a chance

A good voter turnout this week!!  24 votes came in for this week's match, and by a solid 15-9 margin, the winner is...

1974 Topps!  '74 makes it to the semi-finals where it will meet last week's winner, '63 Topps.  There's only one match left in the quarter finals; starting tomorrow 1976 Topps will face 1967 Topps.  It's possible that the semi-finals could feature a set from the 70's facing a set from the 60's in each match.

On a side note, I wanted to thank Jim from Downingtown for his email on the side earlier this week.   Jim had asked me if the sets were going to be reseeded again after this round.   After I responded to him that the sets would advance in bracket style this round, I had to take another look at the initial post to make sure my response was correct (it sure wouldn't have been the first time that I've been wrong!!).

Jim, I found the first post, and amazingly my memory didn't fail me!  I did mention that reseeding would be done after the first round only.  I do appreciate you keeping me on my toes though.

thanks for reading, Robert

What's next? Quarterfinals: (3) 1974 Topps vs (6) 1969 Topps

I am not going to even bother trying to figure out who is going to win this week's match.  These are two sets that I really like, and I don't have a problem with either of them moving on to the semis.   The winner of this week's match will go on to meet '63 Topps in the semis.

How they got here:

1974 defeated 1971  16-4
1969 defeated 1980  13-7

How big a head start do I have on these sets?

1974 Topps:  Very Good  264 out of 660
1969 Topps:  Minimal        23 out of 664

Favorite card that I own from each set so far:

1974:  # 328 Skip Jutze (I don't ever recall seeing a player with eye black on for a posed shot.
1963:  # 295 Steve Carlton (Great card of Lefty I picked up at the 2012 National for less than $10)

As always, I look forward to reading the comments for these two sets.  Don't be shy, let's get back over 20 votes this week!!

thanks for reading, and voting, Robert

Again, my prediction would have been wrong

In my head, I thought that the '60 Topps set would win this weeks match by about 3 votes.

Instead, '63 Topps is this weeks winner, by a 12-7 score.  This is the 1st time that the tournament has dropped below the 20 vote mark since the play in round.   Hopefully we'll see some more votes the next couple of weeks, as the sets from the '70s will be making their appearance in the quarterfinals.

The next match that starts tomorrow should be a good one, as the 3 seed '74 Topps takes on 6th seed '69 Topps.  The '76 set will make its quarterfinal appearance next week when it takes on '67 Topps.   Both matches should have some interesting opinions, which I always look forward to.

Thanks for reading, and voting, Robert

What's next? Quarterfinals: (2) 1960 Topps vs (7) 1963 Topps

Two very colorful sets take the stage this week as 60T takes on 63T.  I believe this will be another close match, similar to last week's great quarterfinal opener.  So, what do you think I should build next? 

How they got here:

1960 defeated 1979  16-4
1963 defeated 1972  12-10

How big a head start do I have on these sets?

1960 Topps:  Minimal  12 out of 587
1963 Topps:  Minimal  10 out of 576

Favorite card that I own from each set so far:

1960:  # 86 Dick Gernert (the old Cub logos are still the best)
1963:  # 1 National League Batting Leaders (any card with Robinson, Musial and Aaron on it is OK in my book)

I believe that I know what set will win this week, but I've been wrong before, so let's see if the blogosphere can prove me wrong again.   I look forward to reading the comments explaining why one of these sets is better than the other.

thanks for reading, and voting, Robert

A close battle

The commish gets his way!!   Just barely though.  Commishbob was kind enough to give this blogger a very nice push by declaring his wont for the '59 Topps set to go forward in the What's next? tournament. 

It didn't look good early, as the '65 set jumped out to a very quick 5-1 lead, but in the end, by the slimmest of margins....

1959 Topps advances by a 11-10 vote.  The #1 seed has fallen by the way side, and there may only be 1 or 2 sets that stand in the way of '59 advancing all the way through the tournament.

The match tomorrow puts two more great sets to the test, as 1960 will take on 1963.

Thanks for reading, and voting, Robert

What's next? Quarterfinals: (1) 1965 Topps vs (8) 1959 Topps

A match up featuring two sets that easily could have made it to the final if I were doing all the voting.  A great pair of cards on the scan, featuring a pair of NL Central clubs battling it out for the title again this year.

This round instead of the "tale of the tape", I'm going to answer a trio of questions:

How they got here:

1965 defeated 1978  17-2
1959 defeated 1966  11-9

How big a head start do I have on these sets?

1965 Topps:  Minimal  17 out of 598
1959 Topps:  Minimal  10 out of 572

Favorite card that I own from each set so far:

1965:  # 303 Rico Carty (Rico played for the Blue Jays)
1959:  # 134 Jim McDaniel (I like the Sporting News rookie card design)

I really like how the backs look on both of these sets, so that's a wash for me.

So, which set do you want me to build?  Let me know in the comments.

thanks for reading, and voting, Robert

The last of the final 8 has been determined

It appears that I saved the best match for last in the 1st round.  The voting was tight through the whole week, but thankfully I didn't have to account for any hanging chads or tampered ballot boxes.

With a final tally of 12-10, the set moving on to the final 8 is....

1963 Topps!  This is the one card that I own that probably contains the most star power.  Robinson, Aaron, Musial, Davis and White is a great group of 5, none of them hitting below .323 in 1962.

Now, we re-seed the remaining 8.  I take you back to the original post  and give you the following paragraph for determining the seeds...

After the round of 16 is completed, I am going to re-seed the final 8 sets by the number of votes they received during their particular match.   If there is a tie, it will be broken by the higher percentage of votes (for example, if one set received 24 out of 32 votes, and the other received 24 out of 35 votes, the first set would receive the higher seed).  If there is still a tie, I will put the older set in the highest seed (totally arbitrary and random, I know).

With all that in mind, here are the match ups for the quarter finals:

(1) 1965 vs (8) 1959
(2) 1960 vs (7) 1963
(3) 1974 vs (6) 1969
(4) 1976 vs (5) 1967

Tomorrow will start the next round.  1965 Topps vs 1959 Topps.  A great way to get the ball rolling.

I look forward to reading the comments in this round, because a lot of the pretenders have been weeded out, and the decisions are going to be a little bit tougher this time.  At least I think they will be....

thanks for reading, Robert

What's next? :Round of 16: (1) 1963 Topps vs (16) 1972 Topps

The end of the round of 16 is finally upon us.  This is the last match, featuring two pretty solid sets.  The two priciest rookie cards out of 1972 are both multi player cards, but feature some pretty good players who had long careers in MLB.  Today was the first time I had to look over the '63 set, and there are some pretty scary cards in there $$ wise, which has the cheap ass in me worried a bit.


Tale of the tape:

1.  Set Size:  1963 has 576 cards.  1972 has 787 cards
2.  Key RCs:  1963  Pete Rose, Willie Stargell  1972 Fisk/Cooper, Oglivie/Cey
3.  Cost of complete set in NM condition:  1963  $6000      1961  $7000
4.  Number of cards with high book at $100 or more: 1963: 11 (Rose RC = 1K)   1972: 1 

Blogs:  1963 Topps vs   1972 Topps

Jim from Downingtown appears once again on the blog stats; his 1963 Topps blog is actually a collaborative effort with the Troll and Commishbob both being listed as contributors.  The 1972 Topps blog is unfortunately dormant; the last post there was 4.5 years ago, and stopped at card #135.  [EDIT:  thanks to Jim for the update on the '72 blog, the link has been updated to reflect the '72 Topps countdown blog]

thanks for reading, Robert

Another landslide, and that's no Bull

A pattern seems to be developing.  For the 3rd straight week, by a margin of 16-4, we have a landslide winner.

Yep, '74 Topps put a hammering on the '61 set. I guess I'm not surprised by the outcome, but I thought that '61 might garner more than a couple of sympathy votes.   I love the old style Phillies uniform with the stylized "P", featured here on card #360 of Greg Luzinski. 

Speaking of sympathy votes, don't be afraid to vote with your heart during this tournament.   I'm prepared to live (or die trying) by the verdict handed down by the masses.  I have enjoyed putting together the '64 set, and have been buoyed by the availability of bargains for some of the pricier cards (Mantle, Rose).  It'll be a challenge to put together whatever you send me off to build. 

The final match of round 1 starts tomorrow, and probably will be the best contest in the first round, as 63 Topps faces off against 72 Topps.  If this one ends in a blow out, I will be shocked.

Thanks for reading, and voting, Robert

What's Next? Round of 16: (2) 1974 Topps vs (15) 1961 Topps

I have far more '74 Topps cards to choose from, so finding a card that was interesting and worthy of scanning was easier than the '61 set.  Also, I'm not really sure what I was expecting out of the '74 set, but I was kind of surprised when compiling the tale of the tape that it was as inexpensive as it is. 


Tale of the tape:

1.  Set Size:  1974 has 660 cards.  1961 has 587 cards
2.  Key RCs:  1974  Dave Winfield, Ken Griffey Sr.  1961 Ron Santo, Juan Marichal
3.  Cost of complete set in NM condition:  1974  $400      1961  $7000
4.  Number of cards with high book at $100 or more: 1974: 0   1961: 17 

Blogs:  1974 Topps  vs   1961 Topps

I still haven't been able to find a blog dedicated to the 1961 Topps set, so this time I decided to link a recent post of the Night Owl to use as a reference.    The 1974 blog appears to have had its last entry written a couple of weeks back, so I'll have to take the time to read some of that now that it's finished.

I do have to say thanks to those who are voting regularly; it has been very interesting to see the comments on how collectors feel about these older sets.  Sometimes it has only been one line, other times it has been a paragraph.  But the comments have shown me how these sets have hit home with some people (positively and negatively), and that has made this tournament very enjoyable for me.

Spread the word if you can, it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks for reading, Robert

The classics keep on living

Another week has come and gone for the "What's Next?" tournament, and by a margin of 16-4 this week's winner is:

1960 Topps!  Not a surprise really, as it seems that the sets from the '60s appear to be the favorites of many a collector.   An interesting trend has developed; this is the 3rd straight week that the winning set has received exactly 16 votes.  I'm not too sure how next week's voting is going to turn out, as '74 Topps takes on the first play in match winner, '61 Topps. 

I just happened to pull card #288 Bob Mabe out of the small group of 1960 cards that I have, but what jumped out at me right away is the old style Orioles logo.  Sets such as this would be enjoyable to build for me because of the logos.  The '64 set has been fun to put together, but seeing cards like this one remind me how cool some of the older logos look.

Still a long way to go in the tournament, there's still 9 matches to go before the ultimate winner is decided.  Keep on voting, and spread the word if you can, because I'd love to see more votes each week (the voting seems to stop right at 20 for some reason...).

Thanks for reading, and voting, Robert

What's Next? Round of 16: (3) 1960 Topps vs (14) 1979 Topps

What jumped out right away for me in this match is the RCs.  3 Hall of Famers, and Bob Welch who had 211 wins over a 17 year career.  I know that '79 is going to get some love this week, but I wonder if it will be enough to get past the last fully horizontal (I believe) release from Topps.


Tale of the tape:

1.  Set Size:  1960 has 572 cards.  1979 has 726 cards
2.  Key RCs:  1960  Carl Yastrzemski, Willie McCovey  1979  Ozzie Smith, Bob Welch
3.  Cost of complete set in NM condition:  1960  $5000      1979  $200
4.  Number of cards with high book at $100 or more: 1960: 14   1979: 0 

Blogs:  1960 Topps  vs   1979 Topps

I was unable to find a 1960 specific card blog, so all I've done is link to the 1960 set on My Baseball Card blog.  If anyone out there knows of a 1960 blog, please let me know.  The 1979 blog is by the same writer who hosts Emerald City Diamond Gems, but unfortunately both of his blogs haven't been updated since April. 

Thanks for reading, Robert