2012 Trade Post # 23: Lifetime Topps project

I had the good fortune of making another trade with Charlie over at the Lifetime Topps project blog.  I had some inserts he needed from Topps sets over the past couple years, including 2012.  Charlie had 30+ cards I needed for this years set, and a few cards towards the insanity as well.

Have a look at what he sent:

Scans are just in case you're not buying this year and are curious

Kotsay's card has a priceless look on his face, like he can't believe he hit the ball!

Charlie, thank you again for the trade, much appreciated!

Thanks for reading, Robert

Part 2 of the monthly card show: Jerseys, oldies and a Duke

Good Sunday evening to you all, I hope that you have had a great weekend.

I did make a few other purchases at the show on Saturday.  Another of the regular tables that I hit each month is the guy who has the 50 cent box, dollar box, etc.

Yesterday for the first time I saw him with a $2 box.  There wasn't a whole lot in there for the few minutes that I looked through it, and was about to give up when I spotted these cards right at the end.

A couple of 2006 Fleer Ultra Fine Fabrics, featuring Bobby Abreu and Ivan Rodriguez.  Those are for a project I'm working on.  The Fleer Fabrics David Wright jersey is earmarked for a collector who has done a lot of digging for me lately, and this hopefully will show my appreciation.

Remember the '64 set I talked about the other day?  Well, I managed to grab a few cheap cards for anywhere between 50-70 cents apiece.  One of those "can't leave them at the show deals"...

For the price I was able to pick them up for, they are in fair condition.  A couple have creases and some soft cornering, but they don't look like they've been through the wash, or on somebody's bicycle spokes.  The next card I was able to pickup for a measly $5, and I was very happy to get it on the cheap. 

Yes, the Duke of Flatbush, Duke Snider is the first "listed" card I've picked up so far.  It is off center, and the back is far from perfect, but as far as '64s go, I'm happy with this card.  The extent of the '64 Topps set for me right now will just be a few commons here and there, unless I can get lucky and spot cards like the Duke on the cheap. 

I did however see a '64 Mantle yesterday.  One of the tables that I bought a few of the '64 commons from had it in his display case....$175.   Ouch.  Not for me, I think my wife would have a heart attack if I spent that much on a card. 

Thanks for reading, Robert

Week 32 begins with 70's cards and fired coaches

Good Saturday evening to you all, hope that your first part of the weekend has gone well.

There was a lot happening in my world today.  I learned late last night that my beloved Maple Leafs finally pulled the plug on their coaching situation and fired coach Ron Wilson.  It's gotta be tough to avoid it when the denizens in the Air Canada Center in Toronto are chanting "FIRE WILSON" during a game.  The Leafs responded with a solid 3-1 win this evening for their new coach, and have 17 games left to salvage their season.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Now, it is the first weekend of the month, which means it's the monthly card show.  I went there with the sole purpose of working on my set list for '77 Topps.  Well, I did just that.  84 cards later, and I've put a major dent into the want list for this set.  Once again, seeing a lot of these cards just brings back memories of my childhood. 

Nicknames galore on a bunch of these guys...

First, I found a Doc

then a Dick...

Insert your own joke here

How about a Candy Man?

quite the mop

Next is a Bombo

Spent all of '77 in AAA

Then a Bando...(Not a nickname, yes I know, but it flows...)

Man, what a horrible airbrush job

Anyone up for some Chicken??

How about "The Other Brett"

Then there's Tug...

Tim's daddy, may he RIP

Can't have a group of 70's nick names without 'the Spaceman'

And finally....the 70's version of Mark Reynolds...Dave Kingman, or 'Kong'

Fun fact about Kingman in the '77 season.  He played for 4 teams (Mets, Padres, Angels, Yankees).  The Yankees stint lasted all of 8 games in which he went 6 for 24.  More notable about the Yankee stint was that all 6 of his hits were for extra bases (2 doubles and 4 HRs), and the .250 batting average he had there was the highest of the 4 teams he played for that year...

I was also able to pickup a couple of other cards from other 70s sets as well.

These three were in a 7 for $5 bin, and the '73 Carlton is in great shape outside of being a little off center.

Tomorrow, I'll take a look at the other purchases from the show....13 cards in total.

Thanks for reading, Robert

'64 Topps is becoming more than a curiosity for me

Good Friday night/Saturday morning to you all, hope that you are getting ready for a great weekend.

I don't know what it is about '64 Topps.  It was released 3 years before I was born, so there is no connection as far as my timeline in life is concerned.  Yes, I know a lot of the big names in the set, the Mantles, the Roses, the Clementes to name a few.

Outside of the star players, there are likely to be only a few players that I will recognize, largely because they went on to coaching or managerial careers later on in life.

There are no Blue Jays in the set, because the set was released 13 years before the Blue Jays came into existence.  As the days pass, I grow more and more curious about the set.  So what is it about the 1964 Topps set that has me intrigued?

I only have 8 cards so far for this set, which contains 587 cards in total (a number that I found odd...pardon the pun).  The front of the cards have no intricate design, the team name is at the top of the card in bold letters.  7 of the 8 cards I own feature pictures of the players in an outdoor setting. Only Milt Pappas of the Orioles has a different background, which just happens to be a plain blue one.  The player's name and position are found at the bottom of the card.

Maybe it's the backs that have my attention. 

The couple of handfuls of cards that I have employ varying shades of orange/red on the backs.  This Bob Buhl scans more towards the red as you can see.  The orange cards remind me of a creamsicle, since the backgrounds are white with orange text.  (Ya, I always loved creamsicles as a kid)  Buhl's card doesn't feature it, but the majority of the cards I do own have a scratch off portion which exposes a cartoon if rubbed with a coin.  I'm sure that the cards that are rubbed are considered a slightly lower grade, but for me that does not matter as well. 

I've dabbled in older sets in the past.  I started collecting the 1972 set, but as I gained more cards there was something lost on me.  I just didn't care for the set for some reason.  I could never put my finger on why, but none the less I got about 100 cards into the set and abandoned trying to finish the set (most have been traded away).

Lately, however, the '64 Topps set has become very interesting to me.  Maybe it's the simplicity of the design that has me interested.  I've done eBay searches for this set, and there is more out there than I thought there would be.  I also actually won a 4 card lot of '64T for a whopping 50 cents plus shipping on Sportlots this week. 

What's going to hinder me from completing this set?  The price tag of course.  There are 8 cards in the set listed in the magazine for $100+, including big names such as Koufax, Clemente, Rose (his 2nd year card), and the Mantle which in NRMT lists for $500.  Ouch.  Those will likely be the last 8 I pickup while trying to complete the set.  Those cards likely will be "well loved" condition.

Something else to look forward to while traveling along my collecting journey.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Oh O-Pee-Chee, I have not forgotten about you

Good Thursday evening to you all, we're getting closer and closer to the weekend.

Anybody who has read my blog regularly over the past few months knows the kind of extreme way I went about putting together the '09 OPC Baseball set.  One of my sportlots purchases last week was aimed at getting closer to finishing that set.

I managed to grab 26 cards off of my want list, with a great deal of them being posed shots.

Kerry Wood in the center lookin' all nasty with the goatee.

I kind of spoiled a good looking shot of Josh Hamilton in the next scan because I scanned him sideways.

Manny looks like he's stopping, but there's no base in sight!

Best of luck to you Captain Varitek on your future endeavors.

This purchase left me with only 21 cards to go to complete the set:

23,59,117,124,163,200,249,252,313,362,370,381,386,392,405,428,445,459,480,485,497

This has definitely been a fun set to build, and I could have continued to buy more and more packs to try and complete it without trading/buying.  I'm kind of glad I stopped at 185 packs though. 

Anyone out there maybe have the last few I need to finish this bad boy off?  Let me know by leaving a comment or sending an email to rmitchell6700 at yahoo .....

Thanks for reading, Robert