One Step Closer to Completion

My Johnny Antonelli player collection is getting closer to completion.  For a certain definition of completion.  There are only four of what I consider major issue cards that I don't have.  With this pickup, there are only three:

What are the other three: 1960 Bazooka and 1961 Post, the latter of which has two versions: one with Antonelli as a Giant and another with him as an Indian. Certainly, there are a number of rare regional/team issues or limited run modern cards out there that I don't (and probably never will) have.  So, once I have the Bazooka and Posts, I'm going to consider this collection closed and any further additions will be gravy.

First New PC Addition

As I had mentioned earlier, I have started a new player collection (or more accurately, two player collections) of the Waner brothers, Paul and Lloyd. Since then, however, I haven't done much.  I've bid on a few EBay auctions, but never won. Until I got this card:

I am always leery of buying autographs off of EBay, but I compared this PSA certified autographs and it looks good to me.  So, I took a flyer on bidding and got it for under $17 delivered.  Once I won the auction I had a realization that Paul Waner is also in the Hall of Fame and probably has one of these post cards as well. I haven't gotten one yet, but will shortly. I don't expect to get a signed version. I have not researched these postcards history, but I wouldn't expect to find a signed Paul Waner as he passed away in 1965.

Having thought about having player collections for brothers who are both in the Hall of Fame, I realized that I need to set out some rules for how I am going to do this.  Three rules to be precise:

1. Where both Waners appear in the same set, try to get both at the same time.  This will make tracking progress and identifying cards I need (without continually consulting a want list 500 cards long) easier.  This will probably not be practical for vintage cards as they will probably be expensive and getting both at the same time would likely blow my budget. In those cases, I will try to focus on finding the second quickly after acquiring the first.
2. There are numerous cards on which both brothers appear.  For these cards, I am not going to get two copies, one for each collection. Rather, I am going to maintain a section of the binder for "Waner Brothers."
3. Speaking of vintage, I had to make a decision on condition.  I am normally condition sensitive, but in this case, with numerous cards from the 1920s through 1940s, I am going to relax because I would never be able to afford them in EX or better condition. I am going to look for cards with nice eye appeal, border all the way around where applicable, and no obvious creases that extend through the entire card.  Round corners, surface creases, and some paper loss on the back are just fine.

So there we go. Now I need to go find that Paul Waner HOF card/

New Player Collections

I am primarily a set builder, but I am getting to the point where that is going to be a struggle.  I have three sets underway right now: 1956, 1975, and 1979 Topps.  The latter two are the final vintage sets I intend to collect that were issued in a single series.  Everything I do from here on out will involve multiple series. Which means I can look forward to scarcity and, consequently, high prices and long waits.

I need something to keep me active in the hobby in those long dry spells that set builders face.  I could go after some oddball sets, like the 1970s SSPC and TCMA sets, but as much as I like those sets, they aren't catching my interest at the moment.  My two player collections, Paul Blair and Johnny Antonelli are far enough along that I only add a few cards a year to either (and maybe not even that going forward.)

What to do? What to do?

Well, I decided to start another player collection. Actually, two player collection.  As a non-native, but proud, Oklahoman I have toyed with the idea of PCs of famous Oklahoman ballplayers not named Mantle.  Three candidates have come to mind: Lloyd and Paul Waner along with Allie Reynolds.   All three offer the benefit of a mixture of both vintage and modern cards to collect, but I thought 3 would be too much to take on.  So, I am going to focus on the Waner brothers for now, since their cards seem to travel in pairs.

So far, I have compiled what I think is a fairly comprehensive list of cards issued of Lloyd Waner, which total 239 cards.  The breakdown by decades is as follows:

• 1920s - 13
• 1930s - 37
• 1940s - 3
• 1950s - 2
• 1960s - 3
• 1970s - 13
• 1980s - 21
• 1990s - 14
• 2000s - 36
• 2010s - 97

These cards are also a mix of brand names and oddball sets, so it should be fun. I am still compiling the Paul Waner list. I expect it to be fairly similar although I expect less of the cut-auto cards since Paul died in 1965 while Lloyd carried on until 1982.

Anyways, enough said.  Here is the start of my collection: those Waner cards that were extant in my collection:

Stay tuned.

Fleer Autograph Project - Part 45

I got nothing to say here.  Haven't located my cheat sheet saying what I wrote to the players about and I am tired after a long night last night keeping my eye on the Oklahoma weather. Sorry.

Card Show Haul

Last weekend, I went to my first card show in a while.  The OKC show that was generally held every other month had disappeared since last fall, but was recently started up again with a new promoter.  I didn't have a lot of time at my disposal as the farrier was out in the morning and I was going to see the OKC Dodgers play in the evening.   So, no discount boxes or aimlessly wandering to see what was around.  I went straight to to the two sellers I knew had the type of cards I was looking for.

One had a huge box of late 1970s cards, so I sat down and started working through the 1979s. I had previously bought an 800 count box of 1979s, but the duplication was so bad that I only ended up with about 200 unique cards.  This box, though, seemed better. I started going through it and it seemed to have less duplication. So, in the interest of time, I made an offer on the entire lot of 1979s (about 800 cards), and he accepted. 

So, how did it turn out?  There still was a lot of duplication, and my hope of completing the common portion of the set was dashed.  As it stands, after this box, I have 513 out of the 726 cards in the set. Quite a ways to go. Alas, now I probably have over 1000 duplicates to deal with.

The second seller had a binder with about 70 1956 commons in it. I went through it and needed over half of them for my '56 set.  We talked a bit about it and his offer was more than I cared to spend. I told him I wouldn't insult him by offering what I could afford. However, he got the number out of me (a bit over $2 per card) and, surprisingly, took it.

I am pleased to report that, with this pickup, I finally crossed the halfway point on the 1956 set. In fact, I am just about to the 60% complete level, having 203 out of the 340 cards. 

While I prefer to spend my time at a card show, as it is supposed to be leisure time, I am rather pleased with my productivity in the face of time constraints.

Coming Off-Hiatus

A number of weeks back I was contacted out of the blue by Tony over at Off-Hiatus Baseball Cards asking if my want lists over there on the right sidebar are up to date. Even though I am an infrequent blogger, I do keep those want lists up to date.  As it was, Tony had 4 of the 8 cards I needed to complete my 1991 Kellogg's Sportflics set.

I really have a soft spot for these 3D cards.  They are, for the most part, ugly as sin. But, they do have a certain charm.  I have considered that it would be fun to collect the entire run of Kellogg's 3D cards.  However, I have too many open projects at the moment, so I am going to resist taking that on. 

Anyways, thank you, Tony!  I found a little something to send back to you.  The envelope will be thin, but I think you will like the contents. I will try to get it mailed out this weekend.