One Off

I finally broke my hobby drought. After nearly 8 months of not adding a single card to my collection, I just bought what will be the 74th card in my signed 1961 Fleer project.  It isn't a particularly noteworthy player particularly considering that I have 14 Hall of Fame players among the 20 players I need to get through before I arrive at number 74.  But it is a significant addition in that the player in question, Hippo Vaughn, died in 1966 and the version I bought is the only one I have ever seen available. I am aware of a second copy in a friend's collection.  But that is it. I am sure there are more out there but given the short time between release and his passing, there probably aren't that many. The price was actually fairly reasonable but high enough that I am going to go back into hobby hibernation until after the holiday season.

Anyone who has read my blog for a while (and there may be as many as a dozen of you) know that I live just outside of Oklahoma City and my wife and I are fans of the OKC Thunder. We have a quarter season (10 game) package.  We generally make it to 8 or 9 regular season games each year.  The nice thing about the package is that we get a crack at playoff tickets for the early rounds before they go on sale to the general public.  So, this year after the Thunder romped through the regular season, we decided to attend one game per round.  We had to buy tickets for the Western Conference Finals at the same time as the general public but were able to snag a pair. 

The NBA Finals were a different story. The worst tickets, and I am talking about horrible no-good seats straight behind the basket and the last row of the upper bowl were over $700 each. There is no way we were going to pay that. So, we watched at home as the Thunder became NBA champions.

Not long afterward, we started getting solicitations for NBA Champions memorabilia.  One was for Panini Instant mini sets of cards.  I ended up buying three: one for opening, one for saving, and one to send to a friend.  And that is the subject of this post.  Talk about burying the lede. It took a while to get here. 

I had bought a new high speed scanner in order to digitize a lifetime of family photos.  It scans cards without damaging them, but it doesn't do a very good job scanning cards.  It works as intended, but it automatically crops images to the edges. That is fine for photographs, but not for cards where it doesn't really show the edges and corners. And you know how us card collectors like our edges and corners.

That said, these cards do nothing to change my general disinterest in modern card offerings.  The front design is fine though not particularly attractive.  And the back is completely uninspired.

There was a total of 30 cards in the set.  I won't show them all, but I will show my favorite players.

Lu Dort is my favorite player and my favorite type of player. He is one of the best defensive players in the league and draws all the toughest assignments.  Lebron James?  Put Dort on him. Giannis Antetokounmpo? Put Dort on him. He can run hot and cold on the offensive side of the court. But his defense is always on point.

Alex Caruso actually started his pro career with the Thunder's G League affiliate before moving up to the NBA with the Lakers and Bulls.  He is another defensive standout.  But his value is that he is one of those players that just brings energy to the game.

A veteran presence, Kenrich Williams is the second team anchor. He knows his job and he goes in and does it. No drama.  Just a solid player.

Ajay was a rookie last season and played will though his season was hampered by injury. He has been getting significant playing time this season in the absence of Jalen Williams (J-Dub) who is still recovering from an off-season wrist surgery. He has been playing well with the opportunity.

Just a nice shot of Chet Holmgrem from Game 7.

I'll be back next with another signed 1961 Fleer card of a Hall of Fame player.  It probably won't be until after Thanksgiving since we are going back to visit family. It has been years since we have traveled for the holidays, but the stars aligned and we were able to arrange boarding for our dogs and a farm sitter to take care of our horses.  So, to all of you, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

What I am listening to: Inamorata by Metallica