And...Done!

 It has been a year, hasn't it?   Two weeks ago, the final week in October mind you, we had an ice storm here. I lost so many branches.  I've spend a good part of the last two weeks cleaning up.  It wouldn't be so bad except that I was only about 75% done with the clean up from the July wind storm that took out 8 or so large oak trees.  Needless to say, I've spent a lot of time operating a chain saw. But, you aren't here for the "woe is me" stories.

Getting those TCMAs from Night Owl really got me excited about finishing that set.  A few eBay purchases and a visit to Sportlots and, with these Hank Aaron and Brooks Robinson cards, I am now done.

I knocked off most of the want list buying a large lot of these on eBay. I now have close to 250 duplicates for this set.  If anyone is interested, I will gladly pay them forward.  All I ask is you throw a few pesos my way for shipping.

I also have completed a couple of Twitter trades.  On the first, with a person who goes by the handle Baseball Card Kid, I was able to help him finish out his run of Thurman Munson cards and, in exchange, I got a Ken Griffey Dairy Isle disk. I already had the Islay's version, so it is pretty cool to have a variation. I also got this 1967 Phil Niekro.  This is my fifth card from that year, so I only have 604 to go.

The second trade was with Twitter user Lanny Ribes.  I was able help him with some vintage needs, including 4 cards from 1956 Topps and I got 7 cards from 1955 back.

With these cards I am down to only needing 23 cards to finish 1955 Topps.  Unfortunately, 10 of those are star cards, including the Roberto Clemente rookie card.  That card would be a really stretch under normal circumstances, but in this current price bubble I am pretty sure it is well outside my budget.  But, I am excited about getting closer to finishing the set.

There was a big card show in Dallas last weekend, but I decided not to go. I went last year and had a great time, but the COVID19 situation down here is getting worse. I am not sure how it is elsewhere, but in the Oklahoma/Texas area there is a big overlap between the card collecting community and the subset of citizens who think coronavirus falls somewhere in the range of "not serious" to "hoax." Reports were that the show was packed, so I am glad I didn't throw myself into that Petri dish. 

There is a show next weekend here in OKC, and I am on the fence about going. Obviously, the risks are the same that caused me to bail on Dallas. Though, being sandwiched between Dallas and Christmas it may very well be lightly attended. I'd like to see if I can pick up a '55 star card or two. I've got some KN95 masks, so maybe I'll throw one on and make a quick visit.  I'll need to see what the state's virus numbers look like over the remainder of the week.

What I am listening to: Wouldn't Want to Be Like You by Sheryl Crow and St. Vincent

Who Sent These? Who did!

 I use the Post Office's Informed Delivery feature to see what mail I have coming each day. I live in a rural area where mail theft can happen, so it is always good to know what to expect.  Truthfully, these days it is mostly insurance solicitations and credit card offers.  So, imagine my surprise and delight when I saw an envelope from Night Owl the other day.  

Greg and I have something of an unstated agreement.  Whenever I am at a show and down to the nits and lice in my pocket, I scan through the vintage discount boxes for cards on his want list. In response, I'll get an envelope from him with various cards that I would not otherwise seek out: modern cards of Yankee stars (like this Mo), modern cards featuring vintage players (like these), vintage cards (like these), and even help with my non-sports horse set (see here.)  Since, I generally eschew modern cards today, my online trading has mostly evaporated.  So, getting mail from NO is a major, and welcome, event.

So, what arrived?

Five cards towards my 1978 TCMA The 1960s set.  I really like this set, which harkens back to 1953 Bowman Color, with a simple design that really focuses on the player rather than extraneous design elements.

The cards was accompanied by a note saying that he was putting this set on the back burner because he has too many collecting interests.  That is a problem I also am suffering in my collecting, as evidenced by the fact that the last time I added a card towards completing this set was in December of 2015. Yikes.

But, these cards have rekindled my interest in finishing the set and, since the weather this weekend is ill-suited for the farm project I need to finish, I'm going to look for cheap lots on eBay to see if I can close this one out.

One final observation:  the backs of these cards are really something when you contrast them with the staid front.  Individually the backs are not untypical from any number of other oddball sets in that it includes the players name, team, position, handedness, height, weight, and birthday.   

But, taken together?  Hoo boy.  See for yourself:

They are all over the place. Different fonts. Different color ink.  Wonky spacing and centering.  I mean, really. Go home TCMA, you're drunk.

What I am listening to: Crawl Into the Promised Land by Rosanne Cash

Card Show Haul - Vintage Sets

The show ended up being quite fruitful with regard to working on vintage sets.  Two of the three main vintage sellers were there and I made a little progress on a lot of sets.

I managed to pick up 8 more cards towards my 1979 set; leaving me 17 to go to completion.

I managed to find this 1978 TCMA The 60s Sandy Koufax in a dollar box.  I have a good deal of the 293 card set, with about 40 to go to completion.  This set, and other 1970s TCMA and SSPC sets, are what I intend to work on during the long dry spells in the quest to finish pre-1973 Topps sets.

I found 3 1975 Topps cards, leaving me only 6 to go to complete the set.  The Munson however, is not one of the three.  The scanning process doesn't make it obvious. but it is actually a mini. I don't really intend to ever collect the 1975 minis, but how could I pass up acquiring the card of one of the Yankee's iconic players for a mere buck?

I found five more 1961 Fleer cards leaving me 6 to go to completion.  The Ross Young is one of the more expensive cards in the set with a book value of $40.  Why? I'm not sure, but the best explanation is that it is the last card in the set, and like the 1952 Topps Andy Pafko, it is hard to find in good condition because of damage from the rubber bands that held stacks of cards together back in the day.  Alas, two of the remaining cards I need are Babe Ruth and Ted Williams, which both come in at a $120 book value.  I'm hoping to find both for under $30, so it will probably be a long search.

I picked up four more cards from 1961 Golden Press, leaving me 12 to go. It is just a small 33 card set that, as I understand it, came together as pages in a book; explaining the perforation chads along the edges.

I picked up this 1956 Al Kaline for $5.  I am not sure why the seller (who tends to price high) had it for such a low price.  It appears to be a little off color, but the discoloration is uniform and the card has great eye appeal.  The seller had a large number of 1956 cards with him and I could have made significant progress on my set.  Except I managed to leave my 1956 want list at home. However, that didn't turn out to be a major issue.

Since I couldn't work on my 1956 set, I decided to have the seller put together a 1972 starter set for me.   I now have about 235 cards towards the 787 card set.  Among the cards he pulled for me are the 4 cards above, which includes the infamous Billy Martin card. (If you don't know why it is infamous, please look closely at his hand.)  This set will undoubtedly be a long haul to completion, with over 260 high number cards.  I expect that it will take a minimum of two years, since I'll only be able to get small groups of high numbers at a time....when I can find them.

So, that was the bulk of my card show finds. I did get one card towards a player collection, but will save that for a PC specific post.

May Card Show Haul

I went up to the monthly mini-show at Al's Sports Cards in Edmond today. I wasn't going to buy, but rather to check in on Bill, the seller from Wichita, who has been having some health issues.  He is doing good and we made tenative plans to get together for lunch while he is in OKC for treatment.   I took a quick look around and saw that one dealer, who usually has decent vintage selection had a "15 for $1.00" box. I thought I'd take a quick look. I am glad I did.  It was, for the most part, modern cards (1990s to present) that he probably took in as part of a purchase of more valuable cards.  But, I did find something that interested me.

This is card #1 of the 296 card (including variations) TCMA The 1960's set, printed in 1978.  But, I found more than just Smokey Burgess here.  Indeed, I ended up getting 255 cards from the set for a grand total of $15. They are all in NRMT/MT condition, which is pretty cool considering they are 35 years old.

I didn't sort through them at the show. I just took the whole bunch, figuring that I could probably find a home for any duplicates. However, I was quite pleased to find, when I got home, that I had 255 unique cards.  Not a single duplicate. Not surprisingly, they are all commons, the likely detritus of a set being broken up to separate out the star cards.

I really like these cards. They have something of a 1953 Bowman feel on the front.  And appreciate the fact that it is not an expensive set to build.  I put up a want list for the 41 remaining cards I need over there in the right sidebar. Take a look and let me know if you have any for trade. In the mean time, things will be quiet around here. Some sizeable surprise expenses leaves me a little light for a while.  I am skipping the bigger OKC show next weekend and am not sure how hard I will push to finish my 1971 set, even though I am down to needing two cards.  So,  in order to keep my vast readership interested, I may have to do a deeper look at this set in the weeks ahead.