December Card Show - Splurging

Having met my goals for the show, and having the pleasant surprise of making some progress on a couple other sets, I still had most of my funds left.  I could have left a happy man, but as you have probably surmised by now, I didn't. I mean I did leave happy, but not right away.  Thus, this third post.

I decided to take a look at another discount box and for a Jackson took a chance on a couple of autographed cards. 

This card looks better in person than it does in the scan.  At some point in the next few years (probably 2014), I'll start on the 1972 set. I figured why not have at least one autographed card in it.

This is a 1992 Sporting News Conlon collection card presumably signed by Marty Marion. I have to admit some reservations about this card now.  The signature doesn't look like other Marty Marion autographs you can see on the internet. This one is far less intricate and Marion normally dotted the "i" in his last name with a small circle rather than a dot. I have a hard time thinking someone would take the effort to fake the signagture of a minor star from the 1940s and it may be that the paint pen used to sign this card was too wide for him to sign his normal signature.  But, I have to admit that my concerns are enough to steal away a bit of the joy I initially felt at finding this card.

Moving on, I stopped by Bill Spillman's table to see what he might have had. He had just sold a 1975 Topps starter set of a little less than 200 cards to someone for $20.  I would have been all over that, given the chance. He had someone thinking over the purchase of a 1958 Ted Williams for $150.   He offered me the back-up position if the other person decided to pass.But, it was more money than I had left to spend, so I turned him down. But, good golly, it was in EX/EX+ shape and awfully tempting.

I did manage to get a couple of smoking deals from Bill, though.

A 1959 Stan Musial!  I am a little torn about one thing though.  Not the card itself.  As you probably know, Stan Musial is still alive.  He has a place where you can send in items for autographs. I am sorely tempted to send this card in, but at $125 for an auto it would put me on a collecting hiatus for about a month. I am struggling with what to do.  Can I go a month without scratching the collecting itch in exchange for an autographed playing-days card of one of the games legends?

I also got this from Bill:

1954 Topps Jackie Robinson. This may very well be one of my favorite pickups of the year.  As you can see there are some color issues with this, but is otherwise in stellar condition for a card that is nearly 60 years old.

It is cards like that affirm my decision to forgo collecting modern sets.  Spending several C notes a year on flagship and Heritage just doesn't compare to holding history like this in your hands. You can keep your Bryce Harpers (or whomever is the current Flavor of the Month.)  This is what I really enjoy about the hobby.

And that brings the card show posts to an end. We will now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.