Favorite Cards of 2012 #12 - My only 1/1

The most short printed card I ever pulled from a pack was a 3/5 Carlos Santana that I got from a box of 2009 Obak and traded that off to Plaschke, so I didn't really have any super exclusive cards in my collection until March of this year.

I had made dayf a "custom card" based on the 1976 Big League Brothers insert and, in return, I got back a bunch of Heritage and 1976 Topps cards, plus the 1/1 you see above.

This card seems to see ponies through the eyes of an 8 year old girl. As many of you know, my wife and I have a small horse farm and even have two fer-realzy ponies.   And trust me, folks, the realities of ponies are not quite so sparkly.  It isn't all pink jodhpurs and glittery bridles.  The etymology of the phrase "there must be a pony in there somewhere" is grounded in a dirty reality.

But, this is still on my list of favorite cards of 2012 because dayf took the time to conceive and execute it with me in mind.  Topps can never top that.

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.

December Card Show - Miscellaneous Pickups

With my goals satisfied quickly, I decided to see what else was out there that might catch my fancy.

A couple weeks ago, with the completion of the 1969 Deckle Edge insert set within sight, I picked up a few of the 1968 game card inserts.  Yesterday, with the Deckle set complete, I picked up around a dozen more of the '68 game cards for around 50 cents each.

This puts me at about half done with this small set.  Of course, I have all the big names to go (Aaron, Mays, Clemente, Mantle.)  So, I'll probably make finishing one of my 2013 goals.  I also spent some time pawing through a few discount boxes.

And managed to actually find one Obak card from my want list in a dollar box.  This is the T212 mini of Ryne Sandberg (as an Oklahoma City 89er!) from the 2009 set.

Can you believe this?  A 1962 card of a Hall of Famer for a dollar? It isn't in super shape, but it is in far better shape than I would expect for a dollar box find.

Finally, the first new addition to one of my two player collections in quite a while.  A 1947-1966 Exhibit card of Johnny Antonelli that set me back about $5.  There are actually two Antonelli Exhibit cards. This one, where he is with the Braves and another with him as a member of the Giants.

So,  I had managed to hit my three show goals and managed to make a little progress on a couple of other sets that weren't on my radar for the day.  Best of all, I still had some green left in my pocket.

Card Show Goals Achieved

I had three goals for the show today and managed to achieve each one, although the level of achievement varied. My first goal was to complete my 1969 Deckle Edge set. I was fairly confident of getting this done because I knew a dealer out of Wichita had them. And, indeed, I did finish the set.

As I mentioned, I don't have the Joe Foy and Jim Wynn short print variations, but I am not particularly worried about that. I will get them at some point. But, with 33 filled pockets for a 33 card set, I am going to call it good.

I also wanted to add a few cards to my 1960 and 1961 Fleer sets.

I found two 1961s I needed. I am still a long way from finishing the set.  So, finding two was pretty much the lowest level of achievement on that goal. A solid C-.

I also wanted to make some progress on my 1971 set that I have been working on for nearly a year and a half. Unfortunately, Roger Neufeldt wasn't at the show today due to a family commitment, so I was only able to find four 1971 high numbers I needed from a seller out of Lawton.

But, among the four were two Hall of Famers.  Or six Hall of Famers if you consider the fact that Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Gaylord Perry, and Juan Marichal are probably on that Giants team card.  So, I was able to knock off about 10% of the remaining cards I needed. I am down to 36 to finish the set.

So, all this only cost me around $25 total. I could have called it good and been reasonably happy with the cards I got. But I found a few cards I needed for other sets I am working on.  And, of course, I weakened and bought a couple nice cards that were priced to move. But, more on that in the days to come.

Decision Time

I have mentioned before that there appears to be a malaise infecting the card collecting blog-o-sphere recently that cannot fully be explained by the off-season.  A few bloggers have stated they intend to stop collecting modern products and focus on vintage. I have been toying with the same change in my collecting focus, as well.

When I started collecting in earnest at the beginning of 2011, I was buying every new product that came out.  I didn't collect it all, but I did work on putting together flagship, Heritage, and Lineage. I did this at the same time as I was working on vintage sets.  But, as 2012 started, I decided to narrow my focus to vintage sets or modern sets with vintage vibes.  However, as 2012 draws to a close, I find that while I still love Tristar Obak and 2004 Greats of the Game, I have lost interest in Heritage.

So, sometime after the first of the year, all my Heritage is going up on EBay.  I only need 9 cards to finish 2011, so I may finish that, as I expect the cost of the remaining cards will be more than made back by selling a complete set.  2001, 2002, and 2012 will be sold, though, as partial sets.  My box of Heritage duplicates will likely be sold "as is." Sometime after that, I'll need to figure out to do with the shoeboxes of various cards from sets I didn't collect, ranging from the junk wax era through 2011.

Following the lead of better bloggers, I am going to focus on vintage from here on out.  If another lovably quirky set like Obak comes out, I may make a run at it. But, barring that, I am done with modern cards.

Now that I have that off my chest, I can turn my attention to another matter.  That of the bi-monthly OKC card show this weekend.  My wife got a year end bonus at work, and with our Christmas shopping mostly done, we have a little latitude for some spending. I am not going to take all that much with me, since I have several farm projects staring at me at the beginning of 2013, but I am going to go and see if I can tackle a few modest goals:

1. Finish the 1969 Topps Deckle Edge insert set. While I actually need five cards to complete the master set, two of them are short print variations (11B Jim Wynn and 22B Joe Foy.)  So, while I will chase them in the future, I am going to consider the set complete with the other three (Rose, Gibson, McCovey.)


2. Add a few more cards to my 1960 and 1961 Fleer sets.


3. Try and get a few more cards towards my 1971 Topps set. I am 40 cards from completion, but they are all high numbers. My hope is that Roger Neufeldt, of Sports Memories of Oklahoma, will be there, since he hasn't been at a local show since June. If he is, I'd like to knock off about a quarter to a third of the remaining cards out of the way (or, alternately, just get the Dusty Baker/Don Baylor rookie card.)  If he isn't there, I'll just pocket my money and use it at COMC or a similar online seller for some 1971s, or snag a couple autographed 1963 Fleers off of EBay.

Fairly modest goals, but it just doesn't feel like a time for extravagance.

The 1963 Fleer Auto Project - Part 12

This EBay purchase arrived in the mail today.

I am pleased to get this card for the reasonable price of $14 including shipping. It is in pretty good shape. The corners are a little soft and there is some very faint staining on the bottom, but it looks fantastic in the binder. That is all that matters.

Do Not Want

Now if the Yankees sign A.J. Pierzynski, my 2013 season will be completely ruined.  It is bad enough that the Yankees are stuck getting little commensurate return out of their contracts with A-Rod and Mark Tiexiera.  But, I am really getting annoyed with their tendency to fill out the roster with over-the-hill once-stars.  Granted, I like the Ichiro signing. But, beyond that, I am not sure they got much return from such scrap heap picks.  I may rant more about the Yankees in the future, but for right now I am just going to sulk.

WAIT! THIS JUST IN!  YOUKILIS HAS RESPONDED TO ME!

Need I say more? We're going to give this yutz the equivalent of over 20% of the Oakland A's payroll?