Sunday Edition

Vintage Binge Buying

The last few weeks I've been more active than usual on eBay buying up a lot of low grade vintage cards.  For the most part, they've been in the 79¢ to $5.00 range with the three cards above being notable exceptions.  The 1973 Dwight Evans was the last major hurdle I had to clear before marking that set complete.  I thought I had completed it, until I actually started flipping through the pages of my binder and discovered I'm still three cards short (I guess some sellers shorted me along the way somewhere), needing #595 Don Gullett, #640 Dick Bosman, and #647 George Stone, none of whom figure to break the bank.

The 1971 Clemente was the highest price card I still needed complete the '71 set, but there still 60+ cards I need, and and they include the likes of Richie Allen and Willie Mays, which figure to run me more than the Dick Boseman's and Don Gullett's of the world.

The 1987 Fleer Jordan represents the most I've spent on a card in about five years.  It set me back around as much as my monthly home wifi bill, but it still stings to pay that much for what I consider to be a modern card and not all that scarce.  But in any event, I'm now very close to finishing that set as well. 

The '51 Bowman Robin Roberts is the highlight of the above bunch of early 50's cards.  The '53 Ted Kluzewski inches me a little closer to finishing the '53 set, with 21 cards remaining.

The Berra probably could of been at the top of this page, as I dropped more than $5 on it, but I grouped it here with these '55 Bowman as it still cost less than a blaster box (or at least what I remember them costing years ago when they still showed up on store shelves).  Without looking I believe the '55 Bowman Nellie Fox is a rookie as I don't think he showed in a Topps set until '56, but I could be wrong.  The Minnie Minoso is a card I've been targeting for a few months after seeing it randomly.  I just think it's a great looking card.

None these names likely jump out to most younger collectors (though Ken Boyer was a 6x All-Star and 1964 NL MVP), but I still like them.  Anytime I can land '55 or '56 Topps for less than a pack of cards, I grab them up.

The '59 Whitey has seen better days, but I swear I like my vintage better when it shows it's age.  Gives it a more "authentic" feel.  Mike Garcia is one of those great players who unfortunately seems doomed to be lost to history.

 

Sometimes I start bidding on eBay faster than my list can keep up and the result is sometimes two 1957 Hank Bauers.  Thats a mistake I can live with.

The Curt Flood rookie is one I've wanted for years and finally landed one in my price range.  As an attorney, that's the type of card I can display in my office and still feel "professional."  The red/blue Topps All-Star cards were great in 1958, great in 1988, and today's collectors are being deprived of a great tradition by Topps with their omission from modern sets.

 
Ed Mathews found his way into my cart twice.  Unlike the Bauer above, I knew I was bidding on two, my bids were just so low I didn't think I'd possibly win either one, let alone both.  One is the grey card stock, so in the unlikely event I ever start to care about that sort of thing, I'll be ahead of the game at least in this one instance.

1961 proving again that the red/blue combo works, even for MVP subsets.  

For the most part my collecting of sets from 1954-69 is completely scatter shot.  However I have been specifically targeting the Babe Ruth subset in 1962 Topps.  I'm about half way done with it. 

The '64 Stargell is the showcase card for me here, even with the crease.  In a case extreme "Mandela Effect" for me, I would have sworn that card had the Rookie Cup Trophy on it, but I guess not.  The Rose is actually my second copy, but it fell through the eBay cracks and I stole a second copy for the price of a Coors Light and tip at Buffalo Wild Wings.  The '66 Ed Mathews endured some tough love at some point in it's existence.

I think that's a Bill Freehan rookie.  As far as catcher's who aren't in the Hall of Fame go, but won five Gold Gloves and made eleven All-Star teams, Freehan is on the short list for one of the best (probably the only one).

 

Clemente wasn't the only '71 I picked up.  These guys push me a little closer to completing the set.

I finally have a Davey Lopes rookie and nothing about that sucks.

Finally a trio of non-baseball additions.  The Larry Bird completes the 1988-89 Fleer set for me.  The Moon is actually a duplicate, but I'm fine with that.  

Thanks for reading.