Sunday Edition

Vintage Additions

About two weeks ago 2022 Topps finally showed up in my local Target.  I bought two packs, enjoyed opening them, and feel like I have my fix for the year.  I'll go ahead and pick up a factory set in August and try it again in 2023.  I'm just enjoying vintage too much to spend time sifting through a million goofy inserts, being at the mercy of store shelve supplies, and amassing countless duplicates trying to build the first series of 2022 Topps by hand.  

This batch of vintage represents the last two weeks of my eBay hunting.  The three 1953 Topps above are the biggest hauls of this group.  I'm just 16 cards away from finishing the set.  Granted, one of those cards is Willie Mays, so I may not be finishing it anytime soon, but other than Mays, Warren Spahn is the only other HOF'er I still need.  Johnny Podres and Jim Gilliam also figure to be painful shots to the wallet.

I'm not actively building the '55 set, but I've been amassing a good number of them recently.  The trio of high dollar rookies in the set are doing a pretty good job of scaring me away from the prospect of trying to build it, but I haven't ruled out the idea.  I'm going to need something to do once I decide being one card short of completing '53 is good enough.  Might as well try to get 3 cards short of finishing the '55 set.

The Kaline is similar to a '56 Killebrew I recently picked up.  A second year card of a great slugger in spectacularly rough shape.  I can't enough of cards like this.

(The '56 Killebrew from a few weeks ago)

A trio of somewhat random cards.  The Red Rolfe is of the 1935 variety of Diamond Stars.  Determining whether a Diamond Star is from 1934, '35, or '36 is not as easy a task as it should be.  It's my second card from the set, and I don't expect to have a third anytime soon.  Though I do really like them.  The best part of the Warren Giles is the back of the card.  Picking up the AL president just became more of a priority as I'd like to display the backs of them side by side with all the logos.

The Spahn and Aparicio are both duplicates, but when the price is right on HOF'ers from this era, I'm okay with doubles.  The Aparicio is actually a fourth copy for me.  I beginning to suspect collectors don't realize he and Robin Roberts are in the Hall of Fame, because I routinely pick up their cards for the price of commons.  The Spahn is actually a significant improvement over my first copy (condition wise) if you can believe it.

That Banks replaces a 1962 Topps as my oldest Ernie Banks card.  The '60 Aparicio is more proof of the disrespect shown to him by collector's given my paltry winning bid.

Another Ernie Banks, this time a '71, in less than "gem mint" (whatever the hell that means) condition to show off.  This was probably the priciest card left in my 1971 Topps build.  I still need Richie Allen who is now definitely the highest dollar card remaining of the 25 or so cards I still need (and he may have been before the addition of Ernie B).  

Given the price of cards currently, it's unusual for me to pick up a card for cheaper now than I could have in 1987, but trust me, no one was going to pick up a 1977 Dale Murphy for $4 in 1987, which is the price I paid for this one.

Finally a trio of non-baseball additions.  Isiah Thomas leaves me 8 cards short of the 1987-88 Fleer Basketball set.  I've wanted a Gretzky rookie for about 30+ years, and will likely continue to want one for the foreseeable future.  In the meantime, this 1980-81 second year card feels like a decent silver medal that I can live with.