Card Show Pickup - 1949 Bowman Robin Roberts RC

So far, this has been a pretty decent card show,  I have sold some stuff that I had been lugging around for a while, which is always nice, and so far, I have only bought one card for myself.

I knocked a card off of my Top Ten Wishlist pretty easily today when I had gotten up to stretch my legs and saw that Mr. Dean from Dean's House of Cards (not to be confused with Deans Cards) had some albums of lower grade vintage at really good prices.

I immediately saw his 1949 Bowman Robin Roberts, and while it had a nice price, I didn't have enough cash on me (on purpose so I wouldn't spend a lot), but when Mr. Dean said "I'll give you a better price on that." I had to see what he had in mind.

The price he mentioned was JUST below what I had on me, and I figured that I should go ahead and take the deal, which would serve two purposes, I wouldn't spend anything else throughout the show (not a bad thing, mind you) and I wouldn't be tempted to get up and walk around.

So, I picked this Roberts RC up to add to the collection, and I am really pleased.  This is a rookie card of one of the more underrated Hall of Famers around.  He was said to have been the best pitcher that Virgil Trucks saw pitch, so that carries a lot of weight with me.  This is also a really cool-looking card.  I love 1949 Bowman, and have a couple of them now.  I have Trucks, of course, Bob Feller, Roberts and a couple others.  The rookies in this set are really reasonable, so I might look to grab a few more in the future.

Cards From Vacation

One of the things I enjoyed while I was on my vacation was that there were several card shops right near where we were staying in Michigan.  I visited two different shops (one of the shops, I visited twice) while on vacation and left them with a great many cards for my collection.

One of the shops had a box of really rough vintage cards that he hadn't gone through, yet, and I was working on a trade on Instagram for some 1954 Topps, so I offered to sort the box for the guy.  He had no problem with that, and I really enjoyed it.  I found some rough treasures, and had a good time chatting with some of the other patrons of the shop.

I found the above 1955 Bowman Ralph Kiner in the box.  It has seen better days and I almost put it back in the box, but part of me figured that no one would appreciate it the way I would, so I added it to my pile.  It pretty much became a throw-in in our overall deal, so I was glad I added it.

This 1953 Bowman Warren Spahn had also seen better days, but I love '53s, so I made sure to add it as well.  I have the Musial and Reese out of this set, and each card I see looks really awesome.  The 1953 set is one of the best-looking in all of the card sets out there in history, so anytime I can pick one up, I try to.

On that note, I saw this Nellie Fox 1953 Bowman and wasn't too interested, initially, but I figured that I really didn't have any of Fox's cards in my colection, and it, too, was a 1953 Bowman, so I added it to the pile as well.  Fox is one of those guys that you kind of forget is a Hall of Famer, but he is, and had passed away long before he was enshrined, so he was one of those guys who never got to enjoy being a Hall of Famer.

I had seen this Robin Roberts posted on other blogs before, but when I saw the opportunity to get this one for $2.50, I jumped all over it. Roberts is shown as a Yankee on this card, but he would never pitch a game for them.  He had been purchased by the Yankees from the Phillies in October of 1961, only to be released by the Yankees in May of 1962.  He was picked up by the Orioles on the same day and would have a bit of a career renaissance in Baltimore and was pivotal in adding veteran leadership to that young pitching staff.  He was released by the Orioles in July of 1965.  Had he been able to stick with the Orioles for one more year, he may have been able to collect his first World Series ring.  A World Series Championship was something that Roberts would be missing from his Hall of Fame resume.

Sometimes, when I look at vintage cards, I really enjoy seeing the old, obsolete teams and their jerseys.  I picked up this 1966 Topps Catfish Hunter for a steal.  I had my choice of this or a 1967, and I chose this one.  I felt that it showed off the uniform much better.  The current A's colors are correct, but seeing the KC hat just seems odd.  This is a great shot of the future Hall of Famer, and a 2nd-year card, no less.

Here's another with a cool retro uniform.  I took significant chunks out of my 1959 and 1969 sets while vising the shops as well.  I forgot to count how many from each set that I purchased, but I know I had more 1959s than 1969s and I got more big name 1959s as well.  Along with Hall of Famer, Schoendienst, I got Early Wynn, Louis Aparicio AS, Nellie Fox AS and a bunch of high numbers.

The biggest 1969 I got was this Pete Rose All Star for $12.00.  Not too bad.  I also ended up with a Lou Brock All Star card as well, and a few other base cards for the set out of a $1.00 box.

So, those are all of the cards I picked up while I was away.  I felt like I did very well.  I also did a really good job of keeping up with them as the trip went along.  I had brought along a Rubbermaid tote box and kept these with the cards I brought to show Dustin and Andrew.

Thanks for taking a look.  The next several posts will be about all of the mail I had received before I left and while I was gone.  Stay tuned, as the blog will be back of in full force again.  I hope you all missed me!

June 21, 2014 Raleigh Card Show Part 3 - 1959 Topps Pickups

The bulk of what I picked up at the show today was a great deal of set needs for my 1959 Topps set.  Check out this awesome Yogi Berra I got for $30.

In all, I got 19 cards for my 1959 set.  Most of them were in great shape.  This Robin Roberts, for $3, was the roughest of the bunch.

I got this Eddie Mathews for a steal at $15.  Not too bad, I think.

This Whitey Ford was probably the best looking of the bunch.  I got this one in a bulk deal, so I don't know what the individual cost of it was.  Much better than the $35 price tag, I assure you.

This Enos Slaughter isn't rough, but it sure is off center.  I had a Larry Doby that was just as bad and I ended up upgrading it.  I may do the same with this one, we'll see.

Hey, look, another Mazeroski.  He seems like he was a common pickup today.

I got a whole bunch of these group cards.  I already had quite a few of them, and I feel like I knocked out most of the remaining ones.

This Ashburn/Mays card might be the second roughest card in the bunch, but I got it dirt cheap and I'm ok with that.

This Podres/Labine/Drysdale was the last card I picked up before I headed for the door.  I had $4 left in my wallet and figured I might as well see what I can get for it.  I saw this card for $6 and offered the guy $4 and he took the offer.

I looked at a few of the team checklists today, but this was the only one I grabbed.  The back is unmarked and the card looks really cool.

The next two cards are more of the group cards, but the coloring on each really make them pop.  This Fox/Aparicio is a nice one of two Hall of Famers that I oftentimes forget about.

Stengel shows up in a few Topps regular issue sets quite a bit.  This one of him discussing baseball with the legendary Don Larsen is pretty cool.

Here we are with another old manager.  Billy Martin isn't in the Hall of Fame like the two guys I talked about in my previous post, but getting this card was really nice.  Especially since his early cards carry a little bit of a premium.  I honestly believe it is because of the name recognition in that he was the Yankees manager for a time (several times).

Finally, the sole semi-star RC that I picked up.  Johnny Callison was quite the second baseman in his day.  I had heard Brian Roberts (pre-injury) compared to him in the past.  I really like these RCs in 1959.

So, there you go, those are all of my set needs pickups from the card show.  My next post will be about my few vintage PC pickups.

Awesome Vintage Pickups From The Columbia Antique Shop

I love traveling to Columbia, SC.  The reason I go is to see my younger brother, Adam, who has lived in Columbia for something close to 7 years now.  We alternate trips, so the next time we see each other will be when he makes his way to my house.  Adam is always in step with what is going on concerning the local scene, always knowing which are the best restaurants, pubs and shops to check out while we are in town. This always makes our trips adventurous and never dull.

This time down marked the second time we went to the Rosewood Crawfish Festival.  Last time we went was 2012, missing 2013 due to one of Chris's baseball games.  Before the festival, however, I took a few hours to check out my other favorite thing about Columbia, the Chic Antiques shop at the Columbia Antique mall.

Usually, when I head to the antique shop, I pick up a few vintage set needs and a baseball or two.  This time, Conrad, the shop proprietor, didn't have any that I needed readily available.  So, along with the 70 1959 Topps cards I got for my set, I also picked up some amazing vintage cards, starting with the above 1952 Topps Bob Feller.

I had this Feller on my Top 10 wishlist and figured it would be fairly easily attainable.  Supposed book value is around $250 and I was able to get this card for $75.  Not bad at all.  I figured that this card took the place of whatever signed ball I would have picked up.  I haven't been afforded the luxury of having access to too many 1952 Topps cards, but while looking at this card, and one you'll see below, I can see why there is such a draw to them.  They are very sharp cards and I really want to pick up a few more.

I have been wanting a 1953 Topps Roy Campanella for quite some time now.  This one has a bit of paper loss on the top and bottom, but the coloring and artwork look great.  For $40, I think I got a steal and am really happy with it.  I definitely want to pick up some more Campanella cards sometime in the future, and this one is a very good start for me.

One of the more underrated Hall of Fame pitchers of all-time is the man above, Phillies ace, Robin Roberts. I thought I was done when I decided to purchase the Bob Feller, but when Conrad told me I was getting a "friends and family" discount on the cards, I decided to add this one to my stack.  This card is also very sharp-looking.  The colors are bold and the portrait of Roberts looks great.  He and Feller, both, are players that I wish I could have met.

Finally, as a bit of a surprise to myself, I remembered to ask Conrad if he had any 1948 Bowman.  I keep forgetting that I am working on this set, mainly because the cards themselves are sort of "unremarkable."  I'm one who really enjoys the bold colors or a sleek design (I know, wave something shiny in front of me and I'm easily distracted).  However, this 1948 set has been a lot of fun to build over the years.  Before this weekend, I had 24 of the 48 cards in the set.  Mathematically, I had half of the set completed already, but having 5 of the 6 major cards (Musial, Feller, Kiner, Spahn and Berra rookies; missing Rizzuto) really puts me well over halfway toward my goal.

So, including the above Snuffy Stirnweiss, I picked up 5 cards I needed for my set.  That means I have 29 of the possible 48 cards, or 60% of the set.  I bet I will have this set wrapped up before too long.  I don't know if I will attempt another Bowman set at this moment, but you never know.  If I can knock out the '48 set, I know that will be a huge feather in my cap, though.

That being said, I really enjoyed my weekend with my brother.  Not only did I get to see him, I also got to hang out with my older brother, Philip, my younger brother, Andy, and Andy's lady-friend, Camryn.  We all had a great time eating crawfish and having a few beers.  I can't wait til the next time I can make the trip down to see Adam, probably sometime in July.

Trade With Nick

I completed a trade with Nick from Baseball Dime Box when my package arrived yesterday.  He sent me some really nice Hall of Famer cards and a few Orioles in exchange for some 2012 Topps inserts he needed for various sets.

 I really like Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts.  Any year of it.  Really.  It might be a set that I miss the most, well that and Masterpieces and Sweet Spot Classic.  This Jim Bottomley card is really sharp.  Bottomley is one of those Hall of Famers that I'm going to have to take a closer look at later on, but in a nutshell, he was the 1928 NL MVP and retired after 16 seasons with 2,313 hits, 219 home runs and a .310 batting average.

 Donruss Threads was another set that always looked good and this Brooks Robinson is a prime example.  It is just a really colorful card.  I wouldn't mind picking up some more of these or maybe busting a box of them at some point.

 2007 Legendary Cuts also looked really good.  This Jim Palmer is a great card.  This is yet another set that I would love to bust a box of.  Maybe a future group break or something like that.

 I put a big Ebay order in the other day for as many of the 2011 variation cards of Nolan Reimold that I could find.  If I had waited one more day, I would have known that Nick had this 2011 Topps Gold Reimold available.  Oh well, now I will have 2 of them.  Once all the cards come in, I'll put up a bog of all the Reimolds that I picked up.  I'm waiting on 3 more to find their way to my mailbox.

 Speaking of collecting a player's inserts, I already have 3 different versions of Brian Matusz's 2012 Topps card.  His base, black and gold parallels.  Not too bad.

Finally, here is a 2003 Topps Gallery Robin Roberts.  Roberts, a former Oriole, might be one of the most underrated pitchers in the Hall of Fame.  His 286 wins are impressive enough, but when you factor in that many former players of his era (Virgil Trucks, for one) regard him as the best pitcher of that time.

Thanks for the awesome cards, Nick.  If any of you haven't had the chance to read Nick's blog, definitely follow him.  He has some of the most well written posts I have seen and I have quickly come to enjoy his blog.

Hall of Fame Baseball Ebay Success - Robin Roberts

I got this sweet PSA authenticated Robin Roberts signed baseball in the mail today. I got the ball for $37.00 with free shipping. Roberts is my 24th baseball signed by a Hall of Famer. Not too bad. I have a long ways to go, but I'm pretty happy with who I have so far. I'm still baffled at how cheaply I obtained this ball. Roberts is by far the cheapest Hall of Fame baseball I have ever seen, so I had to jump all over this ball when I saw it. I wish it was inscribed with his HOF year, but for what I paid, and that it is authenticated, I really have no room to complain.

I was listening to the Orioles game last week when they were in a rain delay in Kansas City. During the delay the Kansas City announcers interviewed Orioles Hall of Famer Jim Palmer. I never knew this, but Palmer was paired with Roberts during his (Palmer's) rookie season. Roberts became Palmer's mentor (and roommate) that season and was one of the people responsible for molding Palmer into the Hall of Famer that he became. I thought this was really cool to hear. Roberts was an awesome pitcher, for sure, so I'm very glad to have his autograph. I also just remembered that when I did my interview with Virgil Trucks, he remarked on how Roberts was one of the best pitchers he had ever seen pitch.

Hidden in my Collection - 1957 Topps Robin Roberts

Ah, 1957 Topps. What a set! This is arguably one of the most popular sets that Topps has ever produced. With rookie card of Don Drysdale, Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson (to name a few), this is a very high-end set. I absolutely love it. I picked up this card, along with several other '57s while at the card shop. A guy came in who wanted $20 bucks for his box of cards. He wasn't interested in making a lot of money, he was just wanting to get the shoe box out of his house. I love those days.
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I only have 2 Robin Roberts cards so far, this one, and a 1965 Topps that my litle brother bought me one day at the shop. Roberts was a horse, pitching from 1948 to 1966 for the Phillies, Orioles, Astros and Cubs. Roberts died this year at the age of 83. His autograph is still quite affordable on ebay, some as low as $50 authenticated. I fully intend on getting an autographed baseball of Roberts very soon. Its a shame that he's gone now, I have read that he was definitely one of the 'good guys' of baseball.