Christmas Gift From Nate - 1969 Topps Set Needs

My buddy, Nate, sent me a few 1969 cards for my set over the course of a couple weeks.  Apparently, he ordered a few and had them all shipped to me directly.  They were some pretty notable cards, starting with the above Denny McLain.

He also picked up two of the World Series Highlights cards and the Charlie Smith card on the right.

Nate has done more this year in helping me with this set than I have.  I really haven't done a whole lot, and I really want to close it out sometime soon and concentrate on other sets.  I just haven't had the time to sit down and search for some of the missing cards.  Maybe at the 2018 National.  Who knows.

Thank you so much for the cards, Nate!  I appreciate it, and they are about to be filed away into my set box.

TTM Success - Al Kaline

Lately, I have been working to add some really big cards and names to my autograph album.  It has been a slow process, since a lot of them charge money, but I have been able to get a few.  This success from Hall of Famer, Al Kaline is one of the bigger TTM successes that I have been able to get.

The above 1960 Topps has been in my collection for a long time.  I can't remember how or when I got it, but it was in my vintage box of stars for several years.  Probably back when I first got back into collecting, really.  I don't think I will get to the 1960 set anytime soon, so I went ahead and worked on getting this one signed.

A long, long time ago, I bought a 1963 Topps Kaline as a gift for my friend, Max (not the one in Chicago, the other Max), and thought to myself that the 1963 may be Kaline's best card.  When I decided I wanted to send to him TTM, I went on Ebay and picked a 1963 up so I could send it as well.

Both cards came back looking great, and I am happy that I sent them off.

Kaline (b. 1934) played in the majors from 1953 to 1974 for the Tigers.  He had 3,007 hits, 399 home runs and a .297 batting average.  He was an 18-time All Star and 10-time Gold Glove Award winner.  He never won an MVP award, but his best finish was 2nd, which he accomplished twice (1955 and 1963).  He was the 1955 AL Batting  Champion and won the World Series in 1968.

Kaline was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980, his first time on the ballot.  He garnered 88.3% of the vote.

I mailed to Kaline on November 3 and got the cards back on November 13, for a 10-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $10/card.

Card Show Pickup - 1954 Topps Al Kaline RC

I believe I have started my collecting in 2016 off with a bang.  Last week, I got three Hall of Fame signed baseballs for my collection.  This week, I knocked a card off of my Top Ten Wishlist, the 1954 Topps Al Kaline rookie card.

This card has been on my wishlist for a long time, ever since a former friend of mine picked one up at a show back in 2009 or so for $80.  That card had a huge crease down the front.  This card, I got for cheaper than that, but it is far from perfect.  It has some creasing, but overall, looks great.

The vendor I got the card from is one I try to buy from whenever I get the chance.  He is a really good guy, and always works with me on pricing.  I bought another card from him, but I will wait to show it.  He also had another card that was on my Top Ten, but I didn't pull the trigger on that one.  I may get it at another show, but the condition held me back some on it as well.  We will see how it goes.  I'm just happy to finally cross this one off.

Antique Shop Pickups - 1959 Topps Set Needs

I made quite a few purchases at the Columbia antique shop.  I'll break them up into a few posts, so keep an eye out for them.  This post will center around the set needs that I picked up for my 1959 Topps set.

This Al Kaline card is a little rough, but I like it nonetheless.  Kaline was one of the last big names that I needed, so I was happy to take it off of the list.

I didn't realize that I still needed Hoyt Wilhelm for the set.  This one is a nice card that I got for pretty cheap.  I'm pretty sure that I don't need any more Hall of Famers, but I probably should consult a checklist.  I've been wrong in the past.

Finally, here is a nice group card of the Cubs, including Ernie Banks.  I still need a few of these, and some of them carry a bit of a premium.

In all, I picked up 37 cards for my 1959 set.  This definitely pushes the set along for me.  I still need quite a few high numbers, but this set should be completed this year.  That is my goal, at least.

Trade From The Quarry

I have been working out a trade with Johnny, who authors the blog, Cards From The Quarry.  He will be getting the Troy Tulowitzki auto/relic that I got out of my box of Museum Collection.  In exchange, he hooked me up with a bunch of set needs.  The highlights of which I have scanned to show here.

Above, I got the 1959 Topps highlights card discussing Al Kaline winning the batting title for 1958.  I like these highlights cards.  I've been looking at the Willie Mays catch card for some time now and will probably jump on it soon.

How I missed that this Ted Williams card was a part of the 1969 set is beyond me, but I'm glad Johnny added it to the trade.  I know my brother, John, would love to have it.

I like seeing the pic of Williams teaching a younger player the art of hitting.  Williams wasn't successful at all as a manager, but you just can't teach greatness.

Thanks for the trade, Johnny.  I really appreciate it and I hope you like the Tulo.

Make sure you check out Johnny's blog here.

Some Vintage Pickups From This Weekend

While I was visiting my parents this weekend, I stopped by the new card shop in Winston-Salem (actually, Clemmons) and picked up quite a few vintage cards for my sets.  I also got the above 1967 Topps Joe Morgan for my now-growing Morgan PC.

The '67 is in pretty good shape and I didn't spend a whole lot on it, so I'm happy.

I was even happier to knock off two Hall of Famers out of my 1969 set.  I got the above Clemente and below Kaline for a combined total of $20 plus tax, so that was really nice.  I got those two, the Morgan and a 1966 Bob Gibson for a total of $30, so I think their prices are really fair.

I'm happy to be knocking out some bigger cards from my 1969 set.  Maybe I'll be able to finish it sometime soon, so I can move onto another 60's set sooner rather than later.

More Sportlots Pickups - 1970 and 1971 Topps

I'll go ahead and tell you, I'm sick of looking at 1970 Topps cards.  As you can see from the below Al Kaline (who was the last big name I needed for the set), my scanner seems to be tired of them, too.  In that vein, I went on Sportlots the other day and wiped out my 1970 Topps needs.  Done.  Complete.  Except, when buying off of Sportlots, you have to wait for all of your packages to come in before you are done...  I still have two sellers who I am waiting on, so that means my 1970 set is yet to be completed.  Dang.  Oh well, that pretty much guarantees another post on the 1970 Topps set.  I am curious to see which card becomes the completer card of the set.

I also knocked out a handful of 1971 Topps while I was filling my cart on Sportlots.  In total, I added 9 of them, the biggest names being Manny Mota and Luis Tiant.

I have a lot more 1971s that I need, but I will be able to get low numbers from card shows pretty cheaply.  It is when I run into the high numbers (as i have seen with 1970), that is when my set building comes to a crawl.

I really like how the 1971s I got turned out, all of them are sharp, with no (or very little) color loss at the corners.  This set was the one I got off of a guy at a small show for $80 (a partial set), but a number of the cards needed upgrading.

This one will take some time, but I imagine I will make a serious dent in it when the April card show comes to town.

2012 Topps - The Inserts

2012 Topps is loaded with inserts and busting 3 jumbo boxes left me with a ton of trade bait.  I got a couple Orioles, too, so that is always a bonus.

 Ok, the mini 87 Topps are a pleasant surprise.  1987 was one of my favorite sets and was one of the first ones I completed.  I still have a 5,000ct box of 1987 Topps (in order) if anyone is interested in it.  I was happy to get this Adam Jones.

 I was able to add some Ripkens to my PC.  They look similar, but that's ok.  The card design is reminiscent to the stuff that Topps has issued over the last few years, so I guess these fit right inline.

 I was slightly disappointed that Topps didn't use the shot of 'Complacent Reynolds' from last season.  Oh well.  The Golden Parallels look really nice.  Ryan, if you want this Reynolds, let me know.

Here is another new Ripken added to the collection.  I'm pretty much over the dual cards that Topps has put out for the last several years.  Oh well.  They look sharp at least.

 The classic walk-offs look nice.  A lot of empty space.  Probably for sticker autos.

The Golden Moments inserts look nice.  More room for sticker autos.  I like this Kaline who is a very underrated player.

For my Yankee fan friends, here are a couple featuring some classic Yankees.

This Don Mattingly is already spoken for, I'll be sending it to Pete.

All in all, I like the inserts.  I don't feel like the inserts dominate the set like in years past.  I could do without the dual cards.  I also think there is a good bit of wasted space on some of the cards.  Gone are the Topps Town and Topps Attax.  Probably a good thing.  I like the Golden parallels and they would look pretty awesome in some other colors.  What do you all think?

Stay tuned for a post on the base cards!

1955 Topps #4 - Al Kaline

Another Hall of Famer! Al Kaline, one heck of a player.

This is Kaline's (born 1934) second-year card. His rookie card was issued the year before in 1954 and is just beautiful. This one isn't so bad, either. Kaline played from 1953-1974, all for the Detroit Tigers. He finished his career with 3,007 hits and 399 home runs and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980 (first ballot) with 88.3% of the vote.

HALL OF FAME (2)

Card Shop Pickups

One of the things that keeps me going to the shop week after week, braving the 3 and 1/2 hour drive is the possibility that someone will bring in a collection to unload. I have been lucky a couple times; getting some sweet cards really cheap, but more often than not, I end up having to thumb through some 1991 Donruss and 1988 Topps.

This past weekend, a young guy brought his album in, and for the most part, it was 1993 Topps and 1992 Topps Gold. Stuff we thought was 'gold' (pun intended) back then. He did, however, have a couple things I liked, so I bought some cards off of him for $5.00.

First up, I was able to snag this 1993 Topps Black Gold Brady Anderson. Not too common a card, for sure. I hate that I broke the guy's set (well it wasn't a complete set, he just had the 5-10 cards that he received in the mail. That set came in series.) but it is cool to have a Brady that isn't all that common.

Holy Turd Burgulars Batman, a Cal Ripken I didn't have! I'm amazed. Anyway, never a bad day when I add to the 400+ different Cal Ripkens that I have. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

Finally, one of the few 'vintage' cards the guy had, a 1973 Topps Al Kaline. Also a very nice card. The 73 set is underrated, the front design was basic, but decent looking. The back took away from this set because the black border would rub off easily, thus making it hard to get a 'mint' set (if that's what you're into). Also, some of the photography in this set is God awful, but you do get a sweet Mike Schmidt RC...

Opening Day - and Opened Some Mail

Today should be a national holiday. Opening Day for baseball. Wooo. All teams (except for the Yankees hahahahaha) are starting out in first place. Optimism is high. I am so excited about this season. The Orioles are going to surprise a lot of people. I'm looking for Brian Matusz to dominate and become the Orioles' first Rookie of The Year since Gregg Olson was in 1989.

I also opened some mail Saturday and today. Here is a little bit from the two packages I received:

First off, I got a package from B. A. Benny in exchange for some Mets cards... I've been wanting this Montanez Red Hot Rookie for some time. I'm glad I finally have it. I REALLY want the Reimold next. If anyone has it, send me an email. I will definitely be up for trading for it!!! I love this shot of Lou. I sure hope he caught the ball.

Ooohhhh, a STICK relic. You can never go wrong with sending me Nick Markakis stuff. He is AWESOME! I'm sure I didn't have this one. If I did, thats ok too.

Hey, look, a Cal I didn't have! It is getting so hard to figure out which Cal's I have and which I don't. This is a 1986 Fleer mini. I'm not sure if I have the regular sized one either. For some reason, I don't think I have it...

I bought a few cards recently too and here are a few that I got...

A 1966 Topps Al Kaline. This Kaline was purchased for *ahem* a friend of mine ;). I think he will enjoy it...

A 2010 Topps Opening Day Brian Roberts. I don't anticipate buying any packs of OD, so I went ahead and bought a couple of the cards I knew I'd want.

Got another Nick The Stick as well. I've never been a huge fan of Topps OD. It just seems like an ancillary set (one we can do without).

Has everyone (other than Yankee fans) enjoyed Opening Day of the 2010 MLB season? It's too bad that the Os don't open until tomorrow... Soon enough, I suppose.

Come Look At My Balls!!

I'm hoping that you are reading this blog entry because you are interested in my BASEballs. If that wasn't the reason you clicked on this... wow. Scary.

Anyway, I knocked another Hall of Famer off my autographed baseball want list. Larry over at http://sewingmachineguy.blogspot.com/ sent me this Al Kaline ball in trade for a Sweet Spot WIllie Horton Glove Auto. Pretty fair deal to me. I think the next card show that comes around I will have it authenticated.

Now, I had a Kaline ball before, well I had it for like a day, but it wasn't intended for me at all. I bought it for my buddy and it has a prominent place on his shelf. Now I have my own Kaline!

I'm thinking my next HOF auto ball is going to be purchased online. I found a great place that has scores of autoed baseballs: http://www.halloffamememorabilia.com/ I've been eyeing Warren Spahn and Ernie Harwell, among others.