COMC Pickup - 1981 Topps Traded Joe Morgan

Another of the cards I picked up from COMC recently was this Joe Morgan card from 1981 Topps Traded.

Morgan would spend 2 seasons in San Francisco, collecting 208 hits, 22 home runs and hitting .270 over 224 games with the Giants.

We met Morgan twice now and each time he was really cool.  I am looking to grab a few more of his cards and do a PC.  I plan on picking up his RC at some point soon.  Again, I really like the design of the 1981 Topps offering.  This one doesn't have nearly the bold colors of the Stargell I showed recently, but Morgan is rocking a retro-looking Giants jersey.

Ebay Pickup - 2014 Topps Heritage Chris Davis Black Parallel

You all know about the Miguel Cabrera black parallel that I pulled out of my box of 2014 Topps Heritage.  Well, it sold for $41 and I was able to use some of that money to buy this Chris Davis black parallel.  This Davis is numbered 16/65 and is a high number, just like the Cabrera was.  I was happy to 'trade' it for this Davis and some other stuff.

I really like these black parallels.  They look really sharp, especially with the '65 design.  I was also glad that I got this Davis as opposed to the two I missed out on the day before.  Those went for just over $25 each and I got this one for just over $21. I saved $4, woo hoo!

COMC Pickup - 1981 Topps Willie Stargell

Coming from one of the most underrated sets in Topps history (at least in my opinion) is this awesome 1981 Topps Willie Stargell card.  I got it off of COMC really cheaply and I just love it for all of the colorfulness that is shown on the card.  I have toyed with the idea of starting a Stargell PC, even though he was responsible for the Pirates beating the Orioles in the 1979 World Series.  I wasn't alive then, so it doesn't really matter to me.

The card is just amazing.  It captures Stargell seemingly hitting a home run, judging by the upward glance on his face.  It has the old school loud uniforms of the 70s.  Look at the high socks and stirrups.  What a card.  I kind of hate that I bought the 1981 set whole in an album.  It really is an underrated set and one that I'm sure would have been a blast to build.  I might look into actually putting one together at some point, maybe if I can find a decent enough starter set.  Who know.  All I know is, I kind of want to pull out that album and see if there are more gems in the set that are like this one.

COMC Pickup - 1965 Topps Warren Spahn

I picked up a nice card off of COMC recently and it also fits into my Hall of Famers in strange uniforms theme.  Here is a Warren Spahn card featuring the longtime Brave as a Met.  Spahn would finish his career in '65 with the Mets and Giants, going 7-16 with a 4.01 ERA on the season.  In July of the 1965 season, Spahn would be released by the Mets and sign with the Giants.  He joined the Giants as they were gearing up for a pennant run, ultimately finishing second to the Dodgers.

Amazingly, Spahn was on that '65 Giants team with 5 other future Hall of Famers in Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey and Willie Mays.

I really like this card as 1965 Topps is a great design.  Spahn looks out of place without a hat and very out of place out of a Braves uniform.

Second Instagram Trade With Kyle - 2011 Topps Tier One Roy Campanella Relic

I've made a couple (what I would call) friends on Instagram.  The one I talk to the most is a guy named Kyle who lives in Delaware.  He's a huge Phillies fan, so I sent him a good deal of Roy Halladay and other assorted Phillies goodies recently.  He mentioned that he had this 2011 Topps Tier One Campanella relic and he needed some quick cash for a purchase, so I bought it off of him.

The card has a little damage to it, likely resulting from Topps placement of the relic piece, but it is hardly noticeable.  Looking at the piece of jersey, it looks like there may be a faint hint of dirt on it.  It could just be my eyes, though.

Anyway, I really like the card, as I don't have much of anything as far as Campanella goes.  I was really happy to pick it up and I was really happy to help out a (new) friend.

Thanks for the trade, Kyle.  I hope you like your Phillies cards.  I'm sure there are more where those came from!

A Second Instagram Trade With Carson

I have started to do second trades with a few of the people from Instagram that I enjoyed dealing with the first time around.  The first guy I initiated a second deal with was Carson.  He collects vintage cards, just like me, and was willing to send along several 1959 Topps to help me with my set needs in exchange for a few Pirates inserts and some extra vintage I had in a box.

Carson sent along 12 1959 cards that I needed for my set.  They were all commons, but they were all needed and I was happy to get them.

As a surprise, Carson sent me a bunch of Orioles cards.  He had said he was going to a show soon after we reached our deal for the 59s, so it delayed his shipment a couple of days.  I was completely fine with that since I wanted to take a little time to get him a few things together as well.

I was really happy with my package and I know that Carson will be a regular trade partner for a long time. Thanks so much for the cards!

COMC Pickup - 1959 Topps Don Newcombe

I picked up another set need with my recent COMC purchase, this time landing a Don Newcombe card out of 1959 Topps.

Newcombe is a personal favorite of mine, especially when he is brought onto XM Radio to talk about those old Dodgers teams that he played on with Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella.

Something cool about the card, which I may have pointed out on some other 1950s cards, is the reference to the Cincinnati Redlegs.  This card came out during the McCarthy Era of US History when the Red Scare was at its height.  So as to not be associated with the Communists, the Reds team would be referred to as the Redlegs during this era.  I'm not going to delve into politics at all, but I do find it interesting to see this part of American History manifested on a baseball card.