Extra Stuff From 1988 Fleer Football

Found a stack of packs at my local shop a while ago from the 1988 Fleer Team Action set.  I had started them with a bunch I picked up as singles, so I was hoping to kill my set.

I was successful in pulling all the cards I needed for my base set, and got a majority of the team logo and helmet stickers to boot.  Have several extras to trade from all of it.

It's a cool set with the requisite team action pairs and Super Bowls, but they also included some conference playoffs too.  They limited the post season games to just those in the 80's.

Let me know if you need any of these.

Oh and one more thing....

Who want's some 30 year old gum?

It looks fine, but I'm resisting.  No science experiments this time!

Show Loot, Including A White Whale

Besides killing the three vintage sets, here's all the other stuff I came away from the Chantilly show with.

Leading off is some hockey hits from my Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals.  Hmm, that's not gonna get old any time soon...

The Wilson goes with my two Braden Holtbys from the same Timeline set.  The other Holtby was just nice looking, though I may ship it to a non-collector friend.  Nice to get decent looking relics of Kuzy and Carlson.  Didn't have anything from them before.

Moving on, I almost always get some things to add to my player collections.

A few 2018 inserts just for the PCs ~ not getting them for the set this year.  Also added the Rookie Cup insert of Fisk (the '73 reprint), and his Museum Pieces Coopy.  A very shiny Sutter, also from Coopy, a Bo Jackson 2018 insert and his Museum Collection base card, A fancy Strasburg for my small informal batch of his stuff, and a cool foily Kuhl.

Also got a higher end hit for my Jim Palmer PC:

Can't remember what it cost me.  But I'm not sure it was even double digits.

Knocked one off of the remaining seven cards for my T205 Giants team.  Becker was $30 and except for the lower right corner, looks a little better than some of my higher graded ones. 

My buddy Stuart found these at a dealer who is local to me.  They're from a 1983 TCMA set of Yankee All-Stars.  I've actually got the Keller for my set and PC already, but got a third one anyway to give his nephew, who I know from work.  The Ruth is unfortunately a slightly different type with a line around the back and is smaller in size.  Not sure what the deal is, but until I find the proper size one, he'll do.  Still need the other Mantle to complete the set.

Hit my favorite insert vendor and practically killed all my 2018 Stadium Club inserts and base needs.  Which is almost too bad, since I flipped my Acuna autograph that I pulled for $100+, so I could have bought another box and traded for some of these.  But better to get what I need than spend money on dupes that maybe I can't trade.  Also filled in some holes in last year's inserts with the Rookie Cups, Storied WS, and a few '87s. 

And finally, I'll close out with the best buy of the show.  One of my newer favorite dealers, Dave E., was stationed in one of the last couple rows.  I usually start at that end, but had started by the door this time, so I didn't see him until late in the day after I had killed my baseball sets.  He is always good for tons of nice vintage, plus some outstanding 90% off boxes.  Since I had fulfilled my baseball wants, I turned to football.  I picked out a couple '74s to help my set build, and then killed my '87 set with the Kelly RC.  After that, I went into the stacks of much older cards to check against my Redskins wants.  I hadn't obtained any old vintage 'Skins for a long time.

Found some nice old Bowmans for a little higher than I normally pick, but I was motivated that day, so I got them.  Then I saw Sammy!

Had to do a double take.  Check that discount!  This was a no-brainer.  The only major defect I could see is the top left corner.

Yeah, this one's going home with me today!  Never thought I'd find such a white whale for less than three digits for sure.  This was one of the best shows ever!

MD, DC, PA Shop Tour Part 2

The other shop we stopped at after Hall Of Fame Cards in Potomac was House Of Cards in Silver Spring, MD.  They had moved from downtown Wheaton into a much more accessible business park location.  It was a lot easier to find and park near the building.  They had just changed their hours, so I'll have to remember that they're only open Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays now.  But we were already there, so they didn't kick us out on this Thursday.  The main part of their business is high end auctions under Huggins & Scott, but we were able to find some nice stuff from what they had displayed in the showroom.

Excuse the non-cropped pics.  My biggest draw was the couple monster boxes they had right in the front of discounted vintage.  Since these guys do a lot of high end graded stuff, I figured they just blow out anything that is slightly off condition, which is right up my alley!

The '60's cards above were all out of those boxes.  The unmarked ones were a buck-a-shot.  I love that.  Hardly any flaws in any of them.  I will have to check my '62s though,  I didn't look at my have list very close, so I might have purchased a couple semistars I already had.  But that is always par for the course.  I really liked the '55 Bowman Minoso, and the '60 is an upgrade. 
The '75 minis were 3/$1!  And there were stars in them!  And I got the three '77 cloth stickers for $2 each.  Two more left to kill that set!

Dove into some '57s since the price was so nice.  Haven't made a list yet for this set, so I just picked out the nicely centered ones that I didn't remember seeing before.  Hope the majority of my '57 build is a dollar each for such clean cards.

Along with the '77 cloth stickers, I picked up this '74 Deckle Edge Grich for my player collection.  Hadn't actually seen one in the wild before, but I recognized the back with the square newspaper clipping graphic.  These are listed as a test issue in the database.

I also picked up a couple wax boxes in my annual tradition of building a junk wax set this time of year.  I think the choice this year will garner some enthusiastic responses, shall we say.  Stay tuned for that post later.

And finally, as we were leaving, it was pouring rain outside, so I went to get the car while my friend Stuart settled up with them.  I pulled up and he wasn't at the door, so I wondered what he was doing.  He came out with this...

Number 9, Homeward Bound is the last card I needed to finish the '69/'70 Man On The Moon set.  Heckuva buy dude!

Two PC Players Live In Chantilly

I'm still taking pictures (and trying to keep my piles of loot straight) in order to post about my Chantilly show haul, and all the other shop visits I made this past week. 

Today I'm sneaking in under the wire with a quick post about one of the few autograph opportunities I took advantage of at the latest show.  I don't spend a whole lot of effort on in-person autographs, but when my player collection guys show up at a nice price, I can't turn it down.

One of my more complete and extensive player collections is Livan Hernandez.  I liked the guy when he was with the Nationals.  He wasn't fancy, but was an innings eating machine.  And he was Cuban like Luis Tiant, and has a similar happy personality, so I kinda considered him a modern version of El Tiante.  Plus, after watching the story of how he and his brother Orlando came to America, I had even more respect for him.

I got my ticket and he was the second signer of the day.

Ticket #31 means I had to wait until the third group of tens to be called.  But it wasn't that long a wait to get in line.  While I was waiting, the first signer was taking customers too.  He was also a PC of mine, but a bit higher priced.

Dwight Evans of Red Sox fame (and briefly with the local Orioles) was the first signer.  Caught a couple shots of him while I was waiting.

Meanwhile, Livan looked like he could still play.  I know he works with the Nationals and overseas prospects.

I told him he looked like he was still laying off the McDonalds like he said in the 30 for 30.

I debated whether to get him to sign a Nationals card (A&G) or his (extended) rookie card that I have.

I decided to go with the Cuban rookie card.  I don't care for having my IP autos certified, I get them personalized and that's enough for me.

MD, DC, PA Shop Tour Part 1

As you may be able to tell by my inconsistent posting this week, I'm on vacation and not keeping a regular schedule.  My friend from Michigan came down for the Chantilly show and we are spending the week at local shops in my area.

We had some sporadic finds at a few antique malls, but the first good shop was Hall Of Fame cards in Potomac, MD.  It's located in a high dollar neighborhood, and is in the middle of a shopping center, so their prices are more on the full retail side.  Their selection is pretty decent though.  Most of their current and recent singles are organized by team and star players.

We found some vintage hockey and a few other gems.  Take a look:

1977-78 Topps with a variation or two...and then

Some older set needs, a couple from the top priority list, and a couple Cal's and a Jeter from the star boxes.  Two bucks for an insert is a lot, but I figured I messed up getting a couple of them the first few times so I had to pay the fee.  The other pair of oddballs are checklists from the Ted Williams Locklear collection.  I've also been getting a few different Cal Ripken tribute sets lately.  You'll see more of them soon.

Got a couple more hauls to show in a bit, and a couple more places to go, so stay tuned!

Blog Bat Around: Pick Only Five

The latest topic kicked off on It's Like Having My Own Card Shop when Daniel listed his top five (and more) collections he'd keep going if he had to narrow it down.  I probably should restrain myself from all the different players, sets, binders, and other mini-collections I have going on.  But I doubt I ever will, unless someday I get a life otherwise.

#5 - Narrow my player collections down to the ones I really care about.

There are several guys in my 60+ baseball player collections that were really just groups of three or four cards of the same guy in my whole collection back in the day.  They became player collections because I hadn't started a run of all the 70's sets yet.  The list was actually even longer than it is now, totaling somewhere around 80+.  Originally, I wrote it down on strips of index cards and taped them together to make a compact little list.

I called my player collections "Collectables" for years, until I figured out the official term.  Now the list is as you see it ~ with all the guys that aren't crossed off, plus a half dozen others from more modern eras.

If I were to narrow it down to just the favorites, I would go from this:

Bob Bailor     Dusty Baker     Don Baylor     Paul Blair     Vida Blue     Bobby Bonds   
Larry Bowa     Nelson Briles     Ollie Brown     Bert Campaneris     Cesar Cedeno    
Tom Cheney    Royce Clayton    Joe Coleman, Jr.    Cecil Cooper     Doug DeCinces    
Ivan DeJesus     Dwight Evans     Ron Fairly     Joe Ferguson    Carlton Fisk     George Foster
Julio Franco    Jim Fregosi     Pumpsie Green    Bobby Grich     Ron Guidry    
Livan Hernandez    Elston Howard    Bo Jackson    Grant Jackson     Puddin' Head Jones   
Charlie Keller    Steve Kemp     Don Kessinger     Dave Kingman     Chad Kuhl    Ron LeFlore
Mickey Lolich    Sparky Lyle     Brian Matusz    Bake McBride     Willie Montanez    
Mike Mussina    Claude Osteen     Jim Palmer     Bud Harrelson    Keith Hernandez    
Freddie Patek     Lou Piniella     Willie Randolph     J R Richard     Pete Richert   
Jerry Royster     Manny Sanguillen     Chris Speier     Bruce Sutter     Gene Tenace    
Luis Tiant    Joe Torre     Mike Torrez     Steve Yeager

To this:

Puddin' Head Jones     Charlie Keller     Brian Matusz    
Chad Kuhl ('cuz he's new)    Luis Tiant     Manny Sanguillen     Joe Torre    
Bert Campaneris     Jim Palmer (to a point - he's got so much),
and probably someone like Royce Clayton that I haven't nearly finished.  And I actually have a few pages of Michael Jordan baseball that I'm not too far on as well.

That culls them down to the players I have some special reason to collect.  Or at least the vintage guys I like the best.  I kinda do this already to a certain extent.  I don't pursue a lot of these guys as persistently as I do my favorites.  Once I finish their basic cards, I won't spend significantly on the other stuff.  And there is one binder with about 20 guys that I consider "finished".

#4 - Limit set building to vintage

I can see this happening for real, not only for myself, but for many other traders and bloggers that I know.  If it weren't for Stadium Club and trading for complete Topps flagship Series 1 and 2 base sets, I would not have built a single 2018 product.  Exclusive contracts have diluted the creativity of so many products that it's getting hard to find stuff I like to build in the current years.  Football is the same way, and hockey has been there too for many years.

In six cards, I can finally complete the 70's Topps sets, which I hope to do at the next Chantilly show coming up this weekend.  (Update: I did it!)  Then I'll jump on the 60's and have a 50's set or two going along the way.  Barring the discovery of large starters for things in between, I'd just concentrate on vintage and largely ignore current products.  I'm not big on rookies or shiny as it is, so there is less and less to choose from that really appeals.

#3 - The Space Binder

The one non-sport project I really enjoy is my collection of Astronaut / Planets / Moon landing cards.  There are a few sets of vintage on the subject, and the occasional celebrity set and Heritage insert.  I'm just fascinated with the Apollo Moon Landings and the Shuttle program, so the cards are a great bonus.  Would have to keep that one going for sure.


#2 - Washington Redskins Team Collection

One of the bulkiest parts of my collection as a whole, the Redskins bounce up and down my priorities, since it is so hard to track and shop for such a volume and variety of cards. 

I've got so much already, so it would be hard to flush it all.  And who would want it?  There are more nice old cards than new ones really.  If I didn't have a pre-fabbed overall list to start with, I probably wouldn't have tried to amass all Redskins cards for long.  Even though that list stopped at 2006, It's a lot easier than trying to start from scratch.



#1 - 1909 New York Giants T205 Team Set

Down to eight seven cards on this one, and it's by far the oldest collection I will probably ever have, so why stop now?

Just actually owning the Mathewson will be such a step up to another level, it will be worth it just for that.  Not to mention the sentimental value of the team photo I based it on.

The framed photo is top ten among my most valued possessions, along with the best cards in my whole collection.

Refer to my want list page for a better look at these.  Knocked off another one in Chantilly this past weekend.

Culling my collecting down to this would reduce my overall volume quite a bit.  It would be easier to organize (not that my stuff isn't already), and would save a lot of overzealous spending throughout the year.

But what fun would that be?? :)

Mission Accomplished In Chantilly

Saturday was the big show in Chantilly at the Dulles Expo Center. 

I finally killed the three main vintage sets I've been working on for the past couple years!  1960, 1970, and 1972 Topps are finished.  (Barring gremlin attacks of course.  And I might upgrade a card or two later, though the '70s sets are mediocre at best.  The high numbers are probably the best condition overall compared to most of those two sets.)

The three remaining titans for 1960 were McCovey's RC, Yogi and Duke.  Got the Willie & Duke at one vendor, but he didn't have a Yogi for me.  The next guy did.  Both of them use the "retail value / our price" sticker method....

The next set to fall was '70 with the triple player card of a Fro-less Oscar Gamble, "Boots" Day, and Angel Mangual.  I don't think you'll find a more eclectic combination on a rookie card.  It ran me about half a blaster.  More than I was willing to pay in the past, but this time I figured "I'm just gonna get it done this time."

 

And finally, it's fitting that '72 was completed on the same day as '70, because not only were they started at the same time, but the source lots were both from the closing of my favorite local shop several years ago.  As I mentioned before, these two aren't the prettiest versions of the sets, but they're mine.  Made for some cheap high numbers most of the time.  At one National, I got a couple dozen for about a buck a shot.  Not today.  Again, the mission was to bag the last four and be done.  Funny that three out of the four were the same color scheme.

I think Woodson is sharing the laugh with those that giggle about his name.

So now I am set to go full steam on 1964 Topps, and maybe start 1957 sometime later this year or soon thereafter.  I already have all the Dodgers, so that gives me a head start on several of the big guns.  I might approach it a team at a time just for fun.

Next time, I'll show the other highlights of my show loot, including a real bargain on a white whale football card.

NL Nats & Numerous Needs From Night Owl

Greg from Night Owl Cards (if you don't know that one, you haven't read enough card blogs) suprised me with a few goodies in the mailbox Saturday.

His note said the Topps National League team set was mostly Nationals, and here they are.

He also included the two gold parallels of the regular set cards.  They'll be a nice header when I get Series 2.

There was my second copy of this...

...to complete the set while the first one is in my Moon & Space binder.

Then he killed another set.

Yep, I made a set out of a whole five row monster box, and this was the last need.  Anyone else want a starter set? :)

Here's a very 90's Nomo insert from Collector's Choice.

And a bonus Cal Ripken insert from Hometown Heroes.

One of those pesky black parallel versions.

Nice assortment, thanks Greg!

Mailday Was Highly Destructive And Completely Appreciated

Brian from Highly Subjective And Completely Arbitrary blog blew me away with return fire Friday.  It was in response to one of several small packages I sent out a while ago to kill some top wants from the lists of fellow bloggers.

I've now got two guys who knocked off four spots from my highest priority wants in the last couple weeks.  They overlapped a little, but Brian also sent some other great stuff.  P-Town Tom beat him to these, but still these are nice hits. 

 

And another Ellsbury SaberStars...

And then there was this:

No way I expected that to show up, especially among the other sports stuff.  And that wasn't the only short-lived priority....

Childress came off the Pro Line Profiles list.  I've got the rest of them coming next week....

 

The two Bowman minis are now gone.  Plus, a hockey set dies....

Then came the bonus Orioles...first a couple Salutes from 2018.  Probably the only ones I'll own.

And a couple more Machados to dress up my Stadium Club set.  Might have to look for the refractor version of the Chromey Manny...

Also a rookie auto from Sterling...

Then it got really interesting!  Some player collection hits from some really obscure products.

Bonds is from Wiz Yankees of the 70's.  Lou is not just your ordinary '78 Topps....

It's the Burger King version!  And then this O'Connell & Sons Ink Charlie Keller really surprised me.

And speaking of older players, there was this REALLY nice '54 Bowman Puddin' Head Jones that I could have scanned a little straighter...

But it actually shouldn't really have been on the list, because I've posted about this card before.  Namely that I had upgraded it at one point already, so I'm not sure how it stayed on my site list for ol' Willie.

But oh well, the new one is a nice upgrade to even the good old one.  Plus there was also this that I actually didn't have....

TCMA The 50's of Puddin' Head as well.

The pièce de résistance is this Chris Davis auto/relic numbered out of 30.  I'll have to look up what I sent Brian,  because stuff like this is just over and above the call in comparison, I can assure you!

I found a couple '59s and another vintage single or two to send his way, but I'm going to have to step up my game to keep up with Brian!