Vintage NFL (New Football Loot)

Since it's the first weekend of the NFL season, it's the perfect time to show the vintage football I got on vacation.

It's not a whole lot, but there are some cool cards.

Finished my '71 Topps Game with these four.  Sorry about the glare on Bradshaw.  Most of these were found at the National.

Some big names in the '68 Topps set.  I should have shopped around for most of these, I ended up finding better centered copies for a lower price not long after I snagged these.  

Have really been shopping more carefully for the last few '57s.  Glad to find these nice ones for a good price.  Of course, that Brown guy is gonna be a bitch to find cheap...  (Again with the glare.  it's just not possible to take pictures of cards in holders in this house.)

These aren't really vintage at 1988, but they're throwbacks nonetheless.  

And neither is this one (1999 Fleer), but it depicts a cover from the 1970's.  

And finally, I got this one at half the sticker price, along with a bunch of vintage baseball I'll show later.  How many of you know what this is?  It's a 1972 Topps high number.  There were a couple more in the same box I pulled this one from, but they were either a lot more or a lot lower condition.  It was the first time I've seen one in real life.  They aren't all All-Pros, but the first 23 are.  I don't have any illusions on getting the rest of them, but it was nice to add at least one to my set.

Hope your team does well this season - real and fantasy. 

Back To Back Show Weekends - Part 2: Chantilly, VA

I was a little under the weather Saturday, since I had been fighting a cold/cough for the last couple days, but I was determined to make it to the big show.  After all, they only come around three times a year.

It was also a lousy rainy day, but the drive wasn't bad and it was warm, so the trip was no problem.  I slept as long as I needed to and then headed out.  Got to the show about 11AM.

I usually start in the far end of the show, but decided to stop first at my favorite current set/insert guy.  Knocked off my Banner Seasons and Special Days, and all but one of my Gems and shortprints (still need #308 Herzog).  He had singles from a lot of the new sets, including Stadium Club and football Legacy, and I found the Tulo in a box of assorted things.

Found Keith at another dealer with vintage of all the sports.  I have to go back and verify my PC Hostess and Kellogg's lists.  I'm not confident that they're up to date.  Hopefully I don't have this one already.

Same guy had these Fleer World Series sticker backs.  Not sure which scan I'd consider the front or back in this case, but both are the same two cards.

Also found a major bargain in this '58 Cleveland team card.  Expected to pay about $20 for the '50s dynasty squad, but this was only three bucks.  There are a couple soft, layered corners, but it presents well enough.  A football bargain among mostly baseball.  This theme will continue...

Sticking with the '58s for a moment, got these two HOF'ers and a coaching legend at another table.

...Who also had this nice Larsen for only $6.  Again, mixing sports from the same dealer is leading to good things.

Another guy had these pristine '57s for $3 each.  BAL was $5 and looks a lot less crooked when not up against the others.

An older couple usually has a couple tables with showcases of cards laid flat.  And there's sets and other assorted stuff around the perimeter of their setup.  Whitey Ford was only $35 instead of the projected $50 I found, and isn't quite as off center as the overcropped scan shows.  If you look close at the other two, you'll see subtle writing - which appears to be actual autographs.  These were only $15 total.  The '67 Palmer WS does have a crease along the length, so I probably should have picked another of his from about eight or so they had.  But it's a bit more unique, so I'm good with it.

Two more '57s from Uncle Dick's (now under new management, but same great selection).  Nieman might look familiar.  Yeah, I always do that with something when I buy this much in the same short time period.  Luckily he was only a buck.  Logan is a cool card and was $3.

Finished my '74 Topps football set with these two, and got one '68, even though I looked through a lot of them at this show.  I guess the ones I need are the tough ones to find.

This somewhat bow-cut but clean Post cereal was the last item from Uncle Dick's this trip.  I just like these, and you can't beat big star cards for single digits.

Almost left these early '60s Salada coins off this post, since I stashed 'em in my list binder pocket so I wouldn't lose them.  Added bonus is the Topps coin of Elston that I got in Ephrata...

Got this odd pair from a dealer I'd never met before, but he was very helpful in finding several current year inserts for my trading buddy Stuart.  (Since I quit doing Topps flagship baseball, I don't know what a lot of the new inserts even look like, or which set they go with).  Knocked off my last Gem and grabbed this KD Donruss football card while we were looking for the other stuff.

And now, the finale. 

The seller I call the "football guy" because he has a huge box of football singles all tagged and sorted and stored in so many different holders, toploaders, etc.  The box is very recognizeable and I've bought from him several times.  His prices vary, but I've found some great deals.  

These Fleer Team Actions were a buck or two each, which is more than I like to pay for them, but with what else I got, it was worth it.  Needed two of the '85 WAS cards - one for set and one for team collection.  Still need a bunch of the green '84s, but passed some up.

He did have several of the earliest FTA set - from 1976 - which are actually stickers.  They were $4 plus a shot, but I had to at least get the Washington one.  I've never seen these in person until now.

Picked up two more 1984 USFL cards to get closer to that set.  Will have to find the big guns (Kelly, Young and White) eventually.  These were also a few bucks each, which is again a little more than I like, but wait 'til you see how this turned out....

I got the bargain of the year.

Maybe the last FEW years.

The Football guy had a showcase with vintage baseball as well.  I noticed they had prices written in marker on the corner of the card savers, so when they were stacked up, the prices markings ran together.  

I said let me see the '57s, just to check for bargains maybe on the minor stars or something.  I saw this one on top of one stack, but figured it was 600-1000 at best, like the others I saw last week.

Nope.

This thing was marked "115".

I said "Is this right?"  He said yes, and something else that I didn't quite catch, but I said "Well, shoot, I gotta do that!"  There really aren't that many major flaws.

NEVER thought I'd be getting Teddy Ballgame - the first standard sized card ever issued - for basically 10% of the typical price until way after pandemic prices faded out.

What's the best bargain you've ever found on a white whale?

Might Be A Good Idea...

As you probably know, I'm not one to pay much attention to the hype on modern cards and their exorbitant prices.  The stars today don't quite have the mystique or reverance to me that vintage guys do.  Which is not to say that there aren't a few players that will be in the record books and lore for a long time to come.  

Every once in a while I have to acknowledge that as it manifests itself in cards.

So a couple months ago, I went into my collection...

It's down here somewhere...

Of course it's on the bottom...

Writing on the corner of a box is rather difficult.  My handwriting is better than this.  But anyway...

OK, pull that one out...

Series 1 on the left,... Series 2 next,...hmm don't have wrappers for Update.  Oh well...

Ah, bonus SP Ruth!  OK, should be about right here...

Pull that chunk out...

Right about here...

There he is!

That's a little better, considering...

Figured I shouldn't leave him in there with the set for much longer.  I could put him in one of those big lucite holders with the four screws like I have all my other big money cards.  (I know, no one uses those any more.)  

Anybody else I might be neglecting in my sets for the last decade or so who is now over $50?

Pasteboard Power Tour Finale: Chantilly, VA

Our last stop on the Power Tour was two days (Friday & Saturday) at the tri-annual show at Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly.

With one exception, I haven't really broken down my hauls by dealer.  You may recognize some of the price markings from Uncle Dick's among the groups shown here.

I'll lead off with the one separate purchase I scanned.  A very eclectic mix from the guy I call Brother Mike.  He's got an email mailing list that keeps you informed of where he is at all the local shows.  And he always works with you on prices.  I snagged up a couple inserts and base cards from Topps Super Teams, American Pie, '07 Sweet Spot Classic, and Topps Gallery HOF.  I'm down to only one of those Gallery variations now (#38 Bucky Harris with the red W on his sleeve).  I got about a dozen of them from Mike before.  Also found a couple nice '57 semistars and the Phillies team.

Ramped up my '50 Bowman purchases.  The Robin Roberts is an upgrade.  I'm at the point where it's time to bite the bullet on some of the more expensive missing ones.  The top four were still less than $10 each and the others were within the pre-boom price range.

These are all from Uncle Dick's too.  I'm starting my '62 and '63 builds with the variations even though I haven't officially started the sets.  Will wait until '64 is done and '57 is close until that happens.  But it's nice to have a lot of the odd ones out of the way.

Stuart hooked me up with Hal and the Leaf stars (for a setbuild later).  I did well on Super Teams this trip.

Found a dealer with a ton of quarter boxes full of chrome parallels, so I dove in on some Washington batches that I was lacking otherwise.  Also was shocked to find some of the premiere rookies from my 2015 Score set build in there too!.  Moses and Pastorini were from other buys.

More quarter box shinies and some vintage Washington.  Mr. James is an upgrade, and I ended up having more of those 4-in-1s than I realized.  Luckily I only bought one duplicate.

Going way back into the early 50's to finally knock out some of the older Washington needs.  Bowman larges and smalls that I finally pulled the trigger on.  Chet O I hadn't seen before.  Makes it tough when they are still listed with their colleges.

Speaking of vintage ~ more of my two older set builds, '58 and '68.

Got these three for like $60 total from and older couple.  I thought it was a great deal even though the wife was a bit sheepish about the offer.  Griese is fine, he's just in a tinted top loader.

And finally, the bargains of the day.  A young guy had mostly graded newer stuff, but there was one little box of vintage stars - a handful at most.  I saw these two and heard Hallelujah music in my head.  I said to him "Wow, are these because you don't do a lot of vintage?"  He replied that he had just looked around and figured out a good price for them.  I jumped.  Had one of my dealer friends inspect them just to be sure.  Effectively kills both sets.  I only need the Calvin Hill black name variation for '70.  And of course those short prints at the end of '72 are basically a fantasy.

Thanks for coming along on the Power Tour!