Mini Haul From Monthly Show

I've been doing so much buying lately that I almost felt guilty going to my local monthly show last Sunday.  Almost.  At least I only spent like $30.

Snagged these from a vendor I wasn't familiar with.  They were in rows marked $2 and $1 each.  Figured I might as well get Judge when I can.  The Fisk is a SP parallel (I have no idea how to tell) for my PC.

The bulk of what I got came from my favorite insert vendor.  He didn't have everything with him that he takes to the big shows, but I found a bunch that I needed.  Some Bo's for PC, and a couple Rookie Historys and a Coming Attraction for Stuart.  I wanted to start the Postseason Preeminences, but hadn't pulled any from packs.  Dove in the deep end since he had a big pile.  But not as big as the stacks of Storybook Endings and Don't Blinks.  Killed my wants in both of those (sorry Julie I didn't know!) and tacked on my first three blue parallel Hawpas.  Down to four PostPre's - 5 OSmith  7 BrooksR  11 Ruth  15 Koufax. 

And then it was Mini Mania!

Found one to kill the A&G Into The Unknown set from 2014, and then went wacky with 2018 A&Gs.  He had a big box of miscellaneous minis from several different years, and said there was a bigger box that he didn't bring.  I hope there are more of the retail inserts in there.  Looking forward to sifting through that later!  Also added to the Bo stack with the regular and A&G back versions.  Still need six Indigenous Heroes even after all those!

A couple hours after I got there, most of the dealers were packing up and I hit the road.

It IS Next Year, And Tom Keeps On Killin' 'Em!

Seems like every couple months I'm having to revise half of my prime want list because Tom at Waiting For Next Year sends me several targets.  Let me tell you, it's a good problem to have.

This go-round brought these singles home to their families (the rest of the cards in the set - at least in most cases.)

First one is Adam Jones at the All-Star Game in 2014.  It doesn't actually kill the whole Update set, since I still need a bunch of those World Series Heroes inserts, but it was the sole survivor of everything else.  A lot of non-Oriole orange going on here.

I figured this one was a long shot.  One of the most rare retail inserts in the decade.  2012 Archives had these 1982 In Action inserts.  Funny that Josh Hamilton was my last one and not Ichiro, Cal Ripken, or Clemente.  So glad to get this one either way.

This one isn't actually a set killer, but is the last of many of my player collections to appear in 2003 Yankee Signature Series by Upper Deck .  There are a whole other set of the actual autographs, of which I have a couple, but one of my top guys ended up being the most elusive in this case, until now.

Capping it off are the two (American) football WAGs from ProLine in the 90's.  Rohn Stark and Herschel Walker's respective love interests graced the final slot in my priority page.  Now they'll be replaced with someone much less aesthetically pleasing for sure.

This completes the assault on my wants ~ again.  It's like the third time in just over a year or so that Tom has tackled some major targets.  Kudos to you sir, for being such an awesome trader and hunting these down!

Image Editing Déjà Vu

Just a quick midweek post on a pickup that was sort of part of a larger batch. 

Got this at my nearest local card shop, Primetime Sports, for a few dollars.  I don't actually have a regular set, but am almost done the red back version.  Never chased this thing actively, but since it was sitting there, I figured I might as well snag it.

I thought it was a bit ironic that I was scanning and cropping a card for this post that had already been photoshopped when it was created.  It's kinda like double editing.

It was a throw-in with the two empty monster boxes I showed up to get, plus (another!) batch of vintage baseball and football.  A larger volume of the type of thing I showed in the previous post, only a lot more football than baseball.  That post is coming soon.

Also in transit are several auction wins, running the gamut from astronauts, to Star Wars, to Bryce Harper, Redskins jerseys & autos, and a huge SportLots order with hockey and a lot of list hits.

Stay Tuned.  This is going to be the Loot Channel for a little while....

Need A Haircut? How 'Bout Some Hall Of Famers?

It was a typical day at work, I was working the help desk phones, but it wasn't too busy.  Then my cell phone rang.  Mom again.  I figured she probably wants to go to dinner or needs something done at the house.

She was actually at her hairdresser's shop which is actually in a house right around the corner from mine.  Her stylist got on the phone and said that her neighbor was cleaning out the possessions of their recently deceased relative and that there was a batch of baseball cards.  She would give them to Mom to drop off at the house and I could check them out and give them a few bucks if they are worth anything, but if not, it's no big deal.

When this happens, I get excited, but then come back down to earth since most of the time any stash of cards ends up being junk wax.  I pictured a stack of '87s and 1990 Topps or something.

To my delight, I was wrong!

Here's what I got, minus the quart size sandwich bag.

This looks promising!

I sifted through the stack and was pleasantly surprised that it all fell within a year range of 1969 through 1977.

Sorting them by sport...baseball first.

The '72 Kelloggs are the best ones in the whole batch.  Might be a set starter for me.  Though when I looked 'em up, there are 21 variations out of 54 cards, making a total set of 75.

Just look at all that vintagey goodness!

Then the rest...

Not nearly as much football, but a couple gems.  Yes, that's actually a '71 Johnny U.  And it's available.  A couple big names in the hockey stack too.  Can't get much better than Stan Mikita!  That mock magazine cover sticker was a stowaway.

So let's break 'em down.  Basketball first.

I've only got like three basketball sets.  '79-80 and a couple from the early 90's.  I really kinda like these though.  These are apparently '73-'74s.  Interestingly, they have a copyright date of 1969 on the backs.  If no one needs these to kill their set, I might go after them later.  Colonels and Squires? Oh my!

I recognize a few names on these '74-'75 Topps.  I know this set design a little better since it's the first one to contain Washington Capitals.  These will probably stay with me.  I don't really have a central place for vintage hockey though.  Will have to figure out where to put them.  Might have to be in one sheet with my other near complete sets of that era.

1969 Football, including a couple good quarterbacks.  A lot of pink backgrounds.  The Csonka game card is available, not sure about the others.  One day I'll build this set.  Will probably try the '68s first though.  Make me a decent trade and I'll let 'em go.

These actually are available.  So fire away!  I'm down to the higher numbers for my '71 set.  Mitchell and the '74s are kinda rough, and will go to my dupes stash too.

On to baseball.

Some Hall of Famers sprinkled in with the other fan favorites and team cards.  Unfortunately, just about all the team cards are lightly marked.

Curiously, there was nothing from 1976, except this:

Ticket stube from Memorial Stadium.  Orioles vs. the Tigers in the summer of '75, and then Milwaukee twice, in '75 and '76.

Night Owl's (and others') beloved '75s!  A few League Leaders, MVPs, and a Bench All-Star.  And Oscar Gamble with his epic 'fro.  These are pretty decent overall...

... with a couple exceptions.  Somebody likes vintage miscuts.  Who is it?

Another nice batch from '74 with Senior, Joe, Fergie, & Dave.  Two of the commons look like they had smeary magic marker notations at one point.  Can't really make it out.

The biggest stack of a sorted year.  Nice lot of '73s with Stargell, Carlton, Carew, Seaver, and Hunter boyhood photo.  There's Oscar again.  There are several duplicates including double Grabarkewitzes.  (Sounds like a wrestling move ~ "he got 'em with the double Grabarkewitz").  I remember sending the Frank Duffy card to Dinged Corners back in the day.  She had a midair players collection going, I believe.

Just a couple '72s, but decent choices.  Will have to check for upgrades since my set is middle of the road, and will also compare the one in Baylor's PC binder.  Then, have at 'em.

A few '70s.  These are a bit rough.  Trade fodder.  The concentration of Indians is notable, but there really was a balance of all the teams in this lot.  The initial stack was sorted by franchise, and then by nothing else.  The cards were jumbled otherwise.  Could have been just because they were handled a lot recently.

A really great selection of 1969 Topps.  A few of my favorite guys (and PCs) - Blair, Campy, Manny.  The Bench AS and Perry were nice inclusions, but the Seaver made me say "Wow!" out loud when I saw it.  I'll check my set for upgrades, and then these are on the block.

And finally, the oddballs.  These are the sprinkles on top of this cardboard sundae.  Have to check my player binders to see if I actually have all the complete pairs of variations.  I should, but you never know.  Then I'll have to print a list with all the notations to keep these straight.
The Palmer isn't bad, but it appears someone bent (or bit) the top right corner.  The Hostess are definitely tradeable.  They're from '75 and aren't cut the greatest, but are both intact and flat otherwise.

What a great surprise!  Not quite the monster box of mint '52s on the side of the road I dream about, but a fun find nonetheless.  Let me know if you want in on any of them that I mentioned are up for trade.

I think I'll give them a little more than a few bucks....

Distractions

Yesterday I was bored at work, so I made up a document that listed some more astronaut-related singles and sets.  Then I posted the lists to my non-sports page on my wants site.  As you know, I like to make graphical lists, so it looked something like this:

Of course, after all that, I was jonesing to find some of the new quarry, so I went out on eBay.  I searched around for the different complete sets and made offers on a couple playing card sets from Kennedy Space Center.  Some might say playing cards don't belong in with the kinds of cards we collect, but these have photos and information on them like a lot of the trading cards.  And me being the completist that I am, I got both variations of the set - the four suits have certain groups of photos on them, and between the two decks, the groups are switched around.  Plus the backs are different.

Anyway, that gave way to searches on the other space sets.  I covered Star Wars from 1977 - still need the green & orange series. Put a couple batches on the Watch list. 

This was not one of them unfortunately.

Then on to Trek.  I picked up the latter half of the first movie card set, but am having trouble finding only half a set.  The full 88 cards can be had very reasonably, though like Star Wars, there are also stickers that go with them.  Found out about another similar set from a bread company.  Rainbo Bread put out a ST:TMP set.  Only 33 cards, the backs are completely different than the Topps set.  So add them to the list....

Had to shut it down and go to bed after a while. 

Got home today and hadn't had a chance to post for the day, so I wanted to put something up.  Thought about posting on a stack of vintage cards I got from a neighbor, but I need to take pictures before and after I sort them out, so that will have to wait.

The sellers from last night had worked out the offers, so I got back on the 'Bay.  Well, you know what happens from here, especially since I'm posting at this hour.

I checked out for the two decks of cards, then cleared a couple other auctions for them off my watch page.  Which of course leads to a "quick" perusal of a couple of my Saved Searches. 

I ended up looking for the 2007 Sweet Spot Classic jersey cards that I still need, as well as any lots of the base cards.  While looking over those, I started downloading images for my list again.  It hadn't been updated in a while.  I only got two from the list since printing it out a few years ago.  The images of each card were different sizes, and I was missing a couple, so I went about recomposing the list and adding the missing pictures.  Here's how it came out.  Most of these are over $15 at least.  The big guns are much more.

While researching for that, the phone rings.  It's Stuart.  We chat about car repairs, weekend card hunting plans, etc. for a little while.  Then Mom calls in too.  She asks about the vintage stack and a few other things.  Those two calls kill the hour.

I get back on and I'm not even sure what I was looking at when I come across a seller I've bought from before. Somehow I figure out he's got GU and autos really cheap.  I search his stuff for almost all my player collection guys, and some key sets, plus Redskins.  I end up with an order of 17 different things, none of them more than $5 and most less than three, totalling just over $50.  Checked out on those too. 

Four whole dollars!

Pair for $3.50!

Bounced around to a couple more things and was getting bleary eyed.  So I signed out. 

It is midnight and I didn't post anything.  Ugh! 

I set out to jump on and right back off of eBay, but ended up on for like four hours.  I'm sure it happens to all of us.  Even now, when eBay isn't the best way to buy cards, except for in lots and sets.

How often do you do marathon sessions on eBay (or any other card selling site)?  Not even necessarily buying anything when you're done...

Collector's Log: Stardate 198203.16

A few more entries from my 1982 logs.

Time Out was the arcade in the local shopping mall.  Full size machines down either side.  I remember it looked a lot like this one...

That place was a short drive from where we lived, so we didn't frequent it as much as the Putt Putt, which we could walk to.  They used to take movie ticket stubs and give you free games, until that day.

I'm pretty sure there was a Waxie Maxie's record store right next to the arcade back then.  That's why I knew about the price of 45rpm records going up to a whopping $1.50.  I guess it's come full circle now that you can get a digital copy of one song for about a buck these days.  I wasn't quite into hard rock yet, so this is the kind of thing I'd pick up occasionally...

Not sure what kind of box I used for my '81 football, but it was probably either a cheese box or something else I found around the house.  More on those later.

I actually have played Monopoly recently.  My friend in Delaware had a version of the game that used the streets and attractions of their home town.  It was fun, but I never win.

Big thing here is the 1982 Topps baseball set.  The shop in Hanover that was my regular outlet didn't sell me factory sealed sets, but hand collated ones in regular white boxes.  I'm thinking I ordered them on Jan 30, and got them March 13.

I always sorted my sets in teams.  They just looked better with all the team colors together.  It would be team cards and checklists first, then big stars, then the manager, then the rest of the players.  The multi-player rookies would go at the end.  If there was an update set, those singles would go right up front behind the team card.  (This was the case in '82 eventually.)

The total number of new cards went up that year to a figure that stayed rather steady for a little while.  The Topps set was 792, and Donruss and Fleer stablilized at 660 each.

Billy and I pooled some dupes and set up our "flea market" to sell cards.  We weren't at any public location, but rather in his townhouse basement rec room.  Surprisingly, there were several kids from around the neighborhood who stopped by the few times we did it.

You can see that it was still the time where price guides were actually relevant.  We had put some cards at too low a price.  Somewhere around here I have my first Beckett Price Guide book.  It's probably one of the first few editions they put out. 

Not my book, but the current one in '82.

I do have my copy of this pocket sized guide (shown below) from 1984.  There were a whole series of "Official" price guides for different hobbies put out in that era.  This one is not actually written by Beckett or Sport Americana though.  It's by House of Collectibles in Tampa, Florida.

The earliest "Official" guide by Beckett that I could find was from '87 and looked similar.

Of course, by then, it was twice as thick a book.

They became irrelevant sometime around the turn of the century maybe?  I didn't jump back in til 2004, so I'm not sure.  I recall I had that mindset before I knew about COMC, etc. but I guess eBay was the main source of card commerce that became the reference point.   I do harken back to the day when eBay organized the card section by sport and year and company so it was really easy to search for anything.  Then one year they reverted back to the default parameters of Era (either side of 1980), Original or Reprint (irrelevant 90% of the time), Attributes (no longer relevant), Condition, and Price.  That works for antiques, but not very well for cards.

Anyway, this was an historical post, not a commerce commentary.  Until next time....

Leading Ladies Of Sports Broadcasting #10

If you've been keeping track at home, this will be post #10 on the Leading Ladies, but only subject #9.  I'll have one more to go to make an even ten, and then I think in 2019 I'll move on to another group of lovely ladies.  Though I will do one-offs by request.  Unfortunately, I am not able to make physical cards.

Heidi Watney started with NESN as a Red Sox reporter.

After creating several cards just now, I realized I had already made a batch earlier as well.  A couple were redundant, but I ended up with about nine customs.  Ah, Heidi's worth it...

Believe it or not, Heidi is 37!  Born in 1981 and grew up in Fresno, California.

A fan favorite, of course, she has actually dated MLB players Jake Peavy and Jason Varitek.  'Tek had been recently separated and went on to remarry, so their relationship was brief.  She went on to marry the Director Of Baseball Operations for Florida Mike Wickham.

She and her husband also run a business that sells baseball accessories and custom-printed bats.  They are apparently doing well with it.

She was runner up to Miss California 2002.

She's definitely #1 on MLB Network.