Saturday, April 19, 2014

My HOF Collection - 1969 Topps #480 Tome Seaver

I decided that I didn't have enough "vintage" Tom Seaver in my collection.

Alright, I didn't have anything before 1978.   The rest of his cards are absolutely fabulous, don't get me wrong.   But there's something special about cards of these stars from their younger years.   Vintage cards are extraordinary in their own right - but vintage cards of a Hall of Fame hurler like Tom Terrific are a rare treasure for a collector like me.

I jumped on a chance to snag this Seaver on the Bay of E for what I thought was a pretty good price.   There were more affordable versions in lesser condition, but I thought this one struck a good balance for me when it came to one of my preferences for decently-centered cards.   And after doing some research, I quickly learned that finding this particular card in well-centered condition is a challenge.

Without further ado, here she is:



She's a little 'low' top-to-bottom and it's easy to see the wider margin on the left-hand side, but overall this was a reasonable card with very little bidding.   A couple of last minute snipers drove up my final purchase price, but at slightly m ore than a blaster, I was thrilled to win this card for my collection.

The '69 design is very basic and this photo of Tom is not helping at all - but what are you going to do.   It is a nice close-up mug shot of a young ace staring wistfully into a promising yet still unknown future....

In 1969, Seaver had just wrapped up an amazing sophomore season by eclipsing the 200 K mark (205) for the first of many times while going 16-12 over....get this, 278 innings pitched!!!!!   He would subsequently take it easy in '69, deciding to only go to work for 273.1 frames....but increase his K total to 208.   OH, and win the Cy Young.   Yawn.   Ho-hum!   The "Miracle Mets" would also take the pennant in 1969 and win the World Series by defeating the Baltimore Orioles

Whoa.   This 1969 Seaver card keeps getting better and better.   What about the back?




Ah, yes - love it.   Right off the bat we can see an umpire from the Jetsons add his flavor to the very same '68 K-total stat I mentioned above.   Love it.   Mr. Seaver's bio data appear right next to a really cool retro-Topps logo.   The write-up highlights some of Seaver's tremendous accomplishments during his first couple of seasons but the final mention has definitely grabbed my attention - his "15th inning" pitching that saved the Senior Circuit's 2-1 victory!

I must do some follow-on research to dive deeper into that story.......yes.......

For the card itself, the color is great on both sides and the corners are in pretty good shape, too.   Overall, I found the card to be a slight pleasant surprise, condition-wise, when it showed up.   Too often, a raw card purchase on the Bay is very risky and can result in a 'card in hand' that varies dramatically from the image you peered at in the middle of the night, on your iPhone screen.

I'll take my successful escape.

I'm very excited to add my first vintage Seaver card to my collection!

Thanks for reading and keep collecting -
Ryan

Friday, April 4, 2014

My Braves Collection - 2014 Topps Tribute Evan Gattis Autograph (#d 28/40)

El Oso Blanco!

Every true baseball fan is required to at least respect the story behind Evan Gattis and his baseball journey....but I am sure the love fest may end right there for many.

Mine continues, however, and I'd like to continue it right now....in honor of his first HR of the season, just moments ago!   A Gattis autograph!

Huh. Another award-winning photography effort from yours truly.   Sorry!

It's a glorious on-card autograph in striking blue sharpie, surrounded by one of the weirdest color combinations that Topps could have possible gone with.   I don't get it, but I still love this card and am very happy to add it to my growing Gattis collection.   It is also numbered 28 out of 40, however I am not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not?

Don't really care.

Welcome to the Braves collection!

Keep Collecting -

Ryan

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Vintage? Vintage.

I love a good mystery and, while I usually pretty adverse to risk in all that I do - I decided to take a little risk on some mystery batches of vintage cards recently.

You guys know me - I love old cards.   Stars or commons, graded or raw, sharp corners or water damaged - I love all types of old cardboard.   Several "lots" of vintage cards came into focus for me on the Bay of E that really caught my attention.   Some of the card were visible and I was able to recognize some quality names like Hodges, Aaron, Jackson and Robinson.   I also spied a pretty solid spread of card designs across a three-decade spectrum - everything from a '54 to a bunch of '65's and stuff in between.

I was intrigued and the minimum bid was low...and, well, I probably had a beer or two as well.

I ended up winning a few and, for $40 total - this stack of top loaders (eeeek! and some just LOOSE in the bag) showed up at my door:




Okay......



......some more....hey, a checklist!



I'm going to go through these a little bit more when I get a chance to run some stats and start showing them off.  

Here's hoping I do okay - at the very least, I've been able to fill out a couple of pages for my vintage set pursuits!

Keep Collecting,

Ryan


Tuesday, April 1, 2014

One of My Favorite Cards - 2005 Fleer Classic Clippings Insert, 5 of 10 (#'d 146/1988)

I always love cards that commemorate a specific event or even better - a specific baseball event that I experienced.

This card is a great example of that and, while I was not in Chavez Ravine or even cheering for the Dodgers (quite the opposite)......I will NEVER forget watching Gibson tag that game-winning shot off of The Eck in Game 1.   It crushed my Bash Brothers soul (a foreshadowing of many several decades to come, ugh) but delighted me as a baseball fan.   This is probably one of my earliest baseball-watching memories and cards like this will help to ensure that none of us ever forget!


Trivia: The "4" in Griffin's line refers to what stat?

Here's the back of the card with a very succinct but powerful recap:


Very pleased to have this card in my collection - I wonder what the other 9 "clippings" are from this insert set?   Can anybody fill me in?

Thanks for reading!