My Best Yankees Cards

Along with the Red Sox and Cubs, it seems that I have a natural ability to both purchase New York Yankees cards and pull them from packs. Because of that, I'd go as far as to say that the Yankees are the 3rd most represented team in my entire collection, behind only the 2 previously mentioned clubs.

While I don't quite know if this is a positive thing or not, it's somewhat odd for a collector like myself to actively collect cards of the Red Sox's arch-rival. But, with the seemingly endless number of Yankees cards out there, it's pretty difficult to avoid them. 

Whether you're opening a pack or making your way through a dime box, Yankees cards seem to be everywhere. After all, there are my Yankees cards listed on COMC than any other team, and I believe that to be a fair representation of all the cards out there to collect. 

Regardless, the abundance of Yankees cards has resulted in some pretty major cards making their way into my collection, either via a pack of cards or a direct purchase at the Baseball card show or online. 

As a result, this Red Sox fan has been left with a plethora of various Yankees cards, some of them even proving to be among the best cards in my entire collection. Today, I'll be taking a more in-depth look at the greatest Yankees cards that I own.

To commence this Yankees-centric post, I have a classic-looking card of one of the most underrated pitchers of all-time, Whitey Ford. Despite career stats that include a 2.75 ERA, 45 shutouts, and nearly 2,000 strikeouts, Ford isn't as widely recognized as other Yankees legends that you'll see later on in this post.

I have an older card of Whitey Ford from the 1958 Topps set, but the condition and the centering are pretty lackluster. Because of that, I went with my 5.5 Beckett graded card of Ford from '66 Topps instead.

The grade may not be the best, but this 1958 Topps All-Star card of Mickey Mantle is tied for the oldest Mantle card in my collection. Personally, the 2.5 grade doesn't matter as much given how fabulous these original All-Star cards from '58 are. 

My original look at these classic All-Star cards was from the 2007 Topps Heritage set with guys like David Ortiz and Albert Pujols. Nothing can truly compare to the originals, much less a Mickey Mantle card from this memorable set.

Tied with the previous card for my oldest card of the highly-collectible Mickey Mantle is another card from the 1958 Topps set, this one a World Series Batting Foes combo card, showcasing 2 of the greatest hitters in Baseball history.

Because base cards tend to possess a higher value than combo cards like the one above, the Batting Foes card isn't as valuable as Mantle's iconic base card from '58. Still, this card has been in my collection as long as I can remember, so you can definitely say I've grown attached to it. 

Even though I understood that the card wouldn't receive a high grade, getting this card graded was an easy decision to preserve this fabulous piece.

Finishing up with these combo cards, here's the final big one in my Yankees collection, this one from the wood-bordered 1962 Topps set. Originally, I had 2 of these graded, and I sold the one graded at a 4 on eBay. I saved the other card, graded at a Beckett 5, because, like the '58 card, it features 2 of the greatest players in Baseball history.

It certainly would be a "Managers' Dream" to have either one of these guys on your team, and it's still pretty surreal that I even have this card in the first place. Similar to the World Series combo card from '58, this card has always been a part of my collection. Getting it graded at a 5, however, was something totally unexpected.

In terms of my major modern-day Yankees cards, the best place to start would be the cards that were most recently added to my collection, a quartet of printing plates from the 2016 Leaf Babe Ruth Collection product. 

An entire set composed solely of Babe Ruth cards, Leaf did the best that they could without licensing rights and created a memorable and unique product. However, I didn't pull these 4 cards from a pack of cards. 

Rather, I grabbed this 4-card lot from a vendor at a major card show last year for a very fair price. At just north of $15 per card, this will go down in history as one of my greatest Baseball card show finds of all-time.

And as a result of that very same card show, I added this unbelievable card to my collection, and for the very first time throughout this entire post, the card I'm showing is one that I pulled myself from a pack of cards.

Though that feat will become more common over the next couple of cards that I show, pulling this Mickey Mantle warm-up jacket from a pack of 2010 Topps 206 was incredibly surreal. I certainly wasn't expecting anything close to this good to come from the box that I opened. 

It was simply supposed to be a fun and relatively inexpensive box break, and I ended up with a card that could pay for the entire box that I opened and then some. At some point in the near future, I could see myself submitting this card for Beckett grading as well.

Another card that I pulled from a pack myself, this one from a $10 rack pack of 2017 Topps Chrome, we have this Aaron Judge image variation rookie, a card I've likely shown here on the blog before today.

Back in August of 2017, Aaron Judge was at the peak of popularity, even making the cover of the 2017 Topps Chrome set. Because of that, everyone was looking to cash in and pull a valuable Judge card, including me. I just didn't expect that hit to come out of retail.

Flash forward roughly 1 and a half years and that card is now graded at a 9.5 and is easily the greatest Judge card that I own. Certainly, Topps Chrome retail was kind to me in 2017, and the same could definitely be said for the 2018 set as well.

If the Judge image variation was a major hit, I don't even have the words to express what this Gleyber Torres autograph pull meant to me, especially since I pulled it out of a blaster of Topps Chrome at last years' National in Cleveland. 

Numbered out of 250 copies, this Torres card is a purple refractor auto of one of the biggest rookie names of 2018. I made the decision to get this card graded as quickly as possible, while at The National, and I'll definitely be holding onto this stellar autograph, hoping Torres continues to progress as a talented and young player.

But honestly, none of these cards can truly compare to the beauty that is this 1962 Topps graded Mickey Mantle card, the one and only Topps base card of Mantle that I own, graded at a 3.5. Like all the other vintage cards showcased on this post, this Mickey Mantle card didn't receive the highest grade for the same reason that many vintage cards fail to do so as well. 

Even though the condition is obviously important for vintage cards, it doesn't matter all that much to me considering the fact that, like the rest of the cards shown above, I'll be holding onto this Mantle card from '62 Topps and not selling it.

If I wasn't convinced beforehand, this post did its job and changed my mind. All of a sudden, I'm not so certain that having too many Yankees cards is such a bad thing after all.

That still doesn't mean I like the team, though.

The 2 Greatest Words; BGS Mail Day

Many months ago, I made the decision to begin preserving certain cards in my collection in the most effective manner possible; submitting these cards for Beckett Grading.

I suppose it all started over a year ago when I was pondering the most effective way to store my cards. As I began to realize that binders, at least in my case, weren't keeping the vintage cards from all the dust that tends to get under the plastic sheets. 

With some cards of Hall of Famers in my collection dating back to the 50's, I knew it was up to me to preserve some of them, and what better way than having them graded at the same time.

As for the PSA vs Beckett debate, I've always been more fond of the latter of the 2 due to their accessible population report online, sub-grades (not for vintage, though), and autograph authentication grades as well. That's why I hand-selected a few Beckett cards to send off for grading, cards I just recently got back in the mail.

Quite possibly the biggest surprise of the bunch was the  1970 Kellogg's 3D card of Tom Seaver receiving a stellar grade of 8.0. I knew the card, especially for its age, was in very good shape which is why I sent it out. However, I wasn't expecting it to return with a grade so high. After all, 8.0 is cutting it very close to the grades some modern cards, typically chrome cardstock, tend to receive.

In what could very well be the greatest duo ever shown on a combo card in baseball card history, MLB legends Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays both appeared on this Managers' Dream card as a part of the 1962 Topps set. For many years now, it's been up to me to take good care of these 50+-year-old cards while also keeping them in as good of condition as possible. That's why, in a way, I felt validated to get this card back at a respectable grade of 5.0.

As if one Mantle card wasn't enough, I made the decision to send out 2 different Mantle's from the same 1962 Topps set with the 2nd card, Mickey's base card, coming back at a grade of 3.5, deemed "very good" by Beckett. Most of the vintage cards in my possession were bought by my Dad many years ago in a big grocery bag for $20, resulting in a massive variety of different cards of Hall of Famers and legends.

Because of how they were stored for so long, the condition on them isn't the greatest, but ultimately, any grade we can get on them is considered a plus due to how long these cards went without proper care. No matter what, a 3.5 on a Mickey Mantle base card is something I'm absolutely stoked about.

And yet, there was an even more magnificent card included in the BGS order. One of the crown jewels of my entire baseball card collection and a card that, to my knowledge, I've yet to show here on the blog. 

This is Ernie Banks' 1954 Topps rookie card, graded at a BGS 3.0, I grade I am incredibly pleased with due to already being at a disadvantage due to the card being slightly miss-cut, particularly noticeable at the top.

For nearly 2 decades, this card sat in a vintage card sleeve in a custom picture frame on a bookshelf in my house, safe from dust, sure, but not necessarily from drops or at least, not protected at the level this card should be. When I was forming this list, Banks' rookie card was an easy choice to include for obvious reasons, but also because it would ensure it would be protected more so than just the picture frame it sat in beforehand.

Along with the 1/1 Cubs quad relic from 2017 Heritage, the Ernie Banks rookie card is at the pinnacle of my entire collection. Now, both incredibly special Cubs cards are safely graded in Beckett slabs, capping off what was a successful BGS order.

Unbelievable Ruth and Mantle Cards; Card Show Recap #14 Part #3

As far as Red Sox fans go, I sure do collect a ton of Yankees players, leading to my collection having more Yankees cards than one would expect from a fan of the arch-rival team.

Whether it's old-time players like Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra or recent Yankees stars like Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira, I've always had some degree of respect for their organization and the standards they continuously set, and that's something exhibited through their players on and off the field.

With 27 World Championships, something I feel we're constantly reminded of, it's difficult to deny the Yankees' impact on the sport of baseball as a whole. However, I never really thought I'd ever invest a lot into Yankees cards or at least, not before seeing other options, whether online or at the show.

With that being said, Sunday's GBSCC show at Shriners Auditorium was an exception to this notion. The first 2 purchases, a mix of cards ranging from 10 cents to around 2 dollars each, guaranteed I'd be bringing home a wide selection of cards. However, it was time to look for something special to find at this once-a-year card show, and I'm proud to say I was successful.

Never before had I seen a Babe Ruth printing plate in-person, let alone thought about purchasing one. With printing plates typically being expensive and Babe Ruth being a highly sought-after player, I always assumed it'd cost me hundreds just to get one. However, I was proven wrong and at a loss for words at the same time at Sunday's show.

Since the 2016 Leaf Babe Ruth Collection set consists of, well, all Babe Ruth cards, more Babe Ruth printing plates finally became available a couple years ago. Given how many cards were in this set, the prices fell just enough for them to be in my price range while also still having a fair value to them.

But wait, there's more?

Not only did these immaculate printing plates catch my eye, a hard thing to do at such a large sports card show, but they also happened to be for sale at a vendor's booth from the show I typically attend. More on that later. Both of these plates say "original Yankee stadium seat" at the very bottom, leading me to believe these were printing plates used to make the actual stadium seat relics from this set. 

If I'm, in fact, not mistaken, then these printing plates are even cooler than I once thought they were.

And if the first 2 weren't enough, try a printing plate of one of the Career Achievements inserts, 2,213 RBI, and finally, I was sold on these 2016 Leaf Babe Ruth Collection plates. I knew I wanted to add these to my collection, double my number of printing plate cards, and cap off my dad's birthday weekend all in 1. 

I had never seen anything like these cards before. I mean, how often do you see 1/1 cards of the greatest player in baseball history? However, the half sticker price, which the dealer always offers customers, was still a bit more than I wanted to pay. Just for the hell of it, I asked him what he was willing to do for all the plates. His response?

Well, let's just say I ended up paying less than the price of a blaster box of cards per plate, easily one of the best deals if not the best deal I've ever gotten on such special baseball cards in my life. 

Just like that, I was able to add 4 incredibly unique, collectible, well-priced, and just downright awesome cards to my collection for a price I couldn't believe. With the purchase of these 4 cards, the number of printing plates in my collection rose from 3 all the way up to 7.

But somehow, the next card, pulled out of a pack, was the best Yankees card of the day. Although it wasn't a 1/1 or even numbered like the Babe Ruth plates, the title of this post implies this final special card is going to be one of Mickey Mantle. Here it is, a card already up there with the best pulls of my life.

If I was speechless about the Babe Ruth printing plates and their prices, I don't think there's a word in the English language to describe how I felt after pulling this Mickey Mantle warm-up jacket relic from a pack of 2010 Topps 206, hands shaking as I saw the name at the bottom of the card.

Quick backstory; we saw a box of 2010 Topps 206, a base set we're trying to build, at the same time as the Babe Ruth printing plates for an exceptional price. Since the set was still fresh in my mind and the 300-card base set was still fairly far away from being completed, we decided to cap off what had already been an unbelievable and fabulous show with 1 final major treat.

Around 7 packs in, I pulled what will likely go down as a top 5 hit ever pulled by me or my Dad despite the card not being numbered. A quick eBay search determined the card is going for around $75 which is quite a lot for a non-numbered card. Then again, it's Mickey Mantle, so it makes sense.

As a baseball card collector, having these 5 new cards in my possession is something I would never expect. Even as a die-hard Red Sox fan, it would be extremely difficult to give these cards up and sell them. In the case of the Mantle card, I pulled it myself out of a pack. As for the Babe Ruth cards, the story behind finding them at the show is one to remember.

And while I probably shouldn't spend a dime on cards 'till Christmas after this insane show, I wouldn't have it any other way.