So Much Oddball Vintage; 2019 National Recap Part #3

If I'm being honest, I forgot about some of my goals for The 2019 National when I walked into the show last Wednesday in Chicago. 

The purpose behind those objectives was to add some structure to what can be a hectic event. I was successful in accomplishing my goals for last year's show in Cleveland, but for some reason, things were different this time around.

The 2019 National was definitely larger than last year's show in Cleveland. The fact that Chicago is such a dynamic sports city certainly helped, but there seemed to be more vendors and a stronger buzz surrounding the convention this time. 

Throughout my 2 1/2 days at the show, one thing remained on my radar nonstop; vintage cards. The shows that I usually attend have a fair amount of vintage, but the prices are often steep and the selection limited.

Because of the sheer scale of The National, you can't walk for 2 minutes without stumbling upon boxes and display cases full of cards from the 1970s and before.

I brought my want list along to make progress with 1961, 1976, and 1979 Topps, but I soon found myself filling in some other holes and venturing out towards oddball cards as well.

My Dad has always told me that his ideal set to complete is 1955 Bowman Baseball (mine's 1953 Topps). Although the checklist consists of just 320 cards, there are a significant number of Hall of Famers in the set, including 2nd-year cards of Ernie Banks and Al Kaline. 

The small set size is something that '55 Bowman has going for it that most vintage sets do not, so it makes sense to begin collecting these beautiful cards. The sole key rookie is Elston Howard (#68), and my Dad was able to track that card down for only $3.

I'm not big on starting a project that I likely won't finish, but I don't necessarily believe that's the case with 1955 Bowman. We may choose to go forward with this product with the understanding that it'll be a challenge, but I far from believe that completing this set is impossible.

Another one of my Dad's mini-projects throughout our time at The National was building a small collection of these Baseball's Famous Feats cards, a set put out by Fleer in 1973. 

Upon seeing these for the first time, I drew comparisons between the oversized cards above and the Fleer World Series sets from the early 1970s (which I'll get to later). 

The bold colors and cartoon design are used to honor significant events in Baseball history, like Hornsby's Triple Crowns and Cobb's batting titles.

These cards aren't quite large enough for vintage penny sleeves, meaning I'll have to buy some individual sheets the next time I'm at the Baseball card show to protect this set.

A couple of weeks ago, I left a comment on The Chronicles of Fuji's post, stating how fond I am of the 1970 Topps Posters. I could go on for hours about them, so I'll keep in brief. They're colorful, the perfect size, and feature some of the greatest players in MLB history.

While I can't say I was actively searching for these throughout my time at The National, I didn't spot any 1970 Topps Posters while I was there. Thankfully, my Dad landed one of Dodgers outfielder Willie Davis for only $2. 

There are just 24 posters in the set, so I might start putting this set together as well now that I'm wrapping up '76 and '79 Topps Flagship.

More old school oddballs, because where else would you be able to find 1983 Milwaukee Police Department cards of Robin Yount and Rollie Fingers? Sometimes this hobby can get pretty strange, and I absolutely love it.

Like the Fleer Famous Feats, these cards are oversized, so I'm not sure where I'm going to store them since they won't be able to fit with the other cards in the Robin Yount and Rollie Fingers PCs. However, these were my Dad's pickups as well, and for $1 each, I can figure something out.

Before I get into the vintage oddballs from a couple of sets, here's one of the coolest things that we picked up during our time at the show; a ticket stub from game #3 of the 1972 NLCS between the Reds and the Pirates at Riverfront Stadium.

I forget where exactly this came from or what my Dad paid for it, but this thing is pretty cool. We don't have all that many old tickets besides a couple of Red Sox ones from the late 70s, so I'm thrilled to add this to our collection of Cincinnati Reds memorabilia.

I stated earlier in this post that I'd talk more about the Fleer World Series cards from the early 1970s. What I didn't mention is that my Dad picked up a huge lot of these cards from the 1970 and 1971 sets, one of his largest pickups of the show.

Last Thursday, he found a vendor who was selling these cards by the page and received a substantial discount when he purchased almost everything the dealer had. We've both taken a liking to these oddballs in the past, and the fact that we barely had any beforehand only inspired my Dad more. 

All the cards above are from the 1970 set, but Fleer did the exact same thing in '71 by creating a cartoon for each Fall Classic. On the back, there's a quick blurb about the series as well as who won and how many games it lasted.

The 1971 design differs slightly from the previous year. The top corner features the MLB logo and the year of the World Series instead of a Baseball. Other than that small difference, there's no real way to tell them apart, for the style of the cartoons is nearly identical. 

Following this significant purchase, our next step regarding these 2 sets is to add them to the want list. Because of how uncommon they are, I assume we'll have to rely on major shows and the internet to complete the respective products.

Last but certainly not least, I'm thrilled to announce that we worked towards completing yet another vintage set in Chicago, the 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set. 

Like '55 Bowman and the '70 Topps Posters, the checklist is on the small side (80 cards), and we actually see this set somewhat regularly at the Mansfield show.

However, the price of these cards often gets out of hand, especially when they're in stellar condition. As far as completing sets is concerned, I've never cared too much about the shape that the card is in so long as it's all in 1 piece.

Thus, while searching for cards from the '59 Ted Williams set, neither my Dad nor myself put much emphasis on the condition of the card. As you can see, many have creases, frayed edges, and are slightly miss-cut. 

However, there's no card in horrible shape, and our open-mindedness is what allowed us to purchase as many of these set needs as we did.

If I wanted to build a set in which all the cards were in a certain condition, I'd have to be a bit more careful with what I purchase. However, that's never been and likely never will be the case with the cards that I buy, so I, truthfully, don't care that these cards have creases. 

A Huge Haul of Vintage Pickups; Card Show Recap #20

With all the Baseball card box purchases that I've been making this year, both retail and hobby, I haven't been making all that many trips to the Baseball card show through the first 4 months of 2019.

Excluding an abbreviated visit towards the end of March which was designed for supplies, dime cards, and a box of Gypsy Queen, I haven't attended a card show since the middle of February. I can't really give a reason as to why I've been absent from them for so long, especially the weekly Woburn show which is just 25 minutes away from my house.

I've been attending Baseball card shows since I first started collecting cards, and they've become a vital part of my collecting habits. Without them, I'd struggle, immensely, to collect cards the way I d. I'd most certainly have to change ways of collecting Baseball cards without trips to the card show every now and again.

I try to visit the Woburn and Mansfield shows as much as I can, but there's another card show near me that only runs 2 times a year. Located at the Shriners Auditorium, you may recall that I visited this show towards the end of last April as well. 

Other than The 2018 National in Cleveland, Ohio, this is the largest card show that I've ever attended. With hundreds of vendors present and legends like Juan Marichal signing autographs, this isn't a show that I'd ever want to miss out on. I really couldn't think of any better way to ease back into going to card shows more regularly than going to the Shriner's show for the 2nd straight year. 

Of course, there are a million different directions and options for collectors at this show but setting goals for myself is not something that I typically do. Instead, I'd rather just walk into the room, look around for a bit, and see what happens. 

However, I didn't purchase any of the cards featured in this post. They were all my Dad's choices as he loves to boost our vintage card collection totals, whether we collect the player or not. While I'm more focused on adding to our various player collections, my Dad's main objective, usually, at card shows is to acquire as many well-priced vintage cards as possible.

I'm fairly sure that I don't have either of these 2 cards in my respective Cubs and Red Sox team collections, so I'm still pleased to pick both of them up. I often find myself taking old cards for granted nowadays with all the focus being around autographs and low-numbered parallels. 

Sure, it can be a blast to open new packs of cards and chase after autographs and low-numbered rookie cards, but there's something about the simplicity of vintage cards that cannot be beaten.

Even so, I'll almost always choose cards of players that I collect above all others, especially with the development of my player collection tiers. At 142 total cards, the Reggie Jackson player collection is 21st largest among guys that I collect, and Sunday's show boosted that total by at least 2 cards. 

There's a very good chance that I picked up some Jackson cards in the dime bins yesterday as well, but even if I didn't, I'm more than happy with the 2 cards from 1978 Topps. Seeing the record breaker and World Series highlights cards remind me of how dominant of a player Reggie Jackson was. 

He may hold the all-time record for most career strikeouts, but at the time in which he played, very few players could hit as well as Mr. October.

Although Topps was the only major Baseball card producer for over 2 decades, they made sure to keep their Flagship sets interesting with subsets within the product, including boyhood photos of the stars and big league brothers cards from 1973 and 1977 Topps respectively.

While I've seen the childhood photos cards in 1972 Topps, I don't recall seeing big league brothers in any other Topps Flagship set. We've seen father and son a couple of times, but I'm fairly certain that 1977 Topps was the only set to feature siblings. 

In addition to Ken and George Brett, I recall seeing this same card of Rick and Paul Reuschel. 

Upon seeing the backs of these (I believe) 1962 Post Baseball cards, it makes sense why these were available for only $1-$2 each. 

On the bright side, as if the fronts weren't informative enough, I'll at least be able to know who the player is based on the writing on the back along with a weird shape near the checkmark on Don Zimmer's card.

At last April's Shriner's Show, I remember purchasing my first-ever Post Baseball card of Yogi Berra for $5. Come to think of it, a $5 card from this set of a Hall of Famer is a far better deal than paying $1-2 for a Don Zimmer card with a ton of writing on the back.

I rarely get the opportunity, especially at my regular Baseball card show, to buy cards from the 1962 Post set, so, if nothing else, I appreciate the fact that they were at this show. 

With the exception of The National, I doubt I'll get another chance to buy these oddballs at a Baseball card show for the rest of the year.

Truth be told, it's hard to have a conversation about vintage oddballs without mentioning the 1969 Topps Deckle Edge set. One of the first true insert sets of all-time, these cards were brilliantly recreated as a part of the 2018 Topps Heritage product. However, as is usually the case, nothing can beat the originals.

At the 2018 National, I scooped up a ton of these cards for my player collections for a very reasonable price. That list includes legends like Willie McCovey and Rod Carew, but I was never able to find Bob Gibson, for whatever reason.

Now, almost 9 months after returning home from Cleveland, I have the Bob Gibson Deckle Edge card for my collection.

One of Bob Gibson's teammates from the 1960s, Curt Flood, is one of the most difficult player collections to maintain, for it can be impossible to add new cards to this PC. Every so often, when one of them comes along, I take it as a huge victory.

As you can tell, it's not every day that I add a new card of Curt Flood to that respective player collection. Not only are his vintage cards scarce, but there are virtually zero reproduction cards of his.  

It's likely that, given his lawsuit against MLB, that Topps is forbidden from producing cards of the 3-time All-Star

Given that Flood refused to play a game for the Philadelphia Phillies, I don't quite know what to think of this card. Truthfully, I didn't completely connect the dots until just now. Rather, I'm just pleased to add another card to the Curt Flood player collection.

As far as cards of guys I don't collect are concerned, I'm far more lenient with 3D cards, particularly those from the 1970s Kellogg's set. I currently have 2 binders dedicated solely to my 3D cards, so there's automatically a place set aside for these oddballs which cost my dad roughly $1 each.

I'm familiar with basically every Kellogg's 3D card design, but I had never seen the 1976 set until yesterday's show. The yellow banners and bright colors quickly made this set one of my favorites of all-time, especially given the players featured in this product.

1976 Topps is one of my favorite Topps sets ever produced for a lot of the same reasons, so I'm not surprised with how fond I've become of the '76 Kellogg's product in such a short period of time.

To my knowledge, the 1970 Kellogg's 3D cards are some of, if not the oldest 3D cards ever produced. Going into yesterday's trip to the Shriner's show, I had just one card from that set. Now, that number has grown to 3 and includes a Cubs player as well as the first 3D card in my collection that features a member of the Seattle Pilots.

I don't recall ever seeing a Pilots 3D card before in my life, and it may be quite some time before I see another one, if it even exists. Other than a Jim Bouton card from 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game, this Don Mincher 3D card is the only non-Flagship Pilots card in my collection.

Now that I've completed the 1969 and 1970 Topps base sets for the Seattle Pilots, it's time to move onto any available oddballs. Evidently, Kellogg's is a fantastic place to start.

As I've mentioned before on the blog and to other collectors at Baseball card shows, there comes a point, for me personally, when a card's condition is no longer a huge factor. Yes, you want your cards, especially the valuable ones, to be as close to mint condition as possible, but it doesn't always work out that way.

After all, if this 1968 Topps card of Juan Marichal had been in better condition, I doubt that it would be in my collection right now. Somebody else might've purchased it before my Dad got the chance, or the price for this card without the crease could've been too high.

Yes, a noticeable crease across the entire card isn't exactly ideal, but this card is so classic looking, a near-perfect embodiment of 1960s Baseball cards. 1968 Topps is one of my favorite vintage sets, and Marichal is one of my favorite HOF players to collect as well.

Nothing for nothing, but I'll take this card over a pack of some over-priced modern product any day.

Old-Time Players and Modern-Day Inserts; Card Show Recap #14 Part #2

As fabulous as yesterday's dime boxes ended up being, I knew I couldn't spend all my time and money searching through those bins all afternoon. Not that I was opposed to doing so, but because I knew there were many other options to be explored at this particular show, and I was ready to take full advantage of them.

I allotted myself around 10 minutes to walk around the show just to have an idea of what was available, and there sure was no shortage of options. There were likely over 100 vendors at this show, some with items far and beyond my budget. Display cases loaded with graded vintage, stacks of brand new hobby boxes and old-school pennants made up just a fraction of what was available.

Eventually, my searching brought me to a 50 cent box that I looked through after meeting up with my Dad who presented a couple stacks of cards that he had bought for around $1 each. This post serves as a combination of what we collectively picked up from a couple of different dealers.

I already forgot what year these Draft History inserts are from as soon as I scanned them, though I know for certain they're not from 2017. Not that I necessarily needed to know the exact year these cards are from in order to pick up new cards of Nolan Ryan, my largest player collection, and Ken Griffey Jr. who officially reached 200 cards thanks in part to yesterday's dime boxes.

As far as 2017 silver pack 1987 cards go, 50 cents each is a heck off a good deal, especially when the players are both guys I have over 100 cards of. Though I have a few 2018 silver pack cards and picked up more of them yesterday, my only 2017 silver pack card before grabbing these 2 was of David Price, a card I picked up at the Mansfield show earlier this year.

Considering that the 2001 UD Decade 1970's set was made to, well, honor the 1970's, the greatest decade in baseball history, it's pretty much expected that the base and insert cards would embrace the colors and designs synonymous with the 1970's decade. Indeed, Upper Deck accomplished that, especially with the Decade Dynasties inserts that I grabbed of Catfish Hunter and Mike Schmidt.

All the cards up until now were cards that we collectively decided on at the 50 cent bins, but beforehand, my Dad had just purchased a nice selection of cards from another vendor, including a wide range of cards of the legendary Ted Williams. Ranging from Upper Deck Play Ball to Panini Golden Age, the 4 cards shown above represent not even half of the selection of cards my Dad picked up of Ted Terrific. 

Probably one of my favorite parts of the way I collect cards is discovering brand new sets that I had never seen before, even if the sets are part of a brand I'm fairly familiar with, like Topps Tribute. For example, I had never seen the 2002 Topps Tribute design before in my life until my Dad picked up a few singles for our player collections. Ah, the endless wonders of card collecting.

As far as Topps Tribute goes, my Dad wasn't done and went on to pick up 2 different cards of Roberto Clemente, his favorite player, from this high-end brand. As I elaborated on yesterday, Clemente is one of my favorite players to collect just due to how amazing of a human being he was. 

Given that there's no shortage of incredible cards of Clemente with the 2 above falling right into that category, it's evident why he's been near the top of my list of player collections despite him not being at 100 cards quite yet.

Back to the 50 cent bins for a brief moment, I have to say I've become more and more fond of Rhys Hoskins throughout the 2018 season, especially after his Home Run Derby performance. Sure, he didn't have the best 2nd half with September being a particularly bad month, but this rookie power hitter has a lot to show for someone who's still just 25. A simple rise in his batting average could for sure catapult him to one of baseball's superstars as early as next season.

I love these 70's Padres uniforms. I love fun parallel cards. That is all.

Every so often, certain cards come along that I have absolutely no clue what they're called. With absolutely no information on the card backs, I can't know for sure what these cards are from. Honestly, I don't even have a clue, but that's what the blog is for. 

Like the majority of the cards he picked up, my Dad grabbed these cards for our player collections and given the players he found, I'd say it's from the late 60's or so.

1 week later and my hype for the World Champion Boston Red Sox has settled, albeit barely. Anytime I see cards of these guys, I not only get excited about 2018, but I get hyped for the 2019 season as well. With their young players on the rise after successful 2018 seasons, any chance I have at picking up cards of them is one I'm going to take, especially when it's numbered 13/25 like this Xander Boagerts 2017 Bowman insert is.

Topps always makes their orange refractors very low-numbered which is contrary to what I've seen Panini do. I must say I'm very glad the orange doesn't take up the whole card as I feel just the borders is the perfect amount of color for something like this. For 1/4 of the price of a blaster, this low-numbered parallel of a World Series champion shortstop is an incredible deal.