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Too many interests


Every once in awhile, I think about collecting a nonsports set. Not any science fiction thing, I don't get into that. But a set about a TV show or a movie sounds interesting.

Unfortunately, I can't do that. I already collect too much ... uh ... stuff.

That realization hit me like 2,000 junk wax commons in the middle of yesterday's card show. I was bouncing between 1970s cereal issues and 1950s Topps and '60s cards in the discount bin when I saw him.

There was this man, roaming from table to table, searching for one card. It was a card of Eddie Waitkus, the player shot by a young, obsessed, female fan that then led to the book and the movie, "The Natural." Apparently the card makes mention of the incident on the back and this man wanted that card.

After thinking, "what a cool card," I kept thinking, "is that all he's here for?"

Shortly after that, I talked to a man who was looking for a graded copy of a late 1950s Brooks Robinson, 1958 I think. That was it. One card. And I thought, "I wonder if I would have driven over an hour to obtain one card?"

I also started to wonder if I was accumulating too much and not focusing enough. Maybe I should be searching for a single card and chatting up the dealers like I see so many collectors do at these shows. I don't think they even leave with any cards.

Don't worry, this doesn't mean I'm changing anything about my collecting habits. I like what I like and I like a lot of it. I've been this way since I was little. I won't apologize for it as long as the budget's right. I just needed that moment to ponder what other folks do and picture myself doing the same. I couldn't picture it, so I went back to pulling card after card as I hummed a happy tune to myself.

There is possibly a day coming when I go to a card show in pursuit of a single card. But by then I will have definitely accumulated A LOT.

But let's put aside that collecting philosophical stuff and see my most recent accumulations! I'll break it down in bite-size chunks so you don't get light-headed.

Commence goodies:


NEWEST CARDS ACQUIRED: Fifteen cents per ugly card? Let me at 'em. I wish I could have found all the Dodgers from this set and be done with 2013 GQ forever, but there are still five or six agonizing cards to go.


This one was more than 15 cents. But it shouldn't be. Koufax shows up in sets as often as Yadier Molina.



OLDEST CARDS ACQUIRED: The most disappointing part of the show was my inability to find the two '56 Topps Dodgers that I knew I'd be able to manage in my budget -- Walt Alston and Pee Wee Reese. Both were nowhere to be found, even though I've seen them repeatedly at this show.

So I grabbed two random cheapies in my half-hearted bid to complete this set. I keep hearing on the blogs about how Virgil Trucks was a good guy. So now I have his card. Jim Hegan? Unfortunately, nobody on the blogs talks about him.



HIGHEST CARDS ACQUIRED: As in high numbers! Yup, I actually made a concerted effort to find some '72s after rudely ignoring them for so many shows. Some of these came from the discount bins (no, there were no dime boxes or quarter boxes). Some were slightly more money. All no lower than card No. 524.



The Ollie Brown In Action card is one of those ones with a puzzle piece on the back. Here is the puzzle portion for Ollie's reverse side:


I could take this card around and haunt a few people with half of Joe Torre's head.



LOWEST CARD ACQUIRED: Well, if Topps still used numbers for their inserts instead of ass-confusing "TN-KK," this would be numbered TN-7, which would be around the lowest numbered card I picked up (sorry I didn't find anything serial-numbered).

The 2013 Heritage binder I looked through was frustrating and completely picked over. And then I totally screwed up Ted Lilly's card number and he was probably sitting in the binder for a mere 10 cents. Ted's already up on the Nebulous 9.



ODDEST CARDS ACQUIRED: It doesn't get more oddball than Kelloggs cards from the 1970s. I wanted to find some cards from earlier in the '70s -- those "oh, wow, I remember those cards from around 1975-78. But these were cheaper, and I'm a slave to cheaper. I also love the '79 Kelloggs set.


I also grabbed a couple of 1980 Kelloggs cards. That was the last set my brothers and I ordered through the  mail-order address on the side of the Frosted Flakes box. Four years straight of doing that.



I LIED, THESE ARE THE ODDEST CARDS ACQUIRED: Endlessly amusing are the cards of trophies that are part of the high-numbered series in 1972 Topps. The Rookie of the Year one is pretty cool on this day as it's actually the "Jackie Robinson Award." But I can't imagine any kid being happy with these cards. I can picture them pulling them out of their wax packs and scratching their head.



MOST EXPENSIVE CARD ACQUIRED: I didn't expect the 1963 Dodgers team card to be so much money. But I suppose Koufax, Drysdale, Willie and Tommy Davis and Frank Howard are in there somewhere. And the card appeared in the set mere months before L.A. swept the Yankees in the Series. ...OK, so it was worth 20 bucks.

Besides, there is this bit of fantastic:





Look, there's one of the singing stars now.


Roseboro apparently didn't have the voice.

I am getting pretty close to completing the 1963 Dodgers team set (except for that stupid Ken McMullen rookie card). Guess I have to start thinking about obtaining Koufax.



YELLOWEST CARDS ACQUIRED: People really loved their blazing yellow in the late 1950s, didn't they?

I didn't have much luck finding 1960s Dodger needs -- more frustration with picked-over binders -- so I went straight to the '50s, which is something I haven't done much of except for 1956.

These are all cards I've seen so often that I thought I had them already. Now I really do.



PLAYERS YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE BROOKLYN DODGERS CARDS ACQUIRED: Yes, I'm one of those people who grabs the cheap cards while 1957 Roy Campanella hangs over my head card show after card show.

I don't care. Grabbing '57 cards is fun no matter who it is.


See? Fun. And Craig managed the Giants.



MOST SPECTACULAR SCENE ON A CARD ACQUIRED: Charley Neal's card is not the only example of the Schaefer scoreboard in Ebbets Field appearing in the 1957 set. But each time I see it, I think I have obtained the greatest-looking card ever made.



BIGGEST BREAKTHROUGH CARD ACQUIRED: Wait. I should show it appropriately.

...

...


It's a Nolan Ryan '75 miiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!

I never expect to see '75 minis at this card show. And I never do. But I was walking by a table and the "for sale sign" on the card jumped out at me. "Is that a '75 MINI of NOLAN RYAN?" I snagged it for a decent price (marked down off the sale price). And then I asked:

Do you have any other '75 minis?

The dealer told me "no" in a slightly dismissive tone, like "such a question, nobody collects those things."

Then he said, "I think I have a bunch in the garage somewhere."

I stared.

I then gave him a "WELL GO AND GET THEM" look. But apparently he doesn't speak '75 mini.

It always amazes me when a card dealer doesn't appreciate the greatness of what they have in front of them.

Anyway, I thought the Ryan would be another one of those cards in the mini set that it would take forever to grab, but fortunately I was wrong again. And I found a '75 mini at the card show. That's a breakthrough.

Outside of that I grabbed a few small items for random bloggers. Really not as much as I figured. The show didn't seem as busy as it usually is and I was momentarily concerned when I entered the show and an older man and his wife exited. He said to her: "it used to be a lot better."

But as you can see that didn't faze me.

I like everything.

Comments

Nick said…
Too many interests?

Never!

I, too, am puzzled at the people that go to shows in search of one card.

Nice finds on the Kellogg's cards! I can never seem to find those around here.
Commishbob said…
I just now finished an entry (to be posted this week) about my search for one card! I know I drove to a San Antonio show (3.5 hours) and a Beaumont show (1.5 hrs) in hopes of finding it.

btw... the '57 Charlie Neal card is freaking gold!!! I never really gave it much thought but looking at it made me want one. Off to COMC!!

Jeff said…
"I just needed that moment to ponder what other folks do and picture myself doing the same. I couldn't picture it, so I went back to pulling card after card as I hummed a happy tune to myself."

Awesome
BASEBALL DAD said…
You're right, nobody including myself talks about Jim Hegan. I have some of his cards but vintage is usually out of my price range. Sometimes I think I should go more for quality than quantity.

John Roseboro, if you look at some of his cards, it lists Ashland ,Ohio as his home town, which is just 15 miles south of my home. Somewhere I have a Christmas card that I picked up at a local auction, that came from the Roseboro home to a family here in New London.
Unknown said…
Me thinks I need that Neal card for the Ebbets scoreboard as well.
jacobmrley said…
I have that '56 Trucks autographed from a show a million years ago.

If you need one card, that's why they make the internet.

Eddie Waitkus cards are a dime a dozen (and more than one of his cards mentioned his "deranged" female fan - I think that is the word they used)
jacobmrley said…
I take that back, I have one crazed:

http://www.707sportscards.com/raw/9218.jpg

One deranged:

http://www.tradingcarddb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/35/35-4Bk.jpg

and one demented:

http://img.beckett.com/images/items_stock/185223/3585657/3585700/back.jpg

Seems they had the thesaurus out in the 50's for such occasions.
Mark said…
I'm a bit jealous of those "one card" show-goers. I imagine their hobby experience must be far less complex and time consuming than mine.

And then I realize I have absolutely no idea what I would do with all that extra time...
Jamie Meyers said…
As an autograph collector, I can say that Virgil Trucks was one of the best signers out there. He's write you personal notes and send back all sorts of extra goodies with your package if you wrote to him. One of the all-time greats.
The only time I've been to a card show that wasn't in New Hampshire or Massachusetts was a couple of years ago when I went to one in Florida. (I didn't drive down for the show, I was already there.) I was interested in seeing if I could find stuff I wouldn't find in New England.
Basically, it was in a mall, nobody was paying any attention to it, and it was all signed jerseys, photos, cards, old sports magazines, a bunch of stuff I'm not interested in. Very disappointing.

So what did I end up buying?

About ten wax packs of Mork and Mindy cards, and a few packs of American Bandstand cards.

Non-sports stuff can be fun.
GCA said…
Went to the big show in Chantilly, VA a couple weekends ago. Brought all my lists for sets, player collections, team collection, etc.
I did find the one last card I (and so many others) needed to complete the 1973 Topps set. This guy had about 20 #588 checklists. They were priced from $50 for the minty ones down to $20 for the beaters. He says everyone always needs this one so he buys them up. I wondered where they all went since no one else ever has any. Unfortuately didn't get his business card....
Matt Runyon said…
You did quite well.
Robert said…
I think I would end up with the shakes if I hit a card show with a want list of 1.

Want list of 1 = oxymoron

I'm sure though that the guy looking for the late 50's Brooks Robinson graded card has a budget that is larger than what I normally have at a card show, so in his case one card like that would make sense.
AdamE said…
I have often thought about getting one of those 72 ROY cards and sending it to Bill Virdon to sign. I never have went through with it though.
Anonymous said…
From the '13 GQ, I have the Rodriguez base for you, should you want it, as well as the Koufax and Snider mini's (that's, miniiiiiiiiiiiiiiii's, etc.).

I've also got the following "Dealing Aces" should you want to complete that set: Lee (red, you already have?), Weaver, Bundy and Bauer.

I love the Kellogg's cards, but the '63 team card is phenomenal.