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My comment on comments


I try to be an equal-opportunity commenter.

That means, if I see something interesting on a card blog, any card blog, I try to comment. Having time to read blogs often enters the equation, but mostly, when I have the time to read blogs, if I see something I find interesting, and my comment is more than "That's cool!", I will comment.

It's only natural to gravitate to certain blogs that hold your interest but, again, I try not to reserve my comments for certain blogs. I've seen others do that, and it strikes me as clique-ish. I try to avoid that.

I believe in commenting. I believe in being a good neighbor. A good blog neighbor comments. It's just the nice thing to do. It doesn't take long and nobody can claim that all they have time to do is write a post and that's it. Bloggers like to feel like what they write is being read. And the only real way they have to gauge that is through comments.

So I try to be a good neighbor.

It can pay off sometimes. An example:

Recently, Johnny's Trading Spot was going through a whole bunch of 1957 Topps cards that he had acquired. It was post after post after post of 1957 Topps cards, more 1957 Topps cards than I had seen that weren't part of a 1957 Topps set blog (which I don't recall existing, but maybe it has, stuff is starting to blur together).

At the start of Johnny's string of '57 Topps posts, he announced that there would be a contest related to them. "Pay attention!," he said. So I tried to pay attention in a futile attempt to strike upon some clues. But as I did, I found myself commenting on most of the posts. They were such cool cards, I had to say something.

At the end of his series posts, Johnny announced the winner. He said the winner was the person who commented on the most posts. That happened to be me. I had no idea my comments were winning me the contest.

My prize for commenting was my selection of five of his 1957 Topps extras. He also offered a few other prizes off of guesses and I guessed another one correctly and got two more 1957 Topps cards.

Seven free 1957 Topps cards just for commenting!

The first card I chose was the Elston Howard card above. I picked him because he's an underrated star player and also because he's a Yankee. Hey, I'm not really collecting '57 Topps, you never know when that might be worthy trade bait.

Here are the other cards that I won:








They sure do look nice all together like that.

I targeted a couple of cards specifically because I had once owned them and then traded them away and then scolded myself for trading them. So Mickey Vernon and Bobby Avila are back with me.

Of course, all of these cards are off condition and I don't care in the least. The 1957 set, specificially, seems completely at home with rounded corners and browned borders. I don't think I've ever seen in person a non-scuffed, sharp-cornered 1957 Topps card. I don't think I'd know what to do with one. Treat it like it was possessed, probably.

Nope, these cards seem just right.

I don't think this will get me to attempt to collect the '57 set. I have so many other more pressing set-collecting goals right now. But like any vintage set, I am not opposed to landing a card here and there. It makes me feel like a real, grown-up, big-time collector.

So that's pretty good, just for commenting, eh?

I think everyone should give it a try.

Comments

P-town Tom said…
Those are some very nice cards! The poses are just fantastic,
Section 36 said…
That's a pretty nice selection of cards, although the 1957 design never jumped out at me.
Nice!!! Those are great cards.
John Sharp said…
That's awesome!
Someone I missed these posts, and I'll definitely have to pay closer attention.
Good job!
1957 always seemed like a boring design to me, but you can't beat vintage
Mike Matson said…
I know what you mean about the comment thing.. Of course, being an overthinker sometimes makes me wonder if people actually care about what I'm putting out.
Base Card Hero said…
I don't mind that most of my "old" cards are in rough condition. It kinda gives them character.

Nice haul.
Lee Hero said…
I remember my first introduction to Elston Howard as a kid was the Pacific Legends card of him. Pacific Legends struck a chord with me because when you opened those packs there was this odd aroma that come from them. That aroma reminded me of my great-grandfather's house and sitting in his den listening to him talk about Dem Bums. Anyway, back to Howard. I always read every bit of text on any card I got my hands on in those days, and Howard's card inspired me to consult my Who's Who in Baseball All-Time Greats Almanac to find out more about him. If I can ever find where I put that, its a blog post on its own. I got my money's worth out of that thing, that's for sure.
Billy Kingsley said…
I like commenting on blogs because I know I enjoy it when I get comments...so the least I can do is return the favor. Sometimes I can't think of anything to say, or the subject matter is so unknown to me that I'm in like a deer in the headlights stupor.
Nachos Grande said…
I think commenting on more blogs should be a New Year's Resolution for me. I seem to go in spurts where I'll comment a lot and then I go quiet for weeks on end (even though I read blogs virtually every day). Shame on me, I should try and do better!
I thought it was 6 picks then 2 more making 8..........Thanks for paying attention.
Jeremya1um said…
There are so many good commenters on blogs. You, Fuji, Gavin, so mnay others. I tend to look at blogger on my phone 90% of the time, and it will only let my comment if I clear my history and refresh the page, so I don't usually do that unless it's something really special. I probably should comment more.
Congrats on getting the '57's. I have only 1 '57 Topps card, one of Dave Pope of the Cleveland Indians. It's yours if you want it.
Jupiterhill said…
When I was blogging often, I tried to read everyone's blogs and even tried to comment on the ones I was truly enjoyed the posts of, I never sought out specific bloggers, but did end up commenting a lot on the same ones.

Now since I spend a lot less time blogging, I spend less time reading others, and even less time commenting. I still comment on ones that catch my eye, but I'm just in a funk.

This was a good post though, and I'm glad I read it, and glad you got a lot of comments. It shows you are one of the premier card bloggers and everyone enjoys your content. Maybe a post like this will help others who have complained about lower blog comments.
night owl said…
Yeah, I guess why the images add up to 8. I'm getting worse and worse at math.
Commishbob said…
While I think the Dodgers in the '57 set have the coolest cards (Ebbets Field as a background will do that) the Phils are not far behind.
defgav said…
Love '57 Topps and the window into 50s baseball they provide with the photography taking center stage.

I often feel like I should comment on blogs more and feel bad when I don't have anything worthy to add.
Matt said…
That's a great looking set. I used to comment on every blog on my blogroll up until my phone stopped allowing me to. Now I can only comment when I am on my laptop like I am right now. But I am not on it every day. However doesn't mean I don't read every blog still.
Fuji said…
Even though it's probably posed... I love that Mack and him peeling off his catcher's mask. As for commenting... it's my favorite way to interact with other bloggers.
Bo said…
Last night I got a trade package from Chris "The Collector". There was one '57 card and it was almost pack fresh. A Brooklyn Dodger too. About to post it on my blog.
Speaking of comments, I'm surprised to see some kind of negative comments on the '57 design. I love it and thought pretty much everyone else did too.
Nick said…
Blogging without comments is like a falling tree in an empty forest -- it'd feel like I was writing to no one without them. That's why I very much appreciate the people (like you!) who take the time to comment on my blog, and why I do my best to read/comment on as many as I can. (Of course, not many of my posts feature '57s as sweet as these!)
Jeff S said…
I don't comment often. It is not a reflection on my enjoyment of your blog though.

That Elston Howard is a heck of a prize.
Ok, this may be somewhat off-topic, but is IS a comment, so maybe not.

Often on this blog someone (usually Night Owl or me, heh heh) is complaining about something Topps has just done. Other times, people are gushing about this or that new Topps release.

Before anyone thinks Topps is improving the hobby, take a look at this excerpt from Ted Taylor's final card review column, in December 2017. Taylor was a Philadelphia-area promoter of card shows, wrote a column for 45 years, and was a VP at Fleer for a short while.

Excerpt:

The easy – and primary - target for blame is Topps. About a year ago they stopped sending me sample product of their sports issues – first just sending baseball product, and not even all of that. For a while I went in to the marketplace and bought what they didn’t send me. And then this fall the review product dried up altogether. Contacts at Topps simply became unresponsive. Topps didn’t care about me or you, the reader. That’s the long and short of it.

But I also place the blame on Major League Baseball and the Baseball Players Association (really just another labor union) because they allowed Topps to, once again, become a monopoly, the only company producing viable baseball cards. In so doing they ignored the 1980 Federal Court decision to allow multiple companies to produce baseball cards. And when that happened we, as collectors, enjoyed a period prosperity ended only by the mid-90’s baseball player strike that scuttled baseball as we knew and loved it.

Various card companies (the little guys) folded when baseball showed the fans it didn’t care about them anymore. Within a few years even the big guys – including my longtime employer Fleer – went belly up. Soon we were down to Topps…again. MLB refused overtures from Scoreboard in 1995 to extend the Conlin Collection of vintage player pictures (I know because I went to New York on their behalf to pitch the idea). MLB and the MLBPA is staffed by MBA’s and lawyers that could care less about you, the hobbyist, dealer and collector.

But it lands in the lap of Topps. The company apparently doesn’t care what people think any more and my review copies have completely dried up. I contact them, they ignore me. While, now VP, Clay Luraschi was in charge of the hobby press, things were good. He knew the business, understood the value of connecting with hobbyists keep me current with new product. Then they kicked him up stairs. Of late I have serious doubts about those now in charge of their hobby relations. In fact for the past few months I’ve been buying product in the marketplace to review and that makes no sense at all. So if the end of this column bothers you let the “P R” folks (Susan Lulgjuraj slulgjura@topps.com and Kevin Moodhe kmoodhe@topps.com) know you aren’t happy about it.
I don't really pay attention as a matter of practice but this post is a cautionary tale that maybe I should...