It's the day before the card show, and, yeah, for me, this is as close as it comes to being a kid on Christmas Eve.
The card show I'm going to comes around three times a year and it's a fairly good-sized one. I try to hit each of the shows, although travel can be iffy around here in January so sometimes I skip that one.
During the last show, I picked up 74 cards. Two-thirds of them were new cards and one-third were upgrades. That's about average for me when I go to shows of this size. I thought I'd display some highlights of what I purchased the last time. (Warning: I'm a vintage guy. Although I plan to expand my horizons with tomorrow's show, everything until this point has been vintage, vintage, vintage. So, if you like only the latest and greatest, you'll have to dazzle yourself with something shiny until I'm done).
1956 Topps, Karl Spooner. I love the 1956 set. I have about a third of it, but I'm lacking just about every major star in the set. I try to collect the Dodgers here and there. I was surprised to find out Spooner hails from Hornell, which is a town in upstate New York, where I'm from. I'm always interested in players raised in upstate New York. There's not a ton of them, but there's some significant ones (Warren Spahn, Johnny Podres, Andy VanSlyke).
1960 Topps, Jim Gilliam. Feast your eyes on the design for the 2009 Topps Heritage (I'm pretty sure there will be one). You don't hear much about Gilliam anymore. He took over for Jackie Robinson at second base in 1953, won the Rookie of the Year award, and was a solid hitter and fielder well into the 1960s.
I first came to know Gilliam in 1978, when he died at age 49 after a brain hemorrhage. The Dodgers remembered Gilliam, who was a coach for the team, by wearing a patch with Gilliam's uniform number, No. 19, during the 1978 postseason. It was the first time I had heard of teams wearing arm bands or patches in memory of a departed player. I remember being upset at the Yankees for beating a team in mourning in the World Series. I was especially peaved at Graig Nettles and Reggie Jackson. Well, Nettles was just doing his job. Jackson, sticking his hip out in the baseline, now that was just mean.
1971 Topps, George Thomas. Like Matt F., I'm on a somewhat insane quest to complete the 1971 Topps set. Insane, because: if you care about card condition this is the worst set to collect, the major stars cost a bunch, and the high numbers are a pain to track down.
I try to grab a handful of high numbers at each show. Thomas is #678. This was Thomas' last card. He was pretty much a backup his entire career, but it lasted for 15 years.
1971 Topps, Preston Gomez. Another high number, #737. Not long before I purchased this card, Gomez was hospitalized in critical condition after being hit by a car at a gas station. That was more than six months ago and I haven't heard how he's doing (his wikipedia site still says he's in critical condition).
1971 Topps, Lou Brock. High #625. Probably my favorite card that I bought that day. I always liked Brock.
1972 Topps, Billy Martin in action. I still don't have Martin's main '72 card, in which he's flipping off the cameraman. But it's readily available. I like this card because it's how I remember Martin, yelling at the ump. And he almost looks like he's in a Yankee uniform, except for the "DET" on his jersey. The place where Martin died in that car accident is about seven miles from where I grew up.
1976 Topps, Rick Wise. I love all of the 1976 Red Sox cards. To me, that year just screams Red Sox. Something about the photography or something. The Red Sox only wore those red caps during the mid-to-late 1970s, so that probably has something to do with it, too.
1976 Topps, George Foster. For a period in the late '70s, George Foster was one bad man. He was the '80s Jose Canseco, '90s Mark McGwire, '00s Albert Pujols of his time. When he hit 52 HRs in 1977, we couldn't even comprehend the figure. I was thrilled when I opened packs in '77 and '78 and pulled Foster.
1976 Topps, Pete Varney. I love picking up cards of players I've never heard of before. I believe this is Varney's only Topps card. He didn't last long. He finished with the Braves in 1976.
1976 Topps, Lou Gehrig, all-time all-star. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I don't know a whole bunch about Gehrig. I know his stats, I know the Wally Pipp stuff and the streak, I know of his illness and how he was "the luckiest man on the face of the earth." That's about it. I've got to read a bio on him someday.
Them's the highlights. I'll post what I get from tomorrow's show early next week. That is if my car gets me to the show.
The card show I'm going to comes around three times a year and it's a fairly good-sized one. I try to hit each of the shows, although travel can be iffy around here in January so sometimes I skip that one.
During the last show, I picked up 74 cards. Two-thirds of them were new cards and one-third were upgrades. That's about average for me when I go to shows of this size. I thought I'd display some highlights of what I purchased the last time. (Warning: I'm a vintage guy. Although I plan to expand my horizons with tomorrow's show, everything until this point has been vintage, vintage, vintage. So, if you like only the latest and greatest, you'll have to dazzle yourself with something shiny until I'm done).
1956 Topps, Karl Spooner. I love the 1956 set. I have about a third of it, but I'm lacking just about every major star in the set. I try to collect the Dodgers here and there. I was surprised to find out Spooner hails from Hornell, which is a town in upstate New York, where I'm from. I'm always interested in players raised in upstate New York. There's not a ton of them, but there's some significant ones (Warren Spahn, Johnny Podres, Andy VanSlyke).
1960 Topps, Jim Gilliam. Feast your eyes on the design for the 2009 Topps Heritage (I'm pretty sure there will be one). You don't hear much about Gilliam anymore. He took over for Jackie Robinson at second base in 1953, won the Rookie of the Year award, and was a solid hitter and fielder well into the 1960s.I first came to know Gilliam in 1978, when he died at age 49 after a brain hemorrhage. The Dodgers remembered Gilliam, who was a coach for the team, by wearing a patch with Gilliam's uniform number, No. 19, during the 1978 postseason. It was the first time I had heard of teams wearing arm bands or patches in memory of a departed player. I remember being upset at the Yankees for beating a team in mourning in the World Series. I was especially peaved at Graig Nettles and Reggie Jackson. Well, Nettles was just doing his job. Jackson, sticking his hip out in the baseline, now that was just mean.
1971 Topps, George Thomas. Like Matt F., I'm on a somewhat insane quest to complete the 1971 Topps set. Insane, because: if you care about card condition this is the worst set to collect, the major stars cost a bunch, and the high numbers are a pain to track down.I try to grab a handful of high numbers at each show. Thomas is #678. This was Thomas' last card. He was pretty much a backup his entire career, but it lasted for 15 years.
1971 Topps, Preston Gomez. Another high number, #737. Not long before I purchased this card, Gomez was hospitalized in critical condition after being hit by a car at a gas station. That was more than six months ago and I haven't heard how he's doing (his wikipedia site still says he's in critical condition).
1971 Topps, Lou Brock. High #625. Probably my favorite card that I bought that day. I always liked Brock.
1972 Topps, Billy Martin in action. I still don't have Martin's main '72 card, in which he's flipping off the cameraman. But it's readily available. I like this card because it's how I remember Martin, yelling at the ump. And he almost looks like he's in a Yankee uniform, except for the "DET" on his jersey. The place where Martin died in that car accident is about seven miles from where I grew up.
1976 Topps, Rick Wise. I love all of the 1976 Red Sox cards. To me, that year just screams Red Sox. Something about the photography or something. The Red Sox only wore those red caps during the mid-to-late 1970s, so that probably has something to do with it, too.
1976 Topps, George Foster. For a period in the late '70s, George Foster was one bad man. He was the '80s Jose Canseco, '90s Mark McGwire, '00s Albert Pujols of his time. When he hit 52 HRs in 1977, we couldn't even comprehend the figure. I was thrilled when I opened packs in '77 and '78 and pulled Foster.
1976 Topps, Pete Varney. I love picking up cards of players I've never heard of before. I believe this is Varney's only Topps card. He didn't last long. He finished with the Braves in 1976.
1976 Topps, Lou Gehrig, all-time all-star. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I don't know a whole bunch about Gehrig. I know his stats, I know the Wally Pipp stuff and the streak, I know of his illness and how he was "the luckiest man on the face of the earth." That's about it. I've got to read a bio on him someday.Them's the highlights. I'll post what I get from tomorrow's show early next week. That is if my car gets me to the show.
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