I received an email a few weeks ago from Chunter of Chipp 'n' Dale informing me that he had obtained some 1975 Topps minis in a trade with his card shop dealer.
The price for those '75 minis? Apparently a single parallel card of Braves closer Craig Kimbrel.
Holy smokes.
If it wasn't for NASCAR, college football and prehistoric insects, I think I'd move south tomorrow. I'd love to get rid of needless Braves for cards of real value.
Chunter then sent those very valuable '75 minis my way. And these weren't just any '75 minis, as you will see. There were some significant ones there.
But we'll start slowly. Mini alongside the regular-size card in my collection for comparison:
#582 - Eduardo Rodriguez
#132 - Randy Moffitt
#649 - Jack Heidemann
One of the few '75 cards I now have in regular, mini and O-Pee-Chee versions.
#282 - Jerry Morales
#326 - Wayne Twitchell
This will tell you what age I was when I first collected these cards. I still associate Wayne Twitchell with Big Bird.
#207 - 1969 MVPs
And now moving on to some heavy hitters:
Mini Evans has lost his corners
#29 - Dave Parker
#104 - Bill Madlock
#530 - Gaylord Perry
#284 - Ken Griffey
#90 - Rusty Staub
#370 - Tom Seaver
#61 - Dave Winfield
So, all of that for a few coins and a Kimbrel parallel.
I've got a vacation coming up. Maybe I'll look up plane ticket prices to Atlanta.
Most of the cards above are in ideal shape. In fact, if the folks who have sent me '75 minis hadn't done such a great job of finding wonderfully conditioned cards, I wouldn't give a thought to someday replacing any of them.
I mean, look at the Rick Auerbach card at the top. That thing looks exactly like the '75 minis that I collected in '75 -- wonderfully handled and worn, but not butchered with creases, tears or pen marks.
Still, I'll likely try to upgrade Winfield, Evans and possibly Seaver. But there's no urgency there. I'm just happy that I'm even closer to completing the '75 mini set.
And I'm happy all that was lost in the exchange was a Braves card (and a few Braves I'll be sending Chunter in return).
What a steal.
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