Veteran collector moves

 

I started collecting cards 46 years ago, and as a veteran collector I find myself spinning my wheels a lot.

I think other veteran collectors can relate. Usually the new cards aren't interesting enough, but the old cards are too expensive. If I am to obtain cards I truly want, I have to wait -- until the money is around.

But I don't like waiting. Often while I'm waiting, I browse and, "well, that looks interesting" and "hmm, maybe I'll try that" and suddenly my horizons have broadened and I like a whole lot more than just the old cards.

 

Or, I'm collecting some sort of spin-off on the old cards, like so:

 

These are the latest two cards for my 1975 Topps buyback pursuit. They are cards number 446 and 447, which means I have 68 percent of the 660 cards in buyback form.

These were part of my COMC Black Friday order and I am especially amused by the Mets team buyback. That buyback, which is beat to snot -- I don't know why Topps thought somebody would want a card that looks like the front will melt away any second -- came from that notorious COMC seller with the inflated prices who everyone knows. The Mets team card was on that site for a loooong time for stupid prices. I waited the requisite years and it was mine for $1.88, which is below the original $2 threshold that I set when I first started this pursuit. That's some good sh*t.

But those were the only two buybacks I could find that I needed, the pursuit, I fear is dwindling to maybe the few-cards-a-year phase.

I am not above acquiring other '75 Topps cards I already have these days either. Especially if they're being given away. I continue to think I should have an extended inventory of extra '75s to give out to anyone trying to finish the set.

 

This Stargell arrived from The Diamond King in one of his Freebie Flashes. Pops has a bit of wear-and-tear but perfectly fine for anyone looking to complete a 46-year-old set in a non-super-uptight fashion. And even if I have to keep this all to myself, I love having '75 extras of superstars.

 

Being a veteran collector with broadened tastes means finding nonsports cards that are interesting, particularly if they're musically-themed.

I knew nothing about "Dandy Rock n' Bubble" cards until I found this Kate Bush card and grabbed it. I thought it would be flimsy like the 1969 Globe Imports, which look somewhat similar. But they are a lot sturdier -- well, kind of notecard stock -- and larger than GIs. Still mini but nice.

 

The set came out in 1986, and I'm guessing it was a UK issue because there are lots of English artists such as Alison Moyet and Depeche Mode, along with popular U.S.singers of the time like Whitney Houston. Not anything I'm looking into collecting but it's nice to grab what's interesting.

 

Here's a card that combines two of my wider-interests-while-I-wait-to-have-money-to-spend-on-a-1967-Brooks-Robinson.

It's a music card that's also a custom card and it draws from one of my childhood sets, 1982 Topps!

This is the latest Nine Pockets creation that I picked up, generously provided for free by Gregory. I can't say I'm a big Run DMC fan, or rap fan in general, I grew up just a bit too earlier for that, but if I am going to pick a rap era, it's definitely from the '80s. I don't know if any of that made sense, but, look at the card! Like the group said, "It's Tricky."

 

 These, also from Gregory, crack me up.

The two most amusing Simpsons characters by far are Homer and Mr. Burns, so I jumped at them. I was a big Simpsons watcher during the glory days of the series in the early 1990s. But I never "grew up" with them, I had a full-time job, so they're merely amusing, not warm-fuzzy-inducing.

However, they're nice to add to my growing custom-card collection, and my nonsports collection and all those other good things that I collect when Topps is churning out another set I don't like and the vintage card prices are going farther and farther out of my grasp.

Some veteran collectors who have reached that wall go back even further to pre-war stuff or even non-cards. I won't be doing that. But us "oldsters" do have our ways to keep the hobby fun when the 2021 product is no fun at all.