This month

 

Longtime readers will know that I am not a fan of this month.

March is usually the most stressful month on the calendar for me. Work is the busiest; when my kid was in school, school was the busiest; it's the most birthday-dominated month ever; the weather can be bizarre; and, finally, let's throw a day where you get one less hour of sleep into a month whose worst trait is that it is a time-suck.

I am experiencing that again, although I've learned to calm down about it -- except, um, for this post -- and roll with the punches. I also insist on blogging during this time. Where other bloggers, probably smartly, disappear for three weeks during their busiest times, I plow through and bitch.

This year's March story involves folks placing two card shows near me in the middle of this month. Who does that? I have never experienced a card show in March, nor seen one advertised, near me. I just figured everyone was too damn busy this month for a hobby. But I guess it's not a hobby for a bunch of people now.

Anyway, I can't go to either of those shows. No time (especially for the one crazily dropped smack in the middle of state high school championships and the NCAA basketball tournament) and also no money. Multiple birthdays, remember?

But I planned for this.

 

I knew about the shows ahead of time, I set aside some cash that I would have normally used on the show(s), and then I went looking for something card-like online. Not much appealed to me. But out of the blue, someone on Twitter offered up some 1969 Topps needs. After a bit of negotiating, I landed 37 wants. I'd like to see card-show me do that kind of damage on one set.

 

The cards vary in condition. A handful I may upgrade, while some are freakishly immaculate. In general, I like my late '60s cards to be in VG-EX to welcome them into my collection, but I'm not too particular for '69. If it's got its corners and all of its paper, it's likely ideal.

 

 

I have mentioned many times on this blog how "odd" I find the 1969 set, the fact that Topps didn't have the rights to photograph players for all but the high-numbers portion of the set leads to some weirdness that even teenage me, who was absolutely oblivious to stuff like airbrushing, take note. "What is with all the black hats they wore way back in that ancient time?" I said.

I've enjoyed, and also been annoyed at the circle that is at the heart of the '69 set's design. When the photo is ideal (think Cleon Jones), then it's a marvelous card. But often I can see how Topps shifted the photo to accommodate the circle and I can't unsee it.

The league leaders cards is an example of the circle infringing on the picture. I've never enjoyed these leader cards very much. But a card with Bob Gibson on it makes no excuses.

I have also mentioned how I first came across the 1969 Topps set. It was the main set in my friend's haul from his older brother. A lot of '71s and a few '70s and '68s, but the majority were '69s. This is why I am collecting it and have a little bit of an attachment to it. All I needed to do to acquire these cards was trade away some of my 1978 Topps Yankees. Did I mention I was doing this in 1978? It hurt to give up current cards as a youngster, but even then I knew what was up. Hell, these cards were five years older than when I first discovered cards!

Orlando Cepeda was one of those cards. Then it disappeared, probably under the mistaken belief that I would never be interested in completing this set.

"Rod". How strange. I am seeing this card for the first time. I thought it was an entirely new player I had never heard of before, but that's because I'm a '70s kid and his name was "Elrod" on my baseball cards.

Key card. His last one as a Cardinal, along with the All-Star card (and the deckle-edge card). Flood looks sleepy.

 

 

These All-Star cards, along with the World Series cards in the newspaper format (who remembers when that was the inspiration for my blog look?) were instant favorites when I saw all those '69s on the front porch of my friend.

Brooksy is a definite upgrade but the others work great. And it's good to have the Kessinger card back because I used to own that before.

A couple of key rookie cards, especially the Rollie Fingers, which outside the Reggie Jackson, is the biggest rookie in the set. Rookie-chasers are a constant pain in the butt for set collectors, hiking the prices of certain cards unnecessarily. I am perpetually envious of people who collected as adults in the '70s and could grab cards like that with limited thought.

The haul from Joe included a number of cards from high-number set, which is very cool.

 

 

This card isn't a high number but these themed cards that mostly appear later in the set fascinate me. It's almost as if they were thrown in at the last minute. Also, I'm thinking Topps kicked itself for not waiting to use this card a couple years later with Palmer and Dobson replacing Phoebus and Hardin.

Finally, Ted Shows How! Yes!

Beauty card and another Ted The Thumper card for my collection. I haven't done a lot of Teddy Ballgame gathering since grabbing the '56 card a few years ago, so this one feels good.

Speaking of Ted Showing How, maybe he can show me the way to a Reggie or Bench or Nolan or Mantle in my price range.

I had no idea I'd be chasing this set along with the 1970 Topps set, but 1969s have been falling in my lap since last summer, and now I'm trying to track down some of the same culprits in each.

But there's no rush. Someday it won't be March. The wallet will loosen and the clock will carve out some free time and "look, there's a show this weekend and I can go!"

(P.S.: I'm not collecting the name color variations).