Owe it all to the blog

  

It just doesn't seem possible that I'm still reaping the benefits of this blog, a means of communication and expression that is at least a decade beyond its peak.

 

I expect the perks to disappear eventually, I mean the days of receiving 3-5 random card packages a day in the mail are long gone, which is why I will value each benefit that still comes along.

 

A little over a week ago, I was in the grocery store getting some supplies for the new mini-fridge in my office at work. I steered over to the magazine display as I often do and spotted the most recent Beckett Vintage Collector -- just one -- staring at me.

 

I opened the edition to my story and snapped a picture. I still get a kick out of that. That's not the perk I wanted to write about. But we're moving in that direction.

 

For the last six years, writing magazine articles about cards has helped me obtain cards that in most cases I never would have been able to add to my collection. Baseball cards -- in case you haven't heard -- have gotten more expensive in the last 10 years, especially in the vintage realm. Without some extra cash from the magazine gig, my collection would have stalled out in several areas.

 

But this time, it allowed me to get closer on my 1969 Topps completion quest.

 

 

The other day I added a former need, this nondescript card of former Dodgers closer Phil "The Vulture" Regan. It's possible he's wearing a Dodgers uniform right there -- or maybe even going back 3 or 4 years and he's in a Tigers jersey.

 

This was the third-to-last card I needed for the '69 set. It's odd what cards hold out on you to the very end.

 

This card is No. 533 in the set. There is another card in the '69 set that is also in the 530's that is much more famous.

 

 

 This card -- No. 535 -- arrived a couple days later.

 

There's no way I could have thrown down between $200-$300 (closer to $300) on this card without some extra spending cash. But that's what it took to get a '69 Nolan Ryan. There's almost nothing out there less than 200 bucks. And probably the only reason I got this one is because it's off-center and graders turned their nose up at it. (Also traveling through a list of commonly graded cards for sale is a good way to have your mind blown on how much people are willing to pay for what is essentially the same thing as what I just bought).

 

This is the first time I've seen the back. That's a typo in the write-up, should be "unleashed" I think. 

 

So, this card is the perk of this blog, even after all these years of Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc. beating blogs into irrelevance. Amazing. If it wasn't for blogging, I wouldn't have gotten the writing gig and if it wasn't for the writing gig, I wouldn't have the cash for cards like these.

 

So Ryan got me down to one final card and that's where I stand.

 

The last card? Mickey Mantle, of course. Didn't I just go through this with the 1956 set? (Oh, that was 4 years ago? OK).

 

Mantle's final card shouldn't cost as much as Ryan's first solo card, but the last time I looked on ebay there wasn't a lot there that wasn't Graded And Inflated. There are a couple of card shows coming up this weekend, so my hope is I can find one in my budget and shut down the set.

 

If not, I guess I'll have to come up with another magazine story idea.