Completed my childhood set build - 40 years on

[UKCardGuy]

It's taken me 40 years but I just bought the last card that I needed for my 1960 Topps set build.

As best that I can remember, I started collecting the 60T in 1981 (though it might have been 1980). A baseball card store opened in the Prestonwood Mall in North Dallas and they had trays of cards going back to the 50s'. I chose 1960 because I really liked the look of the cards (and probably more importantly because I could afford the commons with my $2 per week for mowing our yard).

Over the 4 years or, I'd completed 485 out of 572 cards in the set with almost all the stars and high value cards. (I know because I still have my checklists from back in the day.)

The set has a special place for me. My Dad coached me on the players in the set and despite him grumbling about it, he drove me to 2 or 3 card shows a year.

Then I left the hobby - got car, grew up, got married...

I re-discovered the cards at my parent's house in 2004. With a young family to raise, I took the cards to a LCS near their house and sold most of them. The dealer happily bought them but really wanted the stars and high numbers.

I was left with about 60 mid-grade commons. These came back to the UK with me and resided in my attic until late 2019 when I re-discovered them and re-started my collection.

I managed to add a lot cards through Net54 members. Thank you.

Today, I placed the orders for my last 2 cards.

The penultimate card - a very nice NM #28 Brooks Robinson that I picked up at Clean Sweep Auctions
The final card - #539 Gene Baker that I bought off eBay.


I don't think I ever envisaged that Gene Baker would be the last piece of this puzzle. But, he's a favorite now.

I've completed other sets but this one's a bit special for me.

[Jason]

Great story and congrats on completed a childhood set. That last card always has a way of becoming a favorite doesn't it!

[Cmvorce]

Congratulations! Love the backstory.

[Tyruscobb]

Great story. How much for the Mantle? You don't really want the journey to end do you? :D In all seriousness, congratulations on reaching your goal.

[rjackson44]

Love this

[AGuinness]

Congrats! Great story, thanks for sharing. And one question... what's next? :)

[UKCardGuy]

Congrats! Great story, thanks for sharing. And one question... what's next? :)

Thanks. I've started dipping my toes into the Zee Nut PCL set. I'm not sure if that's one that I'll ever complete,

Otherwise, next up is 55T. I started with just 2 beaters from when I was a kid (Wally Moon and Don Larsen). Now, I'm 67% through.

In the background, I'm chasing a number of sets opportunistically including W554s and 52 Redmans.

[Kevin]

Very exciting, Gary! Happy for you...

[UKCardGuy]

Great story. How much for the Mantle? You don't really want the journey to end do you? :D In all seriousness, congratulations on reaching your goal.

I'll trade you the Mantle for a 55T Koufax or Clemente :D

[MuncieNolePAZ]

Congrats! Great story.

[Tyruscobb]

Otherwise, next up is 55T. I started with just 2 beaters from when I was a kid (Wally Moon and Don Larsen). Now, I'm 67% through.

Double check that alleged 1955 Larsen. 1956 was his first card for that specific gum manufacturer. If it is a Larsen then you might have something of value! :D

Good luck with the journey. I have the Koufax, but not the Clemente. I am in search of it, as well.

[UKCardGuy]

Double check that alleged 1955 Larsen. 1956 was his first card for that specific gum manufacturer. If it is a Larsen then you might have something of value! :D

You've absolutely right of course. I started with the 55 Wally Moon and a 56 Larsen. It's given me an excuse to have another look at the Larsen though.

[obiwan1129]

That's great fun! Did you leave Baker for last on purpose?

One of my favorites was putting together a 69 Topps Cubs set when I was in high school. It took me about a year and a half of trading with friends, going to local shops and baseball card shows at the local VFW Hall in McHenry, IL. It was honestly the some of the most fun I had collecting way back in the day.

[Harliduck]

Congrats Gary! I beat you by 4 days...haha...and my story on the 1960 set is no where near as cool as yours. My childhood vintage set compares to yours is the 1969 Topps...

Here is my last card in the set - super fun set to put together....

https://i.ibb.co/wpQpKFs/1960-Al-AS.jpg

[Bigdaddy]

Congratulations Gary, that is a cool set and the first vintage set that my dad and I put together, probably starting around 1982/83. We built it all from the LCSs and card shows in the area. No internet, eBay, or Net54 to work with at the time.

Good memories when I think of those days. Dad passed away about two years ago and I looked all around his house for that set - couldn't find it anywhere. After several months, I finally stumbled across it in the bottom of a bedroom closet. Still in the binder that we originally used when building it, and knowing that he was the last person to have turned those pages.

[mantleman]

Great story and accomplishment!!! When along the journey did you acquire the Mantle? Early or late ??

Andy

[Casey2296]

You've absolutely right of course. I started with the 55 Wally Moon and a 56 Larsen. It's given me an excuse to have another look at the Larsen though.

That card always reminds me of the time I got sh*thouse drunk with Don Larsen at a bar one night.

Congrats on the set completion Gary.

[jakebeckleyoldeagleeye]

This is why we all collect. I have never really thought about the value of my cards because I couldn't ever invision selling them.
Of all the complete sets I have mine is the 1965 Topps and that card of Mantle.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

The penultimate card - a very nice NM #28 Brooks Robinson that I picked up at Clean Sweep Auctions


Long live the Dorskii!

[UKCardGuy]

That card always reminds me of the time I got sh*thouse drunk with Don Larsen at a bar one night.

I'm sure there's a Net54 rule (or there should be) that a statement like that needs to be followed up with the story. Details please.

[jgannon]

Great story and congrats on completing the great 1960 set!

As an aside, what I like about this story is that, while you had, and then sold most of the set, you didn't let that stop you from beginning the journey again. I would have to imagine, that you reacquired the cards at values that were much higher than what you originally paid for. But again, you didn't let that discourage or stop you.

I had a large collection of cards that I gave away about 12 years ago from the 1950s - 1970s, in the spirit of "I enjoyed these and now it's time to pass them on." I later came to regret that decision as several years went by, as the cards took on a different meaning for me, being memories that connected me with my past. I did thankfully, keep some really great cards.

Anyway, I have begun to collect again also. I am getting a lot of the cards I used to have, and as well as some I never did. Your story for me, is an encouraging one.

Again, congrats on completing the '60 set!

[Natswin2019]

I'm sure there's a Net54 rule (or there should be) that a statement like that needs to be followed up with the story. Details please.

+1 on that. I would really like to know the story behind that statement

[jingram058]

I personally feel that the 1960 Topps Mickey Mantle is his best card ever. Just a beautiful card. In fact, the whole set is gorgeous. There is just something about this set that separates the wheat from the chaff, as they say...the horizontal layout, the color closeup and the b/w full length photos, the cool looking alternating colors of the letters of the ballplayers names. Just beautifully done by Topps.

Your back story is one of the best I have ever read. Many, many congratulations!

[RayBShotz]

Congratulations on the childhood set completion.
I really need to circle back and check to see what I still need from my childhood 69T set.
RayB

[jgannon]

In fact, the whole set is gorgeous. There is just something about this set that separates the wheat from the chaff, as they say...the horizontal layout, the color closeup and the b/w full length photos, the cool looking alternating colors of the letters of the ballplayers names. Just beautifully done by Topps.

The 1960 set really grew on me. It stands out for all the reasons you state. And the backs of the cards are also great - the color layout, the season highlights, etc.

All in all, one of Topps' best.

[obiwan1129]

Related to drinking with Larsen, in the 80's Billy Martin tried to pick up my aunt at a hotel bar while she was waiting for my uncle to come down. He bought her a drink and she politely mentioned she was waiting for her husband to come down. My uncle shows up and sees Billy Martin chatting up my aunt. He looks over and realizes next to Billy is Mickey Mantle and I think, Whitey Ford, it's been a while since I heard the story. They all sit down and knock back a few drinks together.

As they are having a few, Mickey keeps getting calls at the hotel bar. Apparently there was some function/event that he was supposed to be at and he decided to just go ahead and blow it off.

[tombocombo]

Great work!

[Casey2296]

+1 on that. I would really like to know the story behind that statement

My Dad and his cronies used to put on a "Wild Game Feed" to raise funds for their childrens charity back in the day. They bought a decrepit camp in the woods and built it up so "crippled" kids could participate in life and not feel ostracized. Now I realize that term is verboten nowadays (my politically correct spellcheck doesn't even recognize the term) but that's what it was.

So every November when hunting season started in Montana we'd have a few pops before sunrise and bag some deer for that years game feed. A story for a later time.

They'd press all the local chefs to cook all this stuff up so it was palatable and get everybody drunk then have an auction. They'd auction off guns, vacations, sports memorabilia, cars, anything that was fun and had a story. They'd bring in a cattle auctioneer to set the pace and have a financial dick swinging contest with the well off marks they invited. It was a thing of beauty to observe as a young man. The kids ultimately benefited but I've never seen a more fun way to raise money for a good cause.

When the dust settled after one raucous game feed we retired to the bar where the event was held and I found myself sitting next to Mr Larsen who had been a special guest that evening. Everybody in that generation knew what he had done in game 5 of the 56 series so it was pretty neat to have him there. Me being a young baseball fan of probably 17 or 18 at the time also knew the significance of that day. I was a bit intimidated when he introduced himself and offered to buy me a drink. I accepted. Then another, then another. Now I'd been drinking my buddies under the table since age 15 so this was nothing new. Except this guy had been at it much longer than me, a true major leaguer of alcohol consumption. I'd like to think I asked him about that magical day in October of 56 but I know I didn't, instead I wandered off out the side exit and passed out in the alley. I would say I wore the Ofer collar that evening of drinking with Don Larsen.

I smile every time I see that 56 Topps card.

[ValKehl]

1960 was the last year that I collected cards when I was a kid. Although I agree that Mantle's card is really good looking, I didn't care much for the 1960 set back then for these 2 reasons:
(1) The cards were in horizontal format, after I had become totally conditioned to Topps cards in the vertical format since the 1957 set (my favorite set as a kid) was issued.
(2) The backs of the cards didn't have the stats for each year of a player's career, like the 1957 and 1959 Topps cards did. I've always liked numbers (which likely explains why I became an accountant for my career), and as a kid, I loved "studying" a player's stats on the back of his card.

[stkuhl]

Cheers on finishing the set. For me as a set builder it's always an obscure common card that is the last card. I can always find the high dollar star cards.