Diamond stars are such a great set. Love that hubbel!

Thanks. Agreed on DS. Had only Ott and Hornsby before. Hoping to add 7 more HOFers eventually.

Beast of a Mickey Mantle item, Chris! A nice gem to add to your galaxy of Commerce Comets. I love it. That is such a dynamic picture of Mickey, with the Stadium arches looming above him. Good score, my friend. ---Brian Powell

Thanks guys! It's one of my favorite pickups in a really long time.

It's what I love about this thread...seeing amazing stuff I never even knew about. Such an uncommon piece that would instantly transform any room or office.

Finally
 

Finally bought myself a Jordan RC. Wish i had bought this a few yrs ago woulda saved myself a few hundred $

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...leer-jordan-rc

Nice looking 7!

Well I figured I would use my 1000th post here on NET54 to show that I finally completed my display for the 54 Red Heart set I finished up reciently. It took a while to find the time to get it all together but I think it turned out pretty sharp. I like the color contrast of the cards verses the black background.

Now I just have to convince my wife to let me put it up in the family room;)

Drew

Wow!

+1, awesome display of an awesome set!

Awesome! Well done!

New to the rookie collection...
 

Hostess Eckersley:

Love the look of the display!!

Congrats on finishing the set it looks great in the display. What is your next project if any?

Love the Hostess Eckersley. Some great pickups this month.

:) Very nice.

At long last, my 1956 Topps Dodgers set is complete. I was adamant about not spending a ton on the Team Card, so I lowered my standards from VG-EX and bought a Fair that at least looks decent from far away.

Will work on my display in the next week or so and post when it's done.
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/11...232a7d2a98.jpg

Congrats Jason on finishing the Dodgers Team set. A pretty good looking team card if you ask me. It has nice centering and presents very well. A nice way to finish the set with the team card. Looking forward to seeing the display.

Today's arrival.

http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=19426

Nice card Dean, that's one that's on my bucket list. I have a feeling it will remain too expensive for me in the shape I would like to have it in, however. '53 Topps are all miniature works of art - and most of them still present well in mid- to lower grade condition because they were printed on such thick cardboard stock. My only beef with the set is the Jackie Robinson card. I just don't think the painting looks like him - and have seen posted elsewhere that others agree. Luckily for the majority of the players - including Willie - the artists nailed it. Congrats!

Thanks John! What I also like about the '53's is the card stock. It has a sort of a canvas looking texture to it and when added to the pictures it really gives it an artwork feel. Good luck on hunting down your treasures!

I can't imagine there are many Ford RC autographs out there. Condition clearly a bit rough but still a remarkable find.

Still have to figure out exactly how to put it together but got my stuff all ready. I worked hard to stay within a very low budget while aiming for good centering, no creases, and decent corners. I think I blew it on Amoros and Loes but am amazed I did this well on the other guys.
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/11...8d3ac491ae.jpg

Some 1954 Johnston Cookie pickups, just starting out on the set

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/...smeszdw3u.jpeg
http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/...sr5b4cmis.jpeg

Jason,

Very nice. Congrats.

Duane

Mr. Cub - immediately prior to two consecutive MVP seasons. :)

That's a man who loved the game and changed it forever. Any guesses what the NL HR record was for shortstops before Banks?

I am biased as a Cubs fan, but Ernie was a special kind of guy, I can only imagine what his cards would be worth today if he had played in New York. Not sure about HR records before him, but I know the typical shortstop was thought of more like Reese or Rizzuto. Great defensively, and maybe a decent hitter but not so much for pop in the bat. Wagner for career HR, maybe? I think Ernie had 270 some HR's at short before he moved over to first base in 1961. (He had a stint in the outfield in '61 too). Supposedly he had an eye-problem, depth perception I believe where he started slinging balls into the stands from short. Also pretty amazing if you consider of those on the all-time great list - 500 HR club, etc. - Ernie is one of the few who did that with significant time at different positions. He never won an MVP at First Base, but did play 5 All Star games there.

Am guessing Arky Vaughan had the record but will try to figure it out. MLB record was Vern Stephens.

Was evidently wrong about Vaughan, who had 19 HR...
"When Banks hit 44 homers in 1955, he DOUBLED the NL record for shortstops, previously held by Glenn Wright (22 in 1930). From 1955-60, Banks averaged 41 homers, 116 RBI, and a .294 average each year. Other starting NL shortstops in that period averaged 7-46-.260."

Picked up the Koufax and Mantle today at a show here locally.

Got this on ebay for about 20 bucks

http://i.imgur.com/j0oz1tX.jpg

Here are a couple of signed cards I picked up recently:

• 1953 St. Louis Browns Team Issue Postcard Don Larsen
• 1978 TCMA Florida State League Jesse Barfield

I dig the barfield!

Stayed up late to win this 1949 Bowman Lou Boudreau. I really like the color here.
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/11...4bd2cb306a.jpg

It's been an amazing month for me - I was so happy to pick up the 1954 Topps Gray Back Robinson, and just got these back from PSA on Friday. These two cards are arguably the two toughest / most difficult to obtain in the entire set, with only the Throwing variation rivaling them.

Now that I have two of each, I'm not sure which of the two I'm gonna sell - my previous 2 which stem from a long-time Dodgers collector, or these two. Will have a listing in the BST section later this week.

Both cards are from the same person - who happened to be the original owner of the cards - having obtained them when she was a young girl in the 40s. I can't believe the condition that they are in - the grades do not represent their eye-appeal.

Below is my favorite card in the set - an iconic image of Jackie, and the black and white makes it the most appealing of all his "RCs". He was actually wearing a Montreal hat at the time of the photograph, which was edited for this set to show him in a Dodgers hat.

PSA 5 - Highest Graded 1 of 3 in this grade

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...t-glove-in-air

The photo for the card below was actually shot in a stadium, though the background was taken out for this card - perhaps to avoid having other company's advertisements on the card? Of the 7 total cards graded / known, I've owned 3 of them :)

PSA 4 - 3 graded higher.

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...-no-scoreboard

Shaun,
Too bad they didn't cross equally, but you seem thrilled regardless. Thought they would have ended higher. Perhaps the zero fb scared some away. Great cards! Congrats

Thanks Richard. I was hoping they would cross equally, but tbh - I was just happy to see that everything checked out. The glove in air card could be a 7 though imo. I will likely send them back in to see if I can get a bump.

I was shocked at the hammer price - particularly on the glove in air card - the last PSA3 to sell individually went for $7700 - I don't recall there ever being anything higher than a PSA3 being sold individually on the open market.

The zero fb definitely had something to do with the hammer price - it's always a risk, but I felt comfortable after exchanging emails with the seller - and I do have to say, the story of these two particular cards and what they represented to the original owner really adds to their allure.

Awesome Jackies, congrats!

J. Robinson
 

Those two Jackie cards are awesome! Thanks so much for sharing...

+1

Thanks everyone!

Here are a couple I needed for my upcoming "Top 100" display. The good news is I only need about 30 more cards. The bad news is that two of them are Ruth and Gehrig!

Attachment 212843 Attachment 212844

And one more for my Top 100. May have just been some crazy scanner settings but the blue on this Santo was 10x richer than the others for sale. Will know in a couple days...
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/11...62cb4a5aea.jpg

Lower grade, but I didn't spend more than I wanted to and it still displays very nicely. I've always thought this is an iconic looking Robby card. He was nearing the end of the road in '55, but must have been a tremendous clubhouse presence still to help push Brooklyn to that first and only World Series title over the Yankees. :)

Love it! As we have all just been blessed with Bond Bread postings, I'll qualify my remark and simply say 1955 is the BEST Robinson card out there aside from his Bond RCs.

Thanks Jason. I've been aware of the '55 card since I was a kid and saw it in the movie "Mask" with Cher and Eric Stolz, hanging on Rocky's Dodger wall in a ziplock bag. :) I've had several different copies over the years, all of which eventually got traded or sold. I intend to keep this one.

Man, 1955 Topps in general is just such a beautiful set. What a run Topps had from 1954-1957.

Those years are my favorites. '57 is the most difficult probably, because even if you find nice (in my mind, EX or better) cards, they often have snow and all kinds of printing problems that the '55 and '56's don't seem to have. But a nice '57 with rich color and a picture free from those printing problems is indeed a thing of beauty.