February pickups
 

Will kick this one off pretty small-time but with a big shout-out to ebay seller buck1007 (aka Big Buck's Blowouts). I had ordered a 72T Munson but he sent me 72T Bench by mistake.

Given the low values of the cards involved, I wasn't anxious for either of us to rack up postage charges to correct the issue. In a classy (but still rare) act of great customer service, Big Buck told me to keep the Bench and that he'd send the Munson right away.

So two great catchers of the 70s for the price of one.

Attachment 219935

Jason it is always good to hear stories like this. All too often we hear about the bad sellers. Kudos to buck1007 for a very classy move. A nice looking JB card for sure. Congrats.

And since many of you collect into the 1970s, I'll add that this seller seems to have a terrific selection of early-mid 1970s Topps at really low prices. I saw a really nice looking 1970 Hank Aaron go for something like $5.

(And no, it's not me or a friend of mine...just someone I stumbled on in my search for a cheap but nice looking Munson.)

Nice Jason. I will have to look up his eBay store.

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Wow, it's a close race, but I'm gonna go ahead and concede "Best of the Month So Far" to cincyreds24. What a great pair of cards!

Thanks a lot. Probably my two favorite cards. Let's hope this is only the beginning of a great month.


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Great cards! Congrats!

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Nice cards Cincy!

Nice additions .

Here are two more for my Top 100 Display. 84 down, 16 to go.

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Another McCovey
 

:)

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3flx3b4l.jpg

My 1st addition of 2016: (although its pre-war) Now you can see i been wanting one of these. Stunning Carl Homer image:

Jason,

How did you decide which players and which year you wanted for your top 100? For example : The 65 McCovey, why not a 68 McCovey?

Nice McCovey Jason.

The '65 Twins and Giants cards were some of the finest of the entire set. Love the colors for those cards.

That's a tough question, but here's the basic approach--

1. If I already have a $20+ (don't laugh!) card of the player, that's the one I use. For instance, since I have a '53 Bowman Stan Musial, I definitely don't want to buy a different one.
2. I always avoid landscape orientation, which sadly rules out '71 Munson. :-(
3. I avoid multi-player rookie cards (e.g., '65 Morgan)
4. For the more modern players, I shoot for the RC or the earliest solo card, which is how I chose '66 Morgan.

So that explains Morgan, but the logic above would probably suggest '61T McCovey rather than 1965. However, the cards will be arranged in chronological order, and another fundamental rule for me is to not have my display break in the middle of a year.

For instance, I have a full row of 1957, a full row of 1963-1964, and a full row of 1969 (mostly because I like these three sets the most). This means I either need to have 0 cards in between these years or 10 cards between these years. Based on a handful of other factors I won't dissect here, I went with no cards from 1958-1962 and ten cards from 1965-1968.

From that, I chose the 1965 since it was the earliest McCovey I had room for and also because I liked the purple. Not totally scientific, I admit, and I'll even acknowledge the McCovey as a casualty of my system--it's a good card but not his best. Meanwhile, the system worked on that Morgan...even if I had no rules at all, it's the Morgan I'd choose.

#2 pickup of 2016 just popped.

Great cards Chris. Congrats.

February Pickups
 

I've always had a soft spot for '71 Topps and this Alston was the key for me in a nice lot I just picked up.

Attachment 220222

And, just for fun, here's a picture of me and "Smokey" on the Dodger Stadium infield; around '70 or '71 if my memory serves me right.

Attachment 220223

First a Honus Wagner, then a Babe Ruth!! What's next, a Shoeless Joe?!?!? Unbelievable!

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Got these from my daughter for my birthday. Needless to say, I was pretty jacked she found them.

Bobc, that is a super cool photo of you and Alston. Thanks for sharing that!

Bob D...
 

....give your daughter a big hug :)

My first Cobb T206...Red w/Polar Bear back.

http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...sxnvlrkpv.jpeg

We are on quite a run of Pre-War! Please, someone, bring us back with a Mantle or (birthday boy) Hank Aaron!

But in the meantime, here's my latest. Just for the fun of it, will see if you can guess the player. Lest you worry he's too obscure, my hint to you is that he's in the HOF.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...9e3de63926.jpg

Arky Vaughan, 1939 Play Ball

Exactly right!

Right click pic, "search Google for image"

https://knoji.com/ten-valuable-arky-...l-collectibles

The Dude abides...

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Mattyc great looking mantles!

Quite the Mantle Trifecta there. :cool:

Ironically, just delivered. Not as nice at MattyC's but is a lot nicer in person than the image provided.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psbgs2udft.jpg

Ummmmmmmmm..............

How does one even begin? Centering on all three is in league with your famous 1952 Topps.

Serious cardboard. Matt, that 53T is absolutely gorgeous. I love when you upgrade because then I get to post in the pick up thread too! Here are a few recent additions

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^^^VERY nice, especially that 56...

Really sharp 6. The 62 ain't shabby either.

cheese n crackers, fellas!

very nice start for each and every one of you!!!

This card went on quite an odyssey before getting to me. I bought it on eBay and the replacement mailman we had during the holidays delivered a bunch of my mail [and the mail from the rest of our office building] to various addresses all over Burbank. The universe being what it is, the five dollar cards made it to me but this one was shown as delivered when it wasn't. I figured it went elsewhere and was stolen so I posted theft notices on the chat boards and asked local dealers (there are still a few) to be on the lookout for it. I was really ticked off, not so much about the money as the fact that I really wanted this card in my collection and they aren't all that easy to find in the price range where I wanted to be with it. Thankfully, the person who received it was honest enough to put it back into the mail and it finally made it to my collection:

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...stolen%201.jpg

The Friday GIF is hysterical. Thx. I am pretty pumped on that little 57T with the crazy rare centering, too. Greg, in your new 53T in 5 and that 65T in 7 "hand-me-downs," you got two of my favorites I have had. You do not see those two centered like that too often. The 65 Mick is sneaky HARD, and almost always tilted. I pursued that new 8 hard on eBay and had to pay a record to reel it in. May take a swing on the PWCC 8 just to have another well-centered copy.

JMB, the PSA 4 53 Mick looks much, much better than the assigned grade-- lots of red on that famous corner, and great side centering. I bet against a black background it will looks even better.

Glad to hear that Bazooka Aaron-- with its serene photo of him against all that green grass-- made it to its owner, and that moreso it is now a symbol of honey in people. And also patience, LOL.

And Greg, that 56 Mick is amazing, hence why I told you to go big on your snipe. The centering is top .000001%, and the color bold, his face and complexion perfectly rendered. I've seen 8s and 9s with imperfections in his face, which is really the star of that whole card.

But the 63 in 4.5 you posted is really something special. I own that card in 8.5., and yours has superior centering. Heck, I don't think I have ever seen the 63 better centered than your 4.5. How many out of a thousand copies of that card are centered like that? Then factor in how clean and PD-free both the green and blue bottom areas are! Just honest corner wear on that card. I have seen 8s and 9s of the 63 that received their grades on sharp corners, but they had heinous tilt and measles all in the green and blue. The eye appeal on the card is easily 5.5 worthy all day.

Your 62, as was noted, is also top tier. The white top border bar is focused, the centering A+, and the edges CLEAN. Again, honest corner wear. My dream is that EXACT specimen with 8 corners.

Lastly, gotta shout out a WHITE LETTER 69 in what's a high grade for that card. And the top bottom is real nice. The 69 is IMO a "Tier One" difficulty Mick to find well centered, due to the insane tilt on the 69s.

This stuff is just sick...ALL of it! Wow, guys. And less than a week gone by. What's next?

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Yeah, this might be the craziest month ever, since we saw a Wagner, Ruth, and Cobb all at the start. Have to add it was a 144 Ruth that had a focused image, too. Rare sightings in these parts.

Then we also have the feel-good narratives of the Bench that came for free and the Bazooka Aaron that someone honestly sent along to its owner. And the vintage picture with the Dodger from back in the day. Taken in sum it's exactly what the online component of the hobby could and should be at its best.

Where's the MK? Great card. That makes four 1953 Topps Micks in the thread so far! Classic.

I posted this on the pre-war board, but since I'm more of a post-war collector and he did play in the post-war era as well, I thought I'd share this one here. Very excited about it!

The heat on this thread is insane. That card is awesome.

WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

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The mark is just under the number. The card has such great colors and centering, I couldn't pass it up for the price.

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Wow, that's it? On the BACK? What a score. Not many examples of that card look that nice on the front. Great score.

53 topps mantle seems to be on fire around here. I recently picked up two myself. snagged this mid janurary. other one should be here shortly:

http://caimages.collectors.com/psaim.../53mantle1.jpg