Love that Leaf Musial! Gorgeous eye-appeal.

Today was a pretty good day. Went to the Mets game - watched an unexpected come back, Granderson was a class act with my son once again, and my son got to run the bases on the field after the game.

Then I got home and threw a last minute bid at a card I've been looking to pick up for a few years but never got around to it. That last minute bid was good enough to win it. I once had "this card" when I was a kid. It was all torn up, but it was a Mantle, so I loved it. You could say I was heart-broken when I found out it was a worthless reprint. With this auction win, I've finally added the real deal to my collection.

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...-mickey-mantle

And why not... a picture of Granderson and my son talking today before his at-bat in the bottom of the 3rd. Granderson went on to hit a single.

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...and-granderson

Jerry, great looking Musial. Absolutely my favorite card of his and this one has great color and beautiful centering.
Drew

Shaun,

Super photo of your son and Granderson. A priceless, awesome shot!

Milton Bradley bandwagon
 

Congrats on the pick ups Chris. That Mays is a great example that OC cards can be beautiful too! Here's my 6, picked up off BST from a board member Dan.
Attachment 194359

I jumped on the MB Ryan bandwagon tonight. I'd passed on a couple 1-2 years ago, and figured I'd grab one now as they seem to be heating up a bit.
Attachment 194358

Leaf Stan Musial
 

Thanks for the nice comments everyone! Really regretted selling my Leaf Musial PSA 7 about a year ago. With rookie cards of his contemporaries such as Williams, Mantle, Mays, Aaron, and Clemente going for such strong prices...I've always felt Stan and his cards have been undervalued for the longest time considering his place in baseball history. It's nice to see Musial's Bowman and Leaf rookies, especially in "7's" and "8's" going for such strong prices the past few months. I'm glad I could add this mid-grade gem to my collection without breaking the bank.

Btw...nice pickups as usual guys!

When did people start calling the 1949 Leaf Musial his rookie card? Isn't it a second year card? I thought that his 1948 Bowman was his rookie card, at least until someone starts claiming some obscure regional is his true rookie.

I guess somewhere along the line, since SGC puts "ROOKIE" on the flip.

Yes, many of us are aware the Leafs, for a long time, were labeled 1948. Collectors and the hobby at large later have come to believe they were 1949.

Some are clearly still in the habit of referring to the 1948-49 Leaf as his rookie.

The real question is: do people really sit around reading internet message boards, waiting to make posts like that?

Ian, that Ryan is a really nice 6! Well bought!!!!!!!

@Ian: Nice Mays Rc and Nolan Ryan Rc you got. Like i mention the Mays was a total suprise. I finally got my MB Ryan today. I held both the Topps and MB side by side and noticed the differences (front & backs) In fact the 5 Topp looked better than the 6 MB, but the MB had better color, it was more natural tone than compared to the Topps. I had to look back at Begsu's collection (BTW is great!) and noticed the Topps had more of the sunburn look especially on Koose.

@Jerry: Love that Stan. I might have to add one of those to go with my Paige/Jackie Rc's of that set.

Sidenote: I am on hiatus for now, burned a hole right thru the wallet with that unexpected Mays RC. So, i will start selling my football RC's and make room for more baseball as well. Plus, college football is nearing, and i go into a mole-hole for months. Go Gators! (tho i live in Ga)

Picked up a vintage Mantle poster and pleased to add it to the collection:

http://i1345.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0ywanh9e.jpg

Thanks Chris and Lou. Chris, I think you and I are collecting twins sometimes.

I was pretty happy to land these Mays cards along with a couple of the Reds. I thought these were very good price performers for the grades.

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...e-mays-psa-5.5http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...lie-mays-psa-5http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...ete-rose-psa-6http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...ny-bench-psa-8

Now that is a sweet lineup of cards. Great centering.

Okay, I'll take'em all! THANKS! I've been actively seeking those exact 67 Rose and 58 Willie cards, too!

Wow - gorgeous set of cards!

Don't know if it was a "good" price or not but at $50 for nice centering, a clean Molitor panel, and no PD, I had to hit the BIN...

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...olitortrammell

Nice pick up for 50 clams!!! 8's average 50 so as far as I am concerned that card looks better than any PSA 8 I have seen. Regardless of the grade worth every penny and a very underrated card if you ask me. Of course I am a homer for the Tigers and think Trams. should be in the hall but that is another discussion.

Thanks, playa. Speakin' of nice 8s...

This little guy did not-- thankfully-- get one of PWCC's special stickers, which didn't preclude me from having to demolish the ol' VCP average to reel it in during what was a heated auction.

Found the Yount on eBay for super cheap. Both are minis and have no tilt, which I love-- especially having collected only minis for like seven years and having seen how 1 in maybe every 200 are squared up like these two.

The Reggie I couldn't resist since he is giving a lesson in great swing mechanics with that classic "palm up" shot right there.

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...s-george-brett

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...ni-robin-yount

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...reggie-jackson

Trammel Molitor Rookie
 

Nice card and no thumb print at the bottom!

Z

'52 Topps
 

Al,

It will more than likely be either the Page/Sain wrong stats error or the House yellow error variation - both of which I am sure you have. I consider those fundamental parts of the set.

Z

1955 Bowman Carl Erskine

Ted and Stan
 

Found a clean 58 Topps Ted and a nicely centered raw 49 Bowman Stan the Man...

Those are two nice looking cards. I would take either one of those for my collection. Well done!!

Hey, I was watching that! Then it's gone ... poof. At least now I know it went to a good home. I also learned that I need to pull the trigger earlier next time. :)

Good pick-up!

Thanks Mike! I've been trying to get one off and on for a little while now and the price was right on this one.

Thanks jb67! Just received the Williams in hand and love the eye-appeal even though it's only a "4".

I couldn't resist the centering on the Musial!

And Then There Were Four...
 

I feel like Mel Gibson in CONSPIRACY THEORY with Catcher In The Rye. Every centered 1968 Ryan I see I simply have to obtain. Four and counting. This one was especially sweet because it was an awful, crooked scan and it seemed like there was a nasty PD on it, but I had a real hunch it was actually something caked up on the holder. Sure enough, it was something on the holder that swiped away in a second! Scans never do a card in hand the proper justice, and in hand the color on this one really pops. Reminds me of the 75 Brett in how there seem to be several subtle color difference whenever you line up a few copies together. The main reason shows are so much more fun than eBay.

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...pps-nolan-ryan

http://i741.photobucket.com/albums/x...psh8n8rjrf.png

I love it when someone posts a crappy scan. I have picked up several cards at a very good price that looked like they had print issues or scratches/snow on them only to get them in hand and they are clean as can be. Never enough centered Ryans in any collection.


BTW those two 75 minis (Brett/Yount) are very sweet. No tilt and centered on a 75 mini is hard to find. Those minis are one of my all-time favorite sets but cannot stay focused enough to find HOF's with the eye-appeal much less the rest of the set.

Loving those two cards up there! My kind of pieces!

Just got this today. Maris rookie

Holy Cow. What rare centering. Can I like put my name on a wait list for that card or something?! GORGEOUS.

Great looking card.From the scan,it looks better than a 4.5!

That Maris Rookie is a real beauty!!! Nice score and it looks much better than 4.5

i concur, that Maris looks much better!!!
@MattyC...you damn hoarder!!! Keep buying them and drive the market up

i concur, that Maris looks much better!!!
@MattyC...you damn hoarder!!! Keep buying them and drive the market up:D

Thanks Matty C, Steve, JB and Chris for the nice comments regarding my Maris rookie. It looked nice in the image on eBay and looks even better in person. It does have some issues on the bottom edge and a minor issue on the top edge but the centering was unreal for a '58, so I pulled the trigger. Matty, you are at the top of the list if I ever decide to sell it but I think that this one will remain in my personal collection.

Duane

1964 Supers
 

I really like that set

This nice '56 Topps Brooklyn Dodger arrived today.

Attachment 194907

Maybe I'm going blind-- but from here, if that label said GEM MT, I wouldn't think it incorrect. That is one freakishly undergraded-looking card you got there!

Nice card. Congrats.

Picked up a couple of pretty nice 1968 Milton Bradley cards today…

Attachment 194935

Puckett RC
 

Still working on the post-war HOF MLB Player RC's. Added Puckett this week.

Just picked up a card I've been stalking for nearly a year. Will keep you in suspense till it arrives since the eBay pic isn't very good.

MattyC, in a dark room it is the blind who see best. And this is exactly my take on the exponential increase in card values as the number on the flip goes from 4.5 to 10.

The scan doesn't do it justice, love the colors and everything is perfectly sharp.

Amen to that, brother! I am always blown away by the sheer amount of stunning cards we continually see here that are in lower grade, and are so affordable relative to their higher-graded-- and often only infinitesimally better-- counterparts ;)

...with about 90% of them posted by you!

+1.