January Pickups
 

I actually won this card at the end of December, but it just arrived. I've been wanting one for a while, but never could seem to find one. It is one of only three graded by PSA; it's the lowest graded, so it fit my budget better.

Looking good Robert! Nice Aaron to start us off with a new month and new year! !

Went to the hardware store today for something and came out empty handed. Not by the time I got home, however!

Richardson
 

What is the building in the background ?

Without snooping, it looks like a hospital to me.

Nice cards, Cardsfan!

Congrats on finding such a tough card! I've spent many hours searching through listings for Pittsburgh Exhibits.

The buildings are the ones that loomed over right/centerfield in Yankee Stadium. Back in the 'early days' there wasn't much there to block them out…

Attachment 216723
Attachment 216724

Looks like Bobby was standing somewhere around the front of the Yankees dugout (definitely on the right side of the field) when the picture was taken (if, of course, the photograph isn't some sort of composite).

Edited to add:
In this photo the building has more of that same reddish hue that the Richardson card displays…
Attachment 216726

Just recieved this card yesterday. It was a huge condition upgrade for me from my written on and creased in half one. Love it.
Drew

Buildings
 

Thanks, Daren. That sort of conjures up the image of that icon, Mickey Mantle :)

Drew-- nice example of on of my favorite cards. Thanks for sharing

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/2EAAAO...62/s-l1600.jpg

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/AWMAAO...69/s-l1600.jpg

Cool Dan-Dee.

The '57 Topps Richardson has got to be one of the best portrait pictures of all time. Too bad they couldn't have stood the Mick in that exact same spot and gotten the same results...

Yes. That would be iconic! :D just kidding Darren.
Drew

RobertC, that is a nice pickup to start the new year. When I got back into collecting about 2 years ago I was amazed at the price of some of the Aaron cards. Are you working on a particular set of Aaron cards or did you just like that card individually?

Anyway the start to my year could not have been any better. Added this 52 Mays and a 39 Ted Williams rookie to my collection. Very pleased with the eye-appeal of both of these cards. I have been looking for close to two years trying to find the perfect 52 Topps Mays card for my Willie run and this one was it.

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...e-mays-psa-3.5http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...iams-psa-4.5-2

So jealous on both these cards! Really, really beautiful!

Jason

JB67,

That is a really nice 52 Mays as a graded 3.5! Fun finding cards that have nice eye appeal and hopefully a 3.5 price to boot!

JB67 - Those are two really nice cards. As to your question, I'm trying to complete an Aaron run from 1954 to 1976, using PSA's Hank Aaron Master Set as a basic guide. I'm not really doing an actual registry set, since I'm not overly concerned with the grades.

2016 is starting out really well. I've already added two to my Aaron run. Here is the second Aaron that I just picked up. It's a 1969 Braves Birthday Party Stamps sheet. I originally planned to cut it up to get out the two Aaron's, but I did not realize the sheet was small enough to get graded. I think I will just get the whole sheet slabbed.

Check out RobertC's separate post on the topic if you wanna be totally blown away by Hank Aarons.

Nice ones there JBL. Centering was a bonus. Ones i would like for sure.

Mantle
 

Peter like Mickey is pretty iconic. And thanks for sharing Chris :)

Campy
 

So, this card probably won't be a finalist anytime soon for the portrait picture Hall of Fame (Wagner?) and honestly with the benefit of the years it's probably not that great looking of a card at all by any conventional measure - but it's an important one in my personal collecting history all the same. As about an 11 or 12 year old (the late 1980's, not the 1950's...) I happened across this Campy at a local card shop and gulped. Here was not only a BROOKLYN Dodger (Brooklyn being important to prove the card older, and thus much cooler to my adolescent self) but their HOF catcher who thrice won the NL MVP in 5 years. This was my first Brooklyn Dodger card, and despite the mediocre portrait (and what must be allowed is an odd looking, bowl-shaped cap on Roy's head...is it a helmet?) has been extremely important at least in my memory ever since. At some point before going to college, my original copy was traded off, but alas. As of this morning I finally have another one!

Campanella was a huge figure in baseball history to my child's eye, although in looking back with the benefit of a little history I realize he wasn't on the level of a Mays, Mantle, or Aaron. It does have to be allowed that for the brief period of the early 1950's he was indeed an NL powerhouse. It seems that since my first romance with collecting vintage blossomed in the late 1980's - he's not quite as popular a figure as he was back then, probably because a few better catchers have come along and then Bench went into Cooperstown - but Campy will always hold a special place for me. Shun the '54 Bowmans if you must (a lot of people do...) but I love this card. :)

What a beautiful 54B Campy! Never had that one but the helmet always did catch my eye. Way to go!

Thanks Jason. Is it a helmet...what's the consensus? As a kid I always thought it was just an odd shaped cap. But the top of it is really rounded to be a cap if Bowman didn't take some kind of creative license.


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Christmas present from my daughter
 

My 20 year old daughter got me these. I was so pleased my daughter put the effort in, found these, and ordered them for me. Sigh... I will miss her as she is venturing to Australia on Monday for several months.

Bob

1968
 

Bob---your daughter has a great eye for cards. Where in Australia will she be ?

Having spent some time over there I highly recommend you visit her :)

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/.../Sydney004.jpg

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/.../Sydney003.jpg

Cards of Cards.

Cards
 

Great Musial, Peter. I am a Gibson fan but favor his 60 card. I just can not look at him very long surrounded by pink. And that may be the last time he smiled. His stats are terrible on both :)

Wow Peter, that centering on Gibson is rare indeed. I agree with Al though, it's such a tough card to look at. I collect Cardinal RCs and some of my favorite players have some terrible looking cards. Besides Gibson, Brock and Flood are hard to look at.

Great Musial!

And I'm with Al, you gotta go to Australia! I went 20 years ago and I'm dying to go back.

Continuing to pickup some cards I had 25-ish years ago that got away, always liked this one. Bob was near the end of the road In 1955, but after a hell of a career that would have generated a lot more impressive overall numbers if not for WWII. I met him at a card show once, sometime around 1990. I remembered him taking the time to point out the details of the uniform he was wearing in the picture I had him sign. Again (kind of like my earlier post on Campy) I think Feller is one of the HOF'ers that is more easily overlooked these days, but I've always been a fan.


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Pic intended to go with above post.

Thanks Al. Yeah to the "eye for cards". She had three different friends back out on her over the past 18 months as she worked for ten bucks an hour (Starbucks, golf course, cashier), saving her pennies. She finally said "To hell with it, I'm going myself. I didn't quit school to not travel."

She's flying into Sydney, and has no other plans except hoping to catch on with others at hostels.

While I have never been there myself, I'm pretty sure she doesn't want me hanging around while she is backpacking... :rolleyes: . Myself, I'm happy with any golfing holiday I can manage... :)

Gotta have the RC.

Gibson
 

I have it, I just don't look at it:)

A new gem for my Joe Torre collection
 

I picked up '62 Jell-O Joe Torre in an SGC holder, and finally found a '63 Jell-O Joe Torre.

I already had a '62, but this one looks a little nicer in my Joe Torre collection.

Beautiful collection! I see there are doubles on some like 1973. Is one OPC?

Thanks!

Yes, the doubles are actually OPC or some are Venezuelan. For the 1966, I have the Topps, OPC, the original proof card, and I think I have a Venezuelan ready to go to PSA.

Last month I got a great deal from a fellow board member on a Yankees game issued jersey, which is now in a frame on my wall in the hallway. And I just picked up a couple of Milwaukee Torre giveaway bats from the Mears auction, so those will soon be added!

I am always looking for obscure Torre items!

Sean

Nice Torre collection, and I am really digging the display case.

I love player collector posts and your torre collection is awesome!

Posted this yesterday on its own thread but was told to post on here instead. Just got this 62 Maris
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d85fe16321.jpg

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Just received this for my low-mid grade 1952 set. Exactly the kind of "well loved" card I go after: rounded corners, decent centering, no major creases.

Nice pick up Ed! Iconic set, HoF player, good eye appeal, and you probably got the card at a good price! That Feller is on my bucket list for this year.

Feller
 

the 52 super set folks would say there are at least two versions of that card . Slats or no/less slats

Al,

I didn't realize that. One of the fun things about collecting the '52's is learning about the variations, etc. There are certainly a variety of ways to collect this set.


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71
 

Fantastic Brett!!!! My modest pick-up with the $20 ebay coupon:

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps0jlzhbqb.jpg

Sweet Stan the Man! Never see that card centered like that. Well done!

My fist pick up share !
 

And my first 1955 Bowman . 👍

Just picked up this 64 Mick for a decent price. Very nice eye-appeal for a PSA 4 in my opinion.

http://www.collectorfocus.com/images...y-mantle-psa-4

Sick Mick!

Great looking Mantle JB!

Great card what a steal-- clean design and just a slept on Mick the '64.

Thanks everyone for the comments on the 64 Mick. It was one of those Ebay listings where the card was tilted and the starting bid was right at VCP. Lucky for me no one else made a bid.

Nice Mike JB67.

The 64 set does not get much love but I really like it.

Mantle-palooza
 

Struck up a random conversation online last week with a collector who is finally parting with his meticulously assembled Mantle run (minus the '52T). Such a nice guy to boot. I ended up negotiating to buy 4 from him, and they arrived today.
Undoubtedly one of the best collecting decisions I ever made -- the cards look even better in person. This gentleman shares my obsession for centering and eye appeal, and I am very grateful to have even a portion of his incredible collection. Crazy stuff.

Wow Jason, great cards. Congrats.

Holy Cow-- what a Mantle haul! You must be so pumped.

Great cards Zigger! Not sure how you will top those Mantles! !!!

Love ALL these Mantles additions here. Beautiful specimens. Feeling the love here.

Nice pick up on those Mantles Jason. Very sharp.

Wow, can only imagine that fellow's 52T! :-)

Exciting pickups Jason!! Great looking cards

Nice! I picked up the same card as my Christmas gift to myself this year. One of the most affordable early Mays cards, and one of the best looking IMHO as well. [emoji5]


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Very nice PSA 4. I'm glad to see more people these days realizing there is nothing wrong with mid-grade cards. That did not seem to be the sentiment in the hobby 10-15 years ago.


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http://i1345.photobucket.com/albums/...psjvosg9mp.jpg

http://i1345.photobucket.com/albums/...psu4ugmblj.jpg

http://i1345.photobucket.com/albums/...psdfgcr3mg.jpg

Nice Dan-Dees. The Dan Dee Mantle and the Dan Dee Rosen are two of my favorites within each of those players' runs

Thanks Mike! I was very pleased to add the card to my collection. I wish it had been cut a little better but I've only seen one other Mantle Dan Dee with another player on the back so didn't know when I'd have another opportunity.

John Scott is still alive, I would break that baby out and have him sign it :).

I would in a heartbeat, but it doesn't look like he signs.

Ask him to personalize it to you. I have never had a refusal going that route.

Hmmm, worth a shot!

Love the Mantle matchbook!

Mantle / Aaron!!
 

(Preface to the below, which was drafted before I actually had the card in hand. This may be my greatest example yet of the "buy the card, not the grade" maxim. Card looks even better in person - rich, dark colors and print damage - if it is even there - is not noticeable at all from an arm's length. I've seriously seen worse on PSA 7's of this card !!!):

--------------------

I usually collect mid-grade or worse, but have always judged based on eye appeal over and above the technical grade. What this means in practice is that sometimes a "mid-grade" card for me is a PSA 6, other times it only comes out as VG or occasionally even worse than that. I picked this one up on eBay over the weekend after having deliberated over it for a while, and it arrived this afternoon. Best I can tell it's a PSA 2 Good only because of the 2 vertical lines / staining on the back. (I think it may have been in an old magnetic album at one point, and this is residue from that based on the way the lines run?) The front of it is probably PSA 5 quality if not better with no creases or wrinkles, and the corners are easily EX quality if not better. Most importantly, at least for me - the picture is nearly totally devoid of the heavy print defect problem which so frequently plagues this particular card even in the higher grades, often distorting Mick and Hank's face. I can more than live with this in a mid-grade collection...

Another of the vintage cards from my childhood collection that got away in the past. Beyond thrilled to have it back. Nearly 1300 home runs flew off of these two bats in 25 years...not too shabby!

M & a
 

Very nice card John

Thank you. Still can't get over the front of this for a 2. Checkout the PD on this PSA 6 currently for sale on ebay. Lots of fuzz up in the stands...

In '54, never even knew this card existed
 

Finally broke down and picked up one of these to "complete" a set of 1954 Bowman. Since putting it together in the '80's, had always considered it complete with Piersall at #66. But, found this guy, who i've been told was a star of some stature back then, so thought i would vouchsafe to let him in. Priced under four C's, as well, which had something to do with it. Debating whether to liberate him from the slab.:rolleyes:

A true classic, Steve! Nicely centered, too. Great card!