Do you collect any oddities?

[scmavl]

Players with your last name? Players with beards? Players with funny nicknames?

I collect players with glasses (not sunglasses) and Wally Moon cards (because of the amazing unibrow). I think my next undertaking will be players with massive sideburns. Looks like I'll be buying a lot of 70's Topps!

Here are a couple of my favorites I have (not my scans though):

[scmavl]

No one?

[Zach Wheat]

Hey interesting thread. I don't "collect" per se - cards with odd names or unusual nick names. However, I do make note of interesting names or cards and keep a digital copy. Players of note include Specs Toporcer, Whammy Douglas as well as some funny bbcard pictures. Like the '72 Topps of Billy Martin flipping the bird...or the '89 Billy Ripken calmly holding a bat with a cuss word written on the knob......or the '56 Mantle where they obviously modified the crowd to include some fans twice and then moved the ball to make the scene more dramatic.

Makes you wonder - not meaning to derail your original post - what other things were missed in the photos...



Zach Wheat

[ALR-bishop]

From 1948 through 1994 I have tried to collect one of every item Bob Lemke listed for Topps baseball in the big book. Every once in awhile he would list something weird that started me looking again.

Two examples---I think he has two listings in the book for "fake" Topps items. One, I think, pictured a "small" card that looked like a 62 Mantle. It was apparently prepared by cutting out Topps Surf book pictures and pasting them to cardboard stamped with "sample" on the back. The listing says it has no collectible value. Well, it was in the book so I had to have one. I bought one on ebay.

There is also a listing for "fake" Gallery of Champion ingots. Gallery of Champions were put out from 84 to 91 or thereabouts...little boxed sets of metal cards ( 12) of star players in aluminum, bronze and silver...and one pewter for some years. For some reason someone forged a bunch of them in a pewter type metal. I think Bob mentioned it in an article and one is pictured in the Catalog with a note that it has no collectible value. Well, it was in the book so I had to have one....so I found one on ebay.

Then for 3 or 4 years in the 70s he lists some panels of regular Topps cards that appeared in the Dynamite Magazines. Not sure why he lists the particular panels that are in the book, because numerous magazines had such panels during the 70s and 80s. They show up on e bay regularly. Well, I had to have the listed ones. I think I have them for 3 of the 4 years he lists. Still looking for the other.

Not sure these items are what you mean by odd....and maybe it is just me anyway.

[steve B]

I collect cards of the one player with my last name. Not many cards, and I've run out of inexpensive ones years ago.

I also collect unlicensed cards, ad posters for some sets, like the MSA discs, and any strange cards. Like a bazooka box with 1978 baseball backs printed inside. Neat way for them to use up some leftover or misprinted backs.

I've got a few dynamite magazines with the card panels.

I don't recall any other magazines having card panels like that. Which ones were they?

Steve Birmingham

[theseeker]

What Lemke/Topps big book are you referring to?

[Exhibitman]

Curious as to whether anyone collects the small photos that teams used to send back in response to fan inquiries. I've picked up quite a few at the last few Nationals to replace the ones I had as a kid that were lost when I moved.

[novakjr]

Someone was talking earlier about profanity or somewhat perverse type stuff on cards. Yeah, that '89 score Gibson is kinda funny, you gotta have both to get a real good laugh about how silly the whole airbrushing was though.

Anyways, along the same lines, there was a 1990 Pacific Senior League card of Jim Nettles that said A**hole on it. Pretty much, I think someone was showing some homage to the Ripken variations.

My favorite has to be the Claude Raymond cards from the 60's. I'm attaching a photo of his '66 Topps card with his zipper open. And if that's not bad enough, he managed to pop up in '67, once again, with his fly down.

[Exhibitman]

Man's gotta have room to maneuver...