Favorite Raw Pick Ups of 2023....

[Howe’s Hunter]

but still looks pretty good to me.

[G1911]

Mine is easy! I was able to secure 3 of the 4 panels of the T220 silver sheet I didn't have, all in separate and unrelated purchases. Very happy that 3 more folks were willing to let them go and be reunited together. The James J. Corbett has to be my favorite; this card is a notorious short print in boxing land. There are only 4 or 5 known copies of this card in existence outside of the sheet and it wasn't even known to exist at all until the 1990's. As my favorite set, securing uncut sheets of the Donovan and Corbett would be like a T206 collector getting uncut panels of Wagners and Planks - nothing I ever get again can be as cool as these two are to me. I have cards I want still, but all my whales I really wanted for years I have managed to cross off.

My favorite baseball raw addition of the year is a cheap one. I bought some 'better' cards but my Dad and I bought up C46's in the mid 2000's during my teens. They were pretty cheap and we liked the design and learning about new players we didn't know. We got about halfway through the set by bidding $11.11 on each one we needed. Why we picked that number, I don't know, but we did and that was our rule, never a penny more. He surprised me on Christmas with this card of Tom Hughes, which cost him more than $11.11. Hughes was a former Highlander who would go on to have a couple fine years with Boston. It was a very fun nostalgia add to the collection, which are so very much more fun and meaningful than an investment card.

[h2oya311]

Lucky for me, this is one of only two known "Old Hoss" Radbourns from the 1886 Red Stocking Cigar set...the other used to be in Lew Lipset's collection and was used as the cover of his famous "Encyclopedia of Baseball Cards" book. I bought that exact card from Lipset and subsequently sold the card a few years ago when I needed some moolah.

Lo and behold, a few years later (2023), and this one became available.
While it is very, VERY trimmed, it still fits my collection beautifully:



I also picked up some raw 1921-30 ML Die-Cuts this past year, although the date should clearly be modified to be closer to 1921-31 or '32 given the inclusion of Appling in the set. Not sure if there has been much research into the dates of this set, but clearly Appling's inclusion would suggest that these die-cut team sets (or at least certain ones) were released through at least 1931, given that Appling only appeared in 6 games for the White Sox in 1930.

I didn't know that Appling, Hubbell, Lindstrom, Lopez, or Ott were even in this set until these raw-dogs showed up on eBay in June. That says something since my primary collecting focus and research has been on HOF "earliest" cards/collectibles.

The Dickey had been on my "want list" forever since this "card" pre-dates his 1931 W-UNC and 1931 W502 strip card "rookies" and another member had shared a scan of his example many years back.

[Leon]

All of my cards are favorites. Another raw '23 pick up.. From COMC, no less..

(some really cool cards in this thraed, love the Radbourn)