I wrote on Wednesday that I had gotten some good cards at Nick's on Saturday, and I definitely did. I started off by getting some nice discount vintage.
Dick Donavan's 1960 Leaf card was just 50 cents because of a crease, but it isn't in bad shape overall. One thing I really like about this picture is that Dick looks like a very disapproving grandmother. I think it's because of his pursed lips and his expression. Dick was actually a very good pitcher, winning 122 games in a 15-year career and leading the league in ERA in 1961.
Pete Runnel's 1960 Topps card was just 50 cents also. It has some paper loss, but not in central areas of the card, so it isn't too bad. Pete Runnels was a good player, winning two batting titles and retiring with a batting average of .291.
This is the only purchase from that day that I regret. For one, it was $1, the most I spent on a single card that day. Also, the combination of the hatless picture, the print defect on his lip, and the glasses all make him look like he just stumbled bleary-eyed out of bed. He looks a lot better on his other cards. On the other hand, he retired with a career batting average of .295, and had power.
It was getting near time to go when my Dad pointed out a bag of '60s cards for $5 marked " bad condition". I wasn't sure about it at first, but I felt how many cards there were in the bag, and I decided it was a good deal. My only fear was that the cards would turn out to be in really terrible condition, but as Nick's generally has high condition standards for the vintage cards they have, I figured the rejects couldn't be too bad. I also got some pretty good cards that I'll save for last.
All my fears were put to rest when I saw the first card, a 1970 Topps Denny McLain in OK condition. I also got another one later in the bag, which highlights the only problem there was: duplicates. There were about 80 cards overall, but about 30 duplicates.
The bag definitely helped me make some progress on some sets that I'm trying to build, like 1965 Topps. I only had 5 1965 Topps cards before getting these, so the help was definitely appreciated.
I already had a comparatively large number of 1969 Topps, but in reality that means barely any. I liked the Don Wilson card, and I also really liked the pose on Rich Reese's card, though it's mostly obscured ( top row, 2nd from left).
It was definitely nice getting rookie cards of longtime big leaguers like Merv Rettenmund and Mike Torrez for around 7 cents each. It's also great getting a card of Bob Gibson from 1969, after his historic year.
I also got a lot of 1968 Topps, a set which I don't really like. There were also a ton of duplicate 1968 cards.
Some of the cards were written on, and these particular ones interest me because they look like they were all owned by the same person, who had the same way of making note of team changes.
Most of what I've shown so far, though nice, are mostly commons. However, there were definitely some good cards too.
This was the lone 1966 Topps card, but it certainly packed a punch. A hall of famer in Yastrzemski and a very good player in Oliva and... Vic Davalillo. ( Which one of these are not like the other.)
I'd been wanting to get a 1963 Fleer card for a while, so I was happy to get one for the low, low price of 7 cents! Billy O'Dell lasted 14 years in the majors, winning 105 games.
I was really surprised to see this one. It has a bad crease in the middle of the card, but it's a '50s card of a Hall-of-Famer! As a bonus, Nellie was the 1959 AL MVP.
Anyway, I definitely think I got my money's worth with those cards.
