My COMC shipment has come

 I got my COMC shipment last Saturday. I'd been buying cards for a year, so there were 178 cards, most of them vintage. I requested it 11/29 and received it 12/18, so it seems like they've fixed their shipping problems. 

I got many of them on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Actually, I was able to get better prices on 1959 Topps and related sets on Cyber Monday. Lots of them between 50 and 65 cents. 

Here they all are, organized by set:

1959 Topps towers over all the others. I got about 100 1959 Topps cards, and breezed past the 200-card goal I set back in early November. 

Casey looks like he's showing Larsen how to throw a knuckleball. 

That's Virgil Trucks' sunset card. He started out 1958 with the Athletics, but was traded to the Yankees and had a 2-1 record with a 4.54 ERA for them. 

Hall of famers are usually more expensive than what I want to pay, but these were reasonably priced and in good shape. 

Long live black-bordered cards!

Whammy Douglas and Dutch Dotterer are both amazing names. 

I focused mostly on high numbers. I was able to get most of the ones pictured for less than $1.25, and I now have 27/66 of the high numbers, so it worked well. Of course, I'm still missing all those $$ all-stars like Mantle and Aaron, and Bob Gibson, Norm Cash etc. 

The only all-stars I got were guys like this. 

I didn't just get 1959 Topps cards, obviously. I enjoyed getting some Yankees, and other favorites of mine.

Johnny Lindell on the left was my first 1948 Bowman. Lindell was a pitcher in the minor leagues, and went 23-4, 2.05 ERA in the International League in 1941. But he was just so-so in the bullpen for the Yankees in 1942, 2-1, 3.76, and was converted to the outfield in 1943. He led the league in triples in 1943 and 1944 with marks of 12 and 16, and led the league in total bases in 1944. After hitting .187 in 1950, he converted back to the mound in the Pacific Coast League. In 1952, with the Hollywood Stars, he had a 24-9 record, 2.52 ERA, and 190 strikeouts. That brought him back to the majors, where he split a season between the Pirates and Phillies. He hit .303, but was 6-17 and led the league in losses and wild pitches. 

I'm guessing that Bob Porterfield is the least known modern player to throw nine shutouts in a season. Unfortunately for him and the Yankees, he was with the Senators then.

This is an 1895 cigarette card which I got for $1.50. Has a big crease, but not in bad shape for a 126 year old card. 

To be honest, I like the back more than the front.

Hoyt!

Unfortunately, Solly Hemus wasn't as good at managing as he was at short stop. He spent two and a half years with the Cardinals, with a record of 190-192.

Marvelous Marv!

That Johnny Romano is the earliest example I've seen of batting gloves on baseball cards. 

Good ol' Wally Moon. I saw him at a card show in 2017. Autograph fees were $7, so I didn't bring a card for him to sign. But the organizer of the card show told us (me, my dad, and my sister) to go over and say hi to him. He was super nice, and signed a Beckett magazine I had with Zack Greinke on the cover. Similar to Don Mossi, Moon is a fan favorite not only because of the unibrow, but also because he was a great guy.

I got Don Mossi, a high number, for $2.65. It isn't in very good shape, but I don't have enough of his cards.

In a bit of sad irony, the last card of Eli Grba actually pictures Ryne Duren. 

With 178 cards, there's too much to fit into one post, so expect a sequel sometime next week. After my Christmas post.

Have a good Christmas Eve!

Worth the Waite

 I was bad at posting cards I got in the summer, so I figure December is better than never for showing good cards. 

In a Net54 purchase, I picked up a 1929 R316 Kashin Waite Hoyt. It's a surprisingly affordable set, for pre-war. You can get commons in decent condition for as little as $10 on eBay, and this Hoyt was $35. It has a stain, but it's in good condition otherwise. Until this Thursday, Waite Hoyt cards accounted for the two most expensive cards I've bought personally, as I bought a 1933 Goudey Hoyt in September 2020.

I also got some pre-war cricket cards. I know most of you all don't care about cricket cards, but I enjoy picking them up occasionally. I got two 50-card sets in good condition for $20 each shipped  -  from Thailand. If I was buying baseball cigarette cards, that might buy me two beat-up commons. And cricket is close enough to baseball that I can enjoy watching and reading about it.

The cards took two months to arrive, but they were worth the wait. The two sets were the 1928 Wills set and 1938 John Player & Sons set. I also got a 1937 British Authors set for my dad, because it had cards of some authors he likes. 

The top two cards, a 1934 Players Jack Hobbs and a 1934 Carreras Herbert Sutcliffe, paired well with their 1928 cards. 

Jack Hobbs was the one of the greatest cricketers of all time, starring until he was 51. His career lasted from 1905 to 1934. Herbert Sutcliffe was his batting partner from 1924 onward.

Cricket is weird because the aging pattern is completely different. Many of the players in these sets were in their 40s, and some were in their 50s like Jack Hobbs and Wilfred Rhodes, on the left. A bowler, Rhodes was 50 when this card was issued, and his career was from 1898 to 1930. 

The card of the late Roy Kilner reminds me of the 1964 Topps Ken Hubbs.

K.S Duleepsinhji was nephew of the great Ranjitsinhji. He may have been as good, but his career was shortened by recurrent illness. The Duleep Trophy, one of the premier competitions in Indian cricket, is named after him. 

This is the only horizontal card in either set.

The 1938 set is annoying because the backs are adhesive, as they were designed to be stuck into albums. I need to put them into binder pages, because I can't get go through them without them sticking to me temporarily.

Don Bradman, an Australian. is widely considered the greatest batsman of all-time. He played from 1927 to 1949, and for his career had a batting average of 99.94 in Test matches, and a 95.14 average in First Class matches. A century, where you score 100 runs, is a great achievement, so averaging almost a century per match for over twenty years is amazing.

I like looking at the player's faces. I feel like you could make up a cheesy story with how they look. The cast:

Norman Yardley: The boy evil genius.

Robert Wyatt: His hired thug.

Peter Smith: Head of Scotland Yard.

I was going to do more, but the cards were infuriatingly sticky so I quit. 

Third Blogging Anniversary

 I started blogging three years ago today. It's always nice being able to write about baseball cards and have people read what I write. 

Last year I used my blogging anniversary as a chance to reminiscence about my early days of collecting, so I think I'll do that again. (My mom finds it funny that I'm reminiscing about things when I'm still young.)

For a time I think that the only place I bought cards at was a card shop called Nick's, which I still visit today. It was owned by Nick, who was super nice. Once he gave me a complete 1990 Upper Deck set because he liked how I was interested in the older players. Not a ton of monetary value, but it's a nice set and I thought it was really cool. It's also funny because though my dad mostly collected from 1970 to 1975, he briefly returned around 1990 and bought tons of Upper Deck packs trying to complete the set. He never got close, and I got it for free. 

I would frequently purchase 20-card repacks of vintage cards in good shape for $20. I would have been able to get many of those cards for less than a dollar on COMC, but because I didn't know about COMC at the time I would have just spent that money on less worthwhile things. Like buying retail packs, which wasn't cost-efficient even back then.

Another thing I really liked was that there would be over-production era packs for a quarter each, which were fun to open. Nick sold the shop in 2016, and I was very sad. The new owner is nice, (he's the one who gave me a 1933 Goudey for free last year), but I still miss Nick. 

Thanks to my parents for, as Yogi said, making this night necessary, and also supporting my hobby. Thanks to all my blog readers and commenters. I don't think I'd be blogging if I didn't have people who read and commented on my posts. Writing is fun, but also hard. I now have 11 followers, up from 4 as of my second blogging anniversary, so that's nice. Thanks everyone!

My birthday!

 Yesterday was my 15th birthday. It was a pretty good birthday. We went to my favorite restaurant for lunch, I had cake, and of course I got baseball cards. This year I picked them out for myself, and though it's nice not being sure what you're getting, I'm glad about the cards I got.

I've always wanted a Zeenut card because I really like the minor leagues, the Pacific Coast League is my favorite minor league, and the Zeenut cards chronicled the Pacific Coast League from 1911 to 1938. They're rare, though, and usually in bad condition, so I'd never gotten one. This, a 1925 card of Bill James, is my first. 

I'm really happy with it. It's obviously not in mint condition, with a corner missing, but it doesn't have any ugly creases and is just a nice card. Bill James (not be confused with the writer) also was a very interesting player. He won 26 games with a 1.90 ERA for the Miracle Braves in 1914, a forerunner of the Miracle Mets, but hurt his arm the next year and was never the same again. He never had a winning record in pro ball again, but lasted until 1925. He only pitched one inning that year, and allowed two unearned runs. He managed in the semi-pro Sacramento Valley League until the mid-1940s.

I also made a cool purchase on the forum Net54. I bought 15 1947-50 Yankee Picture Pack cards for just $19. Calling them baseball cards is a bit of a stretch, as they're huge and pictures, but they are usually considered cards and are very nice. There aren't many baseball cards from that time, and so for some of these guys it's their only Yankees card. And they were just over a dollar apiece. 

Frank Crosetti started out with the Yankees as a short stop in 1932, and was still with the Yankees as a coach when my great-uncle John tried out with them in 1962. 

My great uncle got to take batting practice right after Roger Maris, and fielded ground balls from Crosetti. When he was getting a bat from the batting rack for batting practice, he heard a voice saying "don't use that bat," looked over, and there were Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Howard apparently didn't want a kid to use his bat. The Yankees were impressed and offered him a contract, but unfortunately he said that he had an offer from another team with a bonus of $10,000 (he did not), and they told him he wasn't worth that much. This is where he should have said he would take less, but he said thanks and left. He ended up signing with the Pirates for $1,500. He had a good year in rookie ball in 1963, but then got hurt and hit only .256 in 1965. And retired. 

It's cool how Bobby Brown's picture pack card and his 1951 Bowman card have the same picture. It's really nice to have both.

Spud Chandler is one of the great pitchers that almost no one has heard about. He had a 109-43 record, and led the league in ERA twice, including 1947 when at 39 he posted an ERA of 2.46. He won the MVP award in 1943, with a 20-4 record and 1.64 ERA. Unfortunately he was a late-bloomer and had arm problems, but he could have been one of the greats. 

I also got three packs. One from 2021 Topps Series One, one from Series Two, and one from 2020 Topps Update. It was fun opening them, though I didn't get anything amazing. 

Gerrit Cole was my only Yankee card, only two days after I wrote about getting my first Yankee card of him. I was actually wrong about that; I already had his 2020 Topps base card and forgot about it.

I don't care about modern cards that much, sadly, so the rookies are the most exciting part. I'd like to love modern cards, but I just can't. 

I didn't remember Giovanny Gallegos , but anyone who's name is Giovanny gets my support. Justin Turner has been a favorite of mine for a long time because of his beard. I call him "The Dwarf" because the beard reminds me of Tolkien's dwarves. 

Jorge Soler was a timely pull. I was rooting for the Braves, as it seems everyone was doing, but switched to the Astros after they were down 3-1 because I wanted it to go to seven games. I wasn't cheering very vehemently for the Braves in the first place to be honest. 

It was a good birthday. A little quiet, but I enjoyed the cards. I spent most of my day researching Bullet Rogan's time with the 25th Infantry in Hawaii. A refresher on Rogan if you've forgotten (I had before last week): He was a top pitcher and hitter in the Negro Leagues in the 1920s, with a 120-52 record, 2.65 ERA, and a .338 batting average. And before joining the Kansas City Monarchs he was the best player in Hawaii.

A little help from my friends

 It's always nice to get some help with a set or player collection from a fellow blogger. Jon of A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts left a comment on my last blog post offering to send me some 1959 Topps cards, no strings attached. Getting 62-year old cards for free was a pleasant surprise.

He sent me nine cards on my want-list, so I'm now at 170/572, or 29.7%. I'm hoping to reach the 200 card barrier by the end of this year, and I plan on getting at least a good chunk of that on COMC's Black Friday. 

The Lou Skizas is in very nice condition. Jon said he hoped that they would all meet my condition requirements, and none even came close to being rejected. I mean, my requirements are not strict, but they're in great condition, especially for freebies.

Unfortunately, I got Dick Ricketts at a card show back in February. It was still on my want-list for some reason- whoops. 

Ah, the always alliterative combo cards. Calling Dave Sisler a batter baffler was a bit of an exaggeration, as he had a career ERA of 4.76 at the time. He did have a 2.48 ERA out of the bullpen for the Tigers the next year.

Here's something to think about before you spend $$$$$ on prospect cards: Whitey Lockman, up to 1950, looked like a future hall of famer. Whitey came up in 1944 as a teenage centerfielder, and had an elite .341/.410/.481 slash line. Yes, it was war-time, but he was 18. With Jersey City that year he hit .317/.479/.563. He was in the army in 1946, and injured in 1947, but he played very well in 1948, with a .286 average, 18 home runs, and 117 runs scored. Still just 21. He kept it up in 1949, with a .301 average, 11 home runs, and a WAR of 4.3. Nothing dramatic happened that I know of, but he never played that well again. He hit .295 in 1950, but without power, and he moved to first base in 1951. His average stayed in the .290s, but it was empty, and in what should have been his prime, from his age 27 to 30 seasons, he hit just .258. And by 1959, at 32, he was playing for the Baltimore Orioles. You really never can tell. 

Thanks Jon for some much appreciated help on my set!

I also received some team and player collection cards from gcrl of cards as i see them as part of an almost-free-card-Friday. For two TCMA Dodgers, I got three Yankees and two players I like.

I'm so haphazard in my modern card collecting that this was my first card of Gerrit Cole as a Yankee.

I heard DJ was playing through an injury, and his .268 batting average certainly makes that seem likely. Oh well. 

This was also my first post-Rangers card of Yu Darvish, and my first card of young Yaz. Both had amazing 2020 seasons (8-3, 2.01 for Yu, Mike Yastrzemski finishing 8th in the MVP voting) and disappointing 2021 seasons (8-11, 4.22 for Yu, .224 average for little Mikey.)

Weird how the only logos on these cards are for Pepsi and Bank of America.

Yay! A card of my favorite active player! Who was actually healthy all year! It was such a relief for Judge to be actually playing everyday. It wasn't 2017, but he hit 39 home runs. If Judge can keep that up for five more years, and then play well for another five, we're talking Hall of Fame territory. I guess you can't read too much into the future of injury-prone 29 year-olds, but I can dream.

So that's it for today. Thanks for reading, and thanks Jon and gcrl for the cards!

I haven't forgotten about you, 1959 Topps

 My post before last saw me finally completing the 1969 Topps Deckle Edge set. The other set I've been working on, 1959 Topps, has been going slowly but surely. Including the cards I have sitting in COMC's warehouse, I'm over a quarter of the way through the set, at 159/572, or 27.8%.

I've been able to find some very good deals on Net54. For $19 I got an 18 card lot of 1959 cards in very nice condition, including Richie Ashburn. Watching the binder pages starting to fill up is extremely satisfying. 

Richie isn't in the best shape, but my set is rather short on star power, so I'll take it gladly. 1958 was Ashburn's best season, as he hit .350 with a league-leading 215 hits and also league leading 97 walks.

I like the variety of emotions shown on these cards. That's Felipe Alou's rookie card, and he just looks happy to be on a Topps card. Johnny Podres looks a little bored. Larry Doby just looks angry, and I don't know if I can blame him. As the first African-American in the AL, things were not always smooth, and by 1959 he was washed up, playing for the Detroit Tigers, and didn't even have a hat on. 

I love the Howard and Shantz cards. The pink pair, not so much. What's pink doing on a baseball card? Actually, the Gilliam is a nice card, but there's a big printing flaw right by his nose, which is a bit annoying.

Though I'd prefer new cards, both Repulski and Lumpe were welcome upgrades (upgrades on right.) Speaking of which, there few worse last names than Repulski and Lumpe.

Klippstein, Repulski, and Zuverink. I love it.

A slightly bland final four for this batch of '59s. This is Stan Williams's rookie card. He would appear in Topps sets until 1972. Looking at his cards, I just realized that Stan belongs to the Topps Yankee swamp of difficulty, with others such as Bob Friend, Bob Schmidt, and Bob Meyer, as his only playing career card in pinstripes is a high number. 

Because I'm already posting about 1959 Topps cards, I might as well feature a few of my COMC cohort. I've been looking for as many cheap high numbers as I can get, and have managed to get quite a few for $1.25, or even cheaper. In other words, success. 

#507, $1.09

#548, $1.03

#572, $1.24

So I guess what I'm saying is that, despite their ridiculous shipping times and all that stuff, I can't stop buying on COMC because of the deals I find sometimes.

1952 Topps blooper

Most people I know, on the blogs and forums, think 1952 Topps is over-rated. It's certainly not the #1 of Topps sets (as some people think), but the cards really do have a mystique in person. It's hard to help admiring such a daring set, with 407 cards, a new big size, a facsimile signature, and stats on the back. 

But I have to admit it is amateurish in some ways. The design isn't really that nice, and the downside of having 407 cards in a set is that there's a lot of no-namers. Another problem is that the pictures weren't actually color photographs, but black and white photos recolored. That usually wasn't much of a problem, but it looks odd sometimes, and sometimes the artist flat-out messed up. Looking through my cards, I found a funny example which I'll show tonight.

How about you just look at that card for a minute. A pinhole at the top, general condition flaws, the good-ol' hands-behind-your-head-without-a-ball pose, a funny flying sock logo, a signature in cursive, and, on his chest, Chicago. Wait a second.

You've probably noticed it by now. The poor artist completely forgot the I, and had to improvise with a faint line in between H and C. Ouch. 

I don't really understand why he would've missed the I if it was on the uniform in the first place, but maybe I don't understand the exact process of how the pictures were made. 

I guess that's it. I just thought it would be fun to share a cautionary tale of inattention. Good night.