A little bit of Topps Update

I was able to locate and purchase a couple packs of Topps Update. I didn't get anything to write home about, but it was nice to open a few packs. I like this product and seeing players in their new uniforms. I actually didn't pull any Yankees in my pack, which I was bummed about. I want a big ol Bart Colon in a Yankee uniform card.

I pulled the of the Liquorfractors. I don't really understand them, but I don't hate them either. The Dee Gordon is already gone, but the Kohn and Barney are available. I clearly didn't do the Gordon card justice by turning it on its side and scanning it with these other cards. It's easily one of the best cards of 2011 right up there with the Casey Blake from Series One.

A few more inserts. That's an Al Kaline Diamond Anniversary card, a Big Puma Topps 60, a Kimball Champs Andre Dawson, and a Gold Cliff Lee All Star #'d to 2011. Does anyone have a Yankee legend Diamond Anniversary shiny to trade for the Kaline?

There are some great photos in Update. As aforementioned, the Dee Gordon is super cool. These three cards stuck out to me as well, although the Blanco was hard to tell who was who at first. He is obviously the catcher, but it's a little odd when the subject of the card isn't 100% of the focus. It's either a force out or a horrendous job of blocking the plate.

I also grabbed a Diamond Giveaway code and unlocked a 1955 Chuck White. I should have kept it instead of making dumb trades. I traded it for a Corey Hart Diamond Die Cut, and then traded that for an Aramis Ramirez which then turned into a Torii Hunter. I'm still trying to turn that into a Yankee. Maybe I should have been more patient with a 1955 card? Sigh.

1968 Topps Game - The Joys of a Completed Set

I did it! I completed the 1968 Topps Game 33-card insert set. What a fun little set jam-packed with HOFers. Overall, I made a few trades for some cards, and I probably spent about $40 total putting this set together, usually buying a few card lots off of eBay. I wish I kept better records of what I spent. I suppose I could look it up, but I’ll say $40-$45, and I have a bunch of dupes to boot. I'll post some trade bait later on if you're interested in any of my extras.

My favorite card is easily the Mantle, followed by the Clemente. I’m still looking for a “real” Mantle Topps card, but in the meantime, this is pretty damn awesome to own. This set is not one of the top pieces in my collection. Enjoy!

 

A Gentlemen’s Wager with Night Owl: Packs 5-8

Here is the second half of the Blaster from Night Owl:

Pack 5:

 

134 Sizemore

8 McCutchen

48 Jay Bruce X-Fractor

123 BJ Upton

Pack 6:

111 Byrd

57 Jaso

193 Lueke

92 Peavy X-Fractor

Pack 7:

108 Morse

11 Ryan Zimmerman X-Fractor

98 Bell

148 Derrick Lee

Pack 8:

29 Phil Hughes (real nice season, Phildo)

15 Lincecum

C171 Ryan Howard Heritage Chrome (1333/1962) – see, that’s three Phillies inserts in this box alone

113 Werth

Night Owl, thanks again for the wager.

1968 Topps Game = DONE

I'm going to do a "Joys of a Completed Set" post, but this is just a quick post to showcase the final two cards in my quest for the 1968 Topps Game set. I got these two for under $4 shipped on SportLots.

The Hit King from The Diamond King

First off, congrats to the Tigers. They deserved to win the series vs. the Yanks. Their hitting was more timely and they got better starting pitching. My blog is on autopilot for a few days while I'm out of town, which is good because I also won't be reading the anti-Yankee posts that are sure to be out today. I wish the fans of the remaining teams good luck.

Now, on to baseball cards...

This Pete Rose came courtesy of Kevin over at The Diamond King. He had already sent me a Harmon Killebrew, and said that he came across this at a card show and picked it up. So cool of him! I sent him a few cards for his PCs in return.

 

This card is in very good condition. It has a teeny crease on the right, but is not bad. It’s a tad off-centered but not the worst I’ve seen in this set. It’s actually more of a cream color, but every time I scan these they show up white. I’m now down to two cards to go…and both are on the way for under $4 combined from SportLots. Boom.

TTM Success: Gary Peters (on a '68 Topps Game)

I’ve gotten a few 1968 Topps Game dupes from picking up multicard lots. I figured that I’d trade some, and send a few out in hopes of TTM signatures. After one week, I got my first return from former White Sox (and Red Sox) lefty Gary Peters. He signed my card and answered my questions:

What is your best career memory? Hitting a grand slam vs the Yankees in 1967 (I was surprised by this answer – I figured it would have been winning ROY or winning 20 games.)

Who was the toughest hitter you faced? Harmon Killebrew (good answer…Harmon hit .263 vs Peters but with 6 HRs, a .512 OBP and a rather large 1.126 OPS)

What current pitcher reminds you of yourself? Mark Buehrle (good answer!)

This was a cool success by a great former pitcher. I appreciate his quick response and taking the time to answer my letter.

1968 Topps Game Rod Carew

Another one down in my quest for the 1968 Topps Game set. I picked up this Rod Carew on eBay (it came with another card too). While the condition looks good, it does have a crease, but I didn't mind. It helped me get it cheaper. I'm down to two remaining cards - Brooks Robinson and Claude Osteen.

The rest of my 1968 Topps Game Lot

I already showed you the Mickey Mantle 1968 Topps Game card. It was the headline card in a lot of 32 Topps Game cards that I won for $15.50 + $5.10 shipping. Most Mantles from this set cost at least this much to begin with, plus I get 31 other cards? Yes please. What a lucky find this was. I figured I was going to pay at least $25 without shipping for this lot, so I’m happy I won it for less and put a huge dent in my quest for the set.

This lot was full of Hall of Famers that I needed for this set. Here are a couple – Yaz and Kaline. I didn’t know Yaz was going to be included in this lot, as he wasn’t listed or pictured, so it was a nice surprise. I had just won a different lot with the Yaz card, so this will end up being a duplicate.

I already had this Killebrew thanks to The Diamond King, but the Mays is the real surprise. This Killebrew came in a top loader, and it wasn’t until I went to take it out and scan it did I even know that the Mays was behind it. What a great surprise! It looks like it had been taped before, as some of the text has been ripped off. I don’t care. I needed this card and it wasn’t even listed in the auction listing.

Two more Hall of Famers – Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente. The front of the Clemente is in outstanding condition.

Here is the back of the Clemente. I‘ve noticed a lot of off-centered card backs. It must be really rare to get a back that is perfectly centered.

Here are six more that I needed. The Tommy Davis had some cosmetic work done in ink, but it shouldn’t be too hard to eventually replace. I love the helmet that Fregosi is wearing.

Here are a few dupes. Anyone interested?

This was scribbled on a few card backs. Thanks, Billy.

More dupes! I already had these cards as well.

So for $21, I got all of the cards pictured here. I feel like I came away the big winner. What about you guys? How do you think I did here?

1968 Topps Game Mickey Mantle...yeah buddy!

So I'm still chasing down the 1968 Topps Game set and am getting pretty close, due largely in part because of a big lot that I recently picked up on eBay for around the price of a Blaster. I'll do an additional post on all the great cards and HOFers that came in this lot, but I wanted to show off this guy first and foremost. Not the greatest condition, but not horrible either. I love it. I still don't have what I consider a "real Mantle"...a regular old Topps base card...but I'm pretty damn happy with this.

More to come.

More 1968 Topps Game, including Frank Robinson

I was recently searching for some 1968 Topps Game cards on eBay and I found a seller with two lots - nine cards total. I reached out and he said he'd offer me a great combined shipping deal, so I placed my bids. I was the only bidder on each. So for $4.48 total (including shipping), I got nine cards. A few were dupes, but overall just under $.50 a card is a good deal in my book.

The best card I got was Frank Robinson. There are a bunch of HOFers in this set, so any time I can cross one off the list is a success. The only other Robinson that I owned in a '75 Topps, so this is cool to have.

Next up, a couple of legends in Ron Santo and Orlando Cepeda. If I didn't know who it was, I'd have a hard time team reading Cepeda's signature.

Three more I didn't have: Gene Alley, Jim Wynn and Frank Howard.

These three were dupes, but I actually think all three sign TTM, so maybe I'll ship them off and see if I can get them autographed. Fun fact - Tony Gonzalez (not the tight end) was the first player to wearing a batting helmet with an ear flap.

Trade Review: O Yes, CanO and more '68 Topps Game

I just completed my second trade with Ryan from"'O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog. A while back, we completed a trade and he mentioned he had another card I might be interested in. Unfortunately I didn't have much to offer at the time, until I recently bought a blaster of Lineage and ended up with something he liked.

See, the card I wasn’t able to trade for is the Robinson Cano below. It is one of those leather name plates from 2011 Topps. Ryan told me to find him a good relic for it, and I think I came through. I pulled a sweet Eddie Murray orange ’75 mini relic from the blaster, and a trade was born.

In addition to the Cano, Ryan sent me three 1968 Topps Game cards – Jim Lonborg, Gary Peters, and Richie Allen. The Peters is a dupe, so if you have any ‘68s Games to trade me I’d gladly swap it.

Ryan also included this sweet 1966 Topps Ruben Amaro. Thanks for a great trade, Ryan! Enjoy the Murray relic.

Trade Review: Cards from Drew

I recently completed a trade with Drew from Drewscards. He is working on the 1961 Topps set, I'm working on 1968 Topps Game, so we completed a simple two for two. I actually sent him two Yanks, something I wouldn't normally do, but since he is a fellow Yankee fan and we are both working on these sets from the '60s (his is more daunting), I knew it was the right thing to do.

Drew sent me Tony Gonzalez and Gary Peters for my set:

Quest for '68 Topps Game: Harmon Killebrew

Last week, I posted that I was going to chase the 1968 Topps Game insert set. Now, I'm not a set builder at all, but I've always liked these little cards, and with only 33 cards in the set, it's an affordable vintage set to build despite having guys like Mantle and Aaron in it.

The Diamond King responded to my post and said that he had a Harmon Killebrew with a "22" written on it that he would send me - free of charge! Lo and behold, here is the sweet card he sent me. This is my second card in the set:

I'm not worried about condition, as I am building this set for fun. The Diamond King also sent me some great Yankee cards that I'll show off in a later post. Thanks again for your generosity!

Also, there is a contest going on over at My Sports Obsession. The cutoff is today at 5pm, so get your comment in!

New goal: 1968 Topps Game Set

I don't have the patience (or funds) to build a full Topps vintage set, as much as I'd love to. Perhaps one day when I have more time and space. I did want to add something to my collection that was both fun to track down as well as attainable. I have decided to pursue the 33-card 1968 Topps Game set.

This set consists of 33 cards that were inserts in the third series of 1968 Topps. I was never a huge fan of baseball card gamse - never got into Topps Attax or MLB Showdown or Donruss Top of the Order, amongst others. I just think these little cards are cool, have a some big-time HOFers in it (including Mantle), and will be a fun set to own.

I currently have one of these cards, so Mr. Joe Torre, thanks for starting off this set! Let me know if you have any others to trade. I'm not going to be picky on condition.

1. Matty Alou

2. Mickey Mantle

3. Carl Yastrzemski

4. Hank Aaron

5. Harmon Killebrew

6. Roberto Clemente

7. Frank Robinson

8. Willie Mays

9. Brooks Robinson

10. Tommy Davis

11. Bill Freehan

12. Claude Osteen

13. Gary Peters

14. Jim Lonborg

15. Steve Hargan

16. Dean Chance

17. Mike McCormick

18. Tim McCarver

19. Ron Santo

20. Tony Gonzalez

21. Frank Howard

22. George Scott

23. Richie Allen

24. Jim Wynn

25. Gene Alley

26. Rick Monday

27. Al Kaline

28. Rusty Staub

29. Rod Carew

30. Pete Rose

31. Joe Torre

32. Orlando Cepeda

33. Jim Fregosi