I don't know why, but can I have this, kid?

I don't have any particular connection to Hank Aaron. No real story about what he meant to me or a vivid memory or anything. I just knew him as a mythical baseball name and figure.

I'd actually say that one of my first memories of him is the scene in The Sandlot when Babe Ruth's ghost grabs Benny's Hank Aaron card and asks if he can keep it. I always found it to be a nice touch and a heartfelt moment in the movie.

"I don't know why, but can I have this, kid?"

Very generous of Benny to give up a card like that. I certainly wouldn't. Babe Ruth can go find his own '54 Topps Hank Aaron rookie card. 

My Hank Aaron card collection is very modest. I'd say if Babe Ruth's ghost were to visit me, he'd probably want this card:

This was a Listia score for me back in 2014. I fully admit that I don't know if it's real, but a lot of these were produced and signed, and it checks out compared to others I've seen. Here's my post about winning that card on the credits-based auction site.

I do have a few vintage Aarons, although so does my son. Several of you have sent me son some really nice cards for the HOF binder I keep for him (even though he cares more about Charizard than any Hall of Famer). Still, one day he'll enjoy a card like this, courtesy of Zippy Zappy:

The baseball world has lost a lot of great ones recently. The numbers keep mounting up. And it always hurts to lose a legend.

RIP, Hammerin' Hank.

My Best Son Collects HOFers from My Best Friend Collects Chipper Jones

A couple of weeks ago, Mark from My Best Friend Collects Chipper Jones said that he’d like to send a few cards for my son’s Hall of Fame collection. For those who don’t know, I started acquiring a few Hall of Fame cards to place in a binder for my son, who is currently four. Several of you have sent him a bunch of great cards out of the kindness of your hearts. Even in trade packages, there will often be a team bag with a post-it that says “For Joey.” Rest assured, each card that comes his way goes directly into his binder.

I haven’t had the fortune of trading with Mark yet, but he kindly reached out and sent a batch. These were very generous. This was the card that really caught my attention:

Vibrant! Man, what a sweet Gibson. Not far behind was this:

That’s a damn solid entry into the binder.

Here is the rest of shipment one. That Gaylord Perry is um…interesting.

 

I said “shipment one” above because about a week later, Mark sent another awesome batch, headed by Hammerin’ Hank and Rod Carew.

I definitely did not have a Bunning for Joey either, so that’s cool. I love the mix of vintage and some newer cards. That George Brett Now & Then is really neat too. I feel like we need a modern day version of this set.

Mark, thanks so much for your generosity. It really is appreciated!

Zippy Zapped all the way back to the future

My apologies to a great friend of the blog, Zippy Zappy. I was cleaning out my “drafts” folder, and found this post, which I swore had gone live but apparently it never had. Perhaps the Blogger scheduling function ate it? We’ll go with that as an excuse. Anyhow, I re-worked the post just a tad, and wanted to make sure I still shared a bunch of these treasures.

A few weeks ago (now…more like a few months ago!), Kenny from Cervin’ Up Cards sent me an incredible package. I was Zippy Zapped! And you know what? It felt great!

Kenny knows what I collect as well as anyone, and his packages always contain a bunch of stuff that hits all facets of my collections.

The package started off with this certified auto of Francisco Cervelli, a PC guy for Zippy Zappy. A long time ago I sent Kenny a Cervelli auto I had, and he’s now paid me back for it twice – first with either an in-person or TTM auto (not sure which it was), and now with a certified auto.

There was also an auto of former Yanks farm-hand Ryan Pope from one of my favorite sets ever, 2008 Tristar Projection.

On to the PC guys! This is probably the 3^rd or 4^th Ty Hensley auto Kenny has sent me. This is a great-looking blue die-cut auto from Elite Extra Edition. 

Additionally, Kenny added two new Pinedas to my collection. That purple Chrome Refractor is just a beautiful card. 

There was also a literal brick of cards in the form of a Sega-Gen card case. The case is great. I have no idea how to use it, but what a cool keepsake. I can see collectors piling their Sega-Gen cards into these and actually going to arcades to play the game. Maybe I'll give it to Joey once he is a little older and can semi take care of cards.

 

Here’s a good sampling of what else was in the brick: 

 

Lastly, as he’s done before, he included some HOFers for Joey’s binder! That Hank Aaron is one of my favorite cards in Joey’s collection. 

Kenny, sorry this post got lost in outer space. This was an epic package, and I thank you.

Hammer' Hank auto - real or fake?

As most of you probably know, today marks the 40th anniversary of Hank Aaron's 715th HR. I'll never forget where I was when it happened. I was 9 nears away from being born.

I figured it was a good time to show my Hank Aaron autographed card. I won this on Listia for a reasonable price. I'm not certain if its authentic, but it was worth the gamble. He signed a lot of cards for this set, and it looks very similar to some of the certified ones on eBay. I happen to think it's real, but I may submit it for verification.

What do you think? Real or fake?

Here are some of the ones that have recently sold on eBay:

Hank Aaron: The next HOFer to enter the binder

The next card for my Joey HOFer collection is this Hank Aaron 1970 Topps Sporting News All-Star. I’d like to keep this collection strictly base cards and not subsets or parallels or non-base cards, and this was my mistake. I bought it on SportLots as part of a larger purchase, and I was stupid and thought I was buying the original 1970 base card, not the All-Star.

It’s still a cool card and is a nice addition to the collection. I may upgrade to an actual base card at some point, but for now, this will do.

A pair of holograms on a fine Sunday

I’ve said it before, but I’ve always been a huge fan of hologram cards. I wish they caught on more, but they ended up being a very early ‘90s fad. I recently picked up a lot of two on eBay, but from Upper Deck. Both are Hall of Famers. One is Hank Aaron, one is Ted Williams. Pretty Sweet. Unfortunately they are impossible to scan, but they look pretty sweet in person. I promise.

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?