Pursuit of 70's(ness)

No it isn't a change in name of this blog, more a change of direction.
We started some building work on our house and for this to take pace we needed to condense our living space, which meant moving some unnecessary items into storage. A long argument ensured as baseball cards fell into the unnecessary category. I didn't really have a leg to stand on, but I argued none the less. My baseball card collection takes up a cupboard (or two), there were piles of baseball cards on various surfaces and packaging materials scattered about. So I did what any loving husband would do and purchased some large plastic boxes and packed away the majority of my collections. In doing so I realised that I have accumulated a large'ish' collection of Red Sox relic cards and a hefty portion of cards from the 1970's.
At first I thought about ignoring them, but like many collectors having a semi completed set is difficult to ignore, it's untidy and unsettling. I have already added a lifelong pursuit of 1964 Topps, so adding 10 more sets to the lifelong pursuit category, on paper, didn't appear to be too much of a stretch.
In the next few weeks I will add some checklists and although I may not attack them as aggressively as I did the 1980 Topps set, they will slowly tick away in the background and will one day become  completed sets.
As of today, June 5th 2013,  I will try to complete all of the Topps sets from the 1970's.
Where to start? 1970 or 1979?

The one that got away.

 

 

There are meant to be times in your life when you reach a moment of sudden clarity of thought, referred to as an epiphany. A moment of great and sudden revelation.

My epiphany? I am stupid.

Very rarely, if ever, does a large lot of baseball cards appear for sale on EbayUK. Never are they located on the Isle or close enough that doesn't involve a passport and an eight hour flight.

So what did I do when I saw this item (picture above) listed on Ebay.

Buy it for £59?

You would think that wouldn't you. Well you would be wrong.

I ran, literally ran, upstarts to my wife and asked if we were doing anything this weekend as I would like to a little round trip to Reading -about 130 miles, 3 hours - if the traffic was bad.

Brilliant, calendar free.

Run back downstairs, Try to Buy it Now....Sold.

Should have bought it first and then asked.

I'm sure there is a moral to this story in there somewhere.

Two 2011 Walmart Baseball Value Boxes

I may have mentioned once or twice that the head of my school visits the USA periodically. My wants list for this recent trip was simple- Allen and Ginter. A bit of a stretch, however failing that anything baseball related would do just fine. Generous as always, she returned laden with gifts for a variety of sources. Oh how I would love to visit and have these pickings;
1) Two of the boxes of the above from Walmart,
2) a complete set of 2010 Topps baseball from a sports collectables shop in Florida,
3) a 2011 Topps Opening Day blaster from Target,
4) eight packs of 2008 UD Timelines from 'The Dollar Tree',
5) two packs of 2010 Topps Updates from 'The Dollar Tree'.

Not a bad little haul. The Dollar Tree sounds like an interesting place. In her words there was 'plenty of cards to choose from!' As for the diamond giveaway cards from the value packs, they are up for grabs. I am presuming this is a similar thing to last years 'Million Card Giveaway', I asked if the cards would be sent overseas however this was not possible. So they are looking for a good home. Any takers?

1951 Bowman baseball cards

In 1950 the Bowman Gum Company of Philadelphia were the only company to release a national baseball card set. The 1950 Bowman set included 252 cards and the cards measured 5.2cm x 6.4cm (2-1/16in by 2-1/2in). The front of the cards featured hand-painted color reproductions of actual black and white photographs.
In 1951 a similar style was used, hand-painted colour reproductions of black and white photographs, some of the 1950 images were reused on the 1951 card set. But Bowman increased the size of the cards to 5.2cm x 7.9cm ( 2-1/16in by 3-1/8in) and increased the number of cards to 324. This was the biggest set of baseball cards at the time.
In 1950 Bowman had a monopoly, but in 1951 Topps entered the baseball card market with their 52 card blue back, 52 card red back playing card game.
The two most desired cards from the 1951 Bowman set are the rookie cards of Mickey Mantle #253 and Willie Mays #305, both of which are horizontal cards. Mantle wasn't included in the 1951 Topps set, he had to wait until the following year for his Topps debut. Some notable omissions from the 1951 set were Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial and Jackie Robinson.
I really like the Bowman sets from the 1950's. With some fear of being shunned by the baseball collecting fraternity, I prefer the Bowman cards over the Topps from this era. That is until 1955 when Bowman ceased to produced baseball cards.

The three cards I obtained from e-bayUK were:

#20 Del Crandell (Crandall) Boston Braves

#27 Jim Konstanty Phillies

#125 Bill Rigney New York Giants

As an added bonus the seller added these two 1957 Topps 'football' cards, not in any great condition but the design is lovely. I am not a collector of football, so if someone can give them a good home it would be appreciated.

1955 Bowman baseball Yankees

I cannot begin to understand the collecting habits of card collectors in the UK. Recent game used cards and in particular autographed cards go for sometimes stupid amounts of money, while cards as important to the hobby as these 1955 Bowman go for 99p.
The 1955 Bowman baseball card set was the last that the Bowman Gum Company produced. The company was bought by Topps in 1955 and the Bowman brand didn't resurface for another 30plus years.

The auction was for three Yankees, which included two Rookie cards; #68 Elston Howard and #167 Bob Grim plus #201 Allie Reynolds. The Elston Howard card is of major significance as he was the first African American to play for the Yankees and was in his MLB rookie year. In contrast Allie Reynolds retired in 1954, after a long and successful career which started in 1942 with the Cleveland Indians and ended with the Yankees. Both players featured in many All-Star and World Series games.

The third player,Bob Grim bounced around few clubs until he played his final game in 1962 when he was with Kansas City Athletics.

The seller also included a 1978 Topps Don Gullett and a 1979 Topps Jim Beattie.

Major League Baseball News in the UK

There is very little interest in baseball in the UK. Newspaper items are usually restricted to simple scores near the back pages, such as Boston 4 Detroit 3. The Mark Buehrle perfect game didn't cause a ripple. Alex Rodriguez dating Madonna was front page but this isn't baseball worthy, more for the fact that Madonna had recently broken-up with Guy Richie. The article then went to describe exactly who Alex Rodriguez was.
So what is baseball newsworthy across the pond. Recently on page two of a big Sunday newspaper was the above picture. The story probably didn't cause a blip on the American Baseball radar. It was about a group of Toronto Fans at a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays wearing watermelon hats. The Rays won 10-9 in 12 innings. No mention of any players, just this picture and roughly 50 words. The author didn't go into details about why these fans chose to wear watermelons on their heads. Crazy Americans, or is that crazy Canadians?

2009 Goudey Blaster

This blaster was part of the stash a fellow teacher bought back from a US holiday. I collected Goudey in 2008 and like the look of the cards but I would like to collect the Goodwin Champions this year whenever they come out.


There are 200 cards in the base set.
There are 20 short prints.
There are inserts: 40 Sports Royalty, 40 Heads up, 100 4in1's (red border), 61 Goudey Graphs, 82 Goudey memorbilia and 53 Sports Royalty Autographs.
There are parallels: 4in 1's- green, blue and black, mini base, shortprinted and heads-up green, blue and black.
Good luck collecting this set.

The packs:

Pack 1:

#38 Kosuke Fukudome Cubs

#42 Carlos Zambrano Cubs

#90 Mark Teixeira Yankees

#98 Scott Elbert Dodgers

#115 Denard Span Twins

#127 Carlos Beltran Mets

#258 Larry Bird mini

#715 20th Anniversary Supreme Court Justice

Pack 2:

#2 Max Scherzer D-backs

#54 Jay Bruce Reds

#110 Yovani Gallardo Brewers

#146 Jeff Bailey Athletics

#187 Carlos Pena Bay Rays

#194 Travis Snider Blue Jays

#35-20 4in1 blue

#35-32 4in1 Red

Pack 3:

#9 Jeff Francoeur Braves

#69 Curtis Granderson Tigers

#72 Miguel Cabrera Tigers

#141 Greg Smith Rockies

#143 Johnny Damon Yankees

#155 Ryan Howard Phillies

#246 Guy Lafleur Hockey

#710 20th Anniversary Wayne Gretsky

Pack 4:

#1 Adam Dunn Nationals

#25 Kevin Youkilis Red Sox

#93 Howie Kendrick Angels

#105 Alcides Escobar Brewers

#167 Chris Young Padres

#189 Josh Hamilton Rangers

#35-8 4in1 red

#35-89 4in1 green

Pack 5:

#21 Melvin Mora Orioles

#30 Jonathan Papelbon Red Sox

#67 Troy Tulowitzki Rockies

#85 Alex Gordon Royals

#107 Mat Gamel Brewers

#109 Miguel Montero D-backs

#151 Cole Hamels Phillies

#191 Michael Young Rangers

Pack 6:

#12 Tim Hudson Braves

#33 J.D.Drew Red Sox

#36 Wilkin Castillo Reds

#45 Gavin Floyd White Sox

#96 Matt Kemp Dodgers

#153 Chase Utley Phillies

#177 Ryan Ludwick Cardinals

#179 Rick Ankiel Cardinals

Pack 7:

#6 Dan Harden D-Backs

#14 Kelly Johnson Braves

#34 Curt Schilling Red Sox mini

#62 Travis Hafner Indians

#133 Phil Coke Yankees

#156 Greg Golson Rangers

#158 Shane Victorino Phillies

#35-20 4in1 red

Pack 8:

#26 Michael Bowden Red Sox

#50 Alexei Ramirez White Sox

#66 Garrett Atkins Rockies

#103 Takashi Saito Red Sox

#122 Delmon Young Twins

#182 B.J.Upton Rays

#199 Lastings Milledge Nationals

#298 Carlos Zamrano Cubs

I like blaster, they give you a decent smattering of the cards, the occasional one your after and enough to trade.

Six Red Sox from the 8 packs isn't too bad either.

1991 Donruss Series 2 Baseball

The second helping from Big B at Waxaholic, 1991 Donruss Series 2-The Green ones.
For information on this set look here.
The pack contains 15 picture cards and 3 puzzle pieces of Willie Stargell.

The pack:

#411 Will Clark All Star

#667 Chris Nabholz Expos

#407 Kevin Mitchell MVP Giants

#711 Carlos Hernandez Dodgers

#717 Wait Terrell Tigers

#725 Randy Tomlin Pirates

#410 Len Dykstra MVP Phillies

#427 Jeff Conine RR Royals

#430 Mo Vaughn RR Red Sox

#729 Rob Deer Tigers
#735 Ken Dayley Blue Jays
#740 Kevin Appier Royals
#745 Paul Sorrento Twins
#764 Julio Machado Brewers
#767 Scott Erickson Twins

plus 13, 14, 15 Puzzle pieces Willie's head.

One Red Sox card but what a card, Big Mo Vaughn Rated Rookie.

Thanks for the two packs Brian. Much appreciated.

1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier Baseball

This pack came from Big B at Waxaholic. Produced in 1991 O-Pee-Chee in London, Canada
There are 132 cards in the set. No inserts or parallels. A nice simple set.

There are 7 cards in a pack.

The pack:

#21 Jack Clarke Red Sox

#46 Willie Fraser Blue Jays

#66 Todd Hundley Mets
#84 Jack Morris Twins

#80 Hensley Meulens Yankees
#95 Terry Pendelton Braves

A Red Sox and interestingly a 'Frappeur Designe'!

2009 Topps Baseball Series 2

Here are the three packs of 2009 Topps that Ed from Roll out the Barrel sent in a recent trade.

Searching for a checklist to see what is different between Series 1 and 2 has proved fruitless.

So here are the packs.

Pack1:

#350 Dustin Pedroia Red Sox

#357 Huston Street Rockies

#365 Kevin Millwood Rangers

#369 Matt Harrison Rangers

#474 Franklin Gutierrez Mariners

#486 J.J. Putz Mets

#607 Jarrod Washburn Mariners

#609 Juan Rivera Angels

#636 Armando Galarraga Tigers

#642 Ken Macha Brewers

#TTT33 Carlos Lee Astros

#LG-SC Steve Carlton Phillies

Pack 2:

#332 Chone Figgins Angels

#379 Howie Kendrick Angels

#382 Willy Mo Pena Nationals

#412 Taylor Teagarden Rangers

#424 Jorge Campillo Braves

#445 Joe Nathan Twins

#498 Kyle Davies Royals

#545 Matt Garza Bay Rays

#548 John Danks White Sox

#579 Rocco Baldelli Red Sox

#576 Don Wakamatsu Mariners

#TTT45 Alex Rios Blue Jays

Pack 3:

#423 Melvin Mora Orioles

#453 Javier Valentin Reds

#469 Michael Cuddyer Twins

#510 Ryan Ludwick Cardinals

#520 Adrian Gonzalez Padres

#563 Francisco Cordero Reds

#588 Jorge DeLaRosa Rockies

#613 Kendry Morales Angels

#658 Rick Porcello Tigers

#TTT28 Jimmy Rollins Phillies

#LLG-16 Cy Young Cleveland Naps

#LGCB-CY Cy Young Cleveland Naps

Thanks Ed, 2 Red Sox from 3 packs and some decent inserts.

Anyone collection the Topps Town 3D cards?

2007 UD Masterpieces Blaster

I bought this Masterpieces blaster from e-bayUS in the hope of finishing off , or getting very close to completing, the 2007 set. I haven't pulled any of the parallels or inserts but on looking that these cards I realised why I wanted the whole base set. The names and images in the set. Upper Deck seemed to go all out for this year with some iconic pictures.
The details of 2007 Masterpieces can be found here.

Pack 1:

#3 Bobby Thomson New York Giants

#29 Ken Griffey Junior Reds

#54 Jackie Robinson/Yogi Berra

#80 Craig Biggio Astros

Pack 2:

#17 Sandy Koufax Dodgers

#56 Hanley Ramirez Marlins

#67 Ryan Zimmerman Nationals

#90 Curt Schilling Red Sox

Pack 3:

#12 Ryan Howard Phillies

#28 Carl Yastrzemski Red Sox

#43 Ichiro Mariners

#69 Chien -Ming Wang Yankees

Pack 4:

#18 Reggie Jackson Yankees

#20 Ty Cobb Tigers

#64 Jared Weaver Angels

#77 Phil Hughes Yankees

Pack 5:

#31 David Ortiz Red Sox

#38 Albert Pujols Cardinals

#51 Delmon Young Bay Rays

#57 Victor Martinez Indians

Pack 6:

#5 Carlton Fisk Red Sox

#49 Albert Pujols Cardinals

#70 David Wright Mets

#88 Chase Utley Philles

Pack 7:

#58 Cole Hamels Phillies

#62 Luis Aparicio White Sox

#75 Richard Nixon

#83 Billy Butler Royals

Pack 8:

#7 Don Larsen Yankees

#71 Ryan Howard Phillies

#84 Andy LaRoche Dodgers

#87 Roberto Clemente Pirates

Great set and a little bit closer to a complete set. See my progress 2007 Masterpieces.

2009 Upper Deck Baseball Series 2

The third and final jumbo pack of cards in my recent holiday haul.
There are (#501 to #940)
There are inserts: 4 '89 Design, 50 1977 O-Pee-Chee, 12 Goodwin Champions preview, 22 USAB National team, Star quest common, rare and SUPER rare.
Some pseudo inserts: 6 Rookie Cards, 10 Rookies, 20 Award Winners, 30 Team Checklists.
There is a Gold parallel set.
There are game used and autos: Inkredibles, Game Materials, USAB National team Jerseys, USAB National Team Autographs.
There are also two 1-off cards: Historic Firsts of a dog! and a Derek Jeter buyback card.
There are 36 cards in this jumbo pack.

The pack:

#506 Yusmeiro Petit D-backs

#513 Doug Davis D-backs

#542 Melvin Mora Orioles

#547 Takashi Saito Red Sox

#549 Jeff Bailey Red Sox

#551 Daisuke Matsuzaka Red Sox

#584 D.J.Carrasco White Sox

#590 Octavio Dotel White Sox

#595 David Weathers Reds

#603 Bronson Arroyo Reds

#627 Taylor Buchholz Rockies

#647 Anibal Sanchez Marlins

#651 Ricky Nolasco Marlins

#667 LaTroy Hawkins Astros

#671 Esteban German Royals

#672 Ross Gload Royals

#678 Zack Greinke Royals

#714 Ramon Troncoso Dodgers

#734 Francisco Liriano Twins

#743 Denard Span Twins

#752 Jeremy Reed Mets

#755 J.J.Putz Mets

#772 Edwar Ramirez Yankees

#774 Chien-Ming Wang Yankees

#830 Luis Rodriguez Padres

#839 Chris Young Padres

#861 Roy Corcoran Mariners

#863 Kenji Johjima Mariners

#888 Ben Zobrist Bay Rays

#892 Willy Aybar Bay Rays

#899 Shawn Riggans Bay Rays

#911 Taylor Teagarden Rangers

#964 Nate McLouth Pirates

#996 Justin Morneau Twins

#SQ-37 David Price Bay Rays Turquoise common

#SQ-49 Nick Markakis Orioles Turquoise common.

Three Red Sox from a pack of 36. Not a bad ratio. All the others available for trade.

2009 Upper Deck Baseball Series 1 Rookie Edition

The second of the Jumbo packs I received recently by surprise.
There are 401 cards in the Series 1 base set.
There are a plethora of inserts: Starquests of various colours and rarity, Rookie Debuts, 1975 O-Pee-Chee, Rivals, Stars of the Game, USA Retrospectives, USA U18 National Team, Historical firsts, Historical Predictors, Checklists, Team Leaders, Season Highlights, etc, etc
There is a GOLD parallel and a parallel of an insert, 1975 O-Pee-Chee minis.
There are a number of autograph and game used cards.
There is 36 cards in this Rookie Edition Jumbo pack.

The pack:

#6 Stephen Drew D-backs

#20 Tom Glavine Braves

#29 Nick Markakis Orioles

#48 Clay Buchholz Red Sox

#62 Derek Lee Cubs

#83 Joe Crede White Sox

#90 A.J.Pierzynski White Sox

#123 Jeff Francis Rockies

#128 Edgar Renteria Tigers

#130 Gary Sheffield Tigers

#142 Jeremy Hermida Marlins

#163 Mike Aviles Royals

#186 Ervin Santana Angels

#191 Manny Ramirez Dodgers

#193 Chad Billingsley Dodgers

#214 Ryan Braun Brewers

#231 Kevin Slowey Twins

#248 Moises Alou Mets

#253 Oliver Perez Mets

#287 Jack Cust A's

#299 Cole Hamels Phillies

#304 Ian Snell Pirates

#321 Scott Hairston Padres

#350 Chris Duncan Cardinals

#355 Ryan Ludwick Cardinals

#367 Troy Percival Bay Rays

#384 A.J.Burnett Blue Jays

#411 Brad Nelson Brewers

#431 Red Sox Team leaders

#446 Astros Team leaders

#465 Manny Ramirez Red Sox

#480 Nate McLouth Pirates

#494 Joakim Soria Royals

#496 Joe Mauer Twins

RR-KK Kila Ka'aihue Royals

RR-RP Robert Parnell Mets

Three Red Sox and plenty of cards for trade. Decent photography from Upper Deck for this years set too.

2003 Fleer Hardball

This pack took me a little by surprise. When the auction mentioned round cards I knew it was for me. And yes unsurprisingly the cards are round.
There are 240 cards in the base set which includes 25 All-around Stars and 15 Rookies on deck.
There are two parallel sets: Gold and Platinum (#to 50).
There are inserts: 20 Round trippers, 15 On the Ball, 20 Discs and 14 Round Numbers (#to 1,000).
There are also Game Use and Autographed cards.
There are 7 cards per pack.

The pack:

#35 Kevin Mench Rangers

#45 Junior Spivey D-backs

#76 Mark Teixeira Rangers

#94 Ben Grieve Bay Rays

#137 Roberto Alomar Mets

#165 Bubba Trammell Padres

Well there was no Red Sox, but I was not disappointed by this set. This was a one-off set by the looks of things, so it appears not too popular with collectors.

It's not a new concept either. Take a look at the 1977 Pepsi Cola cards.