What will 99p buy you in baseball cards?

A load of crap possibly.
Readers from the UK might have seen this lot on e-bay recently. A 1000 cards with a starting price of 99p. Who wouldn't bid? Well everyone obviously because I won with a bid of 99p.

So what exactly did I get for my 99p?

A complete set of 1995 Topps,

A box of 1993 Donruss Series 1,

A box of 1993 Donruss Series 2,

5 Topps 1974 ,

8 Topps 1975,

19 Topps 1978,

1 Topps 1979,

1 Donruss 1983,

1 Sportsflick 1986,

1 Upper Deck 1989,

97 Donruss 1990,

1 Topps 1990,

30 Donruss 1991,

36 Fleer 1991,

1 Fleer Sticker 1991,

15 Score 1991,

4 Topps 1991,

74 Donruss 1992,

2 Fleer 1992,

27 Leaf 1992,

19 Score 1992,

104 Topps 1992,

7 Upper Deck 1992,

108 Donruss 1993,

89 Hostess baseball 1993,

13 Topps 1993,

4 Upper Deck 1993,

2 Fleer 1994,

1 Topps 1994,

12 Stadium Club 1994,

20 UD Collectors Choice 1995,

10 Fleer 1996,

12 Fleer Ultra 1996

28 Score 1996,

11 UD Collector Choice 1996,

200+ Topps Total 2004,

8 National Card Day 2006,

That is the bulk of the cards. An unusual mix considering there is two complete sets, possibly three, and the ever popular early 1990's cards, that appear to be common all over the world! There was also about 20 top loaders, a packet of card protectors and roughly 20 hard cases too.

There was a number of unusual items enclosed, hidden deep within the box.
A set of Civil War Leaders complete set of 32 cards in a plastic case,
A limited edition #to 240,000 1991 Front Row Draft Picks complete set in a plastic case,
A Mickey Lolich Detroit Tigers Gold embossed card?
A 1996 Fleer promotional card,
A 1996 Upper Deck Promotional card,
A slabbed 1994 Upper Deck Fold outs Cal Ripken ,
a Number of Frank Thomas cards from various years -all encased in hard covers.

Is there method to the madness of this collector? There are very few Red Sox, Pirates or Dodgers cards but plenty of White Sox pretty much together in a pile and Yankees cards again together. There are a number of cards badly beaten but in top loaders, a few more cards covered in sticky back plastic (for protection?) and a number of others that look as though they have been used to soak up low grade oil.

So a load of crap then?

1964 Topps

I watch many cards on e-bay and never actually bid. Cards from this, dare I say, Vintage arriving on e-bay UK are a rarity. I watched these 1964 Topps cards because they were from the year of my birth. I baulked at saying Vintage cards as that would mean that I am also Vintage, perhaps classic cards would be a better term and never old as that just a little too painful.
This mustn't be a collectible set as I won without a challenge. Not really a stunning design but Topps kept it simple-capitalised team, big picture, players name and position. The back of one of the cards had a 'Magic Answer' section. Simply follow the directions and rub a Nickel or Dime over the box to reveal the answer. Nickels and Dimes? 1 and 2 cent pieces? I have heard the expression on Wall Street:
Gordon Gecko tells Charlie Sheen's character to -

' Buy some of the nickel and dime stocks..'

presumably meaning cheap.

I don't want to start another pursuit, but wouldn't it be nice to own the set of cards from the year of your birth. My brother bought some expensive Para port and champagne from his year of birth (1960) with the view of consuming it on his 50th birthday.

Me? Personally I would prefer the cards.

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks

I picked this item up om e-bay recently. It is unusual for two reasons. Firstly Cracker Jacks are not available in the UK so the seller must have bought these back-unopened- from the US in 2003 (sell by date 14th October 2003) with the intention of eating them or keeping them to sell in the future on e-bay. Furthermore the auction was for 1 unopened box, an opened box and 11 cards plus 5 stickers. The picture is from the auction and is exactly what I received.

So now I am in a quandary, to open or not to open. The contents are from 2003. Do Cracker Jacks go off?

Promotional Sample baseball cards

An interesting find on e-bay recently, this collection of 6 promo/sample cards. The cards arrived from Germany, of all places. I know very little about them. They are designs that I have not come across before, except the Ben Grieve Skybox EX century. I am curious as to whether they were cards soon to be released or whether they are 'We are contemplating this designs, what do you think?'.Answers on a postcard, sort of cards. Either way, how do they make their way into the public domain. Are they sent to card shops, magazines or collectors? In Germany?

This is obviously pre-Internet boom of blogging. Now companies send a 'box' of specially selected cards to Beckett Media or a random box to Wax Heaven. So I can only presume that the Promo cards has gone the way of the Dodo. David at Tribecards has an appreciation for sample cards, so they will be winging their way over to him soon.

I think the card companies have come to understand that plastic cards, like the skybox EX, Pacific Invincible and ToppsGallery Proof Positive are not too popular and the attempts at this style of cards have fallen rather flat. I like them, but not for aesthetic reasons, mainly for their oddball nature.

1989 Topps American Baseball cards

Ever since I found out that Topps had created a set of baseball cards for the UK market in 1988, ingeniously called 'American Baseball cards', I have searched for packets. I found some and posted them on 'A pack a day' back in August 2008. I was informed then that a set was produced in 1989 as well. I have searched for this set since.
To my surprise two lots of cards arrived on e-bay called just American baseball cards, I had a sneaking suspicion that these were the cards I had been searching for all this time. The photo provided was upside down and the description game no hint as to the year, just that there was 46 in one lot and 42 in the second. So I put in a bid and waited. Again my 'strategy' paid dividends and I won both lots.
To my further surprise when they arrived, it appeared that it was the complete 1989 set. All 88 cards, nicely placed in six card sleeves. There are only 4 Red Sox in the set, I don't mind it was a pleasant e-bay purchase and the conclusion of another 'pursuit'.

1975 Topps Mini

Here is another of the 'speculative' bids I put on e-bay recently. It was for a lot of 1975 Topps mini's. The seller listed 24 including just two Red Sox #601 Juan Beniquez and #612 Terry Hughes, so I put in a bid and just left it to run. I won. Which reminds me.
My dad is a mad keen fisherman. When I was younger, my dad would take my brother and I fishing. We lived on a river, close to the coast, so every weekend we would go fishing. One weekend we would go beach fishing, then the next weekend fishing from the boat, or from the shore under the railway bridge. We even went away camping and fishing. He taught my brother and I how to fly fish. I ate so much fish, my Omega 3's must be through the roof.
Although I think we overdosed on the angling. My brother hates fishing now, he will go for my dad's sake. He enjoys his company, but tries to fish as little as possible. I haven't fished in years and the thought of it brings back some pretty good memories.
While we were out fishing and there wasn't anything biting, my dad would adopt what he called 'His strategy'. It was basically sitting back, feet up, hat over your eyes pretending to be asleep. My brother and I would follow suit and without fail the fish would always bite and I mean always. As a child it was fantastic. It was proably more of a watched pot never boils situation, but it never failed. Someone would always get a nibble.
Sometimes we would be out in the boat for hours, so it passed the time. He had a similar way of finding a spot to fish as well. Suddenly he would just stop the boat or at a part of the beach and say there is a deep bit here, the water is moving right here or the current looks good. It was probably a load of rubbish, but we believed him. (There is still a part of me that does.)
Although I think that some of these 'speculative' bids that I lay are a matter of a luck and 'the watched auction never boils'. I like to think that I adopt 'My strategy' and lay back with my hat over my eyes. I lose most of them but I win a few and on the whole, helps to make my baseball collection a little more interesting and fun.
My dad would be proud of me.

130 American Baseball Cards from 1970

The title of this post is the title of the listing on e-bay UK. That was it. The description was short and sweet too.

" This is a collection of 130 TOPPS Trading Cards from 1970 covering 25 teams

and including all 3 series check lists. Teams are ...The Red Sox,... . They formed

part of a collection from my childhood in Montreal and are in reasonable

condition for their age."

There was also a picture included but a long distance away in an attempt to include all the cards. I watched anticipating a high price, considering there is another seller who regularly sells 6-8 1970's Topps for £2.00, sometimes higher. With a couple of hours remaining I decided to bid, fully expecting to be outbid, and went to bed.
Maybe it was the time or the fact that they were in the UK, but I won! They arrived on Saturday and I was in for another couple of surprises.
Firstly the cards are in great condition, not reasonable. I thought they might be drawn on, have dinged corners, creases, etc, considering the description '...collection from my childhood...' but no. There are a couple of cards in poorer condition, one looks like it was run over by a truck, another looks as if it was pegged to something, a stain (blood perhaps?) on another.
Secondly, I intended to take the Red Sox and trade the rest. When I opened the package on the top was a plastic packet which had the checklists enclosed. I noticed that the boxes had been checked, so I read through..#2 Diego Segui... check, #3 Darrel Chaney..., #4 check, #10 Carl Yastrzemski... check. I quickly thumbed through the cards looking for Red Sox and there it was Carl Yastrzemski, in great condition. Excellent.
Wait a minute. I started to recognise a few more names, Hoyt Wilhelm, Tug McGraw, Sandy Alomar, Sparky Lyle, Reggie Jackson, Herman Killebrew, Eddie Fisher....Slow down Reggie Jackson, the Reggie Jackson... No way. I thumbed carefully through the cards and there it was, Reggie in his A's uniform. Very nice.
This was a really exciting find. A very lucky find. There are plenty of doubles (and triples) so they will be appearing in trades in the future.

Sometimes, just sometimes on E-bay

In the past I've tried to buy just about anything on e-bay, baseball related. As more items became available, I became more discerning.

Around April of this year there was a glut of cards available, possibly a 5p listing promotion. But an auction came up 'Some 70's and 80's baseball cards' and was listed without a picture. For just 99p (plus £1.00 postage) it was a slight risk. Similar I suppose to the blind trades I'm trying to arrange.

If I remember correctly the item description was as brief as the title.

I took a punt and won.

When the package finally arrived I was stunned. There was 24 cards from 1970 to 1992. Amongst the cards were:

1970 Topps #321 Lou Piniella

1972 Topps #72 Bruce Kison

1972 Topps #93 Pitching leaders

1972 Topps #95 Strikeout leaders

1972 Topps #112 Greg Luzinski

1972 Topps #103 Checklist

1972 Topps #520 Larry Bowa
1974 Topps #10 Johnny Bench

1974 Topps #136 Ricky Reuschel

1974 Topps #251 Graig Nettles

1974 Topps #280 Carl Yastrzemski

1974 Topps #315 Ron Cey

1974 Topps #562 Bucky Dent

1974 Topps #610 Dave Kingman

1980 Topps #220 Dave Concepcion

1980 Topps #544 Rick Sutcliffe

1983 Fleer #40 Paul Molitor

1983 Fleer #613 Gary Gaetti

1989 Topps #691 Roberto Kelly

1991 Fleer #524 Tommy Greene

1992 Topps #156 Manny Ramirez RC

and some cards that I have not been able to find anything about

1990 Superstars #2 Ken Griffey Jnr

1990 Superstars #3 Rickey Henderson

1990 Superstars #6 Jose Canseco

It says on the back they were 'limited' to 10,000. Is that the whole set or each card?

The highlight of the package being the 1992 Manny RC and 1974 Carl Yastremski.

However this is not just a random mixture of cards. My only possible conclusion being that the seller of these cards didn't know that some of them were collectable. Are collectable! They knew that they were significant in some way. But why list without picture or a list of the names 'Bench', 'Yastremski', or 'Molitor', 'Griffey Jnr', even 'Canseco'. Odd, very odd.