I'm still chipping away at this tough set, I am keeping my price at or below $10 a card, and limiting the budget month to month so I don't go broke doing this. It helps that I'm not going after graded cards and there seems to not be a ton of other collectors out there vying for these particular peculiarities.
Really the only measure right now is glued backs / major paper loss. rounded corners are just fine, as these cards traveled a long way to get here. These cards have pushed me up over 200 for the set!
I almost passed on Nelson Mathews there, as there is a helpful "CF" written on the front, but I figured I won't find the same card any cheaper in that condition any time soon. I don't know how much upgrading I'll do on this set, it will depend on how close I can get to completing the set as is.
I think the Tris Speaker trivia art on the back of Nelson's card is my favorite of this bunch too - another reason I'm glad I decided to add it. Mathews is not related to Ed Mathews, but Nelson's son T.J. Mathews was a middle reliever for 8 seasons in the 90s / 00s for Oakland and Saint Louis. FUN FACT.
The same eBay seller that has the 1964 Topps cards has a whole host of other random Venezuelan items like coins and paper money... and tobacco cards! This is one of several for sale from the same set, originally printed in 1943. This was the most interesting image of the group (in my highly subjective opinion).
Any relation to José Briceño from the Rockies? The last names follow the mother's maiden name, rather than the fathers in most cases in Latin American countries, so this is probably not his great grandfather... who knows? Regardless, it was a fun little bonus to add to the collection!
Do you collect any cards from other countries (beyond the occasional O-Pee-Chee from Canada?)?
Thanks for reading!
I can say that I won't pass up a Braves card from wherever. I have a couple of those 64's (I think you sent them to me).
ReplyDeleteSpanish surnames follow from the father just as English ones do, so José Briceño could be Oswaldo's grandson. Technically the mother's name comes last, but it's usually ignored. Thus Albert Pujols is actually José Alberto Pujols Alcántara, for example--Pujols is his father's name and Alcántara comes from his mother. I can't find José Briceño's full name but it seems likely that Briceño comes from his father.
ReplyDeleteOne side note is that the Alou brothers were actually the Rojas Alou brothers, but they were mistakenly listed with the maternal name, and it stuck. That's why the former Mets manager went by Luis Rojas, even though his father is known as Felipe Alou and his brother is known as Moisés Alou; technically his brother is Moisés Rojas Beltre, but he decided to stick with the name his father was known by.
Yes, it was the Alous that I was thinking of with that comment. I should have written "sometimes" the mother's name is used. Usually it is in addition to the Father's name, rather than instead of. Like Federico Garcia Lorca for example. A full Latin name includes both names, but usually will only be written that way on legal documents. That's how the Alou situation came about.
DeleteI have a weakness for cards of pretty much all foreign nations, but Japanese ones are probably my favorite. Love Topps Venezuelans as well, but I've had trouble finding them cheap.
ReplyDeleteoutside of complete sets and other singles of o-pee-chee cards, i have at least one venezuelan card in my collection (1977 davey lopes), plus a few japanese cards. these are all dodgers or mini-collection cards. i actually just received in the mail yesterday a swedish card, or at least a swedish version of a card.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on crossing the 200 card milestone! Quite the accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteThat tobacco card is very interesting, and congrats on adding your 200th card toward the '64 Venezuela set!
ReplyDeleteDo you know of anyone who's actually completed this set?
ReplyDeleteNo but I am sure there are people who did back in VZ in the 60s! There are probably a handful of vendors in the us that have had all the cards in the set at one point.
DeleteI haven't seen a complete set for sale on its own.