A Crazy Card Show Saturday

It was a wild day at the card show yesterday, with mini collections, set building, dime boxes, bargain vintage, and proof of extra-terrestrial life?

From a box of 2 for $5 relics/autos, I picked up a handful of Twins! Berrios, Mauer, and BOOF.

That's 2 for $5, so card #4 is America's Sweetheart, A.J. Pierzynski.

Just a small sample from the dime boxes I came across - there were cards from the 80s up through 2019 Gypsy Queen. I spent just $10 but probably an hour of digging to get there...

It took a lot less time to to make the decision on this card - I mentioned I was looking for this last month to the vintage guy when I was browsing the basketball stack, and like magic it appeared on his table this month. Funny how that works!

Wilt Chamberlain was good at basketball.

While on the subject of vintage, there were several monster boxes with $1 vintage from 1958 to 1972 - the mid to late 60s had the best condition of the bunch, and that's where I picked up some fun ones. Jack Acker was... what, hanging out behind his house when the Topps photographer dropped by?

I've been critical of the 1953 set in the past, but there are some gems to be found in the set- this one of Jim Hearn in the late afternoon haze with a stern warning for gamblers on the outfield wall is a great exception to the boring repetitive '53 portraits.

Meet Joe Black, 1952 N.L. Rookie of the Year!

I only added 5 cards to my 1959 set build, but you'll see that they are all doozys. Al Kaline, never salty. This is just one of his 3 cards in the 1959 set, still seeking the Baseball Thrills and the base card.

Bang! POW! ZAP! WHAMMO!

Finally, for just $2, I've uncovered the mysteries of the cosmos - we are not alone! (This is Carl Engstrom, who trained Angelo Poffo how to wrestle. Angelo was the father of Randy and Lanny Poffo - Randy was better known as the Macho Man Randy Savage!)

Day Eight - 1954 Topps Angel Scull #204

Day 8: A Card That Reminds You of a Family Member

Taking the lead from Tony at Off-Hiatus Baseball Cards this will be the eighth of 30 posts, using the prompts provided. I won't necessarily post one every day, but I will do one for each card, toss in a few "insights" (as insightful as I can be, anyway), and usually include an honorable mention or two, just because I'm like that.

Here's my pick - I shared a post about this card (well, the back of this card) in my first month of blogging. This was actually my first vintage card ever, and it was given to me by my brother. He used to work at a card shop / magazine / newsstand called Shinders in Minneapolis when I was a kid, and he'd often bring things home, either to share with me or rub in my face. He had a copy of his own, and he gave me this one for my birthday right around the time I stopped collecting the first time. I didn't appreciate it then as much as I do now.

Since these are basically one card posts, why not show the backs, too? I will say that our affinity for this card is due in no small part to the unintended comedy of "Angel, a Cuban speed merchant," as a teenager that was especially funny to me. "Possessed of a powerful arm," was also a fantastic phrase. I've built up a decent vintage collection over the last few years, and this card was the foundation. 

Some Honorable Mentions:

Pretty much any 1987 Topps card would work, these remind me of my cousins in Ohio - my first ever trade was with some of these cards. Their Twins for my Reds! Tom Pagnozzi reminds me of my other cousin in Minnesota, I distinctly recall opening packs of 1992 Pinnacle and he pulled a Tom Pagnozzi. I may have confused Pagnozzi with Todd Zeile- I remember being jealous that my cousin found such an awesome card, which in hindsight was not quite so awesome. In 1989, my brother brought home a box of Donruss from his store for Christmas. No Ken Griffey, Jr. but there were plenty of Mark McLemores and Dante Bichettes. Finally, any vintage Reds remind me of my dad, even though he says he didn't collect cards as a kid - 1950s Topps would have been the cards that would have been around those days.

Day Two - 1954 Topps Ed & John O'Brien #139

Day 2: A Card With More Than One Player On It

Taking the lead from Tony at Off-Hiatus Baseball Cards this will be the second of 30 posts, using the prompts provided. I won't necessarily post one every day, but I will do one for each card, toss in a few "insights" (as insightful as I can be, anyway), and usually include an honorable mention or two, just because I'm like that.

Here's my pick - This was the first time* Topps put more than one player on one of their cards. They hadn't started putting team cards in the set yet, so up to this point every Topps card featured just one player. The O'Brien brothers were twins, both basketball and baseball stars at Seattle University. In 1953 the brothers were signed by Branch Rickey for $25,000 apiece to come play for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Eddie was the short stop, Johnny the 2nd baseman. In 1954, both brothers served in the military, and returned to the Pirates and played sporadically for several more seasons. Eddie and Johnny returned to Seattle after their playing days - Eddie became the Seattle U. Athletic director and head Baseball Coach. In 2011, the University named their Athletics building the Ed and John O'Brien Center.

You may be wondering how it was that the 1954 Set, which is only 250 cards, had room for a pair of bonus babies like the O'Briens. At this point of the 1950s, there was still quite the competition from Bowman, as the two card giants fought over exclusive rights to the players. Topps had Ted Williams, but Bowman had Mickey Mantle - as well as Bob Feller, Roy Campanella, and several others. Topps filled its set with a combination of Managers, Coaches, and young players that had just started out (Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Al Kaline to name just a few).

Since these are basically one card posts, why not show the backs, too? Great info from the backs on 1954 Topps, and they found a nice way to share the stats between the two brothers.

Here are some honorable mentions:

Topps was the master of these in the 1960s - Alliterations like "Power Plus" or "Twin Terrors," as well as some favorite key phrases like "Fence Busters" or "Manager's Dream." In the 80s, the torch was passed onto Donruss and Fleer. Fleer's Super Star Specials became a personal favorite.

*Did you know that in 1948 Topps released several different multi sport and non-sport sets called Topps Magic Photos? The baseball series included a few cards with multiple players, some featuring the 1948 World Series, and one of Cubs Hall of Famers Tinker and Evers.