Cards from a Greater Dime-nsion

A fantastic PWE arrived in my mailbox from Nick of the Dimebox Blog. I don't usually pay much attention to stamps, but Teddy Ballgame warrants a second look!

Nick hit my sweet tooth with this Hostess Tony Oliva - I will feature this card again for another post I am working on...

Some more excellent food issues, this time from Post.

Torii two Is with a couple more oddly shaped cards... the one on the right features a patch for Kirby Puckett on Torii's sleeve.

There were standard size offerings as well. I am excited to see what Berrios will do his second time in the big leagues.

Robbie Grossman didn't make any end of year lists, but he was perfectly suited as the Twins' 4th outfielder. His .386 on base percentage was in the top 20 in the majors, consistently giving the team quality at bats at the bottom of the order. 

Thanks again, Nick! 

Off The Wall and Back in the Game

It's been a while since I posted, the blog has taken a back seat to some important things on the home front - I won't belabor the details, things are good, baseball is just a couple months away (at least for pitchers and catchers in Spring Training).

I completed a trade with Shane from Off The Wall - the wall in question being the Green Monster. He's been working on some sets that I was happy to help him out with, and in return I was treated to an avalanche of vintage.

 Some 60s Twins!

 Some big time Twins!

 Some Hall of Famers! Frank Robinson in particular is really really sharp. I was excited to add these to my collection.

 Shane went to work on my vintage wantlist and covered a little bit of everything. Kitty Kaat!

Of course there were Twins from the recent past as well. Corey Koskie signed his card - he lost the prime of his career to concussion issues. but he was sneaky good - go ahead and look him up if you doubt it...

Shane, thanks so much for this trade! I hope to accumulate some more set needs for you in the coming months so we can do it again!

Putting a Stamp on Another Card Show

I made it out to another card show last weekend, and found this oddball stamp, I was happy to add it to the collection, even though someone licked it and stuck it on a stock piece of cardboard...

This was a stunner, a very nice 1953 Bowman

Also a nifty 1951 Bowman, I am a big fan of the nicknamed players.

Of course the card backs are highlights of the early Bowman sets.

This one was great - an on card auto of a guy giving an autograph.

Two more for the 1969 deckle edge set.

I was starting to get a little peckish, so I picked up some food issues. Kindall is a local kid from Minneapolis.

Last but not least, I have finished the team cards for the 56 Topps set with this Tigers card!

Another productive day at a card show, and I was able to keep the costs down on most of these.

Getting to the Bottom of a Mystery

I was browsing COMC and stumbled upon this Kirby Puckett card - it looked a little off, definitely different from the base card from the 87 Fleer set. Turns out it is a Box Bottom card! Then I wanted to see what else was out there, and I found this gem:

The image is familiar to folks from the recent Stadium Club card, but this was the earlier use of it on cardboard.

No arguments here- Gooden was sensational in 1984.

I targeted a few PC guys and Ted Williams is sporting his Minneapolis Millers uniform. He only had it for one season, but he led the league in Homers and was called up to the Red Sox the following season.

'Ol Satch in his stint as a member of the Saint Louis Browns.

Here's the back of that oddball - much of the selling of baseball cards is once again "through the mails," but websites like COMC make it easy to see the condition of the cards I'm buying.

Had to splurge a little on this one - Minnie Minoso is wearing a White Sox Jersey, but the back of the card says this swatch is from his days in Cleveland. Nice old school wool!

Trading and Upgrading with The Collector

That's the finest Dave Winfield I think I've ever seen. Chris from the blog The Collector contacted me to set up a trade. He's also working on the 1956 Topps set, and I had some cards I could send his way from several of this set builds.

Some 80s Goodness!

There was a strong group of Twins, I'm already adding to my new Denard Span PC!

That 1956 card is SUPER sharp. Just a really great card, it might be the best conditioned card in my whole set. A couple other Horizontal Heroes make an appearances as well.

A few more pieces of Flair and the 90s great Upper Deck Holo FX, this time featuring Hall of Famer MIke Piazza.

This one is my favorite in the package, though. Like the 1956 card, this one is in fantastic shape. Allison and Killebrew had several big time power seasons in the 1960s, aptly titled as Terrors for opposing pitchers.

Thanks for the trade Chris!