Showing posts with label Vintage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vintage. Show all posts

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Vintage Part 2 : Indians

Well it's taken a couple days longer than I anticipated, but I'm ready to roll with part 2 of my Vintage Series. Work has a bad habit of getting in the way of what I really want to do around here, as I'm sure most you you would understand.

Something about these old gems just gets me excited whenever I see one. A lot of people define 'Vintage' cards as being pre-1981,  and I'll probably have to go along with that. I'd class these cards as 'Extra-Vintage' because they're from the 50's & 60's. Whenever I see a 1958 Topps card depicting a Cleveland Indian, I expect to see that little packet of wieners in the background. Maybe I saw too many of those pictured in a Beckett magazine 15-20 years ago. The 1960 cards are nice, and I think a major influence of Fleer's 1995 Flair issue. Very similar fronts, albeit very different quality levels!

Man, I wish I was an Indians collector. The color scheme on these 1968 Topps cards meshes very well with the uniforms. These cards look a lot better in person, too.

I should have been paying more attention. Until that Buddy Bell card fell out of my Indians box, I had completely forgotten that it was in my collection. I cannot explain just how much I love those All Star Rookie Cups! Although most of you in the blogosphere would understand it completely.

 In the coming weeks, I may start blogging about some more obscure sets from the last 20 years. Surely there can't be too many people out there with bunches of 1998 Pacific Online cards, could there? Perhaps I'll show some Topps Total or Upper Deck 40-Man cards, as I know there's a lot of bloggers out there who would appreciate seeing them.

Since I haven't made up my mind yet, we'll all have to wait and see!

Cheers,

Nick J

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Vintage Part 1 : White Sox



 I like vintage cards. I think most of us in the blogosphere like vintage.

I'd prefer to own all vintage Dodger cards, but beggars can't be choosy. I scored the 2 1958 cards as part of a group of 11 on the Bay about a year ago. Not bad for $5! There was even a Dodger among the group, so that's probably what led me to buying the lot. I must say I'd never heard of Howell or Esposito prior to my purchase, so these cards are also educational in that respect.





I love the 1970 Topps set. I love these cards as well. Mostly because of how I got them. I was on my honeymoon in New York City in November 2011, and my Wife wanted to see a Broadway Show. We had previously agreed that when she went to a show, I would go out and find a baseball card shop. We were staying near the Hearst Tower on 8th Ave, and I remembered reading about a little place called Alex's MVP Cards over on the East Side. It's actually near the corner of 89th St and 2nd Ave. Those familiar with the city will know just how long it would take to walk that distance. But I did it, all for the love of baseball cards! These 4 cards were in the 10 cent - 25 cent box. I think I walked out of there with about 200 different cards. My show was better then any Broadway show!





I'm not sure if these were part of my 'NYC Stash', but they're both still pretty cool. Any 1975 Topps cards are cool in my eyes.





The 1960 set is great. I'm not normally a fan on horizontal cards, but I am if the entire set is horizontal. Any set with Team Logos on the front in great for me. It makes sorting by team incredibly easy. That Herb Score card, from the 1961 set, was, for a very long time, the oldest card in my collection. I bought it off a friend of mine in the mid 1990's. At the time, I thought "Wow, this card came out 18 years before I was born. 18 YEARS!" It was difficult to comprehend, but then again I would have only been around 16 years old.





1968 Topps. Very similar to the 1969 set, but different enough to stand out. I like the 'thatched' borders. Cards from the first series that year really do stand out. The 'thatches' are much bigger than cards from later series. I believe the Colavito card is a nice example. I also love the old-style Rookie Cup on the Williams card. I wish I owned a particular card from the set that everybody wants. You know, the one with Jerry Koosman on it?  :-) That card at the bottom of the picture is the White Sox Team Card from the 1964 set. I wonder if this years Heritage set will have similar team cards?





Recently, I've developed a great appreciation for the 1972 Topps set. I'd love to own a complete set, although given the difficulty of obtaining the high-numbered cards, it will probably have to remain a dream. Still, 44 of them is a good enough for me. I love the psychedelic design. The 72 and 75 sets, for me, are the defining sets of the 1970's, although the 1973 set has the most interesting photography. I'd always wanted a card of Goose Gossage in a White Sox uniform, and when I got it last year, I was very excited. My Gossage collection is complete! (At least one card from each team he played for).

Once my collection is in alphabetical order, I will dedicate entire posts to 'Complete Player Collections'.

I hope you enjoyed my 'walk through the 50's, 60's & 70's' White Sox edition, I believe the next edition will be the Cleveland Indians.

Nick J