1971 Topps Long Shots

I was looking through my 1971 Topps Black Beauties recently and noticed a bunch of the images in this set are wide angle shots.

I really like these particular cards.  I'm drawn to the images showing multiple players in one picture, or just a shot of a player from a distance.  I found a couple cool pitchers for example where they were photographed from a distance and the cards are just plain awesome.

 

Now, I realize I picked two stars here, but what I really like about the cards are the images.  The Gibson shows the third baseman and third base ump in the background with the full stands behind them.  And the Ryan with that huge RC Cola ad behind him in the outfield. 

 

 

Here are three shots of the action at second base.  Each image has a baserunner sliding into the bag with the fielder making his play at first.  The Maxvill image is my favorite of the three as he is looking down at the runner who was trying to take him out of the play. 

 

 

 

These two are great.  They show some great in action photos involving the runner sliding into second, the defensive players in the middle of making the play and the ump right there to make the call.  These are so cool! 

 

And my absolute favorite card in the entire set is not the Thurman Munson as is a lot of folks favorite, but rather it's this World Series Game 5 card of Brooks Robinson making a signature play at short.

 

 

Is this the best image on a card in this set or what?  I mean how far away is the photographer for crying out loud?  And there is nothing else in the frame but dirt!  I mean Brooksie is in the middle of nowhere on this card. 

 

What other cards do you guys like from the 1971 Topps set?  Let me know in the comments.  And yes, these are all cards from my set and I could care less about the condition as you can tell.  I just collect cards, I don't care if they are beat up.

 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.







Recent Pick Ups

It's that time again to share my recent pick ups.

I recently picked up a couple more T205s for my set.  Nothing groundbreaking here, but still a couple steps closer to the finish line.

 

The first one is this Louis Evans with a Polar Bear back.  Even though the backs aren't as ornate as the T206 backs, I still like the Polar Bear backs in the T205 set.  And I like the bios and stats more than just a large ad for smokes. 

 

 One part of his bio that I really like is where it says, "He is a good waiter, and was granted 78 passes in 1910".  I've never heard of a batter being called a waiter in reference to getting walked.

 

 

 

The second T205 is that of J. Clyde Milan of the Washington Senators.  I like the designs of the American Leaguers in this set much more that the National Leaguers.  I think that because I first started collecting just the NY Giants from T205 I got bored of the National League design and now when I pick up an American Leaguer I am much more pleased. 

 

The back of Milan's card also states something I've never heard before in that "he also pilfered 44 bases" in regards to his stolen base tally.  I like that, pilfered. 

 

Anyway, those are my most recent acquisitions and I hope you enjoy them.

 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.



NY Giants From Long Ago...

A little look at John McGraw, Christy Mathewson and the NY Giants.

Ever wonder what the game was actually like during the prewar era?  Here's a little video clip of some of the NY Giants including John "Mugsy" McGraw and Christy Mathewson. 

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I don't know about you, but I think it's pretty cool to see these guys in motion like this.  Too bad there wasn't sound so we could here the crack of the bat or the crowd in the background or the players talking. 

I hope you liked the video as much as I did!

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a moving one. 

Baseball Postage Stamps

There were some really nice looking baseball related postage stamps issued around the world pre-1950.

You might think the first baseball themed postage stamp would be issued by the United States, but it was actually issued in the Philippines in 1934.  There was a great article in Old Cardboard # 32 from the Spring of 2015 related to these stamps.

After reading that article, I decided to collect these stamps.  I used to collect stamps as a kid so I thought it would enjoy these stamps.  I was able to pick up all but one of the pre-1950 stamps.  The one I haven't gotten yet is the 1935 Colombia issue due to the fact that it is difficult to find as a single stamp and is usually found as part of a 16 stamp set that sells in the $1K range. 

Pictured below are the stamps I have so far.

 

These two are the 1934 Philippines and the 1938 Panama examples.

 

 

 





This is the 1937 Nicaragua complete set of four different colors.

 

This is the first US Postage stamp with a baseball theme.  It is from 1939 and was issued as a centennial of baseball stamp as it was believed to have invented in 1839. 

 

 

This is my favorite of the different stamps issued before 1950.  This is the 1944 Venezuelan complete set of 9 different colors. 

 

 

This block of four represent a set issued in Japan in 1948 and as you can see one of them includes a baseball scene.

 

 

Also issued in 1948, this stamp from Nicaragua shows a close play at the plate. 

 

There are many stamps from around the world issued after 1950 and I have quite a few of them as well.  I have these pre-1950 stamps all posted online on my online wantlist website.  You can check them out here.

 

I still need to scan and post most of the stamps from after 1950.  I have most of the classics shown already, but there are many more to see. 

 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's an awesome one.







A Big Four on eBay

Well you don't see this all the time where one of the Big 4 shows up on eBay.

There is currently an Eddie Plank T206 listed on eBay that is in a PSA 1 holder.  Here is a link to the listing.

 

The seller, brigandicoinsandcollectibles, has it listed as a Buy It Now (BIN) for $59,500.00 or best offer.  One thing I really like about this listing is that the seller is offering free shipping. 

For some reason I'm always a little annoyed when someone is selling a high dollar card and they want an additional $10 shipping.

I understand both sides, the seller doesn't need to eat the cost of shipping and insurance, but I also just think that if a buyer is willing to shell out thousands of dollars for a card then the least the seller can do is cover the shipping. 

This PSA 1 card was sold in 2015 for $24,000 and the last PSA 1 sold for $36,500 in 2016.  I would imagine the asking price on this one this time is a little high but the seller is hoping for a reasonable offer to come in.

While T206 Planks are rare, they do show up for sale in auctions regularly, just in better condition that a PSA 1.  It is a very desirable card and this one will certainly sell.

My estimate is around $45,000 - $47,000 for an offer that would be accepted.  Is that low?  Maybe, but it's still a nice jump from the last sale of a 1 and that crease right through his face will hurt the final sale.

In any case, it's exciting to see an authentic Plank show up on eBay.  I consider (as do many) the Plank to be right behind the Wagner in the listing of the Big Four T206s.  I feel like the Magie error is three and the Doyle is four.  Even though the Doyle is the rarest and most difficult to find of all four, I think it's behind the other three when ranking these cards. 

People don't really know why the Plank is so difficult even to this day.  Some say the plate was broken early in the print run and was just never replaced so only so many of them were ever printed.  Others think it may be something similar to the Wagner theory that he didn't agree with his image being used to promote tobacco when children were collecting the cards.

Whatever the reason, he is a tough card to find.  So let's see where this one ends up folks.

Enjoy the hobby everyone...it's a great one.

Some Nice Little Gems in Love of the Game Auctions

The current Love of the Game Auction has a lot of great items in it.

But there are a couple of lots that are really interesting to me.  I'm watching these items to see where they will end up and may bid on one of them as well.

The first really cool item I found is this T209 of B.E. Thompson.

This is a classic card from this set and actually doesn't feature a baseball player at all, but what some believe to be a farmer named Benjamin Thompson who supplied tobacco to Erwin-Nadal who then used his tobacco in the production of Contentnea Cigarettes.

Usually this card stands out simply due to the image of the "Uncle Sam" on the front, but this one is special for another reason altogether.

Most T209s exhibit an ad on the reverse for Contentnea Cigarettes in a very nice looking ad.  However this particular card has a slightly different back to it. 

While most all other backs feature the straight ad for the cigarettes, the back of this card says, "Be sure and save B.E. Thompson's picture.  Ask your dealer about it.  Contentnea Cigarettes." 

Some say this lends credence to the idea that this particular card could have been saved and redeemed for a prize.  What prize you ask?  Possibly the album that was produced for the set.  And in that album there was a full page dedicated to this card itself.

This is a rarely seen card and it being of the B.E. Thompson front it is highly desirable.  We'll see where this one ends up at the end of the auction.

I've always wanted an example of the Thompson and this would certainly be the one I would want.  Even in the poor condition it's in.

I've been picking up a few T205s recently and slowly working on that set, so the second item from Love of the Game that really caught my fancy was this blank backed Ed Reulbach with a handwritten bio on the reverse.  This card is just super cool. 

Maybe it's because I'm into T206s with back stamps, but whatever the reason I find this card fascinating. 

 

I am really drawn to prewar cards that have period writing or stamps on them and this one is just awesome.  First, the card is blank backed, which by itself if really cool.  But then to know that some kid 100 years ago scribbled out a bio for Reulbach takes it to the next level. 

 

It's not easy to read the bio at all, so I'm not going to try to translate it for you here.  You can enlarge the image and try to read it yourself.

 

Any way, this is another one that I'm watching closely and may bid on before too long. 

 

Take a look at the current auction at Love of the Game.  See if there is anything that you can't live without.  Like I said, they have a lot of cool stuff to look through.  I just picked out a couple of the non-featured items that caught my eye.  See what you can find.

 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a great one.

Amazing Baseball Photos in Color

You have got to check out this Facebook page.

There is an amazing Facebook page where color photos of old time baseball are posted.  Here is the link to the page.

Here are some examples from his site. 

Yankees Lou Gehrig scores head first in 4th inning as Joe Harris' throw gets away from catcher Hank Severeid of Senators. Umpire is Dick Nallin. Yanks beat Senators 3-2. Aug 16 1925

I'm a little partial to Christy Mathewson so I picked this one...

Christy Mathewson, New York Giants, 1908

Walter Johnson and the Washington Senators, 1931
  

This shot outside of Shibe Park in Philly in 1914 is really cool.  I love seeing the crowds and vehicles from that period. 

Shibe Park, Philadelphia, 1914

Please check out this Facebook page a like it.

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a colorful one.

1955 Bowman Mantle Pulled From Pack at National

At a pack break of a 1955 Bowman pack at the National in Cleveland a Mickey Mantle was pulled.

This was a cool story on ESPN.com.  A company called Vintage Breaks charged $500 for spots in a pack break of 1955 Bowmans.  The second to last card in that pack was the most valuable card in the set, the Mickey Mantle.  It was in superior condition and caused quite a stir among those watching. 

What are the chances really?  Well, the guy who won the card was 375 miles away at the time and when he checked online to see what happened he was floored.  He said he was going to sell the card as he already had a lower grade copy. 

He headed back to Cleveland to the show to claim the card and he brought it to PSA for grading.  After a few hours it came back as a PSA 9.  It is only the ninth time a 1955 Bowman Mantle was graded a 9 and the first time in over 20 years. 

According to ESPN.com the last PSA 9 Mantle sold for $35,089 and someone has already offered $50K for this one. 

 

This must have been one sweet experience for the winner of this card.  I'm sure he now enjoys the hobby.

 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a cool one.

1923 Lections

There is still mystery surrounding the 1923 Lections set.

The 1923 Lection set is a 10 card set that doesn't have a solid history behind it yet.  The cards have an image of a player inside an oval on the left of the card with their name and team written below the image.  The word Lections is written at the top of the right side of the card with a 1923 copyright for B&B Co. printed under that.

The rest of the card shows a baseball scene in either green or orange.  Below is a nice example of the Babe Ruth card.

 

Most examples of Lection cards are in poor condition for some reason.  And there are only estimated to be 40 - 50 examples known in the hobby today. 

 

Not much is known about this set or the distributor.  It is rumored that they were given to children around the same time that similar "election" cards were being distributed to adults for political candidates at the time.  The political cards looked similar but obviously weren't baseball themed. 

 

Another very interesting thing about these cards is that they are often found with holes punched in them like the example on the right.

Some thoughts about the holes are that they were punched when the cards were redeemed at local candy stores.  I'm not completely on board with this idea since some of the cards are completely covered with these holes.

I just don't see the cards being used over and over again at some local candy or ice cream store this many times.  Here is another Ruth example with a few more holes in it.

 

Maybe someday we will find a lot more about these cards and maybe find some solid proof about their distribution and why they were punched so much.  Below is a nice gallery of the then known examples from our friends at OldCardboard.

 

 

Enjoy the hobby all...it's a mysterious one.