The Quest for the 1960 Topps Set, Part III
April 7th, 2010 by slangon
In a couple of the posts I’ve written about trying to collect the 1960 Topps set, I’ve whined about how many stars there are in this set and how much of a pain it’s going to be to track them down and blah blah blah. Well, last week I was able to knock two more stars off the old list for pretty cheap by the eBay route.
First off, I was able to grab a copy of Gil Hodges card for the low low price of $0.99, plus shipping.
Of course Gil was one of the long time Dodgers who made the transition with the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Hodges is known as an outstanding defensive and offensive first baseman, but I was surprised to learn that when he first joined the Dodgers in 1947, he was a catcher and only moved to first after the arrival of Roy Campanella. Actually, he played one game for them in 1943 at third base as well, where he made 2 errors in 5 chances. Shortly afterwards he entered the Marines where he saw action as a anti-aircraft gunner in the Pacific, earning the Bronze Star for courage under fire.
Hodges also has a special place in my heart as a Mets fan since he was not only one of the original Mets in 1962, but he managed them from 1968 until his untimely death in 1972, leading them to their first World Series Championship.
Although the front of the card is pretty nice looking, you can see from the back why I got this for only $0.99. At least those lines aren’t creases. They’re weird smudges or scratches. They almost look like roller marks or something. I don’t get the impression that they were done in the manufacturing process. I think they happened sometime during the lifetime of the card. One thing I love about the backs of these 1960 cards is the season highlights. Apparently Gil must’ve drove Giants and Cardinal fans absolutely crazy.
The other card that I was able to snag of the ‘Bay is definitely one that was causing me a bit of concern as far as being able to track it down for a reasonable amount. Luckily I found one that, although it was more than I usually allow myself to spend on one card, was cheap enough to make me pull the trigger.
As you can see, that top left corner explains why this card is in my possession now. Even with that, it ran around $25 with shipping. A bit steep for a card that’s missing a corner, but when I consider how much I’ve seen even beat up Yaz rookies go for on eBay, I don’t think I would be getting another opportunity to land this card any time soon.
Other than the obvious issue with the corner, this card is actually in pretty nice shape. In fact I’d say if the corner was intact, it’s in a lot nice shape than a lot of the other cards I’ve gotten for this set. By the way, that line running through the “Sport Magazine” up top is not on the card. It’s just a scratch on the top loader that the card was in.
Aside from being psyched to get this sucker for my 1960 set, I’m also pretty psyched since I think it’s the first rookie card of a Hall of Famer that I own.
Here’s the back, sans the Season Highlights, since he had yet to play in the Majors. I had noticed on a lot of these older cards, the copywriters use the term “loop” in place of “league”. I don’t think I had ever heard that particular piece of baseball lingo before. I’m also impressed with Carls signing bonus. That sounds like a boatload of dough for the late 50’s.
Also, here’s a closer look at that corner.
On the front, the missing piece is confined to the white border, but on the back, it dips just a hair into the “B” of “2B”. Like I said though, the defect and the price I paid as compared to how much I would’ve paid without the defect doesn’t really bother me so much. I’m just glad to get at least one of the toughies out of the way.
I didn’t know he played 2nd base in the minors.