Hello?
November 19th, 2013 by slangon

Anybody there?

Probably not, considering it’s been 7 months since my last post. What can I say? Sometimes life gets in the way of baseball card blogging, right? Well, I guess that’s only half true. Things have been pretty hectic what with jobs and houses and kiddies and whatnot. Honestly, I probably could’ve found time to post a few times between all that though. It was really a combination of all that combined with a rather lackluster baseball season from my standpoint as well as a temporary lack of interest in collecting. Well, maybe lack of interest isn’t quite accurate. I was still randomly acquiring some cards, just not with as much fervor as in the past.

And that’s what brings me back here today.

This past week, I ended up landing a box of cards that I consider to be one of my greatest achievements thus far in my career as cheap vintage card acquirer. A box of cards so great that it actually inspired me to fire up my scanner and computing machine and tell a bunch of strangers about it (assuming that any strangers still check back here anymore).

So now that I’ve reeled you in with that lead up, I will not be showing that particular box of cards here today. No sirree. I have a few other pretty sweet cards that I’ve scored over the last 7 months that I’d like to share before I get into the meat of the matter. For instance, there was a plain white envelope that I received way back in June that spewed forth several impressive (to me at least) pieces of old cardboard.

Starting with this guy.

1960 Topps #568 Dell Crandall All-Star

1960 Topps Del Crandall All-StarI bet you all forgot that I’ve been trying to complete the 1960 Topps set, didn’t you. Hell, I almost did myself. Landing a high number from that set sure helps to remind one of one’s goals. Especially when it’s one of the especially awesome looking All-Star cards from the set.

Next up…

1955 Bowman #259 Don Mossi

1955 Bowman Don Mossi

It’s everybody’s favorite pretty boy, Don “The Babe Ruth of Ugly” Mossi. While this particular Don Mossi card may not present Don’s unique features in their most un-flattering light, it sure does give it a go. By the way, ugly jokes aside, did you know that at the time that retired in 1965, he had the highest career fielding percentage (.990) of any Major League pitcher.

Moving right along.

1951 Bowman #14 Alvin Dark

1951 Bowman Al Dark

These early 50’s Bowman sets have been slowly but surely moving up the ranks as some of my favorite sets ever. I really love the painterly look of them. There’s also something about the look of them that I can’t quite put my finger on that works really well with the condition that I usually get them in. Something about the rounded corners and yellowed borders works really well with the bright, saturated colors of the player image. Here’s more about the man on the card.

And finally… the pièce de résistance…

1952 Bowman #40 Gil Hodges

1952 Bowman Gil Hodges

Yeah, it’s jacked up. Yeah, it’s got tape on it that’s older than me. Yeah, the corners are rounded and the edges are ragged. But it’s Gil Hodges. From the 1950’s. As a Brooklyn Dodger. You know all that mumbo jumbo I was talking about a second ago with the Al Dark card, about how these early 50’s Bowman cards tend to work really well with the condition that I usually get them in? Well I think this Gilbert card is an even better example of it. There’s just something really cool to me about the combination of that really crisp artwork with those deep greens and blues with the muddy brown of that tape and yellowish gray of the cardboard itself. I also absolutely love the Ebbett’s Field stands in the background with all that raw steel and sky. This card easily is one of my favorites out of all my collection.

Anyway, there’s some cards. I’ve got a few more that I want to show over the next week or so, but I think the blog might be turning in a different direction after that (if I can stick to it that is). Although I may still occasionally show some cards that I’ve added to my collection, I’ve been thinking that from here on out, I’m going to focus this space much more on custom cards.

Stay tuned to see if that’s true.

6 Responses to “Hello?”

  1. Glad to see you back even if for just one post.

  2. Nice Hodges!

    Welcome back.

  3. Welcome back. Nice ads. Yeah there is something about those 50s Bowmans that just grabs you. The modern Bowman just don’t do it as much. Modern cards in general don’t grab me the same way for two main reasons 1) the card stock used now days much thinner and more like paper than “cardboard” 2) the needing to have everything glossy and shining like silver or gold. Also modern cards use too many gimicks now-days and way too many parallel sets and sub sets.

  4. I remember you !
    There’s been a lot of talk about Mossi as of late.
    I need to find one of those Tribe cards for my collection !

  5. Welcome back. You’ve been missed.

    I picked up a two 1950 Bowmans (Bowmen?) yesterday. They look spectacular.

  6. Is it me you’re looking for?

    – Lionel Ritchie

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