Power Up!

I've really neglected my 1958 and 1960 Topps set blogs in recent months. And I feel bad about it. Not because I was disappointing the vast armies of readers who were terribly interested in my latest card post from sets issued before they were born. (Those folks don't exist, BTW) No, I miss the fun of looking at these beauties. And scurrying down the rabbit holes that researching them frequently reveals.

Speaking of which did you know that Vic Power (b. Victor Pellot) was on track to be the first black player for the Yankees but was traded out of their system because of his lack of fielding prowess, or so said GM Dan Topping. Power contended there were other reasons at play. The fact that he won seven Gold Gloves during his career does work to impune Topping's statement.

So I'm going to crank 'em back up. I'm not sure how often I can get posts written and online but I'll do what I can. I'm probably going to change the contents of the posts. I want to make them short and to the point.

I'm also going to post the cards in numerical order. I'll begin with the #1 card and work through the set skipping the cards I've already posted obviously. This'll make it easier to track and eliminate the kind of things I used to concern myself with. Dumb stuff like whether or not I'm posting the same color card too frequently or trying to seed the blog with subsets and specials at certain intervals.

I think the only concession I'll make to my old ways is that I'm going to continue to post a 1960 team card along with the manager and coaches cards.  I kind of liked having them all together.

Readers here will be able to see the latest posts in each blog over on the right-hand side of course. Each set has a Hall of Famer in the #1 slot, btw. Look for them to appear on a blog near you soon!

A Tale of Two Mickeys

A few years ago when I was putting together my '58 Topps set I had to hunt around for a Mantle card that was in decent shape yet still affordable.Atone of the TriStar shows here in Houston I found the card above in a dealer's case and asked about it. The price he quoted seemed too good to be true but he proceeded to mention that he had submitted it to PSA and had it sent back ungraded. He suspected it was trimmed. After showing it to a couple of people at the show that I've dealt with and trust I ened up buying it.

As you can see it's really a beauty. I stuck it in the slot in my '58 binder, knocked off the last few cards I needed for the set, and figured I was done. But something nagged at me. What if PSA had rejected the card because it was a reprint/counterfeit? Trimmed I could live with. Heck, I have cards with writing on them and it doesn't bother me. But the thought that it might not be real bugged me.

Flash forward to this spring and during one of eBay's 20% off days I happen upon a cheap graded Mantle for a good price. With that discount and beaucoups of eBay Bucks I nabbed it for less than $70.

Meanwhile, with a verified Mantle in hand I did what I'd wanted to do for a long time. I sent my trimmed(?) Mickey to SGC for authenticating. It was my first venture into the world of paying to have cards graded and slabbed. SGC has a box on their submission form which allows you to request them to slab a card even if it is altered as long as it's deemed to be real. It took a couple of weeks and about $30 but back it came, looking good in a slab:

It was a relief to know it was a real 1958 Topps mantle even though by now I had another one. And it didn't stay cooped up in plastic long. Once I' scanned it I broke it free and Mickey returned to his rightful spot in my '58 Topps binder. Right there in the sheet with, among others, Don McHahon, Les Moss and my slot-filling Bob Lemke-made #145 Ed Bouchee card.

It's a beautiful thing.

That newer Mantle will stay in it's slab until I decide what to do with it.

Upgrade Mania

After chasing the '59 Topps set a card or two at a time I decided that a more efficient way to collect a set was to start with a large lot purchase. Doing so gets you a big jump on the set at a reasonable cost per card. Downside being that large but affordable lots invariably contain some filler cards that will need upgrading. That's even true in my case despite my rather liberal view of what makes a card 'acceptable'.

I employed the 'large lot' strategy with the 1960 Topps set, the Civil War News set and most recently with the 1958 Topps set. Each purchased lot definitely had a card or two that fell into the 'I won't even put this into the binder' category.

1960 Topps Don Elston.

This beauty came in my 200 card lot. All-in-all the cards were pretty sweet but this one? Yikes.

Actually the corners were pretty nice but I think I went to eBay the day the cards arrived and found a better one:

Softer corners but at least Elston has a face.  I like to pass along my vintage dupes but there was no way I could put that first one in a PWE. It went in the trash.

1958 Topps Hank Foiles.

The guy who sold me the big lot of '58s had them in a box in card number order. That meant that Hank Foiles here, card #4 in the set, was  right on top. I remember immediately thinking that I'd made a huge mistake. The cards in the listing looked to be in at least Fair shape, most looked better than that. But if this card was representative of what I was getting then even at under a buck a card I was going to be very disappointed.

Luckily the Foiles card was the worst card in the box. By quite a wide margin. Again I had to wonder why the seller had even bothered with it. I didn't do as I did with the '60 Elston and find a replacement right away but I found one for sale on eBay from a seller I've dealt with and loaded it in my cart. I bought it a few days later with some others. Again the replacement Foiles card isn't perfect but it is perfectly fine for my binder.

The new one looks even better when placed alongside the original.

1962 Civil War News 'The War Ends'.

This card came with the original lot I picked up on eBay that averaged about a dollar each. It may be definitely is the worst card I've ever paid for. I had fair warning though. The seller went out of his way to make the condition of some of the cards very clear. He even emailed me about it after I paid.

It was obviously trimmed to include the card number.

With the cost of nice ungraded cards from this set being pretty high (routinely in the $7 to $10+ range) I did well with the lot I bought. So I didn't feel bad for paying $8 for the replacement

It's off-center but nearly every card in the set was miscut, or so it seems from looking at what I have and what is for sale. But other than that it's the nicest example of the nearly 50 CWN cards I now have. Bottom line...CWN #82 went from worst to first in my binder.

I'll continue to play the upgrade game with my 1958 set. But other than the Foiles that will have to be when I'm finished with the thing. 

1958 Customs (Phantoms?) from Bob Lemke

Bob Lemke writes one of my favorite blogs. He has some great stories from bygone days thru his access to old copies of The Sporting News. Plus he was a mover and shaker in the memorabilia news industry for many years. 

He also produces some terrific customs, both sports and non-sports. After a brief hiatus he is currently selling them again and I for one am glad. They are not cheap but if you buy a few at a time they cost about the same as a Topps Now card and are far more interesting than a card of the latest walkoff passed ball incident. 

When I decided to go after the 1958 set I knew I'd be checking out what Bob had available. I did the same for my 1959 and 1960 projects. Both of those binders have a page in the back that contains a few Lemke creations. 

For 1958 Bob now has seven customs (plus a variation). I recently picked up three of them. Roy Campanella never got to play with the 'Los Angeles' Dodgers as his sparkling career ended with his auto accident late in  January of 1958.  Bob's custom is a spot-on take on what a '58 Topps Campy might have looked like. 

Next is Bob's version of the '58 multi-player specials. He found a nice shot of Don Newcombe and Johnny Antonelli and used it in a way I'm surprised Topps didn't think of. 

When I looked at the checklist for the '58 set I saw that there was no card #145 and then remembered that it had originally been the spot where Ed Bouchee would have appeared. He was dropped from the set when his legal issues arose and he was suspended. Lemke fills the slot with a nice version of what the Bouchee card might have looked like. He has available both a yellow and black background. I picked the black since there are not as many black cards in the set as there are yellow. Bob was kind enough to also sent the yellow version as well. I have the yellow version at the bottom of this post.

Unlike the other Lemke customs I have or will pick up the Bouchee card will reside within the main binder pages as if it was an actual Topps card. I don't like having an empty slot on a page in a completed set. But to just 'skip' the spot would have thrown off my numbering and made my card-related OCD kick in to high gear. 

BTW...Bouchee was reinstated to MLB in the summer of 1958 and had cards in Topps sets again from 1959 through the end of his career in 1962 with the Mets.

The reverse of Bob's custom is a few shades 'brighter' than the original Topps cards but it's a great replication in all other ways so I'm happy to use it in that #145 slot. If it wasn't available I would have had to make my own lousy custom which in no way would have looked right.

There are four other Lemke '58s listed on his site. I'll snatch those up at some point along with the '59s and '60s that I missed the first time.

I'm still weighing my options as far as a '58 Topps blog goes. I'll figure something out.

Oh, and here is an image of Bob's yellow Ed Bouchee #145. 

'58 Topps..the new project

Over the last couple of weeks I committed to chasing the third and final of my three 'cornerstone' sets, the 1958 Topps set. Along with the '59 and '60 these sets were the first ones that I dealt with as a kid and the ones with the most nostalgic value.

The 1958 isn't the most popular of the 50s era sets but it's colorful, relatively easy to track down and it doesn't have lots super expensive rookies. I set about to begin my quest in the same way I started with the 1960 set. I gathered together the '58 cards I already owned. I had all the Orioles, a few stars (Sandy Koufax!), a couple dozen commons and the entire All Star subset. 

Then I found a large lot (240+ cards) of cheap '58s on eBay and nabbed it at a price that netted me 210 new (to me) cards that included some stars in lesser condition. Even disregarding the 25 or 30 cards I already owned the lot cost me about 80 cents a card. The Frank Torre card at the top comes from that lot and more or less exemplifies the average condition of the lot. Trust me, some of the ones I received no doubt spent some time being attached to bike spokes.

Finally I took my wantlist to the monthly hotel card show and combed through my favorite dealer's vintage boxes and came up with about 60 more commons in really nice shape. He cut me a nice deal on a few stars as well. 

I spent last Sunday sorting what I had and making notes on cards that will need an eventual upgrade. I also looked closer at eBay and COMC to get an idea of what it will take for me to finish this thing off.

Here is a peek at some of what I have. This Luis Aparicio was part of the eBay lot. I so love the old Flying Sock logo. 

Frank Sullivan came in the lot, too. Soft corners and a bit scuffed. But this one is way down the upgrade list. Down far enough that I'll probably never do it.

Another Flying Sock guy, Jim Landis. This one came from the show. Nice card for the fifty cents or so that it cost.

Daryl Spencer sports a logo-enhanced cap. Topps modeled these on the old San Francisco Seals caps. Close but no cigar. This is another card show pickup.

Fianlly here is Hall of Famer early Wynn. I didn't intend for this to be a Sox-centric post but whatever. He came over from the Indians for 1958 as the cardback notes. And he had plenty of arm left. He won 49 games for Chicago between '58 and 1960 when his effectiveness diminished. 

Topps packed a lot of stuff on the reverse of these. Stats, cartoons, personal data and a blurb in most cases.

When the weekend was done I ended up with a total of 332 cards. That's roughly 2/3 of the 494 card set. I did have one surprise. I just know I have the Frank Robinson and Ted Williams cards from this set. But try as I might I couldn't come up with them. I'll keep digging. 

In addition to all the actual '58s I have I picked up some of Bob Lemke's customs including the 'missing' #145 Ed Bouchee. I'll post them soon.

I'm still debating whether of not I will have a dedicated '58 Topps blog. I'm waaaay behind on my 1960 blog. The idea of undertaking a new one is rather daunting. But nobody (that I have found) has blogged the set and I'd like to fill that gap. I'll try to come up with an idea for a simple way to do it.

Kicking Off 1958 (maybe)

I've been itching for a new baseball project since I finished off the 1960 set. The 1958 had been in the back of my mind for a long time. And I do mean a looong time. I don't think I've ever been to a card show without at least digging thru a box that contained these colorful gems. The first things I bought on eBay were small lots of '58 Topps back in 1996.

This set has some sentimental value to me. I've mentioned before that these were the first cards I remember seeing. I was living out on Long Island and a girl in my neighborhood had some. I don't think I ever got my hands on any but by 1959 I was a collector, or at least an owner, of Topps cards.

I'm still not fully committed to chasing this set. I have the All-Star subset, the Orioles, a few dozen commons and some stars so I wouldn't starting from scratch. But a vintage set is a big commitment in time, patience and most of all, cash. I'll wait and see how I feel over the next month of so and I'm going to check into the availability of inexpensive star cards at the next hotel show I hit up.

Meanwhile I nabbed a few (sort of a sampler pack) out of a vintage bargain bin at the last hotel show. With my 'frequent buyer' discount they cost me about sixty cents each. The Andy Pafko and Charlie Lau cards were two of the better conditioned ones I found. I also grabbed a couple of Giants because I always am attracted by the lousy art skills of the Topps Art Department. Ruben Gomez got a logo penned in the form of the old San Francisco Seals cap logo. Topps usually went the route of copying defunct minor league logos for teams that had moved. The Orioles in the 1954 set had caps (and unis) drawn in that mimicked the old International League Orioles gear.

Check out Bob Speake's cap. Looks like it took all of thirty seconds work to make that NY Giants' cap into a San Francisco one.

Here is a close-up.

Del Crandall, Smoky Burgess, Charlie Maxwell and Billy Hoeft are all welcome additions to my vintage collection even if I don't collect the set.

I'd always assumed that Harry Simpson got his 'Suitcase Simpson' nickname by being traded around so much. Not so. i discovered my error when reading about him for my 1959 blog. I'll let Wikipedia tell it:

That his nickname of "Suitcase" came from his being frequently traded during his playing career is a common misconception. According to the 1951 Cleveland Indians Sketch Book, he was called "Suitcase" by sportswriters after the Toonerville Trolley character, Suitcase Simpson, because of his size 13 shoe with feet as large as suitcases. This is years before his many trades. His real nickname was "Goody", which came from his willingness to run errands and help neighbors in his hometown of Dalton, Georgia.

I picked up the Esposito and Lollar cards because I'm partial to the wonderful 'Flying Sock' logo. And Camilio Pascual has became a favorite of mine when I witnessed him being wrapped in a Cuban flag by on-the-field interlopers at Yankee Stadium in 1963. 

Over the next few months I'll make up my mind about taking this thing on. One thing I am sure of is that collecting the '58 set won't translate into a '58 Topps blog. It's hard enough for me to find time to post to this one. And my poor ol' 1960 set blog is way behind. 

I guess I collect Frank Thomas (the old one)

I picked up this '58 card of 50's/60's slugger Frank Thomas a couple of weeks ago for a handful of change. I've debated collecting the '58 set for the longest time. Back when I first joined eBay I began finding and buying random cards '58s. I have noted before that this is the first set I remember seeing as a kid.

It's garish and has too many head shots for sure. Despite it's flaws it holds a great deal of appeal for me. I can't see myself collecting and blogging another vintage set any time soon, but who knows?

But back to Big Frank. His 1960 card was on my 1960 Topps blog in May. I wrote a long post about his when I featured his card on my 1959 Topps blog. You can read that post by clicking here. But here are the highlights if you'd rather not click thru here are a couple of notes of interest:

-He was traded by the Phillies to Houston in 1965 for starting a fight with teammate Dick Allen on the field. Now considering that Thomas supposedly earned his nickname because of his lousy people skills a fight with the charisma impaired Dick Allen was probably a hot wager in the Phillie clubhouse.

-Bill James's win shares (of which I am clueless), sez he was the worst fielding third baseman ever among those among the top 300 in innings played at third.

I never cared much for the abbreviated stat format on the backs of some Topps issues but it does leave room for a lot of other issues and some classic cartoon art.

Not a bad card for fifty cents. 

1958 Billy Pierce Yellow Letter team name variation aka "I hate slabbed cards"

I mean what's the point of having had this card graded? I'm sure I'm missing something here. It's a decent card, not torn up or showing any evidence of having been abused but it's obviously not pristine. Yet someone paid (what does PSA charge?) to have it graded and stuck in a plastic tomb.

All of which is fine but those damn slabs are so hard to open. I understand that's how it must be to prevent fraud but I sure hate having to risk actually damaging the card to put it in my Pierce binder.

Sorry for the rant but using a pair of pliers to crack the slab caused me to crimp the upper right hand corner. Now this card, one I've been patiently chasing for a long time, has some fresh damage. 

But I've got it. The team name variations are not as coveted as the yellow player name versions but I didn't pay much of a premium for it and it helps flesh out my Pierce collection.

1958 Topps Sport Magazine All Stars, American League edition

I finally finished off the AL All Star subset by 'finding' Luis Aparicio. He'd been MIA for a week or so but he turned himself in on Monday night.

There are ten players in each league's set of All Stars so I scanned the position players and then the two pitchers. They'd have looked better presented in 'nine pocket sheet' style but whatcha going to do?

First the manager, the Ol' Perfessor (and his NL friend, Fred Haney)

And the players:

And finally, the pitchers:

My favorite is the Mickey Mantle but I sure like the Jackie Jensen card as well. The Mantle was a card I worked very hard to get, bidding on many of them before I hit on one at a decent price in a condition I could live with. Jensen was a guy I casually collected but didn't know a lot about until I dug into his backstory. I touched on it briefly on my '59 Topps blog.

Tomorrow I'll show the National League All Stars.

1958 Topps Willie Mays All Star

This is the next to the last '58 All Star card I needed to finish off the subset. It is one of the more affordable vintage Mays cards around and if you are not particular about condition you can score one very cheap.

Again, the back is fun to browse. Except for the Pirates Mays knocked around everyone in the NL in 1957. He had seven extra base hits against the Bucs and the Phils but was in double digits against everyone else.

Isn't that a neat write-up as well?

1958 Topps All Star Subset

One of my collecting goals is to complete the 1958 Topps All Star subset. I'm not too far from it now. I just love this group of cards, much more than the base '58 set. I picked up the Mickey Mantle card a few years back so the last of the higher dollar cards of this group that I lack is the Willie Mays. But it's not outrageous so I'll nab one at my price one of these days.

Meanwhile here are my latest four additions. They came via a fair sized COMC purchase recently. Maybe the reason I like these so much is the stat laden back of each. It gives the players 1957 numbers versus each opposing team. That sort of thing used to keep my occupied for hours as a kid. Look at Eddie Mathews' stats against the Cubs. He crushed them for a .408 average on 31 hits. He killed the Dodgers, Pirates and Giants as well.

The 'big head' portraits like Mathews and Johnny Temple are OK, but the Spahn is the star of this group. Heck any card of Spahn is the star of a group. He's all nose and hat brim and angles.

Spahn only pitched two thirds of an inning versus the Dodgers in 1957. Made me curious enough to check his Gamelog for that year. It doesn't look like he skipped any starts for avoid Brooklyn (Spahn wouldn't do that). Turns out he pitched that brief turn in relief and picked up a save versus the Bums. It was his third and final save of the '57 season. 

The All Star Managers card is surely a picture taken at the '57 World Series.

The back of the managers card is a checklist of the final thirty something base cards and the All Stars.

When I first discovered eBay in the late 90s the first things I went afetr were small lots of 1958 Topps commons. I had aspirations of putting the set together back then. I quickly decided that I had better things to do but out of that came this desire to finish off the All Stars. A year from now I'll be done.