Project 2020 Jackie R.

 

In honor of Presidents Day I'm posting a card I've had on my desk for a month or two. I didn't follow the Topps Project 2020 thing very closely but I'm somehow back on their mailing list and this one caught my eye. I love that it's not the same old pose of Jack Roosevelt Robinson and besides that, it's pretty sharp. I didn't notice that there is some sort of 'gem' embedded in the thing to the left of the name box. I guess it makes sense given the card was designed by someone named Ben Baller who is, among other things according to the blurb on the back, a 'world-renowned jeweler'.  

It sat on my desk because anything in a case is a pain to scan and I don't like posting phone pix, but here we are. I'm hunkered down in Houston awaiting tonight's record low temp and feeling lucky that our power is still on. Figured I'd put my time to good use.

I've also been meaning to mention that, from the looks of the comments on my 'Paid Too Much' post, I'm not alone in being dismayed/bemused/confused by the state of the hobby right now. And if you don't think the hobby is wacky, check this out at the Heritage Auction site. Apparently, for the low price of $35K (!!!) you can own a piece of a video replay of a basketball two pointer. I'll be damned if I can make sense of the whole thing but there it is. And heritage is no fly-by-night outfit. They are a big player in the memorabilia business.

 

 

Jackie Robinson Day

Today is the anniversary of Jackie Robinson's big league debut in 1947. Under normal circumstances, the majors would be awash with players wearing #42 as a tribute to his courage.

I only have a couple of vintage Jackie cards, so I figured today would be a good day to show my favorite again.

I hope all of you are staying smart and healthy.  And here's to Jackie Robinson. May we all possess his courage in trying times.

A Graded Jackie Robinson

This is the third of three graded vintage cards I acquired in a fit of spending frittering away my kids' inheritance over the last few weeks. And among the cards I own this one jumps up near the top of my list of favorites. This '55 Topps Jackie Robinson has rounded corners but it's all in one piece and the colors are still nice so it'll do just fine for me.

I've wanted to add a career-era card of this iconic player for a while. I'm not sure what kept me from picking one up other than always having other projects occupying my attention. This time I used an eBay coupon code to land something not for a set or player collection, but just because I felt I should have it.

There are more popular JR cards out there. Obviously, the 1949 Leaf would qualify. And for my money, his 1956 Topps is more attractive. But this fit my budget and I do like the '55 design quite a bit. 

One thing I noted on the back of the card was that in the write-up Topps referred to the Dodgers as 'the Brooks'. I lived in Brooklyn when I was very young, spent many summers there at my grandparents' house and knew plenty of older relatives that had been Dodger fans during their time back east and I've never seen or heard that particular reference before.

It's also interesting that Topps was detail-oriented enough to list Jackie's height as 5' 11 3/4". 

And so ends my trio of postwar graded acquisitions. I have a few other cards from the 50s that I picked up within the last few months and I'll get them scanned and posted. I also have some Charles Bender cards and some 1962 Topps stars I'll post. I don't think I'll take on a '62-specific blog anytime soon (I'm too far behind with my '58 and '60 set blogs) so the better 1962 cards will show up here.