Campy, 1956 Topps Style

EDIT: I'm not sure what happened to this post. It reverted back to draft form and much of it was lost. Anyway I am posting it again after rewriting what I recall of what was here before. Blogger hasn't been kind to me lately.

In my neverending quest to acquire cards I don't really need but really want I bought this 1956 Topps Roy Campanella when it was put up for sale by a Net54 member. I previously had no other career era Campy's and, as with Jackie Robinson, I wanted to rectify that. The closest was my 1959 Symbol of Courage card that Topps included in their high numbers that year.

I don't have to tell any card hobbyists how wonderful the 1956 Topps set is. It's almost universally beloved as one of the iconic vintage card designs. Campy's card is a great example.  The front, in addition to the portrait, shows Campy slinding into home. Odds are the opposing catcher is Yogi Berra. But a Getty Image search of the two Hall of Famers didn't turn up anything that might be a match as the original. It could also be the New York Giants catcher Ray Katt who wore #8 in the 50s. Then again we all know that Topps' artists sometimes snagged a photo and painted it as  someone else. (Sliding Willie Mays sez 'Hi!')

Some Campy notes:

• He made the All Star team in 8 of his 10 seasons in the majors. He missed out in his first and last years.
• He began playing for the Baltimore Elite Giants in 1939 as a 15 year old and was the regular catcher at 16.
• He was taken to Glen Cove Hospital on Lomg Island following his accident in January of 1958. My sister had been born there just a month eariler. My brothers were born at GCH in '59 and '61. 

 Here is his NY Times obituary.

A Pair of Billy Pierce somethings and a WTH?

First up is what was described to me as a White Sox blank season ticket. I'm not sure what that means exactly but it just appears to be a game ticket that hadn't yet been printed with the game info. Hey, if I can add an oddball Pierce item for 99 cents, I'm all over it.

Next is one of the umpteen different re-packaged versions of the 1956 Topps Pierce card. This one masquerades as a 2002 Heritage certified autograph card. My scanner likes to delete the white borders on Topps cards and I didn't feel it was worth re-scanning this so here it is in all it's shrunken glory.

Topps has milked this image, and the 1952, for all they are worth. Sparkly ones, shiny ones signed ones, ones with stamped gold logos on the front, ones with hologram stickers on the back. This shit makes me dizzy. I don't have a 'want list' for the repackaged pierce cards. I just keep track of what I have and pick up some I lack if I stumble across something. I don't even bother with all the 'modern' cards of my other lefty pitcher collecting subject, Sandy Koufax. It seems to me that Topps put a Koufax card into every pack of every one of their cards and sub-brands that I opened.

And finally here's one I DO NOT have, but I thought you may enjoy checking it out. You'll need to click the picture to appreciate it. The listing is for a "1957 Billy Pierce Tampon Case; ID Cash Condoms Coins". 

Better yet, check out the actual listing. And the same seller has a flask for sale that features the same image! So, a flask and a condom holder. Not sure why he doesn't combine the two and list it as a Saturday Night Billy Pierce Party Pack.

Please write your own joke and leave it in the comments. Thanks.

Two of my favorite Jackie Jensen cards

Along with the Jackie Jensen and Bob Friend 1958 All Star cards I posted last week I also picked up this '56 Jensen card.

No need for me to sing the praises of the 1956 Topps set. I don't know anyone who doesn't appreciate it. As much as I like the fronts with the two photos it's the three cartoons on the back that make this one so much fun. 

Here is a closer look at the cartoons on the back of the Jensen.

In 1956 Jensen had a line of 20-97-.317 and led the league with 11 triples. It was his best batting average but the only season he had fewer than 100 RBI from 1954 through 1959. 

Below is the 1961 Topps Jensen MVP card. That year Topps had a subset that featured the MVPs from the decade of the 50s. It's a pretty neat group of cards and I have a couple but I'm calling a halt to adding any new 'mini collection pursuits' until I finish off the ones I'm chasing now. 

In 1961 Jensen was making a 'comeback' after having 'retired' prior to the 1960 season. He won back his place as the Red Sox' regular rightfielder but his numbers, while respectable, were way off his previous standard and he hung up his glove for good after that final year.  

'51 Bowman and '56 Topps Billy Pierce

I guess I'll just declare this Billy Pierce Week and post some of my better Pierce cards today and Thursday. My fantasy football draft is Wednesday night and after that I'll be consumed with finding cards of my team.

First up, the '56 Topps. The background shots on this set are one of the most interesting things about them. This card has Pierce breaking out of the batter's box and heading to first, presumably after laying down a bunt. 

The nice portrait of the smiling Pierce and the three cartoons on the reverse are bonuses. This one is my second copy. I picked it up recently to replace one I've had that was pretty beaten up. I don't upgrade many PC cards but I like this one so much, and this copy was so cheap for the condition, that I went ahead with it.

Is there such a thing as a lousy Bowman card? I don't think so. That's Comiskey Field behind our boy on the '51. You can tell by the 'windows'.

The back of the card write-up is pretty cut and dry. Just that facts of Pierce's career are here. But the front of the card overcomes any issues with the back.

Here are a few shots of old Comiskey with the distinctive 'windows visible...

I'm down to a couple of Pierce's cards in my scanned cards folder. They are my autographed ones. Stay tuned and wish me luck in my draft!

2001 Topps Team Legends Autographed

I have a decent Aparicio collection. I can't remember if I bought this or won it in a box break a few years ago when I was participating in that sort of thing.

Either way it's kind of a neat card. Luis has that chaw going on. Either that or he is having some swollen jaw problems. Is there anyone out there that doesn't like the 1956 design?

1956 Harvey Haddix

Here is the 1956 Harvey Haddix I managed to score in a contest run by Napkin Doon a week or so ago. It was called the 'Big Fun' contest and the idea was that the participants were allowed to choose an unseen prize. The following participants in turn could 'steal' a previously revealed prize or chose another unseen one. It was a lot like the Christmas gift exchange idea my sister-in-law railroaded down everyone's throat about ten years ago.

Having drawn the #10 slot I was able to check out nearly the entire 'field' of prizes and when the Haddix card was revealed I zeroed in on it. Then when I took it I had to sweat out one or two other picks by guys who had had their prize 'stolen'. It was big fun. Almost as much fun as seeing most of my extended family pouting about losing a waffle maker to Uncle Ralph in 2007.

The Haddix card is graded and in a case (which is why it's not as 'sharp in the scan as it really is) but I'll be freeing it here before too long. Cardboard needs to breathe, dammit!

BTW, one of the guys who was kicked behind me because of losing his prize was able to pick up a 1962 Frank Robinson All Star card. If that one had been available when I chose I'd have been in a serious quandary. The '62 Robby is quite a cool card. But I love my Haddix. Look at that grin.

'56 Topps Pee Wee Reese

I've started adding some '56s to my collection. Nothing special, mostly commons in f/g condition. Saying I like the set is like saying I like ice cream, hell everyone does. I also have a vague goal of completing a Hall of Fame collection. I'll never finish it unless I hit the Powerball lotto. Years ago I got started by picking up some of those 1961 Fleer All Time Great cards of some of the real old timers, guys like Grover Cleveland Alexander and Hughie Jennings. Guys I figured I'd never get a 'real' card of.

But as time has gone by I've been able to afford 'real' cards of Babe Ruth, John McGraw, Frank Chance, Chief Bender and several others. So I am again going to pursue Hall of Famers. When I came across this Pee Wee Reese in an online auction I saw a chance to get a '56 and add a H-o-F player whose card I lacked. I'm sorta, kinda, in a way a half-ass Dodger fan (mostly because of my long standing Sandy Koufax man-crush and the fact I once lived in Brooklyn) so the '56 Reese had special appeal. Plus, he's finishing off a dp in the background pic. Nice.

The price was right and the card looked pretty nice so I grabbed it. I scanned it before I pried it out of the PSA grade slab so the scan isn't as sharp as the card looks in hand. But you get the idea.

And I learned something in the process. According to the cartoon on the back Harold Henry Reese got his nickname by winning the national Pee Wee Marbles Tournament as a kid. I'd bet there isn't a kid in America that has any idea what a marble was used for back in the day.

1956 Koufax, finally!

Funny thing about this card. I put together my Koufax collection back in the early 80s before I got out of collecting about 1990 or so. At some point after that I guess I convinced myself  that I had all of his cards. I know i thought that for years and when I began going to cards shows again a few years ago I never had any Koufax cards on my want lists.
Turns out I was wrong. When my kids moved out to go to college I reclaimed my 'office'. Back before we had three kids that room had been one of our back bedrooms and lined with shelves full of memorabilia and card binders. Then our family grew and my collection was boxed and stored. That is until I took back the room and unpacked many of my boxes. Going through my 'stuff' I made a discovery.
Not only was I missing two Koufax cards, one of them was the '56 Topps which had been one of my favorites. So a couple of years ago I decided that if I found a reasonable card at a reasonable price I'd grab it. I've had it on the back burner for quite some time. And last week, inspired perhaps by adding the long sought '58 Mantle All Star, I found one.
At $56 I couldn't pass it up. It's much nicer than others that were going in that range and higher. It's in a graded slab (and I have not yet attempted to free it, but I will) so the scan doesn't really show it off like it should. The bottom right corner is kind of soft and there is a surface crease but the card is bright and clear. There are comparable ones on eBay now going for twice what I paid.
I'm pretty happy with it. Now I will try to find my other missing Koufax, the '63 'Dodger's Big Three' special he shares with Don Drysdale and Johnny Podres.
My '55, his rookie card, is in pretty poor shape but I doubt I'd ever spend what it would take to upgrade it. Besides, truth be told, I like the '56 more. Koufax bears a striking resemblance to my late father in it. And even now, at 73 or so, he and my Dad could have been brothers.