Showing posts with label collecting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label collecting. Show all posts

22 July 2014

Mickey Vernon 1952 Bowman Original vs Reprint

This is a story about an original card and its reprint, or its reprint and then the original. I suppose I should start with the reprint which was the version I first got from Ebay or maybe Sportlots a few years back. I'm not sure exactly how much I paid for it, as I often get it confused with another reprint I had purchased around the same time (Actually that other "reprint" I am afraid is actually a counterfeit that was artificially "aged" to appear to be an original. I have blogged about on my regular blog "Love/Hate Reprints")

Anyway I'm not sure exactly when I got it or how much I paid. I seem to think I got it for under $10, maybe a little more with shipping. Like the other "reprint" I might have gotten it from Sportlots maybe even from the same seller. I don't recall it was that long ago, and I don't think I blogged about it at TCC (where I have kept track of my maildays for a long time now and more recently duplicating it at TCZ)

Reprint of 1952 Bowman 87 Mickey Vernon Senators
(Front and Back)

The two pictures above are of my reprint you can tell it is a reprint because the cardboard stock used is much thinner than the stock used for the actual '52 cards and the fact that it is bleached bone white rather than unbleached cardboard gray. Notice also the perforation marks on the bottom and right-hand side indicating that it came from some booklet or sheet.

Yes this card came from a book of reprints. It is from a 1982 Dover Books book of 82 "Collector's Cards" reprints by Bert Randolph Sugar titled "American League Baseball Card Classics" there was a sister book for the National League, and I think an "All-Stars" book as well. The individual card I got was from the AL book. I recall seeing these books back in the day at bookstores like Waldenbooks.

1982 Dover Books American League Baseball Card Classics
(Front and Back Covers)

Here is what the page the Mickey Vernon card came from looks like: Notice it is the upper corner card.


When I first got the card I wasn't sure exactly where it came from, I had to do some research. I did that research a few years back, and fortunately had put a little piece of paper in the penny sleeve I have kept this card in giving me the tip that it was a Dover Reprint. I originally had thought it was 1983, but upon finding some recent auctions for the complete book it appears to be from 1982.

Images of the "American League Baseball Card Classics" book (and the page with the Mickey Vernon card) are from an Ebay Auction that is/was going for $10 I forget what the shipping is. I don't actually have this book yet. I'm toying with the idea of getting it, and the NL sister book.

A few years later I finally got around to buying the Original of the card to satisfy my desire to have the Original and not just the dang reprint. In a bit of ironic fate I am fairly certain that for this original I paid about half or even less than half of what I paid for the reprint. I figures and is typical in today's world of card collecting. Of course after I got the original I had forgotten where I had the reprint. That is part of my delay in actually posting about this card and the two versions I have of it besides just being dang lazy and a PFC (Procrastinator First Class). As it turns out I had it in a box of some of my first couple hundred Washington Nationals cards I had gotten in 2005 - 2007 much to my relief as there were some other cards in that box I was wondering where they had gone to.

1952 Bowman 87 Mickey Vernon Senators ORIGINAL
(Front and Back)
Ah the joy of owning the original of a 62 year old piece of cardboard instead of just a 32 year old copy. Notice the back of the Original is the darker aged gray plain cardboard and on the front of my original Mickey's left hand and his right forearm up to around his right elbow shows a lot of ware. It is hard to tell from the scans, but the original artwork has better detail and quality than the reprint.

30 March 2014

Strive For '65: Senators Team Set


I'm not sure which card blogger coined the phrase "Joy of a Complete Set" I seem to think it was Doug The Night Owl. I could be wrong I often am. Anyway I have reached some joy. I am there with the 1965 Topps Baseball Senators Team set. So I am celebrating the "Joy of a Complete TEAM Set" (almost 50 years later).

OK so here is the Complete 1965 Topps Baseball Senators Team Set:

021 Don Blasingame
038 Jim King
056 Ron Kline
086 Les "Buster" Narum
099 Gil Hodges MGR
129 Bernnie Daniels
148 Willie Kirkland
152 Phil Ortega
181 Senators Rookies: Don Loun, Joe McCabe RC

211 Steve Ridzik
224 Bob Chance
233 Don Zimmer
252 Pete Richert
267 Senators Team Card
284 Nick Willhite
304 Dave Stenhouse
319 Ken McMullen
336 Woodie Held

371 Frank Kreutzer
394 Jim Hannan
417 Ed Brinkman
445 Don Lock
466 Senators Rookies: Pete Craig,  Dick Nen RC
496 Joe Cunningham
523 Mike Brumley SP
574 Roy Sievers

As you can see I scanned them the hard way (the way I usually do), individually not in the plastic sheets. I didn't put them in the sheet pages yet when I scanned them, because I put them in with the rest of the set.

When I was first composing this post I had just technically "completed" the team set, but needed to upgrade one of the cards. The first copy of card 21 Don Blasingame I got is in a very low grade (condition I should say since they are all ungraded raw, UGH modern collecting terminology minutia) due to some paper debris on the back from when the card was glued onto a piece of paper in a notebook or binder of some kind.

The Front isn't too hot either there is some scuffing on his hat in the top right corner. Looks like he is growing moss on his hat.
Here is what Don's backside looks like.

As you saw with the above team set pics I got an upgrade to the Blasingame card.
1965 Topps Baseball 21 Don Blasingame Senators
(Front and back)
Ah Much better. This one came courtesy of my LCS for $2. It isn't perfect but it is much better and acceptable, where that other one was just not. I got it (the upgrade) along with a bunch of other stuff I will eventually blog here about hopefully soon. I won't blog about the supplies I got that would be just plain boring and supplies are not Curly W stuff.

I still need to finish the full 1965 Topps Baseball set. As of this writing I have 157 of 598 (599) cards for the full flagship set. I have a separate binder for my SF'65 (or S4'65) set build. That is an improvement over having them all over the place in a couple of boxes and loose card piles laying wherever. I have left space in the pages for the missing cards to file into place when I get them. Many times for many sets I don't do that until the set is well over 50-75% done, since sometimes it takes years and years for me to even get back to actively building ancient sets. At least I only do one card per pocket, haven't done the two per pocket since the late '80s.

Sadly there are no "Joy of a complete page" milestones yet. The closest is a page that has 7 cards in it. Two more to go Woo Who! (#s 37 & 41). Sadly there are also 4 completely empty sheets/pages, and many many pages with just one maybe two cards in them. I don't think I am any closer to finishing any of the other teams just yet. Those will not be mentioned on this blog though, you got to go to my other blog for that if I notice those milestones.

So far all the set additions have been through purchases no RACs yet.. Still waiting on some cards I had bought from a guy on one of the card forums. I had to send him a money order he doesn't Paypal. I think I overpaid only four common cards (Damn Yankees) for $25 delivered.

26 January 2014

Strive for '65


On my regular blog I posted a special goal I call "Strive for '65" to complete my 1965 Topps set build by next April the 50th Anniversary of the set and also my 50th birthday (yeah I don't like to talk about my birthday much)


Hopefully before then I can finish up the Senators Team set from that year. If I don't I'll be pretty sad.


Lets see here is what I need for the Senators set, just 15 11 9 1 to go of the 26 Senators from that year:

Technically I have all of them but my Don Blasingame #21 has paper glued to the back. At one point it was glued into a binder or notebook of some kind. I need an upgraded copy with a readable back.

021 Don Blasingame (just got it but need desperate upgrade)
099 Gil Hodges MGR
148 Willie Kirkland
152 Phil Ortega
211 Steve Ridzik
224 Bob Chance
252 Pete Richert
284 Nick Willhite
304 Dave Stenhouse
319 Ken McMullen
336 Woodie Held
371 Frank Kreutzer
466 Senators Rookies: Pete Craig,  Dick Nen RC
496 Joe Cunningham
523 Mike Brumley SP

Updated: 11 Mar 2014

11 December 2013

Curly W Team Sets Project

Man oh man oh man. I really gotta get off my duff on this project (and a bunch of other projects in my life). Just about every team card collector at some point needs a complete listing of the cards they need to complete a team set. I'm looking for the basic base sets here, not necessarily the master sets. I'll cross those bridges when I get to them.

Of course the much older vintage team sets will be very difficult if not impossible to get, but I think a reasonable goal would be to at least get all the team sets from 1950 to 1971 for the Senators and for the Nationals 2005 and up. The main goal will be the flagship Topps, and Bowman sets when applicable. For the Nats I'm not sure about trying Upper Deck and Panini or whoever else has been in the game these last few years. Of course I will try getting Senators cards from before 1950 but I doubt I will be able to complete too many of those earlier sets.

I am working on a "Page" for my team set needs. On that page I am listing the sets by year with a tally of the cards I have from that set (ex. 10/12). My first few posts will be general decades, and then as I complete sets or get closer to completion I will post about them individually. My 1950s Team Sets List Post is almost ready to go.

1959 Topps 397 Washington Senators Team Card 

One of my sources for compiling these lists is The Trading Card Database. It isn't completely flawless, but it thankfully helped me with a big portion of the listing.