52 (Bowman) Pickup: Richie Ashburn

I am having so much fun building a 1952 Bowman set.  Each week I take my gift certificate to Cleve's (courtesy the Lovely Wife) and each week he pulls out a box with '52 Bowman, and each week I pick a couple more out.  I'm still barely 10% into the set, but it feels like I've got great momentum. 

I think that's because I've been getting stars rather than commons mostly.  This week's card is one I'm really excited about, Richie Ashburn:

Other than a little, slightly perceptible smudging in the upper right corner, this card is in great shape.  

The Elation Of A Filled Up Sampler Album Page: 1952 Topps

I was certain this would be the last page I would complete in my Sampler Album, as even the commons can be pricey.  But I had 7 of 8 slots filled (because they are slightly larger cards, I have to use 8 pocket pages rather than 9) I decided to finish off the page last week at Cleve's with this Wally Post card:

Yes, my scanner sucks, and no this card isn't mis-cut.  Just trust me it's a sweet card.  And the page is sweet now also:

 

And here are the backs just for kicks:

So, no, not a lot of huge names, but I am proud of the Doby, Bauer and Post cards.  I imagine I'll upgrade a few of these to bigger names at some point, like probably Mantle, but for now it's good with me.

 

1952 Bowman Project: Casey Stengel

Not only did the Lovely Wife give me a supremely nice couple of cards to kick off my 1952 Bowman project for Christmas, she also gave me a sizeable gift card to Cleve's.  What a woman!

I decided to start whittling away at the gift card, and my 1952 set this week and bought another great card:

This Casey Stengel card is magnificent! In fact,  I might take this card out of the holder and make a hi res scan of it that I can print out 8x10 size and frame.  I might do the same with the Bob Feller  & Duke Snider cards my wife bought.  Those would look awesome in a frame on the wall wouldn't they?

So my 1952 Bowman project is off to a very strong start.  If I can find a nice lot of commons that are in good shape (so far all of my cards have been what I think are EX+ condition so I'll stay on that path), then I'm set!

Three Cheers For The Lovely Wife!

I assume you guys don't want to listen to me carry on about how much I love my wife, so I won't go on and on, other to say: I definitely got a good one with her.

Not only is she my best friend, she is the heart and soul of our family, the smartest person I know, and most importantly, she is scorching hot. 

She also got me two of the most awesome 1952 Bowman cards in the set from Cleve's for Christmas:

When I opened this Christmas morning and sat there stunned and slack jawed, she said, "I hope I got the right ones.  Cleve showed me the 1952 Bowman cards he had and I remembered you mentioning Bob Feller.  Is that one ok?"

Is that one ok?  Um, yes just a bit.

Under the Feller was this:

My eyes bugged out of my head and she continued, "Cleve said you could exchange these if you want something else."

Yeah, no I am not returning Bob Feller and/or Duke Snider.  Even IF I weren't building this set and needed all the cards, there is NO WAY I would trade these two for something else.

What I also enjoy about these cards is picturing her visit to Cleve's to make these purchases.  I would love to have been a fly on the wall for that visit.  

Setting a 2014 Resolution Early

Me:  Hon, I need to talk to you about something... It's important.

Lovely Wife (with a concerned look):  What's wrong?  You ok?

Me:  Sure everything is great, I've just been thinking about making a New Year's resolution and I'm ready to commit to it.  I just want to get your buy-in and support.

Lovely Wife (Takes My Hand):  Of course!  I'll always support you!  What do you want to do?

Me:  Well, I've given this some thought, and, really, it's more of like a 10 year thing I'll work on.  It will take some time...

Lovely Wife:  Sure, it's great to have a long term goal...

Me:  Yeah, so here it is:  I want to build a 1952 Bowman Set.

Lovely Wife:  (Blank Stare)

Me:  I know it sounds like a big deal, but if I stretch it out over 10 years I can do it.  The Mantle card will be tough, but I know we can do it if we work as a family.

Lovely Wife:  (Blank Stare)


I think it was a lot to process, and she may just be overwhelmed with excitement and not sure what to say yet.  But here in the Doon household, 2014 will be the year of 1952 Bowman.  It's a relatively small set at 252 cards, no crazy short prints that I know of, and it has some big time cards that will be awesome to own.  I see these often at Cleve's and they seem readily available online at decent prices.

I have a couple already (Mickey Grasso and George Kell) and just picked up a couple more.  Now I have 4 of the 252!

They are really gorgeous cards too:

 Stan Musial said Raffensberger was the toughest left hander he ever faced.

Auburn (booo!!!!) baseball's Hitchcock Field is named after Billy and his brother.  I don't like Auburn.

I'm excited about this project and I hope it helps me stay disciplined with retail wax purchases in 2014.  It will be fun to share my progress!

Small Business Saturday At Cleve's

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday!  It was nice to get away from work and be totally worthless on my in-laws couch for a few days.  Like many of you, I participated a little in some online Black Friday card deals (COMC.com was my choice of websites), but I also made sure to do my heavy card shopping at Cleve's Collectibles (my LCS) and support my favorite source of cards.

I took my sampler album to the shop today and had Cleve help me fill in some gaps.  I'm very pleased with what I picked up:

1951 Red Backs Page:

I definately should start with this Bob Feller card.  I don't have Fellers in my Sampler Album yet, so I was very interested in buying this card, even with a crease in it.  I also only have one 1951 Topps card and the page looks really empty.  I asked Cleve what he wanted for the Feller.  He looked at it for a moment and said, "No, this is your Christmas present."   Those of you who read this blog will not find that act of generosity from Cleve surprising in the least.  I don't even know what to say anymore other than, "wow!"

With the Feller already gifted to me, I insisted on paying for another 1951 card.  This Duke Snider is a beauty, and now my 1951 page has 3 cards instead of one.

1954 Page:

I absolutely love this card!  Mathews is an all time great, and this card is in fantastic shape.  No creases, the corners are good, and the color is sharp.  This card on it's own would have made the day a success.

I also picked up three more 1954s and completed the page.  I'm really sorry about the crop job on the above image.  Since the 1954 page is done, I'll be putting up a post about it soon.  It's a really good page, and I'm anxious to show it in full.

1955 Page:

My 1955 page is also light, but I picked up 2 more solid cards to get it closer to completion.  Hodges is better than solid I should say.

 I have 6 of 8 slots filled on my 1955 page, but I have a handful of graded 1955 cards in a box.  I'll probably free two of them from their shells and be done with it.  Anyone have good tips for breaking out cards from graded cases?

Finally, Cleve didn't let me leave without one more gift.  This is a playing card of Honus Wagner from the mid 1950s from a company called Brown and Bigelow.  I don't know anything about these other than it's a cool oddball card and the artwork is beautiful.   What can I say?  Thanks again to Cleve for being such a generous man!  

The Elation Of A Filled Up Sampler Album Sheet: 1957 Topps

I recently completed the 1957 page of my Sampler Album thanks to a handful of cards I bought at Cleve's.  So here's the page is in all it's non-descript glory:

Lots to like about this page, and a few things I will be able to upgrade and tweak at some point.

First, all the players on this page a solid to very good.  Hall of Famers and near Hall of Famers.  A good variety of pitchers and hitters, a couple of Bums and Yanks.  I'm pretty sure I like the design of the set too.  Clean, classic and understated.  At some point I'll want to upgrade the Richardson rookie.  It has a small stain on the back and a crease down the middle.  But for now, this is a super page for the Sampler Album.

Sampler Album Additions: 1956 and 1957 Cards

You know what it is that I find so satisfying about my sampler album?  It's the feeling that when I'm working on it, I'm engaged in a true hobby.  So much of the time when I'm buying cards, I feel like I'm just accumulating with no end purpose other than to just have a bunch of cards.   Don't get me wrong, there's something to be said for accumulating, and I'm not poo-pooing that aspect of this hobby, and I won't stop that aspect of the hobby.  Maybe it's time for me to re-visit my "food pyramid" analogy and see if it still holds water for me (coincidentally, I wrote that post 2 years ago yesterday!).

The sampler album feels like a project that, while it will never be truly complete, I can monitor progress like I'm building a set, but there is flexibility and a bit of the unknown in it's future, kind of like busting wax.

Anyway, enough blathering.  Here are a few cards I picked up for the album the other day at Cleve's:

 This Bobby Richardson rookie card is stained on the back, and has a hairline crease running vertically through the middle of it.  Still, it's a nice rookie card to add, and Cleve gave me a good deal on it and the other '57s below.

 The other two 1957's I added were strong too, especially the Kaline.  My 1957 page is complete now!

I guess it was Yankee day at Cleve's, because I also picked up this 1956 Don Larsen.   My 1956 page was already full, so I was able to change out one of the commons for this guy.

Sampler Album Addition: 1952 Topps Larry Doby

It has been a few weeks since I've been to Cleve's Collectibles.  I'm usually good for at least one trip a week, but I was in Madison, WI for a week two weeks ago, and we recently lost a few people at work so I've been up against it covering two additional jobs on top of mine.

But I had some time Saturday and swung by for a visit.  Apparently Extreme Home Makeover had made a stop at Cleve's too.  The shop has been completely re-done inside and out.  I was in too much shock to take pictures, but I'm planning to do so on my next trip and will show a before and after story.   It was impressive, and it's already resulting in more foot traffic- a great thing to see in this hobby.

I was looking through some of the display cases and my attention was caught by a beautiful 1952 Topps Larry Doby card.  I thought it would make a great addition to my Sampler Album.  My 1952 page is almost complete, and I'd like to finish it off with some "name" players.

Cleve took it out of the case and offered a great price for it.  And now it's mine!

The card is in great shape, with no creases or major flaws.   The color is good and the corners are only slightly rounded.  Great, great addition to my album!

More Sampler Album Additions

Yesterday, I showed off the 1952 additions to my Sampler Album.  But that wasn't all I picked up at Cleve's last Friday!  No sirree!

I got several other cards, and I shall show them post-haste!

My 1953 page is coming along very nicely.  Satchell Paige is the anchor card, but I like this one too.  Jensen was a fine player, who likely would have spent more time with his original team, the Yankees, except they had brought up a promising kid named Mantle and didn't have room for Jensen.

Jensen went on to have some success though, winning the MVP in 1958, a few RBI titles and making 3 All Star Teams. 

Ferris Fain is my Libertarian Hot Button Topic Player Of Note Addition.  Like Jensen, he had a very nice baseball career, winning 2 batting titles as well as being a 5 time All Star.   After his career, Fain became quite the marijuana grower, and spent 18 months in jail at taxpayers expense because of it.  I'm not going to get into the politics of this issue, and I have zero personal interest in marijuana, and have never smoked it and don't want to, but good grief how much money and resources are wasted putting these people in jail.... oh never mind.  He does look a little high in this pic though doesn't he?  He's thinking about Cheetos I'll bet.

I'm very proud of this Norm Cash addition to my 1961 page.  Cash was a very good player in his day, even though he admitted to using a corked bat one season (he even showed Sports Illustrated how he made the bat!).  What got my attention about Cash was a story about him coming to bat at the end of a game in which Nolan Ryan was throwing a no-hitter.  After striking out his first three at bats against Ryan,  Cash came to the plate in the 9th armed with a table leg instead of a bat.  When the ump told him he couldn't use it, he said, "Why not, I'm not going to hit him anyway."  Cash exchanged the table leg for a regulation bat and struck out on three pitches. "See, I told you," he said as he walked away.

Finally, I picked up 3 other strong cards for the album, but I won't bore you with stories about them:

Ok, so no story, but did you know Sievers was the first player to hit 300 home runs and not be elected to the Hall of Fame?

Jim Bouton- Ball Four author.

Zoilo was a very good player.  But his name is even cooler.

Finally, I added a card of Jim Kaat to my 1968 page.  I wonder if I could make the 1968 page an All Broadcaster page?  I've already got Tim McCarver.  I wonder if there are 7 other cards of players who became broadcasters in the 1968 set?

Sampler Album Additions: 1952 Topps

If I had one wish, it would be for all of the children of the world to join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and peace.  If I had a second wish, it would be for all you to have a “Cleve’s Collectibles” in your neighborhood.   I know there are bigger, more expansive card shops out there, but I also know a lot of places have terrible card shops or none at all.  But for me, Cleve’s is where it’s at, and I thoroughly enjoy hanging there, and if that makes me a big nerd, so be it.

I like looking over the weekly auction pieces, shooting the breeze, and learning about the hobby from Cleve’s vast experiences.  And I especially enjoy the times I am able to take my Sampler Album with me and fill in some of the holes.

 Anyone who reads my blog regularly knows that the goings on at Cleve’s  and my SamplerAlbum are two constant themes in my posts.    It’s pure hobby bliss when I am able to combine the two.
 
This past Friday, I was able to do just that.  I took off early from work and spent the afternoon at Cleve’s with my Sampler Album.  I told Cleve I wanted to work on a couple of pages, including my 1952 Topps page, and he brought out a couple of boxes for me to look through.

I found three interesting cards for 1952 that I wanted and Cleve gave me a great price on them.  They’re absolutely outstanding additions to my album:

Hank Bauer-  Yankees:  Bauer is the most decorated player of the three cards I picked up, winning 8 World Series Titles as a player and manager, as well as being a 3 time All Star.  He’s also one of the many heroes of that era who served our country in WWII, where he was seriously wounded.  One other cool accomplishment: Bauer has the longest World Series hit streak, at 17 games. 

 

Jim Delsing-  Browns:  Delsing isn’t decorated at all, but has this going for his legacy: he was the pinch runner for 3’7” Eddie Gaedel .  Here is a good write up on Gaedel if you are interested, but be warned, it’s a pretty sad story.

“Peanuts” Lowery- Cardinals:  Ok, the only reason I got this was because the guy’s name was “Peanuts.”   And it’s a good looking card.  Look at those rosy cheeks!  Plus, there appears to be a spooky ghost hovering the backround.  Lowery had one All Star appearance, played in a World Series and has some noteable pinch hit accomplishments, but yeah, I bought this because his name was “Peanuts.”

My 1952 page is 5/8’s full now and I think I’ll try to fill the last three spots with bigger names.  Not Mantle or Mays big, but maybe someone like George Kell or Carl Furillo or something like that.  I for certain am going to get a card of Cubs outfielder Hank Sauer and put it right under the Hank Bauer card.  Sauer-Bauer, Bauer-Sauer.  That will be awesome.!

Sothe-Cleve's

The other day I was loitering at Cleve's (the LCS) and he said he had some cool stuff to show me.  He ALWAYS has some cool stuff to show me, and that's why I'm bringing something home from his auctions every week.

This was some big time stuff though.  Big enough that he was keeping them in the back until he figured out what he was going to do with them.  He brought them out for me to see and photograph for the blog.  He was right- this stuff was very cool:

How about a softball that was autographed by both Babe Ruth AND Lou Gerhig?  I have to admit, my first thought was skepticism that this was real.  But Cleve showed me some documents that were pretty convincing regarding the authenticity. 

 This is a 1911 Helmar stamp of Ty Cobb.  This is a very fragile peice, but beautiful.  And again, way out of my price range I'm sure.

 

I don't remember much of the story on this, other than it's from the late 1800s.  

 I really liked this chocolates box too.  It was in incredible condition.

Finally, a card of 3 Finger Brown.  I believe Cleve said it was from around 1904 or so.

Cleve Strikes Again

I write these posts about Cleve's card shop, and Cleve's auctions and Cleve himself assuming that you whom are reading this know of whom which that I speaketh of.  Cliff notes for those that don't- Cleve is the owner of Cleve's Collectibles, the local sports card shop here in NW Arkansas.  Cleve has been had his shop for years and has just about seen it all in the collectibles world.  Not only does he have incredible stuff, he has incredible stories, and part of the joy of going to his shop is hearing the hysterical things he's witnessed in his experience.  He has a story about how he caused Stan Musial to drop an F-Bomb at him that is so hysterical I cry with laughter every time I hear it.

Cleve also has an auction every Tuesday night, and you can look through some of my posts with Cleve Auction tags over the past few years to get an idea of the great stuff I bring home from it.

Cleve also is a very generous gentleman.  He's given me some awesome gifts over the years- some things that are the crown jewels of my collection.  He was at it again this week. 

I am in the small appliance business and had some product samples that I needed to give away.  I thought Cleve might be able to use them so I brought them by his shop.  He was very gracious about it and asked what he could give me for them.  "Nothing," was my firm reply.  He'd already given me too much already and I wasn't looking for more.

"Well, just a minute, I think I have something you might want," he said and started ambling toward the back.

"I don't want to see it," I said, and reminded him of the generous gifts he had already given me.

"Let me just show you," he said and pulled a card out of the back room.  "It's not a big deal, and I don't have any other customers that would want it."

And he showed me the card:

A Gem Mint BGS 9.5 Mike Olt autograph card. 

"Absolutely not," I said.  And I was serious.  I'm very excited about Olt as a prospect, and this is an incredible card, but my conscious just couldn't take another big gift like this.

We argued about it for another 5 minutes, but he finally convinced me to take it.  Don't get me wrong- I'm beyond stoked to have it, and I'm exceptionally grateful.   Cleve just better be ready for a whole gaggle of small appliances coming his way!

Cleve's Auction Night: Merry Big Fun Game Eve!

There are less than 24 hours remaining before I randomize contestants for the Big Fun Game, so if you haven't put your name it, well, put your name in.

I'm pretty happy with the prizes this time around.  Without giving away too much, I will say it's a  diverse group of prizes, but all baseball related.  And no eTopps cards this time around, for whatever that's worth.

I won a few of the prizes from Cleve's auctions this week and picked them up today.  I also got a few things for myself.  The prizes will remain a secret, but here are the things I got for moi:

 I'm particularly excited about this 1960 Brooks Robinson.  It gives the 1960 page in my sampler album a huge boost, and the card is in great shape.  I paid a good amount for it, but it was worth it.

 I also picked up this lot of 9 commons for my 1960 page.  It was already full, but had a few raggedy contents.    I'll make some replacements using this page, as these are all in great shape.

Another purchase geared toward the sampler album was this nice lot of 1969's.  That page is just about wrapped up now.  These are all in very good shape.  Gaylord Perry kind of scares me.

I often hear people talk about their patch cards being "sick."  Not this one.  It's very healthy!  The card is kind of boring (yet I kind of like that about it), but the patch is gorgeous. 

Ok, I don't want any snickering about this card.  I'm very appreciative of Matt Jones' contribution to Razorback football and nothing will take that away.   Having said that, I can't imagine why someone sent this card in for grading.  Doesn't that cost, like, $10 a card?  At least it came back a 9.5.  For some reason someone decided to make a mark on the case with a sharpie.  I'm hoping I can remove that.    But I like this card and I don't want any crap about it.

Grades:

1960 Brooks Robinson  $12  A:  It wasn't cheap, but I'm still very happy to have this card.

1960 Commons  $9  B+:  I know $1 a card for EXMT 1960s is a great deal, but I will only need a few of these for my sampler album.

1969 Lot  $6   A+ : These are very good players for $2 a card.  Great additions to my sampler album

Al Leiter Patch  $4  A+:  I'm a big fan of Leiter, and the patch is very healthy!

Matt Jones Graded 9.5 Score Rookie with a Big Sharpie Stain:  I won't give you the satisfaction of knowing how much I paid for this, or what grade I give myself.  Why?  Because I hear you laughing at me even as I'm typing this post.

 

Sampler Album Additions: 1957 Topps

Daddy took his baby out into the world for the first recently.  My Sampler Album travelled with me to Cleve’s for the afternoon last weekend for some good hardcore cardboard culture.  There were a few regulars in that afternoon and they flocked to my album like bees to a honeypot.  I received lots interest and compliments on the project.  I was king of the card nerds for a few glorious minutes.

I pointed out some of my weaker pages and asked Cleve if he could help with my 1957 page, which had only one card in it.  Ever the salesman, Cleve was quick to find a box of 1957 semi stars for me to peruse.  I found a handful that I liked and asked him for a price.  He gave me a fair deal, and now my 1957 page is a highlight of the album, not a near blank page.

 

I suppose I should have finished the job and added another 3 cards to fill up the page, but it’s kind of nice having some remaining open slots to fill.  It gives me another target to hunt for at Cleve's Tuesday auctions, as well as any local card shows that come up.