The Elation of a Filled Up Sampler Album Sheet: 1969 Topps

I'm pretty happy with this page.  The names are all good, the condition of the cards are great.  I'm especially fond of the Herman Munster-esque Gaylor Perry photo and the crude photoshop job done to Manny Mota's hat.  Frank Robinson is a great center card too.  I think I dig the design of 1969 Topps- there's not much to it, but that's just fine.  I've sat here for 10 minutes trying to force myself to have an opinion on the set, but nothing's happening.  So I'll leave it at that and if anyone wants to influence me one way or another on the matter, feel free to leave a comment. 

Cleve's Auction Night: Cleve Strikes Yet Again

Those that follow this blog know how big a part of my collection comes from the weekly auction at Cleve's Collectibles in Springdale, Arkansas.  You also know of the many times Cleve has surprised me with a generous, and completely unexpected gift of cardboard. 

He did it again this week.  Behold this 1934 Diamond Stars beauty:

 

I had put a bid on this card, simply because I thought it was cool looking, and because I don't have any cards from the 1934 Diamond Stars set.  The card has a some writing on the front and back, so I thought I might be able to get it at a good price.  Besides the writing, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the card- no crease, tears or holes.  And though he's not a household name, Myer was nothing to sneeze at as a player.  He had over 2,000 hits, was a 2 time All Star and led the league in hitting in 1935.

I went in to Cleve's today to see if I'd won anything for the week, and to look at next week's cards up for auction.  I was thrilled when I saw the Myer card with my bidder number on it.  I tried to find the  write in amount so I could remember what I bid on it, and instead saw a nice note from Cleve saying that this card was on the house.  I tried to talk him out of it, but he wasn't hearing it.

Unbelievable!  I'm once again blown away by Cleve's kindness.  I'm truly speechless about this.

I did have another win- a pair of 1969 Topps cards for my Sampler Album:

My 1969 page is now full, and has lots of great names on it.  I'll have a post about it sometime soon I hope.

Grades:

1969 Topps Robinson & Marichal  $4  A+  Come on, $2 each for these guys?

1934 Diamond Stars Buddy Meyer $0  A+  Is there a higher grade I could give than an A+? A+ Infinity?   Cleve is too much.

Cleve's Auction Night: Shabby, Yet Not Too Shabby

I had every intention of blogging last week while I was away at my company sales meeting.  However, that sales meeting was in Las Vegas and, well, I don't really know what happened but time (and my money) got away from me, and I haven't posted in a week.  As for my trip to Las Vegas (we stayed at the Palazzo BTW, and holy crap was it nice), I fully expected to come back with a fat wad of cash.  I put together what I considered a fool proof method for the roulette table.  I taught it to a 4 of my co-workers and they decided to try it too.  The good news is that my method works- for 4 out of 5 people.  The bad news is that I was that 5th person. 

The night before we came back home, I was actually up pretty big overall.  I was imagining the satisfaction of handing over a roll of twenties to the lovely wife upon my return, and then taking the rest to Cleve's for a spending spree.  My roulette system was on fire.  And then..... I hit a losing streak that should be considered statistically impossible.  I crashed so hard and my profit disappeared so quickly, I didn't know what hit me. 

Now before anyone gets the idea that I lost my kid's college funds, let me put this all in perspective- I lost about $60.   If you count the amount I was up at my highest peak, it was a lot more than that, but that wasn't a true loss I guess.    And I suppose if you total the amount of jack and cokes I was given while I was playing, I came out ahead.  Way ahead, in fact. 

I came home to a couple of wins though- of the Cleve's auctions variety:

I picked up these two 1959s for my sampler album.  They actually look a lot worse in the scan than in the album.  They're not in the greatest shape, but really not all that bad.    They will do until I can get back on the horse in Las Vegas again and make enough dough to get mint versions.

Here is a Dodger relic of a Seattle Mariner card of Adrian Beltre who plays for the Rangers.   Whatever, it's a sharp little card.



Grades:

1959 Frank Robinson $5  A:  Not a mint card, but no major, major problems with it.  Great add to the sampler album.

1959 Ernie Banks $4   A:  Ditto to the Robinson comments

Adrian Beltre Relic  $2    A:  My Beltre collection is getting good people!

The Elation of a Filled Up Sampler Album Sheet: 1965 Topps

I've mentioned my Sampler Album project before in several posts, so I've decided to start tracking the progress here on the blog.  As I complete pages for each year in the album, I'll write about it, and leave a link to the post in the "Sampler Album Project" page at the top of the blog.

Quickly, the Sampler Album project is simply an album that has a page dedicated to each Topps flagship set from 1951 to today.  I can't (and don't want) to try to try to build every set, and I thought this would be a nice efficient way to look over the history of Topps cards over the years.

The fun part of this project is that each page is never really "finished" until I have 9 cards for that page that I'm totally ecstatic about.  I'm sure there will always be a card out there for each year that could warrant a spot in the page over another. 

However, I have to say I'm pretty darn satisfied as it is with my 1965 page:

That card 3-6 run of Robinson, Mays, Koufax and Aaron is very strong and the other cards certainly aren't junk either.  Eventually I'd love to upgrade the Koufax since there is a pin hole in his hat and the corners are pretty worn.  The Aaron is in incredible condition, and has sentimental value as well since it was a gift from a family friend years ago when I first got in the hobby. 

Maybe I'll trade out the Piersall and Fox if I find a couple of other 1965s I like better, but for now, this page is set, and by far the best page in my sampler album.

Sunday Cleve-View: Missing Another Good Auction

Open Tuesday nights have been tough for me to come by lately.  Work will take away this coming Tuesday auction, and pretty soon I'm going to forget how these things work.  I'm left to take my chances with write in bids yet again, which is unfortunate because I love the selection this week:

 I didn't bid on the Henderson or Murray rookie, although those are two Rookie Cards I'd love to have eventually.

 This is one write in bid I feel somewhat confident in getting.  I've been tinkering with the idea of building a 1972 set since that's my birth year, and this would be a nice one to have.

 Not suprisingly, Ryan Mallett relics and autos are expensive here in Razorback country.  The bids on these are already more than I want to spend. 

 There are a handful of T206s up this week, and I put in bids on all of them.  I also want the 1959 Frank Robinson.

On The 5th Day of Brycemas

My Harper Gave to Me:

5 Gol-den Kiiiiiings:

I hope and think Bryce Harper will do well.  I don’t think he’ll be as good as this guy:

Or Him:

Or Him:

Or Him:

Or Him:

My first vintage Koufax card ever!  Yes, there is a push pin hole at the top of his hat, but I love the 1965 set and this was the best shape of the card I was going to get if I wanted to be able to buy anything else with my Harper funds.  It’s good enough for me.