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.  

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!  

Sunday Cleve-view: One Card I Really, Really Want

I took several pictures of cards that will be up for auction this Tuesday at Cleve's.  But I'm discarding them all because I want everyone to focus all of your attention on the one card that I neeeeed to get:

This 1950 Bowman Bob Feller is unreal.  I'm not sure what it is about this card that has struck such a cord with me, but I was immediately taken with it when I saw it.  I put in a good write in bid for it, but am likely not going to be there in person to battle for it Tuesday night if my bid wasn't enough.  So I need all the good little boys and girls out there in blogger land to send their very best wishes and magic thoughts toward card #294 on Tuesday night.   If you believe it should be mine, it will be.... I'm counting on you, my blogger friends and readers.

Black Friday Haul From COMC Thanks To CCC

Lest anyone say we are all just a bunch of goobers showing each other our baseball cards, ponies, chippy notes from Hall of Famers,  and mustaches, I'm grateful to say that because I read other blogs, I was alerted to the Black Friday sale at Checkoutmycards.com on, well, Black Friday.  Cheap Card Collecting was diligently posting the Black Friday deals as they went live, and because of this, I was able to get some good stuff at at good prices.  I love Checkoutmycards.com, but shipping can add up quickly since there is a $.25 per card processing fee.  On Black Friday, they ran a special for $4.95 for the first 20 cards shipped, plus $.11 each additional card.  It still was kind of expensive shipping, but if you found a card that was already heavily discounted, the shipping wasn't such a big deal.
I jumped on and was able to chip away at several sets, and picked up a few cards outside my master checklist.  Of course I grabbed some Gypsy Queen:

I was very pleased to get the Ruth Home Run Heroes, and am now only 2 cards shy of knocking out this insert set.  I was even more please to get the last 2 Future Stars I needed, completing that set.

I am also now only 3 away from finishing the Bowman's Best prospect set. One of those 3 is NOT Bryce Harper, so it won't be too difficult to finish.

As for older-ish sets on my list, I edged a little closer to finishing my 2002 Stadium Club Master set.  "Capture the Action" is now complete, and the lovely "Diamond Pearls" set is 65% done.

I also dinged my 2005 Topps Gallery Artist Proof set and Topps HD master set with a couple of onesies.
Finally, I picked up a couple of single cards of sets I'm not building, but really liked:

This Bob Feller Sterling card was only $1 so I jumped.  I much prefer 2009 Sterling over this 2010 design, but it's nice nonetheless.

 I hadn't yet seen any of the 2011 Topps Tribute in real life yet, so I grabbed this Tony Gwynn priced under $1.  These are super nice cards.  I may have to get a few more.

Finally, this Topps T205  Honus Wagner was under $1 too, and it is a beautiful card in hand. It's glossy and shiny and thick.  I'll definitely try to get more from this set.

All in all, I was very happy with my Black Friday purchase, and again thanks to CCC for the good work on the alerts!

Logic and the Lovely Wife

Besides being smoking hot, the lovely wife is super sharp and does not let anything get by her.  Case in point, the controversial Bob Feller card that I declined to go after at Cleve’s the other night  (BTW it went for over $30, so I’m not kicking myself for missing out on it.  Plus, now I’ve gotten my week hiatus out of the way, and this Tuesday I can go hog wild!!!).  After I won a magnificent Satchel Paige card the week before, I agreed with her that I should take a hiatus from Cleve’s auctions and get myself back under control.  But then I saw the 1953 Feller, and it was too much for me to bear.   I am a great admirer of Feller as a player, patriot and ambassador to baseball, and was genuinely sad when he passed away.  Yet, I do not have a single vintage card of him.  I explained to the lovely wife that this was a special circumstance, and I REALLY wanted this card, despite agreeing to take an auction break.  In fact, a helpful handful of you agreed I should go for this card now and take a break later.  The lovely wife thought about this and asked, “But don’t you think you will be able find a ‘special circumstance card’ at Cleve’s EVERY week?” 

Touché.  

So, to gain credibility when I advise her of cards I really want, I have come up with a “Special Exception” list.    I hear of couples making “exception” lists of famous celebrities they have permission from their spouse to “be” with should the opportunity present itself.  In that spirit, I am going to list the cards that I should be able to bid on at ANY time should they find their way to one of Cleve’s auctions and come at a reasonable cost.  This way I can simply point to this legally binding agreement and show the lovely wife that the player in question is on the list, and I have already made public my desire to purchase a card of said player.

I give you the Napkin Doon exception list: 

Hank Aaron

Grover Alexander

Roberto Alomar

Walt Alston

Sparky Anderson

Cap Anson

Luis Aparicio

Luke Appling

Richie Ashburn

Earl Averill

Frank Baker

Dave Bancroft

Ernie Banks

Al Barlick

Ed Barrow

Jake Beckley

Cool Papa Bell

Johnny Bench

Chief Bender

Yogi Berra

Bert Blyleven

Wade Boggs

Jim Bottomley

Lou Boudreau

Roger Bresnahan

George Brett

Lou Brock

Dan Brouthers

Mordecai Brown

Ray Brown

Williard Brown

Morgan Bulkeley

Jim Bunning

Jesse Burkett

Roy Campanella

Rod Carew

Max Carey

Steve Carlton

Gary Carter

Alexander Cartwright

Orlando Cepeda

Henry Chadwick

Frank Chance

Happy Chandler

Oscar Charleston

Jack Chesbro

Nestor Chylak

Fred Clarke

John Clarkson

Roberto Clemente

Ty Cobb

Mickey Cochrane

Eddie Collins

Jimmy Collins

Earle Combs

Charlie Comiskey

Jocko Conlan

Tom Connolly

Roger Connor

Andy Cooper

Stan Coveleski

Sam Crawford

Joe Cronin

Candy Cummings

Kiki Cuyler

Ray Dandridge

George Davis

Leon Day

Andre Dawson

Dizzy Dean

Ed Delahanty

Bill Dickey

Martin Dihigo

Joe DiMaggio

Larry Doby

Bobby Doerr

Barney Dreyfuss

Don Drysdale

Hugh Duffy

Leo Durocher

Dennis Eckersley

Billy Evans

Johnny Evers

Buck Ewing

Red Faber

Bob Feller

Rick Ferrell

Rollie Fingers

Carlton Fisk

Elmer Flick

Whitey Ford

Bill Foster

Rube Foster

Nellie Fox

Jimmie Foxx

Ford Frick

Frankie Frisch

Pud Galvin

Lou Gehrig

Charlie Gehringer

Bob Gibson

Josh Gibson

Warren Giles

Pat Gillick

Lefty Gomez

Joe Gordon

Goose Goslin

Goose Gossage

Frank Grant

Hank Greenberg

Clark Griffith

Burleigh Grimes

Lefty Grove

Tony Gwynn

Chick Hafey

Jesse Haines

Billy Hamilton

Ned Hanlon

Will Harridge

Bucky Harris

Gabby Hartnett

Doug Harvey

Harry Heilmann

Rickey Henderson

Billy Herman

Whitey Herzog

Pete Hill

Harry Hooper

Rogers Hornsby

Waite Hoyt

Cal Hubbard

Carl Hubbell

Miller Huggins

William Hulbert

Catfish Hunter

Monte Irvin

Reggie Jackson

Travis Jackson

Fergie Jenkins

Hughie Jennings

Ban Johnson

Judy Johnson

Walter Johnson

Addie Joss

Al Kaline

Tim Keefe

Willie Keeler

George Kell

Joe Kelley

George Kelly

King Kelly

Harmon Killebrew

Ralph Kiner

Chuck Klein

Bill Klem

Sandy Koufax

Bowie Kuhn

Nap Lajoie

Kenesaw Landis

Tommy Lasorda

Tony Lazzeri

Bob Lemon

Buck Leonard

Freddie Lindstrom

Pop Lloyd

Ernie Lombardi

Al Lopez

Ted Lyons

Connie Mack

Biz Mackey

Larry MacPhail

Lee MacPhail

Effa Manley

Mickey Mantle

Heinie Manush

Rabbit Maranville

Juan Marichal

Rube Marquard

Eddie Mathews

Christy Mathewson

Willie Mays

Bill Mazeroski

Joe McCarthy

Tommy McCarthy

Willie McCovey

Joe McGinnity

Bill McGowan

John McGraw

Bill McKechnie

Bid McPhee

Joe Medwick

Jose Mendez

Johnny Mize

Paul Molitor

Joe Morgan

Eddie Murray

Stan Musial

Hal Newhouser

Kid Nichols

Phil Niekro

Walter O'Malley

Jim O'Rourke

Mel Ott

Satchel Paige

Jim Palmer

Herb Pennock

Tony Perez

Gaylord Perry

Eddie Plank

Alex Pompez

Cum Posey

Kirby Puckett

Old Hoss Radbourn

Pee Wee Reese

Jim Rice

Sam Rice

Branch Rickey

Cal Ripken, Jr.

Eppa Rixey

Phil Rizzuto

Robin Roberts

Brooks Robinson

Frank Robinson

Jackie Robinson

Wilbert Robinson

Bullet Rogan

Edd Roush

Red Ruffing

Amos Rusie

Babe Ruth

Nolan Ryan

Ryne Sandberg

Louis Santop

Ray Schalk

Mike Schmidt

Red Schoendienst

Tom Seaver

Frank Selee

Joe Sewell

Al Simmons

George Sisler

Enos Slaughter

Hilton Smith

Ozzie Smith

Duke Snider

Billy Southworth

Warren Spahn

Al Spalding

Tris Speaker

Willie Stargell

Turkey Stearnes

Casey Stengel

Bruce Sutter

Mule Suttles

Don Sutton

Ben Taylor

Bill Terry

Sam Thompson

Joe Tinker

Cristobal Torriente

Pie Traynor

Dazzy Vance

Arky Vaughan

Bill Veeck

Rube Waddell

Honus Wagner

Bobby Wallace

Ed Walsh

Lloyd Waner

Paul Waner

John Ward

Earl Weaver

George Weiss

Mickey Welch

Willie Wells

Zack Wheat

Sol White

Hoyt Wilhelm

J.L. Wilkinson

Billy Williams

Dick Williams

Joe Williams

Ted Williams

Vic Willis

Hack Wilson

Jud Wilson

Dave Winfield

George Wright

Harry Wright

Early Wynn

Carl Yastrzemski

Tom Yawkey

Cy Young

Ross Youngs

Robin Yount

Keep in mind, this list only applies to vintage players.  I have an obligation as a Blogger and American Consumer to continue to purchase modern cards at my discretion.  Now, let’s see her argue with that.