Baseball Card Show Purchase #6 – Inspiration For My Next Subset!!!

Baseball Card Show Purchase #6 – Inspiration For My Next Subset!!!

When I attend these monthly baseball card shows, the biggest thrill that I get is the chance to simply sift through a massive amount of cardboard.

As a kid, I used to love doing this and getting this chance once a month makes up for the other 30 days a  month that I get to shop online for them.

While at the card shows, I always find it interesting when I discover a card or set that I had not seen before.

And that was what happened when I came across these two cards:

Coming from the 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen set, the two cards you are seeing come from the ‘Wal Climbers’ subset.  I like the theme, and I love the images.

This is definitely a set that I will investigate further.  If the remainder of the cards look as good as the first two that I picked up, I will be going after the full set, for sure!!

And Finally, My 2012 Topps ‘Mound Dominance’ Subset Is Complete!!! Come Check It Out.

And Finally, My 2012 Topps ‘Mound Dominance’ Subset Is Complete!!!  Come Check It Out.

Yessir, I have completed another subset and it is time to show it off in its completed form.

The ‘Mound Dominance’ set is from the 2012 Topps release, and is 15 cards deep. 

Here it is, complete:

As for the cards, they look great!  I like the graphics that Topps used to identify the strike zone, and the added team logo on top of that graphic is a nice touch.  I also really like that every card in the subset offers a color, in-action photograph (though the Gibson, Spahn, and Feller appear to be posed-action).  I do wish that Topps used a brighter color for the ‘Mound Dominance’ headline – something that stood out more.

While I am really happy with the look and design of the set, I have to say that there are a few odd things about it that stand out for me as well.

They are:

• the set lacks consistency with the theme; from no-hitters to solid outings to dominant playoff appearances, I wish it focused on just one thing
• the inclusion of Dennis Eckersley ( a player I loved watching) is peculiar.  He is the only non-starter in the set.
• Phil Niekro’s card is celebrating his 300th career win – the only card celebrating a career achievement instead the most dominant game of the pitcher’s career.
• The set gives us Jon Lester and Armando Gallaraga, but leaves out Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro, Schilling, and others that would certainly be also called ‘Dominant’

Overall, I like the set – it looks great, and it is nice to see players like Verlander and Halladay get put into the same conversation as Seaver, Palmer, and Gooden. 

Ultimately, I would have liked to have seen multiple versions of the set, maybe in consecutive years.  If Topps broke this set into different levels while keeping the graphic components similar, with just enough changes to let them stand alone, they could have been on to something.  Imagine if we had: Mound Dominance – No Hitters, Mound Dominance - The Closers, Mound Dominance – The Workhorses, Mound Dominance – The Strikeout Artists, Mound Dominance – Postseason Heroes.  If Topps delivered something like that, it would let them bring us something that more truly represented the many ways that one can dominate from the mound.  And it would certainly let them capture more collectors as well.

Topps, do you hear me???

Baseball Card Show Purchase #7 – The Start To My 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen ‘MOONSHOTS’ Subset

Baseball Card Show Purchase #7 – The Start To My 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen ‘MOONSHOTS’ Subset

The 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen subset tagged as ‘Moonshots’ is one that I have kept my eye on since its release last year.

The set has been on my ‘potential subsets’ list to collect and I had every plan of making that a reality.

Well, I was able to rescue eight cards from that set from the ten-cent bargain bins. 

So, for just eighty cents, I officially got my start!!!

Here are the eight that I pulled:

The complete set is 20 cards deep , so I am already officially 40% done.  And this is one that I will attempt to complete this year. 

If you wanted to see what the full set looks like completed, click here.  It looks great, and I cannot wait to complete it myself!!

Here Is The Checklist For The 2012 Topps Mound Dominance Subset. Now, It Is Time To Collect!!!

Here Is The Checklist For The 2012 Topps Mound Dominance Subset.  Now, It Is Time To Collect!!!

I am really eager to get this new subset going.  The more that I review the checklist, the more excited I get to get this thing started.

So, I am off to get my shop on.

But first, here is a look at the full checklist:

• #MD-1   Tom Seaver
• #MD-2   Justin Verlander
• #MD-3   Sandy Koufax
• #MD-4   Jim Palmer
• #MD-5   Dennis Eckersley
• #MD-6   Bob Gibson
• #MD-7   Roy Halladay
• #MD-8   Nolan Ryan
• #MD-9   Phil Niekro
• #MD-10 Armando Galarraga
• #MD-11 Warren Spahn
• #MD-12 Bob Feller
• #MD-13 Jon Lester
• #MD-14 John Smoltz
• #MD-15 Dwight Gooden
  

That’s a pretty impressive group of pitchers right there.

I am so ready to do this!!!

New Subset Coming To Wednesday Nights!!!

New Subset Coming To Wednesday Nights!!!

The title of the post says it all.  I have a new subset to show off, and I will be doing so on Wednesday nights.

 I have really enjoyed the subsets that have debuted in 2012.  My favorite is the ‘Career Day’ set and I am in the process of building and showing that one off on Mondays.

And now, on Wednesdays, I will show off another one of the subsets that I really like.  I was able to scoop up the complete set for just $2.99 with the shipping included. 

Without giving it away, the set includes a nice handful of Hall of Famers and superstars.

And here is one final hint…

Any guesses?  I am sure that you have a few…

Next week, I will provide the checklist.  And from there, it will be time for the cards!!

Have a nice night.

I Have Completed The 1968 Topps Game Set – YES!!!!

I Have Completed The 1968 Topps Game Set – YES!!!!

Yes, 33 weeks after debuting my first card from this legendary set, I have completed the entire set.

It was a lot of fun to focus my attention on this set, and at times I thought that my goal of completing the set was unattainable. 

Before I get into a few notes about this set and what it took for me to put it together, let me show you the whole thing.

Here are the cards:

Pretty sweet, huh?  Yeah, this one easily ranks as the best set of cards I have built since getting back into the hobby more than four years ago.  The set is packed with baseball history, and is a very solid representation of ‘true vintage’.

While going through the process of putting this set together, I found out quite a bit about the players that were included.  And while I could never find the details as to why  Topps chose these 33 players, some are very obvious due to their career achievements and others due to their fantastic 1967 baseball seasons.

A few more random notes about the set:

• the full set cost me just under $50 to put together
• the most expensive card for me to obtain was the Mickey Mantle card, followed by Roberto Clemente and then Brooks Robinson
• there are notable ommissions from the set – Jim Palmer, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Maury Wills, Phil Niekro, Fergie Jenkins, and Luis Tiant.
• Amazingly, many of the cards from this set can still be had for just $1.00
• The cards seem to take on a yellow hue, most likely due to age and how they were handled.  I tried my best to limit my intake of these yellowed versions as much as possible

This set was a blast to put together – and I am very happy that I challenged myself to do so.

I have a few things in mind for the next subset that I want to build, but I am not certain that any set can live up to the joy that this 1968 Topps Game set brought me.

1968 Topps Game – Frank Howard

1968 Topps Game – Frank Howard

Frank Howard was known as ‘The Capital Punisher’ due to his impact on the Washington Senator teams of the mid-to-late 1960s.  His power and run production was unmatched, both by his teammates and the league.  A 2-time home run champ, Howard connected for 248 home runs in eight seasons with the squad.

Howard was a Rookie of the Year winner in 1960 and a 4-time All-Star.  He was part of the 1963 World Series championship team in Los Angeles.

Progress – 3/33

1968 Topps Game – Hall of Famers, Ron Santo & Frank Robinson

1968 Topps Game – Hall of Famers, Ron Santo & Frank Robinson

These two guys are the guys that inspired me to go out and collect the full set of baseball cards tagged as 1968 Topps Game.

I picked up both of these near-mint beauties at a baseball card show last November, and ever since then I have thought about completing the set.  So, as part of my ‘Collecting Goals of 2012′, I will attempt to do just that – complete the full 33-card set.

My checklist is built.

And now I happily add cards one and two into the set:

Progress – 2/33

1968 Topps Game Checklist

1968 Topps Game Checklist

Well, one of my 2012 collecting goals is to put together the 1968 Topps Game set of trading cards.  The set features 33 cards in total and runs the gammot of Hall of Famers, All-Stars, semi-stars, and scrubs.

I think that this will be a very fun challenge to undertake, and I look forward to learning a little more about the 33 guys that are part of this set.

And if it all works out, I will pick up my very first cards of Mickey Mantle and Roberto Clemente as I put this set together.

So, what is the first step in getting this new quest going?  The checklist, of course.

By now you all should know that I am an uber-organized collector, and my checklist will help lead me to the finished line.

So, here it is:

Card #	Player
1	Mateo Alou
2	Mickey Mantle
3	Carl Yastrzemski
4	Hank Aaron
5	Harmon Killebrew
6	Roberto Clemente
7	Frank Robinson
8	Willie Mays
9	Brooks Robinson
10	Tommy Davis
11	Bill Freehan
12	Claude Osteen
13	Gary Peters
14	Jim Lonborg
15	Steve Hargan
16	Dean Chance
17	Mike McCormick
18	Tim McCarver
19	Ron Santo
20	Tony Gonzalez
21	Frank Howard
22	George Scott
23	Rich Allen
24	Jim Wynn
25	Gene Alley
26	Rick Monday
27	Al Kaline
28	Rusty Staub
29	Rod Carew
30	Pete Rose
31	Joe Torre
32	Orlando Cepeda
33	Jim Fregosi

*

Now let’s collect!!!

2006 Fleer ‘Greats of the Game’ – REDS – SET COMPLETE!!!!

2006 Fleer ‘Greats of the Game’ – REDS – SET COMPLETE!!!!

What can I say?  Collecting this set was a great trip down memory lane for me.

Putting this 10-card set together really invigorated and motivated me to continue my pursuit of paying tribute to one of baseball’s greatest dynasties – ‘The Big Red Machine’.

It started with collecting the 1975 Topps Reds team set.  And from there I went after this subset from the 2006 Fleer ‘Greats Of The Game’ set.  I am very excited to see where this journey may take me next!!!

Here is the set.  And while there is one glaring and obvious omission from this group of Reds legends – I LOVE IT!!!

Enjoy.