2019 National Pickup - 1957 Topps Frank Robinson Rookie

I don't know if I am going to do a full recap post of "this is everything I got at this year's National" or if I'm going to break the stuff up into multiple posts, but at this moment, I am going to post a few things individually, and them maybe do one post talking about my experiences at the National itself.  We'll see.

This card was definitely not the first thing I bought (that was a stack of signed 1987 Topps), but this was one of the first major purchases.  I had wanted a Frank rookie for some time, and saw this one in a case.  It was actually the first of several Frank rookies that I saw, and it ended up being the most affordable.  I didn't even talk the dealer down in price, because I thought the price was amazing.

The card is off-centered, but otherwise sharp.  I am still sad that Frank is no longer with us, but I am happy that I was able to talk to his widow a bit.  I am happy that I have finally added his rookie card to my collection, and this one is such a great one to add!

Another TTM Success From Goose Gossage

I had this 1973 Topps Goose Gossage rookie in my box of 73s from Conrad, so I decided to send it off and see if Gossage would sign it TTM.

I have gotten him several times, and his signature always looks great.  He's also really cool in person.

I mailed to Gossage on April 1 and got the card back on April 27, for a 26-day TAT.  I paid no fee.

2018 National Pickup - 1963 Topps Willie Stargell Rookie

This blog is much more than autographed cards and stuff like that.  I still love a good vintage pickup, or building a set.  One of my big purchases at the National was something that had been on the blog wishlist for a few years - a 1963 Topps Willie Stargell RC.

I got the card for around $115, and was pretty happy with it.  I have seen them go for a lot more, but this one was fine for me.

I have knocked a couple items off of the wishlist, and it is getting more difficult to find things to add to it, as I don't really know what I am looking for (aside from signed 1987s at the moment).  I may abandon the top ten wishlist next year.  I haven't decided.

2017 National Card Show - The Big Pickup

It seems that every year, I have one huge pickup from the National, and this year was no different.  I didn't stop at the 1955 Bowmans that I grabbed for the collection.  I had in my mind that if I could find a decent Hank Aaron rookie at a reasonable price, I would leave the show with one.

I priced Aarons the last few days of the show, and used my memo feature on my phone to log the table numbers where I saw each card and at what price.  I actually did this for several of the cards I ended up buying, and it made the chore of remembering where the heck I saw a card so much easier to manage.  I had also bought portable batteries for my phone in case I ran my charge down.  I was really smart about my phone usage on this trip, and it paid off that Sunday when I got a nice deal on this Aaron.

Yeah, the card isn't in mint condition, but neither are my Banks or Kaline rookies.  I could make a nice run at the 1954 set, now.  I might take a look at the bulk cards that I have and see if I can manage it, but in the meantime, I am just going to sit back and enjoy the fact that I finally have this awesome rookie in my collection.

Vintage Instagram Deal With Jet

My buddy, Jet, was strapped for cash recently, so he made me a proposal for a deal involving some nice vintage cards and a sweet 8x10 signed photo.  One of the vintage cards was on my Top 10 Wishlist, so after hearing the price he was looking for, I jumped on the deal.

The above Orlando Cepeda RC is in decent shape, but by no means mint.  That's ok, though, because this card will be well taken care of, and Jet knew it was going to a good home.  This is the first item I have been able to knock off of my Top Ten Wishlist, so that was nice.

Jet also had this Bob Feller signed 8x10.  Although I tend to shy away from 8x10s, I love Feller, and figured at the price in which Jet was selling at, I went ahead and added it to the deal.  I wish this was a "high leg kick" auto, but this photo is still really nice.  I like the old Indians uniform, and also love the sepia photo.

Thanks so much for the deal, Jet!  I really appreciate it.

Cheap Shots From The National - 1986 Topps Traded Barry Bonds XRC

Here's a little something different.  During my trip to the National this year, I tried to find some good deals on cards in the dollar, 5 dollar, etc boxes.  One box I looked through had a bunch of rookie cards from the mid-80s at severely reduced prices.  I regret not picking up more of the rookies that I found, but one that I saw jumped right in my pile once I saw it.

I have never owned this 1986 Topps Traded Barry Bonds, so I was really happy that I saw it for $3.00 at the show.  I bundled it with a stack of other cards, so I paid a lot less than $3.00.  I really enjoy the 1986 set, and already had the Bo Jackson from 1986 Topps Traded.  I will put this in a brand new top loader and store it with my other rookies.  I know the card is nowhere near worth what it used to be back in the early 90s, but it is still cool that I got one of these for a good price.

I still have a huge stack of cards from the show (not to mention several signed baseballs as well) that I need to post.  I think National posts may very well get me through the season into the off-season, to where I can start up some TTMs again, among some other projects.

Top Ten Wishlist Pickup From The National

I spent the entire 2015 National Card Show looking for this card, and I spent MOST of the 2016 show looking for it as well, but I finally found it!  I finally have the 2001 Topps Chrome Albert Pujols rookie in my collection.

I was walking around the show on the last day and was looking down quickly at the showcases when I saw it.  I had walked around the entire show the whole time asking people if they had it and had come up short.  So much so, I ended up buying another big rookie from that series just because the dealer had it over the Pujols.

I got it for a really nice price ($20) and am so glad I can take it off of my Top Ten Wishlist.  I'm really going to struggle finding new cards to search for once the year is out.  I definitely have met my goal in the amount of cards that I wanted to cross off of it (more to come in a few days on that).

Card Show Pickup - 1956 Topps Luis Aparicio RC

Ok, I know I said yesterday that I was done buying cards at the show,  but we all as collectors know that when we see something we have been looking for at a great price, we had better jump on it.  I was looking around today (I wish you all had come, because it sure was dead there today) and stopped by my favorite vendor, Kurt, and saw that he had two of the Aparicio rookies in his display case.  He had this one, which is in really good shape, for $20.  I had to do it.

So, I have knocked off three cards from my Top Ten Wishlist so far this year, and we are only halfway through February.  Not bad!  I have been wanting this Aparicio for a long time, and now I have it.  I have quite a few big names from 1956 Topps.  I might have a decent shot at putting this set together at some point, and would definitely consider this one as my next 1950s set to do.

Card Show Pickup - 1954 Topps Al Kaline RC

I believe I have started my collecting in 2016 off with a bang.  Last week, I got three Hall of Fame signed baseballs for my collection.  This week, I knocked a card off of my Top Ten Wishlist, the 1954 Topps Al Kaline rookie card.

This card has been on my wishlist for a long time, ever since a former friend of mine picked one up at a show back in 2009 or so for $80.  That card had a huge crease down the front.  This card, I got for cheaper than that, but it is far from perfect.  It has some creasing, but overall, looks great.

The vendor I got the card from is one I try to buy from whenever I get the chance.  He is a really good guy, and always works with me on pricing.  I bought another card from him, but I will wait to show it.  He also had another card that was on my Top Ten, but I didn't pull the trigger on that one.  I may get it at another show, but the condition held me back some on it as well.  We will see how it goes.  I'm just happy to finally cross this one off.

Ebay Pickup - 1969 Topps Rollie Fingers Rookie Card

With the little bit of Christmas money that I had left over following my purchase of the three Hall of Fame balls that I added, I was able to knock a key piece off of my 1969 set.

This Rollie Fingers rookie card was one of the higher profile cards that I needed.  To be honest, I had no idea that Fingers's rookie card was in this set, until I looked at a checklist to see what big name cards remained.

I was able to knock it out for $9.95 shipped on Ebay, which is a steal, I think.  I have seen these go for around $25 or so, so I made sure to not let this deal pass me by.

The 1969 set is a goal of mine for this year.  I have been working on it long enough, and it is time to close it out.  Here's to hoping I can meet that goal this year.

Instagram Trade With Dylan

I completed a trade recently with my friend, Dylan from Virginia when I sent him a Rafael Devers auto that I pulled from a pack of 2015 Contenders baseball.  In return, he hooked me up with this really nice Rickey rookie.  I had an extra one of these before, but traded it away.  This one is in much better shape, even though it didn't scan all that great.

Dylan sweetend the deal with this 2015 Topps Chrome Christian Walker pink refractor.  This is a nice card to see in person.  I found it a bit odd that it wasn't serial numbered.  I thought for sure that the pink parallels were numbered.  Oh well.  It is still a nice card.

Finally, Dylan surprised me with this Cal Ripken standups card from 1985 Donruss-Leaf.  It is an '85 All Stars standup, and as you can see, it features Cal inside the Hubert H, Humphrey Metrodome.  I don't think I had this in my collection until now.  I think I would know, especially since this is an elongated card, and it would stand out.

Thanks so much for the trade, Dylan!

The Foulbunt Top Ten - No. 3

I've covered rookie cards, amazing vintage and set building in the previous Top Ten posts.  There was no card I was more excited to receive that the next one on the list.  I was working really hard on building a major vintage set at that time, but I had told myself that I wouldn't ever be able to afford the key rookie card, so my set would likely be incomplete.

It took a cursory look on Ebay one afternoon at the card shop, some nudging from my friend, and I put a bid in.  Little did I know at the time that the card would be one of the crown jewels of my collection.  Card No. 3 in my top ten is:

My 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente rookie card.  I placed the bid on the computer at the card shop, but the auction was ending about 30 minutes after closing time.  I raced to my parents' house and begged my mom to let me use her computer so I could watch the end of the auction (since I was still winning).  She let me, but said "If your dad comes in, he's going to want to get on the computer and you'll have to get off."  I took my chances and signed into Ebay.  With about a minute to go, my dad walked in, wondering why I was on his computer.  I told him I was winning an auction and really wanted to make sure I won.  He walked over and saw it was for a baseball card; then he saw the price.  I figured he would tell me how silly it was that I was bidding so high for a piece of cardboard.  What he said next really surprised me, though.  He chuckled and said "I guess we all have our things, don't we?  You should see what I paid for the engine I just bought..."

He walked away, saying he would be back in about five minutes, to which I told him that would be fine.  I ended up winning the auction for this card for about $150.  That was a complete steal, since the book value on the card is exponentially higher.

It isn't mint, but it looks great.  The card now resided with my 1955 Topps set, which I was able to finish about a year and a half later.  I still think it is really cool that my dad got to see me get it, and he understood the importance of my collection to me.  I'll always remember that about this card.  I have met a lot of collectors over the years who's parents either didn't understand or support their hobbies.  I am lucky to say that both of my parents not only understand, but they support it and they each have their own hobbies as well (Dad actually collects a great number of things, from fishing reels to trains to Johnny West figures and more).  This card reminds me just how lucky I am.

The Foulbunt Top Ten - No. 4

We are getting to the best of the best cards in my collection as this countdown begins to wind down.  The cards that made this list have significant value to me, but they each also have significant value in the hobby.  When you are able to add a rookie card of a baseball legend, and one of the most underrated players of all-time, you have to jump on it.  It doesn't matter if the card isn't the most aesthetically pleasing.  We covered that already.  The card that is slotted at No. 4 on the list is there for all of the right reasons.  It is a truly tough card to add, and I was able to with a little bit of luck and some really good timing.  This card will likely only increase in value, both monetarily, and also in my own mind.  So, here we are with card No. 4:

My 1948 Bowman Stan Musial rookie card is ranked No. 4 on my Top Ten because it really is a cool card.  I saw one for a good price, and pretty much robbed it from Ebay at a time when Musial wasn't really at the forefront of people's minds.  He is one of the all-time greats in baseball, but when the discussions are being had, he tends to be overshadowed by the likes of Mays, Mantle, Ted Williams, etc.

Something else that is significant about this card is that this card pretty much showed me that I could complete the 1948 set, since it was one of the biggest keys to the set, and I was able to add it without having to take out a mortgage.  I had already owned the Feller and Spahn rookies, so when I was able to add this as well, it was on!  I was able to complete the set, and I added a couple other significant HOF rookies that were in there, but the Musial still ranks above and beyond those others.

I really love this card, and I still am excited that it made its way into my collection.  I'm sure that if this card is ranked at No. 4, then the three ahead of it must be amazing, right?

The Foulbunt Top Ten - No. 8

Like I said yesterday, a common theme of my Top Ten cards is the Hall of Fame rookie card.  It wouldn't be a true Top Ten of my cards if it didn't include some players who I PC that are near and dear to my heart.  Another common theme is "vintage".  I am a huge fan of vintage cards, especially Topps.  Also, many of my favorite cards are ones that I "invested" a significant amount of money in, at least significant in my eyes.  This next card is the fisr huge card purchase I had when I jumped back into collecting as an adult.

Card number 8 on my Top Ten list is the 1957 Topps Brooks Robinson rookie card.  This card was one that, at the time, I had felt that I would never get a chance to own.  I was used to operating on a very low budget, and being satisfied with pulling good cards from packs.  After I got back into the hobby in 2005, I set my sights on a Brooks rookie that I could afford, and after a little bit of time, I landed this one in an Ebay auction for around $150.00.  That was, at that time, the most I had ever spent on a baseball card.  As you will see, I have since surpassed that with some of the other cards on this list.

What can I say about Brooks that I haven't already said on this blog?  I have met him a couple times now and he is just a gem of a fellow.  Always the class act, I am proud to be able to say that I am a super collector of Brooks.  Adding this card to my PC was, at the time, such a huge addition as far as PC cards goes.  It still remains one of my favorite all-time cards.

I have had the opportunity to add other '57 Topps Brooks Robinson rookies to my collection, at prices cheaper than what I paid, but I never jumped on them for whatever reason.  I imagine that I will add some more of this card to my collection, because I like it so much.  It is just a cool-looking card.

The Foulbunt Top Ten - No. 9

In collating the Top Ten cards in my collection, I noticed that a common theme existed, the Hall of Fame rookie card.  Of course, most players' rookie cards tend to be their most sought after, but also the Hall of Famers themselves tend to be more valuable as well.  Of course, not all rookie cards are from a player's first year, but it is their first official card.  When you pair a rookie card with a baseball legend, well, you end up with something really special.  That brings us to card number 9 in my Top Ten:

This is a 1933 Goudey Jimmie Foxx that I got in a deal on Instagram a while back.  The card is graded by SGC and is "Poor".  You can see that based on the severely rounded corners and the huge crease in the top right corner.  All grading issues aside, this is a Jimmie Foxx rookie card.  Let that sink in a bit.  Foxx is one of my PCs and one of my all-time favorite Hall of Famers.

The deal itself worried me some, since it seemed so too good to be true.  I got the card for $40 from a guy on Instagram that I hadn't dealt with before.  It turned out that I shouldn't have prejudged so easily, because he was 100% legit and sent the card really fast.  I haven't done any deals with him since then, but this had to have been one of my best deals on there.

Top 10 Wishlist Pickup - 1954 Topps Ernie Banks RC

Yeah, it might grade at a 1, and looks pretty rough, but I now am in possession of one of the rookie cards that I have been wanting for a long time.  I got this 1954 Topps Ernie Banks RC at the Columbia antique shop this past weekend.  I saw it among the vintage cards that he had, and at a pretty good price.  I was able to get Conrad to take the price down a little further, and pulled the trigger on the card.

I'm really happy to have found this card.  I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get one at a good price, but luckily, I was able to find this one.  I also was glad that I was able to get it from Conrad, because I enjoy supporting his business.  I might have been able to find one in this condition a bit cheaper on Ebay, but in the end, I like this one, and the price I paid.  That's all that matters.

Care Package From Fred - 1978 Topps Eddie Murray RC

There is a guy on Instagram who hails from NC, just like I do, that I talk to every now and then about collecting.  His name is Fred, and he goes by the handle 1steeleman.  Fred and I haven't ever traded before, but we talk about it a lot.  We just haven't ever really pulled the trigger on a deal, especially since Fred is a big fan of vintage, and it is really hard for me to part with any significant stuff from that era.

While Fred and I have chatted, I have determined that he is a really good guy.  I think he might be a couple years older than I am, so he is one of the few adults on Instagram, at least from what I have seen.  With him being from NC, I'm certain that we will be meeting in person much sooner rather than later, especially if I go to and of the upcoming card shows in the area.

Anyway, Fred surprised me with a care package the other day saying that he appreciated what all I did for the card community and also to help keep the NC collecting strong.  I wasn't expecting this card, however, when I opened the package.  I was really excited to see this Eddie Murray RC inside the padded mailer.

Going back to my post about Ryu the other day, and now this one about Fred, I really am happy that I am a part of this community.  That's what we are, a community.  Sure, there are some folks in it for the money, but when you can look past those folks and find a Fred who gives without thought of reward, well, that really makes this a great place to be.  I can't wait for the day to meet him in person and shake his hand.

Thank you so much for the card, Fred!  I really appreciate it, and I hope to be able to find something good for your collection one day.

A Box Break Leads To A Trade

I joined a box break on Instagram some time ago (I was on vacation, actually) and the results finally were revealed last week.  I bought in for 3 slots at $4 each ($12 total) and ended up with the Cubs, Red Sox and of course, the Orioles.  The biggest thing about the break, though, was that I got the numbered to 10 parallel of Cubs prospect Javier Baez.

Now, I'm no prospector and when the facilitator of the break let me know I pulled it (thanks to him for being honest, too), he immediately asked if I'd trade it.  I told him I absolutely would, if he had some good vintage cards.

Well, he first showed me the above Catfish Hunter RC, which I was really close to calling it a deal at just that card.  However, I got a bunch more pictures on my messenger, and I wasn't about to turn them down.  In the end, I got the Hunter RC, the below Red Schoendienst from 1960, a 1959 Topps for my set (Joe Ginsberg), 1962 Juan Marichal, 1968 Phil Niekro, 1974 Reggie Jackson, 1968 Gaylord Perry, 1972 Willie Mays (in action), 1967 Boog Powell, 1965 Paul Richards and a 1971 Schoendienst.

So, by my count, I got 8 Hall of Famers (one of which was a RC), one set need, one Oriole legend (Powell) and a former Oriole manager.  The cards were in various stages of condition, with the Schoendienst being the worst of the lot, but I am so very satisfied with the trade.  I know that Baez card might be hot now, but these Hall of Famers will forever be Hall of Famers.

Finally, I did get some good Orioles, like this Chris Davis.  I also got the chrome parallel of Baez, so I still have a little trade bait left over!

Instagram Pickup - 1978 O Pee Chee Eddie Murray RC

I made a quick and easy trade with a kid named Sage on Instagram recently when I picked up this 1978 O Pee Chee Eddie Murray rookie card in exchange for some low end relic cards.

Initially the trade was for a 1978 Topps Eddie Murray RC, but Sage wasn't able to tell the difference between Topps and O Pee Chee, a common mistake.  The back of the card is a different shade and there is French as well as English writing on the card.  Luckily, I had been in talks to get one of these with someone else, those talks had stalled, and I now surprisingly end up with this one.  It all worked out.

Thanks for the trade, Sage, I appreciate it.

Instagram Trade With Bruce

I completed a mega trade on Instagram the other day when I was sent a message by a guy named Bruce who was really interested in some of my Cardinals hits from 2014 Topps.  I sent Bruce a good many relic, auto and manufactured relic in exchange for a huge stack of Orioles cards.  He had sent me a few pictures of cards to kickstart our deal but assured me that any "throw ins" he would send "would not be base cards."  He wasn't kidding.  One of the keys that hammered the deal home for me was the above 1978 Topps Eddie Murray RC.  I already had one Murray in my 1978 set, but I wanted another for my Murray PC.  This one is in decent shape and is slightly off center.  I'm really happy with it, though, so that's all that matters.

Another card I saw in the group picture Bruce sent that was intriguing was this 1962 Topps Brooks Robinson.  I already had one in my Brooks PC that was in much better shape, but when I saw it in the photo, I knew I'd be making a mistake if I let one included in a deal pass me by.  I believe that you can't have enough vintage Brooks cards, so getting this one in the deal worked for me.

This 1969 Jim Palmer came as a surprise to me.  An even bigger surprise was that I didn't yet have it in my 1969 set, so Bruce actually helped knock off a much needed card from my needs list.  I'm pretty sure he wasn't aware of that, either.

The card that Bruce used to get my attention was this 2012 Topps Tier One Brooks Robinson relic.  I already had one, but this is another card that I wasn't just going to let pass me by, so I figured that I would listen to his proposal.  I'm glad I did!

One of the 'extras' that Bruce threw in was this 2006 UD Future Stars Nelson Cruz autograph. The card is a clear acetate card, which looks really awesome in person.

I am so glad that Bruce included this Manny Machado UD Team USA relic.  I have had so many people on Instagram tag me on these cards and they have wanted an arm and three legs for it. Thankfully, Bruce included it in the deal and I don't have to overpay for it with other folks.

Finally, among the throw ins, Bruce added this Machado from 2011 Bowman Sterling.  These cards look really nice and I wonder why I haven't seen more of them.

There were so many more cards that I didn't have the time to scan, but believe me, there was so much good stuff in there.

I messaged Bruce after I opened the package and saw all of the awesome throw ins because I really felt like I didn't deserve all of the extras he sent.  His response was: "..I knew you were one of the good guys on here, and I figured you should be rewarded."

He has no idea how much that meant to me.  I really appreciate the deal, Bruce.  I know we are going to do some more trading really soon.