The Elation of a Filled Up Sampler Album Page: 1954 Topps

I thought the 1954 page would be on of the toughest to complete in my Sampler Album.  But I was feeling sporty and laid down some coin (although not THAT much coin) at Cleve's recently and filled the page.

It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn awesome:

The Jackie Robinson is, no surprise, one of my most prized cards.  In fact off the top of my head it is in the top two, next to my T206 Ty Cobb.  I've had the Robinson for a while.  I bought it back when I was single and didn't have to worry about spending money on chicks because they would have nothing to do with me.

Most of the rest I've picked up this year.  The other "big" card here is the Eddie Mathews and I  just bought the it last week at Cleve's.

All the rest are pretty good too.  Here are my tidbits about each one:

Walt Dropo:  Dropo was Rookie of the Year in 1950 with a monster offensive campaign (he was also 6th in MVP voting).  He looked to be a superstar in the making.  The next year he fractured his wrist and was never the same.

Matt Batts: I got this because his name is Matt Batts.  And Cleve sold it to me for $2.

Andy Pafko: Honestly, I got this because Pafko was card #1 on the 1952 set, which for some reason is a well known fact in the baseball card world.  He also was a 5 time all star.

Eddie Stanky:  Probably the 3rd biggest name on this page.  The "Brat" was big pain in the ass and a pretty complicated man.

Ferris Fain:  I think of two things when I think of Ferris Fain: Ferris Bueller and that he sold pot.

Ed Lopat:  It's always good to have a vintage Yankee, right LC? Plus now I have three Eds on this page.

At some point I will upgrade a few of the names on this page, but for now I'm completely happy with it!

Cleve's Auction Night: Stinky Pizza

Ooops, I meant to say Stanky and Piazza.  As in Eddie Stanky and Mike Piazza.  These were the only cards I picked up at auction this week, so I won't have to take much of your time today.

I've got a couple of Eddie Stanky cards already, but they are both from Bowman.  This Topps card takes a spot in the 1954 page of my Sampler Album.

I don't think I have any relic cards that are made from bases, so this is a neat add for me.  The piece has a great leathery feel to it. 

Grades:

1954 Eddie Stanky  $4 A :  It's a manager card, but I only have 4 cards on my 1954 page so I don't care.

Mike Piazza Base Card $2 A:   I suppose game used base cards seem kind of lame.  Actually, they aren't and I like this!  I don't care what anyone says!

Check Out My Stanky Pie!

I sniped a couple of nice vintage cards off eBay really cheaply while I was traveling last week.  They were waiting on me when I got home.

This is my second Eddie Stanky card.  It was only few of bucks, and I really like these old Bowmans.    $2.25 shipped for a 1950 card of a pretty well known player/manager?  Sa-weeet.

This is my first 1950 Callahan card.  Pie Traynor was a HOFer so this was another  great pick up for only $3.25 shipped.  I like these Callahan cards.  They are small sized cards, and the illustrations are done with some kind of “dot” process, and are not standard sketches.   You can see the craft of the card better in the scan. 

 

You can also read the back better in the scan.  For a small card, that type is microscopic.  Either that or I'm getting old.

Cleve's Auction Night Part 2: Choke, Choke, Choke...

Yesterday, I covered the first four of eight purchases I made at Cleve's weekly auction.  I had a sense of failure about my overall auction performance after I left the auction, but once I started listing out the cards, I felt a little better.  Let's see if analyzing the last four cards makes me feel even better, or validates my initial feeling of dejection.

It's hard to be dejected about a sweet card like this though:

This was my second Triple Threads 2011 card of the night, and I was thrilled to get it for $4.  Longoria is a stud, and this will either fit nicely in my collection, or perhaps bring something cool in trade.  Speaking of which:

A few weeks ago, I got another Kershaw auto from Cleve's and wound up trading it away to Greg at Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle.  There must be a strong Kershaw connection at Cleve's because this week another auto of him was available.   So, I decided to go for it again.   And so did... dun dun dunnnnnn, my arch nemesis.  I made my initial bid of $3 and he went $4.  Last week, he got the better of me 3 times, but I wasn't letting it happen again.  I rolled up my sleeves and gave him a front row ticket to the gun show as I bid $5.  It didn't faze him and he said $6.  I bid $7, but instead of saying $7, I  stood up in my chair, pulled out my switchblade and made a big "7" in the air with it.  Then I slowly turned and mimed the universal gesture of slitting one's throat.  He stopped bidding, and the card was mine. Victory, baby.
There was lots of vintage at the auction, but not much I felt I had to have.  There was a neat Johnny Mize 1952 Topps that I could have had for $15.  I wish I'd gone for it now.  But I did get this little gem:

Eddie Stanky is one of those old ballplayers I love to read about.  Leo Durocher said of Stanky, "He can't hit, can't run, can't field. He's no nice guy... all the little SOB can do is win."   I was very pleased to get this.

I should have ended my night on this high note.  But I was impulsive and bought this as well:

This was a lot of 5 Red Man tobacco cards.  I like this set, but didn't look over the lot before bidding, and didn't see that one card was in it 3 times.  And the Mel Parnell card is in bad shape.  But still, for $4 it's not too bad of a purchase.

Here are the grades for the second four purchases:
 
Evan Longoria Triple Threads $4: A-  Great card of a budding star.
Clayton Kershaw A&G Auto $7:  A  A little pricey, but Kershaw is a bad dude, and I'm glad to get back an auto of him.
Eddie Stanky Bowman $4:  A+  I don't know what the book value of this is and I don't care.  I love talking about cards and players like this.
Red Man Lot $4:  C+  Yeah, I like these cards, but this was unnecessary for my collection, even for $4.

I guess overall, I'm relatively satisfied.  I feel good about 5 of 8 purchases.  If I would have lopped off the three that didn't jazz me, I would have spent closer to $20 and felt like it was one of my better auctions ever.  I'll need to show some better discipline next time.