BUYBACKS!!! Thank you, @SScards16!

I received another package of 51 buybacks from @SScards16 on Twitter.  It's an absolutely amazing package of cards.  Not one of them is from 1980 or later!

After completing my T206/T213-1 Scoops Carey rainbow, and getting married in about ten months, I have to chill on spending money.  I've mentioned on previous posts about enjoying what I have and these cards will be a great example of that.  Hopefully in the next couple of months I can get on the buyback set project.

I have to figure out a different way to go about posts than Shoebox Legends because I don't want to completely rip him off.  Hopefully he knows that in this case, he knows that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  His buyback frankenset posts are some of my favorites in all the blogosphere.

I'll have some decisions to make on what cards win out and make the set.  I've sent him some buybacks before, but I look forward to helping him even more with his set.

Anyway, on to the cards that I received in the envelope...

Most of the buybacks I have are the 2017 "Rediscover Topps" ones.  This Barry Lersch is the only one of those among the 51 cards.

A couple of my favorite designs ever (1962 and 1971) are represented here.

I will never understand the red and baby blue color scheme for the WHITE Sox.

It's an unpopular opinion, but I'm not a fan of the 1972 design.  However, it will take some SERIOUS star power to ever bump this 1972.  It's an Indian (long live Chief Wahoo!) and the...I don't even know the term...blurry/double vision/3D look of the photo really appeal to me.

Another theme among the cards in this package was players that went on to be coaches and managers.  There are (at least) two in this photo and more to come.

It was also a Ken Forsch hot envelope!

Quick math tells me that Sparky Anderson had to be 35 or younger when that photo was taken.  He looks OLD to me.  I am 39.

I has no more words...

The moment I saw the name "Bob Will," this is all that I could think...

I feel that with the last name "Pagliaroni," he should have been a career Yankee. 

"Big Daddy" when he was still "Medium Daddy."  That will be a tough one to keep out of the set. 

Speaking of names that sound like the player should have been a career Yankee, we have Johnny Antonelli. 

At first, I thought this Dave Adlesh was (poorly) trimmed at some point in the last 50 years.  After holding it up to another card it doesn't look to be smaller, but instead part of it appears to be slightly wider than normal. 

And from the last picture of this post, that Vic Davalillo almost has to make the set.  The 1965 design is another favorite of mine, and...Indians! 

I need to make starting to actually organize this project a high priority.  I just always feel like I have so many things I'm working on.  Fingers crossed. 

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!

Box From 'Bama #2 - BOXES!

I walked out of the shop in Birmingham $55 lighter, but there was so much in the box that I left with.  I need to get things organized on my card rack, so I thought that posting the largest items early so that they can get onto the shelf was a solid decision. 

On the original post, it was noticed that there was a box of 1992 Topps in the box.  There was more underneath.  These are all full boxes. 

These were some of the earlier items I inquired about.  Curtis quoted me both 1992 Topps boxes for $15 and the Parkhurst box for $5.  You could say that I'm a very happy camper and I feel like most bloggers would love to get these three for $20.  For now they are going to the card rack and will be saved for a rainy day.  By rainy day I mean when I'm pretty well caught up and organized.  So, you might see a blog post on these again in 2022.  

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!

My Rainbow

A couple of weeks ago I posted about picking up a T213-1 Scoops Carey.  It left me just one card shy of the four-card T206/T213 rainbow.  It happened quickly, but I picked up the T206 Hindu back shortly after the T213.  It came from the same Net54 user I picked up the T213.  My rainbow is now complete. 

This copy didn't set me back as much as the T213, but it was still the second most that I've ever paid for a single card.  Despite the lack of similar sales, I felt good with the price.  Another SGC10 sold on ebay for about what I paid, but that sale was more than six years ago. 

Trading card collecting can be a fascinating hobby.  There are five (or less) copies of the T213-1 and eight (or less) copies of the T206 Hindu back graded by SGC that exist.  I picked both of them up out of the same collection. 

So, what's next? 

I want to put together the same rainbow of Woodie Thornton and Carlton Molesworth.  Like Carey, Thornton attended my alma mater, West Virginia University.  Molesworth is the only player in the set as a member of the Birmingham team.  I was born in Birmingham.  Both of these are long-term projects and I'll only casually search for copies. 

I'd also like to pick up the only other card picturing Scoops Carey, but it's likely just a dream.  The problem is that he's in the E107 set.  Per Pre-War Cards, "One of the rarest and most expensive E-card issues is the 1903-1904 E107 Breisch-Williams set."

The validity of that statement is easily proven.  Beckett book value on the E107 Scoops Carey is $1500.  Vintage Card Prices history only indicates six sales of the card (VCP tracks only graded copies sold through major auction houses and eBay).  A SCG10 copy sold in September 2010 for $427.  Three different SGC30 copies have sold, for $1058 (5/2008), $1880 (5/2009) and $1320 (6/2016).  Two different SGC60 copies have sold, one for $1912 (5/2014) and the other for $3600 (10/2016).  That's it.  There are no recorded sales of PSA graded copies. 

There are ten or less graded copies of the card in existence:

SGC Pop Report

According to their Pop Reports, neither PSA or BGS has graded a copy of the card.  

This leaves the realistic "what's next" as something that I've seen a few collectors write early on this year.  I plan to focus on and enjoy the cards in my collection more and focus less on adding more things. 

I've been working the last few months to get more organized.  A couple of weekends ago I spent over $100 for some heavy duty storage for my cards.  I have a long way to go in both organization and entering my collection into Trading Card Database.  This is likely "what's next" for me.  

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!

Box From 'Bama #1 - MINIS!

If you didn't see my first "Box From 'Bama" post, it has the backstory.  I can't believe that I walked out with everything for $55.  I'm going to have way more fun for that price than three retail blasters!

I didn't count how many are there, but the first group to share is a whole lot of mini cards!  I picked them up knowing that there are a few Trading Card Database users that collect them.  I should be able to move most of them and pick up some things for my collection.

The bad news is that many of the cards have condition issues.  One was bent.  Many have some soft corners and edges.  I do always make note of condition flaws when I enter them into TCDB and make sure to tell my trading partner.

That's all of them, but it's obviously not a great picture and there are stacks.  I give to you some better pics.

I didn't know what was in the box until about an hour ago and didn't know what to expect.  I do know that I didn't expect those top two cards...or the top 2/3 card...however you want to look at it.  I don't recall the year, but those are from an early 1980s Topps set that was a card, perforated, that was three mini cards.  I've seen plenty of them attached but can't imagine that too many people broke them apart.  At least one person did.

Can anyone help me with the card above?  I haven't started any research yet so maybe it'll be an easy one to figure out.  I'm not optimistic since I don't have a first name on the card.  Any info is greatly appreciated!

I'm not too wild about the bottom cards, but I love the top two.  If you've read my blog you know that I like pre-war cards.  The T205 design is pretty sweet.

I'll probably keep the Obama cards for a cold night when I need to start a fire.  Yes, it gets cold in Texas.

I doubt the Pacific cards are rare, but I don't recall them at all.

I've got to imagine that Trout is worth a few bucks and fortunately it's a mint card.  If you need any of these, find me on TCDB and propose a trade!

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!

2018 Trading Card Database Trade #12 - CardsThatTimeForgot

Another day, another trade.  I was able to send a lot of hockey in return and that made me really happy.  It's tough for me to find folks interested in hockey on TCDB and that's the sport that I have the most traders.  

Now that these cards are not current season, I'm hoping to put a huge dent in the need list the rest of the year.

Thanks for the trade, Jim!

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!

2018 Trading Card Database Trade #11 - Abacks

It seems like the post office is doing everything that they can to screw over consumers and make a few extra bucks.  My trading partner sent this in a PWE with bubble wrap one time around the card.  He sent with one stamp and I received a "postage due" of $3.  It's getting a bit out of hand and soon trades like this will go the way of the dodo bird.  I'm not paying $3.50 to ship a few cards when I wouldn't spend that much on the card I'm receiving back. 

Anyway, the cards I received...

In hindsight, this was probably a foolish trade.  I've decided not to go forward attempting to complete either of these sets.  

I do wish I could make up my mind.  One day I make up my mind that I want to be 90% vintage.  Then a few weeks later, "a little more new stuff won't hurt."  A few weeks later I realize that I could have picked up some great vintage card with what I spent on the modern and I'm back to square one.  The struggle is most definitely real.  

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!

Box O' Cards From My Youth - 7

I miss all of the retail store boxed sets.  In my opinion, it's the disappearance of things like this that have taken many kids out of the hobby.  I had dozens of different sets.  This is the only one that remains.

It's possible that there is a card or two missing in the images.  That 30-year old gloss was sticking to the backs of the cards on top.

This was the first card in the box and it's got some sort of damage.  Who knows where it's been in the last 30 years but it looks like some sort of water damage.  It's a shame because Dale Murphy was my first favorite player and I do like to pick up cards of his.  I'll probably keep it anyway, despite the damage.  You can't replace memories or cards of your youth.  I purged most of mine and am still happy to have this one.

I didn't notice until I opened this box that the border is intended to mimic the Rite Aid logo.  I'm not sure if that's genius or annoying self-promotion.

Can't lie, I have no recollection of Mike Schmidt playing first base or seeing that on any of his cards.

THE THRILL!  My favorite player after Dale Murphy.

I've struck gold!  There's a copy of this Mark McGwire card on eBay for $35.

HOLY AIRBRUSH, BATMAN!  I think this is also the image on Reuschel's 1988 Topps card.

And a little more damage to the last card.  Ah well.  It was still a fun trip down memory lane for me.

If you shop online and haven't signed up and used ebates yet, you're missing out.  I also use it on eBay to get money back from purchases there.  Between referrals and cash back, I've gotten over $150 in a year.  FREE CARDS!

If you're on Twitter, please give me a follow.  You can also find me on Trading Card Database.  I love trading cards, when it makes sense.  Happy collecting!