A Completely Overdue, Highly Worthwhile Trade

A long time - more than a year ? - passed between Brian and me without a trade.   Not because I didn't have a stash of Twinsies for him.  I spent 9 months out of touch with the blogs.  It's taken awhile to make up for the lost time.  With a slap on their backs, I packed up the Minn Twins and wished them best of luck.   I'm not sure what these fellas told Brian upon arrival but he whipped out a grand package in return.   I guess the boys were happy with their new home!  I know these fellas are:

Pretty in Pink - and black and foil

These cards are sharp - and not just around the edges!  I'm particularly fond of the 2011 Lineage foil Cobb .  I've mentioned on more than one occasion this design would've been a great one for Flagship.

Nick is the lone Tiger

This is a great grouping of rarely seen cards: 94 Stadium Club Members Only; 1990 Baseball Card Magazine Fielder and 84 All Star Parrish.  Someone did a nice trim job on Fielder!!

2003 UD 40 Million Trillion Men

Ty Cobb = Electric!  Bazooka Al and Two Ginter JVs

A clean 206 Sizemore auto and Munson's spikes!  Yikes!  I coulda put my eye out on this one!

Specifically Pacific Legends

I've been a fan of history since childhood.  It was always my favorite subject in school.  Yes, I am THAT nerdy kid.   These cards find a home in Julie's Big Binder of World History, currently at six pages.

    1958 Topps - love that Tiger mascot!    1954 Bowman - so clean!   Freakin' 1941 PlayBall!!

These cards represent only a portion of Brian's kindness.  I will share one more - an oddball.  I love this card because it's local to me, an apparent giveaway from 1976.  The Troy Hilton is long gone as is any Sports Collectors Convention in Michigan. There is a Midwest Sports Spectacular in Ohio each year in January.  Not the best time of year for a road trip but possibly worth the challenge!

I WORK IN TROY!

Brian, let's not wait so long to do this again!  Thank you for these cards!!!

His highly subjective blog posts are worth every bit of your time!  You'll learn something new, or find a great conversation and chuckle there!

Look for my next post - Dupe, Dump or Dwindle: Round One.  My player collections are changing or disappearing altogether.  Will you want these cards?  There's a catch! 

Thanks for reading!

In Memoriam: the 2018 Detroit Tigers

Yogi Come Home

There is little I miss in Texas.  The local hobby dealers and monthly card shows would be exceptions - those and good Tex Mex, oh and possibly winter...   A regular stop was a monthly visit to a seller I'll call Robert.  We became friends.  He is old enough to be my father, and I guess in a sense, he was a bit of a parent figure to me.  I haven't had a relationship with my dad for the better part of my life.  

Robert was a great resource for older cards - true vintage. He hooked me up with a lot of mint Kelloggs too.  Oddballs for the Oddball, he would say. He rarely asked low book, and most often  much less.

These are just a few pieces of cardboard history I've picked up from him:

1941 Play Ball Soupy Campbell

 

1948 Swell



1967 Dexter Press

I paid less than $20 for all these beauties.

In the glass case was a card  I ogled on every visit.  I'd look it over and hand it back.  It wasn't in my budget at $125.   Robert offered a layaway plan to his best customers.  One day I bit and asked if he'd work with me on this particular card, just a couple of payments, that someday this card would be mine.   He pulled this sweet cardboard out, put it in my hand and asked if I'd give him $40 for it.  I said  $40.00???  Are you kidding me?  He said $40.  Don't go tellin' people I sell cards this cheap or I'll be out of business.



1951 Bowman

That's the day Yogi Berra came home with me.   Condition considered, true book value means little to me.  It wouldn't grade high.  No creasing, great color.  Yogi is  my favorite Yankee.  But more than this, I'll always remember Robert each time I enjoy this card.  I'll remember his crazy stories from youth.  Robert is a family man who never had any children.  He adores his wife, a woman who puts up with his immense love for baseball cards - and sometimes works shows with him.  I've spoken with Robert since moving to Michigan, and hope one day to drop in on him.  I miss Robert but Yogi reminds me often - it's not too far; it just seems like it is.

I've wanted to share this card on the blog for sometime.  Thank you to Tony, Off Hiatus for the opportunity.  He's having a little contest for  $10 shopping spree on the winner's behalf.  Enter to win by sharing your favorite card show find.  If it's a cheesy bobblehead you're looking for, you can enter to win that here.