no willie, but mickey and the duke were at the card show

look at this.

that's a 1965 topps mickey mantle card that i picked up from the vintage bargain bin dealer at last weekend's local card show.  at a glance, this card has soft corners but is not in too bad of shape. the wrinkles in the upper right corner are not very noticeable and show up much more clearly on the scan. i picked it up for a very reasonable price. i am now all in on my 1965 topps set, knocking number 350 out of the way early on.  it's the third mantle i have from his playing days - i have the world series card from this same set as well as his 1969 topps final tribute.  someday, i'll own his 1957 topps beauty, too.

one of the other new york centerfielders of the 1950's joined my collection at the show as well.  i was really looking for a 1955 topps duke snider (i saw a couple but they were in really nice condition and too pricey for me).  one of the dealers i talked to told me his dad was a big fan of the duke (and the brooklyn dodgers) and seemed surprised that i would be interested in such an old player.  he had a short stack of snider cards including this 1962 post issue

like the mick, this duke was decently priced - i got it and 40 dime box beauties for 10 bucks.  unfortunately, i didn't find a '65 willie mays for my set, so i'm not able to be "talking baseball; willie, mickey, and the duke".

i found this 1960 leaf jim gilliam card

in a fifty cent bin, along with a couple of cards i needed for my 1971 topps set - both of which were managers.

gil hodges

and earl weaver

i also picked up another copy of the original 'tatooine' card, featuring brooks robinson looking for droids

my brother and i saw this card for the first time in our local comic/card shop, and we laughed about the guy on his knees looking for stolen death star plans.  thus, 'tatooine' cards were born.

from the dime box i mentioned earlier, i found a couple of new double plays - a 1998 upper deck sp authentic craig counsell card

and a 2000 upper deck spx carlos febles card

complete with the 'turn ahead the clock' jerseys.

here's a 2001 upper deck sp legendary cuts card of hall of famer travis jackson, also from the dime box

i bought it because of the black armband on his left arm.  he's wearing it for his former manager, john mcgraw, who died in 1934.

i also grabbed a couple more 1965 topps cards from the fifty cent box - another mickey, although its lolich

and another yankee - tony kubek

back to the mantle - here's why i was able to get it on the cheap.

i tend not to worry about card backs too often.  this card looks good in the set binder - that's what counts to me!