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!

yeah jetes!

i picked up some 2014 topps allen & ginter yesterday afternoon from the local target, and one of the first cards i encountered was this one of the retiring yankee captain.

i did not make it out to see jeter when the yankees were here last weekend, but i've seen him play a few times over the years.  by the time he retires, he should be sixth all-time in hits.

i only got one regular mini of a ballplayer - this one of junior lake

instead, i received a black bordered randy johnson

since i shopped at target, i also received a three-pack of gold-ish bordered parallels - ryan howard

george kell

and grant balfour

meh meh and meh.

here's a base and mini of one of the non-ballplayer subjects, glen waggoner

one of the creators of rotisserie baseball, he is responsible for the time suck that i devote myself to each spring.

airplanes!

i pulled one of the outlaws, bandits, and all-around ne'er do wells mini inserts - bonnie and clyde

speaking of ne'er do wells, the lone short print i found was this one of the giants' hunter pence

topps also made him a short print in 2014 heritage.  that's ok with me - the fewer giants cards the better.

my favorite cards of the packs were the pastime's pastimes inserts that fall 1:2 packs.  i pulled three of them, including this one of stephen strasburg

these are nice cards.  i might consider putting together this insert set, but i won't chase anything else out of this year's ginter.

let's bring this post back to jeter - here are three double play cards that i've not shown yet from the collecton.

1998 fleer sports illustrated then and now

1998 upper deck sp authentic

and 2005 topps opening day

i seem to have pulled a lot of his cards over the years, and if i am buying packs next year, i am sure it will be hard to avoid them then as well.

double play turns from fuji

i received a quick four card delivery from fuji recently featuring four double play turns and a dodger lurker.

i believe that this 1993 upper deck wil cordero card

shows a botched double play turn on tatooine.  i will assume that cordero lost control of the ball as he attempted to make the transfer from his glove and avoid the sliding cub at the same time.  plus fight off sand people.

1995 upper deck sp benji gil

spring training double play!  i like the red foil here - the only other cards i have from this set (i think) are dodgers, so i had not seen red foil before.

1998 upper deck sp jay bell

purple jerseys.  blech.

2003 fleer focus jersey edition jimmy rollins

with paul loduca sliding in!

thanks fuji!  i'll be sending some stuff your way shortly...