card show stuff

it's been over a month since wallet card and i went to the semi-annual regional card show, and i still haven't shown off the other cards i bought and scanned.  like this 1951 bowman don newcombe card

it's nice that the 'bull pen' is labeled and that curious george's man in yellow is watching newk warm up from the stands.

i picked up a card for my 1965 topps set, and it features three hall of famers

say hey! the giants must have had a pretty good team in 1964 with all that power (plus juan marichal and gaylord perry on the mound).  well, they won 90 games but were 4th in the national league, 3 games back of the pennant winning cardinals.  the dodgers were two games under .500, but bounced back pretty well in '65.

i also grabbed a card for my 1957 topps set for a buck - don mossi

i won't mention the ears.

from the dime binder, a 1982 topps sticker of pedro guerrero

showing his co-mvp form in the 1981 world series

the rest of the stuff comes from the dime boxes, and they were brimming with junk wax. i took some new to me double plays, like this 1993 donruss spike owen

1993 leaf ricky gutierrez

1994 leaf jose lind

1995 leaf carlos baerga

and 2001 fleer tradition marlon anderson

a little something for pretty much every facet of my collection!

some beauties of a bowman

not too long ago, i posted about dodger double dipper clyde king.  i used a 1952 bowman card of his in the post - a card that i had purchased but not yet received.  i figured i might as well show the card again once it was in my possession, and i will, but first let's see this 1952 bowman cal abrams card that accompanied king on his journey.

abrams' card is superior to king's

but any 1950's bowman card is a fantastic add to my collection.  here are some other ones that i have picked up over the past few months.

1951 bowman carl furillo

and a 1951 bowman charlie dressen

i picked up the dressen at the most recent card show i attended.  i like how the card is cropped.  it looks like dressen is poking at the boundary of his two-dimensional cage.  kind of a-ha-ish.

here's a 1954 bowman george shuba

according to baseball reference, george 'shotgun' shuba was earning $13k in 1954.  i wonder if that's why he made his s look like a dollar sign.

i prefer his 1954 bowman card to his 1955 bowman card, but i bought one anyway at the same show i found the dressen

it's somewhat distressed, but that's ok.  1955 was a magical year for the dodgers, and i am very close to completing this team set.  1955 was shuba's last year in the majors, so he went out on top - making his final big league appearance in game 4 of the world series.

chico fernandez's rookie card is in much better shape

fernandez didn't debut for the dodgers until 1956, and his dodger career included only 34 apperances. he was traded to the phillies in 1957.

walt moryn

was traded after the 1955 season to the cubs, but still didn't appear in the 1955 fall classic.

charlie neal

like fernandez, made his debut in 1956. he stayed with the dodgers until he was traded to the expansion mets in december of 1961.  he also missed the 1955 world series, but he did stay with the dodgers long enough to play in the 1959 world series.

ken lehman

didn't pitch for the dodgers in 1955 (he spent the year in the minors), and the orioles purchased his contract in 1957.  he debuted in 1952, however, and got to pitch two innings in that year's world series against the yankees.

i was somewhat dismissive of early bowman during my formative collecting years.  now i recognize that these cards are pretty f'n cool.

card show recap - the final dealer

i went back to the vintage bargain bin dealer to end my time at the show.  he had tried to tempt me earlier with his '90% off bowman box'.  here's what i picked up before hitting the road.

1976 shakey's roy campanella

yay oddballs
1974 topps hank aaron special #3
1959 topps baseball thrills rocky colavito

somebody collects catches at the wall, i believe.
1955 bowman smoky burgess - because somebody else collects catchers in gear
1951 bowman dan bankhead

i did not realize that dan bankhead was the first african american pitcher in big league history.  he debuted in august of 1947, just a few months after jackie robinson.  he hit a home run in his first big league at bat, and his only appearance in the 1947 world series was as a pinch runner.

1951 bowman billy cox

1952 bowman preacher roe

1953 topps clem labine

1955 bowman don newcombe

the bowmans all have some paper loss on the back, but the fronts look good.  i took a long, hard look at a 1951 bowman campanella but couldn't pull the trigger.  i would say maybe next time, but this dealer informed me that he is relocating to north carolina and is not sure how often he will return to the twin cities.  of all the bowmans, i think i like the 1952 cards the best.  the colors seem to pop a bit more, at least on the dodger cards i have from that set.

so, how much do you think i spent on these cards? make your guess in the comments.  i'll have the answers (and winners) tomorrow.

who took jim bouton's hat?

quite a while ago, i posted a mess of maury wills custom cards i had made, designed to fill the gap in maury's topps career.  i was so pleased with myself that i offered to take custom card requests and give away a 1968 topps deckle edge wills card.

there were only three takers - dayf, larry from emerald city diamond gems, and rod from padrographs.

dayf won the randomization, so he gets the wills card, and here is his request - a 1979 topps jim bouton card.  or, more precisely, two 1979 topps jim bouton cards.

first, sweaty and hatless jim

using a photo from sports illustrated, and second, clean and still hatless jim

in the pajama uniforms.  that photo is the one that popped up first on my google search.  

bouton had been out of major league baseball since his release from the astros in august of 1970.  he signed with the white sox in 1977, but didn't get back to the majors until 1978 with the braves.  he was 1-3 in five september starts, three of which were 'quality' starts.  bouton retired after the season, meaning the 1979 cards would be a final tribute.  unfortunately, i'm not going to do the back.

i have a signed copy of bouton's book 'ball four' with the default inscription 'smoke em inside!'  sound advice from his pilots roommate gary bell.

i figured that since there were only three requests, i would fulfill them all.  here's a card that rod from padrographs requested - a 1951 bowman artie wilson

i colorized and cartoonized a black and white photo of wilson, and used the background from alvin dark's '51 bowman card.  i think it came out ok - a card of a giant requested by a padres fan and made by a dodgers fan.  go figure.

wilson appeared in just 19 games during the 1951 season, but was more than just that one major league season.  rod has written about wilson several times on his blog.  if you don't know anything about wilson, his was a life worth learning about.

finally, larry requested a 1983 harold reynolds card featuring the hugger wearing number 18 - the number he wore during his 20-game stint in his rookie season.  i couldn't find any photos of reynolds in that number, and was surprised at how few photos i could find of him in the old mariners unis.  i'll keep an eye out, but if anyone has a jpg to send me, please let me know.

dayf - i'll get maury out to you soon.

now that's what i call bowman

when i think of bowman these days, i think of draft picks that may or may not pan out and confusing card numbers.  i often tell prospective trading partners that i don't buy bowman products, so odds are that i don't have any dodgers from those sets.  this is usually followed by me receiving a bunch of leon landry cards, and now he'll not be wearing dodger blue if he ever makes it to the big leagues.

that's one reason i prefer the bowman cards from before topps acquired the name.  like this 1951 bowman gene hermanski card.

hermanski had been a dodger for years before this card was issued.  of course, he was traded to the cubs during the 1951 season, along with bruce edwards

that right there is a very nice looking card.  i love the color strata of the grass, dirt, and fabric backdrop.

both of those cards (and the rest of the cards you will see in this post) were sent to me by dhoff at coot veal and the vealtones.  he let me know that he had some cards for trade and we were able to work out a deal.

the first bowman cards i ever saw were from 1955 (thanks to a neighbor of mine in the late 70's).  dhoff had a johnny podres card from that set for me

podres would win the world series mvp award in the year that this card was issued.  that's pretty cool.

but then, there was a non-bowman bowman card in the trade package.  an abomination that dared to call itself 'bowman heritage'.  a shiny card from 2003 of someone named  jordan pratt

pratt was a fifth round pick of the dodgers back in 2003, and pitched his way up to aaa in 2010.  it looks like that was his last year in the dodger organization, and possibly in organized ball.  i realize that this wasn't the first year that bowman had rainbow or chrome type cards, nor was it the first year that topps issued the 'bowman heritage' brand.  it just struck me how non-bowmanesque this card was when it was included in a package along with those great vintage bowman cards above.

moving on, here's a nice oddball of everybody's favorite all-american dodger first baseman, steve garvey.

you might say he's swell, as in 1991 swell baseball greats.

marlon anderson, he of one of the back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs for the dodgers in 2006, makes an appearance

this card is from 2006 upper deck update - number 1157 in the set.  it's a short print to boot.

speaking of update, there were a couple of cards from 2010 topps update in the package, including a piece of andre ethier's all-star game workout jersey

and a golden vladdy

i am fairly shocked that vladdy hasn't made it to the big leagues in 2012.  i thought he had played fairly well for the blue jays' minor league team this year, and when he requested his release, i figured somebody would pick him up on the cheap.  i was wrong, unfortunately.

finally, dhoff hit one of my lesser known wants, sending a non-red sox nomar garciaparra card.  this one is from 2005 upper deck

nomah!

thanks dustin!

quien es mas macho? or, may i tempt you with some vintage backstops?

i had limited time at the most recent local card show, so i went straight to the vintage bargain bins.  i was primarily looking for some non-dodgers vintage trade bait in response to a trade offer i had received, but i couldn't resist picking up this beauty - a 1955 bowman roy campanella

the 1955 nl mvp looks pretty happy, no?  somewhere underneath campy in the bin, was his rival backstop yogi berra.  in a moment of weakness, i grabbed his card, too

while the campy just shows some corner rounding and wear, the berra is in rougher shape, plus it is trimmed.  take a closer look - here's campy again with berra below so you can see how much narrower the berra card is

the text on the back is all there, though.  i am thinking that there is someone out there who might be ok with owning a 1955 bowman yogi berra even if it is trimmed.  i didn't pay much for it, so offers don't need to be too extravagant.  anyway, in a laugher, the 1955 bowman roy campanella is has macho.

i also picked up a 1961 topps campanella

which is also trade bait since i own this card already.  but it was sitting on top of the bin just looking at me with a $5 price tag and i couldn't leave campy behind.

i did pick up a 1951 bowman cal abrams that was on my want list

it looks like cal is standing in a men's room.  since this is the first time i have featured abrams on the blog, i figured i should learn a bit about him.  he started his career in brooklyn and played for the dodgers from 1949-1952, although he was traded to the reds in june of '52, so he didn't get a chance to appear in the world series that year.  an outfielder for the most part, abrams also played for the pirates, orioles, and white sox.  he passed away in 1997 and was buried in his dodger uniform - most likely bearing number 32.

on the way out, i dug through a dime box and grabbed a few dodgers from 2012 topps archives, like dee gordon

and clayton kershaw

they pale in comparison to the vintage, though.

let me know if you want the berra.  and the '61 campy as well.

the evolution of my oldest card

i'll take a break from my other evolutionary posts and jump on the 'evolution of my oldest card' bandwagon that has been perpetuated by night owl, the vintage sportscards blog and the number 5 type collection recently.

the first cards i ever owned were 1977 topps. i remember being given a pack probably around the world series that year, and opening it in the back seat of our car. the only card i really remember from that pack is this one, a 1977 topps mike schmidt card.

i previously feted this card here.  it was instantly the oldest card that i owned.  a few years later, i would be on the lookout for (and eventually the lucky recipient of) his rookie card, but only because of the presence of the penguin.

sometime in 1978, i came across this beauty, a 1976 topps reggie smith,

the details of which i wrote about here. this card then became the oldest card i owned.

there was some furious trading going on in my neighborhood in 1978, and i somehow landed a small sampling of 1971 topps cards, including this thrashed 1971 topps jim shellenback card

i have since sent this card to night owl as i upgraded it, but i still remember it fondly.

at some point that same year, i vacationed north of the border and was introduced to the wonder that was o-pee-chee. i also accompanied my parents to many a prairie antique barn, and, much like my reward in that 1976 topps reggie smith card, i found a few 1960 fleer cards, including mel ott, cy young, and this tris speaker card.

i told you i didn't object to antiquing!

in 1979, i was able to trade some giants cards to a guy who lived on the other side of my block. he humored me and gave me a 1955 bowman don hoak card.

for the first time, my oldest card was a dodger, and for a long long time, it was the oldest card in my collection.

fastforward to 2000 or so, and i decided that i would collect one card for each team, subset, and color combination variation from each topps set, from 1952 through 1977. at that time, i had complete sets from 1978 on (since then, i have completed the 1970 and 1977 sets, and am working on the 1971 and 1976 sets). it was fairly easy to do this, thanks to my topps coffee table book and ebay. the first 1952 topps card i purchased was this ralph branca card

it reigned as my oldest card for a couple of years before i purchased a vintage card lot on ebay that included this 1909-11 t206 dick egan card

as well as a 1951 topps luke easter red back. this t206 card was awesome, but i never really connected with it (i had purchased the lot more for the 1953 topps cards that were in it) so i sold it on ebay about a year and a half ago. around the same time, i also sold the luke easter card.

that meant that the 1951 topps gene hermanski

(and 1951 topps gil hodges) cards that i had acquired in the meantime were now my oldest cards.

that was until a couple of months ago when i plucked this 1951 bowman rex barney from the vintage bargain bin at the local card show.

i consider it to be older than the 1951 topps cards simply due to alphabetical order. the bowman card is the first card in my 1950's binder.

so there you have it. the evolution of my oldest card. i'm accepting new (older) entries if anyone has some pre-war dodgers to offer up!