i went for blue on black friday

it's been well over seven months since black friday, so i am a bit unsure why it has taken so long for me to post about some of the cards i purchased that day.  especially since one of the cards i bought on ebay that day was this 1952 bowman duke snider card

it was cheap, thanks to some rounded corners, scuffing, and a bit of paper loss, but to me it looks the way vintage ought to look.  that is a pretty card.

i have been on the lookout for a 1972 topps venezuelan steve garvey card for a long time, but have only seen one come up for sale in that time. it was prohibitively expensive.  on the other hand, i picked up this 1977 topps venezuelan davey lopes card

for what i thought was a reasonable price.  these cards are really thin, with nothing on the back, by the way.

most of my black friday shopping was done on comc, where i picked up a 1950 bowman bruce edwards card

along with a 1951 topps blue back

ralph branca card

this was my first blue back - there are only three dodgers in the blue back set, and they seem to be a bit tougher to find than the red backs.

i found some post cards - 1961 post john roseboro

1961 post larry sherry

and 1962 post stan williams

that weren't butchered too badly by the scissor wielding children of the 60's and gladly added them to my cart.

it wasn't all vintage, however, as i purchased a couple of 1983 permagraphics cards of pedro guerrero

and fernando valenzuela

along with a 1983 topps glossy send-in valenzuela

i am pretty sure i have this card already, as i sent in wrappers for these sets pretty regularly, but i bought it anyway because it didn't look familiar.  i still haven't checked to see if it's a double or not.

the last couple of cards are blue and shiny.  from 2012 bowman, i grabbed the matt kemp

and duke snider

blue sapphire rookie reprint cards.  my black friday duke purchases spanned 60 years, now that i think about it.

this was money well spent without getting up early and fighting the crowds - i think i'll make a habit of 'blue' friday...

baker:baker, baker/baker/baker

on a day like today, the numbers speak to me.  except it's not just 12:12 on 12/12/12, it's baker:baker on baker/baker/baker.  dusty baker wore number 12 his entire career, including his two-year stint in oakland at the end of his career.  this 1985 mother's a's card of his is easily my favorite card of him in the gold and green.

baker had never played in the infield before going to oakland, and even then he was used only at first base.  so seeing him in a fielder's pose is quite different from what one might expect.  here's his 1983 topps glossy send in card

and his 1981 donruss card

with his red 12 prominently shown.

baker has signed a few cards for me over the years - i don't think i have shown these before.  a 1979 topps

and a 1981 topps

it's too bad that there's no 13/13/13 next year - joe ferguson would have been featured in a similar post. i suppose that there is 1/3/13 or the palindromic 3/1/13, or as i think of it sax/reese/ferguson.

here's to you dusty, i mean 12!