Breaking up is hard to do

For a short time I wondered which vintage set I would complete first: 1956 Topps, or 1961 Golden Press. 

This set was never a priority, just something I've been plugging away at, bit by bit, because I thought the cards were very appealing and undervalued. There was a chance I would complete this set first without trying too hard, because it's only 33 cards. Basically, Golden Press selected the 32 greatest players of the first half of the 20th century*, plus Manager John McGraw. 

*Ted Williams was not included, presumably because he'd just retired - or perhaps it was a licensing issue. 

Here's what I have as of today:

One more card would put me at exactly 2/3 completion. These are the cards I need:

Ruth, Gehrig, and DiMaggio??? Uggghhh. The only low-hanging fruit left is Baker. Or maybe Dean. 

As much as I love this set, priorities have shifted and collecting focus has narrowed as a result. 

I still plan to finish the 1956 Topps set. I'm about 40 cards away and a good chunk of those are team cards, league presidents, and the two checklists. All of the non-players (and most of the remaining players) are much more expensive that I realized, even in low grade. I could understand the checklist - most kids wrote on them or threw them out. I could understand Will Harridge, he's card #1. 

But why is the White Sox team card $50+, graded or ungraded?!?!

My collection is just about where I want it, in that I've sold or traded nearly everything that had more financial value than sentimental value. If I'm going to tackle those pesky team cards and miscellany, '61 Golden Press will have to go. 

I can put together another consignment order, ship it out to 4 Sharp corners, and have my money in time for Black Friday if I send them out this week. But which ones do I part with?

"Jimmy" Foxx is the only Red Sox single, so that's an easy choice for the 'keeper' pile. 

I've got a lot of Giants and Athletics, (obviously from before their Bay Area era.) Definitely want to keep one from each team. Carl Hubbell and Lefty Grove are Mint 9s, so they'll stay. Then it's a tough call between Nap Lajoie, Mickey Cochrane, and Al Simmons. 

The rest of the 9's - George Sisler, Charlie Gehringer, and Pie Traynor - should probably go in the 'sell' pile, since they're the best chance I have to make any decent money. But I might keep one of them. 

Rogers Hornsby and Walter Johnson are arguably the biggest names in my set build. If they were a grade higher I'd have to consider selling them, but I'll hold onto them for now. 

The catcher cards are nice, and I'm tempted to hold on to either Cochrane or Gabby Hartnett. Still haven't completely committed to collecting catchers though. 

After looking over the entire collection I've decided to sell 2/3 of my 2/3, which means these seven will stay:

 

Once the other fourteen sell, I'll split the funds evenly between Christmas gifts and '56 singles. 

There might be another surprise or two on the way before then ;)

Thanks for reading!



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The Clemente Curse ?

I'm somewhat adjusting to life without my wife. It's much more hectic, and there's hardly room to relax and enjoy my collection. But it still serves a purpose in my life. 

Still, I do plan to functionally retire from card collecting after this year. I'll always love the hobby but the new stuff is overpriced, the products are uninspiring, and the players are increasingly difficult to cheer for - with some exceptions, of course. 

And so, I'm in the middle of mapping out an exit strategy. Tying up some loose ends and putting a bow on the whole collection. Eyeing stuff I like while prioritizing long-term investments. And, given our current political climate, I've turned my attention toward trailblazing, barrier-breaking legends like Roberto Clemente. 

Years ago, before COMC destroyed itself with greed, I purchased a 1968 Topps "Bob" Clemente card on the site for just under $20. '68 Topps was the first vintage set I ever saw and therefore it had always been my go-to. If I could, I would have accumulated every HOFer in the '68 set, but considering the Ryan and Bench RCs command hundreds apiece even in average condition, that idea was quickly scrapped. 

I'm an outlier among collections with my appreciation for the burlap design - and most old-school collectors loathe grading as well. But here's why I love it. The ungraded Clemente card I bought from COMC was diamond cut. I sold it right away, at a loss of about $5. 

Strike one.

One other Clemente card I purchased on COMC was sold for a profit. But I really wish I hadn't.

I somehow scooped up this Tier One bat relic for $12.99 on the site in 2018.  For some reason that escapes me, I flipped the card for $32.00. $19 profit, yay. Relics are a dime a dozen... but not Roberto Clemente relics, you idiot. 

Strike two.

Lesson learned. Buy graded vintage, screw COMC, don't sell anything until the girls are ready to go to college (or if the US economy crumbles and I need quick cash) 

Longtime readers of this blog may recall that I cashed in a Mike Trout RC and had the option to buy a 1960 Topps Mickey Mantle (BVG 6) or a Roberto Clemente 1971 Topps (PSA 7). I chose Mantle. That seemed to make the most sense. 

I chose wrong. 

The Mick converts to a PSA 4-5, which is about a $600 card. The Roberto '71 sells far less frequently - and for as much as $1300?!?!?

I'll call that a foul ball since the '60 Mantle is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, during my Summer of Slabs sale of the Alex Ovechkin BGS 9.5 RC, I considered upgrading the Mantle and acquiring a Clemente. 

And that's when I spied this beauty: 

This was available for $1500 - an exorbitant amount for a single card but about the same cost as a '71 Clemente PSA 7 and a Mantle '60 PSA 5 combined. I could squeeze it into the budget if I get this instead. It's a high-grade card of an iconic player, from the year his team somehow beat Mantle's Yanks in the World Series.

The website offering this card did not take PayPal (booooo!) but they did have a layaway payment plan (yaaayy!) so I swallowed hard and added this to my order. While we negotiated the payment structure he pulled the cards and realized... he'd sold the Clemente at a recent card show. 

Strike three. 

"Is there anything you would like instead?" The seller asked.

Yes. Yes there was. 

And it's going to be the capstone of my collection. 

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Collecting Cards

We met 25 years ago, discussing hockey in a message board. We got married 20 years ago, just as the 2004-05 NHL lockout was coming to an end. Hockey brought us together, but lots of more important things kept us together for my entire adult life. 

She did love the Devils though. My sister in law put together this collage, all the pictures are hers. That's Ken Daneyko at one of the many Devils meet and greets the family attended. In the center is a picture of the family before attending Game 2 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals. Di insisted on going despite being very pregnant with our second child. I stayed home with our first. Of course the game went to Overtime. She gave birth the next day. We watched Game 3 from her hospital bed. 

At one of those Devils Dinners (before Di and I met) she was at a table with Bob Carpenter.

Fun fact: Carpenter has been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.. but Martin Brodeur has not. 

Carpenter asked "who's your favorite hockey player?" likely assuming she'd say him, or at least one of his teammates.

"Trevor Linden" she replied.

Di has over a dozen NHL jerseys, including this authentic 1992-era Canucks sweater

She was always a Trevor fan, before she even liked the Devils. She once wrote to Hockey Illustrated asking the editor in chief why he wasn't featured. She cited reasons like being the youngest captain in the NHL, a rising star, and a top two-way forward. The EIC wrote her back and sent a regional cover. 

While she lived with her parents, Di collected hockey cards along with jerseys and magazines. Aside from a brief L.A. Rams fandom during Jim Everett's peak years, hockey was the only sport she liked. 

She had a knack for pulling Steve Yzerman and Curtis Joseph inserts. 

We sold the Run for the Cup insert for $570 three years ago.

These massive hits are still here. I don't plan on selling anything out of her collection - except maybe her Theo Fleury stuff. She soured on him pretty quick. Bummer she didn't collect Marc-Andre Fleury, he's much more likeable. But "Flower" debuted right before the lockout. 

Once we got married, she stopped collecting hockey cards and saved every spare penny for our first home. She was always financially responsible, and we didn't have a decent enough income for the fun things we used to do before - dinners, movies, hockey games, card shows, concerts - until recently.

In recent years, her favorite bands were Muse and Nothing But Thieves. A few days ago I washed and folded about a dozen of her t-shirts/hoodies of just these two bands. We saw Muse together four times, and NBT twice. 

Before she got sick I was able to make small purchases at Target and on Sportlots. I even made it to a fairly big card show shortly after she was diagnosed. There have been local shows since, including one in a mall right after my birthday. She wasn't able to go to any of those.
 

Since I was about eight years old, sports cards have been a constant in my life. A comfort in hard times. But there's no way that retail therapy can get me through this. I'm planning to finish the 1956 Topps Set for my girls' college fund, but not much else seems worthwhile hobby-wise. I might pick up some hockey cards here and there as a reminder of our first years together - though Di wasn't really keeping up with current players after our daughters were born.  

I'm still collecting cards though. Too many. 

I don't want any more of these for a while. 

Thank you all for your sympathy and well wishes. I'll talk to you again soon.

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Trap Game

Does anyone remember the episode of Perfect Strangers where Balki picked every NFL winner based on his own unique perspective? I was about eight years old when that episode came out - and I can't find the specific clip because no one over 35 uploads TV shows I guess - but I distinctly remember Larry yelling at him to pick THE BRRROOOWWNNNSAH??? OR THE PACKERS? THE BROWNNNSSSSAAH? OR THE PACKERS???

I thought of that episode every time Cleveland and Green Bay played one another. Until now. 

Looks like we're going 3- and - ohhh shit...

Btw, Balki Bartokomous and Brandon Perna predicted this. THE BROOWWWWNNNSSS???? 

Tribute to Mrs. Collector coming this Friday.

Thanks for reading!



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My wife passed away yesterday. I don't have any other words right now. Maybe soon.

Just wanted to update you. 

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