Archive for Bowman
Cardboard Icons’ Collecting Goals for 2013
Posted in Newspaperman with tags 2013, baseball, baseball cards, Bowman, Donruss Elite Series, Goals, New Year, rookie cards, Topps on December 30, 2012 by Cardboard IconsLast year at this time, I set my goals for 2012 and for the most part, I met them all, including the top goal of them all — acquire a 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth rookie card.
Well, as we again prepare to flip the calendar, it’s only right that I take a few moments to set my collecting goals for 2013.
But before I do, I will throw this unofficial one out there: I will not try to match or best the performance I had in 2012. About a week ago, I documented here my top 25 acquisitions of 2012. While I was compiling the list, it was apparent to me that I had gained so many new “trophy” cards in the last calendar year that I might go broke if I tried to do that again.
So if you think I’m going to intentionally try to improve my collection by leaps and bounds again, you’ve got another thing coming. Of course if the right situation or deal should present itself, who am I to say no?
And so it is without further adieu that I hereby set the Cardboard Icons’ Collecting Goals of 2013:
#3
Buy less Bowman Baseball
Some collectors have a hard time saying “no” to the Topps flagship release each year. For me, my weakness is Bowman, especially in each of the last three years. The tag team of Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg had made it hard for me to pass in recent years, and then the additions of Yu Darvish and Yoenis Cespedes made the sets something to chase — at least in my head. Well, heading in 2013, I simply do not see a new guy who stirs the collecting juices like the others mentioned here, so I’m hoping that this fact in and of itself will aid in my goal to not buy Bowman Baseball like it’s super rare. I’m not saying I won’t buy any; I’m just saying I don’t want to feel like I need to buy it all out every time I see it.
#2
Finish The Elite Series (1991-1993) set
I’m getting so close that I can smell it. In 2012, I knocked more than a dozen cards off my need list, including two mammoths — the signed cards of Ryne Sandberg and Cal Ripken Jr. Well, Will Clark is the only inked card standing in my way from finishing the signed cards, and a few 1991 “commons” are all I need to finish this run of flashy chase cards.
#1
Organize the rookie card collection
I have six three-row shoe boxes chock full of rookie/prospect (Bowman) cards; and there are at least another two boxes of cards sitting near by computer containing rookie cards I acquired via CheckOutMyCards.Com over the last two years. This is unacceptable. I have doubles, triples and quadruples of some players; I have rookie cards of hall of famers sitting among cards of guys who never even sniffed The Majors. Bottom Line: I need to get my ish in order. The added benefit of this, of course, is that once I get my stuff in order, I can see what extras I have, so I can purge those and sell them.
What are your 2013 Collecting Goals?
Rookie Card Showcase: 1949 Bowman Johnny Pesky
Posted in Rookie Card Showcase with tags baseball, baseball cards, Boston Red Sox, Bowman, Johnny Pesky, rookie cards on August 30, 2012 by Cardboard Icons
This is part 21 of an ongoing series. To see the rest of this series, click here.
Don’t ask why it took so long for me to own this card.
I’ve been a Red Sox fan since 1988, the year in which I basically had to decide which team I wanted to cheer for.
I knew who Johnny Pesky was.
I knew what he meant to the Red Sox organization.
I knew that I needed this card for my Rookie Card Collection.
Yet it was not until Pesky died on Aug. 13, 2012, that I decided I absolutely had to own the card immediately.
Say what you want about that buying strategy — I actually snapped it up before word of his passing was wide spread so that helped with the cost — but fact is I own it now.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Pesky.
Rookie Card Showcase: 1949 Bowman Satchel Paige
Posted in Rookie Card Showcase with tags baseball, baseball cards, Bowman, Negro Leagues, rookie cards, Satchel Paige, Topps on August 29, 2012 by Cardboard Icons
This is part 21 of an ongoing series. To see the rest of this series, click here.
There are good pitchers.
There are great pitchers.
And then there are legendary pitchers
Satchel Paige fits into the latter category.
Paige is a historical figure in the sports world. He cut his baseball teeth in the Negro Leagues during a time when sports — like the rest of the country — was segregated. He did not join Major League Baseball until he was age 42.
He is a World Series Champion, two-time Major League All-Star and a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In fact, he was the first Negro League player to be elected to The Hall.
One look at his Major League resume, which only spans six years, really does not do Paige justice. This is where the legend kicks in.
He’s credited with hurling 64 straight shutout innings and 21 straight victories. He also tallied 31 victories in 1933.
He’s revered as one of the bet pitchers of all time — Joe DiMaggio called him the best he’d ever faced. One always has to wonder how well he could have fared in the Major Leagues during his entire career.
Anyhow, there are two things I learned recently about Paige.
1) According to Beckett.com, Paige has TWO Topps cards (during his playing days) — 1953 and a 1967 Topps Valenzuela — and only ONE Bowman card — his 1949 Bowman rookie featured hee.
2) He last pitched in MLB in 1965 as a member of the Kansas City Athletics. He started at the age of 58 against the Boston Red Sox. He tossed 3 innings, faced 10 batters, struck out one and allowed one hit — a double to Carl Yastrzemski.
Beckett $10 Card Shop Challenge Entry. Gold auto and a “Perfect” auto
Posted in Newspaperman with tags . Philip Humber, baseball, baseball cards, Beckett, Bowman, Card Shop Challenge, Topps on June 15, 2012 by Cardboard IconsEvery so often over the last two years, Chris Olds over at Beckett has thrown a challenge at collectors to see what they can dig up for a set price point. Most recently, the magazine editor threw this challenge out at the $10 level.
Well, after a crazy busy week at work I finally made my trip to the card shop and managed to gather two cards for the entry. Each of these was located in a binder in which all cards were priced $5.I kinda dig my entry …
Who cares about a Karim Garcia auto, right? Well, did ya notice the color of the ink? That’s gold baby. These gold autos were seeded 1 in 1,509 packs. And while Karim Garcia never turned out to be a major star, he managed to stay relevant for about a decade, and continues to play in his native Mexico.
Before that was Matt Cain, there was Philip Humber. Funny how quickly we forget the great accomplishments of baseball. Dude, a true Humber rookie that is autographed and serial numbered to less than 1,000 copies should not be sitting in a binder for $5 at this point since he hurled one of only 22 perfect games in the history of baseball. But since the card was in the “crap” binder, I thank you, Lefty’s Sports Cards and Collectibles of Burlingame, Calif.
