About a decade ago when I started to seriously collect vintage rookie cards condition was not a priority for me.  Rounded corners, creases, ink, etc.  None of it really mattered.  All it did was make the card more affordable for me.

Truthfully, I still operate this way in some cases.  But I also like to upgrade rookie cards — key rookie cards — when the opportunity presents itself.

Such was the case with the 1970 Topps Thurman Munson rookie card.  Munson is one of those players whose legend lives on.  A stud players who died far too young, one who has a strong following, one that seems to get stronger over the years as more people appreciate him.

I bought my first Thurman Munson Topps rookie for about $30.  I might have over-paid for the condition, but having the card was important for me.  And then a few years later I was able to acquire the Canadian version, the 1970 O-Pee-Chee rookie.  Again, there was much to be desired in terms of condition, but the opportunity was there and I jumped on it.

So for years, these two Thurman Munson rookies sat in my collection, filling the void for the Hall of Famer.

Then opportunity knocked again a few weeks ago to make a huge upgrade for my collection for a fairly decent price.  I unloaded a bunch of low-priced stuff on COMC.com and was able to acquire this gorgeous old-label Beckett Vintage Grading (BVG 6.5) copy with fantastic subgrades, 8,8,8.5, 6. The low grade is on corners.

This card arrived from COMC over the weekend.  Now that I am able to examine it in hand, I can see that the corner grade was given not because the corners aren’t sharp, but because they are a tad white — probably from sitting in a card saver without a penny sleeve for too long.

I have more stuff from COMC that I’ll be showcasing in different ways in the coming days.

You can see more Rookie Card Upgrade posts HERE.

This entry was posted on February 24, 2015 at 10:47 am and is filed under Rookie Card Upgrade with tags baseball, baseball cards, rookie cards, Thurman Munson, Topps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.