So, as you are probably aware no cards produced before 1933 are technically classified as rookie cards. That said, I have sort of adopted the t206 set as my go-to for many of the early stars of the game, such as Christy Mathewson.
I purchased this ratty Mathewson in 2007. It may have actually been my very first t206 card.
It served as a place holder in my collection until one day I could fond a suitable upgrade. Well, I found it.
Welcome to the collection my new Mathewson, graded a 3 (with subs!) by BVG.
As for the older Mathewson, it already has a new home waiting for it. Hopefully the new owner enjoys it as much as I did.
Perhaps the biggest PC addition to come out of my most-recent COMC Mailday was this 1933 Goudey Carl Hubbell rookie card graded a 4 by Beckett Grading.
The centering is amazing. The back is clean. The surface is fantastic. The price was unbeatable.
Hubbell was a two-time NL MVP, nine-time All Star, a World Series Champion and hurled a no-hitter. He was elected to the Hall of Fame on his third ballot and has his number 11 retired by the Giants organization.
A short, quick Thrift Treasures for you all today. On Presidents Day my wife and I decided to take a “Date Day” and head to a beach-front city about 40 miles from our home. The kids got to stay with grandma, who was lucky enough to have all the grand kids on this day. We decided to grab some coffee and just walk the streets and see what was for sale. The first store we stepped into was an antique store, which was just like all the others I’d been to over the years. Lots of display cases packed with small items from pens to pennants. But in one case the guy had five baseball cards all marked at $25 each. He had one 1909-1911 T206 card — oddly enough it was one that I already owned; one T-207; and then two other cigarette era cards that I could immediately identify. The fifth? This …
Two things immediately popped into my head: I know that set, it’s not as old as the cigarette cards, but from the early 1900s, and I know that name to be that of a Hall of Famer. After a few minutes I decided to buy it.
The Jennings is a 1919-1921 w514 card. It’s not super valuable, but it’s in pretty good shape considering it’s nearly a century old. The bottom corner as you can tell is damaged. It’s actually been torn before but repaired on the back with a small piece of tape. There also is some tape in the top left corner from where it previously had been adhered to a sheet in an album. The price point was about right, if not slightly under priced. I figured it is a nice memento to remember the trip by. It’s also fun to think that I rescued this from the store in a city where many would rather spend the day at the beach than watching baseball, let along collecting items related to the game.
Jennings is shown here as the manager of the Detroit Tigers. Jennings played int he late 1800’s and early 1900s before becoming the manager of the Tigers, and later the New York Giants. He left the game in 1925 after managing his second year with New York and then died less than three years later. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1945.
April 6 marked the first Saturday of the month, which of course meant that one of the local community colleges was having its monthly flea market.
I made the jaunt, despite the occasional sprinkle, and it paid off. I spent about 90 minutes at the flea market, spent $9 on four cards and an old piece of cloth.
Ready to see the loot?
One dealer had a box of cards with everything marked at $1 each. Not bad. Had some solid mid 70s stars in decent condition, and some 1951/1952 Bowman commons. But I’ve got my fill of those. He also had a bunch of cards for local teams such as the A’s, Giants, Raiders and Niners.
I could have bought more, but I played it safe and went with these four: 1992 Pacific Picks The Pros Gold joe Montana, 1997 Inscriptions Jerry Rice insert, 1998 Studio Silver Press Proof Rickey Henderson, and 1952 Topps Gene Hermanski Red back.
The Hermanski was a no-brainer, the others seemed like good cards to flip via COMC.
A short while later I came across a dealer who had some cards at his booth. Nothing real special. But in his display case he had a 1914 B18 Ed Grant Blanket. I asked how much, he said $5. I couldn’t open my wallet fast enough. The seller said he had a bunch more earlier in the day but sold them for $10 each. At least I got one to keep me warm.
It’s been a long time since Bay Area football has been this good.
For about a decade, football fans in the San Francisco Bay Area have been subjected to sub-par football on both sides of the Bay in the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders.
Raiders fans have been Raider fans. Every year calling their shot that they will return to the Super Bowl and each year they fall short of even making the playoffs. Good drama for sure, but still horrible ball.
And the Niners? People hated Alex Smith. They wanted him gone. He was no Joe Montana. Or Steve Young. Or even Jeff Garcia. Hell, he was barely one rung above Jim Drukenmiller.
But then things changed.
The Niners hired Jim Harbaugh. They began to win. Alex Smith stopped throwing dumb passes for pick sixes. And the defense started knocking fools out.
And suddenly everyone is wearing the red and gold with pride again.
It’s interesting to see what winning can do to a fanbase, no matter how serious the fans are.
But even though it has been 10 years since San Francisco has even made it to the playoffs, this feeling is not something I have forgotten.
THIS is how things were when I was growing up here.
I’ll say this right now: I don’t call myself a Niner fan. I don’t pretend to be. I don’t go around puffing my chest out saying “I have been there from the beginning.”
When time came to choose favorite teams when I was 10 or so, I chose the Buffalo Bills. I loved Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas. I loved their status as perennial Super Bowl contenders who always got their asses handed to them when it was crunch time.
Hell, I even had a bitch-ass physical education teacher — a huge Cowboys fans — make fun of me in front of the entire locker room while I wore a Bills hat a day after the Cowboys defeated the Bills in Super Bowl XXVII. He proceeded to say “Bills, huh? You know what “BILLS” stands for right? Boy ILove Losing Super Bowls. HAHAHA”
Dude, I was 12.
Jerk.
Anyway. While I claimed the Bills as my team, I distinctly remember the atmosphere here when the Niners were king. Kids, parents and even teachers were into football. In elementary school we actually spent an entire class making posters in favor of the Niners as they prepared to play the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII. Of course they won.
And years before that, I remember having my first ever Big Mac with a Coke. Joe Montana was on the cup, and Ronnie Lott was on my first true trading card, which hailed from a set given away at McDonald’s.
The Niners were EVERYWHERE. Proof that football is a big deal here … when the teams are winning.
And from an outsider prospective, they call this Bandwagon Fanaticism.
There’s probably some truth in that. But what you have to realize is that lots of people my age (31) grew up here in an era when the Niners were second to none. Whether they were true fans or not, the people here always ended up cheering for San Francisco anyway.
And as the Niners prepare to take on the New York Giants in the biggest 49ers game in probably 16 years, they are all cheering for them again. Even Raiders fans, who probably wouldn’t admit it you asked them.
I leave you with this. A gem from the 1980s. A song I heard A LOT when I was a kid but completely forgot until earlier this year when my wife — who is not a sports fan — started singing it one day after we watched a game.
cardboardicons.com 