Recent Purchases : In Which I Use Valuable Blog Space to Brag

 

 

I don’t usually like blog posts like the one I’m about to do.

            The show and tell ones.

            I mean it’s cool seeing someone put cards on Twitter or the other socials.

            I worry stuff like this is bragging.

            But it’s kind of saving me some time this week, so I apologize.

            I’m working on a novel. It’s about Wiffle ball, baseball cards, and middle-age men behaving badly…and that’s all I’ll say about it. But I don’t get much time to write. I give myself about two hours each morning, from 5:00AM to 7:00AM to get work done. Been doing that for about fifteen or sixteen years now. It was waaaaaayyyy easier when I was younger. I move a little slower at almost 48…or at least the mind does. So, getting as far in the novel as I want to has been slow going. Add finding time for a blog on baseball cards….

            Anyway...

            At least I don’t beat myself up for falling asleep on the couch at 9PM anymore.

            I’ve been having that quantity vs. quality debate with myself this year. I’ve done a couple of posts on it. And, other than the requisite purchase of 2022 Topps Series 1, I think I’ve been holding myself to the standard low these first three months of 2022.

            Month three?

            Already?

            This came for me at the end of January.

            I have a fraught relationship with Ben Roethlisberger. I wrote about it HERE. In short, on the one hand Big Ben is a Steelers legend. Probably one of the best to play for the franchise. He’s on the Steelers Mount Rushmore, if you want to play that game.  But Big Ben has also been accused, not once, but twice, of sexual assault. It made being a fan of his tough, and I essentially wasn’t for the duration of his playing career.

            I was more a fan of this guy.

            That might’ve had something also to do with the fact that I lived in the state of New York for the entirety of Ben Roethlisberger’s playing career in Pittsburgh. I’ve seen a ton more Giants games over the last two decades.

            But feeling what I feel about Ben, I decided that when I was buying Steeler cards that I needed to add him the collection.  And doing so meant getting his rookie card. The closer we got to the end of the 2021 football season, and the clearer it became that Ben Roethlisberger was going to retire, I figure strike while I can before the card became too steep for my wallet.

            So, I grabbed the rookie on ComC.         

            I also recently added this guy to my collection.

            Yeah, it’s not mint.

            But I’m probably never going to own anything mint of Henry Aaron from his playing days. And the 1973 Henry Aaron was affordable. Personally, I really love this card. And getting it puts me two cards away from collecting all of Henry’s base cards from the 70s.  I had written a blog post a few weeks ago about wanting to collect Henry Aaron. I think it’s possible to some extent. So I’m pretty excited having that 1972 in my collection.

            I added some cards of some newer players I’m collecting.

            I know, I know, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Yordan Alvarez and Luis Robert.

            I might as well add Mike Trout to my PC.

            But hold on…

            I do collect Vlady Jr. and Yordan Alvarez. They’re great young players. But I do have other reasons. When I got back into collecting in 2019, Vlady Jr. and Yordan were the buzz names going around the sport. I instantly equated them, not only with my return to collecting, but my return to watch baseball in general after a five-year hiatus of not watching the sport. So they both mean a lot to me in that capacity.

            As for Luis Robert…well…I just think he’s going to be a great player and I love what I’ve seen so far. The cards that I purchased are from the online exclusive Topps All-Rookie set that came out in 2021. Not only do the cards feature three players I collect, but there was another attraction to me getting them.

            The 1964 design.

            Ever have one of those designs you were always meh about, and then one day it’s like, where have you been all of my life? That’s me with 1964 Topps. I don’t think I ever considered it as a collector when I was a kid. If I came across it, it didn’t leave much of an impression.

            But now??

            I can’t seem to get enough of it. You put a player on a 1964 design, and I’m giving it some attention. 1964 cards themselves, I’d like to get me some.

            I do have one card from the set.

            It’s way off center and a touch beat-up.

            But it’s a 1964 Willie Stargell.

            It’s his first solo card.

            It’s probably my favorite card that I have in my collection.

            And It’ll stay that way until I get me a 1966 Roberto Clemente card.

            Those Topps All-Rookie Cards were from another ComC purchase, along with the Henry Aaron card.

            And these.

            Anyone who reads this knows what a sucker I am for players on designs that they weren’t originally on.

            I think I’ve beat that point into the ground.

            And the 1975 Yordan design and 1990 Luis Robert slap….as the kids say.

            Do the kids still say that?

            If you’re anything like me, when you buy current packs or current hobby boxes, you probably have a snowballs-chance-in-hell of getting any inserts you actually want to own. I seem to consistently get Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves inserts. And they’re two teams who if I never saw play again, it would be too soon. So with that I usually have to go on the secondary market to get the inserts that I actually want.  And because Topps is doing it’s 35-anniversary schtick with the 1987 Topps design…I’m going to be wanting a lot of inserts.

            To start with I grabbed these.

            I don’t know what will happen with Mr. Rodolfo Castro, but he’s already an MLB record-breaker by hitting a home run in his first five at bats. And it’s always nice to see a Pirates rookie.

            And Mr. Tim Anderson is another guy I collect. Between him, Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, and Lucas Giolito…I guess I’m kind of a de facto White Sox fan.

 

Thanks for reading! Happy Collecting!

 

NEXT FRIDAY:  I’m going back to 1986…Topps again.  I’ve slagged 1986 Topps off on here…but I’m starting to get some mixed feelings that I need to work through.