I’m still in a bit of a lull with
sports-carding as of late.
Maybe there’s
still a bad taste in my mouth because of 2023 Update.
Maybe it’s
because most of the new product out there kind of bores me.
I don’t
know…just kind of meh.
But I
did recently take a trip home to Pittsburgh, and being able to go to card
stores that cater to the teams that I grew up watching, well, it has a tendency
to spark me a little bit. I wasn’t in long, so I didn’t get to explore the card
stores around the area, but I did take a nice Saturday morning trip to the
weekend flea market in the North Versailles suburb of Pittsburgh. I’ve
mentioned Rossi’s a lot of here because I’ve been going there off and on for
years. And it’s a good place to get some baseball cards from vendors.
Or,
well, it was.
I don’t
know if the landscape has changed or what, but there aren’t that many card
dealers at Rossi’s anymore. They seem to lose a dealer each time I go there.
But one of my favorites is still there, and he has a heavy focus on Pirates
cards.
Picked
myself up some of these to add to the Willie Stargell PC.
Yes, there’s some Panini unlicensed product in there… but I’m actually a big fan of the Stargell image on the 2023 Donruss cards, including the Diamon King one that they did. Also, they were all in the Pirates 10-cent box, so I wasn’t going to pass them up.
Also
grabbed these.
I’ve
been really (and I’m getting more and more into) just building Pirates team
sets. While the idea of building entire Topps sets from the 1970s seems
idealistic to me, the reality is that I don’t have the money and/or resources
to do so. But I can build Pirates teams. Last time I was at Rossi’s, this
particular vendor helped me get a leg up on the 1974, 1976 and 1978 Pirates team
sets. The 73 Pirates he had were a little bit worn or very loved, but for
25-cents a piece I didn’t have a problem. I don’t want junk cards, but I’m also
not a stickler for condition in cards that are over 50 years old.
And I
grabbed these.
I’m a
big fan of 1986 Fleer and these guys were all sitting in the 10-cent box, so I
figured I get to building that team set.
Speaking
of…
Yeah, it’s
the wrong Barry you’d want in a 1987 Fleer. But this Barry was the final card I
needed for the 1987 Fleer Pirates team set. It’s a 10-cent card at best, but
after making SportLots purchase after SportLots purchase, after SportsLots
purchase (going on a good 18 months) and forgetting to include the Barry Jones
card…well, I was sure glad to see it sitting in that Pirates box.
Found
this in the dime box too.
I’ve
never been a big Mazeroski collector. I don’t know why. His legend obviously
looms large in Pittsburgh. And his cards from his playing days are certainly
affordable. And, as I said, I needed me a little collecting spark. So, this guy
might be on ComC come Black Friday, getting himself a little early Christmas
present of some Mazeroski cards.
It wasn’t
all sport cards on the trip to Pittsburgh.
I found
this guy sitting in an antique shop.
For
those of you who don’t know, there are four statues that surround PNC Park:
Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski and Willie Stargell. In 2005 the
Pirates did a giveaway of replica versions of those statues. Because I was
living in Buffalo at the time, my brother was kind enough to get my a Stargell
and Clemente statue. The statues look nice…but they aren’t that sturdy. Mine
didn’t survive a 2007 move from Buffalo back to NYC, and I’ve been wanting to right
that wrong ever since. So, I was glad to see the Stargell.
I think
he looks nice there on the writing desk.
Next is the Clemente.
The Pittsburgh trip gave me a nice dose of
cardboard therapy, and shook me out of my doldrums. Since I got back I’ve been
making lists of some Pirates players whom I really want to build a PC of in the
coming months. This weekend I’m looking forward to doing a little bit of online
card shopping, to see whom I can find.
Thanks for reading! Happy Collecting!
