Let's Continue the Countdown 1962 Mantle!

Marching right along to the 1962 Topps Mickey Mantle. I quite like the design of this set. The wood grain look really works on these cards.

I got this one slabbed at 3 which is pretty decent. Don't remember what I paid (and too lazy to check to be honest) but I'm sure it was a great deal! His 1963 card he has the same look just looking the other direction. Wonder if it is the same pic just reverse negative or whatever the correct term is, anyone out there who has photography skills know? Although looking again the backgrounds look different. Either photoshopped or Mickey Mantle made that face for pictures a lot (and by a lot I mean at least twice over his playing career). These are the things I think about after 12 hour work days.

On an unrelated note I havent bought any 2013 Topps and I might not. I'm leaning towards waiting for Chrome to come out and then going for a case of that instead. We'll see but thats the current plan.

Also, Thanks for reading and I hope you guys and gals are enjoying a walk through Mickey Mantle's career in cards!

1963 Mickey Mantle!!

This year as all of you baseball collector's know the 63 set was used for Topps Heritage. It's a cool design with the 2 photos on the front. I actually only currently own one original card from this set and you guessed it, it's the Mickey Mantle!

It's nice and creased but overall its clean so I'm happy. I didn't pay a lot for it so also a good thing. The Mick kinda looks like hes day dreaming about home runs or bunnies or something.

How do you guys display your nicer cards? I know I've seen some really awesome stuff in the blogosphere and part of the fun is being able to admire it in your own home. My mom's husband made this card holder for me this week (picking it up this weekend) I think it will look real nice in the guest room to display the cards!

The card in the middle is just one graded card I had for measurement purposes. Can't wait til I get it to properly display the shininess and vintageness of the cards!

Also I will quote my gf in this article she recently said "I like the sun and I like bunnies"

Hard to disagree.. Hard to disagree

Thanks for reading

A PWE from Jaybarkerfan!

Wes randomly sent me a PWE and I've finally scanned the great contents. Wes is one of the more generous bloggers out there and holds some great card drafts!

Hes offering a oddball one with some cool cards (I've already claimed a spot) go and check it out!

 

Chad Durbin literally just re-signed with the Phillies.. apparently Wes can tell the future as well!

I'll never be upset with a vintage Philly and a Wild Thing in my mailbox.

Thanks again for the cards!

1964 Mickey Mantle!!

I'm enjoying this countdown immensely! I hope all of you are as well. Thanks to my new and old readers alike for coming along for the ride! This is the 1964 portion of the journey.

Mick was injured in 1963. According to the very orange back of this card "Mick was hampered by several serious injuries in 63" The card itself just has one crease thats visible but the rest of the card is quite nice. The set isn't nearly as popular as 65. Probably cause the design isn't nearly as cool.

I haven't picked up any of the new Topps this year. I don't really plan on chasing the set. We'll see how I feel about later on down the line when some other sets are released.

Just a quick post this evening, Thanks for reading!

1965 Mickey Mantle!!

It never gets old writing these posts (good thing cause we are counting down to 51). The 65 set is a really well designed set. I like it way more then the last few years of Topps products (for whatever that is worth).

Check it out!!

The copy I got is a bit beat up but thats ok. The nicer ones were going for way more then I wanted to spend. I'm glad the picture itself is clean just a few creases. The back of the card tells me "In the 1964 World Series Mickey crashed three home runs to give him a career mark and an alltime record of 18!" And yes that how alltime is written. Impressive to hit 18 home runs in the world series. Many players don't do that over several seasons! I wish we could take the talent of guys like Hank Aaron and Mickey Mantle and insert them in the game today with all the new technology and see how they do. Personally I think they would do great but it would be more then fun to watch!

Thanks for reading.. 1964 is on deck!

1966 Mickey Mantle!

This is offically my 100th post! I started this blog last August and already hit 100! I am real happy with the way its going and the number of followers etc etc. Thanks everyone for all the support!

I've completed my Mantle collection already! I'm super excited to get the last few pieces in the mail in the coming week. I will continue counting down to 1951!

Here is the 1966 card!

The picture is eerily similar to the 1968 card. Since its exactly the same. At least Topps was consistent. I like the simplistic design of the card although mine is a little beat up. The Mick looks real focused in front of the batting cage in the background. Must've been an intense warm up session. Stay tuned for 1965!

Thanks for reading!

1967 Mickey Mantle!!

Since, I am counting down my collection, the next obvious choice is 1967! According to the back of the card "Mantle rocked 7 home runs in a 5 game tear last year" That's a pretty good five game run. The card itself is just a portrait shot. Not as exciting as some of his other cards, but regardless its still a vintage Mickey Mantle!

His fake auto on the card doesn't look like his real auto. The M's are all wrong. I wonder who at Topps signed it for the print run. The card itself looks decent some typical wear for the old cards that were handled a lot (that sounds wrong).

On an unrelated note if you are interested in Magic the Gathering cards I just started selling mine on ebay. Started out with a few listings and I'll add more weekly til they're gone! Also if you have any requests let me know and I can send you a list of cards I have!

Ebay link

Thanks for reading!

My Mickey Mantle Collection 1968!!

The 1968 was actually the first card I acquired for this Mantle collection. I quite like the design of the cards and if I ever decide to chase a vintage set this one might be the choice for the eye appeal. Although I do not have the Johnny Bench or Nolan Ryan from that set.

Check out the Mantle !!

It's a bit creased up and that shows up real nice on my scanner. The card in person you can really only see the creases in the right light. It's a nice screwdown case but I'm considering getting all the mantles graded (regardless of grade) just for consistency's sake and display purposes. We'll see I'm not in any rush. I hope you guys and gals like seeing the vintage cause I'm not nearly done yet!!

Whats your favorite Mantle card?

Thanks for reading!

My Mickey Mantle Collection 1969

Earlier this week I've been hinting at some monsters that are coming! I've gotten a few of them, I will start my series of posts containing purely Mickey Mantles!!!! My goal (not completed yet!) is to get his main card (not All star or shared picture cards) from every year of his playing career. I want the 52 Topps but if I have to settle for the 51 Bowman I won't be too upset.. we will see gotta be patient for that one.

Lets start off counting backwards! First we have his 1969 Topps Card!

Condition wise the card is really nice except for the obvious miscut. It's cool to see his career stats on the back of this card. Batted .298, 536 Home Runs, with 1509 RBI's. At that time he was 3rd on the All time home run list! He is currently 16th!

This is the Yellow variation on the card. I do not think I will chase the white since its rarity the price on it would be a bit much.

Thanks for reading!!

Trade with Joe Average Collector!

I recently completed a swap with Jason from Joe Average Collector. He sent me group break cards along with a whole lotta extras (fyi your package will be sent on Saturday its ready to go just have to go the post office).

Group Break goodness!!!

I got real lucky in and hit an awesome silver parallel of Ryan Howard's rookie card! Its quite obvious I like Ryan Howard from my previous posts so I was real happy to see this one!

These cards were part of the trade portion. The OTHER (although technically he was first) Frank Thomas. Had to include some all timer Eagles cards. The Minister of Defense Reggie White and Jaws (who I still think would be a good GM but I don't think he'll go for that) I like his analysis he really knows his stuff in my opinion. And Herman Edwards, the man who returned the fumble at the Miracle at the Meadowlands. Oh yea and he coached and stuff.

Other group break cards. Hit one of the other other Frank Thomas (you know the one I collect). I pictured both Billy Wagner and Brad Lidge.. Funny how they were both Astros closers and then both Phillies closers. My favorite card of this bunch is the bottom middle. It clearly says Pat Burrell on the card and that is clearly not Pat Burrell. That's Scott Rolen. I put a Burrell card next to it for comparison's sake. Love the error! Way to go Stadium Club!

Thanks for the trade/group break!

Trade with Coot Veal and the Vealtones!

I got an email from fellow blogger Coot Veal and The Veal Tones. He said (in so many words) thank god someone collects Phillies cards I can give them to you and you can give me cards I actually want! I said hey I got some decent cards lets do this! We came to a rather quick agreement and sent a whole lotta random stuff which is awesome! I like exclamation points at 10pm!

I didn't nearly scan all the cards he sent. It was way more then I had the patience for so I went for themes. This was the Frank Thomas portion. I will have them cataloged shortly to my ever growing list! The Diamond King card is really sweet, but my favorite card of the bunch is the 1992 Topps Gold Winners card! I thought these were amazing when I was a kid and always wanted one!

Here is the Phillies portion. I love me some well loved 1959 Topps Wally Post. And look at that mini mini of Wes Chamberlain. As a kid I went to a lot of games at Veteran's Stadium and I always liked how the announcer said Wessssss Chamberlaiiin!!

Onto the Hits and more vintage portion of the trade. The Utley relic is real cool. I like them a lot on the Topps 60 design from last year. The Gran Hamner puts me one card closer to the 1955 Bowman Phillies Team set. The Burrell Patch is Manu but it still real thick and nice looking. The Connie Ryan is a nice card from 1952 bowman (I've yet to populate a list for this set but I believe this is only my 2nd card so yes!!!)

Thanks for the trade! I will have to find some more Tigers cards for our next one!

Some Random Five Star!

I believe with these last 2 cards I have completed my Five Star buying for this year. I really like the cards as I've shared quite a few. The book card I have displays really well on the shelf with my other memorabilia type stuff. The last piece for my PC of Phillies Five Star is this card.....

The Mike Schmidt Platinum base out of 10! I traded away the Kemp so I had to replace it with the greatest Philly of all time! Went a little Schmidt crazy on this set (4 autos numbered out of 25,55,97 and 49) and now this! The residue is on the cover not the card.

I also picked up a Clayton Kershaw auto..

This is numbered out of 97 so its not quite as nice as the one I traded away but its cool. I plan on hanging onto this one for at least a little while. He's a pretty good pitcher and the blue swatch is pleasing to the eyes.

Still awaiting some monster pickups, a couple are actually at the post office but I can't pick em up til Saturday! Can't wait to have em in hand!

Thanks for reading!

My Latest 52 High Number!

I just received in the mail on Saturday another High Number for my 1952 Topps Phillies Team set. I only have ONE more to track down. Karl Drews how you haunt my dreams!

Check it out!

I'm pretty happy with the condition this card is in. I've been getting most of the team set in the 4-6 range. I'm probably going to grade the other Phillies for this set just to keep everything consistent. (I don't have any other vintage graded Phillies besides 52 Topps) Russ Meyer lasted 13 years in the major leagues. His best season was in 1949 when he went 17-8 with a 3.08 ERA. Looking at his stats he seemed like a pretty decent pitcher to have on the team. I like the green background on the card really makes it jump out!

Quick Teaser.. I started a new quest and I have some monster cards coming in the next few weeks! Can't wait til I get them and can share with all of you!

The Iron Man!!!

Recently, I've been going after Hall of Famer rookie cards for what I deem to be good prices. I was able to purchase this one for under 10 dollars, which is awesome!

Unfortunately, Bob Bonner and Jeff Schneider are not in the hall of fame, but some guy name Cal Ripken Jr made it. As every baseball fan knows he is the Iron Man for his amazing consecutive games played streak. The record was broken on September 6th 1995 when he played his 2,131st consecutive game. I was lucky enough to be at game 2,127 at Camden Yards! His streak ended at 2,632 games. I doubt this record will ever be broken. A player would have to play every game for 16+ years to tie his record.

I have his autograph on a different card and now his rookie. Just need a relic card of his to complete the mini collection!

Thanks for reading!

Trade with Plaschke!

I recently completed my first trade with Greg over at Plaschke Thy Sweater is Argyle. I posted some Dodger goodness and a trade was born! He hooked me up with a plethora of hits for the Phillies and Flyers.

Here's a trio of relics from Chase Utley and Cole Hamels. All new ones to add to my "Phillies Hits!" (thats the official name). Here's hoping to a big bounce back year for Chase and continued success for Hamels after signing the big contract!

The Bob Boone is a nice looking card from 75 Topps! I know I didn't have that one so that puts me one step closer to my vintage Phillies goals. The JVR auto is a nice looking card from Certified numbered out of 99. The Papelbon is a cool looking dual auto, even though he's in a red sox uniform I still like it. The Steve Carlton relic is one really nice one from Gypsy Queen. This will fit right in with my other Carlton Relic cards!

What put the trade over the top for me personally was the Matt Read rookie auto! I had been looking to add him and Courterier but I don't want to spend a fortune to do it. Very happy to add his autograph and I hope hes a cornerstone of the Flyers for years to come!

Thanks for the trade!

First Trade of the Year!

I just received my first official trade of the blogging year. I completed the deal with a brand new blog out in our blogging world The Underdog Card Collector. I sent him a smattering of Padres cards and he sent me back some cool Phillies cards.

The Own The Game Jimmy Rollins card is pretty sweet. The card on the lower right is commemorating the terrible events of September 11th. It was from a game between the Braves and Phillies on September 17th 2001.

The next trio of cards is from 1969 Topps. I don't have my want list populated yet for my team sets from the 60s but I know these are all new!

Thanks for the trade, hope to trade again in the future!

Just Rickey being Rickey!

I recently acquired another Hall of Famer to my rookie card collection. I got a nice deal on the ebay. I don't think the seller listed it well cause it was 127 1980 Topps cards including the Rickey Henderson.. and I won it for 5 dollars. I'm quite happy to snag this Rookie at a more then reasonable price. The condition isn't perfect but eh who cares its got character. Its just Rickey being Rickey (Manny did not invent that saying).

I loved Henderson's speech when he broke the stolen bases record and said " Lou Brock was the symbol of great base stealing. But today, I'm the greatest of all time." Yes you are Rickey!

If you want to see it here it is on youtube

Another Rickey tidbit:

In the early 1980s, the Oakland A’s accounting department was freaking out. The books were off $1 million. After an investigation, it was determined Rickey was the reason why. The GM asked him about a $1 million bonus he had received and Rickey said instead of cashing it, he framed it and hung it on a wall at his house.

If you have some free time just google Rickey Henderson quotes a nice way to be entertained!

Thanks for reading!

1995 Score Platinum Team Sets!!

Back in 1995 I was a youngster and my brother and my dad and I went on a quest to get every one per pack Gold Rush card from Score Series 1 and 2 so we could get the mail in only platinum team sets (only 4500 made of each!). If I remember correctly (Dan correct me if I am wrong) we ended up getting 4 team sets (which I believe you have somewhere) (or they are in the basement). I did a quick ebay search and stumbled upon 4 team sets for a reasonable price. Including the Orioles (Cal Ripken) and the White Sox (The Big Hurt!) and of course my favorite team the Phillies.

Check out the Shiny Platinumness!

 

I really like the way these cards look in a nine pocket pages. Maybe when I finish some of my vintage quests I will put some effort into completing an entire platinum set. That would look pretty next to my other shiny cards. None of these are for trade I can't break up the team sets. Considering it was 1995 these are some fancy cards. Whats your favorite mail in or insert from the 90s? I know some of them back then were really crazy (Thanks Pacific!) 

 

2 New additions to 1952 Topps Phillies Set

That was a really long winded blog post title, but it's true. Over the last week I was able to score 2 new cards from 1952 Topps, both in pretty good shape. I am getting within striking distance of finishing off the 20 card Phillies team set. I still have 2 high numbers left, but I have my eye on one of them at a fair price and will just have to continue searching for the other one.

Check em out!!

Graded PSA 5 which I think is pretty solid. The colors are on the card are still really sharp after all of these years. Curt Simmons had a 20 year career in the pros starting at age 18 in 1948! In 1954 he was 14-15 and had 21 complete games! That's crazy to pitch so many through and only get 14 wins to show for it.

This is currently my highest Graded 1952 topps card. (I have 6 that are ungraded I'm debating getting them all graded eventually) I feel its worth the couple extra bucks especially when buying online to know that is not a reprint. Andy Hansen's career wasn't nearly as impressive as Curt Simmons. He lasted 9 years in the majors and his best year was in 1948 when his ERA was sub 3.

Thanks for reading!

As always if you want to trade check out my want lists and trade bait and maybe we can work something out!

Relic Five Star Phillies Set!

I recently completed my mini quest to get all 3 Phillies relics from Five Star. I wanted a little bit of a challenge so I decided to go after the gold ones numbered out of 25. I have a few posts featuring Five Star. I love how much cheaper singles are then boxes. Maybe when I hit the lottery I'll bust cases and cases of it but not anytime soon.

Check em out!!!

The three Phillies aces! I'm hoping for a big year this year like in 2011!

I'm excited the Flyers are coming back finally and Spring Training is just around the corner!

Michael Jordan Rookie!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost.. I didn't quite get THE rookie card. I haven't been able to find the 86 Fleer at a price I'm a comfortable with. I went for the next best thing...

I just watched one Graded 9 go for more then double what I paid for this beauty. The card is real sharp and looks great next to the Pippen rookie I already have! As everyone knows Michael Jordan was really good at basketball. Maybe even the best ever, and he has really cool shoes. This card is definitely a cornerstone of my collection and its not even baseball! I had to make an exception for his Airness.

On the back it gives instructions on how to peel it. I wonder how many kids in 1986 peeled this and stuck it on their favorite lunch box. I probably would've how cool that would've been!

On a side side note, my old laptop is officially dead. It had a good run 5 years.. and I didn't turn it off for the last 3 years.

Thanks for reading!

Group Break Loot!

I joined in on Jason's group break over at Joe Average Collector. He is running monthly group beaks that should be good. I liked the mix of products and that you get 3 teams for the price of a blaster including shipping. You get more chances of hitting something cool and a wider variety of players. Also, unless requested he divides up the doubles so you end up with a nice assortment. Although I drew the short straw in this break on the hit category, I'm quite pleased with the assortment of base cards and a few inserts that I got. I had the Phillies, White Sox and Mariners.

Also, he is currently running a cool group break that I'm excited about! Go check it out!

My one hit was a Buddy Carlyle autograph. He last played on the Yankees in 2011 according to baseball reference. I really like the Extra Edition cards in hand. I was never a big fan of lack of logos but if the design is right I'm cool with it. The Ryan Anderson is a numbered parallel. It says his nickname is 'the little unit' (hey ooooh!) because he resembles Randy Johnson. He is really tall thats about the only resemblance.

Some new Halladays. This is an insert from Opening day. I didn't buy any of it so I was happy to get the Phils team set and some inserts. I wouldn't mind taking Halladay for my fantasy team. I think he is going to regain his form and get 18-22 wins this year!

This is a 'Tales of the Game' insert. This is the game where the Phillies played Toronto at home and it was a road game, so technically Halladay going 'back to Toronto' was in Philly, go figure.

Thanks for reading!

One new card and a question about other cards

I recently picked up a sweet five star card that is pretty cool.

This Kershaw is low numbered and on card! Which as any auto collector knows, is where its at (and I got two turn tables and a microphone). Currently, I have put it aside for a trade that we are still working on the logistics but thats ok I'm patient I will hold it for that individual. In the mean time just wanted to share with you guys. I picked up quite a bit of Five Star and I do quite like the cards and am glad I didn't bite on buying boxes. I didn't get any Harpers or Trouts but I got plenty of Schmidts and other great players!

This question pertains to non baseball cards. I recently found (phew) my Magic The Gathering cards. I have a few decent ones (looking at completed ebay auctions) I was thinking of selling them individually or if someone were to offer for the lot I'd consider a good offer. My question is, whats the best way to go about doing this or is anyone out there collecting/playing m:tg and has any interest? I can provide a list of the good cards and scans of course. Let me know your thoughts or experience the best way to unload a collection at a fair price.

Thanks for reading and responding!

Some more pickups!

I've added a few more Phillies and one other card that is pretty cool to the collection. Of course one of these are a Ryan Howard Triple Threads.

This commemorates his feat of being the youngest to 200 HR's. I hope he has at least another 200 more home runs in him. I will have to organize the Howards a bit better and actually figure out which relics I'm missing. That is a project for another day.

The Cole Hamels above is a 2011 silk card. I'm a real big fan of these, its the 2nd one I now own and they are real cool and well executed cards. The Chase Utley is also from Triple Threads and is the Sapphire version numbered out of 3. It mentions his 5 Home runs in the world series against the Yankees. Unfortunately, they lost the world series but Utley was mashing the ball. The Matt Moore was strictly bought cause the saying fit into the category of ridiculous/hilarious. It fits right in with the other Triple Threads cards (George Brett "Mullet" and Gio Gonzalez "Serial Grinner").

My quest for the 1952 Topps Phillies cards is getting there, I'm down to only 7 cards to go!

Thanks for reading!

The Year of Howard (Cards)

I've added quite a few Ryan Howard's to my collection over the past 6 months. Obviously the rainbow is pretty sweet. I really like the triple threads as well. I got all the Howard sayings including this sick patch card. These cards don't pop up too often and it was set at bidding with no reserve so thankfully I was the winning bidder! It wasn't a crazy cost at 41 dollars. I'd much rather pay that then pay 160+ for a Triple Threads box and maybe not get anything that I'd really want.

Check out the sweet patch!

Its very colorful as all good patches are! I really hope Howard comes back healthy this year and hits 40-45 Home runs. The Phillies offense needs it. Without Hockey I'm already getting baseball fever!

My Pull of the Year!

Way back in the beginning of my humble blog (August of this year). I started it off by Live Blogging my case of 2012 Topps Chrome. I fully intend to open one case of this every year since it is an absolute blast. I love the trading afterwards and the unknown of opening 288 packs! I got lucky this year and paid 800 for the case cause the price is still well over that! Depending on the hot rookies next year I may put my order in early to make sure I lock in a decent price. I did pull a Bryce Harper auto redemption (which still has not been fulfilled so it does not count as my pull of the year). The pull of the year was my 1 in 8000 or so packs dual auto Matt Moore/Jeremy Hellickson.

I was having trouble deciding how to store it cause of the dual sidedness of it, so along with the Howards in my previous post I had this one graded and slabbed. Check it out!!

It's 9.5 with 10 on the autos. I saw one other one sell on ebay in the 130 range. Who knows how much its worth but I like it. It's the rarest pull I've ever gotten out of a pack. I hope next year I can hit a few 1 in 8000's!

I've read a ton of goals posts over the last few days. I only have one goal, enjoy myself and everything I do. I sometimes collect haphazardly cause if I like it I go for it. My current project is every Phillie Pre 1980! Starting with the 1950s and working my way up!

Whats your best pull of the year?

Graded Rainbow Wheeeee!

This is my Ryan Howard rainbow.. in order to properly protect it I had them all graded and slabbed by Beckett. It wasn't cheap but I believe it was worth it. Now just figuring out how to properly display the shininess.

Have fun scrolling!!!!!

 

 

I am quite pleased the hardest one to get graded the best as well. 9.5 Gem Mint is pretty sweet! Hoped everyone enjoyed the scrolling!