National Wantlist, Part 5: They Might Be (1964 Topps) Giants

I’ve been working on the 1964 Topps Giants set since the late 1980′s, and all along I’ve been bewildered as to why this set isn’t more popular.  I’ve come to the conclusion that I must be the misguided one concerning these.  There’s no reason why anybody would want these cards.

Look at this Hank Aaron card… Who would want such a big portrait of Hammerin’ Hank in a Milwaukee Braves cap?  C’mon, Milwaukee?  Team hasn’t existed for over 45 years.

The cards are oversized, and don’t fit into 9-pocket pages.  Nobody likes oversized cards, right?  You all want minis!  MINIS, I TELL YOU!

The cards are generally cheaper than their 1964 Topps counterparts, meaning that they’re not a good investment.  Stay away from them.

There’s no foil, no refractor parallel, no stats on the back.  These barely qualify as baseball cards.

Oh, did I mention short prints?  Nearly 12% of the set is short printed!  TWELVE PERCENT!  Outrageous!

Look at the checklist!  Gary Peters?  Bob Bailey?  Chuck Hinton?  Dick Farrell?  Camilo Pascual?  Wayne Causey?  Galen Cisco?  What’s with all these guys?  Where are the Hall Of Famers?  This set has hardly anybody of interest in it, only Aaron and Koufax and Kaline and Mantle and Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson and Spahn and Marichal and Killebrew and Gibson and Yaz and Mays and Santo.  Maybe a couple of other guys.

And where’s Roberto Clemente?  You’d think he’d be in this set, but there’s just some guy named Bob Clemente.  Probably some guy they included just so that the Senators would have somebody in the set.

This set is hardly worth anybody’s time, especially you dealers at the National.  I see this set’s value being ready to tank, and I highly recommend that you discount all of your inventory of 1964 Topps Giants.

Especially the short prints.  And Bob Clemente.

Fuji Feedback: The Worst-Conditioned Card In My Collection

I’ve got a couple of candidates for “Card In The Worst Condition” and until recently I would’ve singled out a fugly 1971 Garvey as being the bottom of the pile;  I featured that card a few months ago.

However, to answer Fuji’s question of “What’s the worst conditioned card in your collection? Is there a story behind it?”, I’ll go with the one I haven’t had very long.  I was somewhat recently given a bag containing loose cards from the 70′s and 80′s.  It was a a fun lot to go through, and there was some good stuff in there, but “good” in terms of filling my needs.  This wasn’t a “Black Swamp Find”, there were a handful of cards which might’ve been worth a few bucks if they weren’t creased and dog-eared, but it was mostly commons and in general, the older the cards got, the rougher the condition was.

As I’m thumbing through these cards, making mental notes of the cards I needed, I thought to myself “What are the odds are that I’ll find one of the 4 cards I need to complete my 1973 set?”

Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.

Of the cards in the bag, the card which would easily be the highest on my need list is also the card which was easily the worst condition.  In case you can’t tell from the scans, the card had been torn completely in half, and then scotch-taped back together again.  Even without being torn, the card’s been “well-loved” and has major creases in it.  I can just imagine an older brother tormenting his younger sibling by tearing up and mangling one of his baseball cards, followed by the teary-eyed younger brother taping it back together and smoothing it out between sobs.

When I ran across this card, after a few minutes of “it figures” laughing, I came to my senses.  Sure, it’s in bad shape even by my lax standards, but you know what?  It’s still Card #1 in the 1973 set, it had the second-highest book value of any card that I needed (Schmidt/Roberts/Cey is my current White Whale) and now I only need three cards to complete 1973.

I’ll probably try to upgrade this card – maybe one which is still in lesser condition, but is intact – but I don’t have to.  And I don’t know… maybe I’ll hang on to this card because it has a story behind it.

I certainly don’t have to worry about it being a counterfeit.

Pack Animal: 2012 Topps Series 2

An after-work Target trip lead to an unexpected purchase:

So, wouldya like to see what I got?  Wouldya?  Wouldya?  I’ll admit, I didn’t get any big hits (They were loose packs, maybe the feelers  had already struck).  I was pretty happy with what I did get.  Being Series Two, I got veterans in new uniforms…

…and rookies (Jarrod Parker no hit the Rangers through 8  innings earlier this week, not too shabby)…

…and a Met…

…and an Oriole…

“My name is Yim Yohnson, I work in Wisconsin, I work in a lumbermill there…”

As for inserts, the Walk-Offs and Timeless inserts have been replaced by two new inserts:

You can’t tell from the scan, but this “Cut Above” insert is die-cut, it’s got a sort of jagged cut to it.  I normally don’t go much for die-cuts, but this is a nice-looking card.  I fear that that might be largely due to the sweet photo, because I also got a Mickey Mantle Cut Above insert, and it didn’t have the same effect on  me.  Part of it is because it wasn’t as good of a photo (it looks like a colorized B&W photo), and part is because it’s Mantle, and I’m suffering from a severe case of Mickey Mantle overexposure (i.e. “I’M SICK TO BLOODY DEATH OF MANTLES!”)

The other new insert is Mound Dominance, which isn’t great, but is better than either of the replaced inserts.  It doesn’t scan well;  there’s silver foil on top, and the green strike zone graphic doesn’t GLOW on the card like it does in this scan.

Other highlights of my packs…

Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!!!!

Bruce Chen is one of the players I collect, so he’s a welcome addition.

I also got a Pirate… Pirates fans, I apologize, you haven’t gotten  much from the Pirates being my “Emergency Backup Team” yet, but the Mets & Orioles have been doing well, and the Pirates… Um, the Pirates…. HEY, LOOK!  IT’S GARRETT JONES!

And now’s ze time on Ze Shlabotnik Report ven ve DANCE!!!!

1974 Week: Ken Brett and Hank Aaron

Why would I share a miscut and well-done-but-incorrectly-airbrushed Ken Brett?  By itself, it’s just another common, although at least a common of George Brett’s brother.  Ken Brett pitched from 1967 – 1981 for the Red Sox, Brewers, Phillies, Pirates, Yankees, Angels, White Sox, Twins, Dodgers and Royals. (Phew!)

But what’s that at the bottom of the card?  Haven’t I seen that border before?

Yep, Ken Brett comes on top of Hank Aaron on the original printing sheet.  The Aaron is one of the key cards of this set, as you would imagine.  Topps took a small gamble when they produced this card because Hank had 713 home runs entering the 1974 season, and Babe Ruth held the record with 714.  Topps declared him the New All-Time Home Run King since it was pretty likely that Hammerin’ Hank would get the record early in the 1974 season, but had he been run over by a bus this would’ve been an EPIC FAIL (except that nobody said that in 1974).

From the oddly-shaped scoreboard behind Hank, you can tell he’s at Royals Stadium.  The 1973 All-Star game was in Kansas City, and this photo looks like it might’ve been taken during the pre-game warmups.

By the way, there is an active blog devoted solely to the 1974 set…  1974 Topps Pennant Fever does a lot more research than I’m doing, and goes far more in depth into the set than I will.  I meant to mention that at the beginning of the week, but I forgot.  Sorry, 1974 Topps – Pennant Fever Guy.