Better than a blaster - does this count?

I found this card in the $20 pile off a card show table and figure it's a vintage Mickey Mantle card, right [?] - even if it's an odder card where it's harder to make out Mantle's image.

There is really nothing much to the card - but it's old and it's a keeper where vintage cards tend to be more intermittent teases in my collections, rather than something I feign to collect in any sort of way.

The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 23

"A favorite oddball card from the 1950s."

1952-55 Dormand postcards Mickey Mantle #111 - since it’s not actually a trading card, the postcard may not have the same lore attached to it as the more conventional sized Mantle cards of the era.

According to the 2016 Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards, the postcards were produced by a photographer [Louis Dormand] - on orders from big league players as a means to answer fan mail.

I like how the image of a seemingly morose, yet still stately Mantle on an overcast day - stands out more on the larger than a baseball card item.

The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 2

"A card with more than one player on it."

2001 Upper Deck Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle #90 - The Hall of Records subset.

I picked this card up because I like the idea of this trio of baseball icons on one card - Mantle actually looks kind of odd [if still dapper in 'street clothes'] out of a baseball uniform, but he's sandwiched between Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, likely doing some sort of pregame interview with the NBC microphone in-hand.

Who was the greatest player out of the three [?] - Mantle and Mays were neck-and-neck as far as being a 5-tool player with God-given ability, but maybe Mantle didn't take care of himself and his injuries ultimately allowed Mays to be the bigger standout with 660 home runs.

It has to be said however, that besides strictly the counting numbers - Mantle represented much more to all the baby boomer generation because he was the face of the New York Yankees from the early 1950s through the 1960s.

Hank Aaron seems to have flown under the radar at times - but he hit 756 home runs and seemed to produce monster numbers year after year.

Featured autograph - Mike Trout

Mike Trout 1/2 - I was able to get his autograph in-person recently and even though he was on the phone talking with someone, he saw my 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen and said, "that's a nice card, I haven't seen that one before."

2012 Topps Archives blaster recap

2012 Topps Archives blaster recap [$19.99 each from a Target]

Pack one
#55 Jesus Montero
#106 Alex Gordon
#39 Jackie Robinson
#157 Carlos Gonzalez
#NNO Mickey Mantle - 1968 Topps 3D insert
#188 Vance Worley
#32 Adam Jones
#82 Jose Reyes

Pack two
#89 Lou Gehrig
#142 Ozzie Smith
#189 Babe Ruth

#35 Zack Greinke - Archives Base Gold Rainbow Foilboard parallel; looks peculiarly green when scanned.
#237 Robin Ventura
#134 Chris Carpenter
#183 Dan Uggla
#24 Lance Berkman

Pack three
#45 Carlos Ruiz
#96 Phil Rizzuto
#15 Madison Bumgarner
#193 Lonnie Chisenhall

#77C-GB George Brett - 1977 Topps Cloth insert
#90 Joe Mauer
#126 Rickie Weeks
#176 Eric Hosmer

Pack four
#146 Jarrod Parker
#73 Shaun Marcum
#132 Ben Zobrist
#181 Matt Cain

#337 Joe Morgan - 1967 Topps reprint insert
#9 Brett Gardner
#60 Mariano Rivera
#109 Catfish Hunter

Pack five

#25 Dan Haren
#75 Reggie Jackson
#127 Evan Longoria
#20 Robinson Cano

#77C-EH Eric Hosmer - 1977 Topps Cloth insert
#160 Prince Fielder
#3 Jered Weaver
#91 Ted Lilly

Pack six
#64 Derek Holland
#115 Gio Gonzalez
#166 C.C. Sabathia
#6 Paul Goldschmidt

#28 Brooks Robinson - 1960 Topps reprint insert
#38 Billy Butler
#88 Mike Schmidt
#138 Joe DiMaggio

Pack seven
#40 Nelson Cruz
#57 Josh Beckett
#108 Cliff Lee
#159 David Price

#67S-DJ Derek Jeter - 1967 Topps Stickers insert
#99 Brandon Belt
#149 Dustin Ackley
#196 Andrew Bailey

Pack eight
#177 Shane Victorino
#66 Andrew McCutchen
#117 George Brett
#168 Carlos Santana

#229 Roger McDowell - 1987 Topps reprint card back insert
#103 Ricky Romero
#153 Felix Hernandez
#48 Grady Sizemore
Cal Ripken Jr. 2131 Orioles Topps Pennant info card

Card shop trip - going retro Topps

Maybe I could have gone retail and picked up a blaster of 2011 Topps Opening Day or even a blaster of 2011 Topps - but I stopped at the card shop after I'd gotten my haircut because I was still feeling a little empty after I'd gone on a card show trip detailed in my previous post.

The card shop I go to on-and-off is sort of quaint - while it seems up to date as far as the newer products and the layout of the store is fairly organized, the actual experience being in the store makes you feel like you've walked into some collector's closet.

I was going to dig through the quarter box, hoping for some 2011, late 2010 commons - but I was hoping for something different, something to catch my eye. The box of $3 jerseys with mostly hockey cards, a few football and no baseball wasn't really what I was looking for.

I went through what seemed to be a 5,000 card box of 1984 Donruss that was all commons and wasn't really of much interest - despite the fact I did want to see what was inside after a previous visit a year ago.

I went through some old-school Topps cards that caught my eye - but the problem as much as I'd like to get to have some nice old Topps cards just because they maybe 35-40 years old, I only want to immediately collect the cards of players I may know something about. I also know I was going through mostly commons, so there maybe a disconnect as going through the older cards and not recognizing the rank-and-file players pictured on them.

I think my immediate goal were to perhaps look for old school Topps cards I may have seen online as being chronicled for whatever reason - maybe a cult baseball player or a baseball card with a unique characteristic.

After picking out three other cards, I think paid too much [$10] for the 1962 Topps American League Home Run Leaders [#53] I saw in one of the shop's showcases - it is beater of a card but was drawn to it because it features Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle and encapsulates the 1961 American League home run race between the both of the Yankees' sluggers.

I thought I was getting a well-worn, beater card to have in-hand and show off - but I saw all the marks on the back of the card was like, 'd'oh!'

With the Angels' 50th Anniversary celebration, perhaps I need to brush up on my knowledge regarding former Angels like Rick Reichardt, pictured on his 1968 Topps card [#40] I picked up for $1 - about 10 years ago I had a friend who was only 18 at the time, but took time to learn about Halos of the past and write to them for their autographs.

I think The Angels, In Order blog is helpful - as far as looking up old-school Angels and their autographs in relation to the franchise's history.

I've seen this 1973 Topps card of Willie Davis [#35] on some other blogs and wanted to add it to my 'awesome action' collection of cards - it seems either Davis was either hit by the pitch or perhaps he was brushed back according to this blog.

I was leafing through a binder of 1975 Topps commons and this 1975 Topps card of Oscar Gamble [#213] stood out - I think I already have his 1976 Topps Traded card, so I got 1975 Topps version as another tribute to the African-American ballplayer who like his hair, hit their prime years in the mid 1970s loud and proud.