Card show trip - some more vintage

These were more pick ups from the last show I went to over the summer - I may have two or three more things to show, though it might be up in the air whether future roundup posts will ever be made.

The individually priced vintage bins from a familiar enough seller table may have been picked over just the same - but I tried to rummage around to flag some vintage odds and ends, then moved over to the $0.50 bins with the newest cards, but wasn’t patient enough to pick through that.

1959 Topps Baseball Thrills Duke Snider #468 [$10.00] - on my blog, this has been on my collecting topics wantlist - Top 10-15 wants, so I finally knocked it out.

1964 Topps Coins Roberto Clemente #150 [$10.00] - a vintage oddball item picturing an iconic Hall of Fame has symbolic value, even when a cliche I spit out is something being only worth what I paid. 

1967 Topps Dick Allen / Hank Aaron Roberto / Clemente #242 [$10.00] - a trifecta of Hall of Famers makes this leaders card keeper.

1967 Topps Lou Brock #285 [$5.00] - there might be infinitely better cards than a vintage base card of a Hall of Famer, but I'll take it for what I paid. 

Some better than a blaster keepers?

At the last monthly card show date I went to, the tables seemed a little light, where the familiar sellers I usually start to stack some probable keepers were not around - maybe I'd be good with making a couple impulsive purchases after trying to go around the room and figuring out where I can go hang out somewhere else.

I ended up at a seller's table with a three row, 3000 count box - but only a couple of partially filled rows of $10 cards / three for $25 or $5 cards / five for $20.

I started to rummage through the one lousy box, while the Big Boss Man at the table [and a worker] looked like they were doing some bigger wheeling and dealing with other collectors trying to buy or flip some cards - his value boxes were the least of his concern, where here I am trying to rummage and see what I can stack for $25 or less.

I ended up finding a 1967 Topps checklist #361 and made it a keeper because it's kind of a Roberto Clemente card as well - I do not really think this card is like having an actual one of the player, but I'll make an exception where I'll treat it more as a unique oddball that has the player's image.

To the naked eye, the card looks fairly clean with relatively bold, vintage colors - I realize some are harder to find [maybe not this one] because they might be marked or not cared for as much.

I grabbed a 1962 Topps Eddie Mathews #30 because it was a relatively clean card of a Hall of Fame slugger who blasted 512 home runs - I think my friend is still wondering where the baseball he sent Eddie Mathews went back when Mathews was still alive and signed TTM for a fee, 25 years ago.

I added this 2022 Topps 1-of-1 printing plate card of Greg Holland, because I like cards with players sharing a 'good game, game over' moment - I like the printing plates where the image of the player is still visible, even when nearly ghosted out.

I don't know if collectors value them as much other than player collectors who need to cross them off a checklist - but seem relatively hard to find and are a little different than the actual cards.

I don't know if this 1997 Fleer EX Star Date 2000 Vladimir Guerrero #15 was really worth $4 - but relented to pay a premium for a really loud, early MLB insert that features this all-around great.

I totally understand what it means where a player can do the impossible, but on the back of the card - it's funny where a minor league manager says Guerrero could go 4-for-3 in one night.

Finally, I impulsively grabbed what I think is a 2020-21 Panini Prizm LaMelo Ball RC #278 - with the number of ultra modern brands Panini has pumped out, it's hard to tell what is what.

Maybe it was a bigger deal to chase LaMelo's cards a few years ago where even his low end stuff was worth a little something - while he and his brother Lonzo has lived up to the scrutiny they had as part of the Ball brothers trio from high school to the pros, LaMelo only played 36 games last year.

Lonzo hasn't even gotten on the court the past couple of years - where his pro basketball career has been in limbo, despite being only 25.

TTM autographs received: Tom Walker

The former big league pitcher from the 1970s signed my two cards in three weeks - I wanted to send a request because of the 'beyond the glory' story he shared about nearly joining Roberto Clemente in the legend's fatal plane flight in December 1972.

There is a bloodlines tie where the elder Walker is the father of a former big leaguer [Neil], who played for 12 seasons through 2020 - I added an extra card of Neil to my request for Tom to keep.

Looking up his stats, it just happens he pitched in one game for the Angels back in 1977 - so he was a retired player I needed in my Angels all-time autograph collection.

The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge - Day 24

"A favorite oddball card from the 1960s."

1964 Topps Giants Roberto Clemente #11 - even though these cards apparently have never been hard to find, I like them because they feature bold images of players like Clemente on a larger sized card.

The card stock is thin, but are pretty clean as opposed to the dingy regular Topps cards of the era - the backs feature a second b/w image of the player featured with a write-up of highlights.

2009 Topps blaster break

I'm looking for the 2009 Topps 'throwbacks' blaster variation, but was only able to find one blaster at a local Target - the identifiable code printed above the UPC code did not match the code for the throwback blasters.

I'm interested in the Target variations because of the retro aspect and while Walmart black parallel cards maybe 'prettier,' I'm always looking for something a little different to get signed through my random autograph endeavors - though the throwback Topps parallel is probably not much different than regular Topps.

I ended up with the lone blaster I found because I wanted a manufactured patch card [Historical Commemorative patch card] - I figure I'd rip into the pack first to see what I'd find. I thought I'd probably get a Bill Mazeroski [a Hall of Fame legend who isn't in the insert set BTW], but got Roberto Clemente with a patch commemorating the 1962 All-Star Game at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

I've seen some of the patches and it seems you can barely read the lettering - at least the letters on this patch was legible.

As for the base cards - last year's cards took a step back as far as aesthetics were concerned. You look at the 2009 design [what baseball card blog doesn't have at least one 2009 Topps card posted] and it looks so much better.

Maybe the cropping on images is tighter, but I think the images used have improved as well - in past years, Topps was content to plug any run-of-the mill image for any particular card, but it seems like someone took their time to actually select some ideal images to use for this year's Topps.

The backs are another story - the names on the back of the card and the statistics/tidbits are hard to read depending on whose card you have.

I pulled Turkey Red inserts of David Ortiz and Ian Kinsler - I like my retro cards, but maybe except for Topps Allen and Ginters and 2008 Upper Deck Timeline, I prefer them as inserts instead of a stand-alone product.

I pulled a Odalis Perez gold parallel card serial #'d 1747/2009 - the gold parallel cards in Topps' flagship are fairly common and they are boring, especially if you get one featuring a journeyman like Perez.

I pulled a Legends of the Game insert of Cy Young - these cards are sort of flimsy, get nicked up and show 'white' too easily. I think the three most obvious defects to detract from cards fresh out of the pack are off-center cards, dinged corners and possible creases.

The ToppsTown cards are the same way, though I see them more as informational cards than true inserts - I really wish I have a Webcam, so I can download a program to supposedly make the players on the cards come to life [as I've read on a blog or two recently]. I think the ToppsTown cards are junk, but when it comes to motion having something to do with cards, I'm on it.