1962 Topps

Blog has been quiet over the last week due to work. However, sorting and organizing has been happening. The only problem stalling any new posts was the fact that I lost my little phone adapter. All that has been sorted out thought, and I'm back.

First up, 1962 Topps. I have quite a bit of these and saw a blog post a week or so ago where someone was putting together the set; solid idea, so I went for it.

Not including error cards that totals the set to 688, I went for the base set of 598. I'm missing 360 cards. That totals to me having about 60%. The majority of the condition of the cards is average at best. Not my fault that my dad was real little when he collected the cards.

For me, I have said before that I don't really care much about slabbed cards. I'd rather be able to physically feel the cards I own. The unique smell of the old cards cannot be matched. Not to mention slabs are bulky. Overall worth of the card goes up, but I couldn't really care about that.

After sorting the set I took this photo. Thought it was pretty cool to see just how much of a collation was within these cards. From left to right you are looking at cards 1-99, 100-199, 200-299, etc. In the background you have some MLB Showdown 2005 strategy cards and my badass Creed mug from The Office.



Two poses that I've always loved with vintage cards are these. I just feel that the after the swing pose is the best. The way the body has wrapped around itself, position of the feet, and the player's eyes watching the ball to see just how far he hit it. Perfect.



This is somewhat similar to the full body pose; just a bit more up-close. I feel like Dale's bat was cut short in this photo. Optical illusions I 'spose.



And of course, for any vintage card post, the Legends need to make an appearance. I'm not going to lie, whenever I'm sorting, I hope I come across about 5-6 Mantle's. It usually never happens and instead of Mantle, I'm pulling Roy Face and Bob Friend. Nothing against either player, just don't care to have that many Bucco's.

Unless that Pirate is Clemente. I can never get enough of Roberto.



I love the 1962 design. It's plain and effective. The overall condition of this card isn't great. Gloss has started to fade and the corners are semi dog eared. But with this card, I feel those issues make this card perfect. Everything about this card seems so natural. No pine tar, batting gloves, and his look away from the camera is fantastic. This card should be in museums of art.


Instead of Mantle, sometimes another Legend is found. Henry Aaron.



Or maybe a Legendary Coach? THAT JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE A TOPPS ALL ROOKIE?!?!?!



When it's all said and done though, some people just like their Mantle cards. I'm one of them and so was my dad, sort of. He has some big money cards. And they are all in screw down cases together. I've started to break up the exclusive club of screw downs and put them with their right sets. Mantle was the first of the lot to go.



Every time you gaze at this card, you become even more of an American Patriot.

Switching it up from the Bronx Bombers to a Triber and house hold favorite, Tito Francona.



My dad's favorite player growing up along with Colavito. This card features another great pose. I believe that I'm a huge fan of the overall vintage look of each photo. Pretty sure this photo was taken at Fenway.

Sadly not all cards in this set have good photography. Poor John Anderson is case in point.



WHAT IS UP WITH THAT STRAND OF HAIR? FIX IT. PLEASE.

NBA Jerseys

I always have been around sports items. My dad got me hooked when I was younger. Throughout my life I've collected sports memorabilia. And not just cards or autographed items....I'm talking goofy stuff. For instance, at the 2001 National, I bought 6 boxes of MLB Showdown and 2 Beanie Baby Bears of....Preston Wilson and Carlos Beltran. I wasted money on that. I don't even have a rationale for the purchase of those two bears. In all honesty, I don't think there is a logical explanation.

However, one of my favorite things growing up were NBA Champion Jerseys. All the kids in elementary had to have a jersey to be cool. My first one was Michael Jordan. The second Champion jersey I bought was Jason Kidd (Mavs). Third and final for a long time was reversible Penny Hardaway (Magic). Those would be the three jerseys I had throughout my childhood.

During high school I'd go to thrift stores to buy clothes and come across the Jerseys. I loved going through them and laughing at some of the names. Usually it was a Lakers Nick Van Exel. I'll always kick myself for not buying the USA Dream Team Mark Price though. I ended up adding Jalen Rose (Nuggets), Damon Stoudamire (Raptors), and most recently a Sand Knit T-Wolves of Tyrone Corbin.

My ultimate goal would be to have the largest NBA Champion Jersey collection. However, three of my most prized possessions would be to own Drazen Petrovic, Toni Kukoc, and Dino Radja. Ebay lists Kukoc quite a bit. I've never seen a Radja listed. Petrovic has tons of knockoffs....until this hit today:



BIN: $99.99.

That's a lot of money. My favorite player and the jersey is my size. And to top all that off, the guy who listed it lives 20 minutes away from me. At the bottom of the auction he lists his photobucket account. This guy has done what I want to ultimately do. And holy shit, it's awesome. Check it out for sure.

I contacted him about how he got all the jerseys and where he found them at. I always ask at thrift stores if they have jerseys and one man told me "I get these requests in daily from people". I was pretty shocked to hear that I have competition around the Cleveland area...and I think I just found my main competitor.

I tip my hat to this guy.

Stuff My Dad Collects

The idea for this blog series came from the one Twitter, ShitMyDadSays. Basically, this one guy tweets everything his dad says, which usually is some goofy thing about sticking to his old set of ways. It's real funny to read. Also, NBC (or ABC, I forget) picked up his Twitter and are making a show about it. Hey TV Networks, read this blog and then shoot me an email about my impending TV Contract. Alright, here goes.

My dad has collected sporting items since he was little. Being born in the mid 1950's he was gifted with the chance of collecting cards in the golden era of baseball. His friends and himself would go to a small card shop and numerous packs of cards, usually baseball and football. His group of collecting friends would all trade cards to try and finish sets...but usually it ended up them trading all the hated Yankees away for the beloved Cleveland Indians.

The majority of these cards are all in a closet, in my room. I have never used this closet, it's stacked with sports cards and other miscellaneous items from bottom to top.



Here is the closet in all it's glory. There is minimal organization overall. The top shelf are a few boxes and a wax rack holder. Nothing special really. Unless you are into 1994 Classic Sports. Or Space Jam cards and Jurassic Park cards. My dad never collected those, they were mine.



This is the middle or heart of the closet. The majority of cards are here. Anything from 1950's Topps Baseball to 1980's Unopened Hockey Boxes. In the back of the highest row pictured, there's about 16 wax sleeves of cards.



Tired of hockey wax? How about some football:


Here's a little mix of 1980's football and baseball:



What's the best part of these wax boxes? Probably this ad:



Ring Pop. The newest and coolest candy on the market. Why not have one or two when you are opening packs featuring these legends:




For those of you who have seen or played the best game of all time, MLB Showdown, I bet that Jim Palmer photo looks pretty familiar.

Here's a random Cleveland Indians legend:


The man, the myth, the Incaviglia:


Or how about the best bearded man in baseball, Bob Sykes. This is in contention for my favorite card of the year.


The combination of the beard, trucker hat, tight coat, and tighter pants makes this card fantastic.

Or if you are into cellophane wrapped 1980's cards, this one is for you:



There will be plenty more from Stuff My Dad Collects, be sure to check back later.

What is this card?

While going through my dad's cards last summer, I came across a lot of really awesome stuff. The first being the '58 Update of Mickey Mantle. I'm not a Yankee fan by any means, but to me, Mantle is baseball. I really love the 1950-1970's baseball Era and don't think the current MLB can ever come close to back then.

Another card I found was this one below. It's a Cap Anson card. My dad had written a year on it, which I am almost positive says "1903". The card is in really bad shape, however it's also a complete mystery as to what or where this came from. It's also the size of the Allen and Ginter Mini's, maybe a bit wider. I doubt my dad ever did own a card from 1903, but stranger things have happened. I searched Ebay for cap Anson cards and all that was listed were his Allen and Ginter from the 1880's.

I'd guess this is a reprint of some sort. It'd be really awesome if this were an actual tobacco trading card though. If it is, I'd probably never sell it, would you?