NO SLEEP TILL
BROOKLYN
I had a game plan when I walked into the vintage show this weekend. I had very little time and less money, so I had to be prepared. Here were my goals:
1) FIND SOME BRAVES YOU DON'T GOT
2) KNOCK SOME NAMES OFF YOUR '50s TOPPS LISTS IN THIS ORDER:
- 1953 Topps
- 1956 Topps
- 1951 Topps
- 1954 Topps
- 1955 Topps
3) PICK A FEW COOL CARDS OUT OF THE NON-SPORTS BIN
4) IF THERE'S MONEY LEFT, FIND SOMETHING UNIQUE
I managed to hit every goal, in the allotted time. Now that's planning and organization, kiddos. I wish I could do that with any other aspect of my life at all, but I got my act together for a fleeting half hour on a Sunday at least. Goal #4 was met with the Bob Feller Wheaties card. This post shows off a couple of victories in goal #2.
There were a few plastic boxes full of $2 and $3 cards from 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1956 Topps out on one of the tables. I scrounged through them and managed to find three $2 cards I liked and needed. There were a ton of '55 Topps there. I could have knocked about twenty 1955 cards off my list, but I'm not too crazy about that set so I passed. I eventually settled on what I considered to be the best cards out of the 1954 and 1956 Topps $2 boxes. Oddly enough, the best cards were Bums.
1954 Topps Rube Walker
1956 Topps Don Zimmer
I also did some damage to another of my '50s wantlists, but that will have to wait for another post...
7 comments:
Vintage Bums for $2 are always a good bet.
out of curiosity why the preference for 56 over 55? I think of them as the same but prefer 55 for some reason.
Ha, I've been working on '56 Bums lately, too (the Big Five are gonna be pricey, but I'll get there; not looking for PSA 10s or nothin'...). Got an Ed Roebuck yesterday. Have the Zimmer, too. I'm not sure if it's the case with all the 56's, but on at least Zimmer and Podres, they reused the '55 headshots.
As for another '55 vs. '56 thing, the '56 cards have the full painted backgrounds (with some cool stadium shots, especially cool on Bums; have a look at Clem Labine's card when you get a chance) rather than just the yellow with the action shot of the player).
There's often a debate about which cards to get of a world champion team, too. Some opt for the cards issued in the year they won (missing key players in some cases), some opt for year after with the highlights and stats from the big year on the back.
There's a lesser debate about record-breaking or highlight years; Maris' 61 vs. '62, Dock Ellis '70 vs. '71, which actually mentions the no-no without getting into how high he was, sadly, and so forth.
For me personally, I think it's a "feel" thing as to which card is the more "important" (we are talking about bubble gum cards here, folks) one to have or have first, anyway. In the examples I listed above, I started with '61 Maris (maybe the most beautiful card of the '60s), went with '56 for the '55 Dodgers as a priority (more of the '55 roster and I do like the fuller background images), got the awesome '71 Ellis first, and in another example, I got the '56 Don Larsen because I found it first.
Your mileage may certainly vary.
Deal: Basically what Scott said. I like the natural backgrounds better than the color ones. The set is pretty robust too at 360 cards. I kind of think of them the same too, I just picked '56 when I was a kid and didn't look back.
You guys should realize how lucky you are to have card shows to go to!
Here in Seattle (not exactly a small city) we haven't had a decent show in at least years! There's only one promoter, who does 30-table shows once a month, and usually a third of the tables are filled with Yu-Gi-Oh/Pokemon/etc, and the rest are filled with the same people selling the same crap as the month before.
Tri-Star....are you listening?
I prefer '56 over '55, too. I have lots of '56s, and less than 5 '55 cards.
And the best cards are ALWAYS Bums.
THE BUMS WILL ALWAYS WIN
Man, I'm with the guy from Seattle. Portland hasn't had a card show - that I've seen - in forever.
I'd love to get my hands on some vintage card lots. I prefer the early 60's designs though. I love 63 Topps. Haven't really dealt in any of the 50's stuff.
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