Transmogrified into being: 1963 Topps Marv Breeding

Okay, time to show off all the cards that the Topps Million Cards Yo Momma Ditched in the Dump Online Code Transmogrifier was able to convert from random symbols printed on the back of an insert into real live cardboard ephemera. No more stalling and ennui for me, time to start posting like a mental patient again. (I give myself two weeks before I go off the rails again) I took all the pre-1980 cards I redeemed, mixed 'em up and will post them in the order that Random.org decreed to show off just how minty fresh these cards ended up being. The post-1980 cards I'll show later. There weren't any condition problems to speak of that I noticed. There was a Lemmer surprise, but that's a topic for another post.

The pre-1980 cards were in more or less good shape for vintage specimens. I love a good Tipton, so I'm not overly concerned about how beat up these oldies are. Most fill a hole in a set or a pocket in a plastic sheet so as long as they are not disintegrating or toxic I didn't care how beat up they were. Not gonna lie though, some were - ahem - well loved by the previous owner.

1963 Topps Marv Breeding

1963 Topps was once my favorite set, but twenty-five years later it doesn't do much for me any more. Nowadays it reminds me more of 1961 Topps with a colorful bottom than anything else. I think the design similarities to 1983 Topps (circle with photo) and 1953 Topps (block of color on the bottom)  overly influenced my feelings toward this set. '53 and '83 Topps are two cornerstones of my collecting, so not surprising. '73 Topps I'm not crazy about. In '93 I was too dazzled by UV coating. '03 Topps I would prefer to forget. I'm actually kind of dreading 2013 Topps for fear that they'll screw up the design in a year ending in 3 yet gain. I really want to like the threes... wait, I was going to discuss this particular card wasn't I?

Ok, this isn't too fair on Topps, but the card the randomizer selected to show off first was the second worst conditioned card of the bunch. The corners are pretty decent on this one, other than the top left where it got knocked pretty hard at one point. Centering isn't great. There's some MSNBC centering to the left while the vertical centering is tough to determine on these cards due to the color swath at the bottom. It looks good enough on this one. In fact, the whole card looked great in the toploader despite the corner and centering problem. When I took it out, I discovered its horrible secret.

Water damage. Super major water damage. You can see the high water mark up on the capitol dome in the cartoon. That little corner up there looks like the only bit that didn't get soaked. The entire card is warped and curled like a 2010 Chrome card. The front is nice and glossy though, so oh well, it's just Marv Breeding. I'll slip that sucka in a penny sleeve and cram it in with the rest of my '63 set. It will flatten out eventually.

This one was acquired in a trade with The Writer's Journey. Not sure how Bill Henry came out. Yes, I took screenshots of all my trades on the old 'Mogrifier before it was mothballed. Remember, I'm insane.