Showing posts with label OCD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OCD. Show all posts
Friday, August 13, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
1954 Topps Preston Ward
The '53s from my card show haul are done, but I got plenty of '54s. I've got about 3 minutes to write this up so I'll be brief. The 1954 Topps set was not one of my favorites when I was a kid. This is probably due to the deep seated neuroses I suffer from. I've always had this weird asperger OCD thing going on which hit its peak intensity during my teen years. Is it any surprise that a set where every card in the set looked miscut would weird me out? This is long before the days of full bleed borders and Strasburg Superfractor enhancements. I've grown to like this set, but this card with a collage of two great looking photos that work by themselves but are somewhat awkward together is bringing back the old uneasiness. I need to go wash my hands a couple dozen times.
The backs of this set are great looking, but infuriating. That's a subject for another post though.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Topps Card Numbers - 1951-1954
I will be going on a bit of a vintage kick in the next couple of weeks and I'm going to start it off with something slightly bizarre. A review of the card numbering from every single Topps base set. This is what the internet is for folks, overly detailed accounts of obscure minutia of interest to maybe two or three people. I'll make those people happy, and that's what counts. I've had a mild obsession with poorly designed card numbers for a whole now, but this post by Night Owl spurred me to take action. One of the big flaws in the 2009 Topps set is the tiny, unreadable card numbers. Instead of writing a tirade about the lousy number design (black numbers on dark blue??) I'm just going to show off all the number designs from Topps to show you all how it used to be done and let you judge for yourselves. Let's begin at the beginning, shall we?
This is the only Topps set to have the card number on the front, rather than the back. Of course it was an oddball card game, so it wouldn't work too well to have the number on the back as you'd be playing with a marked deck.
Considering the unorthodox layout for today's standards, The number is fairly easy to read and has the added bonus including the total number of cards in the set, helpful information for the 1951 era set completer. The placing is a bit awkward though, numbering the bottom right of the card isn't terribly optimal when you're sorting through cards. There's only fifty-two in the set and the cards are smaller than normal so it's not that bad. Considering they didn't release their first 'real' set until a year later, Topps did ok on this one.
Everyone should be well familiar with this number, Topps has only used the design about two dozen times in the past decade. Topps began a remarkably consistent run of excallent numbering design in the fifties with their inaugural set. The number is put right in the middle of a baseball. Simple, good looking and best of all very readable. The black number on the white ball inside a red background has great contrast and you don't need to squint to know what card this is. It looks best on the cards with white card stock, but is still readable on the other variations.
The number still pops out on the all-black backed cards as you can see. Best of all, it is located in the top left corner of the card. This is my favorite place for the number as it's easy to see when you are sorting through a large pile of cards. Hold the cards in both hands, slide the top card a bit with your right thumb, and there's your number. This works great for right handed people, do lefties find it easier to sort when the number is on the right side? I would guess so, but I'm not sure there's an orthodox method for shuffling through cards. I know one thing though - I hate when the number is on the bottom of the card or in the middle. It screws my shuffling all up.
Here's an example of the number on a card with the gray stock. As you can see it doesn't pop out quite as much as on the white stock but it's still very readable.
This is in my opinion the greatest card number of all time. The number is huge. The baseball it resides in is almost an inch in size. Legally blind people can make out these numbers if they squint a bit. I also love the rad font they used for TOPPS.
Again, the number is on the top left corner of the card. Unlike this year's set, Topps usually put the number in this spot. I think the number is one of the reasons why I love the '53 set so much. I have a history of abysmal eyesight in my family, and once I become blind as a bat I'll still be able to enjoy the backs of these cards.
Once again, we have the baseball. It's smaller than the '53 set, but still has the TOPPS logo above the number. It's not as eye-popping as the previous two sets, but the red number and green stitches have some great contrast. There's one big problem I have with this set though. On the sheets the '54s were printed on, the cards were aligned like this:
This is how they did the color bleeding off the top. This was a neat idea, but the back of the sheet looked like this:
Obviously these two cards were probably never neighbors on a sheet, but you get the point. To make it easier to print and look good if slightly miscut, the green stat portion of the card also lined up. I assume that the neighboring cards were flipped as well so there would be alternating bands of green and white on the back of the sheets. Again, a neat way to incorporate full bleed color on the cards but when you put the set together in sheets it looks like this:
I will admit right now that I have a little OCD streak in me. I kind of have to have it a bit to be so concerned with card numbers. I don't have it full blown like Jack Nicholson is As Good As It Gets or anything, but stuff like this drives me absolutely nuts. As a result, I've never likes this set as much as I probably should have. The set si gorgeous, but when you are trying to sort a few and half the cards are upside down... well, someone out there will understand. Once I'm finished with this I'm going to put up a poll of the best and worst card numbers. I'll pick the best and worst example from each post and you guys can vote on them at the end. My picks for this round:
Best - 1953 Topps
Worst - 1954 Topps
If you vehemently disagree, speak up in the comments or forever hold your peace.
Up soon - 1955-1959 Topps.
1951 Topps
This is the only Topps set to have the card number on the front, rather than the back. Of course it was an oddball card game, so it wouldn't work too well to have the number on the back as you'd be playing with a marked deck.
Considering the unorthodox layout for today's standards, The number is fairly easy to read and has the added bonus including the total number of cards in the set, helpful information for the 1951 era set completer. The placing is a bit awkward though, numbering the bottom right of the card isn't terribly optimal when you're sorting through cards. There's only fifty-two in the set and the cards are smaller than normal so it's not that bad. Considering they didn't release their first 'real' set until a year later, Topps did ok on this one.1952 Topps
Everyone should be well familiar with this number, Topps has only used the design about two dozen times in the past decade. Topps began a remarkably consistent run of excallent numbering design in the fifties with their inaugural set. The number is put right in the middle of a baseball. Simple, good looking and best of all very readable. The black number on the white ball inside a red background has great contrast and you don't need to squint to know what card this is. It looks best on the cards with white card stock, but is still readable on the other variations.
The number still pops out on the all-black backed cards as you can see. Best of all, it is located in the top left corner of the card. This is my favorite place for the number as it's easy to see when you are sorting through a large pile of cards. Hold the cards in both hands, slide the top card a bit with your right thumb, and there's your number. This works great for right handed people, do lefties find it easier to sort when the number is on the right side? I would guess so, but I'm not sure there's an orthodox method for shuffling through cards. I know one thing though - I hate when the number is on the bottom of the card or in the middle. It screws my shuffling all up.
Here's an example of the number on a card with the gray stock. As you can see it doesn't pop out quite as much as on the white stock but it's still very readable.1953 Topps
This is in my opinion the greatest card number of all time. The number is huge. The baseball it resides in is almost an inch in size. Legally blind people can make out these numbers if they squint a bit. I also love the rad font they used for TOPPS.
Again, the number is on the top left corner of the card. Unlike this year's set, Topps usually put the number in this spot. I think the number is one of the reasons why I love the '53 set so much. I have a history of abysmal eyesight in my family, and once I become blind as a bat I'll still be able to enjoy the backs of these cards.1954 Topps
Once again, we have the baseball. It's smaller than the '53 set, but still has the TOPPS logo above the number. It's not as eye-popping as the previous two sets, but the red number and green stitches have some great contrast. There's one big problem I have with this set though. On the sheets the '54s were printed on, the cards were aligned like this:
This is how they did the color bleeding off the top. This was a neat idea, but the back of the sheet looked like this:
Obviously these two cards were probably never neighbors on a sheet, but you get the point. To make it easier to print and look good if slightly miscut, the green stat portion of the card also lined up. I assume that the neighboring cards were flipped as well so there would be alternating bands of green and white on the back of the sheets. Again, a neat way to incorporate full bleed color on the cards but when you put the set together in sheets it looks like this:
I will admit right now that I have a little OCD streak in me. I kind of have to have it a bit to be so concerned with card numbers. I don't have it full blown like Jack Nicholson is As Good As It Gets or anything, but stuff like this drives me absolutely nuts. As a result, I've never likes this set as much as I probably should have. The set si gorgeous, but when you are trying to sort a few and half the cards are upside down... well, someone out there will understand. Once I'm finished with this I'm going to put up a poll of the best and worst card numbers. I'll pick the best and worst example from each post and you guys can vote on them at the end. My picks for this round:Best - 1953 Topps
Worst - 1954 Topps
If you vehemently disagree, speak up in the comments or forever hold your peace.
Up soon - 1955-1959 Topps.
Monday, March 3, 2008
It's that time of year
Every Spring Training (or at least every spring training the past few years) I've picked up this book and started reading.
Now, I don't necessarily read the entire thing each year. Sometimes I blow through the book quickly, sometimes I get about halfway through and get distracted. One time I remembered it was time to read it, looked for the book and gave up when I could only find my copy of the sequel. I thought about reading it though, and I laughed when I recalled the boner on the bus joke, so it technically counts.
I picked up this copy at the Cobb Countly Library sale last fall for a quarter. My old paperback copy was starting to molt pages so it was time to upgrade. One of these days I'm going to find a hardback copy of the edition of with Jim in the Braves uniform on the cover. I've seen 'em on eBay, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I think subconsciously I'm waiting to find an autographed copy in some dusty old bookstore. You never know what treasures await in old bookstores...
This is one of my absolute favorite books, it combines my love of baseball, humor and my cynical take on the world. It's a pretty fascinating read and a neat look into the major leagues before free agency. It's too bad a book like this couldn't be written today, nowadays we get the Mitchell Report. If I had pulled out the book just a week earlier I would be compelled to get a card for each chapter and post it on the date of the chapter with a quote and such, but that's not gonna happen. Thankfully I'm too OCD to be able to start that a few days after the first date in the book. Maybe next year. You still might see a few related posts popping up here and there though.
(seriously, read this book)
Now, I don't necessarily read the entire thing each year. Sometimes I blow through the book quickly, sometimes I get about halfway through and get distracted. One time I remembered it was time to read it, looked for the book and gave up when I could only find my copy of the sequel. I thought about reading it though, and I laughed when I recalled the boner on the bus joke, so it technically counts.I picked up this copy at the Cobb Countly Library sale last fall for a quarter. My old paperback copy was starting to molt pages so it was time to upgrade. One of these days I'm going to find a hardback copy of the edition of with Jim in the Braves uniform on the cover. I've seen 'em on eBay, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I think subconsciously I'm waiting to find an autographed copy in some dusty old bookstore. You never know what treasures await in old bookstores...
This is one of my absolute favorite books, it combines my love of baseball, humor and my cynical take on the world. It's a pretty fascinating read and a neat look into the major leagues before free agency. It's too bad a book like this couldn't be written today, nowadays we get the Mitchell Report. If I had pulled out the book just a week earlier I would be compelled to get a card for each chapter and post it on the date of the chapter with a quote and such, but that's not gonna happen. Thankfully I'm too OCD to be able to start that a few days after the first date in the book. Maybe next year. You still might see a few related posts popping up here and there though.
(seriously, read this book)
Monday, December 17, 2007
What have I gotten myself into
Well, I won the Popes. I've got 4 of the Emperors now, which is not quite enough for me to actively try to finish the set. If some joker lists Caligula as the Dalai Lama though, I'll be forced to win it and thus be close enough in my mind to attempt the set. Four out of ten isn't enough for me to feel the urge to try and finish it. I've had three of the National Pride cards for a while now, and I haven't had the compulsion to go out and get the rest even though they are in 99 cent listings all the time and I actually really like that set.
I may have really blown it with what I received in today's mail. Like I said in the previous post about the Emperors, I have a widgit on my home page that scrolls through Allen & Ginter eBay listings. One for a N43 lot with Bruce Lee in it caught my eye and I clicked. It was a lot of four of the N43 box toppers including Lee. The seller turned out to be the guy who sold me the last A&G shortprints I needed. I bid on the lot but wasn't the high bidder. I checked his other auctions and found another lot of N43's. I bid on that one, and ended up with this:
Yeah, that's a lot alright. Ten of them in fact. Got them real cheap too, about a buck and a half a pop. The one N43 card I already had (Vlad) wasn't in the lot either. So now I have eleven out of fifteen from the set. A set I wasn't planning to try to complete. Which I probably will try to complete now. And since I'm going to try to complete that set, I'll probably go after the National Pride set too, since I actually like that one better. I'll also find a few cheap Emperors along the way, so there's another set to complete. I also have a bunch of flag cards as I was working on that set before I got sidetracked by the original A&G flags. Hey, gotta get them too. And if I have the Flags and Emperors, I'll need at least one snake. What the hell have I done...
On the bright side, I now have something to do while waiting for 2008 Topps to come out. Also if I hadn't found that auction I wouldn't have won these as well:
I've been outbid on an Andruw rip card several times already and I haven't been too cheap on price. This one cost $5.76. The LaRoche was a bonus, I got that for 99 cents! They've obviously already been ripped and they both look like the bonus card was beat out of them. Who cares, they are a Brave and an ex-Brave (well, two ex-Braves if you want to be picky) serial numbered to 99 for cheap. I wanted to get one of each of all the obtainable rare inserts in A&G and with the rip cards I'm pretty much down to needing a press plate. I'm not going to try for a wood card or an original Perez sketch or anything crazy like that.
All because I hadn't bothered to find those last four commons I need for my base set, now I have all but committed myself to finding a couple dozen more inserts as well. Is there a name for being obsessive compulsive and lazy at the same time?
I may have really blown it with what I received in today's mail. Like I said in the previous post about the Emperors, I have a widgit on my home page that scrolls through Allen & Ginter eBay listings. One for a N43 lot with Bruce Lee in it caught my eye and I clicked. It was a lot of four of the N43 box toppers including Lee. The seller turned out to be the guy who sold me the last A&G shortprints I needed. I bid on the lot but wasn't the high bidder. I checked his other auctions and found another lot of N43's. I bid on that one, and ended up with this:
Yeah, that's a lot alright. Ten of them in fact. Got them real cheap too, about a buck and a half a pop. The one N43 card I already had (Vlad) wasn't in the lot either. So now I have eleven out of fifteen from the set. A set I wasn't planning to try to complete. Which I probably will try to complete now. And since I'm going to try to complete that set, I'll probably go after the National Pride set too, since I actually like that one better. I'll also find a few cheap Emperors along the way, so there's another set to complete. I also have a bunch of flag cards as I was working on that set before I got sidetracked by the original A&G flags. Hey, gotta get them too. And if I have the Flags and Emperors, I'll need at least one snake. What the hell have I done...On the bright side, I now have something to do while waiting for 2008 Topps to come out. Also if I hadn't found that auction I wouldn't have won these as well:
I've been outbid on an Andruw rip card several times already and I haven't been too cheap on price. This one cost $5.76. The LaRoche was a bonus, I got that for 99 cents! They've obviously already been ripped and they both look like the bonus card was beat out of them. Who cares, they are a Brave and an ex-Brave (well, two ex-Braves if you want to be picky) serial numbered to 99 for cheap. I wanted to get one of each of all the obtainable rare inserts in A&G and with the rip cards I'm pretty much down to needing a press plate. I'm not going to try for a wood card or an original Perez sketch or anything crazy like that.All because I hadn't bothered to find those last four commons I need for my base set, now I have all but committed myself to finding a couple dozen more inserts as well. Is there a name for being obsessive compulsive and lazy at the same time?
Friday, July 13, 2007
OCD is occasionally useful
Anyone who has read more than two posts on this blog has figured out by now that I am a Braves fan. A natural consequence of having a devoted following to a team and an incurable card addiction is that you tend to collect a ton of that team's cards. Needless to say, I have put together a few Braves team sets. I'm starting to get to the point where the number of affordable cards I need for my Topps team sets from the 50's and 60's are beginning to dwindle. The holes in my collection are mostly Aarons, Spahns and Mathews with few Buhls, Menkes and Alous left for me to find. So obviously since I don't have enough expensive cards to chase I decided to go through my collection of cards from the 30's and 40s and add those team sets to my Braves binder.
The good thing about the Braves teams from the 30's and 40's is that they were all terrible and there are not many stars that have to be chased. The only truly impossible Braves card from that era is the '35 Goudey Babe Ruth, but reprints of that card are available pretty cheap. Even the Hall of Famers Rabbit Maranville from '33 Goudey and '35 Diamond Stars and Al Lopez from '38 Goudey are affordable as long as I'm willing to scrounge around for ones in a Tipton grade. With this in mind, I got them all together, found a team set checklist and started putting the Goudeys, Diamond Stars and Play Balls together in pages. My cunning plan hit a snag however, I couldn't find a 1939 Play Ball team set list anywhere to save my life.
This guy didn't have a list for 1939 Play Ball. The usually reliable reprint sellers on eBay didn't have a Bees* set up for sale. Yahoo Auctions died, so that wasn't an option any more. My eyes! The Googles do nothing! Not one 1939 Play Ball checklist with team designation to be found.
Now you think this was going to stop me? Oh hell no. I would not rest until I figured out which cards from that set were Bees. God forbid I just put the ones I had in order and rearrange them later once a reprint set went on sale. Utilizing the resources of eBay PowerSellers (thank goodness for Mike Wheat) and advanced Google-fu I finally figured it out. For anyone who wants to know, here is the 1939 Play Ball Boston Bees team set checklist:
49 Eddie Miller
57 Buddy Hassett
61 Tony Cuccinello
69 Elbie Fletcher
70 Fred Frankhouse
72 Debs Garms
85 Johnny Cooney
87 Milt Shoffner
120 Rabbit Warstler
121 Bill Posedel
149 Max West
155 Jimmy Outlaw
As a service to my fellow collector, once I get it together I'll post the complete team checklist separately. so the next poor schmuck looking for a team checklist from this set will be able to find it in a search.
*Yes, Bees. The 1935 team was so ungodly awful it ran Babe Ruth out of the league and prompted the team owners to change the name from Braves to Bees. An ahead of its time PC name change, a switch to blue and yellow team colors and more uniform design changes than the Diamondbacks didn't improve the team's play so they went back to the Braves in 1941.
The good thing about the Braves teams from the 30's and 40's is that they were all terrible and there are not many stars that have to be chased. The only truly impossible Braves card from that era is the '35 Goudey Babe Ruth, but reprints of that card are available pretty cheap. Even the Hall of Famers Rabbit Maranville from '33 Goudey and '35 Diamond Stars and Al Lopez from '38 Goudey are affordable as long as I'm willing to scrounge around for ones in a Tipton grade. With this in mind, I got them all together, found a team set checklist and started putting the Goudeys, Diamond Stars and Play Balls together in pages. My cunning plan hit a snag however, I couldn't find a 1939 Play Ball team set list anywhere to save my life.
This guy didn't have a list for 1939 Play Ball. The usually reliable reprint sellers on eBay didn't have a Bees* set up for sale. Yahoo Auctions died, so that wasn't an option any more. My eyes! The Googles do nothing! Not one 1939 Play Ball checklist with team designation to be found.
Now you think this was going to stop me? Oh hell no. I would not rest until I figured out which cards from that set were Bees. God forbid I just put the ones I had in order and rearrange them later once a reprint set went on sale. Utilizing the resources of eBay PowerSellers (thank goodness for Mike Wheat) and advanced Google-fu I finally figured it out. For anyone who wants to know, here is the 1939 Play Ball Boston Bees team set checklist:
49 Eddie Miller
57 Buddy Hassett
61 Tony Cuccinello
69 Elbie Fletcher
70 Fred Frankhouse
72 Debs Garms
85 Johnny Cooney
87 Milt Shoffner
120 Rabbit Warstler
121 Bill Posedel
149 Max West
155 Jimmy Outlaw
As a service to my fellow collector, once I get it together I'll post the complete team checklist separately. so the next poor schmuck looking for a team checklist from this set will be able to find it in a search.
*Yes, Bees. The 1935 team was so ungodly awful it ran Babe Ruth out of the league and prompted the team owners to change the name from Braves to Bees. An ahead of its time PC name change, a switch to blue and yellow team colors and more uniform design changes than the Diamondbacks didn't improve the team's play so they went back to the Braves in 1941.
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