The Irritation of an Incomplete Page

This is not the post I had planned for today, but I ran across this in a binder while looking for a different binder which I still haven't found yet, so it's either this or nothing today so deal with it. Here's a set of Mickey Mantle reprints.

Yes, I know. Mickey Mantle is the 21st century equivalent of those advertisement cards for the Topps Puffy Letter Sweatshirt. Damn things are everywhere and you can't get rid of them, not even with poison, fire or nuclear force. This set is from 1996. Back then reprint cards were uncommon and Mantle cards were actually sought after. Especially original Topps cards that you weren't ever going to be able to afford. Reprints (and these have original backs, not the lame write-up that today's reprints have) of The Mick were fricken' sweet 15 years ago. So look and enjoy, I'm going somewhere with this.

I got the whole dam set EXCEPT the 1959 card. Pulled all of these suckers out of packs too. No trades, no purchases from card stores or eBay, all packs. Granted, they were cheap Wal-mart mini packs that cost 50 cents initially and maybe a dime or a quarter when they went on clearance, but all packs. Hear me kiddos:

IT IS INCREDIBLY HARD TO BUILD A SET USING PACKS ONLY

So now I've got a set missing just one card. However, necessity is the mother of shenanigans:

Good 'ol Finest! Close enough.

(seriously though, if anyone has that damn '59 I've got doubles or triples of about half the set. I'll hook you up)

Card Show Top 20 - #17 Real Fake '52

Ok, Back to the card show. Here's #17 in the countdown, Johnny Pesky, pulled from a quarter box.

A gem mint 1952 Topps card in a quarter box?!? Nope, it's a reprint. But not an ordinary run of the mill Yo Momma reprint, this one is older then many of my readers. In 1983, Topps reprinted their entire 1952 set in modern 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 card size. Well, almost the entire set. Topps couldn't get the rights to reprint from 5 players so they were cut out. #22 Dom DiMaggio was one of the cards left out. Strangely, that card was reprinted in the 2001 Archives set. I got Dom's teammate Pesky. These sets were pretty nice for 1983... Clean, white card stock, a little glossy and they came in a nice blue factory set with a seal on them.

As you can see there's a nice big Reprint Series notice right on the back. Not that you would mistake these for the real thing. These suckers are not real easy to find. Sets can be pricey, but you can find them cheap if you look. Of course even at full retail, a set of these might be cheaper than finding a couple of high series cards. This card came out of a quarter box that otherwise had mostly recent inserts and stars. Lots of chrome in that box. Lots of new shiny stuff. I'm not sure how this lonely little reprint ended up in there. This is likely headed to one of the many Red Sox collectors out there. I got one in mind, just haven't gotten around to checking the want list yet. You gotta pick up stuff like that in quarter boxes for other people. It builds up the good karma for subsequent box searching.

The rest of the Top 20 List...

#20 Reds' Heavy Artillery

#19 Blue MadDog

#18 Lil' Jimmy

#17 Real Fake '52

#16 First Topps

#15 Bogus Boog

#14 V103 Tree

#13 Sertoma Rico

#12 '55 Finishers

#11 Hey Shiny

#10 What the Dickens

#9 '60 Spahnnie

#8 Lonely '53

#7 Super Chief

#6 Original Frank

#5 Hoops Inspiration

#4 Rocket Robin

#3 Wizard Off Kilter

#2 Shenanigans Were Called

#1 The Holy Grail of Commons

1953 Topps Jackie Robinson Reprint

Card #1
Jackie Robinson
Brooklyn Dodgers
Second Base

• Integrated the Major Leagues on April 15, 1947.
• You know who Jackie is.
• Seriously, people in remote tribes in the Amazon know who Jackie is.
• This isn't even a real 1953 Topps card anyway.

I could have had this card for 25 bucks back in 1987 but I passed it up like a dumbass. Now I have to resort to showing off a Yo Momma card for my 1953 set because my Completeness OCD has taken over. This is a pretty dang Iconic card right here. It's not his rookie, it's not his first Topps card, but it's probably his best looking card put out during his playing days. The smile on Jackie's face, the B logo on the hat, the facade in the background that could be Ebbets field, or maybe the Roman Colosseum, the red (??) Dodgers logo meshing with the black name box at the bottom. It's a very well designed card and a perfect beginning to the '53 set. 

I was originally not going to do reprints in this series, but since it was the anniversary of Integration Day I decided what the heck. Besides, I'm never going to get my hands on the entire set anyway, I'll have to sell both kidneys to be able to afford the Mantle or Mays. Between various reprint sets and Topps Archives I should be able to rustle up images for all 274 cards. If I can't find a reprint, then maybe I'll just have to pony up for the original instead.