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Saturday, August 12, 2017

If You Caught It, It Was Never a "White Whale" to Begin With, Right?

In my experience whenever the subject of  a literary classic comes up in conversation there's almost always a reference to high school or college:  "I had to read that in high school" or " I read that in college.  Often it's,  "I never had to read that."  Perhaps it's more a reflection of my intellectual shortcomings than the the talent of the teachers I had but I didn't really enjoy most the books I read in school.  One of the classics "I never had to read" is Herman Melville's, Moby Dick.
Image result for moby dick book
So what pray tell does this have to with cards?  This--I've always thought, in collecting terms, of the phrase "White Whale" as something that you're always hunting for and can never seem to acquire.  And I guess in reference to Moby Dick that's true enough.  But what if you finally do get what you've been searching for?  Wouldn't it be true that by definition it was never a "White Whale" to begin with?

Here's a card that I thought was a "White Whale".  Happily it wasn't.  It did take me years of sporadic looking and lost bids to finally add this to my collection.   While not the priciest card I've ever bought it's the most I've spent on a single item in years.  
If you're interested in learning more about this set here's a great article from Sports Collector's Daily.




Here's my only other Milk Dud's card which, graded the same, makes a nice companion.  It features Ronnie's road roommate Glenn Beckert:

15 comments:

  1. Wow, those are really neat! Nice additions to your collection!

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  2. Congratulations on getting your non white whale! I have never seen these Milk Duds boxes before, so it was nice to finally be exposed to them.

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    1. Thanks. One thing I find strange is that I was collecting cards in 1971--in Chicago--and I have no memory of ever having seen them. If I had I probably would still have some, though not likely in mint condition.

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  3. Congrats on slaying that beast. I do remember seeing these boxes at card shows in Indy during the 1980s, but it's been years since I've encountered one.

    Your comment about Beckert suggests a possible fun type collection -- road roomies.

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    1. Thanks. Is there a list on BaseballReference.com? ;)

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  4. If you spent years trying to track it down for your collection, then I'd consider it a whale. Congratulations on this sweet addition to your collection. I've never actually seen these Milk Duds cards before. Very, very cool.

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    1. Thanks Fuji. I guess if you're not a 1960's player collector these could be overlooked. As a Ron Santo collector who has a vast majority of his stuff I couldn't miss it. Biggest holes now are all of the Venezuelan variations none of which are or will likely ever be in my price range.

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    2. Now those I've heard of. Lol... unless I find them in a random flea market find, I'll never own one of them either.

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  5. congrats! can't beat vintage oddballs!

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  6. Keep looking, Venezuelan cards was one of my Virdon PC white whales. I randomly found my it however marked as a regular Topps. My whale cost a whole 2.49.

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  7. I somehow missed this post... Man, those boxes are sweet! As compulsive as I get when eating Milk Duds, I should be thankful that this was a one-time thing... otherwise I'd weigh about 400 lbs.

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    1. Can't blame you, my blog has been been the petrified forest lately.

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