I'd Like Mine Rare

There are very few boxes left to check off on my vintage Ron Santo list.  This was one of them.  It's from the 1969 set called called Topps Super but unlike the next two years' versions this one is not super-sized.  In fact it's about 1/4 inch smaller in each direction than a regular card.  I believe the "super" refers more to the gloss than anything.  My copy doesn't seem too glossy and I've never seen another one in person so I'm not too sure.  Anyone have a really nice one?  According to Beckett the cards were a stand alone set issued in cello packs of three.  I'm not certain of the rarity of these cards but I know I've only seen the Santo come up on Ebay a few times.  There's currently  a PSA 9 copy being offered for a BIN price of $149.95. (Update: sold just after I posted this.)  Mine suffers from a few surface scratches but I paid way less than that.

1994 Ted Williams Football Part 1

I knew about the baseball cards from Ted Williams Card Company but until a few days ago I had never seen the football set.  Like its two baseball cousins this 90 card set from 1994 is made up entirely of retired players.  I couldn't resist it for around seven bucks shipped.

Here's one of the subsets called "Golden Arms".  Indeed.

I Saw It on Ebay

I saw this listed today on Ebay.  It's only $2.79 shipped but I can't figure out who would want it.  It's a little like buying an expired gift certificate for a good steak.  It makes your mouth water thinking about it but your stomach is still empty.

This Product is Not for Me

This blaster, a gift from my father-in-law, was sitting in my pack stash.  I really didn't know what to expect but I had pretty low expectations.  Good thing!

So, 8 packs, 56 cards.  I pulled about a dozen or so shiny cards.  I guess that's good.  And one per pack thick gold bordered beauties.  Problem is, hardly any names I recognize or that seem to be viable prospects and the ones I do know are not close to being stars.  There was one lone exception and fortunately it saved the blaster from being a total bust.  As a Cubs fan I was happy to see the Cubs' biggest star, Anthony Rizzo.  Yeah, it's a Padres card but it doesn't scream San Diego.  And it's a refractor, so bonus.

I'm not a speculator, don't really have the interest or budget to be one.  This product is lost on me.  I appreciate the gift and I'm pretty sure my father-in-law bought it at a discount but I'd never buy it for myself.

He Shoots, He Scores!

If you hang around Ebay long enough you sometimes find a super good bargain.  I won these four dozen 2008-09 Champs hockey cards for $.01 ($2.55 shipping).  Champs is like a hockey version of Allen & Ginter, minus the bloggers.

(Right-click-open image in new tab to enlarge these)

 

A Collector Collects --Bachmann Mini Planes

What's your earliest collection other than baseball cards?  Or should I say, what's the earliest collection that you still have?  Mine is this collection of plastic airplanes.  I think I accumulated them somewhere between 5th and 8th grades in the early 1970's.  If it weren't for the internet I wouldn't be able to tell you much about them.  A little research and I found they were from a company called  Bachmann.  After all these years this grouping is pretty much an airplane graveyard.  Most of them have one sort of damage or another.

Here's an image of what they looked like in the boxes.  Truthfully I didn't even remember the boxes at all.  I must have tossed them when I bought the planes.

I can show you where I bought them:

That's Hobbymodels on the NE corner of Devon and Western in Chicago.  It's long gone, replaced by an Indian electronics store.  I grew up three blocks north and a block east of there.

You can really see how poorly I've taken care of them over the years but they were cool.