Card Show Report 2012 04 21 - Neshaminy Mall

1967 Topps #460 Harmon Killebrew

1967 Topps #480 Willie McCovey

1967 Topps #500 Juan Marichal

On Saturday I hit the local card show at the Neshaminy Mall.  It surprisingly turned out to be one of the better Mall shows I have been to here.  This show had a bunch of things I liked.  at least a dozen, maybe 20 dealers.  Several of them brought Vintage - so many had bargain vintage that I barely glanced at the dime Boxes. 

Faux Blaster

Instead of picking up a a Blaster of Gypsy Queen or Heritage at some big Corporate Big Box store here is what I put my $20 directly back into the economy by passing it on to a bunch of crumudgeons selling cards at the show...Ok they aren't all crumudgeons - but...well you've been to card shows before.

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Base Cards

Big old Stack of 1971 Topps

I have been sort of working on this set in the back of my head.  But this haul should bring actively building the set more to the fore.  These are mostly commons, over 100 mostly in the lower series' but at 12/$1 they could not be passed up.  Couiple of semi-stars Dock Ellis, Messersmith, Rico Carty, Ken Brett and a few Semi-Hi numbers.  Those went for $11.  

Inserts

 

In addition to the 1967 Hall of Famers at the top of the post, I found 3 other HoF cards from various years.  

1963 Topps #43 Veteran Masters Casey Stengel & Gene Woodling

1957 Topps #59 Dick Williams

1957 Topps #85 Larry Doby

The three cards above came out of 2 separate $1 bins.  The 1967 Topps HoF cards also went for a buck.  Not only are Killebrew, Stretch, and Marichal Hall of Famers, but those cards are in a Semi-High Series.  Pulling those cards in at a buck each is like stealing.

1957 Topps #374 Don Cardwell

1963 Topps #551 Billy Klaus

1966 Topps #506 Bo Belinsky

The Three Phils are all Hi or Semi-Hi numbers.  Bo Belinsky is sort of a semi-star Hi number. 

There you have it for the same price as a Blaster, I picked up over a hundred 1971 Topps cards PLUS 9 Vintage Hits all featuring Hall of Famers or High Numbers. 

Definitely a Good Show! 

Links
Willie McCovey Index
 

Card Show Report - 2010 04 18 Look who is hanging out in the Dollar Bin

1964 Topps #460 Bob Gibson

This card is in not in anywhere near perfect condition. It generally looks good, the corners are soft and it is dimpled throughout, but there aren't any real creases, and it is not written on. The color is tsill go and it is a fine looking card of Bob Gibson.

So why the hell is it in the dollar bin? I have no clue - I can think of a bunch of reason it has to be rescued from that squalid neighborhood.

#1) It's Bob Gibson!
#2) 1964 Topps - 45+ years old card of a Hall of Famer
#3) It's a Semi-High Number in the '64 High Series
#4) Try and find this baby for under $5 on an auction site.
#5) I have to say it again - It's Bob Gibson!



1964 Topps #280 Juan Marichal

Another 64 HoF for a dollar.
1965 Topps #399 Ray Herbert

Typically I wouldn't pick a 1965 card out of the dollar bin, but the Herbert card is a High Number and those are a bit scarcer in the topps 65 set. I think I crossed 3 Phils off my Topps Want lists over the weekend. The other two were 80s cards out of a dime box.

1962 Topps #575 Red Shoendienst
1989 Topps #81 Frank Viola

One more Hi-Number Vintage HoF - unfortunately poor Red has been sent to the bargain bin for having his position shifted from 2b to Manager. This may be Shoendienst's last card as a player.

And what the heck is with this Giant Frank Viola Card? Stay tuned for more info later in the week.

Card Show - Corcorde Mall, Wilmington, Delaware

Checked out a local card show at the Concorde Mall in Wilmington Delaware. Best part of the show was meeting PTBNL/Patsearcher-Greg, the author of In Search of Pat the Bat. Greg was the winner of the 2009 version of the Spot the Sig! contest and announced that he will be back to defend his title this fall. It was good to meet a fellow Phils collector and blogger. We batted around a couple of collecting and blogging topics, and of course discussed the Phils past and Present. We were also able to take in part of Saturday's Cards v Phils game on TV and got to see Jimmy Rollins' Grand Slam!

Greg is much more in touch with the cards from the years prior to my return to collecting and it was good to get some insight on those sets, inserts, and the all the related parallel variations.

I think we both did pretty well at the show, He was able to pick up a handful of Burrell cards for his want list and was busy filling out some sets he has been building. On my end I found a couple of cards from some set I am building. 1 from 08 Spectrum and 2 form 07 Bowman Heriitage. I found these cards among three dime boxes I searched. Most of the cards I picked up were to build my Phils teams sets from 1980-Present. I also took home my usual boatload of Heritage/Retros, HOFs, and Chromey superstars. I picked out a handful of slightly higher priced cards in the 7/$5 bin and also picked up about a dozen junk autos going for about $2.50 each

Here are some of he Highlights:


(Click To Enlarge)
1972 Topps #38 Carl Yastrzemski In Action
2009 Topps #428 Jamie Moyer Gold #d 1188/2009
1974 Topps #342 Jim Longborg
1970 Topps Scratch Off Juan Marichal
2009 OPC #220 Ryan Howard Black Border
1984 Topps #397 Eddie Murray All-Star
1991 Topps Archive 1953 #318 Curt Simmons
2008 UD Documentary #4233 PHI142 Joe Blanton September 7, 2008 Phils 6 Mets 2

The Yaz, Moyer, Marichal, and Howard cards came out of the insert box. The rest of the cards were out of dime boxes.

Quick Summary: It is always good to get cards of vintage HOFs especially pre-1974. The 72 In Action set is a fun set too. The #d Gold card will be a nice addition to my emerging Jamie Moyer collection. The Longborg was one of many Phillies that I picked up as I try and build the entire Topps run of Phils cards. I didn't have any of the Topps Scratch Off cards. I am not sure if I will be collecting O-Pee-Chee this year but the Black Border was to nice to pass on. Eddie Murray is for the HOF collection. Curt Simmons is an underappreciated Pitcher from Phils past and finally the Documentary will go into the Phungo Games collection.

The Concorde Mall Show consisted of about 20 maybe 25 tables. The few dealers that I talked to felt Saturday was down, but they seemed to think they had done well on Friday Night.

Hall of Fame Thursday - Juan Marichal

1973 Topps #480 Juan Marichal

Zack Grienke's has had a remarkable start to the season and related to this Juan Marichal's name has resurfaced recently.

After Grienke's first 10 starts this year his ERA was 0.84, Similarly in 1966 Marichal had held his opponents to an amazing 0.56 ERA through 10 starts.

Marichal's accomplishments didn't end there. During 16 seasons mostly with the San Francisco Giants he tallied 243 Wins (with only 142 Losses putting him 101 games over .500), 52 shutouts (18th all time), and 2303 strikeouts. Marichal and Sandy Koufax are the only two pitchers in the last 60 years to record 25 wins in three different seasons. Marichal's 191 Wins during the 1960s was tops for the decade. Over the course of his career he compiled a 3.25 K/BB ratio (only six active starting pitchers can boast of such a ratio).

Juan Marichal hails from the Dominican Republic and currently is the lone Domican in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Pretty hard to believe with the number of Dominican stars that play the game currently.

For the Collectors

Juan Marichal's rookie card is #417 in the 1961 Topps set. In recent auctions the card has sold as low as $23.49 for a very off center but otherwise good condition card. In several other completed auctions ungraded versions of the card went in the $30-$35 range. After the several Mickey Mantle's and a couple of Roger Maris cards the Marichal is among the most sought after in the 1961 Topps set.

Autographed Marichal cards falls in line with most lower tier Hall of Famers. The cheapest auto auction to complete recently was $10.50 for an 05 Donruss Signature Series sticker Auto. Last years Donruss Threads sticker auto #d to 25 (but crooked) went for $13.99. A much nicer 07 Sweet Spot Classic (gold stitching #d to 99 and NOT faded) went for $16.52.

Price quotes above are from ebay completed auctions and include shipping. Any links to cards are strictly to show an example of the card and are not a site endorsement.

1973 Topps Juan Marichal cards like the one above in crap condition can be had for a quarter or maybe even a dime. I think this one was in an 8 for a dollar bin.

One last note, for $60 Juan Marichal's Baseball-Reference page is available. Seems like a good deal for the right customer.

Sources & Links
Phungo HoF Index

Happy New Years - Chinese Style - Year of the Ox - Yogi, Marichal, Schmidt, Donnie Baseball, the Caveman and Joba

January 26th 2009 marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the Ox. To help celebrate the New Year I dined on some Chicken Shu Mai this evening, and I also put together this Chinese New Year Post.

The Chinese Zodiac is based off of a lunar calendar and is marked by Years rather than months. I am sure you have seen this on a place mat in a Chinese restaurant at some point in your life. 2009 is the year of the Ox, as is every 12th year going backwards and forwards. The most recent celebrations of Year of the Ox have been in 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, and 1997.

Here are some Major League Baseball Oxen.

1959 Topps #180 Yogi Berra - Born 1925
1973 Topps #480 Juan Marichal - Born 1937

1987 Topps Kmart #31 Mike Schmidt - Born 1949
1989 Fleer #258 Don Mattingly - Born 1961

2005 Leaf Century Collection #58 Johnny Damon - Born 1973
2008 Topps Foil #596 Joba Chamberlain - Born 1985

There you have a superstar Year of the Ox group of players. According to Dinged Corners "the Ox is patient, tireless in his work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint." So what do you think, do these players demonstrate the qualities of the Ox?

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Also, If you haven't done so already please take the time to vote in the Phungo Jim Rice poll.

Sources and Links
Johnny Damon Index