1973 Topps - Over the Halfway Point

My last purchase has put my 1973 Topps set build over the halfway mark.  And as another fellow blogger says, that means it can go to the binder.  This haul came through an eBay purchase.  I got a number of cards that I needed in the lot, which is becoming harder to do.  It is becoming a "get more doubles, than needs" game now as I try to finish my birth year set.

This lot not only brought to me one of my favorite cards from the set, but in my entire collection as well.  The #1 card from the set, the All-Time Home Run Leaders card with Ruth, Aaron, and Mays.  With Aaron only 41 dingers away from tying Ruth, fans would have to wait until April 8, 1974 to see him surpass the record as he ended the 1973 campaign with 713.  Like I have said in a previously, if you have not read Aaron's autobiography, I Had a Hammer, it is a must read about not only Aaron and the record, but also about history and civil rights.  Along with the Ruth card, I was able to get another couple of Hall-of-Famers in Rollie Fingers (1992) and Willie McCovey (1986).

Another aspect of the 1973 set that I like is the manager cards.  On some of these cards, which include the coaches on staff as well, some of the photos have been cropped so close that the ears are missing.  Topps must have corrected some of these as there are different card variations for most of the managers.  Included in this lot were two notable managers, Leo Durocher and Yogi Berra.  Durocher would be in his last year as a major league manager finishing 3rd place with the Houston Astros and Berra would be managing his only NL Pennant winner with the New York Mets.  Berra's Mets would eventually lose the World Series in 7 games to the Oakland Athletics.

This last purchase puts my 1973 Topps Set build up to 352 cards out of 660 cards for 53.3%.   Most of the cards will be a little more difficult (and expensive) to acquire as most will be hard to find Series 5 High Numbers including the most coveted card in the set, the Mike Schmidt rookie.  My 1973 Want List can be found here if you have anything on my list.

Cards At Work....Home Makeover Edition

I have always been interested in putting together an organized place to work on my hobby and display some of my collection.  Until we bought our current house, my collection was often spread throughout the house which is fine if you're single, but not if your spouse likes to keep the place free of clutter.  My stuff now has a place of its own, but the organization is lacking as you can see in the picture below.

I have an old library checkout desk that I call "card central".  Right now it is covered with boxes so there isn't much room to work.  I have my computer in the middle and my scanner/printer to the right.   A shelf above the desk displays some of my collection as well as keeping a place for items ready to be traded/shipped/sorted.  On the wall you can see a present my wife bought me on our honeymoon, a autographed George Brett print.

One of my goals (and my wife's goal) is to finish renovating our house we bought more than a few years ago.  My personal goal is to get my "baseball room" finished and get my collection organized.  Perhaps, my priority is a little out of line with her priority.  I will continue to post updates of my work in progress but I would be interested in seeing where you work on your collection and how you have some of it displayed.  Put up some posts of your workspace and I will be sure to link to it on my blog.  Just leave me a comment below.

2012 Trade Post #1 - Cards from the Quarry

Just got around to posting about my first trade of 2012.  Johnny at Cards from the Quarry contacted me and we worked out a great trade to start out the new year.  Cards that we both needed were exchanged, appreciation thrown around, nothing big.  However, getting to know Johnny and why he collects, made the trade a great one.  I enjoy getting to know a little bit about fellow bloggers and what interests them.  Did you know that a Tennessee quarterback turned first basemen can make a Kentuckian a big Colorado baseball fan?  Now you do.  Got to admire a baseball fan that can support a team from a great distance while living so close to numerous other teams.  Diehard!!!

Here is a little bit of what I received....

A few 2011 Topps base cards including Royals rookie Tim Collins, a bunch of cards to help continue to knockout my 2011 Heritage set, and a bunch of 2011 Year of Topps subset cards.  I usually don't collect subsets, but decided to add this one to my headaches and enjoyments of collecting.  The young Johnny Bench even looks like one of my World History students at school.  I think I will take it tomorrow and see if a 15 year old knows who Johnny Bench is???

Thanks Johnny for a great trade.  Glad to meet ya!

Royals unveil New Logo in the Year of the All Star Game

In honor of the 2012 All Star Game coming to Kansas City, I will be highlighting some Royals All Star trivia along with some trivia from the 1973 All Star Game, the only other game to be held in Kansas City.  Perhaps, I will even make this into some sort of contest....

Till then, I give you the new Royals marketing logo with the emphasis on our young players and hopefully winning ways (and hopefully, getting more than just the standard obligatory all star selection year in and year out).  Enjoy the video clip that explains more about "Our Time".

The Best Baseball Christmas Present Ever.....

So if you look at my blog you can guess that I am a big Kansas City Royals fan.  Been one forever.  Grew up about 3 hours from the stadium.  Always looked forward to getting the new schedule and sitting down with my dad and figuring out which games we were going to.  We usually made the trip a couple of times per year for at least  3-4 games.

Thought 1980 was the greatest year ever.  Followed George Brett's pursuit of .400 with a passion as well as their 1st World Series appearance.  Then thought 1985 was the greatest year ever.  The lone Kansas City World Series Championship.  Kept following them through high school and college.  Even kept a daily updated chart during Brett's pursuit of 3000 hits.

After Brett retired my interest really took a hit.  Not only was my favorite player gone, but the Royals were  bad, really bad, for a really long time.  Jump ahead to 2008, Royals still bad, but wife surprised me with a 13 game ticket package for the 2009 season.  Now, I will say this, I got lucky.  I married a baseball fan and someone that not only accepts my passion for baseball and card collecting but also participates as well.

Since both of us are teachers we share the same schedule, which is nice when planning what games we go to including our first ever trip to Spring Training in 2009.  We continued that ticket package in 2010 and 2011 and went back to Spring Training last year.  She says we can do Spring Training every other year!  I guess I can accept that :)

Then the Best Christmas Present Ever.....from the Greatest Wife Ever.....yes, I am biased.

It gets better though, she just didn't agree to get 2 Tickets to the All Star Game in 2012, the first in Kansas City since 1973.  (**My parents went to this and left me at home.  I guess, me being 2 months old at the time had something to do with their poor decision!**).  She also agreed to up our ticket package so we are guaranteed to get All Star Tickets.  We are now the proud owners of 2 Half-Season Tickets to see the 2012 Kansas City Royals.  Fortunately, the Royals are currently in the midst of a successful rebuilding stint that has seen many draft picks make it to the big leagues.  With players like Hosmer and Moustakas leading the way, I can only hope that a future season in Kansas City will end like 1985.  Thanks to the Best Wife in the World!

1st eTopps Card

2005 eTopps CE5 - Tarred Home Run

I acquired my first eTopps card for my George Brett collection this week, a 2005 Classic Events card of the Pine Tar Home Run against the Yankees.  I was able to pick this up on eBay over the holiday break very cheap.  I have never paid much attention to eTopps.  I know some people love them and some people hate them because of the Topps customer service experience.  For me, it is a great card to add to my collection as a Christmas present to myself.  If anybody know of a good site (non-Topps) that has more information about the eTopps program, please let me know.  For example, will the serial number on the back tell me anything about the card and if so, where can I find out that information?

Goodbye to 2011, Hello to 2012

Now that the new year is here, it is time to offer some reflection on 2011 and set some goals for 2012.  Keeping up with this blog was better, but not exactly like I had planned at the beginning of 2011.  I hope that I can continue to keep posting throughout the year, although my school and coaching schedule often dictate my posting (or lack thereof).  I started my EMAW series (for those Kansas State fans) and I hope to continue that this year.  Like everything else, I just need to dedicate some time to get the posts done.

One thing that I did do more of in 2011 was making trades with some great bloggers.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the cards we have exchanged and that made quite a dent into many of my needs.  I hope to continue that but on a much more frequent basis.

I started my first vintage set last year which happens to be my birth year, 1973.  Besides a few random cards I already had in my collection, I have made some pickups via card shows, trades, the Topps Giveaway, and eBay.  I now have 43.5% of the set, and you can see my 1973 Topps Want List here.  If you have read any of my posts, I am not concerned too much with the condition of my vintage sets so I will consider most conditions of cards.  I personally think it is just cool to have the older cards in my possession.

My first year of collecting cards was in 1980, and it became the inspiration for 26 Cent Summer.  I was able to finish that set through various sources, but it was my first set completed since starting this blog and I have many of you to thank for it.  After finishing the 1980 Topps set, I switched to 1983.  I am currently down to 13 cards left to completion that you can see on my 1983 Topps Want List here.  Again, condition is not really a priority here.

Finally, I worked on the last few years of Topps sets.  I could have these done if I were more active in trading, and I really don't go buy boxes of the stuff.  I usually just pick up a few random packs and blasters here and there.   In the recent past I have focused mainly on just the Topps Base set but I did venture into Heritage territory this year.  I still have quite a few cards to go there especially with all the SP's.  Again, here is my Want List page here.  I really don't go after all of the subsets so you can check out my Items for Trade here.

So what is in store for 2012.  I list for you my goals that I hope to see to completion by the end of the year (in order of importance to me).

1.  Complete the 1973 Topps Set.  43.5% Complete.

2.  Complete the 1983 Topps Set.  98.4% Complete.

3.  Complete the 2000 Topps HD Set.  76% Complete.

4.  Complete the 2009-2012 Topps Base Sets.  2009 was when I really got back into collecting somewhat seriously (to me anyway) so I would like to get these finished off.  

5.  Start working on 1 set per decade beginning with the 1970s.  Of course, I have 1973 and 1983 started.  I don't know what set I wills start with in the 1990s and 2000s.  I will probably survey what I have before choosing one.  I do know that upon completion of my 1973 and 1983 sets, I will move on to  1975 (George Brett rookie, check) and 1981 (the Hat set).

Good luck to all of you with your 2012 Collecting Goals.  May you, your families, and your collections have a wonderful 2012.