Out of hibernation

So it's been awhile since I last posted. Been so long that Blogger has dramatically changed their dashboard and I feel a little lost writing this. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it again. Life's never-ending rush has prevented me from posting since December as well as reading many of the great blogs on this blog roll. I have managed to stay in the loop as far as new releases by picking up some packs here and there as well as continue to pick up some off-condition vintage along the way. I plan on getting back to posting more as well as trading. I do miss a good trade.

I recently put my near completed, 1975 Topps Set in sheets. I really had forgot how nice of condition set this was. The colors really pop and almost all the cards have sharp corners. It's definitely my favorite set of the 1970's, if not all-time. Of course, it's probably because my childhood idol, Jim Rice's rookie card is in this set. I have always wondered what made Topps place Jim Ed on a four-player card while the likes of George Brett and Robin Yount appear all by themselves.

One newly purchased item and a partial 1968 Topps set.

With the partial set, along with about seventy-five 1968's I already had, I have a little over half the set. While not my favorite design of the 1960's, it brings back memories from about 25 years ago. Back then I had worked in a baseball card store and had almost purchased a partial set from the owner. It was missing a number of star cards, including the Mantle, Bench rookie, and the Ryan rookie. God knows what it would have run me, maybe $80-100 bucks at the time. I just couldn't do it as I think I was intimidated by the cost to obtain all the other missing cards. Long before trading, eBay, COMC I just didn't pull the trigger.

Anyhow, I made an offer on the above and the seller took it. Overall, the set runs VG-EX which is fine with me. The "burlap" pattern actually does a nice job of hiding those soft corners. The high numbers aren't too pricey and for the time being, I can pick up reprints of the Bench and Ryan to fill in those holes.

It's a great set for me to tackle as the LSC has a number of commons, high #'s and semi stars in stock for pretty cheap money. The 1968 set brought back the return of The Sporting News All-Star cards and the leader cards are stacked with some nice pairings. You also have The Mick's last card of him while he was still active; same with the great Eddie Matthews (Tigers). There are two awesome multi-player cards; #490 "Super Stars" with Mick, Mays, and Killebrew and #480 "Manager's Dream" with Oliva, Cardenas, and Clemente. Also in this great set is the Sox-Cards World Series subset. That 1967 season changed how New Englanders followed their beloved BoSox. The Nation started then and there.

So for any of those out there with some '68's to trade, drop me an email. My wantlist is on the right hand side. I have a number of vintage stars from the 60's and 70's, some pretty nice, others a little beat up. Heck, if you have an off-condition Mantle, I'll trade you an off-conditioned 1963 or 1966 Topps Koufax. If you have a nice Bird Belters (#530), I have a 1961 Topps Frank Robinson with your name on it. Whatever you have, drop me a line and I'll be sure to respond.