Sports Cards Ate My Brain

 1957 Topps is one of my favorite designs and, if I am ever a millionaire, I would put a set together. Here are the candidates for my favorite card: This is the earliest card in my small Spahn PC.  At some point I am going to start looking for Bowman cards of Warren. Joe Adcock was a potent bat in the middle of the Braves order. My Kaline collecting has been well-documented this past year and this is a nice start to it. Another good start to a small PC.  A truly great player.  Considering he and Adcock and Aaron were in the lineup is there any wonder the Braves went to two consecutive World Series? Until I got this card I hadn't realized that Tanner played for the Braves.  I just knew him as the manager of some terrible Braves teams in the 1980's. I also have several other Braves cards from 1957 that did not make this list. So who do you like from these five? ====================================== All of these cards are great but I love the Adcock the most....

 I'm not a huge fan of the 1952 - 1956 Topps cards but I have collected a few of the Braves cards: My top 5, in chronological order, are below: One of only two 1952 Topps cards that I have and my only Brave. Another nice card of Del Crandall.  This may be my favorite set from this era of Topps. I like this card even though I don't like the cluttered nature of the design. We end with two from 1956. Sorry 1955, you got left out. So who am I picking? Not in consideration, but from this era, we have this bonus. Joe Cunningham turns into Wally Moon when unfolded. ================================ While 1953 is my favorite design my favorite card is the Ernie Johnson.  I grew up listening to him on the radio or on Braves games on TBS.  I'm sure he would be proud that his son was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a broadcaster.

 We move on to my Bowman collection, with the exception of two Tiger cards it is all Braves. I've seleted one card from each of the years I have one from and then will narrow it down to my favorite. This is here by default as my only 1949 Bowman.  I just picked this card up recently. 1950 gives us Buddy Kerr.  I chose this because the other 1950's I have are all boring portrait shots. I have to go with Del Crandall for 1951.  I have a nice collection of the Braves All-Star catcher and this is an error card also, though the name was never corrected. This 1952 Bob Chipman is a little rough but I like the stadium background. I got this lovely Johnny Pesky earlier this year along with another 1953 Bowman Color Tiger card. My only 1954 so it is here by default but I still do like this card even if it does look like someone hand cut the signature and glued it on the card. I do not have a 1955 because I hate the fake TV design.  I'm sure I will eventually pick up somet...

 I've decided to go year by year (or Era by Era) and decide which card is my favorite. We start with my pre-Bowman collection. I've posted my T206 card a few times.  It's not a Boston Brave or Detroit Tiger so someday I will probably replace it to fit better in my PC. I've gathered three lovely Goudey cards that fit nicely in the PC and hope to get more. And these three Play Ball cards are a great, inexpensive option for pre-war cards. Before I reveal my favorite which one do you like? ========================================= We had two guesses for the Fred Marberry. Close but I like the Joe Mowry the best.  The blue and yellow color combo with that "Lou Gehrig Says..." puts it over the top.

 I was one card short of my Kaline goals from the Beckett Marketplace so I switched to Ebay and found the 1969 base card I needed. Card number 410 completes my run from 1957 to 1973.  What about 1974 you ask?  It's around here somewhere so I will have to search for that. Maybe sometime I will decide to buy his cards from before 1957 and purchase some more All-Star and multi-player cards of Al but I am satisfied with where I am. This completes my fun money run on my Braves and Tigers collections unless I win some lottery money or another Stimulus check comes out. I hope you have enjoyed my pursuit and will look forward to what I post in the future.

 I found a dealer that had two more Kaline base cards I needed plus a bonus to add to my collection. 1965 Topps #410.  Another fake swing card but this gets me closer to the complete standard size Kaline collection so no more complaints. 1968 Topps #240.  Here is a much more natural pose even if it is in the middle of nowhere.  And another one checked off the list. 1968 Topps Game #27.  I love this set and this gives me Mays, Aaron and Kaline so that is a great outfield. So now I am down to a 1969 and the ones listed on the Beckett Marketplace say the dealer is on vacation until July so I may have to hit Ebay to see what I can find.

With my fourth Ebay money purchase I decided to fill a couple more holes in my PC.  While I had gotten a 1933 Goudey out of the way I found a couple of 1934 examples to add to my Braves and Tigers collections. First we have card #59 of Boston Brave Joe Mowry.  The "Lou Gehrig says" on these cards is a major plus as I could never afford an actual Lou Gehrig card from this time period. This is card #70 of Detroit Tiger Pete Fox.  Having a Brave and a Tiger from this set is very satisfying. Another player that I could never afford from his playing days but is a need for any Tiger collection is Ty Cobb.  This same dealer had the 1960 and 1961 Fleer cards available so I took the plunge.  These cards are in fabulous condition. 1960 Fleer #42 1961 Fleer #14 Having these PC needs filled leaves a great taste in my mouth.  These cards come from 1,000,000 Baseball Cards in Manchester, Missouri and was my second purchase from them.  I will definitely look out for ...

 The third purchase from my Ebay gains is a mixed bag of PC needs. 1973 Topps Kaline leaves me with just the 1966 and 1968 cards needed to complete the run from 1957 to 1974.  While not a big fan of these posed batting shots I do like this, obviously, Spring Training photo of Al in sunny Florida. This nice 1962 Topps is a good addition to my Mathews collection.  I need to look for 1961 and 1963 cards to complete a run from 1957 to 1964. I looked to see what Aaron cards this dealer had and came across this 1968 Topps Game insert.  This pairs nicely with the Willie Mays card I have from this set and it's always welcome to get another Hank in my collection. These cards came from DugoutZone in Ellicott City, Maryland.

 My second order from my ridiculous ebay gains netted me two more PC needs. 1965 Topps is in the lower middle of my favorite Topps designs but I do like this clean Kaline at a good price. The second Kaline from this order gives us this pop-tastic 1972 Topps.  Another set in the middle of my favorite designs. At this point I only lack the 1966, 1968 and 1973 Kaline base cards, one of which will be coming in the next mail post. Thank you to Mac's Collectibles in Springfield, MO for these two fills.

 In 2018 I bought one hobby box of Allen & Ginter at a card show.  My best finds at that show were the two Acuna and two Ohtani Topps Chrome RCs from the two boxes of Topps Chrome I bought; or so I thought. Flip to 2021 and I run across the Brooklyn Back Mini (09/25) Cryptocurrency card I got out of that A&G box.  I knew it had value as a Brooklyn Back but holy $#%$ I was not expecting what I found on Ebay. Deciding that I needed to get tires, tune-up etc. for my car I listed the card with a ridiculous (to me) Buy It Now amount and sold it within an hour.  A week and a half later, after shipping and delivery, I got a nice amount of funds in my checking account. I got the car repair done this past Saturday but also have made four card purchases in the Beckett Marketplace for some PC fills. The first to arrive in the mail is some more Al Kaline's to try and complete my run of his standard sized cards. Here is a lovely 1959 Topps All-Star card of our favorite De...