Sports Cards Ate My Brain

I am one of millions of people in the world that love James Bond movies.  I have seen all of them at least once. Depending on when you were born and started watching the movies everyone has a favorite Bond.  Mine in Roger Moore.  The first Bond movie I saw was The Spy Who Loved Me.  My dad and I went.   I enjoyed the comedy aspect of the Roger Moore movies although some people didn't think they were serious enough. All I know was I wanted to talk about "shared bodily warmth" with Major Amasova (played by Barbara Bach). I've collected some Bond cards over the years but never bought I full box so I decided to buy a box of 2019 James Bond collection.  Like most recent boxes of recent non-sport releases it promised an autographed card or 2 in this case. The base cards have an acetate parallel.  I pulled this classic villain card of Rosa Kleb from the Spy Who Loved Me.  I'm pretty sure that Mike Myers was inspired by Kreb when creating Frau Farbis...

I recently purchased boxes of 2013 and 2014 Panini Golden Age. These sets were similar to Upper Deck Goodwin's Champions in that they featured retired players and historical figures.  They also tied in with Panini Americana as far as having memorabilia and autographs from pop culture figures. Each box promised two autos or relics. I had bought boxes when they orginally came out and pulled these a John Belushi shirt card and autographs of Angie Dickenson, Jan Stephenson and John Schneider. Here is what I got from this purchase: 2013 Bob Denver is most famously remembered as Gilligan from Gilligan's Island.  I also have a memorabilia card of him from Donruss Americana. Billy Sunday was a baseball player but is better known as an evangelist.  This card is a short print version as well as a rare white bordered parallel of the base card. I also got an autographed card of former Miami Dolphins running back Jim Kiick that I forgot to scan. 2014 Tatum O'Neal was 10 when she starr...

I loved the show Twin Peaks back in the early 1990's when it first aired and I have the original card set so I decided to get a box of 2019 Twin Peaks Archives. It promised 2 autos per box and with the great cast the show had I figured I would get some good cards.  I got a complete set of the base cards to go with my earlier set. Here are my hits: One Eyed Jacks was the Casino/Brothel in town.  This is a replica poker chip from the casino and is very heavy.  These cards are apparently less than one per box and there is also a "broken" version. Billy Zane is a veteran of many films and TV shows.  He placed John Justice Wheeler on Twin Peaks.  He is probably best known for being the "bad guy" in Titanic. Another veteran actor, Richard played the richest man in town, Benjamin Horne.  Richard played Tony in the movie West Side Story, opposite Natalie Wood. While the poker chip card is an unexpected oddity the autograph cards met my expectations of the quality o...

Over a few purchases I have bought roughly 8 packs of Bowman 1st Edition and 7 packs of Bowman Jumbo.  I have not hit anything that will make me a millionaire but I have also not busted out. I've achieved the base triple (1st Edition, Bowman, Chrome) of Jasson Dominguez. The same with Bobby Witt Jr. and Robert Puason. I've gotten one numbered card from 1st Edition. A Chrome Refactor and a Bowman Yellow "paper." Out of the Jumbo packs I've gotten three autographs. A Quin Cotton Sparkle. A Glennallen Hill Jr. Purple.  (Who else feels old that Glennallen Hill's child is old enough to be drafted.) And my best pull: This nice Robert Puason Sparkle autograph. Overall I have been pleased with what I've gotten but not amazed. As with any Bowman product I'll wait 5-10 years before I really know what kind of value I got.

My second package from Monday is all Al Kaline. 1959 Topps is one of my favorite sets.  I have an Eddie Mathews from this year also. The 1961 Topps design is a little basic for my taste but this was picked up cheap so not going to complain. 1963 Topps has grown on me over the years.  This is the only Hall of Famer I have from this set. 1967 Topps is another classic design.  We love a good spring training photo with random people in the background. Overall I liked this purchase and the other one and will use the marketplace again when I decide to buy some more vintage Tigers.

I decided to delve into the world of the Beckett marketplace for the first time to start my Tigers vintage collection. My father was a Tigers fan since he grew up outside of Detroit in the 40's and 50's. I ordered from two dealers on the site. Here are the cards from the first package. These first two are form 1953 Bowman Color.T  Bill Wight and Johnny Pesky were both traded from the Red Sox to the Tigers in the 1952 season.  These are my second and third Bowman Color cards after my Braves Jack Daniels card. The other two cards are these lovely 1958 Topps.  This is my oldest Kaline cards and a second year Jim Bunning.  I love 1958 Topps and have a few nice Braves from this year also. Before these 4 cards my oldest Tiger was my 1960 Norm Cash so I'm happy to get cards from when my father was younger and may have seen these guys play in Tiger Stadium. Overall I am happy with this purchase and even got a 15% off code if I purchase from this dealer again.

After they made the 1970-71 Basketball "tall" set Topps decided to go with standard sized cards for the next few years; until 1976 that is. The 1976-77 Topps cards are way too big.  They are hard to store except in a shoe box. Having said that, I somehow ended up with some cards from the set. John Drew was the Hawks leading scorer for several years in the late 1970's.  He was eventually part of the trade that got Dominique Wilkins for the Hawks. Not sure about this picture.  What was Topps thinking putting this on a card? My best card from the set is this David Thompson rookie card.  I don't think I ever saw Thompson play in a game.  I hear he was pretty amazing. Tell me what you think of oversized cards.