Sports Cards Ate My Brain

 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.

Daniel at It's Like Having My Own Card Shop was looking to add some Barry Bonds cards to is quest to get 762 different cards of the slugger. I had recently gone through all of my purge boxes and had taken out some cards of many great players including Bonds. The result was that I had around 40 cards that he needed. Since I am limiting my PC collecting he agreed to send me three lovely cards that I needed. This 1962 All Star card takes it's place beside the base Aaron as my oldest Hank Aaron cards. I didn't have an Aaron card from the 1968 set but this is a good start as it commemorates Hank leading the league in Home Runs in 1967.  It's easy to forget that Jim Wynn had some good years when you look at the other players on this card. Here is a 1970 Topps 1969 Home Run Leaders card to go along with the Aaron All Star card I already had.  Like Wynn on the previous card, Lee May stands out as the oddball player here. I seem to recall that Daniel and I completed a trade abo...

After my rant from the last post I'll start highlighting my personal collection. This will be one card at a time and I'll explain why the card is special to me. 1976 was the first year I bought a pack of baseball cards.  I bought the pack at a convenience store on the way back from my first Braves game.  My friend's little league team had reserved the left field picnic area at Atlanta-Fulton County stadium and he took me along. We got there well before game time and watched batting practice.  One of the kids on the trip was standing on a picnic table and got hit in the face by a line drive by Jerry Royster.  I retrieved the bloody ball but, of course, had to give it away.  The kid went to the hospital and, as I understand it, was given Braves and Dodgers uniforms. Dusty Baker had moved from the Braves to the Dodgers over the winter and he was signing autographs.  I had no real idea who he was but I had a piece of notebook paper so I got in the line.  H...

I've never really been in to trying to complete a full set.  I usually collect a player or team instead of needing everything from a particular year.  The exception is 1976 Topps Baseball.  The first pack of baseball cards I bought was from this set on the night after I went to my first Braves games in 1976. I'm about 80-100 cards short of complete right now but will finish this at some point.  I love this design and the player selection can't be beat with the All-Time All-Stars cards making an affordable way to get some of the all-time greats.  That is Aaron's last card and Eckersley's first.  I love the stylized player in the corner of each card, with the exception being on the all-star cards (Bench). It's hard for me to believe that this set came out 41 years ago.  Make's me feel older than I actually am (50).