Ted Taylor has completed his book, "Philadelphia Athletics . . . By the
Numbers"
It's a treasure trove of tidbits on all of the A's players and, of
course, includes their uniform numbers.
To order, visit
www.Xlibris.com/bookstore
or check out
www.amazon.com
or www.barnesandnoble.com.
January 27, 2010
This is our 35th Year of hobby columns
Ted Taylor’s Collector’s Corner
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Topps Tribute Baseball promises
lots of treasures
This is truly a high end set and only for those people who pursue such
things. The 2009 Topps Tribute Baseball is, in reality, the first 2010 set
and the hobby box contains just six packs of cards with a goodie promised in
very box.
The cards are thick stock with a silver background. They include old-timers
and current players in the 100 card base set. (The balance is leaning toward
old-timers – I got Johnny Mize, Johnny Podres, Bruce Sutter, Andre Dawson,
Robin Roberts, Gary Carter and guys like that. Some base cards are just
that, others are blue-tinted parallels numbered to 219. Some are numbered to
just 50 (I got a gold-tinted Rogers Hornsby, 49/50) in that category.
The treasures are numbered to 99 or less and, if you are lucky you’ll find
something from Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig,Jackie Robinson, Reggie
Jackson, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial or someone of that Hall of Fame caliber.
There are, to be sure, some very attractive items packaged in this set. The
trick, of course, is to find them before you bought so many boxes you’ll be
skippinbg next month’s mortgage payment.
On the other hand you could do like I did and get two Ryan Braun cards (one
autographed with a relic, the other with two relics), a Jay Bruce signed
card with two relics, a Dustin Pedroia signed with a bad shard, a Rick
Porcello with a piece of his uniform or, the best one I found, an Alex
Rodriguez card with their pieces of something he wore with blue pinstripes.
The A-Rod card was 61/75.
Busting packs is fun. Busting high-end packs brings a little more
excitement. It’s a nice diversion.
The Hobby’s Most Under-rated Sets
Part II
Over the Christmas holidays I got an e-mail from Seth
Margoles who says he’s one of my most ardent readers (says he started
reading my stuff in the 70’s). Thanks, Seth, and now to your question.
He wanted to know what I considered to be the most
under-rated hobby sets in the last 62 years (or since Bowman opened things
back up after World War II) with baseball and football sets in 1948.
In the last column I listed the top five: ’51 Berk Ross, ’47
Homogenized Bread, 1948-49 Leaf, 1949 Eureka Sports Stamps and ’52 Parkhurst.
Here are the rest of the most
under-rated sets:
1.
1947 Tip Top Bread –
A true regional set, this black-and-white issue has Red Sox, Yankees,
Dodgers, Tigers, Braves, Cubs, Browns, White Sox, Giants and Pirates
players. Honus Wagner is included as a Pirates coach, Ralph Kiner is
included, Dom DiMaggio, George Kell, Larry (Yogi) Berra listed as an
outfielder, soap opera star Johnny Berardino, Phil Rizzuto and a whole load
of guys who never appeared before (or after) on a baseball card.
2.
Exhibit cards –
The kind you bought for a penny in those machines at the seashore or the
amusement park. The Exhibit Supply Company of Chicago cranked out
postcard-sized blank-back cards of all the baseball stars until the 1960’s.
Check listing them all is a chore but suffice it to say no collection of
vintage baseball cards is complete without a substantial number of these. If
you collected them you got Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Lou
Gehrig, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle and all the other major stars. Cards of
cowboys, movie stars, football players and pin-up girls competed for your
pennies as a kid.
3.
1964 Topps Giants –
Was there ever a 60-card set that packed so many super-stars in one short
numbered issue? This one, the size of a post card, has Hank Aaron, Mickey
Mantle, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Whitey Ford, Al Kaline…you name
them. When it first came out no one cared. They care now and can’t find
them.
4.
1951 Topps Red and Blue backs –
Not a particularly nice looking card, in fact as a kid collecting 1951
Bowman’s I could hardly be bothered. The cards was small (the size of 1950
Bowman), had a baseball diamond on the red or blue back and a little
black-and-white picture on the face side. There were 52 cards in each issue
and a companion die-cut larger card of Connie Mack’s All-Stars or a team
card of the same size. The package was called “Doubles” because each one
contained two cards for a penny (they were joined). Lots of stars were in
there but, as kids, we only kept the ones that filled out our Bowman sets.
Today I love my sets. They are so quirky and hard to find.
5.
1952 Red Man Tobacco –
An odd shaped card and a series that would only last a few years. They came
with tabs on them that, when removed, got you a ball cap or some other
treasure. There were 52 cards, 26 from each league. Lots of stars and nice
pictures but if you didn’t know someone who chewed tobacco your were out of
luck.
In the “others” category I’d list 1954 Wilson Weiners that came in
hot dog packages and included stars like Ferris Fain,.Roy Campanella, Bob
Feller and Ted Williams; 1954 Dan Dee Potato Chips that featured a
very nice Mickey Mantle card as well as other stars like Duke Snider, Early
Wynn, Phil Rizzuto, Gil Hodges and the like and 1954 Red Heart Dog Food
cards that were out of your reach if your parents only let you have a
cat. This set also included Mantle, Fain, Nelson Fox, Stan Musial, Rich
Ashburn, Bob Lemon.
Granted these were all considered “regionals” but collectors of the day
found ways to collect, trade and acquire them. It was fun. I miss that fun
and am so glad that I own examples of all these sets in my personal
collection.
TOPPS INTRODUCES
ALL-PAINTED SET TO BASEBALL
Topps has
commissioned 12 top sports artists to create the upcoming and
much-anticipated 2010 Topps National Chicle Baseball.
The gorgeous 330
base-card set will include yesterday and today’s stars and even a fusion of
the two. In addition,
every box will guarantee 2 on-card Autographs and 1 Relic.
Artists include: Monty
Sheldon, Jeff Zachowski, Dave Hobrecht, Paul Lempa, Brian Kong, Chris Felix,
Don Higgins, Mike Kupka, Brett Farr, Jason Davies, Chris Henderson and Ken
Branch.
National Chicle Baseball Ships April 12th and carries a $4 SRP
for each 8-card pack.
Here’s a
closer look…
BASE CARDS
(330)
Veterans,
Retired Players and Rookies (275 subjects) The
likes of Ken Griffey, Derek Jeter and more Major League stars beautifully
captured. (see Griffey image attached)
Retired Stars Revisited
(25 subjects): See what legends would look like if they were playing today.
Find Babe Ruth in Atlanta Braves uniform (retired with Boston Braves). What
would Lou Gehrig look like in today’s Yankees uniform? (see Gehrig image
attached)
Vintage Veterans
(10 subjects): And what would today’s stars look like in yesterday’s
uniforms? How about Manny Ramirez in Brooklyn Dodgers gear or Albert Pujols
in the old St. Louis Browns threads?
Rookie Renditions
(20 subjects): 2010 Rookies featured on classic Topps Rookie Cards. Look
for Tyler Flowers on the famous no-name Frank Thomas RC and find Madison
Bumgarner in the style of Gaylord Perry’s 1962 Topps RC.
What’s on your mind ????
Don’t be
bashful. Drop us a line (ted@tedtaylor.com)
and let us know what you think. Thanks for reading the column. Your
feedback is important.
