What's in the Box...?

It’s been kind of a lousy week for me. I shared in my last post a bit about our sick pet rat, and I’m sorry to say that the news from the vet was not good. Idgie has a brain tumor and will not be with us much longer. But she’s been doing pretty well considering, slowed down physically, but not mentally. So, I’ve been glad for distractions and my mood led me to do something I probably wouldn’t have normally done. But it turned out to be a pretty nice pick-me-up on an otherwise depressing day.

There is a comic book shop near our apartment with an antique/consignment area. I stop in every now and again to look for cards, but rarely find anything worth picking up. It’s that cross-hobby problem, I think, where you tend to overprice stuff that is outside of your realm of expertise. You see it a lot in antique stores. This shop had a factory set of 1990 Score priced at $35 that is a pretty good example of this. So, when I found an 800-count box marked “’70s Vintage Baseball, $20,” I was suspicious. And when I opened it up and thumbed around and found mostly 1982 Topps and early ‘80s Fleer commons, I almost put it back. But then I tried from another part of the box and turned up a vein of stars cards… Rose, Morgan, Reggie, etc from ’82, ’79, and ’78 Topps, I figured I might as well pick it up and give myself something to do.

The box was arranged by team, with stars cards arranged by player at the end. With a cold beer and some Riff Trax on the TV, I sorted them by set and came up with a decent stacks of 78, 79, 80, 81, and 83 Topps, as well as 81, 82, and 83 Fleer. With almost no dupes!

As for my “hits…”

There were a few ’83 Topps cards in the box as well, including this nice pair of HOFers.

The bulk of the cards were 1982 Topps, which is a set I am now on my way to building. Here is Johnny B and George Brett… I love that Brett card, with him preparing his bat.

A pair of second-to-last year Yazes.

REGGIE! And the last Ozzie as a Padre card.

And a pair of Brewers from the World Series team.

  

I also got a nice starter set of 1979s, a set I’m eager to start on so I can chase that Ozzie Smith RC.

That is, I believe, Munson’s last card. And I already had a copy of that Fisk, but it’s still pretty sweet.

BIG REDS! Looks like photos taken from the same game.

I managed to put together a smaller stack of 1978s, too. Here we have another Munson and a big Willie McCovery from his second tour with the Giants.

I also found four 1976 Topps traded cards, a set I have yet to begin.

I found just one card from my 1981 wantlist in the box, but snagged some decent dupes, including this Gibby RC and a Bench All Star.

I found 12 (!!!) cards I needed for my 1980 set, including this BALLER Gary Carter. The Schmidt is a dupe, but still a great card.

If anyone is in need of 81-82-83 Fleer, I can probably help you out. I got a huge stack of ’81s, including these beauties (which I might actually need to hold on to).

Some ’82s. This Rod Carew photo also appears on his ’82 Topps In Action card.

And a smaller stack of ’83s. This was the year they finally solved their printing issues, and with a clean design and sharp photos, it makes for a very nice set.

This alone would have made this worth the twenty bucks. But I still have yet to get to the three BIG HITS…

First up is the newest Hall of Famer… in this debut issue. I wouldn’t have voted for him, but I’ll certainly never scoff at adding a HOFer RC.

So, I certainly won’t scoff at adding THIS HOFer RC. Even my deeply-held hatred of the Cubs cannot put a damper on this find. It’s the best-looking of his RCs, in my opinion.

And then, for the BIG BIG HIT…

Kaboom! Hidden among the commons was this all-time classic. It’s a bit soft-cornered and off-centered, but a definite upgrade from the Henderson RC I had in my ’80 set. This card alone might have been worth the money and it ranks easily as my greatest in-a-random-box find.

So, this leaves me, fellow traders, with a few fresh new wantlists to post and some nice stacks of early ‘80s stuff up for trade. If anyone is interested in starting a 1980 Topps set, I’ve got plenty for you, including many stars. I also have a fair amount of 1981 Topps. I’d also be open to trading my old Henderson RC, which, as you can see below, isn’t in great shape. I think it got wet at one time…

… anyway, I’ve got several new wantlists up and will be posting new lists soon for 1993 and 1995 Topps. Happy Holidays, everyone!