McCovey Monday #78 - 2015 Topps Archives Rainbow

My favorite player of all time is Hall of Famer Willie McCovey.  I have amassed a collection of over 1200 different  McCovey cards since I started collecting him in the late 1980s.  I will show off one of my favorite cards every Monday.  Stretch was one of the most feared hitters of all time and I am excited to show off my collection.

Wow, it has been 2 months since I have done a McCovey Monday post.  It's not like I lack cards of his to share but I will say the 2015 collecting season has been fairly McCovey lite.  Per Beckett he has only 53 cards so far this year.  Sixteen of those are 1/1s and 7 others have print runs at 15 or less.  I guess I have been too lazy to pull out the binders and share some pre-blog pick ups and today is no different.  However I have a nice rainbow of cards to show from 2015 Topps Archives.

 First up is the base card, luckily Willie Mac wasn't one of those dreaded short prints.  I like this portrait photo primarily as it showcases Candlestick Park in the background, the Giants stadium of my youth.  It brings back memories of terrible baseball in miserable weather conditions - but I loved every minute of it.

 Here is the silver parallel, numbered 161/199.  They call it silver but it looks much more like gray to me.  Having a different color border with this card design seems to work out pretty well and I like that they included the coloring around the box containing his name.

 Finally the gold version, this one is numbered 17/50.  My only desire on this card would have been making the cartoon version of the first baseman a lefty to match McCovey.  Probably a little nit-picky but it would have been a nice little touch.

Finally, here are all 3 cards together, a nice simple and not too hard to track down rainbow of my favorite player.  Time to get out the binders and find something cool to share next week.  Have a great Monday.

Some Recent Baby Jordan Pick Ups

I have been scouring eBay frequently over the last few months ever since I recognized my former neighbor at USC Mr. Harold Miner started appearing in card sets again.  I had put together a pretty nice and close to complete collection of Miner back in his playing days so some new cards got me pretty excited.  There are quite a few cards with very low print runs that will probably never be part of my collection but there have still been some great cards to go out and get.

Here are my most recent additions:

 Back in 1992 a company named Front Row put out a set of cards that featured some of the top prospective draft picks in a set and each player had 5 cards.  I remember buying packs of this product and putting together a complete set, I think it is floating around here somewhere.  They also had parallels with the Front Row basketball logo being Gold and Silver foil.  The Silver parallels had been on my want list for years and I had actually never seen them.  I saw them pop up on eBay and jumped.

 This card brings back bad memories but I still needed to add it.  It is a Sepia parallel and features a game in the 2nd round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament.  USC was a #2 seed and the #1 seed and several of the higher seeded teams had already been eliminated so the Trojans had a fairly clear path to the Final Four.  That is until a Freshman named James Forrest hit a 3 pointer to win the game at the buzzer.  It is one of those moments where I remember exactly where I was at and who I was with as I watched and is probably one of my worst 4 sports moments ever along with the Giants losing the 2002 World Series, the Trojans losing to Vince Young and Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl and the Lakers and Robert Horry beating the Sacramento Kings in the 2002 NBA playoffs.

This card is an Exquisite Silver parallel of Harold's base card and is numbered 02/10.  This is a nice low numbered parallel and I still don't have the base which is serial numbered /75.  This card is super thick and I really like the design and how Miner's jump shot pops out of the silver background.

 These last two cards are both autographs out of 2014-15 SP Authentic.  The top one is a Flair Showcase reprint and while the design is pretty nice, I don't like how much the auto blends into the card.  It is much easier to see in this scan than in person.  In contrast, the auto on the bottom card pops.  I like the gold design and it goes well with the Trojan's uniform.  I am also impressed with how many new pictures of Baby Jordan have surfaced and been used on cards over the last 2-3 years.  Great work by Upper Deck in making that happen.

Time for Some Giants

As I look back on my recent posting history, I recognized that I have been posting fewer Giants cards than ever.  I think it is driven by my bulk purchasing of base cards for my collection this year and being either unexcited by the actual card designs as I have seen them for years or overwhelmed by a package of 100+ cards and not knowing what to post.  Time to correct course and get back to my roots for a post.

Here are 5 random Giants cards I have picked up recently.

This 2014 Topps Sergio Romo is the 1st edition version, I believe these were short printed to 10 copies of each base card but they aren't serial numbered.  I saw a fellow blogger (sorry can't remember who) show off one of these and thought it would be nice to have one in my collection.  I did a quick eBay search and went after this Romo card.  He has been with the Giants and an important reliever and I think this card shows off a pretty cool picture of his post save celebrations. The starting price was low and I put in a bid that ended up winning it for me.  I don't really have a need to add another but if one fell in my lap I would gladly add it to the binder.

This card was one of those mistake purchases.  Don't get me wrong, I like the card.  The red backing looks nice, the card is numbered to only 25 copies and Crick is one of the Giants top prospects.  However, I got into a bidding war on Sportlots with another buyer.  I was making automatic bids without opening up the auction and looking at the card and was bidding as if the card also had an auto.  I spent under $10 for this but I would have rather had those funds go to 30-40 base cards.  Oh well, time to turn the page.

Heath Hembree is no longer with the Giants, he was traded to the Red Sox as part of the Jake Peavy trade last year.  He was once touted as the Giants future closer and I had him stashed in the minors on my fantasy team.  That didn't pan out but I will like the guy.  This auto from 2014 Donruss numbered 12/49 popped up on the LCS bid board and I brought it home for about $3-4, I am happy to have it in my collection.

Here is a sweet silver parallel of Buster Posey, the possible 2015 NL MVP.  I love this Spring Training photo, this is one of my favorite cards of the year.  I also have the base and gold version of this so I guess my rainbow is now complete.  This card is numbered 129/199.

The final card to show off and get my Giants fix is this Letterman Auto of former Giants pitcher Noah Lowry.  Lowry played for the Giants for 5 years and got injured which ended his career back in 2009.  I was always a fan and thought he had a lot of potential.  Apparently the Giants did too as I looked him up on Baseball Reference and he got paid over $9 in his 5 year career for pitching in only 106 games, 100 starts.  My middle kid is named Noah (he was not named for Lowry, we just liked the name) so I always show him any Lowry pick ups and he thinks a Giant named Noah is pretty cool.  This letterman with the Giants colors looks great and is numbered 77/99.

I feel better getting some Giants back into the blog.

Just For The "F" Of It #1

I have decided to start a new series of posts, I haven't decided if it will be weekly or just whenever I get the itch.  Knowing my posting challenges it will most likely be a just whenever sort of deal.

I am titling it Just For the "F" Of It - as in fun of it so get your mind out of the gutter, I have to keep this PG.  One of the many blessings of this blogging community has been an expansion in my appreciation for cards and my recognition that I can like a card just because, it doesn't have to fit into one of my many different collections.  These posts will celebrate the cards that I have added or kept just for the fun of it.

Now here are the types of collections I have, so cards you see will be excluded from these:

• Set collecting
• Player collecting (McCovey, Henderson, Vida, Winfield, Reggie, Petrick, Chili, Parker, Barkley, Ewing, Webber, Miner, Lott, Craig and Clark)
• San Francisco Giants
• USC Football Players
• Vintage San Francisco 49ers
• Sacramento Kings
• HOF Baseball Autos

Are there any cards left???  Believe it or not, this is a collection of mine that has grown quite a bit and I have plenty of cards to share.

So who gets the nod as the first Just For The "F" Of It card?

None other than Kent Tekulve and this 2015 Topps Archive Fan Favorites Autograph.  This card came my way via eBay for about $4 delivered and I just love it.   So how did this card find a place in my JFTFOI collection?  The first World Series I remember watching was the 1979 We are Family Pirates against the Orioles and Tekulve was the ace reliever for the Pirates.  Since the Bucs were in the NL like my Giants I was rooting for them in a big way.  I also fell in love with their uniforms, great bright yellow and black with the super cool caps. I actually has a Giants version of this cap as a kid with the yellow lines being orange and the P replaced with the interlaced SF.  Kent was sporting the killer shades and the crazy underhanded delivery and it made me an instant fan.

The beauty of products like Archives are bringing these Fan Favorites autographs to collectors like me.  A worthy card for my JFTFOI club.

2015 Gint-A-Cuffs - Packs 22-24

On the day I finish off my 2015 Ginter base set, I post my final packs for Gint-A-Cuffs, I like it when a plan comes together.

And down the stretch I go...
Coming off the nice red mini auto in my last post, I am hoping for something surprising in the last 3 packs to score enough points to contend.

Pack 22
Scoring Cards:
Andrew McCutchen (Starting Points insert) - +2
Chris Tillman mini (A&G back) - +2

Pack Total = +4
Running Total = +152

Not much to say other than this probably isn't the way to start off the last post when I am hoping to finish strong.

Pack 23
Scoring Cards:
Joe Panik (My Favorite Team) - +1
War Hammer (Ancient Armory insert) - +2
Chris Carter mini (SP) - +3

Pack Total = +6
Running Total = +158

Glad to see Panik getting some love in all the sets this year.  His great play down the stretch last year along with that ridiculous double play certainly helped get him on the radar and his All-Star play in the first half solidified his status.  We really need him back and healthy.

Pack 24
Scoring Cards:
Santiago Casilla (My Favorite Team) - +1
Banshee (Menagerie of the Mind insert) - +2
Elizabeth Monroe mini (First Lady) - +2

Pack Total = +5
Final Total = +163

There you have it, my first ever Gint-A-Cuffs break.  It was pretty strong on Giants and weak on Yankees which helped.  A nice red ink auto was a big scorer.  I am certain this won't win the title but I would count it as respectable.  And lots of fun too.

2015 Gint-A-Cuffs - Packs 19-21

I am heading down the home stretch on my first Gint-A-Cuffs adventure.  It has been a lot of fun and I will do it again next year if I decide to go after the set.

Pack 19
Scoring Cards:
Evan Longoria (Starting Points insert) - +2

Pack Total = +2
Running Total = +118

If I am not mistaken, this is my first pack with only 1 scoring card - ugh!

Pack 20
Scoring Cards:
Philae Probe (Philae Probe) - +1
Kelia Moniz (Framed Mini Red Autograph) - +22
Matt Harvey (Starting Points insert) - +2
Bald Eagle (Birds of Prey mini) - +2

Pack Total - +27
Running Total - +145

Boom - a nice red mini auto of a girl in a bikini, serial numbered 02/10 to boot.  This is one of my best Ginter pulls ever, probably second to a Cap Anson rip card with a mini Ken Griffey Jr. inside from the early days of Ginter.  This will at least help my score be in the respectable range.  I also love the Bald Eagle mini, one of my favorite birds since seeing a ton of them a few years back on a cruise to Alaska.  Great pack!

Pack 21
Scoring Cards:
Bernie Williams (Bernie Williams) - +1
Elf (Menagerie of the Mind insert) - +2

Pack Total = +3
Running Total = +148

I am kind of surprised the Michele Beadle mini isn't a scoring card.   She is one of my favorite TV sports personalities and not too back to look at.  One more post to go.

2015 Gint-A-Cuffs - Packs 16-18

Quick turn around for the next 3 packs, I would like to finish off my first Gint-A-Cuffs posts in the next day or two and get back to some Giants cards.

Pack 16
Scoring Cards:
World's Biggest Hoaxes, Hoodwinks & Bamboozles (Mini Topps A&G buyback) - +4
Lunar Colonization (What Once Would Be insert) - +2
Pan (Mythological Menaces mini) - +2

Pack Total = +8
Running Total = +105

Some good variety in this pack.  I told myself I wouldn't go after any insert sets this year but the Mythological Menaces and What Once Would Be would be in the running if I were to change my mind.

Pack 17
Scoring Cards:
Incredibeard (Incredibeard) - +1
Adrian Gonzalez Relic (Full-Size Relic) - +6
Josh Donaldson (Starting Point insert) - +2

Pack Total = +9
Running Total = +114

A little better here in this run of posts.  I have to admit the picture of Incredibeard eating noodles out of his own facial hair grosses me out.

Pack 18
Scoring Cards:
Taiaha (Ancient Armory insert) - +2
Zach Britton mini (A&G back) - +2

Pack Total = +4
Running Total = +116

I am hoping the final hit can boost my score a bit.  Six more packs and two more posts to go.

2015 Gint-A-Cuffs - Packs 13-15

I need to get back in and finish off my Gint-A-Cuffs posts.  I have been spending most of my hobby time organizing my card room and working on an inventory of some GU and Relic cards that I would like to get rid of.  I am going to take a stab at selling some on Sports Card Forum and then perhaps send them off to COMC

I stopped at the mid point in my last post and projected about a 160 score which won't even get me in contention for the title, let's see if I can make up some ground in the 2nd half.

Pack 13
Scoring Cards:
Travis Ishikawa (favorite team) - +1
Matt Cain (favorite team) - +1
Michael Pineda (Yankee) - -1
Alex Gordon (Starting Points insert) - +2
Jimbo Fisher (A&G back mini/Jimbo Fisher) - +2/-1 for net +1

Pack Total = +4
Running Total = +88

Cursed by a double Yankee/Jimbo whammy!

Pack 14
Scoring Cards:
Big Band (Great Scott! insert) - +2
Chris Sale (Favorite Player mini) - +3

Pack Total = +5
Running Total = +93

Not off to a strong start here 2 packs into the 2nd half.

Pack 15
Scoring Cards:
Craig Kimbrel (Other favorite player) - +2
Troy Tulowitzki (Starting Points insert) - +2

Pack Total = +4
Running Total = +97

Only 13 points in 3 packs, let's hope the next post has better results, I do think I have a hit or two left so that should help.

2015 Gint-A-Cuffs - Packs 10-12

I am bringing 69 points into this grouping of cards.  Still no Yankees which is pretty cool and quite a few Giants.  I still have a couple hits left in the box, maybe one will show up in these 3 packs.

Pack 10
Scoring Cards:
Mark Teixeira (Yankee) - -1
Polio Vaccine (Great Scott insert) - +2

Pack Total = +1
Running Total = +70

Cursed by a Yankee and not too much to compensate for it.  Rough start to the post.

Pack 11
Scoring Cards:
Anthony Rizzo (other favorite player) - +2
Yasiel Puig (Starting Points insert) - +2
John W. Gates mini (MBT insert) - +2

Pack Total - +6
Running Total - +76

Pack 12
Scoring Cards:
Justin Verlander (Full-Size Topps A&G buyback) - +3
Cutlass (Ancient Armory insert) - +2
Shin-Soo Choo mini (short print) - +3

Pack Total = +8
Running Total = +84

We reach the half-way point plus box topper at 84 points.  At this point my final score would project to be 160 points, doubt that is even close to contention.

2015 Gint-A-Cuffs - Packs 7-9

Here is my 3rd post for this year's Gint-A-Cuffs contest.  I am having fun and hoping I am doing the scoring correctly at this point.  I have had an okay start but nothing spectacular.  Let's see if I can kick it up a notch in packs 7-9.

Pack 7
Scoring Cards:
Paul Scheer - -1
Hunter Pence (favorite team) - +1
Jose Bautista (Starting Points insert, other favorite player) - +4
Brandon Phillips mini (A&G back) - +2

Pack Total = +6
Running Total = +59

Not a great start with the first card but somewhat of a save by the Bautista insert.

Pack 8
Scoring Cards:
Jim Thome (Full-Size Topps A&G buyback) - +3
Zombie (Menagerie of the Mind insert) - +2

Pack Total = +5
Running Total = +64

At the 1/3 point I have gotten 1 of 3 hits, 1 of 3 buy backs and am on a pack for about 180ish points, hmmmm not thinking I am on a winning pace but still having fun.

Pack 9
Scoring Cards:
Max Scherzer (Starting Points insert) - +2
Domonic Brown mini (black border) - +3

Pack Total = +5
Running Total = +69

I need to pick up the excitement, 3 fairly boring packs. 

2015 Gint-A-Cuffs - Packs 4-6

I am working to complete the base set so if you have some cards to trade, check out my Set Want List tab and let's made a deal!

I started off fairly strong with my boxtopper and first 3 packs, here are 3 more packs. let's see how I do.

Pack 4
Scoring Cards:
Tim Hudson (favorite team) - +1
Catapult (Ancient Armory insert) - +2
Ian Desmond mini (Short Print A&G back) - +5

Pack Total = +8
Running Total = +41

A pretty strong back and will the no-Yankee streak continue?  I don't know if I have cracked a box of cards in quite a while that didn't have a Yankee in it by the 4th pack.

Pack 5
Scoring Cards:
Brandon Belt (favorite team, other favorite player) - +3
Torii Hunter (Starting Points insert) - +2
Hermes mini (Mythological Menaces) +2

Pack Total = +7
Running Total = +48

Pack 6
Scoring Cards:
Madison Bumgarner (my favorite team & player) - +5
Continental Drift (Great Scott insert) - +2

Pack Total = +5
Running Total = +53

No hits in this group but 20 points over 3 packs.  Not great but the no Yankee streak continues.  I hope that doesn't catch up with me.

My First Foray Into Gint-A-Cuffs - 2015 Gint-A-Cuffs - Box Topper and Packs 1-3

Over the last few years I have strongly considered entering Gint-A-Cuffs but I never took the plunge.  The last time I bought a box and collected the set was in 2012 but this year since I passed on boxes of Heritage and Archives, I figured it was time to go after the set and join the Gint-A-Cuffs fun.

I will do my best to score this properly but if any of my fellow participants notices a scoring error, drop me a comment and I will correct it.

Here is my boxtopper, a nice jumbo sized card of Pirates star Andrew McCutchen.  I was kind of surprised not to see him on the Favorite Players List.  Not the best start but also not the worst.

Pack Total = +8
Running Total = +8

Pack 1 - I scanned these when I thought cards >300 were short prints.
Scoring Cards:
Chris Sale (other favorite player) - +2
Gary Brown (favorite team) - +1
Rusney Castillo (Starting Points insert) - +2

Pack Total = +5
Running Total = +13

Not a horrible start with 5 points in that pack, hopefully the presence of Giants and lack of Yankees will continue.

Pack 2
Scoring Cards:
Large Hadron Collider (Great Scott insert) - +2
Jake Arrieta mini (A&G back) - +2

Pack Total = +4
Running Total = +17

Nothing too exciting here but the insert and mini paid off.

Pack #3
Scoring Cards:
Prince Fielder (other favorite player) - +2
Mike Trout (Starting Points insert, other favorite player) - +4
Giancarlo Stanton (Full-Size Relic) - +6
Philae Probe mini (black border mini, Philae Probe) - +4

A really nice pack to finish off my first post.

Pack Total = +16
Running Total = +33

I wish there was hope of me continuing at this pace...

Buster Posey Rookie Run

After picking up the 2010 Topps Emerald Nut set a little while back I decided to do a check and see if I had every Buster Posey card with the rookie logo in my collection.  Posey is having another great year and seems to be in the MVP discussion.  Typical discussions about the best catcher in baseball have typically started with Yadier Molina due in large part to his defensive prowess but with the newer stat of pitch framing Buster is getting quite a bit of credit for his defense and pitching staff management and coupled with his offense has propelled himself to the top of the MLB catcher class.

In looking through the Beckett checklist, my collection and my knowledge of some of the other sets out there, I set my sights on obtaining the Giants 2010 team set.  These are the sets that are package together, usually with 17 cards, and sold at retail outlets.  Starting in 2011 I was able to pick these up as they came out but missed the 2010 set.  I suspected the Buster rookie drove the rarity and price of the pack but I didn't know if the rookie logo was on the card or not.  I decided to try and track down a pack and find out.

I was lucky enough to find one with damaged packaging, put in an offer on eBay and was able to bring this home. 

 The packaging didn't really bother me as the cards are in a plastic case and I planned on opening them anyway.  Here are the 17 cards in the set:

I showed the back of the Posey card to demonstrate how the backs are different only in the numbering. Each card number starts with SFG and ends with the numbers 1-17.  Plus you will see the Posey front down below.

One of the fun things with these cards is to see which card feature different photos or cropping from the original.  In this case over 1/3 of the cards are different, 6/17.  Here are their Topps flagship counterparts:

 All but the Matt Cain feature completely different photos.  The Cain is just cropped much more tightly.  I wish they would put all different photos in these, they would become much more collectible in my opinion.

After getting these cards, I decided to see if I had all the Posey base cards that have the Rookie Logo.  I did a Beckett search, flipped through my binder and did a scan of eBay and outside of the Finest Letterman Auto cards (even though they have the RC logo there is no way in my book an autographed card should be counted as a rookie), I think I have the complete run.

Here are the 15 Buster Posey rookie cards in my collection:

He has 5 different Bowman base rookies, the Sterling is the newest and partners with the Bowman card as my favorites in this scan.

This scan has 3 with the same photo and design.  The only difference between the Topps flagship card an the new team set card I just received is the positioning of the Topps foil at the top, it switches corners.  My favorite here is the Ginter cards and is actually one of my favorite Ginter cards of all time.  I don't have any of the minis and would guess they cost a pretty penny but I think I may see if I can get lucky.

 Here are the final 5.  The Opening Day card looks familiar, huh?  The Topps Chrome card was a mail in redemption as he wasn't included in the regular set.  In addition to the National Chicle RC card, Buster has an SP with a 1952 Design - also a great looking card but it doesn't have the logo and doesn't make this post.  The Upper Deck card is nice and clearly illustrates why MLB and Topps had a beef with Upper Deck's lame attempt at no logos, you can see the SF on his helmet and part of the Giants on his jersey - there is no effort to airbrush them out.  For my tastes, this is the best looking group of the 3.

I am happy to have the full rookie run of one of my favorite Giants.  Might be time to see how my MadBum collection stacks up.

Some More Bid Board Wins from the LCS

It has been a few days since I have posted, been busy having some non-hobby fun.  Over the weekend the family and I took a weekend camping trip to Los Padres National Forest.  We stayed at the Los Prietos campground and it was quite nice.  Our campsite was about 75% shaded with oak trees.  We had plenty of room for 2 tents and a nice long tie out for our puppy.  It was the puppy's first camping trip and also the first camping trip for my 2.5 year old daughter.  Outside of our neighbors showing up at 11 PM on Friday night and starting a campfire waking up both the dog and my daughter (and therefore my wife and I) we had a really good time.  With this campground about 1.5 hours away I suspect we will be back for another weekend sometime soon.

My other non-hobby excitement is the purchase of a new car.  We did some serious looking in April but put everything on hold with my job uncertainty. With that resolved, we figured it was time to take the plunge.  My wife convinced me to go with a hybrid so I agreed with a stipulation that it had to be a really nice car.  We settled on a Lexus ES Hybrid - I am very happy with it, it looks really sharp and drives very nice.  It replaces an 11 year old car and the only downside is our first car payment in 2 or 3 years.

On to what you really care about, cards!  I had a chance during my work week last week to sneak out to the LCS for a long lunch break and pick up some cards I had won on the bid board.  I thought I would share them with you, the total cost of these 10 cards was $6.25 and at 62 cents/card I am really happy with the haul.

First up are a quad of Matt Barkley rookie cards:

 These fit nicely into my USC football collection.  I would really like to see Barkley get a shot to play but it appears he is going to go the way of Matt Leinart, John David Booty and perhaps Mark Sanchez as highly hyped QBs who just can't make the transition to the NFL.  On the plus side, it keeps his card prices down!

The other 6 cards I picked up are all of the vintage variety:

I am a big Yaz fan.  I think part of that comes from my dad handing down his collection which included a Yaz rookie card.  Similar to the discussion in my last post about going for a Topps run of Rollie Fingers cards, I think a Yastrzemski Topps collection is in my future.  I couldn't pass up the All-Star Freddy Lynn card for a quarter.  The diagonal background along with that A.L. All-Stars banner makes this a great looking card.  With Lynn's USC connection he has been strongly considered for a player collection but I need another player collection like I need another hole in my head.  The Teddy Ballgame card has a crease across the card and I already have one in my working 1972 set but for a buck I couldn't pass on it.  Finally I picked up a nice Steve Spurrier card for my vintage 49ers collection.

My favorite bid board weeks are the ones where the vintage cards make an appearance.  I am super happy with this week's haul.  I am heading out of town to Kansas City for a few days for work but I am going to upload some scans and hopefully get a start on my first Gint-A-Cuffs contest from my hotel room.  Happy Collecting!

Relief!

I posted a little while back about some uncertainty about my job.  My department went through a reorganization and I applied for but didn't get the position leading the department. Unfortunately the reorg also resulted in the elimination of my job.  For the last couple weeks I have remained cautiously optimistic that a different job would work out for me and today, after meeting with the CEO for a short discussion, I got notice that the new job I was seeking is mine.  The relief I am feeling is so soothing, I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders.

Took the family out to dinner tonight to celebrate and my wife and I took a dip in the pool after the kids went to bed so I didn't have much time to post tonight but thought sharing some awesome cards I picked up as a lot from one of the best relievers of my youth would be appropriate.

I can't remember what this set me back but it wasn't very much.  I have considered adding a collection of some of my favorites from my youth and just going after their Topps runs and these will get me off to a good start if I decide to do that with Rollie Fingers.  Rollie's rookie card is from 1969 and he has Topps cards during his career up until 1986.  This lot gave me 9 of the 18 cards and I bet if I go through my duplicates from the 80s sets I can knock off a few more.   For now I am just happy to have so many great handlebar mustaches in my collection.  What a relief!